Complete Idiot's Guide to the Internet

I. CONNECTING TO THE INTERNET. 1. Your Connection to the Online Universe. What Is the Internet? What Exactly Is Information? Getting on the Net. Picking Your Access Provider. The Best Value in Internet Access? No Cable? Try DSL. Not Quite So Good Options. Back to Basics-Your Phone Lines. Finding a Service Provider. Do You Need Speed? WebTV. 2. Working on the World Wide Web. What's the Web? Let's Start. Getting a Browser. Browsing Begins at Home. The Hansel and Gretel Dilemma: Where Are You? Bookmarks. A Direct Link: Using the URLs. What Will You Find on Your Web Journey? Speeding Up Your Journey by Limiting Graphics. There's Plenty More! 3. More Web Basics-Searching, Saving, and More. Multiple Windows: Ambidextrous Browsing. Your Hard Disk As Web Server? Turbocharging with the Cache. What Is Reload? Long Documents: Finding What You Need. Remember to Right-Click. Is It Worth Saving? Grabbing Files from the Web. 4. Understanding Web Programs and File Types. Working with Tables. Interactive Web Pages: Using Forms. Playing It Safe: Secure Sites. For Your Eyes Only: Password-Protected Sites. Dealing with Secondary Windows. Panes or Frames. Animated Icons. Web Programs: Java, JavaScript, and ActiveX. The Latest Programmer's Toy, Dynamic HTML. Just a Little Shove: Pushing and Pulling. The Multimedia Experience. What on Earth Are All Those File Types? About Download Directories. Pick a Download Directory Sensibly. A Cornucopia of File Formats. File Compression Basics. Your Computer Can Get Sick, Too. 5. Web Multimedia-From Flash to Napster. How Browsers Deal with Different Files. What's Available? Which Do You Need? Which Do You Want? Flash and Shockwave. Other Weird File Formats. Automatic Installations of Plug-Ins. Installing a Plug-In. Installing a Viewer. II. COMMUNICATING. 6. Sending and Receiving Email. Which Email System? To POP or Not to POP. You Have a New Address! A Word About Setup. Sending a Message. Where'd It Go? Incoming Email. What Now? Sending Files Is Getting Easier. Cool Things You Can Do with Email. Caution: Email Can Be Dangerous! Smile and Be Understood! 7. Advanced Email-HTML Mail, Voice, and Encryption. Banish Dull Email with HTML Mail. Keep Away Prying Eyes with Encryption. Why Encrypt Your Email? Public-Key Encryption: It's Magic. I'm Sold; Where Do I Get My Keys? Sending Voice Messages. Really Fancy Mail. 8. Using Online Chat Rooms. Chatting and Talking. Score One for the Online Services. Chatting in AOL. CompuServe's Chat Rooms. Microsoft Chat and MSN. Commands to Look For. Pick Your Avatar. Web Chat's Coming Up Fast. Internet Relay Chat: Productivity Sinkhole? What Is It Good For? Real Uses for Chat. 9. Instant Messaging. The IM War and IM Interoperability. Using IM. The Enemy: MSN Messenger. ICQ (Figure It Out). 10. Finding and Using Newsgroups. What's a Newsgroup? So, What's Out There? Can You Read It? Okay, Gimme a List! Where Does It All Come From? What's in a Name? I'm Ready; Let's Read. A Quick Word on Setup. Starting and Subscribing. Your Turn: Sending and Responding. Pictures (and Sounds) from Words. The Fancy Stuff. A Word of Warning. 11. More Internet Discussions-Mailing Lists and Web Forums. How Do Mailing Lists Work? Using a LISTSERV Group. Using Majordomo and Other Mailing-List Programs. Using Manually Administered Lists. Handling Mailing List Correspondence. Using the Web Forums. 12. More Ways to Communicate-Net Phones, Conferences, Videoconferences. The Incredible Potential of Voice on the Net. The Downside. Do You Have the Hardware You Need? Which Program Should I Use? PC-to-Phone Connections. Making PC-to-PC Calls. Making PC-to-Phone Calls. The Bells and Whistles. Video and Other Weird Stuff. 13. Setting Up Your Own Web Site. My Fill-In-the-Blanks Web Page. Making It Your Home Page. Your Web Page: What's It Good For? HTML Basics. Don't Stop at One: Multiple Pages. Finding URLs. Publishing on the Web. Finding a Web Host. Posting Your Web Pages. Using Web Templates. 14. Nifty Web Site Tricks. Don't Overdo It. Adding Pictures. Positioning Things with Tables. Frames Are Okay (Sometimes). Adding Java Applets. Linking to Images and Sounds. Adding Background Sounds. III. GETTING THINGS DONE. 15. Finding What You Need Online. Finding People. Directories, Directories, and More Directories. Using the Search Sites. How Do I Use the Search Engines? Finding Specific Stuff. Just Tell Me in English. Finding Out Where You're Going. What to Do When You Get There. Finding Out What People Are Saying About You. Set a Bookmark to Repeat the Search Later. 16. Shopping Online. How Do You Find What You Want? Comparison Shopping-Let Someone Else Shop for You. Is It Safe? Other Payment Methods. "Name Your Own Price" Services. Buying Items at Auction. Online Coupons and Discounts. One More Reason to Buy Online. 17. Making Money on the Internet. There's Another Way. Do You Have a Product? Can a Web Site Help Every Business? How Cheap? There's No Such Thing As an Internet Business. Search Engines Are Not Enough. Don't Forget Email. Read My Special Reports. 18. Staying Safe on the Internet. Your Kid Is Learning About Sex from Strangers. Your Private Email Turned Up in the National Enquirer. Prince Charming Is a Toad! She's a He, and I'm Embarrassed! You Logged On Last Night, and You're Still Online This Morning. Just Because You're Paranoid Doesn't Mean Someone Isn't Saying Nasty Things About You. I Was "Researching" at Hustler Online, and Now I'm Unemployed. Someone Bought Tires with My Credit Card! My Wife Found My Messages in alt.sex.wanted. I "Borrowed" a Picture, and Now They're Suing Me! I Downloaded a File, and Now My Computer's Queasy. I've Been Browsing, and Now They're Coming to Get Me. 19. Downloading Files (FTP, Go!Zilla, and CuteFTP). What Is FTP? Different Flavors of FTP. Hitting the FTP Trail. Finding the Pot o' Gold. Getting the File. It's the Real Thing: Using a Genuine FTP Program. Which and Where. It's Alive! Viruses and Other Nasties. Searching FTP Sites. Download Utilities. 20. Accessing the Internet with Cool New Devices. Cell Phone Access. Handheld Email Devices. Telephone Access. Intercast PC/TV. Handhelds. Internet Computers. Mail Devices. Pagers. Refrigerators. Printers and Faxes. Cash Registers. It's a Wired, Wired, Wired World. 21. Ideas. Keeping in Touch. Meeting Your Peers. Business Communications. Vacations and Flights. Product Information. Product Support. Getting Software. Researching Stuff. Visiting Museums. Keeping Your Driver's License Up to Date. Finding Financial Information. Listening to Music. Reading Magazines and 'Zines. Hiding from the Real World. If You Can't Get Out. Shakespeare on the Net. Joining a Community of People with Common Interests. You Don't Trust Your Doctor. Shopping. Cybersex. Political Activism. Subversion. Looking for Work (and Help). Clubs and Professional-Association Information Sources. Mating and Dating. Long-Distance Computing. File Sharing. Take the Family on Vacation Without Paying for Tickets. Keeping the Kids Busy. News on Demand. What Did I Miss? 22. 21 Questions-The Complete Internet FAQ. 1. How Do I Use This Mouse Thing to Open That. Window Thing? 2. Why Won't My Browser Display This, That,. or the Other? 3. Is the Internet a Good Resource for Homework? 4. Is Everything Online Now? 5. Is the Internet Any Good for Anyone but Geeks? 6. Can You Sell Fish on the Internet? 7. If I Have a Fast Connection, Why Are Transfers. So Slow? 8. What's the Difference Between Yahoo! and. Netscape Navigator? 9. Why Isn't Anyone Reading My Web Page? 10. How Can I Remain Anonymous on the Internet? 11. Can People Find Information About Me Online? 12. Can Someone Forge My Email? 13. What's a Flame? 14. I'm Leaving My Service Provider. How Can. I Keep My Email Address? 15. Why Can't I Get Through to That Site? 16. Why Won't This URL Work? 17. Why Do So Many People Hate AOL? 18. My Download Crashed, So I Have to Start. Again. Why? 19. Where Do I Find...? 20. Are .com and .net Interchangeable? 21. How Can Companies Sell So Cheaply Online? Just One More Question... IV. RESOURCES. Appendix A. Speak Like a Geek-The Complete Archive. Appendix B. Windows Internet Features. Windows 98 and ME Features. Online Services. System Setup Tools. Email and Newsgroups. Internet Explorer Web Browser. Browser Plug-Ins. Microsoft Chat. Web Publishing Tools. "Corporate" Tools. WebTV for Windows. Windows ME's New Internet Features. Web Integration. Maintenance and Configuration. Windows Update. Appendix C. All the Software You'll Ever Need. The Search Starts at Home. Finding a Browser. The Internet's Software Libraries. Finding More. Looking for Something Strange? Index.