The Dictionary of PC Hardware and Data Communications Terms covers terms in two of the most volatile and interesting areas of computer development: personal computers and networks. It provides up-to-date information about everything from a common item like "batteries" to an obscure font technology called "Speedo."

The book's strength is that it is comprehensive. The author has combed the Internet and other online services to find the latest and most vexing acronyms and terms. Each entry has three sections. First, it lists the acronym; then the expansion of that acronym; and third, the definition of it.

In a way, it's inaccurate to call this a dictionary because it provides long and useful descriptions of the complex terms in these two computer areas. For example, the description of PGP (Pretty Good Privacy), a popular data encryption protocol, covers three and one-half pages. The entry for PowerPC contains a table listing the clock speed, number of transistors, width in bits, cache in kilobytes, and pins of each PowerPC processor currently in use.

The author has carefully cross-referenced the terms as well (to other sections of the book, and to ftp and www sites on the Internet).