Internet Annoyances: How to Fix the Most Annoying Things about Going Online

by Preston Gralla

What began as an intrepid U.S. Government initiative in the early 1970's has turned into a global way of life. Indeed, with more than 500 million current users (and counting), the Internet has... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0596007353
• ISBN13: 9780596007355
• Release Date: March 2005
• Publisher: O'Reilly Media
• Length: 239 Pages
• Weight: 1.14 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 7.9" x 9.7"

Customer Reviews

Great Ideas

Originally I got this book from my local public library. It was packed with so many great ideas I decided to get a copy for my personal library. Great idea book!

Internet Annoyances

SCUG Book Review: Internet Annoyances By Gregory West Editor, SCUG Report Sarnia Computer User's Group - www.scug.ca By Preston Gralla. Published by O'Reilly Media, Inc. Category: Internet. ISBN: 0-596-00735-3 Format: Paperback, 239pp U.S. $24.95 / CAN. $36.95 Anyone who has been surfing the Internet knows that around every corner there is always something new and exciting. "Internet Annoyances" is one of those things, a cyberspace goldmine book that is loaded with far too many tips and tricks for Internet travelers to mention here. Preston Gralla is an author of more than 30 books about the Internet and computing, as well he was the founding editor of PC/Computing. He helped establish ZDNet online service and now he shares these experiences in this fascinating book. Preston Gralla spent years collecting emails about annoying issues that Internet users have complained about and turned these problems into solutions. This book is organized into 10 chapters covering various aspects of computering problems and their solutions: Email and Spam, Making the Connection, Wireless, Web Hosting / Design and Blogs, Browsers, AOL, Instant Messaging, Searching Annoyances, Security, and Shopping / Auction annoyances. This book is deigned for you to flip about looking for those computer annoyances that irritate you the most. Of course, if you have a specific problem you can easily find a solution in the well-organized Index at the back of the book. The pages are loaded with tons of screen shots identifying the specific topics, along with the problem stated and "The Fix" where you will be led systematic in a correction process that is easy to follow. Along with the screenshots, there are many highlighted features of both manufacturers programs and links to many free programs. A lot of the time these work just as well, if not better than those you have to pay for do. To take you a bit farther there are periodic "tip" boxes that help explain why you need to do this certain action, thus helping you learn more about the Internet and its various aspects of use. For instance, in the Security chapter you are given warnings and solutions about how to "Block Snooping Neighbours", "Spoofed Emails", "Phishing Expeditions", and of course a great section on Adware and Spyware, Trojans / Worms and Viruses. In the Shopping and Auction chapter you will learn about the various frauds such as identity theft and how to prevent it, faster form filling, and many Ebay tips. Anyone who has a wireless setup at home, or for those who travel and use public WIFI access, Chapter 3: Wireless Annoyances is a must read. This section leads you into safe surfing and gives you step-by-step tips on how to secure your system from hackers and how to stop "BANDWIDTH VAMPIRES". You will also learn how to boost your signals, extend your wireless range, and find those hotspots while on the road. This book is great for those who are just heading out on their first adventure into the World Wide Web

some annoyances are dangerous

For most of us, a huge value of our computers is being able to hook to the Internet. This once science fictional dream has now become an everyday reality. Alas, as this book mentions, such a reality also includes many annoying problems. One way to read this book is to divide those annoyances into two groups. The first group is the little things, like tweaking the various Microsoft Office products. The second group of annoyances can be more troublesome. Like viruses/worms and spam. Malware. Consider spam. The universal scourge. The book has a good, quick discussion of the main antispam techniques, like Bayesians or hashing. Plus advice that is a little cynical, but realistic. Like how the Can Spam act has largely proved useless. Or how you should not use naughty words in your outgoing email, to minimise chances of it being tagged as spam by your recipient's email provider. Hotspots are also discussed heavily, due to their popularity and often insecure mode of operation. There is a great danger of someone running a packet sniffer. So your key communications should use https, if you are engaged in sensitive matters, like using your credit card. But the book does not go into how a phisher could launch a deadlier man in the middle attack. Where she replaces the hot spot device with her own, or subverts the device's software. Then, she runs a pocket universe, where she might have copied the websites of various banks, and she directs http queries to those banks to her fake websites [pharms]. This method totally negates https. Granted, it is technically quite hard to do and so is still somewhat uncommon. But the book should warn of it, if you want to stay ahead of the curve.

Outstanding selection of helpful hints

This is an outstanding selection of hints and tips for everything from fighting spam, to blocking popups, blogging, searching, buying, and a host of other activities on the Internet. The book has around 300 annoyances, each with an explanation of the problem and a solution. The annoyances, and the explanations, are all in play english for laymen. Some of these hints are given several pages to play out. One particularly good one discusses the selection of a web hosting service. There is even a table with prices, storage sizes, bandwidth amounts, and more. It's great information presented in an easy to use form. Other hints, like the explanation of why you can't return a TV that is greater than 27 inches, seem out of place. But those are few and far between. There are a number of books out there for Internet users looking for helpful hints. This is the best one I have seen so far. The writing is engaging, the content is great.