Works of this nature cannot be created in a vacuum, and I am indebted to a number of people for the help and support they have given me throughout the course of this project. I would like to thank everyone who has contributed to the completion of this work, and in particular:
The Centre of Excellence in Distributed Multimedia at Rhodes University, Grahamstown, South Africa for providing me with the finances and equipment necessary to complete this project. In particular, Alfredo Terzoli, for convincing me to start this project.
My supervisor, George Wells, for pushing me when I needed to be pushed, and for leaving me to get on with things when I needed to be left to get on with things.
The systems staff of Rhodes University's Information Technology division, in particular, Kevan Watkins, for providing advice and insight into how the systems at Rhodes function, and for putting up with some of my more "interesting" ideas.
David Siebörger, a fellow Masters student, for helping me brainstorm, and for pointing out the merits and flaws in some of my ideas.
Pieter Blaauw for taking me on a guided tour of his workplace, Pick 'n Pay's Information Systems centre in Cape Town, and for giving me some idea of the problems facing the network administrators of large organisations.
Finally, my parents, for supporting my decision to read for a Masters degree.
— Guy Antony Halse, January 2003