BKPCCOMB.RVW 931119 Macmillan of Canada 29 Birch Avenue Toronto, Ontario M4V 1E2 Elizabeth Wilson 416-963-8830 Fax: 416-923-4821 or Microsoft Press 1 Microsoft Way Redmond, WA 98052-6399 USA "Pournelle's PC Communications Bible", Pournelle/Banks, 1992, 1-55615-393-7 2814144@mcimail.com 3259579@mcimail.com Michael Banks is known to us through a couple of previous works (BKPRTCOM.RVW and BKMDMREF.RVW). Jerry Pournelle, of course, is known to everyone. With the Microsoft Press imprimatur, and the prestigious title, usually reserved for the definitive work in a given field, one could have high hopes for this book. So, in the slightly altered words of the old joke, "Believe in the PC Communications Bible? Heck, I've *seen* it!" And it brings me no joy. The "Bible," in a given technical field, is usually a work which collects a considerable wealth of technical material. Usually, however, it is crafted with great care and skill in order to ensure that the material is accessible to, at least, the diligent newcomer. Not so here. Technical material there is--thrown in at random as a kind of nerdish grandstanding ("Look! See how much we know about CRC?"). For the neophyte, the basic material is here-- buried in verbiage, and presented with little logic or order. Section one is entitled "Basics." There is an eminently forgettable "history" of data communications, an extremely limited account of "what's available," and a terse and short-sighted view of the future. Chapter two supposedly tells you what you need to get online: it takes thirteen pages to say you need a computer, modem, software and a telephone. Chapter three purports to tell you how it all works. The explanations will make a data communications professional cringe. But, some would say, does it really matter that these pages are simplified to the point of inaccuracy? Does the average user really need to know the details? Well, no. In which case, this chapter is completely unnecessary. It serves only to allow the authors to show off the fact that they can use the term "phase shift keying". (There is no evidence that they actually know what it is.) Section two is "Getting Started," with chapters four and five discussing making a data call and signing onto a BBS or online service. Both chapters are disorganized and of very little help to the novice user. Within nine pages, chapter four is discussing the oddities that the authors found with different ports and interrupts. Is this, then, for the advanced user? No. The material is far too elementary for anyone with any computer communications background to rely on. It is simply self-indulgent posturing. Section three discusses modems and communications software again. I take it back about the phase shift keying. By a lengthy and charitable stretch of the imagination, the definition given is almost, but not quite, completely unlike the truth. The material, however, does start to become a bit more technical at this point. Having thrown around "AT" command strings in earlier discussion, chapter six finally prints out a limited list of them. The list could have been copied from any modem "quick reference" card: there is no discussion of the needs or functions for various features. The same holds true for the chapters on software (with an incomplete list of ANSI codes), and scripting (with a five-page Mirror III script for signing on the Delphi, presumably from wherever Michael Banks lives). The material is all heavily recycled, largely opinion, and of little technical or instructional value. Sections four and five are intended to give an overview of "who to call." BBSes are given a chapter of their own, but only in limited form. There is almost no mention of Fidonet or other networking systems. The authors then show their commercial bias with discussions of the larger (and higher priced) online systems. (And other biases as well: BIX gets first mention several times; guess who just happens to write a column for Byte magazine?) Of the Internet, of course, there is not a word. There is a short chapter later on which talks of "international" computer communications--mostly how to call the US from Europe and Japan. Section six is a miscellany of fax, online databases, "Doing Business by Modem," the aforementioned international chapter and another short-term look to the future. Appendices include vendor listings; a reasonable, but verbose, and overly personal, cabling guide; a rather random troubleshooting guide (as in the chapter on getting connected, there is no discussion of the typical problems you see with incorrect parameters); and an ASCII table. This is a more verbose, but no more helpful, version of Banks' earlier books. While one can see the additions Pournelle has made (quite clearly, in some cases), there is no improvement in either technical accuracy, completeness of material or organization. Once again, for a better generic introduction one has to turn to the system specific texts of Gianone (BKUMSKMT.RVW) or LeVitus/Ihnatko (BKDMGTOU.RVW). copyright Robert M. Slade, 1993 BKPCCOMB.RVW 931119 ====================== DECUS Canada Communications, Desktop, Education and Security group newsletters Editor and/or reviewer ROBERTS@decus.ca, RSlade@sfu.ca, Rob Slade at 1:153/733 Author "Robert Slade's Guide to Computer Viruses" (Oct. '94) Springer-Verlag