Graphical output: dials and meters for a dashboard?

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Here is a quick and dirty function to do so (things can easily be
changed to reflect preferences):
[...] 

Thanks Greg, that's working fine and is a fabulous starting point.  Much appreciated!

Multiple dials can be created using par(mfrow= ... 
Or the my.symbols function from the TeachingDemos package.

I see there are several ways of having multiple plots: split.screen, mfcol etc.  I have now got multiple dials going using split.screen, but I was wondering, are all approaches to multiple plots effectively the same or do they have different merits?  Is there an approach best suited to regularly updated displays?

[[replacing trailing spam]]
PJ