REVIEW: THE IRC SURVIVAL GUIDE  by Stuart Harris   Addison-Wesley  1995

To be brutally frank, Internet Relay Chat or IRC for short is not one of
my favorite on-line activities.  I sinply don't have the time!  However,
in the interest of reviewing this title, I made my IRC debut the other night
and it was quite interesting, to say the least.  I am not going to describe
the fun and features of IRC - Stuart Harris' book does that quite well. 

Although there are over 400 commands that the most advanced IRC client
software can understand, there are five basic commands that will allow
you to establish an identity and join the fun.  And what a strange and
interesting world it is - everything from love and romance to a solid
news source from Moscow during the 1993 attempted coup against Boris
Yeltsin when all other communications channels were shut off.

After a brief explanation of IRC and its history, we learn some elementary
commands and get some hands-on experience (pun intended!)   Now, if
the bug has bitten, you'll find intermediate and advanced commands that 
will give you a good handle on IRC when you're done.  There's a chapter
on use and abuse of freedom of speech which is very important in putting
the whole thing in perspective.  Finally, the appendices give you a summary
of command syntax, listing of IRC servers around the world, a glossary of
IRC jargon and a listing of country codes so you can look up and find what
country the various folks on-line are in.

I've read that IRC is like Citizens Band radio of the 1970s and indeed, it
is very similar.  Its an interesting diversion that I would not be adversed
to playing with from time to time.  THE IRC SURVIVAL GUIDE is a very
comprehensive tutorial and I found it very useful in helping me gain the
necessary skills. 


%T      The IRC Survival Guide
%A      Stuart Harris
%I      Addison-Wesley
%C      Reading Massachusetts
%D      1995
%O      $17.95
%G      ISBN: 0-201-41000-1 
%P      213 pp
%K      Internet Relay Chat, IRC


(C) 1995
Michael Crestohl
Nahant Massachusetts  USA
mc@shore.net

DISCLAIMER:  I have no interest, financial or otherwise, in the success or 
failure of the book or materials reviewed herewith, nor have I received any 
compensation (other than a review copy requested by me) from anyone who has.  
All opinions expressed are strictly my own.

Other Internet and Aviation book/software reviews by me can be obtained 
by anonymous FTP from:  x2ftp.oulu.fi in the /pub/books/crestohl directory.