E-Mail for Dummies, Second Edition (Paperback)

~ (Author), (Author), (Author), Arnold Reinhold (Author, Editor)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Despite the razzle-dazzle appeal of the World Wide Web's multimedia content, by far the most used and most useful feature of the Internet is plain ol' e-mail. With E-Mail For Dummies -- now completely updated for this second edition -- you discover everything you need to know about the world's fastest-growing means of communication. Thanks to a Net-savvy team of authors, you find out to set up popular e-mail software like Eudora, Microsoft Exchange, Netscape Navigator, and Pine. You get tips on managing your address book and automatically sorting and filtering messages so you can save time and get to the important ones right away. You also master the art of successfully sending and receiving attachments, including graphic, sound, word processing, and spreadsheet files. Best of all, to get you up to speed quickly, you get a bonus CD-ROM containing AT&T WorldNetSM Service for Internet access, along with Mac and PC Web browsing software; Windows shareware, freeware, and demos such as Free Agent, Hot Dog, and ThunderBYTE Antivirus; and BBEdit Lite, Anarchie, and Graphic Converter for Macintosh.

About the Author

John R. Levine was a member of a computer club before high school students, or even high schools, had computers. He wrote his first program in 1967 on an IBM 1130 (a computer almost as fast as your modern digital wristwatch, only more difficult to use). He became an official system administrator of a networked computer at Yale in 1975 and has been working in the computer and network biz since 1977. He got his company on to Usenet (see Part IV) early enough that it appears in a 1982 Byte magazine article in a map of Usenet, which then was so small that the map fit on half a page.

He used to spend most of his time writing software, although now he mostly writes books (including UNIX® For Dummies®, 4th Edition, and Internet Secrets®, both from IDG Books Worldwide, Inc.) because it's more fun and he can do so at home in the hamlet of Trumansburg, New York, where he holds the exalted rank of sewer commissioner and offers free samples to visitors and plays with his baby daughter when he's supposed to be writing. He also does a fair amount of public speaking. () He holds a B.A. and a Ph.D. in computer science from Yale University, but please don't hold that against him.; Unlike her peers in that 40-something bracket, Margaret Levine Young was exposed to computers at an early age. In high school, she got into a computer club known as the R.E.S.I.S.T.O.R.S., a group of kids who spent Saturdays in a barn fooling around with three antiquated computers. She stayed in the field through college against her better judgment and despite her brother John's presence as a graduate student in the computer science department. Margy graduated from Yale and went on to become one of the first microcomputer managers in the early 1980s at Columbia Pictures, where she rode the elevator with big stars whose names she wouldn't dream of dropping here. Carol Baroudi first began playing with computers in 1971 at Colgate University, where two things were new: the PDP-10 and women. She was lucky to have unlimited access to the state-of-the-art PDP-10, on which she learned to program, operate the machine, and talk to Eliza. She taught Algol and helped to design the curricula for computer science and women's studies. She majored in Spanish and studied French, which, thanks to the Internet, she can now use every day.

In 1975, Carol took a job doing compiler support and development, a perfect use for her background in languages. For six years, she developed software and managed software development. For a while, she had a small business doing high-tech recruiting (she was a headhunter). Though she wrote her first software manuals in 1975, she has been writing for a living since 1984. Carol has described all kinds of software, from the memory-management system of the Wang VS operating system to e-mail products for the PC and Mac. For the past several years, she has been writing books, including Internet Secrets® and E-Mail For Dummies® (both published by IDG Books Worldwide, Inc.), for ordinary people who want to use computers. She enjoys speaking to academic, business, and general audiences about the impact of technology on society and other related topics. (Check out her home page, at http://iecc.com/carol, to see what she's up to.)

Carol believes that we are living in a very interesting time when technology is changing faster than people can imagine. She hopes that as we learn to use the new technologies, we don't lose sight of our humanity and feels that computers can be useful and fun but are no substitute for real life.;

Carol Baroudi first began playing with computers in 1971 at Colgate University, where two things were new: the PDP-10 and women. She was lucky to have unlimited access to the state-of-the-art PDP-10, on which she learned to program, operate the machine, and talk to Eliza. She taught Algol and helped to design the curricula for computer science and women's studies. She majored in Spanish and studied French, which, thanks to the Internet, she can now use every day.

In 1975, Carol took a job doing compiler support and development, a perfect use for her background in languages. For six years, she developed software and managed software development. For a while, she had a small business doing high-tech recruiting (she was a headhunter). Though she wrote her first software manuals in 1975, she has been writing for a living since 1984. Carol has described all kinds of software, from the memory-management system of the Wang VS operating system to e-mail products for the PC and Mac. For the past several years, she has been writing books, including Internet Secrets® and E-Mail For Dummies® (both published by IDG Books Worldwide, Inc.), for ordinary people who want to use computers. She enjoys speaking to academic, business, and general audiences about the impact of technology on society and other related topics. (Check out her home page, at http://iecc.com/carol, to see what she's up to.)

Carol believes that we are living in a very interesting time when technology is changing faster than people can imagine. She hopes that as we learn to use the new technologies, we don't lose sight of our humanity and feels that computers can be useful and fun but are no substitute for real life.

Product Details

• Paperback: 300 pages
• Publisher: For Dummies; 2nd edition (June 16, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0764501313
• ISBN-13: 978-0764501319
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #770,054 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I Have What You Sent Last E-mail, May 29, 2001

By A Customer

Browsers, e-mail programs, or online services turn out even E-MAIL FOR DUMMIES. But they might hit electronic snags: updates might be stored like files so channels missing updates while the computer is disconnected might freeze or lock the screen by updating with the reconnection. There might be online rush hours and waiting lines: conferencing goes faster with the less error-checking ASCII text files and slower with executable and image binary files. Computer glitches might hold up messages between different systems. There might also be a lack of privacy: employers might read messages without employees agreeing or knowing and without breaking any laws. There might even be a lack of security: Active X controls might interact with the Active X support feature in a web browser to locate and upload financial information from a computer. Messages might be intercepted while passing through multiuser and network-connected computers without firewalls and randomly selected private and public keys or pass phrases or words; or while printing to remote laser printers. Messages might not delete because they copy across computers and might end up archived on computer backup tapes. Authors John R Levine et al lead readers through the obstacle course and on to David Ebner's THE TIGHTWAD'S GUIDE TO FREE E-MAIL AND OTHER COOL INTERNET STUFF and David Wood's PROGRAMMING INTERNET E-MAIL.

0 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars question?, October 17, 2003

By	john mcinnis (Fl) - See all my reviews

I recieved an e-mail from switzerland, the address was [e-mail] that was not acceptable to the computer. What's missing?