Date: Fri, 28 Oct 1994 15:05:09 EST From: "Rob Slade, Ed. DECrypt & ComNet, VARUG rep, 604-984-4067" Subject: "Yakety Mac" by Rubin BKYAKMAC.RVW 940801 Hayden 201 West 103rd St. Indianapolis, IN 46290 317-581-3718 fax: 317-581-4669 hayden@hayden.com haydenbks@aol.com 76350.3014@compuserve.com "Yakety Mac: the Telecom Tome", Rubin, 1992, 0-672-48548-6, U$34.95/C$43.95 rossrubin@aol.com, 72137.2627@compuserve.com, rossrubin@eworld.com This book is that rarity, A readable presentation of the topic which is also technically accurate. For those who are interested in what you can do with a Mac and a modem, this is a terrific introduction. Chapter one is a good basic introduction to modems, both conceptually and in terms of features to look for. After so many modem references that seem mired in the previous decade, it is thoroughly refreshing to see someone not only get V.32bis and V.42bis correct, but also look ahead to V.34 (the not-quite- ratified standard for 28,800 bits per second). (One major error here--the Mac serial port is *not* RS-232 standard.) Chapter two is an overview of the functions of AppleTalk Remote Access, very probably of interest to business people wanting to access the office machine >from home. Chapter three looks at terminal software and BBSes. Many related topics that are often ignored are covered in chapter four, while chapter five looks at the major commercial services. The Internet gets a very short mention, and it is obvious that Rubin's experience is limited to the commercial service gateways. Chapter six discusses the various compression and archiving programs. Seven looks at data exchange with MS-DOS systems. Fax is the subject for chapter eight. Appendices include a (not terribly useful) AT command set list, a world wide BBS list, a "smiley" dictionary and a vendor directory. Unfortunately, like a great many modem references, this may not help the first- time user with that all important first call or tuning the initialization string. However, there is a wealth of information here for those who want an entree to the online world. copyright Robert M. Slade, 1994 BKYAKMAC.RVW 940801 ====================== 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