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SciTech Daily Review

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Under The Microscope

WIRED KIWIS -- Every New Zealander's Guide to the Internet, by Peter Wiggin; Shoal Bay Press; 1996; 215pp;$29.95

The world is now full of books about various aspects of the Internet. Wired Kiwis is one which does a pretty decent job of acting as an introduction to that electronic world for New Zealanders who are already confident computer users. (Those who aren't already users may well feel a bit overwhelmed by it all, but will still find useful information.)

In a short book such as this, there is naturally little opportunity to go into great detail, but Wiggin gives enough coverage of the important basics to be useful. His advice on the whole seems fairly sensible, though I would have liked to see more extensive coverage of on-line etiquette.

Business users are catered for specifically. About a quarter of the book is aimed primarily at them, giving information on a wide range of issues that don't normally affect individual users and providing a list of on-line resources useful for New Zealand businesses.

You can find out what hardware and software it's good to have, what sort of things you can do once connected, and who to contact to get on line. There's also the seemingly obligatory list of interesting Web sites, taking up about a quarter of the book. Personally I think putting such lists on sheets of dead tree is a bit of a waste of time -- they're easier to use in an on-line form, and if you can't get on-line you can't use the list in the first place.

Appropriately, Wired Kiwis has its own home page (http://www.wiredkiwis.co.nz/), providing corrections and updates. This should help ensure its ongoing usefulness, though naturally it's rather more useful for those already connected than those looking to get on line It's a shame the Web site list from the book doesn't seem to be available there.

All in all, quite a handy book, most useful for those wanting to go on line in the near future, but still worth a look from those who've been around for a while.

Phil Anderson, NZSM