Acknowledgments

First and foremost, let me thank my illustrator, Shannea Maggio, who turned my more or less illegible ball-point napkin sketches into human readable drawings and later married me. My editor, Mark Taub, came up with the original idea for the book and has been relentlessly supportive throughout the first and second editions. My former editor, Miles Williams, was an invaluable consultant during the first edition. My production editor, Laura Burgess, and my compositor, Gail Cocker-Bogusz, displayed technical fortitude nearly unheard of in English majors, wading through 600+ pages of dense techno-babble to turn out a beautifully formatted final product. My reviewer, Zonker Brockmeier, provided excellent feedback and notes. Also, in no particular order, Robert Oakman, Manton Matthews, Jerahd Hollis, and Joe Morris have been invaluable references. Last but not least, let me mention my idiot dogs: Puppy Dog, the Mighty Bebos, Igor, Renfield, and (most recently) the nine nuggets, who served as footrests during the creation of this manuscript and (for the most part) refrained from doing terrible things to my reference books and network infrastructure.