First and foremost, I need to acknowledge and thank Sheldon Fernandez, my researcher. With a rapidly growing company to run, I simply could not have researched and tested to the degree a great book requires. Without Sheldon, I fear it would have only been a good book; but thanks to his enthusiasm, intelligence, excellent suggestions, and tremendous hard work, I think it is a great book.

I'd like to thank the people at New Riders, particularly Lisa Thibault and Karen Wachs. True, as my content editor, Lisa did force me to remove much of the poetry and references to quantum physics from early drafts (but I forgive her). Her other suggestions definitely yielded a better book. Special thanks to Karen for hooking me up with other New Riders authors when our topics overlapped and for lending a kind ear generally. Of course, I must thank my technical reviewers Gene Kellison and Bill McLuskie for their suggestions; I am hard-pressed to recall a single suggestion of theirs that I did not incorporate. Lastly, I'd like to thank the other folks at New Riders, namely Leah Williams, Kelli Brooks, Kristy Knoop, and Cheryl Landes. I might not have worked directly with all of them, but they were all critical in the creation of this book. Finally, I'd like to thank Alim Somani for his suggestions and, of course, thanks to my colleagues at Infusion Development: Michael P., Brent W., Irene W., Stuart C., Steve A., Fred G., Rex S., Anthony S., and all the rest of the crew that were extremely supportive of this effort.

And, to my wife Deborah: Nowhere near enough room to get into specifics.