Colophon

Colophon

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 tool on the cover of VoIP Hacks is a Morse code tapper. Also known as a telegraph key, this electrical switching device is used to send Morse code over electrical wires.

The old-school variety of telegraph key, glamorized in many classic films, was the straight key, a simple contraption fashioned from a bar with a knob fastened atop one end. When the knob was depressed, the bar completed an electrical circuit, and current flowed through the telegraph wires. By rapidly forming and breaking this circuit, telegraphers could transmit a series of signals, conventionally known as "dits" and "dahs" (or, more colloquially, "dots" and "dashes"), which spurred an electromagnet on the receiving end to produce clicking noises that could be recorded to paper tape or deciphered directly by skilled operators.

Unfortunately, design constraints of the straight key limited its transmission capabilities to a mere 20 words per minute. Additionally, the vigorous "brass pounding" required of early telegraphers sometimes led to a repetitive stress injury called glass arm, known today as carpal tunnel syndrome.

Sanders Kleinfeld was the production editor, and Audrey Doyle was the copyeditor for VoIP Hacks. Sanders Kleinfeld proofread the book. Philip Dangler and Claire Cloutier provided quality control. Ellen Troutman Zaig wrote the index.

Marcia Friedman designed the cover of this book, based on a series design by Edie Freedman. The cover image is from the Classic Business Equipment CD in the Classic Photographic Image Object Library. Linda Palo produced the cover layout with Adobe InDesign CS using Adobe's Helvetica Neue and ITC Garamond fonts.

David Futato designed the interior layout. This book was converted by Keith Fahlgren from Microsoft Word to Adobe FrameMaker 5.5.6 using open source XML technologies. The text font is Linotype Birka; the heading font is Adobe Helvetica Neue Condensed; and the code font is LucasFont's TheSans Mono Condensed. The illustrations that appear in the book were produced by Robert Romano, Jessamyn Read, and Lesley Borash using Macromedia FreeHand MX and Adobe Photoshop CS. This colophon was written by Sanders Kleinfeld.