Harley Hahn's Internet Advisor

480 Pages·2001·2.32 MB·English

by  Harley Hahn

A Personal Note from Harley Hahn
Do you feel frustrated when you use the Internet? Do you feel inadequate
when something goes wrong and you don’t know what to do? Are you con-
fused when you want to find some information and you don’t know where to
start?
Let me tell you something. Everyone feels that way—everyone, that is, who
has not yet learned how to use the Internet well.
There are many skills we need to develop in order to function well in our soci-
ety. When we are young, we learn how to speak, read and write, and we spend
years in school acquiring a basic education. As we get older, we learn how to
drive a car, manage our money and live on our own. Although it is possible to
live without these skills, few people would choose to do so.
Realistically, you can never be the total master of your fate, but if you have
some understanding how things work, you cancontrol your actions and, thus,
have some influence over what happens to you.
With the Internet, all this takes is for you to develop a number of basic skills.
Once you do — I promise you — you will feel a lotmore comfortable and con-
fident.
To take control of any situation, you need to understand the fundamental
forces that are at work. My goal in this book is to explain how the Internet
works, and how you can use it to get what you want.
Please read this book, and join me as we explore the various parts of the
Internet. As you do, you can count on me in several important ways:
(cid:1) I promise to discuss everything you need to get started: how to
choose a computer, how to connect to the Net, and how to find the
programs you will want to use.
(cid:1) I promise to introduce you to the words and technical terms you will
encounter as you learn about the Internet. I will explain each of these
words to you and show you how to use them well.
(cid:1) I promise to explain the important ideas you need to use the
Internet, and how to use your programs well in harmony with these
ideas.
(cid:1) Most important, I promise to teach you how to understand what you
are doing and how it fits into the Internet as a whole. I will show you
the ideas behind the ideas, and help you appreciate the power and
beauty that I see every day.
All I ask of you are two things.
First, read the entire book.
Although you can look up a particular topic and read it in isolation, I wrote
this book for you to read from cover to cover — from start to finish. Please do
so. You will not only enjoy yourself, you will find a lot more than you expect.
(As I am sure you realize by now, this is not an ordinary computer book.)
Second, as you read, I want you to think about the following idea. As a human
being, you are blessed with intelligence, creativity and curiosity. Many people
never live up to their potential because they allow themselves to become lazy
or discouraged. Along the way, such people lose (or never develop) self-con-
fidence. They are afraid of new ideas, and they are scared that they will not
be able to understand and master new technology.
I want to make sure this does not happen to you. I want to make sure you
understand that everyone has trouble learning how to use complicated tools
and understanding complicated ideas. The world is full of people who will
promise to teach you quickly and simply, but don’t be fooled. Learning how to
use an intricate system well takes time and mental effort.
You and I are going to spend many hours together, and my job is to make sure
that time is well spent. The Internet helps us communicate and learn. I wrote
this book in the same spirit. As you read, I will be by your side: explaining,
teaching and, at times, entertaining you.
Throughout this book, I will show you a lot more than how to use the
Internet. I will show you how to work — and how to think about your work
— with elegance and style. I will show you how to open doors that you may
not even know exist. You and I will walk through those doors together, and,
in the weeks and months that follow, you will find that our world is a lot more
exciting and wonderful than you ever dreamed.
The Internet is important, and I want you to be able to use it well. I want you
to understand what it does, how it works, and why it is so important to us.
Above all, I want you to enjoy using the Internet, secure in the knowledge
that you know what you are doing, that you understand what is going on, and
that you belong.
www.harley.com
Cover will come when built
About Harley
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.

Harley Hahn’s Internet Advisor
Copyright® 2002 by Harley Hahn
All rights reserved. No part of this book shall be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or
transmitted by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise,
without written permission from the publisher. No patent liability is assumed with respect to
the use of the information contained herein. Although every precaution has been taken in
the preparation of this book, the publisher and author assume no responsibility for errors or
omissions. Nor is any liability assumed for damages resulting from the use of the information
contained herein.
International Standard Book Number: 0-7897-2697-1
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 2001096308
Printed in the United States of America
First Printing: November, 2001
04 03 02 01 4 3 2 1
The following are all registered trademarks of Harley Hahn: the names “Harley Hahn” and
“Harley Hahn’s Internet Exploration Station”, the stylized Harley Hahn signature
and the Unisphere logo.
Trademarks
All terms mentioned in this book that are known to be trademarks or service marks have been
appropriately capitalized. Que Corporation cannot attest to the accuracy of this information.
Use of a term in this book should not be regarded as affecting the validity of any trademark or
service mark.
Warning and Disclaimer
Every effort has been made to make this book as complete and as accurate as possible, but no
warranty or fitness is implied. The information provided is on an “as is” basis. The authors and
the publisher shall have neither liability nor responsibility to any person or entity with respect
to any loss or damages arising from the information contained in this book.
To Lydia Hearn, my Chief of Staff, who has
never, ever had a book dedicated to her.
Now she has.
viii Contents
List of Chapters
1 Understanding the Internet 1
2 An Overview of the Internet 19
3 Everything You Need to Connect to the Net 37
4 Internet Addresses 65
5 Mail 93
6 Using Mail Well 119
7 The Web 139
8 Talking on the Net 169
9 Downloading and Installing Software 199
10 Music on the Net 213
11 Finding Stuff on the Net 229
12 Safety, Security and Privacy 251
13 Usenet 281
14 Mailing Lists 313
15 Creating Your Own Web Site 331
16 Getting Your Own Domain Name 355
17 How to Do Stuff 363
A List of Top-Level Internet Domains 381
B Time Zones on the Internet 391
C Abbreviations Used When Talking on the Net 395
Glossary 401
Index 433
Contents ix
List of Figures
FIGURE 1-1: Important Internet (TCP/IP) protocols 9
FIGURE 2-1: Important clients and servers used on the Internet 36
FIGURE 3-1: Various ways to connect to an ISP 49
FIGURE 4-1: Organizational top-level domains 67
FIGURE 4-2: Examples of geographical top-level domains 68
FIGURE 4-3: The most common schemes used within URLs 82
FIGURE 4-4: The most common file extensions used on the Internet 85
FIGURE 5-1: A typical mail message 102
FIGURE 5-2: A typical mail message showing the full header 104
FIGURE 5-3: The life cycle of a mail message 110
FIGURE 6-1: An example of a good mail message 122
FIGURE 6-2: An example of a bad mail message 123
FIGURE 6-3: Common abbreviations used in mail messages 127
FIGURE 7-1: A typical Web page within Internet Explorer 143
FIGURE 7-2: Variations in the appearance of Internet Explorer 144
FIGURE 7-3: A Web page with frames 153
FIGURE 7-4: A typical Favorites list within Internet Explorer 163
FIGURE 8-1: An instant messaging conversation 174
FIGURE 8-2: Instant Messaging systems: lists of names 174
FIGURE 8-3: A chat room using a Java talk client 176
FIGURE 8-4: A chat room using a browser as a talk client 177
FIGURE 8-5: Abbreviations used while talking on the Net 179
FIGURE 8-6: A typical IRC session 185
FIGURE 8-7: Important IRC commands 187
FIGURE 8-8: An imaginary setting within a mud 190
FIGURE 8-9: Standard port numbers used on the Internet 192
FIGURE 9-1: The most common file extensions used on the Web 201
FIGURE 9-2: Dialog box asking to download an ActiveX control 205
FIGURE 9-3: Beginning a download with Internet Explorer 207
FIGURE 9-4: Specifying where to save a downloaded file 207