Practical Internet Groupware

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 animals on the cover of Practical Internet Groupware are seals and sea lions. Seals and sea lions are related; both are marine mammals belonging to the order Pinnipedia. Sea lions, along with fur seals, are members of the eared seal family. Eared seals, as their name implies, have external ears on either side of the head. These ears are covered by a small flap. All other seals, or true seals, lack external ears, having only small, wrinkled openings where their ears would otherwise be. Another principle difference between eared seals and true seals is the functionality of their rear flippers. Eared seals can turn their rear flippers forward in order to move about on land. True seals cannot, and can move on land only by rolling, sliding, or wriggling from place to place. Despite the awkwardness of both seals and sea lions on land, both swim very gracefully using undulating motions of their front flippers. Fish and squid are the main staples of the seal and sea lion diet. These mammals can dive to great depths-up to 2,000 feet in some species-in search of food.

Seals and sea lions have long been hunted for their blubber and their fur. There are eighteen living species of seal and four major species of sea lion still in existence. ...