Wireless Java

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 animal on the cover of Learning Wireless Java is a Senegal galago. Galagos, also called bush babies, are native to forest and bush regions of sub-Saharan Africa, including the island of Zanzibar. Galagos have lightly built bodies with long hind legs for leaping. The flattened tips of their toes are padded with thick skin for gripping tree trunks and branches, and on each of their back feet, the index toe has an extended claw for grasping. Galagos leap from branch to branch, tree to tree, sometimes jumping as far as 15 feet.

The galago has soft, woolly fur, either brown or gray in color. Its face is small and pointy, with large eyes that allow it to see well in the dark. Its large, mobile ears can move either independently or simultaneously. The combination of the galago’s huge eyes and mobile ears not only give the animal its trademark quizzical expression, but also aid the nocturnal galago after dark. At night, families of up to 20 galagos defend territories 15 to 20 acres in size. When a predator approaches, the galago emits a rasping shout that sounds much like an excited child. During the day, each family crowds into an enclosed space, such as a hollowed tree trunk, to sleep.

Galagos eat mostly insects, such as grasshoppers, ...