Our look is the result of reader comments, our own experimentation, and feedback from distribution channels. Distinctive covers complement our distinctive approach to technical topics, breathing personality and life into potentially dry subjects. The animal on the cover of SAX2 is a pampas cat. Not much is known about this cat, as extensive studies on it have never been done. For instance, the pampas cat is believed to be mainly nocturnal and to live primarily on the ground. However, some pampas cats that reside in zoos have been observed as being somewhat active in daylight, as well as comfortable spending time in trees.
The pampas cat is native to South America. Its natural habitat allows for quite a range, as some species are found in grasslands, some in mountain regions, and some in swampy areas. It is not a large cat, weighing only between 7 and 8 pounds when fully grown. Its features are marked by a wide face and pointed ears. The color and markings on its fur are determined by the area in which it lives. For example, in the Andes Mountains, the cat is found with gray fur and red stripes; Brazilian cats are reddishbrown with black stripes; and cats living in Argentina are a light brown shade and have faint markings. The stripes always appear on the cat's legs and torso, and the cat has very long hair, which can grow up to three inches long. When the cat is frightened, these hairs stand on end, which makes the cat seem larger, as well as more menacing. This no doubt serves as a deterrent to predators.
The pampas cat population was dwindling for a time, as the cat was hunted for its skin. However, in 1980 laws were passed against this, so that particular threat to the species seems to have passed. Now the main danger is the growing human population, which is infringing on the pampas cat's home in the plains and forests. Mary Brady was the production editor and proofreader and Melanie Wang was the copyeditor for SAX2. Colleen Gorman, Matt Hutchinson, and Claire Cloutier provided quality control. Derek Di Matteo and Philip Dangler provided production support. Joe Wizda wrote the index.
Ellie Volckhausen designed the cover of this book, based on a series design by Edie Freedman. The cover image is a 19th-century engraving from Mammalia. Emma Colby produced the cover layout with QuarkXPress 4.1, using Adobe's ITC Garamond font.
Melanie Wang designed the interior layout based on a series design by Nancy Priest. The print version of this book was created by translating the DocBook XML markup of its source files into a set of gtroff macros, using a filter developed at O'Reilly & Associates by Norman Walsh. Steve Talbott designed and wrote the underlying macro set on the basis of the GNU troff --gs macros; Lenny Muellner adapted them to XML and implemented the book design. The GNU groff text formatter Version 1.11.1 was used to generate PostScript output. The text and heading fonts are ITC Garamond Light and Garamond Book. The illustrations that appear in the book were produced by Robert Romano and Jessamyn Read, using Macromedia FreeHand 9 and Adobe Photoshop 6. This colophon was written by Mary Brady.
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