Review: NET GUIDE ONLINE, Michael Wolff & Co. , Random House 1994 Peter Rutten, editor. paperbound 356 pages, $19.00 USA, $25.00 Canada. ISBN: 0-679-75106-8 This interesting reference work contains more than 4,000 listings of different things to do and places to visit on-line. Not restricted to the Internet and USENET itself, Net Guide covers CompuServe, GEnie, AOL, Delphi, Prodigy, BIX as well as hundreds of BBSs as well. It has been called "the TV Guide to Cyberspace" which pretty well sums up what this book is all about. The foreword was written by John Perry Barlow, Grateful Dead lyricist and co-founder of the E.F.F. There is a basic introduction to on-line life in question-and-answer format and a brief explanation of how to use some Internet tools like TELNET, FTP, e-mail, etc. However, if you need to learn how to use these utilities there are more comprehensive tutorials available. Where the Net Guide shines brightly is in its listings of the resources of the on-line world which have been divided into twelve parts for easy categorization. These are: Arts & Entertainment, Computers & Software, Telecommunications & Electronics, Nations, Cultures & Religions, Business & Finances, Games, Sports & the Outdoors,Mind & Body, Home, Hobbies & Shopping, Lifestyles, Leisure & Travel, Public Affairs, Politics & the Media, Nature, Science & Techology and Schools, Reference & Higher Learning. These 12 parts are further divided into 152 categories and each of these categories is further broken down into countless sub-categories too numerous to mention here. I noticed that the same entry will appear in more than one category when appropriate. Finally, the Net Guide is well indexed. The interesting aspect of the Net Guide is that it covers more than just the Internet. This includes some of the super BBSs which are not included in most other guides I've seen. I do not sunscribe to any of the commercial online services so consequently I tend to ignore services I cannot access. I did find it interesting to see what else is out there on-line. There's also a directory of FIDO BBSs but I found that several of the ones I know of here in the Boston area are missing. Also Canadian FIDO BBSs were not included. Net Guide is the first of a series of Net books produced by a ten- member team of Net-savvy reporters at Michael Wolff & Company. Other current Net Books include Net Games and Net Chat which I hope to review here in the near future. Other Net titles, such as Net Money, Net Trak, Net Sports and Net Tech are still in production or planning stages. Whatever your on-line interests may be, you are sure to find it in the Net Guide and more specialized Net book. (C) 1994 Michael Crestohl mc@shore.net