PCHEADSK.RVW   990127

                                Comparison Review

Company and product:

Company: HarperCollins Interactive
Address: 10 East 53rd Street, New York, NY  10022-5299
Phone:   212-207-7000 212-207-7057 800-242-7737
Fax:     212-207-7433
Email:   information@... interactive@...
Other:   http://www.harpercollins.com
Product: HealthDesk ISBN 0-06-279005-6


Summary: medical patient information database with some medical
content


Cost

Rating (1-4, 1 = poor, 4 = very good)
       "Friendliness"
             Installation      3
             Ease of use       2
             Help systems      2
       Compatibility           3
       Company
             Stability         3
             Support           ?
       Documentation           1
       Hardware required       3
       Performance             2
       Availability            2
       Local Support           1

General Description:

Personal medical information database with a number of categories.
There is also a small amount of medical reference material.

                   Comparison of features and specifications


User Friendliness

Installation

Installation is straightforward and posed no problems.  The program is
shipped on four 1.44 meg disks.

One factor is that an enormous amount of data is possibly to be input
before the program will do much for you.  Have your full medical
history, probably more than you have on hand, ready for the program.

Ease of use

The program is relatively easy to use, once you get used to the fact
that it isn't going to get any better, and there simply is not much
information in it.

Help systems

There is online help, but most of the time you will not need it.

Compatibility

The program produced no problems with other software.

Company Stability

Good.

Company Support

HarperCollins Interactive is not very.  Interactive, that is.  I have
had almost no response from them over the years.

Documentation

The minimalist pamphlet included with the program gives you almost no
information about the program and what it will do.

System Requirements

Any computer capable of running Windows 3.1.  A colour monitor would
be an asset for some areas.

Performance

A number of sections are available for inputting data.  However, it
doesn't do much.

The HealthBook online in the program provides somewhat less
information than a generic home medical reference or first aid book.

Local Support

None provided.

Support Requirements

Extensive medical history compiled beforehand.

                                  General Notes

I am inescapably reminded of Dave Barry's take on "home finance"
software that purports to "help" you with your finances.  Barry says
that to him, financial help means money, preferably in cash.  Instead
financial software allows you to type in how much you spent, and how
much you spent it on, and then the computer tells you (are you ready
for this?) how much you spent, and what you spent it on.  In the same
way, HealthDesk allows to type in all kinds of information about your
health, and then ...

copyright Robert M. Slade, 1999   PCHEADSK.RVW   990127

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BKNT4AAG.RVW   990131

"Microsoft Windows NT Workstation 4.0 at a Glance", Jerry
Joyce/Marianne Moon, 1997, 1-57231-574-1, U$16.99/C$22.99/UK#15.49
%A   Jerry Joyce
%A   Marianne Moon
%C   1 Microsoft Way, Redmond, WA   98052-6399
%D   1997
%G   1-57231-574-1
%I   Microsoft Press
%O   U$16.99/C$22.99/UK#15.49 800-MSPRESS (6777377) fax: 206-936-7329
%P   314 p.
%T   "Microsoft Windows NT Workstation 4.0 at a Glance"

Chapter one is more of an introduction, giving an overview of the book
structure.  Chapter two provides a graphical overview of the basic
elements of the Windows interface, the terminology of the interface,
as well as minimal operations.  The material is not always as
straightforward as the authors seem to assume.  During startup, for
example, the operating system and hardware profile options are
mentioned, but passed over very briefly.  Explanation of the timed
startup of the default choice is given on a different page.  File
operations and management are in chapter three.  I must say that,
while the material is useful and there were some operations that were
even new to me, two things started to stand out.  One was the perky,
cheerleading style of the text, which might not sit well with either
those who are in a hurry to find the straight goods, or those who have
become frustrated with the system, and are in no mood to take
sermonettes on their way through the maze.  The second is the complete
lack of information on keyboard functions or shortcuts.  Generic
program operations would seem to be the topic for chapter four, but
instead there is a strong concentration on two applets that come with
NT.  The networking in chapter five is limited to accessing pre-
existing network resources, probably a wise choice in a user level
manual.  Printing is handled in the same way, although chapter six
does go into the print queue to a certain extent.

Chapter seven provides a fair amount of detail on the command prompt
window and the use of MS-DOS under NT, although not all the
explanations are completely clear.  I also noticed a couple of
examples that would fail because of the need to deal in special ways
with long filenames, particularly those with spaces in them.  Some of
the provided multimedia applets are reviewed in chapter eight.  Most
of chapter nine is spent on the email system, and it is a bit of a
pity that the material starts with the need to set up the system but
doesn't say how.

Chapter ten starts to look at customization with the appearance of the
interface.  A number of very useful functional adjustments are
presented in chapter eleven.  Mobility options are discussed in
chapter twelve.  As always, the Briefcase system is mentioned.  While
not fully explaining the operation, this book does go farther (at
least if you read the tips) than most others.  Some additional
modifications are described in chapter thirteen.  Chapter fourteen
talks, very briefly, about Web browsing, news, and different forms of
"chat."  Although chapter fifteen is entitled "Taking Care of
Problems," most of it refers to getting information and software from
the Microsoft Web site.

For those coming to an existing Windows NT workstation for the first
time, this work provides a quick and accessible guide to a fairly
complete range of functions and operations.  The volume of material
would allow it also to be useful as a reference for intermediate users
needing to get into infrequently used functions in, say, file
management or customization.  The lack of alternatives may frustrate
those wanting to find shortcuts to frequently used functions, but the
scope of the book should make it helpful to the majority of NT users.

copyright Robert M. Slade, 1999   BKNT4AAG.RVW   990131

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BKRFBUDT.RVW   990131

"The Race for Bandwidth", Cary Lu, 1998, 1-57231-513-X,
U$19.99/C$26.99/UK#18.49
%A   Cary Lu
%C   1 Microsoft Way, Redmond, WA   98052-6399
%D   1998
%G   1-57231-513-X
%I   Microsoft Press
%O   U$19.99/C$26.99/UK#18.49 800-MSPRESS (6777377) fax: 206-936-7329
%P   199 p.
%T   "The Race for Bandwidth: Understanding Data Transmission"

There is no statement of purpose or audience for this book, which
makes a critique of it somewhat difficult.

Chapter one provides a somewhat-simpler-than-layman's level
explanation of bandwidth as a measure of information transmission.
There is a scanty overview of the range of bandwidth requirements for
different technologies, with a few mistakes (one comparison is off by
a factor of fifty).  However, there is also some social analysis of
what the increase in bandwidth availability means, that may be missing
from some purely technical discussions of the topic.  The history of
communications given in chapter two is simple, though probably
interesting to the neophyte.  There are still a number of minor
errors, such as the dates of the first inception of the Internet, and
the first fax transmission, that make other details sometimes suspect.
Various ways of looking at bandwidth, and the tradeoffs to be made
(with an interesting variation on "never underestimate the bandwidth
of a station wagon full of mag tapes") comprise chapter three.  There
is also a good discussion of analogue and digital information.  This
is extended in chapter four with some comparisons of analogue
bandwidths for various media, although it is unfortunate that the
comparisons are not fully carried over into the digital realm.  This
is the more untoward since chapters five and six move into specifics
of the audio and video standards for North America and Europe, and
quickly become more technical than the prior background really
supports.  (It is also unclear what the point of these two chapter
is.)  The same holds true for chapter seven, which looks at the Public
Switched Telephone Network (PSTN), cellular, and modem technologies,
as opposed to the broadcast concentrations in five and six.  Chapter
eight reviews a number of very important aspects of packet data
networks such as the Internet, although, again, some of the
significance of the discussion will be lost on some readers because of
sections missing from the background information.  An afterword closes
out the book by noting that we will continue to want more bandwidth,
more will become available, and that not every piece of information
that we want is or will be available for transmission or access.

Clearly, this book is not suitable for professionals.  Too much is
missing for those who really have to make informed decisions.  For the
amateur, wanting to start to get a handle on communications
technology, the book holds much greater promise.  It does not get
bogged down in technical details, and it does stop to look at social
and political issues along the way.  While not always completely
reliable in its presentation of the technology, it is certainly
readable and entertaining.  For those wanting to get a "feel," rather
than a working knowledge, this is worth consideration.

copyright Robert M. Slade, 1999   BKRFBUDT.RVW   990131

======================
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BKCNDY2K.RVW   990130

"Countdown Y2K", Peter de Jager/Richard Bergeon, 1999, 0-471-32734-4,
U$29.99/C$46.50
%A   Peter de Jager
%A   Richard Bergeon
%C   5353 Dundas Street West, 4th Floor, Etobicoke, ON   M9B 6H8
%D   '99
%G   0-471-32734-4
%I   John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
%O   U$29.99/C$46.50 416-236-4433 fax: 416-236-4448 rlangloi@...
%P   330 p.
%T   "Countdown Y2K: Business Survival Planning for the Year 2000"

The authors have already had one crack at this, since this book is a
"complete update" (according to the publisher) of "Managing 00."  The
level of experience is not exactly evident.

Chapter one is a disorganized aggregation of the various types and
ways that the 2000 year is going to present problems.  (The blame is
once again laid on Hollerith cards.)  It also tries to present an idea
of the size and scope of the crisis by looking at the volume of work
to be done.  Because of the lack of structure, though, the impression
left is generally one of confusion.  It is also rather odd that the
authors did not take the opportunity to present more examples from the
problems that have arisen, and how much work it took to deal with
them.  (Appendix A gives a "case study": of a fictional company.)  The
disarray extends into chapter two with discussions of project 2000
team composition, systems inventories, and a completely bizarre table
of "best before" dates for Microsoft products.  Talk about embedded
systems get really disorienting in chapter three.  We are told "an
aluminum plant began to run amok" (because of leap year, not Y2K) but
without more details it seems likely that this was due to a process
control failure, not an embedded system.  There is also mention of the
failure of older GPS (Global Positioning Systems) in August of 1999,
without mention of the fact that this only coincidentally falls close
to December 31, 1999, and has a different cause.  Chapter four returns
to Y2K projects, with some helpful information.  However, it is also
clear that this material is dated, since it talks about "event
horizons" that have passed for just about everyone.

Y2K is a project, like any other project, and chapters five to seven
basically provide generic project management advice.  Chapter five
looks at macro planning topics.  There is a rehash of prior material
and a bit of a checklist in chapter six.  Personnel issues dominate
chapter seven.

Chapter eight gets into the nitty gritty of conversion with a look at
date formats, coding, and the windowing, bridging, or wrapping
approaches to software fixes.  There is a recommendation to look to
the resources that you have, in terms of general maintenance software,
in chapter nine.  A list of different types of maintenance tools, and
how they can be used for a Y2K project, is in chapter ten.  Chapter
eleven looks at outsourcing and takes a balanced approach, although
its answer to the all important "how to assess" question is a reminder
of that old saw: if you can tell the difference between good advice
and bad advice you don't need any advice.

Chapter twelve is very important to any Y2K plan: how to plan for
failure.  Which deficiency will create the most mess, and what can you
do about it?  Legal problems and lawsuits are overviewed in chapter
thirteen.  For those still needing tools or outsourcing, Appendix B
lists Y2K vendors.  Appendix C provides information on Web sites.  The
bibliography in appendix D is, for once, annotated.  Unfortunately,
when you look at the annotations, they are fairly obviously just
recycled press releases.

Given the fact that the authors have already had one chance at the
subject, and have been at the forefront of publicizing the problem, it
is disappointing that the result isn't of higher quality.  On the
other hand, one cannot say that it is any worse than the others in the
pack.

copyright Robert M. Slade, 1999   BKCNDY2K.RVW   990130

======================
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Find virus, book info http://victoria.tc.ca/techrev/rms.htm
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BKMSCMDC.RVW   990130

"Microsoft Press Computer Dictionary", Microsoft, 1997,
1-57231-446-X, U$29.99/C$39.99/UK#27.99
%A   Microsoft Press
%C   1 Microsoft Way, Redmond, WA   98052-6399
%D   1997
%G   1-57231-446-X
%I   Microsoft Press
%O   U$29.99/C$39.99/UK#27.99 800-MSPRESS (6777377) fax: 206-936-7329
%P   539 p. + CD-ROM
%T   "Microsoft Press Computer Dictionary, third edition"

I believe that this is the first time a *book* has ever asked me to
register it.

I suppose I have to give a point to a dictionary that starts out with
"$0.02 \mi` too sents'\ *see* my two cents."  On the other hand, a
book that gives you the pronunciation for ".." (dot-dot) and
"1024x768" (forget it, you don't have that much character set in
ASCII) is maybe pushing it a bit.

About the only Microsoft propaganda I could find was a negative entry:
"blue screen" only talks about film matting effects, with no mention
of the infamous BSOD (Blue Screen of Death).  (Lest someone object
that BSOD is slang, what do you call "$0.02," "BRB" (Be Right Back),
"TANSTAAFL" (There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch), "YHBT" (You
Have Been Trolled), and the Macintosh "chimes of doom?")  Well, OK,
the "Windows,", "Windows 95," and "Windows NT" entries were kinda
preachy.  And there was, of course, no entry for "WINE."

The range of the dictionary is extensive, covering desktop computing,
departmental and larger systems, networking, data communications,
graphics, data base management, electronics, and a whole host of other
topics.  (Security isn't one.)  There are some excellent explanatory
listings, such as those for boolean algebra and bubble sort, which
also use graphics very effectively.

"Kermit" is not maligned as being slow, although "Lynx" is still
relegated to the UNIX platform.  I note that there is no attempt to
provide the acronym expansion or derivation for "BNC connector."
There are some definite defects: "cascade connection" sends you to
"pipe," which has nothing to say about it.

I was intrigued by the dismissal of the possibility of email viruses,
in the entry for "Good Times virus," given that Microsoft is
responsible for technology that may make such an animal possible.
Yes, of course I checked "virus."  It wasn't any good.  "Worm," as is
oddly often the case for most computer dictionaries, is better.

The organization could be improved in some cases.  For example, while
I appreciate things like listings for ".bc.ca," there is no reason
that Internet country codes could not be put into a single table,
rather than scattered throughout the volume.

Although words like "ultimate" and "authoritative" on book jackets are
red flags to a reviewer, I must admit that I am very favorably
impressed with this work.  It is reasonably comprehensive and careful,
with reliable explanations in a wide range of areas.  I would not
hesitate to recommend it to any general computer user who wants a
large and useful reference.

copyright Robert M. Slade, 1999   BKMSCMDC.RVW   990130

======================
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Find virus, book info http://victoria.tc.ca/techrev/rms.htm
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BKHGCDVI.RVW   990129

"How to Get a College Degree Via the Internet", Sam Atieh, 1998,
0-7615-1370-1, U$16.00/C$21.95
%A   Sam Atieh saleh@...
%C   3875 Atherton Road, Rocklin, CA   95765-3716
%D   1998
%G   0-7615-1370-1
%I   Prima Publishing
%O   U$16.00/C$21.95 800-632-8676 916-632-4400 fax: 916-632-1232
%P   204 p.
%T   "How to Get a College Degree Via the Internet"

At about the same time that the author was looking for a distance
education program I was running a rather oddball experiment in
networked training delivery and researching what else was going on, so
I was interested to see something of how the field had developed.
This book didn't tell me much.

Part one is a set of very short, and mostly uninformative chapters.
Chapter one presents the selling points of online education: the high
direct costs of traditional education, plus the indirect costs that
are a barrier to those already engaged in life and not willing to go
back to student life.  Distance education has existed, and the
Internet exists, we are told by chapter two, and when the two meet,
something wonderful happens.  (There are a lot of generalities, and
not many details.)  A very short set of questions and answers,
intended to determine whether you are the type of person to benefit
from online education, is given in chapter three.  Not only is the
material exceedingly terse, but I began to become more distinctly
aware of a factor that had been bothering me from the beginning of the
book: there was a lot of emphasis on the career, and specifically
monetary, value of an online diploma or degree, but almost no
discussion of educational values themselves.  Chapter four runs
through a generic "what you need to get online" list, but very
quickly.  Most of the entries are sketchy in the extreme, a few are
helpful, and some, like the recommendation to have a dress code for
"class" and a few of the software suggestions, are a little odd.  The
advice for choosing a school, in chapter five, is fairly standard, but
some pointers for non-US students checking on American accreditation
is helpful.  Common application and prerequisite requirements are
listed, along with useful contacts for standard placement exams, are
mentioned in chapter six.  Chapter seven briefly looks at financial
matters such as scholarships and student loans.  A few informational
URLs (Uniform Resource Locators) are given in chapter eight.  The
advice to foreign students, in chapter nine, is basically a high speed
rehash of the prior content.  Chapter ten discusses online job
searching, mostly in terms of creating your own Web page and using
generic search engines.

Part two has most of the value of the book.  Seventy two institutions
are listed, with some brief description, online and postal contact
information, and a short description of offerings.  Most are from the
US, one from the UK, and two from Canada.  I know that the listings
are not complete, since two universities, at least one community
college, a special educational agency, and a theological school run
distance programs in my locale alone, none of which are listed.  I had
a quick look at the doctoral programs, and noted two that might merit
further research, so the pickings, as the author tacitly admits in the
introduction, are a little thin.

For those interested in getting a degree via the net, the inexpensive
price would probably repay the buyer in terms or time saved finding
programs.  (On the other hand, a decent Web search might do the same
thing, and possibly with more complete coverage.)  The initial
chapters may help some, but don't contain enough information for most
of those interested in getting online and researching the
possibilities.

copyright Robert M. Slade, 1999   BKHGCDVI.RVW   990129

======================
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Find virus, book info http://victoria.tc.ca/techrev/rms.htm
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BKFGWN95.RVW   990129

"Field Guide to Microsoft Windows 95", Stephen L. Nelson, 1995,
1-55615-675-8, U$9.95/C$12.95/UK#9.49
%A   Stephen L. Nelson
%C   1 Microsoft Way, Redmond, WA   98052-6399
%D   1995
%G   1-55615-675-8
%I   Microsoft Press
%O   U$9.95/C$12.95/UK#9.49 800-MSPRESS fax: 206-936-7329
%P   187 p.
%S   Field Guide
%T   "Field Guide to Microsoft Windows 95"

The title suggests a type of quick reference, along the lines of what
bug have we found now?  Ah, it's not a bug at all, but a Red-Faced
Coronary Inducing Feature!  However, of course, what we really want in
the computer world is fast access to straightforward directions on how
to accomplish what we need to get done.

The first of four sections in the book, called "Environment," gives a
quick introduction to Windows operations.  The graphical arrangement
of the book is quite appropriate for the Windows interface, but the
material misses a lot of areas that may be new to users, such as
clicking, dragging, and other "commands."  There are also some
misleading items, such as the statement that applications run until
stopped (some terminate by themselves).

Part two is the largest, an alphabetic listing of commands, programs,
and terms.  The "applets" of Win95, such as the calculator, backup,
and Paint, have enough explanation to get started with.  Terminology
is not always crystal clear, such as the assertion that folders have
"replaced" directories.  (It might now be evident that folders *are*
directories, by any other name.)  When looking for functions, there is
a listing for starting programs, but nothing under "stop" or "quit."
(You have to know that MS calls this "exiting.")  Also, I really don't
now that novices need to know that the technology Windows uses to cut
and paste stuff is called OLE (Object Linking and Embedding).

Part three calls itself "Troubleshooting," but most of the entries
deal with commonly used functions.  Useful, yes, but the book might
have been strengthened by including these tips in appropriate areas of
the reference in part two.  Of the listings that do deal with problem
issues, I am not sure that I would rely on them.

Part four is a reference to the menu items under the Start Menu,
Windows Explorer, and the Printer Folder.

When compared with a book like Nelson's "The Little Windows 95 Book"
(cf. BKLTLW95.RVW) this text has serious shortcomings.  However, it
can probably stand with any other of the Windows 95 introductions.

copyright Robert M. Slade, 1999   BKFGWN95.RVW   990129

======================
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As Canadian as possible under the circumstances. - E. Heather Scott
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BKINCMPL.RVW   990204

"Internet Complete", Sybex, 1998, 0-7821-2409-7, U$19.99/C$28.95
%A   Sybex
%C   1151 Marina Village Parkway, Alameda, CA   94501
%D   1998
%G   0-7821-2409-7
%I   Sybex Computer Books
%O   U$19.99/C$28.95 510-523-8233 800-227-2346 Fax: 510-523-2373
%P   1022 p.
%T   "Internet Complete"

A rather daunting title to try to live up to, thousand pages or no
thousand pages.  In fact, this book is a kind of sampler, but of other
Sybex books, kind of like a "compilation" album of various bands and
singers.  If you look at the "Contents at a Glance" (there is a
second, more detailed table of contents running to seventeen pages)
you will note that each chapter is taken from another book.  (One is
reminded of the old line from a Tom Lehrer song that "Index I stole
from old Vladivostok telephone directory.")

Part one presents the basics of the Internet.  Chapter one talks about
the history of the net, although the authors obviously misunderstand a
number of aspects.  (As one example, the statement is made that the
Internet was developed specifically for UNIX, when it would be more
accurate to say that, because those who did most of the work in
producing software for the Internet worked with UNIX computers, any
particular application tended to appear for that platform first.)  In
addition, the later parts of the chapter show one of the failings of
this type of book: several points are rather out of date by now.  The
connection advice given in chapter two is oddly inconsistent in the
currency of its material (it discusses Windows 98 but the fastest
modems mentioned are 33.6K) and short on details (when it gets to the
important stuff, it tells you to go ask your service provider for
information).  General facts are somewhat misleading and most of the
text concentrates on the minutiae of specific programs when we get to
email in chapter three.  The common advice is better in the advanced
email topics in chapter four, but hugely overshadowed by the general
details.

Part two turns to Web browsing.  Chapter five's introduction presents
very brief mentions of a number of Web topics, but misses a great many
as well.  Netscape Navigator is demonstrated reasonably well in
chapter six, and Internet Explorer even better in seven (although IE
security info is very weak).  Web searching is handled well in chapter
eight.  It seems odd to find the subjects lumped under the Web, but
chapters nine through eleven do a middling job of describing news,
channels (applicable almost exclusively to Win98), and other Internet
applications.

Part three at first appears to have little relevance to the Internet,
being specific to America Online.  Searching (twelve), and chat
(fifteen) do have some general content.

Part four looks at creating your own Web page.  The introduction to
HTML (HyperText Markup Language) is pretty good, although you can tell
that the authors aren't really familiar with it (the "end paragraph"
tag is almost universally "assumed" and the syntax for the fairly
straightforward name tag isn't given).  Planning advice in seventeen
is short but sound, whereas the design suggestions in eighteen tend to
the fancy, if not fanciful.  Nineteen rehashes HTML while twenty runs
through the options on Microsoft's FrontPage.

It's hard to see what part five's look at hardware has to do with the
net.  The chapter on modems might, except that the level of detail is
too sparse to allow the average user to succeed in setting one up.
Buying, memory, and maintenance all have helpful tips (although they
all miss points, too).  The chapter on browser add-ons hardly counts
as hardware, and I can't fathom why it wasn't put in with the browser
stuff.

Part six has three appendices.  The first is a command reference for
Win98, again, hardly relevant to the net.  The Internet dictionary
does seem to have a preponderance of Internet terms, although it is
hard to understand the benefit of having specific local ISPs (Internet
Service Providers) listed by name, plus a heavy dose of UNIX.  (The
entry for "virus" is predictably bad.)  The HTML reference is heavy on
tables of colours and symbols, but fails to provide syntax examples
for tags and attributes.

As with many books with multiple authors a mix of good and bad.  Maybe
not the greatest advertising sample Sybex could have fielded.  A
relative bargain in terms of cost per pound, but, because of the poor
quality of some important areas, new users would probably be better
off with much smaller books such as "Zen and the Art of the Internet"
(cf. BKZENINT.RVW) or "The Internet Book" (cf. BKINTBOK.RVW).

copyright Robert M. Slade, 1999   BKINCMPL.RVW   990204

======================
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                 On the other hand, you have different fingers.
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BKPBACIN.RVW   990207

"Public Access to the Internet", Brian Kahin/James Keller, 1995,
0-262-61118-X, U$20.00
%E   Brian Kahin kahin@...
%E   James Keller keller@...
%C   55 Hayward Street, Cambridge, MA   02142-1399
%D   1995
%G   0-262-61118-X
%I   MIT Press
%O   U$20.00 800-356-0343 fax: 617-625-6660 www-mitpress.mit.edu
%P   390 p.
%T   "Public Access to the Internet"

Perhaps not quite addressing the current discussion of "public
access," with it's heavy emphasis on subsidized access for the poor
and those in rural communities, the papers in this book were written
at a time of initial reaction to the commercialization of what had, up
until then, been primarily an academic and research network.

The first part looks at the US public access agenda of the day.  Brian
Kahin's paper starts off by noting that the National Information
Infrastructure plans misunderstood the nature of the value of the
Internet by seeing it as some kind of inexpensive carrier, when it
was, instead, the access to information that was of value, in the
model of the public library.  The tension between commercial and
public access interests is noted by Lewis Branscomb, with the poignant
metaphor of television pointing to past failures.  A number of public
access issues are raised, but not addressed in detail, by James
Keller.

Sociology and culture are unfortunately not dealt with well in part
two.  The WELL is an interesting success in online history, but Cliff
Figallo's paper does not relate closely to public access overall.  (As
only one example, the essay cites numerous cases where direct public
meetings with participants helped resolve problems.)  Sproul and Faraj
try to look at the social technology of the net but do not present any
significant findings.

Part three tries to look at the establishment of network communities.
Beverly Hunter presents a lot of educational theory, a few limited
anecdotes, and not much relation to public access.  Using Big Sky
Telegraph as an example, Frank Odasz makes a good case for low cost,
efficient, BBS based community networking models of public access, and
presents one of the high points in the book.  George Baldwin's look at
public access for Native Americans is unfocussed.  A look at the
provision of service through libraries, by Carol Henderson and
Frederick King, is anecdotal and lacks analysis.

Part four discusses new classes of users.  Richard Civille uses
statistics to show that the gap between rich and poor is widening, and
infers that the poor will be increasingly disadvantaged, but cannot
either strongly support his position or articulate remedial actions.
A list of what people "want" from Internet access is Daniel Dern's
contribution.  Miles Fidelman looks briefly at various technologies
for "local loop" access.  Although it purports to look at
architectural and policy implications of the variety of new users on
the net, Terrence McGarty and Carole Haywood produce only a confused
overview of telecommunications uses.

The final section deals with pricing and service.  Jeffrey MacKie-
Mason and Hal Varian use tables of prices and graphs and economic
formulae to support a middle of the road non-recommendation that
everyone be involved.  Scott Shenker at least provides one new factor,
quality of service, for his limited proposal.  A telephone network
model is the basis of Michael Einhorn's paper.  Hans-Werner Braun and
Kimberley Claffy call for more study and data.

What is most disappointing is to see how little progress has been made
in the past four years.

copyright Robert M. Slade, 1999   BKPBACIN.RVW   990207

======================
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BKUNDRUN.RVW   990207

"Understanding UNIX", Stan Kelly-Bootle, 1994, 0-7821-1499-7,
U$29.99/C$41.95
%A   Stan Kelly-Bootle skb@... http://www.crl.com/~skb
%C   1151 Marina Village Parkway, Alameda, CA   94501
%D   1994
%G   0-7821-1499-7
%I   Sybex Computer Books
%O   U$29.99/C$41.95 800-227-2346 Fax: 510-523-2373 info@...
%P   587 p.
%T   "Understanding UNIX, Second Edition"

When this book was written, Linus Thorvalds was only just pulling
together his merry band of open sorcerers, the World Wide Web, if you
had heard about it at all, was probably accessed through something
called Lynx, and if you had a really serious connection to the
Internet you probably had an account on a UNIX box.

Chapter one starts at the very beginning: logging in, and logging out.
The instructions and explanations are very clear, making sure that the
reader understands what is going on, and what could go wrong.  Humour
is used to reinforce the lessons, as one would expect from Mr
Contradictionary (cf. BKCMCNTD.RVW) himself.  A few commands are
described in chapter two, but the greater emphasis is placed on how
commands function, and how the shell processes them.  The UNIX
filesystem directory and tree structure is presented in chapter three.
Having enough information to start exploring the filesystem, users
will probably start wanting to create files.  Chapter four not only
starts to list those commands, but also useful side issues like
wildcards and the man command.  Electronic mail is explained using the
mail command in chapter five.  Chapters six and seven deal with
customization, first of shell and some interface functions, and then
of permissions within the users scope.

Chapter eight looks at the most basic UNIX editor, ed, also
introducing regular expressions.  Process manipulation is not all that
complicated a topic as explained in chapter nine.  Printing and
printer management are described in chapter ten.  The vi editor family
is dealt with in chapter eleven and twelve, first simply and then in
more advanced terms.  Advanced shell operations and scripts are given
in chapter thirteen.  (An appendix at the end of the book lists
differences between the shells.)

Chapter fourteen starts looking into the UNIX toolbox with the sort,
uniq, head, tail, split, cut, paste, find, tr, translate, and dd
commands.  Fifteen ups the ante with the highly useful but slightly
more difficult to use grep family, sed, and awk.  Further extensions
of shell scripts are available with while, test, read, if and case in
chapter sixteen.  Networks, from uucp to the Internet, are quickly
explained in chapter seventeen.  System administration topics get once
over lightly in chapter eighteen.  Chapter nineteen discusses the X
windowing system.  A final postscript looks at the history and
possible future of UNIX.

Nowadays, of course, the world has changed radically.  Linux is well
established as not only a hobbyist system, but is making inroads for
home use, and even business systems.  If you want to run a Web server,
Apache is one of the most functional around.  And if you want to do
anything on the net more serious than surfing and cookie-cutter home
pages, you are likely to encounter a UNIX system.

Hmmmm.  Maybe there is still room for a book on learning UNIX after
all.

This text will certainly get you there.  I am not sure that I could
recommend it over books like McMullen's "Complete Idiot's Guide to
UNIX" (cf. BKCIGUNX.RVW) (distasteful as the title is) or Welsh and
Kaufman's "Running Linux" (cf. BKRUNLIN.RVW), although it certainly
isn't much behind.  In truth, the choice is probably going to lie in
personal preference.  Kelly-Bootle's style is certainly readable and
understandable, but after the first few chapters he does rather lapse
into a UNIX culture style of documentation.  On the one hand, that may
be a little difficult for those coming to UNIX for the first time to
completely relate to.  On the other, it does mean that, if you start
from the beginning and work your way through, by the time you finish
you will not only know a great deal about UNIX, but also UNIX culture.

copyright Robert M. Slade, 1999   BKUNDRUN.RVW   990207

======================
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          Review index: http://sun.soci.niu.edu/~rslade/review.htm
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BKCPCUMG.RVW   990206

"The Complete PC Upgrade and Maintenance Guide", Mark Minasi, 1998,
0-7821-2357-0, U$59.99/C$87.95
%A   Mark Minasi mark@...
%C   1151 Marina Village Parkway, Alameda, CA   94501
%D   1998
%G   0-7821-2357-0
%I   Sybex Computer Books
%O   U$59.99/C$87.95 800-227-2346 Fax: 510-523-2373 info@...
%P   1559 p. + 2 CD-ROM
%T   "The Complete PC Upgrade and Maintenance Guide, Ninth Edition"

Chapter one lists a lot of interface standards, with a little bit of
discussion on some pros and cons.  Although it is somewhat
disorganized, chapter two has excellent advice and descriptions of
disassembling and removing parts of the PC.  Chapter three is
enormous, looking at CPUs, memory structure, expansion buses, and
peripherals.  A very useful section is the set of figures showing the
configuration of external connectors for a variety of expansion cards.
A few of the common physical causes of computer problems are described
in chapter four.  Some generic troubleshooting guidelines, and a lot
of war stories, are in chapter five.  Chapters six through twelve look
at the configuration of new cards and boards, chip removal and
exchange, memory modules, power supplies and protection, hard disk
structure, hard disk installation, and the FAT (File Allocation Table)
file system structure used by MS-DOS.  Much of the material shows
definite signs of dating.  Preventive maintenance for your hard disk,
in chapter thirteen, has its good and bad points, but two stand out:
the section of viruses is extensive, and extensively bad, and the
instructions for backing up your master boot record with DEBUG can be
profoundly useful.  There is a lot of good information in chapter
fourteen, but much of the disk recovery advice relies on specific
programs that may not be available to the reader.  Chapters fifteen
through seventeen discuss floppy drives, SCSI (Small Computer Systems
Interface), and printer troubleshooting, with a fair number of gaps in
the material.  There is a lot of conceptual content on laser printers
but missing practical advice in chapter eighteen.  Peripherals are
dealt with somewhat tersely with chapters nineteen to twenty four
looking at modems, keyboards and mice, displays, sound, video capture,
and CD-ROM in turn.  There is also "how to buy" advice, some points on
notebooks, and a confused section on using the Internet to get
computer information in the three closing chapters.  As well, a vendor
contact list and a table of hard drive specs is included among the
appendices.

The book is quite readable and even amusing.  There is a lot of
information in the text, a great deal of it useful.  However, there is
not the consistency of value that is presented, for example, in
Mueller's "Upgrading and Repairing PCs" (cf. BKUPRPPC.RVW).  While
this book is an improvement over many that I have seen over the years,
I could not recommend it unreservedly.

copyright Robert M. Slade, 1999   BKCPCUMG.RVW   990206

======================  (quote inserted randomly by Pegasus Mailer)
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                      Nunc Tutus Exitus Computarus
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BKIRHTLC.RVW   990205

"D&B/Gale Reference Handbooks: Telecommunications", Stacy A.
McConnell/Linda D. Hall, 1998, 0-7876-3005-5, U$99.00
%E   Stacy A. McConnell
%E   Linda D. Hall
%C   27500 Drake Road, Farmington Hills, MI   48331-3535
%D   1998
%G   0-7876-3005-5
%I   The Gale Group
%O   U$99.00 800-877-4253 fax: 248-699-8061 Cheryl_McDonald@...
%P   893 p.
%S   Industry Reference Handbooks
%T   "D&B/Gale Reference Handbooks: Telecommunications"

Telecommunications, for the purposes of this reference, covers
eighteen Standard Industry Classifications (SICs).  (The newer North
American Industry Classification System codes are not used due to
business inertia, but a conversion table is provided.)  This casts a
somewhat wider net than some might suppose, including radio and
television broadcasting and movie production.  As one might assume
from the classification system, the content is based on US activity,
although international enterprises have a bearing both on technical
and business aspects.

Chapter one is a general overview, looking at history, a terse set of
only four biographies of "pioneers," projections for various
technologies, and a quick review of industry leading companies.
Chapter two gives snapshot business statistics by industry category,
while three presents financial norms and ratios.  The largest section
is chapter four, a company directory.  The companies listed are then
ranked by sales and then employment in chapter five.  Chapter six
looks at mergers and acquisitions, which are fast and furious in the
telecom sector.  The choice of associations, in chapter seven, is
rather odd.  While all of the companies listed earlier are American,
the groups come from all over.  In addition, there seems to be a very
high proportion of outfits like the "Hogan's Heros Fan Club."  The
list of consultants seems to be limited to the US and Canada in
chapter eight.  Entitled "Trade Information Sources," chapter nine
comprises periodicals of various types with some listing of
associations, and even a few books.  There is no distinction between
these types, so entries must be read carefully for clues.  Chapter ten
lists trade shows, but not completely.  As one example, of the Comdex
"family" of shows, only Comdex/Egypt and Comdex/Rio are listed.  An
extensive index is followed by the SIC/NAICS-NAICS/SIC conversion
guide.

While one can sympathize with the desire to keep this work within
manageable limits, the exclusion of non-US companies is regrettable,
especially considering the international nature of telecommunications
today.  Much of the material is based on self-reporting, and therefore
you won't find any surprises within.  At times there are obvious gaps,
while in other places there are equally glaring duplications.  Still,
for those deeply involved in the business side of telecommunications
this work has a great deal of value.

copyright Robert M. Slade, 1999   BKIRHTLC.RVW   990205

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BKTELDIR.RVW   990205

"Telecommunications Directory", Ellen Pare, 1999, 0-7876-2135-8,
U$400.00
%E   Ellen Pare ellen.pare@...
%C   27500 Drake Road, Farmington Hills, MI   48331-3535
%D   1999
%G   0-7876-2135-8
%I   The Gale Group
%O   U$400.00 800-877-4253 fax: 248-699-8061 Cheryl.McDonald@...
%P   1237 p.
%S   Industry Reference Handbooks
%T   "Telecommunications Directory Tenth Edition, 1999"

Sticking closely to traditional ideas of telecommunications, this
volume lists organizations in the fields of audiotex, cellular
communications, electronic mail, facsimile, Internet access provision,
local area networks, local exchange carriers, microwave networks,
personal communications services, satellite services, shared-tenant
services, teleconferencing, telegram and telex, transactional
services, videotex and teletext, voice and data communications, and
voicemail or voice processing.  The descriptive listings cover 700
pages, with contact information, brief organizational data, and
description.  There may also be subordinate product listings.  The
indices are almost as long as the listings themselves, and there are
four: by function or service, geographic, personal names, and master
name and keyword.

Based on self-report, the listings can be only as good as the
information provided.  I noticed missing entries almost immediately:
even such entities as the Internet Engineering Task Force and W3 are
missing.  When I came to the British Columbia section of the
geographic index was startled at how very few of the
telecommunications related companies and institutions in the area were
represented.  My former long distance carrier is not listed, nor is
UBC, nor is SFU, nor is Vancouver CommunityNet.  Victoria
TelecommunityNet is there, along with the various entities Gary
Shearman has spun off over the years.  Well, he deserves the exposure.
The listings themselves are generally good, although I notice that
there is some variation in what counts as a separate product:
Telemanagement magazine is buried in the listing for Angus
Telemanagement.

There is a short glossary included.  Unfortunately, this is hardly
worth being described as such.  An enormous number of important new
technologies are completely missing.  The definitions given are short,
barely explanatory, and frequently wrong.  (ATM packets are 48 bytes
of data *plus* the five byte header, for a total of 53.  Yes, there is
a listing for "virus," and it is wrong.)

For all its flaws, this volume does provide a valuable resource to
those in the telecommunications industry.  While not exhaustive, or
even really complete, it does provide a starting point for contacts in
a variety of areas of telecommunications work in a variety of
geographic locations.  (Unlike the "Industry Reference Handbook:
Telecommunications" [cf. BKIRHTLC.RVW] this volume does have entries
from around the world.)  The descriptions are fairly complete, and the
contact information supplies not only addresses and telephone numbers,
but names, email, and even Web sites.  From which you can probably
link to all the missing outfits.

copyright Robert M. Slade, 1999   BKTELDIR.RVW   990205

======================  (quote inserted randomly by Pegasus Mailer)
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BKPCUEAD.RVW   990214

"The PC User's Essential Accessible Pocket Dictionary", Peter Dyson,
1995, 0-7821-1684-1, U$14.99/C$21.00
%A   Peter Dyson
%C   1151 Marina Village Parkway, Alameda, CA   94501
%D   1995
%G   0-7821-1684-1
%I   Sybex Computer Books
%O   U$14.99/C$21.00 800-227-2346 Fax: 510-523-2373 info@...
%P   643 p.
%T   "The PC User's Essential Accessible Pocket Dictionary"

The introduction defines the audience for the book fairly specifically
in that they are PC users as opposed to those dealing with mainframes.
The reader is assumed to be working with a PC, but not necessarily a
technical expert or professional.  If that is the case, isn't
"adaptive differential pulse code modulation" or discussion of the A20
line just a little bit too technical for those users?  And "Cray?"
This is a PC?  "Data dictionary" is not normally a term used in
microcomputer circles.

The material is not completely Wintel based, as there are some entries
like "CDEV" that come from the Mac world.  However, errors in these
entries do seem to make clear that the author is more comfortable in
the PC arena than in any other.

One aspect that rather jumps out is the inclusion of a large
proportion of entries for commercial programs or software companies.
In quick succession we get listings for "After Dark," "AMD," "Ami
Pro," and "Artisoft."  I like the fact that, with entries like
"Altair," there is a bit of historical background.  (I'm not sure that
Bill Gates would appreciate the perpetuation of the perception that
Microsoft BASIC "was packaged" with the computer.)

The definition of "active partition" I find a bit frightening, in that
I would not want to encourage people who want to change operating
systems to fool around with FDISK.  Some of the entries are a little
esoteric: a "mickey" is used as the quantum measurement of mouse
movement, but not in general conversation.  "Radio button" tells you
to see also the much less frequently cited "option button."  This
reference is a bust in any case, since my copy was missing pages 405
to 436, and thus the whole of "O."

In general terms this dictionary isn't bad, though.  Overall the
choice of terms has merit, and the explanations don't contain too
many, or too egregious, errors.  The readability is normally pitched
at the right level, and has enough information to satisfy those who
are primarily interested in the technology, but on getting back to
work.  While it certainly isn't essential, I can go along with the
accessible part.

BKPCUEAD.RVW   990214

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BKTMBSSC.RVW   990212

"Time Based Security", Winn Schwartau, 1999, 0-9628700-4-8,
U$25.00/C$37.00
%A   Winn Schwartau winnschwartau@...
%C   11511 Pine St. N., Seminole, FL   34642
%D   1999
%G   0-9628700-4-8
%I   Inter.Pact Press
%O   U$25.00/C$37.00 813-393-6600 fax: 813-393-6361
%P   174 p.
%T   "Time Based Security"

The idea is simple, and even elegant.  Given enough time and
resources, somebody is going to be able to crack whatever security you
put in place.  Therefore, instead of building ever bigger and more
imposing (and expensive) walls, balance how long it will take someone
to get through the wall against how long it will take you to figure
out that digging is going on and how long it will take you to stick a
fire hose down a putative gopher hole.

The idea isn't, of course, radically new.  Community policing officers
have been saying the same thing in public security seminars for years.
Make the bad guy take longer to get in, and you'll have more time for
someone to notice, or for us to get there.

Implementation, though, is not quite so simple.  Especially when you
are dealing with something as complex as a publicly accessible and
networked computer system.

Chapter one is a general promotion for the Time Based Security (TBS)
model, which hasn't been presented yet.  The introduction's cry that
we never have enough time and have to move ever faster is reiterated
in chapter two, along with another assurance that Time Based Security
is what we need.  The demise of the big, limited, simple to protect
computer is bemoaned in chapter three.  Chapter four says that the
fortress mentality never did work, and besides, we want people (some
people) to access our systems for some purposes.  (Were it not for the
fact that the chapters are so short, and the vague idea that we are
getting closer to TBS, I would be getting a little impatient about
now.)  Sorry, but chapter five goes into the shortest history of
computer security I think I've ever seen, six says it didn't work, and
seven runs us right back to Jesse James.  But by the end of chapter
seven, we are at least pointed in the right direction: the security of
a container is a comparison between the time the bad guys need to get
in, and the time the good guys need to get there.  This is repeated in
a different form in chapter eight.  Chapters nine to eleven repeatedly
formularize this, pointing out that you need to measure your
protection in terms of time to fail, and that the time taken to detect
a problem, plus the time taken to effectively respond to it, must be
less than the time the protection provides.  Schwartau gets into a lot
more detail, though for only one situation, with a questionnaire in
chapter twelve.

Chapter thirteen starts to get into the complexity of things, looking
at the variable amounts of damage that can be done in a given amount
of time.  Fourteen looks at costs of attacks while fifteen talks about
the value of data.  The title of chapter sixteen seems to indicate
that some things don't need protecting, while the content looks more
like some things cannot be exposed to any level of risk.  Recursion of
detection is promoted in seventeen.  I think that chapter eighteen is
suggesting that you use multiple barriers to stop intruders.  But I'm
not very sure of that.  Nineteen and twenty seem to be saying that you
should protect vital points with greater security, and try to avoid
"single points of failure."

Chapter twenty one looks at improving the reaction time.  Twenty two
stresses the importance of taking a long time to look at all the
options in order to assess your security.  (This is in rather stark
contradiction to the promises on the cover and in the introduction
that TBS was going to provide a shortcut.)  A few options to increase
protection get some detail in twenty three while increased detection
is looked at in twenty four.  A metric is achievable with TBS, but
chapter twenty five does rather gloss over the work you will have to
go to in order to accomplish it.

Chapter twenty six talks about denial of service, but does not really
integrate it with the TBS concept.  Some infowar classes are used to
repeat the adjuration to put protection where it is most needed in
chapter twenty seven.  Twenty eight suggests that deception is a good
protective tool.  (Sounds just a tad like security by obscurity, but
we'll let it go, shall we?)  The final chapter again promises that TBS
will give you measurable security.

The concept is sound.  The implementation is left as an exercise to
the reader.

copyright Robert M. Slade, 1999   BKTMBSSC.RVW   990212

======================  (quote inserted randomly by Pegasus Mailer)
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BKMAKHAP.RVW   990211

"Making it Happen", Mackenzie Kyle, 1998, 0-471-64234-7,
U$27.95/C$24.95
%A   Mackenzie Kyle mkyle@...
%C   5353 Dundas Street West, 4th Floor, Etobicoke, ON   M9B 6H8
%D   1998
%G   0-471-64234-7
%I   John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
%O   U$27.95/C$24.95 416-236-4433 fax 416-236-4448 rlangloi@...
%P   247 p.
%T   "Making it Happen: A Non-Technical Guide to Project Management"

Now, how do I classify this?  If I say it is fiction, then you might
miss the fact that the material herein is instructional, and intensely
real.  If I say that this is a management guide, people will stay away
from it in droves, unaware of how readable it is.

The book is in the form of a novel (or, perhaps, novelette).  Not the
Great Canadian Novel, maybe.  Maybe the Great Project Management
Novella.  (Well, we'll reserve judgement on the "Great" for the
moment.)

All right, then, we *will* talk about "Great."  This volume is
certainly readable, and easily interesting enough to qualify as
bathroom or bedside fodder.  Kyle grabs your attention with a
reasonably sympathetic character in a difficult situation.  The author
does not take dangerous chances with either the characters or
situation, so as fiction it is somewhat bland.  That does, however,
leave you enough concentration free to deal with the educational
content.

The management substance is realistic, and the more palatable for
taking potshots at manajargon and MBA-speak.  I have definitely read
management tomes with more verbiage and much less content.  The early
chapters are used to set the stage, rather than get into practical
matters, but they also serve to present the sense of frustration and
confusion that is all too familiar to anyone who has undertaken such a
task.  Besides, with the storyline, I am quite willing to wait for the
meat.

And meat there is.  Kyle's outline, although not presented in a linear
manner, addresses not only specific functional business needs, but
also the "why"s of several points.  A rather subtle lesson points out
that "political" activities have a purpose as well, in a positive way,
as well as the negative ones more often recognized.  For those not
comfortable with the somewhat scattered presentation necessitated by
the story, the major points are brought out in a boxed format that
gets more frequent as the book progresses.  In fact, the story does
start to suffer as the book moves on.  There are only so many
"emergencies" you can pack into a plot before the audience stops
caring.  There is also only so much ignorance you can attribute to one
project manager before the willing suspension of disbelief starts to
fray at the edges.  However, the pace does pick up as the project gets
down to the wire.

The different types of planning tools, with their strengths and
weaknesses, get a quick, but reasonable overview.

This definitely deserves a place on the management shelf, alongside
"Technimanagement" (cf. BKTCHNMN.RVW).

copyright Robert M. Slade, 1999   BKMAKHAP.RVW   990211

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BKINWRSC.RVW   990212

"Information Warfare and Security", Dorothy Denning, 1999,
0-201-43303-6, U$34.95/C$52.50
%A   Dorothy Denning denning@...
%C   P.O. Box 520, 26 Prince Andrew Place, Don Mills, Ontario M3C 2T8
%D   1999
%G   0-201-43303-6
%I   Addison-Wesley Publishing Co.
%O   U$34.95/C$52.50 800-822-6339 Fax 617-944-7273 bkexpress@...
%P   522 p.
%T   "Information Warfare and Security"

Denning has chosen to take an inclusive approach to the topic of
information warfare, not limiting the material to attacks on
"military" targets.  Given the state of physical warfare, this seems
to be quite realistic.  It does mean that the book tends to read like
a high level computer security text (small wonder) with an emphasis on
intrusions and the more overt aspects of computer crime.

Part one is a foundation and background for the material to come.
Chapter one looks at the great many information aspects to the Gulf
War and Operation Desert Storm.  One of the unusual factors reviewed
is that of propaganda, or "perception management."  A theory of
infowar is the intent of chapter two, which outlines players and
positions in a variety of ways.  The theory is somewhat weakened for
being strongly dependent upon the idea of the value of the information
being attacked or defended, and this is an area that still requires
work.  Another possibly problematic area is the reliance on a "win-
lose" model for data warfare, when there have been numerous instances
of intruders, upon sufficient provocation, being willing to deny
themselves a resource by damaging it, on the basis that the defenders
stand to lose far more.  (On the other hand, "bragging rights" seem to
have a lot of value in the computer underground.)  More detail on the
players involved, and the possible types of attacks that have
occurred, and might occur, are presented in chapter three.

Part two looks at the specifics of offensive information warfare.
Chapter four is extremely interesting, showing that "open source," or
publicly available information, can and has been used for offensive
and criminal undertakings in a variety of ways.  Disinformation is
reviewed in chapter five, including the odd phenomenon of urban
legends and Internet hoaxes.  The problem of damage from insiders,
including, finally, a documented case of a salami attack (albeit a
rather clumsy one), is covered in chapter six.  Chapter seven
discusses the interception of information and communications in a
variety of ways, and, as a sideline, jamming and alteration.  A
variety of methods of computer intrusion are presented in chapter
eight.  False identity, both  identity theft and outright false, are
examined in chapter nine.  The material on viruses and worms, in
chapter ten, is solid, although I was sorry to see that a great many
possibilities for reproductive mayhem that have been discussed over
the years went unmentioned.  ("Harlie," Dr. Denning.  "When *HARLIE*
Was One.")  (Of course, when I sent the first draft, I had, myself,
spelled "Harlie" incorrectly.)

Part three looks at the opposite side, that of defence.  Chapter
eleven gives a good background to encryption, but, seemingly,
primarily as a general concept, rather than going into detail on
specific uses for protection.  Authentication is dealt with in chapter
twelve, and uses some of the cryptologic background.  With monitoring
and detection bracketing chapter thirteen, the section on firewalls
seems just slightly misplaced.  Chapter fourteen looks at risk
analysis, planning, and some resources.  The final chapter discusses
defence of the nation, and national policy in this regard, with
particular emphasis on the current situation in the US.

The content of this book not only presents a clear picture of a number
of aspects of information warfare, but does so in a very practical
manner, informed by the need to use "real world" examples.  In
addition, the anecdotal evidence backing the material makes the book
quite readable and interesting.  As a text for a course in information
warfare, it is complete and solidly based.  As a reference for
security analysts and practitioners, it is clear and thought-
provoking.  For those who may merely have some interest in the topic,
it is engaging and informative.

copyright Robert M. Slade, 1999   BKINWRSC.RVW   990212

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BKCIGNTW.RVW   990211

"The Complete Idiot's Guide to Networking", Bill Wagner/Chris Negus,
1999, 0-7897-1802-2, U$16.99/C$24.95/UK#15.49
%A   Bill Wagner bwagner@...
%A   Chris Negus chris.negus@...
%C   201 W. 103rd Street, Indianapolis, IN   46290
%D   1999
%G   0-7897-1802-2
%I   Macmillan Computer Publishing (MCP)
%O   U$16.99/C$24.95/UK#15.49 800-858-7674 317-581-3743 info@...
%P   334 p.
%S   Complete Idiot's Guide
%T   "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Networking, Second Edition"

A guide to networking is a rather ambitious project.  It's kind of
like a guide to life, being the technical equivalent to the universe
and everything.  A forgiving reviewer would therefore tolerate gaps in
coverage, on the basis that the task is impossible.  Regular readers
will have noticed that I expect authors to deliver what they promise.

Part one purports to give us a definition of a network, plus a reason
for having one.  While chapter one presents a lot of types of networks
(LANs, CANs, MANs, WANs, and the Internet), essentially both chapters
in this section suggest a number of possible uses without getting much
beyond "these computers talk to each other" in terms of explanation.

Part two looks at basic concepts in networking.  Chapter three does a
very tolerable job of looking at the difference between peer-to-peer
and client/server networking.  The explanation of topologies is not
handled as well, mixing basic types and hybrids.  On the other hand,
the technical differences between topologies is probably not apparent
to naive users.  However, the comparison table has some problems and
errors in it as well.  If, though, the audience is that basic, then
the discussion of architectures in chapter five is pretty meaningless.
(On the other hand, if the audience is more advanced, the discussion
is insufficient.)  Lots of hardware gets thrown around, but without
real discussion of the implications, in chapter six.  Chapter seven's
brief look at network operating systems is terse, in some places
misleading, and definitely slanted in favour of Microsoft.

Part three discusses connection and configuration.  Chapter eight does
suggest a few questions to ask when planning, but does so in a very
disorganized manner.  The advice on buying equipment in chapter nine
is alternately banal and questionable.  Some of the dialogue boxes for
network configuration are listed in chapter ten.

Part four overviews maintenance and administration.  Chapter eleven
presents a few administrative NT dialogue boxes and UNIX commands.
There is a bit of generic discussion of backup options in chapter
twelve.  Is the choice of chapter thirteen for a grab bag of security
speculation with far too little solid advice intentionally ironic, or
just fortuitous?  Chapter fourteen's troubleshooting advice is way
beyond the material in the rest of the book, relying on sophisticated
protocol analyzers and expensive commercial tools.  Random bits from a
book on upgrading your PCs constitute chapter fifteen, and the same is
true for telecommuting in sixteen.

Part five looks at the Internet.  There are some basic concepts in
chapter seventeen, and a chat about email in eighteen.

For those who are completely new to networking, the text is quite
readable, and presents some very simple ideas and terminology well.
However, that is all it does.  A great many very important concepts
are completely missed, and such a vast area of topics are never
discussed that the reader may merely be left with enough information
to be a danger to him or herself.  Those setting up the simplest and
most basic of small office networks will need system specific
instructions, and those looking at larger projects will need greater
understanding than this book provides.

copyright Robert M. Slade, 1999   BKCIGNTW.RVW   990211

======================  (quote inserted randomly by Pegasus Mailer)
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                 On the other hand, you have different fingers.
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BKHAFGOI.RVW   990218

"How to Access the Federal Government on the Internet", Bruce Maxwell,
1999, 1-56802-387-1, U$28.95
%A   Bruce Maxwell bmaxwell@...
%C   1414 22nd Street N.W., Washington, DC   20037
%D   1999
%G   1-56802-387-1 ISSN 1088-7466
%I   Congressional Quarterly Inc.
%O   U$28.95 800-638-1710 fax 202-887-6706 bookhelp@...
%P   328 p.
%S   Washington Online
%T   "How to Access the Federal Government on the Internet, 4th ed."

For those interested in (the U.S.) government, and access to its
information, Maxwell has provided a very useful compendium of
addresses.  As he admits, this is not an exhaustive list to U.S.
federal government systems available through the Internet, but it
definitely gives a good, broad starting field.  University and other
sites with a specialized interest in the government are listed,
although these are taking up less space as the directory expands, and
concentrates more directly on those sites provided by the government.

The reader is expected to be reasonably familiar with the Internet
use: the information given in the introduction is intended only to
help keep the listings brief.  The site descriptions do note the type
of access method (increasingly, of course, this is the World Wide
Web).

All of that would be extremely valuable for those interested in
government and access to information, but since the feds have fingers
in just about every pie, there is much more.  The various departments
provide information on access to information, agriculture, arts and
museums, business, children and families, defense, computers,
demographics, education, emergency response, energy, environment,
foreign affairs, medicine, history, employment, law, technology,
space, and transportation.  Government sites often provide the most
informative content to be found in the net.  Maxwell has added to this
with a very useful index: I didn't really expect to find anything
under computer viruses but was pleasantly surprised to note a third
site from a government department has taken an interest.

For the avid U.S. government watcher, an essential.  For the serious
Internet information gatherer, regardless of nationality, a very
useful resource.

(Sigh.  Yes, it does tell you where to find the Starr report.)

copyright Robert M. Slade, 1995 - 1999   BKHAFGOI.RVW   990218

======================  (quote inserted randomly by Pegasus Mailer)
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BKUNXIMP.RVW   990221

"UNIX for the Impatient", Paul W. Abrahams/Bruce R. Larson, 1996,
0-201-82376-4, U$29.00
%A   Paul W. Abrahams abrahams@...
%A   Bruce R. Larson brlarson@...
%C   P.O. Box 520, 26 Prince Andrew Place, Don Mills, Ontario M3C 2T8
%D   1996
%G   0-201-82376-4
%I   Addison-Wesley Publishing Co.
%O   U$29.00 416-447-5101 fax: 416-443-0948 bkexpress@...
%P   824 p.
%T   "UNIX for the Impatient, Second Edition"

This is a no-nonsense, bare bones (you can always tell when something
has been typeset using troff), hold the handholding kind of book.  It
is written for the intelligent reader who has some familiarity with
computers.  It is not for dummies, not for the timid, not for those
who need lots of screen shots (preferably graphical) between the big
words.  It is of those who have work to do, have a 10 am Monday
deadline, and have been given a UNIX workstation or terminal.  It is,
in fact, for the impatient.

Chapter one is a quick history of UNIX, in the same spare style as the
rest of the book.  It ends with the beginning, as it were, with the
login process and some basic commands to get started.  (One minor
quibble: it *doesn't* tell you how to get out.  Although usually if
you give enough flush commands ...)  UNIX concepts are generally
explained piecemeal as new commands come up that require them.  The
background here is provided in chapter two, allowing the reader to
obtain, very quickly, an overall grasp of how the system, well,
operates.  File operations are discussed thoroughly in chapter three.
The command entries, while not effusive, list all relevant switches,
and give examples where necessary.  Chapter four deals with data
manipulation and filters, including an extensive tutorial on awk.  A
variety of utilities are outlined in chapter five.  Shells and shell
scripts, concentrating on the Korn and POSIX shells, are discussed in
chapter six, with other shells in chapter seven.  Standard editors are
covered in chapter eight, with emacs saved for chapter nine, and emacs
utilities in ten.  Chapter eleven details various mail programs, with
a brief mention of news.  Both Internet and Usenet programs are
reviewed in chapter twelve, with Internet predominating.  The X
windowing system, and some utilities, are described in chapter
thirteen.  Chapter fourteen goes through system management and
administration tools.

Appendix A is an alphabetical list of commands, plus a brief listing
of command syntax and usage.  The comparison of MS-DOS and UNIX,
particularly the command equivalents, could be helpful in getting
intermediate or advanced DOS users up to speed on UNIX.  However,
given the differences in cultures and styles between the systems, the
authors may be trying to condense it too much.  I have seen it done
much better elsewhere.  A set of resources and references is a
valuable adjunct in Appendix C, especially with annotations.

For the intermediate computer user wanting to get working with UNIX
this is a very helpful, complete, and solid work.

copyright Robert M. Slade, 1999   BKUNXIMP.RVW   990221

======================  (quote inserted randomly by Pegasus Mailer)
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              No passion in the world is equal to the passion to
                    alter someone else's draft - H. G Wells
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BKWNTSRK.RVW   990220

"Microsoft Windows NT Server Resource Kit", Microsoft, 1996-8,
1-57231-344-7 1-57231-559-8 1-57231-626-8, C$199.95 C$54.99 C$69.99
%A   Microsoft
%C   1 Microsoft Way, Redmond, WA   98052-6399
%D   1996, 1997, 1998
%G   1-57231-344-7 1-57231-559-8 1-57231-626-8
%I   Microsoft Press
%O   U$149.95/C$199.95 U$39.99/C$54.99 U$49.99/C$69.99 800-MSPRESS
%P   3 vol/1449 p. + CD-ROM, 308 p. + CD-ROM, 2 CD-ROM
%T   "Microsoft Windows NT Server Resource Kit" + Supp. 1 + Supp. 2

Many of those in the know, with regard to Windows, consider the
various Resource Kits to be essential parts of the operating system,
and wonder why the kits are not shipped with the products.  Certainly,
if Microsoft can make the case that Internet Explorer is an integral
component of the system, the utilities shipped with the resource kits
can lay greater claim to that position.  Whether you consider the kits
to be add-on goodies, or the second half of the system that you resent
paying extra for, in the case of NT Server the kit is definitely
something to consider.  If you are administering an NT server network,
the additional cost for the information and tools will certainly add
value.

Most intermediate Windows users see the primary resource in the
utility software.  A number of these programs are very helpful.
Recently I noted an exchange on a mailing list that had two techies
discussing how to save partition table information.  The contention
between them was obviously that one had the Resource Kit and the other
didn't, since the activity being described by the one, and not being
accessible to the other, comes from a utility in the Resource Kit.
The written documentation included seems to tacitly admit this
perception, since a good portion of the manuals describes the
operation of the new utilities.

However, the documentation is not to be disregarded.  Important
operations such as backup and recovery of registry files and creation
of recovery discs are explained in much greater detail than you will
usually find elsewhere.  The material isn't perfect: to stick with the
backup topic, the advice to use Ntbackup to save registry data fails
to tell you that Ntbackup won't use any media other than cartridge
tape.  (Later in the book that point is stated.)

In the original kit, the volumes included were the Resource Guide, the
Internet Guide, and the Networking Guide.  The Internet Guide is
rather disappointingly lacking in functional detail, although a number
of items were covered better in the Networking Guide.  Supplement One
seems to concentrate on the Internet Information Server.  Supplement
Two does not have a printed manual at all, but does have a second disk
with materials from TechNet.

copyright Robert M. Slade, 1999   BKWNTSRK.RVW   990220

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BKINTCHB.RVW   990220

"Internetworking Technologies Handbook", Kevin Downes et al, 1998,
1-57870-102-3, U$50.00/C$71.95
%A   Kevin Downes
%A   Merilee Ford
%A   H. Kim Lew
%A   Steve Spanier
%A   Time Stevenson
%C   201 W. 103rd Street, Indianapolis, IN   46290
%D   1998
%G   1-57870-102-3
%I   Macmillan Computer Publishing (MCP)
%O   U$50.00/C$71.95 800-858-7674 317-581-3743 info@...
%P   856 p.
%T   "Internetworking Technologies Handbook, Second Edition"

The preface says that the book supports administrators installing
Cisco networking products.  But it also says that the content is for
anyone seeking to understand internetworking.  This somewhat
schizophrenic direction is readily apparent in part one, whose six
chapters purport to be an introduction to internetworking.  On the one
hand, the text seems to take the most simplistic possible route
linking what appear to be already prepared sets of figures.  On
occasion, however, we are presented with a flurry or poorly explained
thickets of standards numbers and TLAs (Three Letter Acronyms).
Ultimately, very little is properly illuminated for the reader.  Part
two looks at some LAN standards, presenting quick outtakes from
partial Ethernet, FDDI (Fiber Distributed Data Interface), and token
ring specs.  Frame relay, High-Speed Serial Interface, ISDN
(Integrated Services Digital Network), PPP (Point to Point Protocol),
SMDS (Switched Multimegabit Data Service), xDSL (various forms of
Digital Subscriber Line), SDLC (Synchronous Data Link Control), X.25,
multiservice technologies, and Virtual Private Networks (VPN) are
summed up in almost less space than it takes to list them in part
three.  Switching, in part four, is quite variable: ATM (Asynchronous
Transfer Mode) and data-link switching get a level of detail
completely unsupported by the previous material while LAN switching is
dismissed in five pages.  Part five looks at various, mostly vendor
supplied, networking protocols, including Appletalk, DECnet, SNA
(Systems Network Architecture), TCP/IP, NetWare, OSI (Open System
Interconnection), Vines, and XNS (Xerox Network Systems).  (The review
of TPC/IP actually isn't half bad.)  Border Gateway Protocol (BGP),
Interior Gateway Routing Protocol (IGRP), SNA routing, IP multicast,
NetWare Link Services Protocol (NLSP), OSI routing, Open Shortest Path
First (OSPF), Resource Reservation Protocol (RSVP), Routing
Information Protocol (RIP), and a discussion of quality of service
make up the look at routing in part six.  Part seven, on the other
hand, is a very good introduction to Internet access issues for the
non-professional, with reasonable reviews of security, directory
services, and, to a lesser extent, caching.  Network management
returns to the earlier inconsistent approach in its treatment of IBM
network management, RMON (Remote Monitoring), and SNMP (Simple Network
Management Protocol) in part eight.

Some vendor sponsored books manage to rise above their origins.  This
is not one that does.  While the text is mercifully free of marketing
and promotion, the material is suitable for neither the newcomer
looking for concepts and insight or the professional looking for hard
data.  The title really cannot be said to be justified on any level.
I can't recommend it for those not installing Cisco products, and I
really doubt that it could be honestly recommended to Cisco customers,
either.

copyright Robert M. Slade, 1999   BKINTCHB.RVW   990220

======================  (quote inserted randomly by Pegasus Mailer)
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Q. What is the difference between a computer salesman and a used
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A. A car salesman knows how to drive, and knows when he's lying.
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The Melissa macro virus
A report prepared by Robert M. Slade


The following is an attempt to bring together the information about
the Melissa virus.  It is taken from the most reliable available
sources.  Additional sites have been listed at the end of the article.
I have not added a copyright line to this message in order to allow it
to be used as needed.  I will be posting the latest updated version of
this article at http://sun.soci.niu.edu/~rslade/melissa.txt and
http://victoria.tc.ca/techrev/melissa.txt.


The virus, generally referred to as W97M.Melissa.A (with some
variations: Symantec, in a rather strained effort to be cute, seems to
be calling it "Mailissa"), is a MS Word macro virus.  This means that,
if you don't use Word, you are safe.  Completely safe.  (Except for
being dependent upon other people who might slow their/your mail
server down.  More on that later.)  If you need to look at MS Word
documents, there is a document viewer available (free, as it happens)
from Microsoft.  This viewer will not execute macros, so it is safe
from infection.

In the messages about Melissa, there have been many references to the
mythical and non-existent "Good Times" virus.  Note that simply
reading the text of a message still cannot infect you.  However, note
also that many mailers, in the name of convenience, are becoming more
and more automated, and much of this automation concerns running
attached files for you.  As Padgett Peterson, author of one of the
best macro virus protection tools, has stated, "For years we have been
saying you could not get a virus just by "opening E-Mail.  That bug is
being fixed."

Melissa does not carry any specifically damaging payload.  If the
message is triggered there will be text added to the active document.
The mailout function can cause a large number of messages to be
generated very quickly, and this has caused the shutdown of a number
of corporate mail servers.

If you have Word set with macros disabled, then the virus will not
active.  However, relying on this protection is a very dangerous
proposition.  Previous macro viruses have also killed macro protection
in Word, and this one does as well.

The name "Melissa" comes from the class module that contains the
virus.  The name is also used in the registry flag set by the virus.

The virus is spread, of course, by infected Word documents.  What has
made it the "bug du jour" is that it spreads *itself* via email.  We
have known about viruses being spread as attachments to email for a
long time, and have been warning people not to execute attachments (or
read Word documents sent as attachments) if you don't know where they
came from.  Happy99 is a good example: it has spread very widely in
the past month by sending itself out as an email attachment whenever
it infects a system.

Melissa was originally posted to the alt.sex newsgroup.  At that time
it was LIST.DOC, and purported to be a list of passwords for sex
sites.  I have seen at least one message theorizing that Melissa is
someone's ill-conceived punishment for viewers of pornography.  This
hypothesis is extremely unlikely.  Sending a virus to a sex related
newsgroup seems to be a reliable way to ensure that a number of stupid
people will read and/or execute your program, and start your new virus
off with a bang.  (No pun intended.)

If you get a message with a Melissa infected document, and do whatever
you need to do to "invoke" the attachment, and have Word on your
system as the default program for .doc files, Word starts up, reads in
the document, and the macro is ready to start.  If you have Word's
"macro security" enabled (which is not the default) it will tell you
that there is a macro in the document.  Few people understand the
import of the warning, and there is no distinction between legitimate
macros and macro viruses.

Because of a technical different between normal macros and "VBA
objects," if you ask for a list of the macros in the document, Melissa
will not show up.  It will be visible if you use the Visual Basic
Editor, but only after you have loaded the infected file.

Assuming that the macro starts executing, several things happen.

The virus first checks to see if Word 97 (Word 8) or Word 2000 (Word
9) is running.  If so, it reduces the level of the security warnings
on Word so that you will receive no future warnings.  In Word97, the
virus disables the Tools/Macro menu commands, the Confirm Conversions
option, the MS Word macro virus protection, and the Save Normal
Template prompt.  It "upconverts" to Word 2000 quite nicely, and there
disables the Tools/Macro/Security menu.

Specifically, under Word 97 it blocks access to the Tools|Macro menu
item, meaning you cannot check any macros.  It also turns off the
warnings for conversion, macro detection, and to save modifications to
the NORMAL.DOT file.  Under Word 2000 it blocks access to the menu
item that allows you to raise your security level, and sets your macro
virus detection to the lowest level, that is, none.  (Since the access
to the macro security menu item is blocked, I do not know how this
feature can be reversed, other than programmatically or by
reinstallation.)

After this, the virus checks for the
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\Melissa?\ registry key
with a value of "... by Kwyjibo".  (The "kwyjibo" entry seems to be a
reference to the "Bart the Genius" episode of the "Simpsons"
television program where this word was used to win a Scrabble match.)

If this is the first time you have been infected (and this "first
time" business is slightly complicated), then the macro starts up
Outlook, in the background, and sends itself as an attachment to the
"top" 50 names in *each* of your address lists.  (Melissa will *not*
use Outlook Express.)  Most people have only one (the default is
"Contacts"), but if you have more than one then Outlook will send more
than 50 copies of the message.  Outlook also sorts address lists such
that mailing lists are at the top of the list, so this can get a much
wider dispersal than just fifty copies of the message/virus.  There
was also a mention on one message about MAPI and Exchange servers,
which may give access to a very large number of mailing lists.  From
other reports, though, people who use Exchange mail server are being
particularly hard hit.  Then again, people who use Exchange are
probably also standardized on Word and Outlook.

Some have suggested setting this registry key as a preventative
measure, but note that it only prevents the mailout.  It does not
prevent infection.  If you are infected, and the registry key is
removed at a later date, then a mailout will be triggered the next
time an infected document is read.

Once the messages have been sent, the virus sets the Melissa flag in
the registry, and looks for it to check whether or not to send itself
out on subsequent infections.  If the flag does not persist, then
there will be subsequent mass mailings.  Because the key is set in
HKEY_CURRENT_USER, system administrators may have set permissions such
that changes made are not saved, and thus the key will not persist.
In addition, multiple users on the same machine will likely each
trigger a separate mailout, and the probability of cross infection on
a common machine is very high.

Since it is a macro virus, it will infect your NORMAL.DOT, and will
infect all documents thereafter.  The macro within NORMAL.DOT is
"Document_Close()" so that any document that is worked on will be
infected when it is closed.  When a document is infected the macro
inserted is "Document_Open()" so that the macro runs when the document
is opened.

Note that *not* using Outlook does not protect you from the virus, it
only means that the 50 copies will not be automatically sent out.  If
you use Word but not Outlook, you will still be infected, and may
still send out infected documents on your own.  The virus also will
not invoke the mailout on Mac systems, but definitely can be stored
and resent from Macs.  At this time I do not have reliable information
about whether it can reproduce on Macs (there is one report that it
does), but the likelihood is that it can.

Vesselin Bontchev has noted that the virus never explicitly terminates
the Outlook program.  It is possible that multiple copies may be
invoked, and may create memory problems.  However, this has not been
confirmed, and is not probable given the "first time" flag that is
set.

The message appears to come from the person just infected, of course,
since it really is sent from that machine.  This means that when you
get an "infected" message it will probably appear to come from someone
you know and deal with.  The subject line is "Important Message From:
[name of sender]" with the name taken from the registration settings
in Word.  The test of the body states "Here is that document you asked
for ... don't show anyone else ;-)".  Thus, the message is easily
identifiable: that subject line, the very brief message, and an
attached Word document (file with a .doc extension to the filename).
If you receive a message of this form *DO NOT OPEN THE DOCUMENT WITH
WORD!*  If you do not have alternate means or competent virus
assistance, the best recourse is to delete the message, and
attachment, and to send a message to the sender alerting them to the
fact that they are, very likely, infected.  Please note all the
specifics in this paragraph, and do not start a panic by sending
warnings to everyone who sends you any message with an attachment.

However, please also note that, as with any Word macro virus, the
source code travels with the infection, and it will be very easy to
create modifications to Melissa.  (The source code has already been
posted to one Web site.)  We will, no doubt very soon, start seeing
many Melissa variants with different subjects and messages.  There is
already one similar Excel macro virus, called "Papa."  The virus
contains the text "Fred Cohen" and "all.net," leading one rather
ignorant reporter to assume that Fred was the author.  Dr. Cohen was
the first person to do formal research into viral programs.

There is a message that is displayed approximately one time in sixty.
The exact trigger is if the current system time minute field matches
the current system time day of the month field when the virus is run.
In that case, you will "Twenty-two points, plus triple-word-score,
plus fifty points for using all my letters.  Game's over. I'm outta
here." typed into your document.  (This is another reference to the
"Simpsons" episode referred to earlier.)

One rather important point: the document passed is the active
document, not necessarily the original posted on alt.sex.  So, for
example, if I am infected, and prepare some confidential information
for you in Word, and send you an attachment with the Word document,
containing sensitive information that neither you nor I want made
public (say, the fact that Bill Gates is a jerk for having designed
the technology this way), and you read it in Word, and you have
Outlook on your machine, then that document will be mailed out to the
top 50 people in your address book.

Rather ironically, a clue to the identity of the perpetrator may have
come from the identification number embedding scheme recently admitted
by Microsoft as having been included with Office and Windows 98.

A number of fixes for mail servers and mail filtering systems have
been devised very quickly.  However, note that not all of these have
fully tested or debugged.  One version that I saw would trap most of
the warning messages about Melissa.

Note that any Word document can be infected, and that an infected user
may unintentionally send you an infected document.  All Word
documents, and indeed all Office files, should be checked for
infection before you load them.


Information and antiviral updates (some URLs are wrapped):

http://www.cert.org/advisories/CA-99-04-Melissa-Macro-Virus.html

http://www.ciac.org/ciac/bulletins/j-037.shtml

ftp://ftp.complex.is/pub/macrdef2.zip

http://www.complex.is/f-prot/f-prot.html

http://chkpt.zdnet.com/chkpt/hud0007500a/www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/
news/0,4586,2233030,00.html

http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/special/melissavirus.html

http://www.symantec.com/techsupp/mailissa.html

http://www.antivirus.com/vinfo/security/sa032699.htm

http://www.avp.com/melissa/melissa.html

http://www.microsoft.com/security/bulletins/ms99-002.asp

http://www.sendmail.com/blockmelissa.html

ftp://ftp.rubyriver.com/pub/jhardin/antispam/procmail-security.html

http://www.innosoft.com/iii/pmdf/virus-word-emergency.html

http://www.sophos.com/downloads/ide/index.html#melissa

http://www.avertlabs.com/public/datafiles/valerts/vinfo/melissa.asp

http://www.pcworld.com/cgi-bin/pcwtoday?ID=10302

http://www.internetnews.com/bus-news/article/0,1087,3_89011,00.html

http://cnn.com/TECH/computing/9903/29/melissa.copycat.idg/

http://www.pcworld.com/cgi-bin/pcwtoday?ID=10308


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                      Nunc Tutus Exitus Computarus
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BKPNGPCU.RVW   990219

"Peter Norton's Complete Guide to PC Upgrades", Peter Norton/Michael
Desmond, 1999, 0-672-31483-5, U$29.99/C$42.95/UK#26.95
%A   Peter Norton
%A   Michael Desmond www.michaeldesmond.com
%C   201 W. 103rd Street, Indianapolis, IN   46290
%D   1999
%G   0-672-31483-5
%I   Macmillan Computer Publishing (MCP)
%O   U$29.99/C$42.95/UK#26.95 800-858-7674 http://www.mcp.com
%P   752 p.
%T   "Peter Norton's Complete Guide to PC Upgrades, Second Edition"

Part one is an introduction, but it's really more of a once-over-
lightly than a set of background materials.  Successive chapters
provide a "what is a PC" (with a very heavy emphasis on PC99, bringing
to mind the MPC of yore), a look at Windows 9x (saying that it's
"secure"!), a rather tentative review of what you can upgrade, some
troubleshooting tips, and a wee bit of a buyer's guide.  Base
components are discussed in part two, looking at CPUs, memory, power,
and motherboards.  The material is not very detailed, with
recommendations seeming to be made by fiat.  Much the same is true of
the storage content, with drives, controllers, and tapes being loosely
covered in parts three and four.  In the same vein, part five's scan
of multimedia tells you that a lot of neat stuff is available, but
tends to be shy on detail, and not to warn you about potential
pitfalls down the road.  Part six's look at connectivity just seems to
presume it will all work, a dubious assumption at best when dealing
with communications.  The final section in part seven collects
leftover bits like printers, keyboards, cameras, and scanners.

Reading back through that, I have left the impression that there is no
content to this book at all.  At 750 pages, of course, that isn't
true.  However, while there is lots of discussion, it is truly
astonishing how little hard information is contained in the book.  And
every time I went looking for a point in regard to specific problems I
have had in recent years, it wasn't there.  The overall impression I
get from the book is of an oversized edition of "The Computer
Shopper," with relatively few products and even less price info.

On the first page of the first chapter, we are told that "no one
knew," in 1981, that the IBM PC would make a big splash.  While nobody
could have predicted the specifics and size of the current computer
market, everybody knew, as soon as IBM made the announcement, that the
PC was going to be big.  (There is also a fairly wide of the mark
misrepresentation of the deal with Microsoft for MS-DOS.)  There will,
of course, be those who object to my raising these points in this
review, since the book is a technical reference, and not a history.
That observation is true.  However, the historical inaccuracies simply
serve as the first examples I saw of a rather cavalier attitude
towards research, substance, and definitude.  Since the text is
directed at those who do not have a serious background in computing,
and have to rely on its information, it is difficult to recommend a
work that starts off by getting it wrong.

In fact, I really don't think I can recommend this book at all.  Short
works like Myles White's "How to Avoid Buying a New Computer" (cf.
BKHTABNC.RVW) are thin on the ground, and a bit venerable, but this
book isn't that small anyway.  In view of the huge superiority of
Mueller and Zacker's "Upgrading and Repairing PCs" (cf. BKUPRPPC.RVW)
in only twice the pages, I cannot see an advantage for this book at
all.

copyright Robert M. Slade, 1999   BKPNGPCU.RVW   990219

======================  (quote inserted randomly by Pegasus Mailer)
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               Practice random humour and acts of senseless mirth
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I wasn't going to mention it if they weren't, but they have.

One rather appalling discussion that I have seen regarding the new Melissa
Word macro virus was on an Internet marketing newsletter, where the editor was
exulting in this new marketing tool, seeing it as a kind of automatic spam.  I
am very much afraid that someone will be trying this, and probably very soon.

======================  (quote inserted randomly by Pegasus Mailer)
rslade@...  rslade@...  robertslade@...  p1@...
In questions of science, the authority of a thousand is not worth
  the humble reasoning of a single individual.              - Galileo
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BKWNTTST.RVW   990219

"Microsoft Windows NT Technical Support Training", Microsoft, 1997,
1-57231-373-0, U$99.99/C$134.99/UK#93.99
%A   Microsoft
%C   1 Microsoft Way, Redmond, WA   98052-6399
%D   1997
%G   1-57231-373-0
%I   Microsoft Press
%O   U$99.99/C$134.99/UK#93.99 fax: 206-936-7329
%P   773 p. + CD-ROM
%T   "Microsoft Windows NT Technical Support Training"

This material is preparation for the Microsoft Certified Professional
exams 70-067 (Implementing and Supporting Microsoft Windows NT Server
4.0) and 70-073 (Implementing and Supporting Microsoft Windows NT
Workstation 4.0).  It comes with book, supplementary materials on
CD-ROM, and four month eval copies of NT server and workstation.  It's
got everything you need to complete the course, short of two networked
computers capable of running NT.

Given that this is Microsoft's own product, the hype and promotion is
as overblown as you would expect.  However, what did surprise me, and
pleasantly so, was the level of detail in the training materials.  The
text does not give you an abundance of conceptual background on
operating systems or network communications, but that, of course, is
not the purpose of the training program.  What I did find was that
this book, with less discussion than almost any of the other that I
have reviewed, gave greater details of the actual processes to
accomplish the various tasks.

Topics covered include an overview of NT, installation, configuration
of the environment, system policies, file system management, partition
management, fault tolerance management, application support,
networking, configuring protocols, networking services, remote access
service, internetworking, interoperating with NetWare, network
clients, file synchronization, the boot process, and troubleshooting
tools.

The proof of the training is in the exam taking (and passing), of
course.  Still, I feel reasonably confident in saying that the two
best MCSE training guides I have reviewed are this one and Moncur's
"MCSE: The Core Exams in a Nutshell" (cf. BKMCSENS.RVW).  Both take
radically different approaches, of course, and they are very
complementary.  Moncur is for those with experience who have to
survive in the real world.  This one is for newcomers who need to
learn the exam material as quickly as possible.

copyright Robert M. Slade, 1999   BKWNTTST.RVW   990219

======================  (quote inserted randomly by Pegasus Mailer)
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       C:\WINDOWS        C:\WINDOWS\GO        C:\PC\CRAWL
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MLNOTW.RVW   990218

"News of the Weird", Chuck Shepherd, 1994-, notw@...,
%A   Chuck Shepherd Weird@...
%C   P. O. Box 8306, St., Petersburg FL 33738
%D   1994 -   (print version 1988 - )
%O   mailto:notw-request@...?subject=subscribe
%P   ~ 3 pages weekly
%T   "News of the Weird"

As with another of the "odd news" trio, Randy Cassingham's "This is
True" (cf. MLTHSTRU.RVW), "News of the Weird" (or NOTW) is a
syndicated column, sold to local papers.  My community paper carries
it, and I actually saw it in print before I found it on the net.

The most straightforward of the three, NOTW carries validated stories
that have been printed in the print media somewhere.  Shepherd does
not editorialize, as the others do, being content to let the stories
speak for themselves.  Generally they do that just fine.  (The closest
to an opinion being expressed is the title given to the items, such as
"Thinning the herd" for nominees for the Darwin awards.)

Shepherd must be a prolific collector, since his posts contain the
largest number of stories, usually running to about fifteen items.  In
fact, a number of items are aggregates, containing two to five stories
on the same subject or theme.  A fairly regular feature is a
collection of a number of instances of stories formerly considered
weird but now too common to continue mentioning, a kind of "last call"
of oddity.

Shepherd's column is submitted to papers weekly, and so his postings
average a weekly distribution on the net.  All of the columns
submitted are released to the mailing list, although at least three
weeks after the papers get them.  Posting of the mailing list is,
however, subject to variation in timing.  Sometimes you will see
nothing for a few weeks, and then get three on successive days.

To subscribe to the list, send a message to notw-request@... with
a subject line of Subscribe.  To unsubscribe send a message to the
same address with subject line of Unsubscribe.  A six month archive of
past issues is maintained at http://www.nine.org/notw/notw.html.  The
columns are also available, in hardcopy, through snailmail.

All stories in NOTW are authentic news stories, published in major
daily newspapers.  Interestingly, Shepherd does not solicit
submissions of any sort in his email column.

copyright Robert M. Slade, 1999   MLNOTW.RVW   990218

======================  (quote inserted randomly by Pegasus Mailer)
rslade@...  rslade@...  robertslade@...  p1@...
virtual information - technical description of marketing info
          disguised as technical description              - Greg Rose
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BKHKRPRF.RVW   990228

"Hacker Proof", Lars Klander, 1997, 1-884133-55-X, U$54.95/C$74.95
%A   Lars Klander lklander@...
%C   2975 S. Rainbow Blvd., Suite 1, Las Vegas, NV   89102
%D   1997
%G   1-884133-55-X
%I   Jamsa Press/Gulf Publishing Co.
%O   U$54.95/C$74.95 800-432-4112 fax 713-525-4670 starksm@...
%P   660 p. + CD-ROM
%T   "Hacker Proof: The Ultimate Guide to Network Security"

There is a great deal of information on security contained within this
book.  Unfortunately, it is presented without a cohesive framework.
The overall impression is good.  A lot of the forms that would make up
a useful work are followed, such as a summary (rather ironically, in
view of the scattered nature of the text, called "Putting It All
Together") and a set of resources at the end of every chapter.  The
author seems to be easily distracted, continually jumping to the next,
more sensational, topic.

Although not divided into parts, the contents do have some logical
divisions.  Initially, we are presented with what seems to be intended
as background material, although the scattergun approach leaves all of
the synthesis up to the reader.  Chapter one is a rather unfocussed
introduction, talking as much about Internet technologies as about
security.  Errors are rather common, ranging from chunks missing out
of sentences to figures with no cutlines to security weaknesses that
are essentially duplicates of each other to mailing lists that haven't
distributed material for years (with contact addresses that are even
older).  Theoretically the networking concepts and details in chapter
two might aid in understanding system vulnerabilities, but in the fact
of the book they do not seem to be used effectively.  The discussion
of firewalls does not provide sufficient information about either the
needs, weaknesses, or possible inconveniences of the different types
in chapter three.  The material on encryption, in chapter four,
mentions a number of the currently important standards, but the
explanations are so flawed that the chapter could not be used to
inform a decision on the strength or use of a cryptographic system.
Material on the use of digital signatures is fairly short, and the
remainder of chapter five rehashes, with really expanding, old ground.

Another section tries to delve into more networking protocols.
Chapter six, on HTTP (HyperText Transfer Protocol), is somewhat
disjointed, and, again, fails to seriously examine the security
implications.  S-HTTP (Secure HyperText Transfer Protocol), in chapter
seven, deals mostly with packets and commands, although it does have
some limited discussion of function.  The Secure Socket Layer (SSL)
seems to look primarily at arcana rather than use.

Chapter nine looks at a few common forms of attack, but presents
information somewhat at random.  Kerberos is reasonably well described
in chapter ten.  Some types of electronic commerce technology are
mentioned in chapter eleven.  There is an extremely limited look at
auditing in chapter twelve, first for UNIX and then for NT.  A very
rough look at security issues within the Java programming language
makes up chapter thirteen.  Chapter fourteen's look at viruses has
good basic explanations, but is unreliable in practice.

The remaining chapters generally look at security for specific
systems.  Chapters fifteen to seventeen very quickly talk about
individual security functions in NT, NetWare, and UNIX, but fail to
analyze, for example, the effective rights granted by combinations of
the different privilege granting mechanisms.  SATAN (System
Administrator's Tool for Analyzing Networks) for UNIX and Kane
Security Analyst for NT get quick overviews in chapter eighteen.
Chapter nineteen presents a number of security vulnerabilities with
the Netscape and particularly the Internet Explorer Web browsers.  CGI
(Common Gateway Interface) form weaknesses are discussed in chapter
twenty, but with so many different languages that the ultimate advice
is simply don't make a mistake when programming.

The final chapter is a reasonable look at security policies.  However,
with some many items missing from the background provided, the chance
of producing a good policy at this point is relatively small.

As with "Maximum Security" (cf. BKMAXSEC.RVW), this book attempts to
cover the enormous field of security by throwing out as many bits as
possible.  Therefore large holes are apparent in the coverage.  In
addition, the book lacks an overall framework that could be used to
build a security structure and point the way to vulnerabilities that
were not addressed.  For those who already are well comfortable with
security as a concept, this volume does have a lot of references that
might be of use.  For those new to the topic, it is not reliable
enough to start with.

copyright Robert M. Slade, 1999   BKHKRPRF.RVW   990228

======================  (quote inserted randomly by Pegasus Mailer)
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                   Eat well, stay fit, die anyway
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BKNETRVL.RVW   990227

"NetTravel: How Travelers Use the Internet", Michael Shapiro, 1997,
1-56592-172-0, U$24.95/C$35.95
%A   Michael Shapiro shapiro@...
%C   103 Morris Street, Suite A, Sebastopol, CA   95472
%D   1997
%G   1-56592-172-0
%I   O'Reilly & Associates, Inc.
%O   U$24.95/C$35.95 800-998-9938 fax: 707-829-0104 nuts@...
%P   312 p. + CD-ROM
%S   Songline Guides
%T   "NetTravel: How Travelers Use the Internet"

Not too long ago, a user group that shall remain nameless (mostly
because we don't know what to call it any more) held a national
meeting in Winnipeg.  We discussed the agenda online, of course, but
also handled all the travel reservations, hotel bookings, and other
arrangements that way.  In the days before departure, some expressed
concern about the weather, the city not being known as "Winterpeg" for
nothing.  A very helpful member posted the Environment Canada five day
forecast, showing temperatures in the minus fifty region, with
whiteout blizzard conditions.  He had, of course, accessed the weather
office's archives for the previous year, and changed the name "Inuvik"
to "Winnipeg" throughout.  We spent a lovely weekend in shirtsleeve
temperatures.

Practical jokes aside, there are abundant resources for the traveler
on the net.  In chapter one, Shapiro provides a quick overview of how
people can use the Internet in a variety of ways for a variety of
types of travel.  You can save money, plan an itinerary, book
reservations, obtain detailed information, go beyond brochures, and
generally use the Internet for what it is: the largest and most up to
date library in the world.  Generally overview chapters are pretty
boring, being light on detail and heavy on promotion.  Promotion there
is, here, but Shapiro has also managed to inject some life into the
material.  He is also not content with a mere listing of sites, but
also looks at the importance of personal contacts, always the best way
to get local data, and the variety of Internet communication tools for
contacting people.

Chapter two looks at transport.  Not only do you get listings for
travel agency and airline reservation sites, but descriptions of using
search engines to find train information, and even directions for
subways.  Food and lodging is covered in chapter three, with the
personal stories that are a feature of Songline Guides.  Shapiro,
however, integrates these stories with each other and the main text by
pointing out the common and successful features of the disparate
experiences.  Chapters four through seven deal with specific types of
travel: budget, business, vacation, and adventure, all with useful
suggestions such as using group preferences for corporate travel and
connecting to the net while on the road.  Unlike many similar guides,
this one does a reasonable job of comparing different services, noting
which is better for what type of traveler or research.  While much
(but not all) of the material in prior chapters relates to Websites,
chapter eight discusses mailing lists and newsgroups.  Not content
with a simple list, the text also shows how to search for groups,
lists, and archived postings on specific topics.  A more extensive
guide to staying connected away from home is in chapter nine.  Travel
agents would seem to be the losers in the switch to online booking,
but chapter ten finishes off the book by showing how they can use
Internet resources to add value and stay on top.

Appendix A lists the Websites discussed in the book, grouped by topic.
Appendix B is a lightning introduction to the net.  The commercial
online service offerings in the travel area are briefly described in
Appendix C.

For anyone who is not already seriously using the Internet for travel
this book is probably well worth its price.  The resources available
will aid you in planning, and definitely save you its cost many times
over.  Even those who are regularly getting travel data from the net
will likely find new and useful resources in its pages.

copyright Robert M. Slade, 1999   BKNETRVL.RVW   990227

======================  (quote inserted randomly by Pegasus Mailer)
rslade@...  rslade@...  slade@... p1@...
      It is bad to suppress laughter;
      it goes back down and spreads to your hips.
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BKASCSCI.RVW   990226

"The Ascent of Science", Brian L. Silver, 1998, 0-19-511699-2, U$35.00
%A   Brian L. Silver
%C   70 Wynford Drive, Don Mills, Ontario   M3C 1J9
%D   1998
%G   0-19-511699-2
%I   Oxford University Press
%O   U$35.00 212-679-7300 cjp@...
%P   534 p.
%T   "The Ascent of Science"

This is a book about science, not about engineering.  Since the book
is targeted at the layperson, the intended audience may not grasp this
fact in advance.  Science is often perceived as being about artifacts,
rather than ideas, and it is ideas that Silver wants to discuss.  In
particular, he is concerned with the ideas that science has presented
that have gone on to have an impact in society and civilization,
usually beyond their original scientific scope and use.  It is this
last, therefore, that is the distinctive of the work, and upon which I
feel it must be judged.

In addition, the author limits the range of the work.  This is not a
history of science, but an overview of the "good bits."  The high
points, to Silver, seem to crop up much more frequently in physics
than anywhere else.  Chemistry gets a bit of a mention, but it leans
to the physical side.  There is an excursion into biology, and it is
substantial, but not broadly based.  There is almost no geoscience nor
pure mathematics.  The softer sciences get no mention at all, and the
introduction explicitly rejects any examination of consciousness, the
province of psychology.

The book looks like a great number of essays arranged into ten parts.
Part one appears to look at the scientific method, or methods,
examining first a modern theory against a prior, incorrect, one, and
then a series of approaches to the modern way of scientific research.
Newtonian mechanics starts out part two, but the attempt to use it as
a basis for the Age of Reason falters.  Evidence and analysis for the
thesis is not compellingly presented.  Indeed, the same chapter that
tries to push for Newton's writings and fame as a starter motor for
the Enlightenment admits that the chattering classes, knowing all
about which scientist was fighting with whom, generally couldn't make
head nor tail of the theories being fought over.  In addition, the
final chapter has to report that reason has gone out of fashion (a
statement that will surprise nobody in the days of the "X-Files" and
the New Age movement).  The stumbling history of electromagnetism is
postulated, weakly, to be due to the influence of a natural philosophy
in part three.  Part four gives a history of atomic theory, but it
almost seems, from the presentation, that this has always been at odds
with the zeitgeist, rather than the formation of it.  Starting with
waves and ending in chaos, part five appears to centre on
thermodynamics, but admits that most people really don't understand
it.  Apart from the debate over evolution, the biological material
looks primarily at questions still to be answered in part six.  Part
seven looks at quantum dynamics and, predictably, just asks questions.
We get cosmology (with a side trip through tectonics) in part eight.
Part nine looks in somewhat unfocussed fashion at the need for the
public to understand the scientific endeavour.  The final chapter is a
vague hope for the future.

The foregoing is very negative, and would imply that the book isn't
worth reading.  This isn't the case.  In respect of his intentions
towards lay readers, Silver has produced a readable, interesting, and
accurate portrayal of some significant landmarks in modern science.
The events, stories, and characters are well chosen and important.
The explanations are good, reviewing not only the concepts themselves,
but also the philosophical implications.  (The fairly constant
contrast against religion is understandable, given the opposition
religion has often had against science, but isn't always illuminating,
and may become tiresome.)  The second objective, though, of
demonstrating the importance of scientific thought to the development
of philosophy in (generally speaking) western civilization is not
adequately validated by the text.

For those wishing some light science reading, this volume is
acceptable and informative.  There is, however, little beyond that.

copyright Robert M. Slade, 1999   BKASCSCI.RVW   990226

======================  (quote inserted randomly by Pegasus Mailer)
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My husband and I don't fight. We just work it out through email!-GJS
http://victoria.tc.ca/techrev    or    http://sun.soci.niu.edu/~rslade

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