The chapters are all independent of one another, so you don’t have to read them in order, and you can skip any that bore you. If you come across a technical term you don’t know, take a look in the Glossary, or in Chapter 10, which explains a lot of the concepts underlying software.

We regret to inform readers that, after reading Chapter 5, Microsoft’s PR firm were unable to grant us permission to reproduce any of their photographs of Bill Gates. We thank the Albuquerque Police Department for the substitute reproduced on Section 5.16.

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