The Internet: The Missing Manual

Book description

The Internet is almost synonymous with change--that's one of its charms, and one of its headaches. You may think you know the Internet, but are you really up to speed on internet telephones, movie and TV downloading, blogging, gaming, online banking, dating, and photosharing?


This utterly current book covers:

    Getting Online. Readers will have all the information they need to decide what kind of broadband connection works best for them, which browser they should use, and what kind of spyware-fighting and virus-and spam-protection measures they need to protect themselves.
    Finding Information. Google may be the leading search site, but it's certainly not the only game in town. This book introduces a diverse and useful collection of sites that help uncover everything from health care information, to shopping, travel and finance, to dependable reviews and ratings.
    Movies, music, and photos. The Web's teeming with entertainment--and not just the sort of postage-stamp sized videos that only a geek could love. Learn where to download movies, watch TV online, listen to music, play games, and post and share photos with friends.
    Keeping in touch. Email's only the beginning. This book introduces readers to the many tools that make the modern Internet such a great way to stay connected. From Web-based discussion groups to instant messaging programs, and from blogs and podcasts to Internet-based phone calls, this book will help you join the conversation.

Ideal for anyone just venturing into cyberspace, this book is also perfect for more experienced users who could use an update to today's most exciting internet applications.

Publisher resources

View/Submit Errata

Table of contents

  1. The Missing Credits
    1. About the Authors
    2. About the Creative Team
    3. The Missing Manual Series
  2. Introduction
    1. About This Book
      1. About → These → Arrows
      2. About MissingManuals.com
    2. The Very Basics
    3. Safari® Enabled
  3. I. Getting Online
    1. 1. Getting Online
      1. 1.1. Broadband Connections (Fast)
        1. 1.1.1. The Broadband Setup
          1. 1.1.1.1. Wrapping up the Windows setup
          2. 1.1.1.2. Wrapping up the Mac OS X setup
        2. 1.1.2. Sharing a Broadband Connection
      2. 1.2. Dial-Up Connections (Slow)
        1. 1.2.1. Meet the Modem
        2. 1.2.2. Finding an ISP
        3. 1.2.3. Setting Up a Dial-Up Connection (Windows)
          1. 1.2.3.1. The New Connection Wizard
          2. 1.2.3.2. Actually going online
          3. 1.2.3.3. The Notification Area icon
          4. 1.2.3.4. Disconnecting
        4. 1.2.4. Setting Up a Dial-Up Connection (Macintosh)
          1. 1.2.4.1. The PPP tab
          2. 1.2.4.2. Going online
          3. 1.2.4.3. Disconnecting
      3. 1.3. Wireless Connections (Awesome)
        1. 1.3.1. WiFi at Home
        2. 1.3.2. How to Join a Hot Spot
      4. 1.4. Software
        1. 1.4.1. Web Browsers
        2. 1.4.2. Email Programs
        3. 1.4.3. Instant Messaging Programs
        4. 1.4.4. Security Software
      5. 1.5. Advanced Connection Tricks (Windows)
        1. 1.5.1. Dialing Rules Tab
          1. 1.5.1.1. General tab
          2. 1.5.1.2. Area Code Rules tab
          3. 1.5.1.3. Calling Card tab
        2. 1.5.2. Modems Tab
        3. 1.5.3. Advanced Tab
      6. 1.6. Advanced Connection Tricks (Mac OS X)
        1. 1.6.1. Switching Locations
        2. 1.6.2. Creating a New Location
        3. 1.6.3. Making the Switch
        4. 1.6.4. Multihoming
    2. 2. Surfing the Web
      1. 2.1. Your First Web Page
        1. 2.1.1. Parts of a Web Browser
        2. 2.1.2. Moving to Another Page
          1. 2.1.2.1. By address
          2. 2.1.2.2. By link
          3. 2.1.2.3. By button
          4. 2.1.2.4. By history
        3. 2.1.3. Bookmarks: Getting Back to Where You’ve Been
          1. 2.1.3.1. Adding bookmarks
      2. 2.2. Portals: Dashboards of the Web
        1. 2.2.1. Google
        2. 2.2.2. Yahoo
        3. 2.2.3. MSN
        4. 2.2.4. AOL
      3. 2.3. Browser Choices
        1. 2.3.1. Firefox
          1. 2.3.1.1. Getting and setting up Firefox
        2. 2.3.2. Netscape
        3. 2.3.3. Opera
        4. 2.3.4. Top Tips for Setting Up Your Browser
          1. 2.3.4.1. Choose your own home page
          2. 2.3.4.2. Customize your button and toolbars
          3. 2.3.4.3. Set up and organize your bookmarks
          4. 2.3.4.4. Add a Google, Yahoo, or MSN toolbar
  4. II. Finding Information
    1. 3. How to Search the Web
      1. 3.1. Search Basics
        1. 3.1.1. Searching with Google
        2. 3.1.2. Basic Search
        3. 3.1.3. Advanced Search
        4. 3.1.4. Searching with Yahoo
        5. 3.1.5. Advanced Search
        6. 3.1.6. Searching with MSN
        7. 3.1.7. Alternative Search Engines
      2. 3.2. Directories at Your Service
    2. 4. Searching by Information Type
      1. 4.1. White Pages, Yellow Pages
      2. 4.2. Driving Directions
      3. 4.3. Health and Medicine
      4. 4.4. Job Hunting
      5. 4.5. Getting the Facts
      6. 4.6. Word Definitions
    3. 5. News and Blogs
      1. 5.1. News Sites
        1. 5.1.1. Google News
        2. 5.1.2. Yahoo News
        3. 5.1.3. BBC News
        4. 5.1.4. CNN.com
      2. 5.2. Online Newspapers
        1. 5.2.1. NYTimes.com
        2. 5.2.2. WSJ.com
        3. 5.2.3. Your Local Paper
      3. 5.3. Sports, Weather, and Entertainment
        1. 5.3.1. Sports
        2. 5.3.2. Weather
        3. 5.3.3. Entertainment
      4. 5.4. Blogs
        1. 5.4.1. Using Blog-Search Sites
      5. 5.5. Feeds: Having the News Come to You
    4. 6. Reviews and Ratings
      1. 6.1. Movies
        1. 6.1.1. The Internet Movie Database
        2. 6.1.2. Rotten Tomatoes
        3. 6.1.3. Ain’t It Cool News
        4. 6.1.4. Film Threat
      2. 6.2. Restaurants
        1. 6.2.1. Restaurant Row
        2. 6.2.2. DineSite
        3. 6.2.3. Restaurant.com
      3. 6.3. Music
        1. 6.3.1. Billboard
        2. 6.3.2. Music Critic
        3. 6.3.3. Pitchfork
        4. 6.3.4. Music Sites by Genre
          1. 6.3.4.1. HipHop DX
          2. 6.3.4.2. Gramophone
          3. 6.3.4.3. Classics Today
          4. 6.3.4.4. Jazz Review
          5. 6.3.4.5. Country Stars Online
          6. 6.3.4.6. World Music Central
      4. 6.4. Books
        1. 6.4.1. Amazon and B&N
        2. 6.4.2. The New York Times Book Review
        3. 6.4.3. The New York Review of Books
      5. 6.5. Consumer Electronics
        1. 6.5.1. CNET
        2. 6.5.2. Dontbuyjunk
        3. 6.5.3. Consumer Search
        4. 6.5.4. Epinions
      6. 6.6. Cars
        1. 6.6.1. Cars.com
        2. 6.6.2. Kelley Blue Book
        3. 6.6.3. Car Talk
        4. 6.6.4. The Family Car
  5. III. Shopping, Travel, and Finance
    1. 7. Shopping
      1. 7.1. How to Shop Online
      2. 7.2. The Top Shopping Sites
        1. 7.2.1. Amazon
          1. 7.2.1.1. Your Amazon account
        2. 7.2.2. eBay
          1. 7.2.2.1. Bidding and buying items
        3. 7.2.3. Craigslist
      3. 7.3. Finding Good Deals
        1. 7.3.1. Froogle
        2. 7.3.2. Shopping.com and DealTime
      4. 7.4. Shopping for Big-Ticket Items
        1. 7.4.1. Cars
        2. 7.4.2. Real Estate
          1. 7.4.2.1. Realtor.com
          2. 7.4.2.2. RealEstate.com
          3. 7.4.2.3. Century 21
    2. 8. Planning Trips
      1. 8.1. Booking Tickets and Reservations
        1. 8.1.1. TripAdvisor
        2. 8.1.2. Travelocity
        3. 8.1.3. Expedia
        4. 8.1.4. Orbitz
        5. 8.1.5. Kayak
      2. 8.2. Last-Minute Deals
        1. 8.2.1. Priceline
        2. 8.2.2. Hotwire
        3. 8.2.3. Travelzoo
    3. 9. Finance
      1. 9.1. Online Banking
        1. 9.1.1. Paying Bills
      2. 9.2. Finding Loans Online
      3. 9.3. Trading Online and Tracking Investments
        1. 9.3.1. Finding Stock Information
        2. 9.3.2. Setting Up an Online Trading Account
      4. 9.4. Doing Your Taxes Online
        1. 9.4.1. Filing a Federal Tax Return Electronically
          1. 9.4.1.1. Using a tax-preparation service online
        2. 9.4.2. Finding Tax Information and Forms Online
  6. IV. Entertainment and Media
    1. 10. Games and Gambling
      1. 10.1. Games for the Whole Family
        1. 10.1.1. Where to Find Games Online
        2. 10.1.2. Bridge
        3. 10.1.3. Chess
      2. 10.2. Shoot ‘Em Up Games
      3. 10.3. Massive Multiplayer Games
      4. 10.4. Virtual Worlds
        1. 10.4.1. Life in a Virtual World
        2. 10.4.2. Virtual Worlds Online
      5. 10.5. Fantasy Sports
      6. 10.6. Gambling
        1. 10.6.1. Online Poker
        2. 10.6.2. Other Casino Games
    2. 11. Music and Audio
      1. 11.1. Digital Audio and the Internet
      2. 11.2. Listening to Digital Audio
        1. 11.2.1. Downloading Songs
        2. 11.2.2. Streaming Audio
      3. 11.3. Online Music Stores
        1. 11.3.1. The iTunes Music Store
        2. 11.3.2. MusicMatch
        3. 11.3.3. Napster, Rhapsody, MusicMatch, Yahoo Music…
        4. 11.3.4. eMusic
        5. 11.3.5. Places to Find Free Music Downloads
      4. 11.4. Streaming Music Sites
        1. 11.4.1. Real Rhapsody
        2. 11.4.2. Yahoo Music
        3. 11.4.3. Pandora
      5. 11.5. Internet Radio
      6. 11.6. Podcasts
        1. 11.6.1. Podcasts on iTunes
        2. 11.6.2. Yahoo Podcasts
        3. 11.6.3. Odeo Podcast Sharing
          1. 11.6.3.1. Recording an Odeo podcast
          2. 11.6.3.2. Recording a podcast by phone
        4. 11.6.4. NPR Podcasts
    3. 12. Videos, Movies, and TV
      1. 12.1. Videos and Movies Online
        1. 12.1.1. Downloading Movie Rentals
          1. 12.1.1.1. Movielink
          2. 12.1.1.2. CinemaNow
          3. 12.1.1.3. Vongo
        2. 12.1.2. Watching TV Shows Online
          1. 12.1.2.1. iTunes Music Store
          2. 12.1.2.2. Google Video
          3. 12.1.2.3. AOL In2TV and Hi-Q
          4. 12.1.2.4. Free video sites
      2. 12.2. DVDs by Mail
        1. 12.2.1. Netflix
        2. 12.2.2. Blockbuster
      3. 12.3. Watching Webcams
    4. 13. Photos
      1. 13.1. Finding Photos
        1. 13.1.1. Flickr
          1. 13.1.1.1. Searching for photos on Flickr
          2. 13.1.1.2. Other Flickr features
        2. 13.1.2. Google Images
          1. 13.1.2.1. Searching for images on Google
          2. 13.1.2.2. Fine-tuning a Google Image search
      2. 13.2. Sharing Photos Online
        1. 13.2.1. Uploading Your Images
        2. 13.2.2. Choosing a Photo-Sharing Site
          1. 13.2.2.1. Flickr
          2. 13.2.2.2. Shutterfly
          3. 13.2.2.3. Snapfish
          4. 13.2.2.4. Kodak EasyShare Gallery
      3. 13.3. Sending Photos to a Printing Service
      4. 13.4. Sending Photos via Email
        1. 13.4.1. The Email Resolution Nightmare
        2. 13.4.2. File Formats
  7. V. Communicating with Others
    1. 14. Email
      1. 14.1. Email Program vs. Web-Based Email
        1. 14.1.1. How Computer-Based Mail Works
        2. 14.1.2. How Web-Based Email Works
        3. 14.1.3. Dedicated Email Programs
          1. 14.1.3.1. Outlook Express
          2. 14.1.3.2. Outlook
          3. 14.1.3.3. Thunderbird
          4. 14.1.3.4. Eudora
          5. 14.1.3.5. Apple Mail
        4. 14.1.4. Web-Based Email Services
          1. 14.1.4.1. Yahoo Mail
          2. 14.1.4.2. Gmail
          3. 14.1.4.3. MSN Hotmail
          4. 14.1.4.4. .Mac
      2. 14.2. Setting Up Your Email Program
      3. 14.3. Writing and Sending Messages
        1. 14.3.1. Email Etiquette
      4. 14.4. Reading and Organizing Email
        1. 14.4.1. How to Deal with Email
        2. 14.4.2. The Parts of Your Mailbox
        3. 14.4.3. Filters and Message Rules
        4. 14.4.4. Opening Attachments
      5. 14.5. Fighting Email Pests
        1. 14.5.1. Spam
        2. 14.5.2. Viruses
    2. 15. Instant Messages and Chat
      1. 15.1. Instant Messaging: An Introduction
      2. 15.2. IM Services: The Catalog
        1. 15.2.1. AIM
        2. 15.2.2. Yahoo Messenger
        3. 15.2.3. MSN Messenger
        4. 15.2.4. iChat
        5. 15.2.5. Phase 1: Build Your Buddy List
        6. 15.2.6. Phase 2: Start the Chat
          1. 15.2.6.1. Security check
          2. 15.2.6.2. The chat transcript
        7. 15.2.7. Beyond Text Chat
          1. 15.2.7.1. Voice calls
          2. 15.2.7.2. Video calls
          3. 15.2.7.3. Insert a smiley
        8. 15.2.8. Swapping Files
        9. 15.2.9. Games
        10. 15.2.10. Customize
        11. 15.2.11. Chat Rooms
    3. 16. Discussion Groups
      1. 16.1. Finding and Searching Groups
        1. 16.1.1. Google Groups
          1. 16.1.1.1. Using Google Groups
          2. 16.1.1.2. Usenet groups on Google
          3. 16.1.1.3. Searching Google’s archives
        2. 16.1.2. Yahoo Groups
        3. 16.1.3. MSN Groups
        4. 16.1.4. Groups@AOL
      2. 16.2. Creating New Groups
    4. 17. Social Networking
      1. 17.1. Socializing and Dating Services
        1. 17.1.1. Finding the Right Site
        2. 17.1.2. Online Dating Safety Tips
        3. 17.1.3. Friendster
        4. 17.1.4. Match.com
      2. 17.2. Professional Networking
        1. 17.2.1. LinkedIn
        2. 17.2.2. Jobster
    5. 18. Skype & VoIP: Internet Phones
      1. 18.1. Skype: Computer-to-Phone Plans
        1. 18.1.1. What You Need for Skype
        2. 18.1.2. Starting Up with Skype
        3. 18.1.3. Making Calls
        4. 18.1.4. Receiving Calls
        5. 18.1.5. SkypeIn
      2. 18.2. Phone-to-Phone Plans
        1. 18.2.1. Questions to Ask About VoIP Service
        2. 18.2.2. Choosing a VoIP Service
        3. 18.2.3. Setting Up VoIP
        4. 18.2.4. Using VOIP
  8. VI. Internet Power and Protection
    1. 19. Your Own Blogs, Web Sites, and Podcasts
      1. 19.1. Blogs
        1. 19.1.1. Creating a Blog
        2. 19.1.2. Free Blog Sites
          1. 19.1.2.1. Blogger
          2. 19.1.2.2. Xanga
          3. 19.1.2.3. LiveJournal
          4. 19.1.2.4. TypePad
      2. 19.2. Super-Simple Web Pages
        1. 19.2.1. Google Page Creator
        2. 19.2.2. Homestead
        3. 19.2.3. Yahoo GeoCities
        4. 19.2.4. .Mac and iWeb
      3. 19.3. Professional Web Sites
        1. 19.3.1. Phase 1: Design Your Web Site
          1. 19.3.1.1. Text editors
          2. 19.3.1.2. WYSIWYG (drag-and-drop) programs
        2. 19.3.2. Phase 2: Find a Web Host
          1. 19.3.2.1. Using Web space from your ISP
          2. 19.3.2.2. Using Web space from a hosting company
        3. 19.3.3. Phase 3: Publish Your Web Site
      4. 19.4. Podcasts
        1. 19.4.1. All-in-One Podcast Programs
          1. 19.4.1.1. GarageBand
        2. 19.4.2. Do-It-Yourself Podcast Programs
          1. 19.4.2.1. Recording the audio (Windows)
          2. 19.4.2.2. Recording the audio (Macintosh)
          3. 19.4.2.3. Publishing the podcast
    2. 20. Living on the Web
      1. 20.1. Online Backup and Storage
        1. 20.1.1. How to Find Online Storage
          1. 20.1.1.1. Xdrive
          2. 20.1.1.2. FilesAnywhere
          3. 20.1.1.3. IBackup
          4. 20.1.1.4. .Mac
      2. 20.2. Online Word Processing Programs
        1. 20.2.1. Microsoft Office Live
        2. 20.2.2. Other Online Word Processors
      3. 20.3. Project Planning and Group Calendars
        1. 20.3.1.  
          1. 20.3.1.1. Google Calendar
          2. 20.3.1.2. Yahoo Calendar
          3. 20.3.1.3. Basecamp/Backpack/Ta-da List
      4. 20.4. Online Meetings/Web Conferencing
        1. 20.4.1.  
          1. 20.4.1.1. FreeConference.com
          2. 20.4.1.2. WebEx
          3. 20.4.1.3. Breeze
    3. 21. Staying Safe
      1. 21.1. Know Your Enemies
      2. 21.2. Fighting Internet Pests
      3. 21.3. Defeating Spyware
      4. 21.4. Controlling Cookies
      5. 21.5. Phishing Lures
      6. 21.6. Sealing Your Computer’s Firewall
        1. 21.6.1. Hardware Firewalls
        2. 21.6.2. Software Firewalls
          1. 21.6.2.1. The Windows XP Firewall
          2. 21.6.2.2. Setting up the Mac OS X firewall
      7. 21.7. Protecting Your Kids
        1. 21.7.1. Ground Rules for Kids
        2. 21.7.2. Advice for Parents
  9. Index
  10. About the Authors
  11. Colophon
  12. Copyright

Product information

  • Title: The Internet: The Missing Manual
  • Author(s): J.D. Biersdorfer, David Pogue
  • Release date: July 2006
  • Publisher(s): O'Reilly Media, Inc.
  • ISBN: 9780596527426