Type of bind: Paperback
Format: Bargain Price
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 324
Printing Date: January 02, 2002
Sale Popularity Level: 1087370
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Editor's Notes and Comments:
Product Description:
Have you ever wanted to know how data travels from computer to computer, around the world? Have you ever wondered how web sites can track users or how newsgroups work? How the Internet Works not only tells the reader how it works, but show -One of the most popular four-colour computer books of all time, How the Internet Works visually shows users how data travels over the Internet -Its full-color, detailed graphics explain to users of all levels very first hand terms and technologies -Features the latest in Internet technology such as Instant Messaging, blocking Spam and data tracking
Amazon.com Review:
The Internet does many wondrous things, but an alarming number of them remain 'black boxes' whose interior workings are a mystery. In How the Internet Works, Preston Gralla shows how information gets from here to there on the world's biggest computer network. With assistance from illustrators Sarah Ishidi, Mina Reimer, and Stephen Adams, Gralla presents a series of full-colour spreads, each of which picks apart some aspect of Internet technology. You'll find explanations of Uniform Resource Locators (URLs), Web browsers, electronic mail, Web search engines, multimedia, and more. There's a spread that shows how bulk e-mailers (known as spammers) extract addresses from newsgroups and send advertisements to them. There's also an excellent graphical depiction of how the infamous Melissa trojan horse wreaked havoc among Microsoft Outlook users in early 1999.
Some of the explanations are weaker than others. While Gralla gives a lot of details about how Internet telephony works, his explanation of PointCast consists of, to paraphrase, 'You install the special client software, which communicates with the special server software and presents news to you.' It's more of a definition than an explanation. The book is split about evenly between simple definition entries and detailed, commendable how-it-works entries. There's no glossary per se, but the index is good. --David Wall
Topics covered: Internet architecture, addressing, domain names, routers, connectivity, e-mail, newsgroups, Web browsers, push technologies, and Internet safety and security.
User popularity level:
Rated by buyers 
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This is the best book to learn about the meanings of the internet and its history. It was very easy to understand. If you are taking any computor courses this is a must. No matter what level of learning you are at this will teach you what you need to know.
Rated by buyers 
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Obviously if you are just learning about the Internet, your very first choice is not going to be Tanenbaum's classic "Computer Networks". Likewise, if you are a network security professional, this book won't help you either. This book is basically a picture book with very easy to swallow pieces of accessible text between pictures. It is meant to acquaint the complete novice with the basics of the Internet. By basics I mean defining terms, what it means to connect to the Internet, and interacting with the Internet without getting your identity stolen. The illustrations are quite enlightening to beginners, but don't expect detailed instructions on how to accomplish tasks of any complexity. If you are looking for that kind of beginner's book I recommend "The Internet: The Missing Manual" by Biersdorfer, published by O'Reilly and Associates. If you have a friend or relative who is completely new to computers who just wants to know about the Internet, this will do. If they want to interact with the Internet in any meaningful way, get the Missing Manual book. I was generous and gave this book three stars because I'm not really sure it's fair to downgrade a book because I think it is too simple. That might have been its intent.
Rated by buyers -
I've been involved in writing web pages, setting up web/mail/ftp servers for about a dozen years. I was working on a problem with a fellow and had to admit that there was a point I didn't understand. He reached up and pulled down this book and opened it to the section on security - Part 9 : Protecting Yourself on the Internet. Here in a very few pages the Governments Carnivore (FBI) and Echelon (NSA) programs were discussed. There wasn't much on the details, but it explains what the Government is doing to monitor and track e-mails. Carnivore has, of course, been shut down.
Each item being discussed only gets a page or two, and those pages are mostly illustration. But this makes it easy to understand. If you want to know more then you can go to more advanced books, or of course search the web. [Wikipedia has an entry -- Carnivore (FBI)]
On the whole a surprising amount of information. It's aimed mostly at beginners, but there are some things here that I believe most professionals would find interesting.
Rated by buyers -
All the facts you'll need about the Web, email, service providers, Web browsers and FTP. Topics range from connecting to the Internet, using Mail, Instant Messages (Chats), News Groups, File Transfer (FTP), and shopping from the Net. Written in a brief but informative style, at under $20.00 you'll find a wealth of information to help you. Keep this book on your desk and refer to it often for "practical" solutions to internet problems.
Rated by buyers 
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I highly recomend this book for 4 year olds and 80 year olds. This book addresses concepts only and then at the most simplistic of levels. I am not technical and was not looking for a book targeted to programmers. I simply wanted a book that would provide a modicum of information to satisfy a curious mind and give some substantive explanations as to how the internet works. This taught me nothing and is falsey advertised.
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