Date: Tue, 30 Aug 1994 20:05:04 -0500 From: Trisha Fabugais <bradbury@Sam.Neosoft.com> (1) Savetz, Kevin M._Your Internet Consultant: The FAQs of Life Online_Indianapolis: SAMS Publishing, 1994. ISBN: 0-672-30520-8 Price: $25.00 550 pages Available From: SAMS Publishing 201 W. 103rd Street Indianapolis, Indiana 46290 1.800.428.5331 (Orders) (2) REVIEWED BY: Trisha Fabugais Information Specialist Houston, TX "Home of NeoSoft--greatest provider in the world" (My opinion and mine alone) (3) TARGET AUDIENCE: All Users (4) RATING: *****Essential Reading (5) NUMBER OF LINES IN REVIEW: 64 (6) SUMMARY: This book is the ultimate FAQ doucment. It is authored by Kevin Savetz who has published a number of FAQs on the Internet like THE INTERNET SERVICES FAQ. The book is meant to clearly and simply answer questions people have as they explore the Internet. The book does this job very well, and I found THE INTERNET CONSULTANT helpful and very easy to understand. However, the book does not give a lot of help on what to do if you have problems with your Windows interface to the Internet, but instead focuses on doing things via the Unix command line structure. In all, I found the book very helpful, easy to understand, and a must have guide for people accessing the Internet through a Unix command line account. (7) TEXT OF REVIEW: Your Internet Consultant: The FAQs of Life Online, is intended to be the ultimate FAQ that compiles in one book the answers to all of your Internet questions. The book is divided into 12 chapters: Chapter 1----------Just what is the Internet? Chapter 2----------How do I get connected to the Internet? Chapter 3----------How does the Internet work? Chapter 4----------How can I communicate with people around the world? Chapter 5----------Where can I discuss my favorite film or fetish...and just about anything else? Chapter 6----------How can I find and use software(and other stuff)? Chapter 7----------How do I track down information? Chapter 8----------Can I do business on the Internet? Chapter 9----------Is there government information online? Chapter 10---------Where are all the fun and games? Chapter 11---------What do I need to know about Internet culture and lore? Chapter 12---------How can I keep my privacy and stay secure? Appendix A---------Internet access providers Appendix B---------Information about the Internet, on the Internet Appendix C---------The Internet offline: books and magazines Each chapter has questions dealing with the specific subject matter in the chapter. A particularly helpful feature is a detailed listing of every question answered in the book located at the front of the book, right after the contents pages. The index is greatly detailed and very helpful in looking for certain kinds of information. The author gives instructions on what to type and examples of how it should look on the computer screen. The author covers the basics of e-mail, telenet, gopher, and other resources most people are familiar with and does it in a simple manner. What I found very useful were the many different resources on the Net that Savetz includes in his book that were more unusual. For example, he gives directions on where to go and how to send a fax via the Internet. While other books mention that faxes can be sent on the Internet, Savetz's book actually tells you where to go, how to do it, and the cost of it if any. He also will give you the limitations of the resource or service, so that your expectations are not raised too high. If he tells you about a service, he tells you where to go and how to access it. Rarely does he ever mention a service or resource on the Net that he does not give instructions on how to get there and what to do. The author has created a handbook that every user of the Internet can use. This book is not a how-to book that will guide you step by step on how to do things on the Net, rather it is for the person who is already on the Internet and needs specific questions answered as they explore the Internet. Just about every who, what, where, why, and how question concerning the Internet is compiled and answered in this book. The writing style is straight-forward, compact, easy to understand, and humorous at times. The author wants you to have fun on the Internet and includes many helpful suggestions in little side notes within some of the questions to have you think about. This book is a must-have. Along with a good general guide to the Internet, Kevin Savetz's book YOUR INTERNET CONSULTANT: THE FAQs OF LIFE ONLINE is a resource worth getting. (c)Copyright 1994, Trisha Fabugais All Rights Reserved Trisha Fabugais, Information Specialist Houston, TX bradbury@Sam.Neosoft.com "All opinions expressed are mine alone." ***************************************************************** Copyright in NETTRAIN reviews resides in the author of the review. Permission is granted to repost reviews to other discussion lists or newsgroups. ANY REPOSTED REVIEWS MUST BE REPOSTED IN FULL (NOT EXCERPTS), WITH ATTRIBUTION TO THE AUTHOR AND TO THE NETTRAIN DISCUSSION LIST.