"For me, the future of journalism is blogging."-- Mary Jo Foley, All About Microsoft

"I do my best thinking via my blogs."-- Chris Anderson, The Long Tail

"One of the true beauties and powers of blogs is that they can give voice to people who are not heard."-- Frank Warren, PostSecret

"When I look out at the blogosphere, I don't see lots of inconsequential blogs. I see lots of possibility."-- Gina Trapani, Lifehacker.com

Bloggers interviewed in Blogging Heroes include: <ul> <li>Steve Garfield <li>Grant Robertson <li>Victor Agreda <li>mark Frauenfelder <li>Eric T. <li>Robert Scoble <li>Richard MacManus <li>Gary Lee <li>Deidre Woollard <li>Rebecca Lieb <li>Steve Rubel <li>Scott McNulty <li>Gina Trapani <li>Mary Jo Foley <li>Brad Hill <li>Philipp Lenssen <li>Chris Grant <li>Kristin Darguzas <li>Brian Lam <li>Joel Comm <li>Peter Rojas <li>Mike Masnick <li>Deborah Petersen <li>Ken Fisher <li>John Neff <li>Frank Warren <li>Dave Rothman <li>Dave Taylor <li>Ina Steiner <li>Chris Anderson

As the title indicates, much of Bank's book focuses on making life easier when you are not actually on the Net. He includes programs and techniques for making files more manageable and for sorting and simplifying e-mail, recommends tools for installing and removing software, and suggests ways to decode files that seem to be gibberish. He also talks about online helpers, including browser add-ons that enable you to access files your basic browser cannot read on its own. Banks covers browsers, graphics viewers, navigation aids, Web-site management tools, e-mail helpers, file managers, compression and archiving software, data encryption, and much more, providing answers even for those who don't yet know enough to ask.

In discussing the various tools, Banks shows his talent for explaining technical details in a most enlightening manner. The Internet Unplugged's tools and explanations are for both novice and intermediate Internet users, for those who simply want to get the most from their browsing, and for those who are ready to produce Web sites of their own. Even dedicated non-techies will begin to understand a lot of the phrases that have been thrown at them in the past.

The book gets continually updated at its own Web site.

As is always the case with security books, the recommendations sometimes seem too common-sensical (change your password frequently, don't give your telephone number to people you don't know well, and so on); but, even so, there's enough clever material here to make the book a decent value. Author Michael A. Banks works as a computer-security consultant to police agencies, and his stories of electronic shenanigans make great reading. Future editions ought to include information about personal firewalls, such as BlackIce Defender (essential on home networks that are hooked to cable modems and other connections that are always on) and Windows utilities, such as TweakUI and its Paranoia features. --David Wall

Topics covered: Computer security for the Windows-based PC, operating as a stand-alone unit in a home or small office and contacting the Internet via a dialup connection. How to use antivirus software, encryption tools, authentication techniques, and some sneaky ways to increase security through file concealment.