|
The Book MannComputer Books for the FamilyBy: Richard O. Mann |
If you have a family and you have a computer, you also have problems. The nature of the problems vary, all the way from the family’s constant wrangle over who gets the main computer with its modem and phone line to luring frightened or disinterested potential users to the keyboard. Toss in family members confused by all the technical hoo-haw that surrounds any computer, and you’ve got a real opportunity for well-chosen information to help.
I’ve selected a variety of current computer books with an eye to helping each member of the family work more effectively with the computer. We’ll start with books that are...
For the Family
Take Charge
Computing for Teens and Parents by Pam Dixon (IDG Books, $24.99), along
with the next book (discussed below) are part of a new series
called "the Dummies Guide to Family Computing." They
are from the not Dummies yellow series, but their similarly
attention-grabbing yellow-green cover with the standard cartoon
characters leaves no doubt of the connection to the wildly
successful Dummies books.
This "take charge" book helps teens get control of their lives, using the computer and its resources, in areas as divergent as academic endeavors (report writing, studying math, foreign languages, and even social studies), college matters (preparing for the ACT and SAT exams and selecting and applying to colleges), leisure activities (hobbies, sports, and cybersocializing), and lifetime choices (selecting a career and getting a job). The concluding chapters cover top-ten topics: Ten Avoidable Mistakes (getting cyberaddicted and catching a virus), Ten-Point Take Charge Checklist (take as many computer classes as you can stand, save money for a laptop computer, and share your knowledge with others), and others. This down-home wisdom is priceless.
With the customarily fun Dummies style and sparkling presentation, Dixon dispenses advice that could really make a difference in young lives—something you wouldn’t ordinarily expect from a Dummies book. The accompanying CD-ROM includes AT&T WorldNet software for both Windows and Mac, demo versions of ACT and SAT prep software, and other goodies. www.dummies.com
The World Wide Web for Kids and Parents by Virhaf D. Mohta (IDG Books, $24.99) is another near-Dummies experience, this time focused on the Web itself. Mohta deftly combines instructional material with directory-type information so you can practice what you’ve learned on some of the most interesting Web sites in captivity. He covers both Internet Explorer and Navigator (PC and Mac) and teaches you how e-mail, newsgroups, chat, search engines, and other Internet functions work. He explores Internet phone, two-way live video conversations, and multi-player games. He even teaches you the basics of creating a family Web page. An appendix covers the major programs for blocking inappropriate Internet content. And finally, the obligatory CD-ROM provides browser software and a host of useful shareware programs for the Net.
This is one impressive book. I’m not exactly a Net newbie, but I spent most of a day learning from this book and exploring previously unknown Web delights. But then, what else would you expect from a book by the 1992 World Champion of Full-Contact Stickfighting? (The man obviously has many talents.) www.dummies.com
For Children
(of All Ages)
For those of us whose veins course with the hot blood of computer
gamers, several series of books can prove most useful. The truly
competitive may eschew such wimpy practices as getting strategies
and cheat codes from a book, but I notice they are not above
sharing such information online. Rabid gamers, of course, will
have beaten most popular games long before any related books make
it into print. For the (non-rabid) rest of us, however, these
books can mean the difference between frustration and eventual
victory.
The Best Action & Arcade Games Strategies & Secrets by the editors of Computer Games Strategy Plus Magazine (Sybex, $19.99) is a compendium of information on how to best attack eighteen of the most popular games of recent years, including Doom II, Duke Nukem 3D, Quake, Hexen, Crusader: No Remorse, Descent (but not Descent II), and others. Coverage ranges from 32 pages on Duke Nukem 3D to four pages on Heretic, averaging eleven pages per game. You won’t learn all these games’ secrets from this book, but a look at the dozen games we know well reveals that you’re getting the most useful facts available. You’ll also find playable demos of 35 similar (newer) games on an included CD-ROM. Companion volumes with similar titles cover Adventure & Role Playing Games, Strategy & War Games, and Simulation Games. (Also note that Sybex also has an excellent series of books covering individual games in much more depth.)
If you’re one of the millions of puzzled computer owners with games that you simply can’t install or get to run properly, you need another magazine-connected book: Computer Gaming World Why Won’t This #$@! Game Work? The Indispensable Guide to Trouble-Free Gaming by Denny Atkin and Terry Coleman (Brady Publishing, $19.99). These guys are serious gamers who’ve gone through the puzzlement and frustration of getting hundreds of games to work, so there’s little reason for us to suffer similarly. Get this book and kiss some—if not all—of your game-installing troubles goodbye. Not surprisingly, memory and sound card problems get the most coverage, as befit the primary obstacles to successful gaming. Never fear, however; the book also covers a zillion smaller, more exotic problems—so chances are good that the solution you need is here.
For Female
Family Members
You’ll probably already know if you’re the right reader
for Surfer Grrrls (Look, Ethel, an INTERNET Guide for Us!) by
Laurel Gilbert and Crystal Kile (Seal Press, $15). From its title
to the back cover, this is a book with an attitude.
"Grrrls" appear to be young, female, proud, frenetic,
and fun—the book certainly is. Amid the cartoons and funny
photos, you’ll find solid information, from getting the
right hardware and Internet Service Provider to interviews with
some of the pioneering women of the Net to a glossary
("Computer Terms Ya Gotta Know.") It’s a little
over the top for my tastes, but then I’ve never been accused
of being a grrrl. I suspect grrrls will like it.
For the mainstream woman, try Women’s Wire WEB Directory by Ellen Pack (Lycos Press, $29.99). Ms. Pack, founder of Women’s Wire (a Web site that handles a half million visitors per month), has packed this book full of information, resources, and fun—with an emphasis on resources. An accompanying CD-ROM has the full hyperlinked text of the book in HTML format, so you won’t need to type even a single URL address to visit the thousands of sites reviewed here. (I have just spent several unintended hours in sites I found in the book!)
For Phone Users
A new book with potential to help the whole family is Internet Phone Connections:
Making [Virtually] Free Long-Distance Phone Calls with Your
Computer by
Cheryl Kirk (Osborne/ McGraw-Hill, $29.99). Have you been tempted
by the lure of free long-distance phone calls using the Net?
I’ve vaguely heard that it doesn’t work well, but
I’ve never spoken with a first-hand user. Cheryl Kirk is a
long time, long-distance junkie who tells us what kind of service
to expect and how to get it, throwing in professional secrets
along the way. She covers the hardware and software needed and
supplies sample software on the companion CD-ROM. If you’re
tempted by this technological miracle, get Kirk’s book and
know what you’re doing.
For Mature
Family Members
(No, that heading does not introduce a section on
"adult" computing.) Family members in their
"golden years" no longer need look on as the younger
set does all the computing. SeniorNet’s Official Guide
to the Web by
Eugenia Johnson and Kathleen McFadden (Lycos Press, $29.99)
provides twenty chapters of discussion, advice, and Web listings
of particularly interesting sites for the over-55 set. Since
I’m not yet in that class (I’ve got a good four and
half years of non-Senior time left), I can only evaluate the book
from an almost-old-enough perspective—and I have to tell
you, it’s not easy to put down, even for a youthful fellow
like me. Unlike most Web guides, the two authors’
personalities shine through as they lead us to both fun and
useful sites. I had never thought to look for a cowboy poetry
page, for instance, but here it is on page 94, just overleaf from
the Page at Pooh Corner listing. You’ll find interesting
things here, not just the usual tired listing of obvious sites.
The included CD-ROM contains the entire book in hyperlinked HTML
format.
Book of the
Month (for any family member)
This month’s coveted Book of the Month honors go to Paul
Gilster’s Digital
Literacy, a
masterful volume of insight and thought on the nature of the
Internet and its effect on our lives (Wiley Computer Publishing,
$22.95). Writing from a serious, almost intellectual standpoint,
Gilster delivers a thought-provoking discussion of what we need
to know in order to make effective use of this vast new
communications medium. "Digital literacy" refers to our
ability to understand and use digital (i.e. computer) resources.
Being digitally literate means more than booting up a computer
and reading its screen. We must evaluate the nature of the
information, seek clues about its sources from evidence such as
e-mail and Web site addresses, and search out usable information
quickly without getting endlessly lost in the data deluge.
A chapter describes a typical Internet day, musing on the infinity of choices made while browsing, searching, or playing on the Net. Another discusses the nature of hypertext and the Web’s omnipresent set of links from page to page. Can opinions be manipulated by skillful selection of links—without our being aware of it? Through engaging examples and thoughtful conjecture, Gilster leads us through a series of insights into the nature of cyberspace, as if he were a much-loved professor genially leading his proteges through a difficult field of knowledge. The Internet brings an untold wealth of information—and misinformation—into our lives. If we are to master its possibilities and effectively use it, we must understand the new realities it spawns. Get Digital Literacy, settle down in a favorite armchair, and let yourself be taught.
Richard Mann, a prolific computer and technology writer, covers the computer book scene from his home office in Roy, Utah. E-mail comments and suggestions for future Book of the Month candidates to him at RichMann@unforgettable.com.
ComputerCredible Magazine
1249 W. Jordan River Dr.
S. Jordan, UT 84095
Voice: 801.254.5432; 800.473.5432 Fax: 801.253-1040
E-Mail: computer@credible.com