Harley Hahn's Internet Advisor

Harley Hahn is an internationally recognized writer, analyst and consultant. He is the author of 28 books on various topics, including the best-selling Harley Hahn's Internet Insecurity, Harley Hahn's Internet Yellow Pages, Harley Hahn Teaches the Internet, Harley Hahn's Readme First Guide to the Internet, The Internet Complete Reference, and the highly regarded Assembler Inside & Out. His Unix books include Unix Unbound and Harley Hahn's Student Guide to Unix. Hahn has a degree in mathematics and computer science from the University of Waterloo, Canada, and a graduate degree in computer science from the University of California at San Diego. Before becoming a professional writer, he studied medicine at the University of Toronto Medical School, where he wrote the book Unconventional Medicine Explained. Hahn enjoys writing computer books because "I get to sleep in, and I like telling people what to do." Hahn does not live in a converted farmhouse in Connecticut with his wife, three children, and a Labrador retriever named Rolf. Nor does he commute frequently to New York. His favorite pajamas are light blue.

1. Understanding the Internet.
What Is the Internet? What Is It Like to Use the Net? The Secret of the Internet: Clients and Servers. How TCP/IP Makes the Internet Work. Talking About the Net. Words to Avoid. Who Runs the Internet? Where Is the Center of the Net? Pornography Bad People and Other Evil Things Hastening the Downfall of Civilization.

2. An Overview of the Internet.
What Can You Do on the Net? A Quick Overview of Email. A Quick Overview of the Web. The Parts of the Web. Internet Talk Facilities. Downloading Free Software. A Quick Overview of Usenet. A Quick Overview of Mailing Lists. Advertising and Spam. Telnet. Making Sense of It All.

3. Everything You Need to Connect to the Net.
The Summary in Advance. Processors. Memory. Disks Drives. CD Drives. Operating Systems (Windows). Software. What Type of Computer Should You Buy? How Much Should You Pay for a Computer? Types of Internet Connections. The Speed of an Internet Connection. Analog and Digital. Modems. Dialup Connections. Upstream and Downstream. DSL. Cable. What Type of Internet Services Are Available? Why You Might Want Two Internet Accounts. Finding Internet Service Providers (ISPs). Choosing an ISP. Does It Matter If Your Dialup ISP Has Lots of POPs? What About AOL? The Summary Once Again.

4. Internet Addresses.
Hostnames and Top-level Domains. Why Are There Two Types of Top-level Domains? Exceptions to the Rules. Countries that Sell Access to Their Top-Level Domains. Understanding Hostnames. Domains. IP Addresses. DNS. How DNS Works for You. Mail Addresses. URLs. File Names and Extensions. Directories and Subdirectories. Pathnames. URL Abbreviations. Case-Sensitive Pathnames. What a ~ ~ (Tilde) Means in a Pathname. Putting It All Together.

5. Mail.
The Basic Ideas. SMTP Servers and POP Servers. IMAP Servers. Web-based Mail Services. Which Mail Program Should You Use? The Parts of a Message. The Most Important Header Lines. A Few More Header Lines. The Body of a Message. Attachments. Signatures. How Mail Is Stored (Folders). Address Lines Within the Header (To Cc Bcc). Using an Address Book. Replying. Forwarding. Understanding Mail Error Messages.

6. Using Mail Well.
Email Conventions. Have a Mail Address of Your Own. Make Your Messages Easy to Read. How to Make Sure Your Messages Look Good. Thank-You Notes. Smileys and Other Communication Conventions. Be Careful What You Write. Is It Okay to Use HTML in a Mail Message?. Putting URLs in Messages. Sending Mail to a Group of People. Finding Someone's Mail Address. Spam and Privacy. Harley Hahn's List of 7 Ways to Keep Your Email Address Private. Filters.

7. The Web.
The Basic Ideas. Options and Preferences. Blocking Advertisements. Where to Get Help. Entering a URL. The Fastest Way to Enter a URL with Internet Explorer. Using AutoComplete with Internet Explorer. Navigating. Reading a Web Page. Right-Clicking. What to Do When a URL Doesn't Work. Managing Your Browser Window. Opening a New Browser Window. Reloading a Web Page (the Cache). Creating a Shortcut to a Web Page. Saving URLs in a List. Internet Explorer: Using the Favorites List. Sending a URL or a Web Page to Someone. Setting Your Home Page.

8. Talking on the Net.
The Basic Ideas. Instant Messaging. Chat Rooms. Abbreviations Used While Talking. Voice Chatting and Video Chatting. IRC: Internet Relay Chat. Muds. Expectations and Reality. Net Sex.

9. Downloading and Installing Software.
File Types and Extensions. Opening a File. ActiveX Controls. Programs and Downloading. Downloading a Program. FTP and Anonymous FTP. Installing a Program. Installing a Program Automatically. Uninstalling a Program.

10. Music on the Net.
What You Need to Listen to Music on Your Computer. Music File Types. Streaming. Music Software. Radio and Broadcasting on the Net. Learning to Work with Mp3