This is the official Website about The Secret Guide to Computers, Tricky Living, and Secret Tutoring. Those services and this Website were written by Russ Walter and his staff.
Fans have invented hundreds of other Websites about us, but their sites are based on outdated info. You're viewing the only Website that's up to date!
You can reach this Website by typing "SecretFun.com" (or "TrickyLiving.com", "TrickyLiving.org", "SecretGuide.org", or "SecretGuideToComputers.com").
Just this Website gives complete help about computers, life, and tutoring. It lets you get:
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free help about computers, academic subjects, and life, by phone, immediately
free chapters from new editions of The Secret Guide to Computers and Tricky Living discounts on buying the complete printed books lowest rates on top-quality in-person tutoring best free Websites from other Webmasters |
We've published the 30th edition of "The Secret Guide to Computers" and the 2nd edition of "Tricky Living" by adding these topics: Windows Vista, Microsoft Office 2007, Firefox, Windows Mail, Yahoo Mail, blogging, photo & video editing, updated advice on buying computer hardware & software, and deeper Tricky Living topics. Those books are labeled "for 2008" but are also for use in 2009.
This Website lets you read some chapters from those editions free, online. It also gives you discounts on complete printed books (especially for quantity orders or earlier editions), so your cost can get as low as 50 cents per book. The fastest, cheapest way to get books is to phone 603-666-6644 (day or night, 24 hours, we're usually in). Other ordering methods are explained below.
Correction: in Tricky Living's second edition, page 34 misspells Barack & Hillary and should have said Hillary went to Yale Law School. Sorry!
If you want us to mail books outside the U.S., we'll use airmail, since the U.S. Postal Service no longer uses surface mail internationally.
At the end of 2009, we expect to publish future editions of "The Secret Guide to Computers" and "Tricky Living" by adding new info on these hot topics: computer dealers, Windows 7, modern Web browsers, Office 2010, modern programming (in Java, Visual Basic, Visual C++, and Visual C#), nutrition, education, violence, math, Chinese, and Bible translations. If you have suggestions or questions about those topics -- or our hundreds of other topics -- phone us at 603-666-6644.
Whenever you want free help about computers, life, or academic subjects, phone Russ Walter at 603-666-6644 (his New Hampshire home). Phone anytime (day or night, 24 hours): he's usually in and sleeps just lightly.
We don't charge anything (though your phone company might charge you for making a non-local call).
Ask anything! For example, Russ will help you get discounts on hardware and software, use your software's tricky features, repair your computer, reprogram your computer, and develop your career. He also answers questions about personal relationships, homework, math, English, the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT), and hundreds of other topics covered in "The Secret Guide to Computers" and "Tricky Living."
Join the fun: call 603-666-6644 now! He's usually in. (If no answer, he's out on a brief errand: try an hour or two later.)
Russ can answer most questions. If he doesn't know the answer to yours, he'll guide you to finding the answer elsewhere. He's a good place to start your hunt for the answer.
We make Russ obey just 3 restrictions:
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He can't read his books over the phone (but he can tell you which pages answer your question).
He can't help you do bad things (such as use software that's pirated or inappropriate). He's limited to an average of 7 minutes per call (but you can call often, and he lets some calls go longer). |
If you want a help session that's longer (many hours), you can hire Russ & Donna to be your private tutors, cheaply! Click here for details.
"The Secret Guide to Computers" is the world's only complete computer tutorial: it explains how to buy, use, fix, reprogram, and manage your computer.
We've improved the book for many years. We've finally printed the 30th edition.
"The Secret Guide to Computers" has been praised and used by The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, PC Magazine, PC World, and hundreds of other publications for being the best computer book ever written. Over a million copies have been sold.
This 30th edition goes far beyond earlier editions: its 575 huge pages include more than 30,000 improvements over the 29th. It includes these 41 chapters, grouped into 8 sections....
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Buyer's guide: user's guide, how to shop, chips, disks, I/O devices, packaging, software, complete systems
Operating systems: Windows, DOS commands, Mac OS, Linux, Palm OS Internet: providers, Web, e-mail Fixes: maintenance, repairs, viruses Word processing: Microsoft Word 2007, Microsoft Word classics, Microsoft Works Tricky apps: spreadsh., pictures, movies, desktop pub., Web design, databases, accounting, games, human Programming: QBasic, Visual Basic, JavaScript & JScript, Java, C & C++, exotic languages, assembler Management: our past, your future, resources |
"Tricky Living" covers everything important about life beyond computers. It analyzes health, survival in America, and cultures. You learn tricky procedures to survive the daily grind, then tricky philosophies to help you cope.
Critics especially praise its analyses of nutrition & blood chemistry, lawn care, pros'tution, career attitudes, and how the Chinese think & act diferently than Americans. They love how it covers hundreds of other topics too! It's for mature adults who can handle a book that includes all of life, even "street language." It was developed by Russ Walter and his wife (Guang Chun "Donna" Walter).
This second edition goes far beyond the first edition: its 143 huge pages include more than 10,000 improvements over the first edition. It includes these 67 topics, grouped into 11 sections....
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Health: water, fat, protein, fiber, aspirin, thin, micro, toxins, best, news, disgust, sleep, disease, clean, docs
Daily survival: housing, lawns, snow removal, transportation, finances, careers, management, crooks Government: politics, economic policy, war, law Intellectual life: professors, philosophers, psychologists, mathematicians, physicists, chemists Arts: Picasso's advice, music, movies, writing American cultures: holidays, aging, Vermont, New Hampshire, Boston, NY, South, anthropologists Foreign cultures: German, Spanish, French, Chinese, Japanese Morality: ethics, prejudice, evil, Christian fun, Judaism Sexuality: search for pleasure, men versus women, pros'tutes Donna's comments: East versus West, new China, American help, tongues, success, money, hubby Resources: index, coupons |
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Read for free 20 chapters of the 30th "Secret Guide to Computers" by clicking here
Read for free 20 chapters of the second "Tricky Living" by clicking here Read for free 20 chapters of older editions by clicking here Test your knowledge of tricky living, free, by clicking here Get a free brochure about us by e-mailing your street address to Russ@SecretFun.com Get free consulting on all topics by phoning Russ at 603-666-6644 (day or night, 24 hrs., usually in) See links to free fun sites by clicking here |
Thousands of reviewers worldwide have praised "The Secret Guide to Computers" for being the best computer book ever written. Here are links to sample reviews, unabridged at their own Websites:
"Tricky Living" is praised extensively by many readers, now preparing formal reviews.
"The Secret Guide to Computers" (30th edition) lists for $20, but pay less by joining your friends....
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20% discount for 2 copies: pay just $16 each
40% discount for 4 copies: pay just $12 each 60% discount for 60 copies: pay just $8 each 70% discount for 700 copies: pay just $6 each |
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29th edition now costs $5 for 1 copy, $4 each for 6 copies, $3 each for 20 copies, $2 each for 60 copies
28th edition now costs $4 for 1 copy, $3 each for 6 copies, $2 each for 20 copies, $1 each for 60 copies 27th edition now costs $3 for 1 copy, $2 each for 6 copies, $1 each for 20 copies, $.50 each for 60 copies |
If you get the 30th edition, we recommend you also get the 27th (which includes many classic topics that aren't in the 28th, 29th, or 30th). To see how editions differ, click here.
"Tricky Living" (second edition) lists for $10, but pay less by joining your friends....
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20% discount for 2 copies: pay just $8 each
40% discount for 4 copies: pay just $6 each 60% discount for 60 copies: pay just $4 each 70% discount for 700 copies: pay just $3 each |
We've reduced the price of the first edition (which includes uncensored comments):
| first edition now costs $2 for 1 copy, $1 each for 6 copies, $.50 each for 20 copies |
Our CD-ROM, $30, contains the 30th "The Secret Guide to Computers" and the second "Tricky Living". It includes 3 copies of the text: 1 in "plain Microsoft Word", 1 in "Microsoft Word with embedded fonts", and 1 in "PDF with embedded font characters." It helps 3 groups of people:
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the blind who have a talking computer
overloaded travelers who can't lug our huge books authors who want to copy our writing into their own books, handouts, and Websites |
We offer 3 shipping methods:
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standard is free (1½ weeks); available just to the U.S.
air is $3/book to the U.S. (½ week), $7/book to other countries (1 ½ weeks) UPS is $5 total (1 week); available if order at least 2 bks. (to 1 street addr. in 48 orig. states or DC) |
Those approximate shipping times can vary by 50%, depending on your location and season.
We offer 5 ordering methods:
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phone Russ Walter at 603-666-6644 (24 hours, he's usually in) with your credit card
e-mail to Russ@SecretFun.com, giving your card #, its expiration date, and your street address mail a check, money order, or cash (from any country) to The Secret Guide to Computers, 196 Tiffany Lane, Manchester NH 03104-4782 wire funds from your local Western Union or MoneyGram agent (in most countries) to Russell M. Walter, Manchester NH (then tell us you did) resellers set their own prices but rarely match our discounts; to find resellers, call 603-666-6644 |