> On Tue, 06 May 2008 14:07:51 -0400, inkleputDEL@ETEisp.com wrote:
>
>> "N. Miller" <anonymous@msnews.aosake.net> said:
>
>>> I gather that it never occurred to you why they publish that
>>> "Networking for Dummies" book? Surely you know the one:
>
>>> Home Networking for Dummies, by Kathy Ivens. Published by John
>>> Wiley & Sons Inc.
>
>> I do not deny being a dummy about networking. I have read all kinds
>> of things in all kinds of places, over and over again. It's
>> interesting that almost anyone who gets networking invariably
>> assumes that one who doesn't understand it is a total lazy ass who
>> never attempts so much as to lift a finger. I've seen that so many
>> times in so many places it's nausiating.
>
> The basic information is out there. If you didn't grasp it from the
> basic information available, I don't know what to think. Despite the
> claims of publishers of OSes and networking hardware, networking
> isn't easy. Deity knows I see all kinds of troubles people get into
> because they thought the manufacturers claims of "ease of use" were
> factual. All the Wizards on all of the D-Link, Linksys, and Netgear
> install disks are often no help when a newbie gets into trouble.
>
> But, if you had truly "read all kinds of things in all kinds of
> places", you would not have made this basic error:
>
> "An IP address on the internet is a destination to look for."
>
> Most people don't look for a destination, they already know it, in
> the form of a "Fully Qualified Domain Name" (Google it, and learn
> something new). If they don't know a destination, they search
> (Google) using key words, not IP addresses. The finding of IP
> addresses is a, largely, transparent ("behind the scenes") operation
> of the ISP DNS servers. End users, even experienced ones, generally
> don't worry about IP addresses in the normal course of surfing the
> Internet.
>
> Technically, (and, having "read all kinds of things in all kinds of
> places", you should have known this) an IP address is a unique device
> address on an IP network. Every device on an IP network must have a
> unique IP address. Including the one from which requests are made to
> other machines, using either FQDNs, or IP addresses (if known).
>
>> Surely you can find something clever and derogatory to say about the
>> fact that I literally can't remember 5% of what I read any more.
>> I'll not explain why, because that invites a whole new level of
>> sneer about something that can't possibly be grasped by those who
>> haven't been there.
>
> The "* for Dummies" series of books is a time honored series of
> primers, written with self-deprecatory humor, which taught my parents
> much about computers. My mother recently shipped off her "MS DOS for
> Dummies" and "Windows for Dummies" books to the Goodwill. Maybe some
> other, less sensitive, newbie will find them useful. The authors of
> the books start out from the premise that they, themselves, are among
> the "Dumbest Dummies" to lay hands on whatever the topic of their
> book is about.

Wow, must be a full moon tonight! You're quite the idiot.