Preface
By Adam Gaffin,
Senior Writer, Network World, Framingham, Mass.
 
Welcome to the Internet! You're about to start a journey through a unique 
land without frontiers, a place that is everywhere at once -- even though 
it exists physically only as a series of electrical impulses.  You'll be 
joining a growing community of millions of people around the world who 
use this global resource on a daily basis. 

With this book, you will be able to use the Internet to: 

     = Stay in touch with friends, relatives and colleagues around the 
       world, at a fraction of the cost of phone calls or even air 
       mail. 
 
     = Discuss everything from archaeology to zoology with people in 
       several different languages.    
 
     = Tap into thousands of information databases and libraries 
       worldwide.
 
     = Retrieve any of thousands of documents, journals, books and 
       computer programs.
 
     = Stay up to date with wire-service news and sports and 
       with official weather reports.
 
     = Play live, "real time" games with dozens of other people at once. 
 
Connecting to "the Net" today, takes something of a sense of adventure, a 
willingness to learn and an ability to take a deep breath every once in 
awhile. Visiting the Net today is a lot like journeying to a foreign 
country.  There are so many things to see and do, but everything at first 
will seem so, well, foreign.  

When you first arrive, you won't be able to read the street signs.  
You'll get lost.  If you're unlucky, you may even run into some locals 
who'd just as soon you went back to where you came from.  If this weren't 
enough, the entire country is constantly under construction; every day, 
it seems like there's something new for you to figure out. 

Fortunately, most of the locals are actually friendly.  In fact, the Net 
actually has a rich tradition of helping out visitors and newcomers.  
Until very recently, there were few written guides for ordinary people, 
and the Net grew largely through an "oral" tradition in which the old-
timers helped the newcomers. 

So when you connect, don't be afraid to ask for help.  You'll be 
surprised at how many people will lend a hand! 

Without such folks, in fact, this guide would not be possible. My thanks 
to all the people who have written with suggestion, additions and 
corrections since the Big Dummy's Guide first appeared on the Internet in 
1993. 

Special thanks go to my loving wife Nancy.  I would also like to thank 
the following people, who, whether they know it or not, provided 
particular help. 

Adam Atkinson, Rhonda Chapman, Jim Cocks, Tom Czarnik, Christopher Davis, 
David DeSimone, Jeanne deVoto, Phil Eschallier, Nico Garcia, Joe 
Granrose, Joerg Heitkoetter, Joe Ilacqua, Jonathan Kamens, Peter 
Kaminski, Thomas A. Kreeger, Stanton McCandlish, Leanne Phillips, Nancy 
Reynolds, Helen Trillian Rose, Barry Shein, Jennifer "Moira" Smith, 
Gerard van der Leun and Scott Yanoff. 

If you have any suggestions or comments on how to make this guide 
better, I'd love to hear them.  You can reach me via e-mail at 
adamg@world.std.com. 

Boston, Mass., February, 1995.