BKMGENIE.RVW 980827 Glossbrenner's Choice 699 River Road Yardley, PA 19067-1965 215-736-1213 70065.745@compuserve.com 203-6360@mcimail.com Glossbrenner@GEnie.geis.com or McGraw-Hill Ryerson/Osborne 300 Water Street Whitby, Ontario L1N 9B6 416-430-5000 fax: 416-430-5020 "Glossbrenner's Master Guide to GEnie", Glossbrenner, 1991, 0-07-881659-9, U$39.95 It is amazing how fast things change. This book is copyright 1991. In two years GEnie has changed enough that I'm not sure how much is still valid. (As only one minor example, GEnie's rate structure has recently changed to a "per hour" charge as well as the monthly base rate.) Glossbrenner has done a very good job of making GEnie accessible, but if you rely on this book's examples you may find yourself a bit confused at times. Glossbrenner's book will likely save you the price of its purchase anyway. The book is liberally sprinkled with time- and money- (which is the same thing, online) saving tips. There are also a number of commands which you would likely not find for a while in your own explorations. These will help you almost from the moment you sign on. If you plan to use GEnie, this work is a good investment. The user of commercial online services tends to be less technically adventuresome than the BBS nerds, so the fact that chapter one deals with modems and communications software is wise. This discussion is not complete. The section on software is very terse. The discussion of modems deals with MNP levels 2 and 4, error correction, which GEnie sometimes supports, but not level 5, compression, which GEnie doesn't support, but which is more generally desired by the wider data communications crowd. (Oddly, Glossbrenner and, seemingly, GEnie recommend against the use of MNP error correction.) The book goes far enough into details on modems to recommend an external modem. (I concur, although he left out my favourite reason. When the system gets really stuck, you can always "punch off" with the "Talk/Data" switch.) Chapter two starts into GEnie itself, with instructions on signing on and navigation. This is where the age begins to show: a significant portion of this chapter is dedicated to "Star*Services" -- which don't exist anymore. Chapter three is *highly* recommended. "RoundTables" on GEnie are the topic centres. They contain static conferencing, bulletin boards, real time "chat" conferences and file libraries related to the topic. As Glossbrenner says, they are the "heart and soul" of GEnie. They will also, very likely, drive you nuts. I have been involved with online systems for a decade; I have seen every interface going; I have used some pretty weird services; but I hope *never* again to go through the agony of my first few hours exploring GEnie's "RTs". Once you get used to them, there are some *very* powerful commands, but initially...well, just get the book, read chapter three and spare yourself a *lot* of grief. Chapter four wants to talk about the online community. I know why: it is a great temptation to share this new community with others. Unfortunately, it is also difficult to describe. However, it does lead in to chapter five, where the mechanics of email and chat are dealt with. Again, this is highly recommended reading. Suffice it to say that GEnie is the only system I have ever seen that doesn't let you read, and reply to, messages one by one. An important point Glossbrenner notes is that the asterisk, used on almost all messaging systems for emphasis of a word or phrase, is the command character for the GEnie editor. I found this out after seven attempts to post an article, the last line of which started with "*write..." The "*w" command means "wipe the buffer". Unfortunately, and unusually, Glossbrenner does not say anything about email etiquette, or the common sources of misunderstandings for beginners. (Another fairly major change has taken place: GEnie now has Internet access for email.) Chapters six to fourteen basically list the various resources, services and RoundTables associated with, respectively, computing, travel, finance and business, shopping, news/weather/sports, games (online gaming), professional services, leisure, and education. These chapters will appeal or not, depending upon your interest in the topics. Again, as you think you might want to explore some areas, try them out "on paper" first. You can pick up tips more easily here than online. Chapter fifteen covers the Aladdin front end for GEnie. This commands another whole review: suffice it that you can deduct the price of Aladdin's documentation, and whatever charges are required to obtain it, from the cost of the book since a copy of the MS-DOS version is included as well as this mini manual. (Again, at the time the book was written there was a plan to introduce an Aladdin version for the Mac as well as the current MS-DOS and Atari ST versions. The Mac plans have been tabled.) The version of Aladdin included with the book is older, although still usable. I received my copy directly >from "Glossbrenner's Choice", and the package contained an updated version. The price of the book seems quite high. The content, however, is substantial, and the usage credit and Aladdin copy effectively reduce the price still more. In addition, the work will likely save you its own cover price within a few months. If you use GEnie, or, more particularly, if you plan to start using GEnie, I would recommend this purchase. Alfred Glossbrenner's comments on this review included the information that the publisher does not plan an update at this time. The Glossbrenner's themselves, however, are preparing updated material on floppy disk to include with the book. This will only be available if you order direct from the "Glossbrenner's Choice" address. The price will be U$44.95 shipped to Canadian addresses. copyright Robert M. Slade, 1993 BKMGENIE.RVW 980827 ====================== 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