How the Internet Works (8th Edition) (How It Works)

How the Internet Works (8th Edition) (How It Works)
Price: $29.99 USD

Simple, clear explanations walk you through every technology

Detailed explanations walk you through the technology.

 

The Internet has changed the world... and, with everything from blogs to podcasts, Internet phones to video, it’s still changing the world. Now, it’s easy to understand how it all works! This book’s big, brilliant, full-color illustrations and clear explanations make it all incredibly simple!

 

DISCOVER HOW THE INTERNET REALLY WORKS... IT’S AMAZINGLY EASY!

This new edition has been completely updated for today’s hottest Internet technologies, Web connections, hardware, communications and entertainment services, and much more!

 

•    See how the Internet can deliver any kind of information, anywhere: web pages, email, music, video, phone calls, and more!

•    Understand the most exciting new Internet technologies, from blogs and podcasting to wikis and BitTorrent

•    Discover how your connection to the Internet works... wireless, cable modem, DSL, even cellphones

•    Go behind the scenes with today’s most sophisticated websites, applications, and services

•    Protect yourself from the latest Internet dangers, including phishing, web surveillance, and wireless hacking 

 

Preston Gralla is the award-winning author of more than 30 books, including How the Internet Works, Complete Idiot’s Guide to Internet Privacy and Security, Complete Idiot’s Guide to Protecting Your Child Online, and How Wireless Works. He has written

frequently about security issues, computer technology, the Internet, and has been a columnist for many magazines, websites

and newspapers.

 

 

 

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-color 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.

Author: Preston Gralla
Publisher: Que
Customer Reviews
  • Perfect for anyone
    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.
  • Surprisingly Helpful
    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. <br /> <br />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)] <br /> <br />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.
  • Practical staring point for inspiring Webmasters
    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.
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