He and
his wife, Kristen, a web designer, own Madriska Media Group, a firm specializing in
custom application development. When not programming, Brad enjoys playing
various musical instruments and watching obscure films.
Colophon
The animal on the cover of Advanced Rails is a common, or Burchell??™s, zebra (Equus
burchellii). Members of the horse family (equids), common zebras grow to a height
of 45??“55 inches at the shoulder and weigh 485??“550 pounds. They have excellent
hearing and eyesight (their night vision is comparable to that of cats or owls), and
can run as fast as 35 miles per hour. Common zebras inhabit East African savannas,
from treeless grasslands to open woodlands; tens of thousands of them can be found
in migratory herds on the Serengeti plains. They are herbivores and feed mostly on
grasses and occasionally leaves or stems. They graze for many hours each day; a
zebra??™s teeth grow throughout its lifetime to counteract the wearing that occurs from
this near-constant feeding.
Zebras are social herd animals, and the social system of the common zebra is based
on a ???harem??? of females led by a stallion. Stallions compete for fillies that have come
into their first estrus, and the filly will stay permanently with the stallion that
succeeds in mating with her. Foals are dark brown and white at birth, and can walk a
mere 20 minutes after birth and run within an hour.
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