• Networking and the Internet

Absolute Beginner's Guide to Creating Web Pages

Speaking of Web browsing, if you never have tried making Web pages or would like to know more about making Web pages check Absolute Beginner's Guide to Creating Web Pages by Todd Stauffer (Que, 2002 ISBN 0-7897-2895-8, $19)

Absolute Beginner's Guide to Computers and the Internet

As its title suggests, Absolute Beginner's Guide to Computers and the Internet, by Michael Miller (Que, 2002, ISBN 0-7897-8012-7, $25) is designed to help computer newbies get started using their computers and then use their computers for all the fun Internet stuff -- plus the more serious Internet work of searching the Internet for information for reports and the like. It also delves into playing and recording music on your computer and viewing video material too.

The Internet For Dummies

Are you a computer or Internet beginner who is looking for a plain English, easy to read, book that shows you what you can do on the Internet and how to do it? If so, The Internet For Dummies, 8th Edition by Levine, Baroudi, and Levine-Young (Hungry Minds, 2002, ISBN 0-7645-0894-6, $22) might be just the book for you.

How Networks Work, 6th Edition

For many people, novice and advanced computer users alike, computer networking can be a very difficult, confusing, frustrating, and troublesome arena. How Networks Work, 6th Edition by Frank Derfler and Les Freed (Que, 2002, ISBN 0-7897-2753-6 $29) is a visually intensive treatment of networking basics. If you are a computer newbie or a networking-confused reader, How Networks Work might just be the book that will clear up the networking confusion for you. It's not going to show you how to network -- but it will show you how networks and network hardware work.

Home Networking For Dummies

While How Networks Work focuses on showing you how networking and networking hardware work, Home Networking For Dummies by Kathy Ivens (Hungry Minds, 2001, ISBN 0-7645-0857-1, $22) shows you the basics of what you can do with a network and how to do it. Just as with The Internet For Dummies and Dummies books in general, Home Networking For Dummies is a plain English, easy to read, book.

Although Home Networking For Dummies was published more than a year ago in May 2001, it's current enough for beginners interested in networking basics. It does not cover wireless networking.

How Wireless Works

Home Networking For Dummies does not delve into wireless networking. However, How Wireless Works by Preston Gralla (Que, 2001, ISBN 0-7897-2487-1, $30) gets down and dirty with the nuts and bolts of wireless networking. It also covers other wireless technologies such as pagers, cell phones, and wireless Internet connections. As with How Networks Work, How Wireless Works is a visually intensive treatment of wireless basics. It's not going to show you how to use wireless devices -- but it will show you how wireless networks and other wireless hardware work.

Network Troubleshooting Tools

Not too long ago, networking was a no-man's land in which only networking professionals and experts dared to tread. In part that was because until just a few years ago networking primarily was a mechanism for the larger commercial, institutional, and industrial organizations.

Over the years, Microsoft has added code to its Windows operating systems to make it easy for just about anyone to network their computers. Same thing on the Linux side of the aisle. Today, many homes, small businesses, and organizations have several computers -- and naturally have them networked or at least would like to have them networked.

Basic networking books such as How Networks Work and Home Networking For Dummies will help you get up to basic speed with networking. However, solving network problems is another matter -- and networks often are a problem.

There are lots of good tools to help monitor networks, to maintain networks, and to help resolve networking problems. Unfortunately, many people that have networks of their own or are, in effect, serving in a network administrator capacity either are not aware of many of these network tools or do not know when and how to use them.

If you are not familiar with tools such as ping, traceroute, ifconfig, netstat, intop, SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol), and so forth or do not know how to use them, then you ought to take a look at Network Troubleshooting Tools by Joseph D. Sloan (O'Reilly, 2001, ISBN 0-596-00186-X, $40).

MozillaQuest Magazine has a special section devoted just to networking and wireless networking. Check it out! If you are not familiar with networking, you might find our articles, Computer Connections at Home, Office, & School and Some Basics for Computing & Networking Novices, helpful in getting you up to speed with networking basics.

Conclusion

The right computer books can help you to use your computer more efficiently, to get more bang for your computer dollars, to save you from spending money for technical support, to get more done, faster with your computer, to have more fun with your computer, and to give you a so much better computing experience. The trick is in finding the right books.

Today's article suggests twelve computer book titles, some of which might be the right book(s) for you. In many of our MozillaQuest Magazine articles we include book suggestions in the body of the articles and/or in the Resources sections at the ends of the articles. So, check our articles for helpful, topical, book suggestions too.

Even though we make great book suggestions. It's up to you to choose which, if any of these suggestions, are the right books for you. So, you ought to mosey over to your local bookstore and thumb through the suggested books to make sure they cover the material in which you are interested -- in a way that you can read them easily and understand them. Or as a secondary alternative, you can surf over to the book publishers' Web sites for more information about the suggested books.

Happy New Year

Mike Angelo and the MozillaQuest Magazine staff

Resources

Books Discussed in Article

Absolute Beginner's Guide to Computers and the Internet, Que, 2002, ISBN 0-7897-8012-7, $25

Absolute Beginner's Guide to Creating Web Pages, Que, 2002 ISBN 0-7897-2895-8, $19

Absolute Beginner's Guide to PC Upgrades, Que, 2000, ISBN 0-7897-2417-0, $25

Home Networking For Dummies, Hungry Minds, 2001, ISBN 0-7645-0857-1, $22

How Computers Work, Que, 2001, ISBN 0-7897-2549-5, $35

How Networks Work, 6th Edition, Que, 2002, ISBN 0-7897-2753-6 $29

How Wireless Works, Que, 2001, ISBN 0-7897-2487-1, $30

JavaScript Unleashed 4th Edition, Sams, 2002, ISBN 0-6723-2431-8, $50

Open Source E-mail Security Sams, 2001, ISBN 0-6723-2237-4, $35

Network Troubleshooting Tools, O'Reilly, 2001, ISBN 0-596-00186-X, $40

The Internet For Dummies, 8th Edition, Hungry Minds, 2002, ISBN 0-7645-0894-6, $22

PC Fear Factor: The Ultimate PC Disaster Prevention Guide. Que, 2002, ISBN 0-7897-2825-7, $30

PC Help Desk in a Book: The Do-it-Yourself Guide to PC Troubleshooting and Repair, Que, 2002. ISBN 0-7897-2756-0, $30

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