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 BOOK AND SOFTWARE REVIEWS | ||||
Pogue, D. & Biersdorfer, J.D. The Internet: the missing manual Sebastopol, CA: Pogue Press; O'Reilly, 2006. xvi, 442, [6] pp. ISBN 0-596-52742-X $24.99, £17.50
All of the 'missing manuals' carry the legend, The book that should have been in the box, and it is interesting to speculate on what kind of box you could put the Internet into! Dr. Who's police box, perhaps?
The aim of this book is really ambitious; it is to answer all the questions you might have about the Net, including: How do I get on the Internet? What do I do online? What's available? How do I make myself visible? How do I avoid the bad stuff? That's quite a target! And one that is quite impossible to attain in 442 pages - one would need a large chunk of the Webpages on the Internet to provide all the answers in depth.
However, for the beginner, this is a useful book: it contains instructions on how to get online, and although some of the information is US-specific, enough of it is sufficiently general to apply anywhere; how to find information by using Google, Yahoo and MSN Search (now called Windows Live), with chapters on finding news and music, book and film reviews; shopping sites; entertainment; communicating through e-mail, instant messaging and Internet telephony; and, in a bit of a mixture - blogs, podcasts and Internet security.
Not the kind of book for the younger generation who already have the skills to find out more than you ever knew was available on the Web, but perhaps a good book for your Dad who is just getting to grips with finding out how to keep track of his offspring.
You'll find live links to all of the Websites listed at the ''missing CD-ROM' site.