BKUSENET.RVW 941031 "Usenet: Netnews for Everyone", Fristrup, 1994, 0-13-123167-7, U$24.95/C$32.95 fristrup@hpl.hp.com %A Jenny A. Fristrup %C 113 Sylvan Avenue, Englewood Cliffs, NJ 07632 %D 1994 %G 0-13-123167-7 %I PTR Prentice Hall %O U$24.95/C$32.95 (515) 284-6751 FAX (515) 284-2607 %O phyllis@prenhall.com mfranz@prenhall.com beth_hespe@prenhall.com %P 396 %T "Usenet: Netnews for Everyone" Not all Internet sites carry Usenet news, and not all Usenet sites have full Internet access. Nonetheless, there is a great deal of overlap, and to many newer users, Usenet *is* the Internet. Usenet news has a number of advantages for neophytes: all the newsgroups available are there for the browsing, sites usually have about a week's traffic to peruse immediately, and, from the user's perspective, Usenet comes to you. Therefore, a user level Usenet book is a good idea. Part one is a general introduction to Usenet news, and particularly to the Usenet "community". Unfortunately, Fristrup does not adequately prepare newbies for the net. Some groups are friendly, some officious, some (like alt.flame) are outright traps for the unwary. Ironically, there is some real meat in the book--in the reprinted Salzenberg, Schwartz, Von Rospach, Kammens and Spafford articles which appear later in appendix A. Part two is a slight expansion on the normal Usenet newsgroups lists. Unfortunately, the formatting and layout make it quite confusing, at times. FAQs are included, but only by subject line references. There is no indication of frequency of posting, nor any information on where to get one if you want it *now*. In fact, a number of the "FAQs" *aren't* FAQs, or even periodic informational postings: some are just subject lines from that newsgroup. Part three, and the appendices, give miscellaneous related information, mostly to do with access and reader programs. This is likely helpful, though probably more to administrators than users. As a single, unassisted source for new users, this still needs work. It may be useful as a reference to the resource person, or trainer. copyright Robert M. Slade, 1994 BKUSENET.RVW 941031 ====================== DECUS Canada Communications, Desktop, Education and Security group newsletters Editor and/or reviewer ROBERTS@decus.ca, RSlade@sfu.ca, Rob Slade at 1:153/733 Author "Robert Slade's Guide to Computer Viruses" 0-387-94311-0/3-540-94311-0