Mike Ohlson de Fine - Python 2.6 Graphics Cookbook

Mike Ohlson de Fine is a graduate Electrical Engineer specializing in industrial process measurement and control. He has a Diploma in Electronics and Instrumentation from Technikon Witwatersrand, an Electrical Engineering degree from the University of Cape Town, and a Masters in Automatic Control from Rand Afrikaans University. He has worked for mining and mineral extraction companies for the last 30 years. His first encounter with computers was learning Fortran 4 using punched cards on an IBM 360 as an undergraduate. Since then, he has experimented with Pascal, Forth, Intel 8080 Assembler, MS Basic, C, and C++, but was never satisfied with any of these. Always restricted by corporate control of computing activities, he encountered Linux in 2006 and Python in 2007 and became free at last.

As a working engineer he needs tools that facilitate the understanding and solution of industrial process control problems using simulations and computer models of real processes. Linux and Python proved to be excellent tools for these challenges. When he retires he would like to be part of setting up a Free and Open Source engineering virtual workshop for his countrymen and people in other poor countries to enable the bright youngsters of these countries to be intellectually free at last.

His hobbies are writing computer simulations, paddling kayaks in wild water, and surf skiing in the sea.

At the top of the pyramid of people who have helped and encouraged me to write this book is my wonderful wife Suzanne. Thank you Suzy, with all my heart. I want to dedicate this book also to three courageous people, Genevieve, Candace, and Peter, who have bravely chosen a steep and difficult path in their lives. I salute you.

Next who I would like to thank are the very professional and pleasant staff of PACKT Publishing. A special thanks to the restrained and long suffering reviewers Mike Driscoll, Warren Noronha, and Flavio Barbosa. Your criticism was invaluable.

Michael Driscoll has been programming Python since 2006 and has dabbled in other languages since the late nineties. He graduated from university with a Bachelors in Science degree, majoring in Management Information Systems. Michael enjoys programming for fun and profit. His hobbies include Biblical apologetics, blogging about Python at http://www.blog.pythonlibrary.org/ and learning photography. Michael currently works for local government where he programs with Python as much as possible. Michael was also a technical editor for Python 3: Object Oriented Programming by Dusty Phillips.

I would like to thank my brothers for their support and the fun times they share with me and my dad for his indirect support. Most of all, I want to thank Jesus for saving me from myself.

Warren Noronha is an entrepreneur and geek. Computers have been part of Warrens life since he was four years old. He began his career as a system administrator, but ended up doing everything from security and design to product development. He enjoys managing people as much as he does managing code or machines. Having worked with small startups as well as Fortune 500 companies, Warren is also a staunch supporter of free software and free speech. He has been a frequent speaker at various colleges and events, discussing subjects ranging from technology and media to launching a startup.

Warren loves working with new technologies; a trait which lead him to become one of the first users of GNU/Linux, Drupal, and Ruby on Rails, much before they grew exponentially and became mainstream technologies. He spends his time working on databases, distributed computing, social computing, and enjoys using internet and communication technology to bridge the digital divide.