Internet Annoyances

Description

Recognizing the universal nature of the Net, Internet Annoyances strives to make using the Internet as stress-free as possible for everyone. This insightful guide effectively addresses and presents solutions for the many glitches that still complicate the Internet experience. You'll learn how to thwart would-be hackers, ensure greater security while surfing, eliminate pop-up ads, maximize online services, conduct effective searches, and much more.

Full Description

What began as an intrepid U.S. Government initiative in the early 1970's has turned into a global way of life. Indeed, with more than 500 million current users (and counting), the Internet has revolutionized the way societies function the world over. From dating and shopping online, to conducting informational research, to communicating via email, today seemingly everyone uses the Internet for one purpose or another. How, then, can something so vast and powerful be defiled by something as trivial as spam? It's true. The fact remains that despite the leading-edge technological sophistication fueling the Net, there are still many related annoyances that complicate and tarnish the Internet experience. And it doesn't matter if you're a homemaker in search of a fresh chicken recipe, or a civil engineer researching plans for a new skyscraper, the problems are the same. Internet Annoyances understands the universal nature of the Internet and strives to make its use as stress-free as possible. This insightful guide shows you how to overcome the most annoying Internet-related quirks, bugs, and hassles. You'll learn how to make a seamless connection, thwart would-be hackers, ensure greater security while surfing, eliminate pop-up ads, maximize online services, conduct more effective Google searches, better utilize digital media (music and video), and much more. In addition, Internet Annoyances discusses how to design and host a personal web site something once thought of as only possible for the technically gifted. Topics like blogs, domain names, setup, HTML, fonts, and graphics and are all dissected and analyzed for easy consumption. Unlike other books on the subject, Internet Annoyances assumes readers already possess a working knowledge of the Internet. By fully recognizing the experience level of today's Internet culture, author Preston Galla is able to cut immediately to the chase and not waste time on the more obvious points. Internet Annoyances, therefore, is a quick read that presents succinct solutions for the many glitches that still populate the Internet experience.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 Email and Spam Annoyances
1. GENERAL EMAIL ANNOYANCES
2. SPAM
3. OUTLOOK 2003 AND OUTLOOK EXPRESS 6
4. GMAIL
5. EUDORA 6
Chapter 2 Making the Connection Annoyances
1. GENERAL CONNECTION ANNOYANCES
2. BROADBAND: CABLE AND DSL CONNECTIONS
3. ROUTERS AND HOME NETWORKS
Chapter 3 Wireless Annoyances
1. HOME WIRELESS NETWORKS AND ROUTERS
2. CELL PHONES AND THE NET
3. WIFI SECURITY
4. HOTSPOTS
Chapter 4 Web Hosting, Design, and Blog Annoyances
1. DOMAIN AND HOSTING HASSLES
2. DESIGN AND MAINTENANCE HELP
3. BLOGGING
Chapter 5 Browser Annoyances
1. POP-UPS, ADS, AND FLASH
2. FAVORITES AND BOOKMARKS
3. WORKING THE INTERFACE
4. SPEEDUPS AND SHORTCUTS
5. COOKIES
Chapter 6 AOL Annoyances
1. GENERAL AOL ANNOYANCES
2. EMAIL
Chapter 7 Im Annoyances
1. GENERAL INSTANT MESSAGING ANNOYANCES
2. AOL INSTANT MESSENGER (AIM)
3. WINDOWS MESSENGER
4. YAHOO! MESSENGER
5. ICQ
Chapter 8 Searching Annoyances
1. GENERAL SEARCH ANNOYANCES
2. GOVERNMENT AND THE LAW
3. GOOGLE
4. AMAZON
5. EBAY
6. YAHOO!
Chapter 9 Security Annoyances
1. GENERAL SECURITY ANNOYANCES
2. SPYWARE
3. TROJANS, WORMS, AND VIRUSES
4. FIREWALLS
Chapter 10 Shopping and Auction Annoyances
1. GENERAL SHOPPING ANNOYANCES
2. EBAY ANNOYANCES
3. AMAZON ANNOYANCES

Colophon

Product Details

Title:

Internet Annoyances

By:

Preston Gralla

Publisher:

O'Reilly Media

Formats:

Print
Safari Books Online

Print Release:

January 2005

Pages:

256

Print ISBN:

978-0-596-00735-5

| ISBN 10:

0-596-00735-3

Customer Reviews

About the Author

Preston Gralla

Preston Gralla is the author of more than 20 books about computers and the Internet, including Windows XP Hacks and Windows XP Power Hound (both from O'Reilly). He's been writing about technology since the dawn of the PC, was a founding editor of both PC Week and PC/Computing, an executive editor at CNET/ZDNet, and contributor to dozens of publications, including PC Magazine, Computerworld, and the Los Angeles Times.

View Preston Gralla's full profile page.

Colophon

Our look is the result of reader comments, our own experimentation, and feedback from distribution channels. Distinctive covers complement our distinctive approach to technical topics, breathing personality and life into potentially dry subjects. Philip Dangler was the production editor and proofreader for Internet Annoyances. Rachel Wheeler was the copyeditor. Philip Dangler did the typesetting and page makeup. Emily Quill and Claire Cloutier provided quality control. Reg Aubry wrote the index.

Ellie Volckhausen designed the cover of this book using Adobe Illustrator, and produced the cover layout with Adobe InDesign CS using Gravur Condensed and Adobe Sabon fonts. The cover was based on a series design by Volume Design, Inc.

Patti Capaldi designed the interior layout using Adobe InDesign CS. The text and heading fonts are Rotis Sans Serif, Lineto Gravur, and Myriad Pro; the code font is TheSans Mono Condensed. Julie Hawks converted the text to Adobe InDesign CS. The screenshots and technical illustrations that appear in the book were produced by Robert Romano and Jessamyn Read using Macromedia FreeHand MX and Adobe Photoshop 7. The cartoon illustrations used on the cover and in the interior of this book are copyright © 2004 Hal Mayforth.

O'Reilly Books & Videos

How to Fix the Most Annoying Things about Going Online

Chapter 1 Email and Spam Annoyances

GENERAL EMAIL ANNOYANCES

SPAM

OUTLOOK 2003 AND OUTLOOK EXPRESS 6

GMAIL

EUDORA 6

Chapter 2 Making the Connection Annoyances

GENERAL CONNECTION ANNOYANCES

BROADBAND: CABLE AND DSL CONNECTIONS

ROUTERS AND HOME NETWORKS

Chapter 3 Wireless Annoyances

HOME WIRELESS NETWORKS AND ROUTERS

CELL PHONES AND THE NET

WIFI SECURITY

HOTSPOTS

Chapter 4 Web Hosting, Design, and Blog Annoyances

DOMAIN AND HOSTING HASSLES

DESIGN AND MAINTENANCE HELP

BLOGGING

Chapter 5 Browser Annoyances

POP-UPS, ADS, AND FLASH

FAVORITES AND BOOKMARKS

WORKING THE INTERFACE

SPEEDUPS AND SHORTCUTS

COOKIES

Chapter 6 AOL Annoyances

GENERAL AOL ANNOYANCES

EMAIL

Chapter 7 Im Annoyances

GENERAL INSTANT MESSAGING ANNOYANCES

AOL INSTANT MESSENGER (AIM)

WINDOWS MESSENGER

YAHOO! MESSENGER

ICQ

Chapter 8 Searching Annoyances

GENERAL SEARCH ANNOYANCES

GOVERNMENT AND THE LAW

GOOGLE

AMAZON

EBAY

YAHOO!

Chapter 9 Security Annoyances

GENERAL SECURITY ANNOYANCES

SPYWARE

TROJANS, WORMS, AND VIRUSES

FIREWALLS

Chapter 10 Shopping and Auction Annoyances

GENERAL SHOPPING ANNOYANCES

EBAY ANNOYANCES

AMAZON ANNOYANCES

Colophon

Preston Gralla