One of the many things I like about Wally Wang is that he collects computer viruses. Never mind that he's a famous comedian (who's playing the Riviera in Las Vegas this July 4), Wally collects computer viruses. Such a nut! Combine that with his writing talents and you get the perfect person to explain the seamier side of the Internet in this delightful and informative book.

I must confess that parts of the book made me uncomfortable. As I'm reading about phone "phreaking" and how various hate groups use the Internet, I find my "inner republican" going, "Well, this is stuff people just really don't need to know." But then my "outer libertarian" is utterly thanking Wally for giving air to a subject that the lame computer magazines constantly gloss over.

Want to find all the good porn? It's there. Want to know how to hack into IRC? That's in there. Need to annoy someone? Chapter 10 is all about harassing people online. But the book is more than a collection of dirty tricks. There is also information about protecting yourself from such nasty things, shielding your privacy, and using data encryption.

Some of this book is a riot--literally. The title is a send-off of the original Steal This Book written by counter-culture icon Abbie Hoffman. It was the manual for finding free stuff, raising hell, and the general antiestablishment wisdom. Wally's Steal This Computer Book 2 carries on that tradition in that it tells you, honestly and openly, how to be antiestablishment on the Internet.

But it's not a scary book. It's informative. And it's funny. I remember laughing out loud at some of the exploits of the various real-life anti-heroes in the book. These are some amazing characters, some of whom are composed of pure coyote mischief, and others who are out to make a statement. Either way, they are interesting people doing interesting things, all of which Wally discloses in a well-written, fast-paced book.