@database "ar304.guide" @Node MAIN "Amiga Report Online Magazine #3.04 -- February 12, 1995" @{" Turn the Page " link MENU} _ ____ ___ ______ _______ _ d# ####b g#00 `N##0" _agN#0P0N# d# d## jN## j##F J## _dN0" " d## .#]## _P ##L jN##F ### g#0" .#]## dE_j## # 0## jF ##F j##F j##' ______ dE_j## .0"""N## d" ##L0 ##F 0## 0## "9##F" .0"""5## .dF' ]## jF ##0 ##F ##F `##k d## .dF' j## .g#_ _j##___g#__ ]N _j##L_ _d##L_ `#Nh___g#N' .g#_ _j##__ """"" """"""""""" " """""" """""" """"""" """"" """""" ###### ###### ###### ###### ###### ######## TM ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## #### ## ## ## #### ## ## ## #### ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ### ###### ## ###### ## ### ## "THE Online Source for Amiga Information!" Copyright 1995 FS Publications All Rights Reserved // =====================================//==================================== == February 12, 1995 \\// Issue No. 3.04 == =========================================================================== @endnode @node MENU "Amiga Report Main Menu" @toc MAIN =========================================================================== == Main Menu == =========================================================================== @{" Editorial " link EDITORIAL} @{" Featured Articles " link FEATURE} @{" Reviews " link REVIEW} @{" News & Press Releases " link NEWS} @{" FTP Announcements " link FTP} @{" Reader Mail " link MAIL} --------------------------------- @{" About AMIGA REPORT " link ABOUT} @{" Dealer Directory " link DEALER} Contact Information and Copyrights Amiga Dealer Addresses and Numbers @{" Where to Get AR " link WHERE} @{" Commercial Products " link COMMERCIAL} Mailing List & Distribution Sites Online Services, Dealers, Ordering ______________________________________________ // | | // ========//====| Amiga Report International Online Magazine |======//===== == \\// | Issue No. 3.04 February 12, 1995 | \\// == ==============| "THE Online Source for Amiga Information!" |============= |______________________________________________| @endnode =========================================================================== == The Amiga Report Staff == =========================================================================== @node JASON "Editor" @toc STAFF =========================================================================== == EDITOR == =========================================================================== Jason Compton ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Internet Address -------- ------- jcompton@bbs.xnet.com 1838 Chicago Ave. #419 jcompton@cup.portal.com Evanston, IL 60201-3806 USA Fax Phone --- ----- 708/491-4064 708/332-4599 @endnode @node ROBERT "Senior Editor" @toc STAFF =========================================================================== == SENIOR EDITOR == =========================================================================== Robert Niles ~~~~~~~~~~~~ Internet Address -------- ------- rniles@Wolfe.NET 506 W. Orchard Selah, WA 98942 FidoNet Fax ------- --- 1:3407/103 509/697-5064 @endnode @node KATIE "Assistant Editor" @toc STAFF =========================================================================== == ASSISTANT EDITOR == =========================================================================== Katherine Nelson ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Internet -------- Kati@cup.portal.com @endnode @node MICHAEL "European Editor" @toc STAFF =========================================================================== == EUROPEAN EDITOR == =========================================================================== Michael Wolf ~~~~~~~~~~~~ Internet -------- MikeWolf@bonebag.tynet.sub.org @endnode @node SEAN "Games Editor" @toc STAFF =========================================================================== == GAMES EDITOR == =========================================================================== Sean Caszatt ~~~~~~~~~~~~ Internet -------- Sean.Caszatt@f512.n2601.z1.fidonet.org @endnode @node DAVID "Contributing Editor" @toc STAFF =========================================================================== == CONTIBUTING EDITOR == =========================================================================== David Tiberio ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Internet -------- dtiberio@libserv1.ic.sunysb.edu @endnode @node EDITORIAL "compt.sys.editor.desk" @toc OPINION =========================================================================== == compt.sys.editor.desk By: @{" Jason Compton " link JASON} == =========================================================================== Oh, how many limbs I would give for a resolution to this soap opera that is the liquidation of Commodore International, Limited and its holdings. Has anything happened? Not really. I haven't received any news from the UK group. CEI's Alex Amor has been haggling with his investment group for the past couple of weeks, and MAYBE will put in a new bid this week. A new rumor has surfaced about two new bidders. As of now, I can't confirm or deny anything, because I haven't even heard the entire rumor yet. Hoo boy. In the meantime, Doug MacGregor, President of Commodore Canada, once again denied that his company was selling newly manufactured Amigas. In essence, Commodore Canada is slowly sliding towards the liquidation-they're still able to pay their bills, but with no new Amigas to sell, it's difficult to keep running a company that's supposed to be selling Amigas. In case you sent something to Amiga Report, for my perusal or for the magazine, and don't see it this issue or haven't seen a response yet, don't be too upset: we had too much material this issue and my bbs.xnet.com mail site has been down most of the week. So, what's on the horizon? Well, we've got some things in mind for Amiga Report, both based on the surveys we've seen and our own schemings. Speaking of which, the survey ends soon, so your last chance to get in your opinion (and a chance to win a Light-ROM CD) is upon you... It becomes more and more bizarre...but keep the faith. Jason P.S. If you had any doubts about Amiga development, check out the FTP Announcements section. It's rather large this time around...Also, some of the prices in the Editor's Choice section have dropped, so if you were scared away before, give it another look. @endnode @node MAIL "Reader Mail" @toc MENU =========================================================================== == Reader Mail == =========================================================================== [Last issue, Robert Niles talked about scams in the Amiga used-hardware marketplace. It seems that he wasn't alone...] From: carroll@milliways.jsc.nasa.gov (Carroll Moore) Subject: Chasing the Demon Well he's back! Saw your article. Wish I would have read it Thursday! There is a user on the net going by the email address of MAHZTER@delphi.com. He's using the name of David Miller but his M.O. is the same and the address he gave me was: 2486 Lincoln Way East 76-107 Massiloon, Ohio 44646 216-683-7983 Taka was given the following information: 2316 Lincoln Way East Massilon, OH 44657 216-683-7881 (notice the number? ;) ) I know of at least two other guys who were taken for cash. This guy is friendly and quite knowledgeable about Amiga's. He won't take COD because he claims he has had too many people send stuff back. He also suggests sending a Western Union wire right before hanging up to "help speed things along!" I have contacted the Massiloon Police Department (216-830-1735) and a detective Hendricks (216-830-1749) has been assigned the case. I'm suppose to call him back Monday morning around 9:00am. The Feds will probably be brought in. I'll relay your article to Detective Hendricks on Monday. I've been leaving rather mild warnings in c.s.a.marketplace to discourage new "marks" but I don`t want to scare this guy into closing up shop and moving to another city before the police can find him. If he does I think we need to put out the "NET" looking for the clown to surface again and I'm sure he will. It would be nice to find any contacts in the Ohio area around these two cities. I'm going to look them up tonight on my atlas. We have enough problems right now in the Amiga community without bastards like this one. I WANT TO PUT HIS ASS IN JAIL!!! I would be more than happy to compile a list of victims for the police. If your newsletter would like to get the word out, I'll take information at this e-mail address. BTW: Someone sells CD's containing the directory listings for the entire US. If one of your readers has access to this information maybe they can do a search on the phone numbers I've provided. Carroll James Moore, Jr., B.S.E., E.I.T. carroll%dp4@jesnic.jsc.nasa.gov --- --- --- --- --- --- --- From: Fredrik Lundin Subject: reader mail Hello! I would like to make a comment on this "Phoenix" deal. First, the largest portion of the Amiga market lie in Europe. Most of us European's do not speak English as our first language, "Phoenix" isn't a very easy word, people will have trouble not only writing it, but maybe even pronouncing it right. 2nd. 50 million other things already use this name ! Also, the pronouncements in all countries will be different, "Amiga" is a basic word, and most countries do not have a problem differing it from "Omega" like some do.. Opel Omega Opel Amiga. BIG difference, maybe not for Englishmen and Americans? For Germans and Scandinavians etc. it's not even close. But how will 'Phoenix' be handled in the different countries ? A Swede could hear the word from a friend and then he might write it like "Finix"... and the PC-nerds in Sweden might call it for "f}n-ix", sort of like "silly-ix". Anyway, can't we just end this stupid "Phoenix" campaign now ? It just doesn't make any good sense, wow... because some 'rise and return from the ashes' nonsence ? or what ? I say... bah! :) Why not "The Amiga Vision 5000" just as well ? Kind regards, Fredrik Email: flundin@algonet.se IRC-nick: HeadQuake I would also like to say hello to Richie and Hobbe! hej hej. :) --- --- --- --- --- --- --- From: Alan Braggins Subject: Re: Call To Arms: Rewrite the Amiga OS! > == Call to Arms: Rewrite the Amiga OS! By: Maarten Ter Mors == > 1.3) THE WHEEL. > > I don't know about you, but re-inventing wheels is not one of my > favourite pastimes. We should use as much existing material as possible Might it be easier to add features to Linux or NetBSD, than to try to rewrite an entire existing OS, make significant enhancements to it (like retargetable graphics, for the 64-bit graphics cards the "rest of the world" are moving on to), catch up with improvements made to competing OSes while you're doing it and then try to persuade application developers to produce new versions to run on your new platforms? A DEC Alpha running AmigaOS would be a great system to play with, but the only things you could run on it would be stuff you have the source to, and which doesn't make too many assumptions about word length etc. (apart from the stuff running under any 680x0 emulator that might be part of this project). DEC managed to move from VAX to Alpha, Sun from 680x0 to Sparc, HP from 680x0 to HP-PA, so it is possible, but none of those people had to reverse engineer the existing OS, and working in assembly is more common on the Amiga. On the other hand, if someone doesn't succeed in buying Commodore soon, rewriting the OS might be the only way we'll ever see a new version. --- --- --- --- --- --- --- [Eric Rainbolt provided a detailed tutorial on how to escape Amiga Beige through marbelizing. Yuri Tacher took him up on it...] From: Yuri Tacher Subject: Marble-ized Amiga The aches and pains of marble-izing an AMiga 4000. (And doubts and fears. :) Well, after reading the article in AR about marbleizing your Amiga I decided I was sick of my ugly A4000 case and thought "why not?" I purchased the Black Onyx kit after looking for it for almost a week. I finally hit upon an art supply house that had 2 kit's left (phew!) I bought one of them for the grand total of $34 bucks. Not bad I say. With instruction manual in hand, I proceded to sand my computers plastic parts (with a cloud of friends telling me it wasnt going to work, and I'd have the UGLIEST amiga in Mexico) Goood friends suporting me all the way :) I decided to do my A4000, my 1960 monitor and the keyboard, so I took them apart and washed them first, then started sanding the back panel on the monitor first (not visible if I screwed up) Sanding in small square patterns It took me all of 7 hours sand everything CAREFULLY. Then I decided my nerves where dead for the day, so I took a rest :) The next day I decided now was the time to die (or end up with the coolest amiga in Mexico :) And proceded to paint the plastic parts as per the instructions which I might add, are pretty well written. Over the next 2 days I aplied the base coat and let it dry. A black A4000 is WAY cool! but I wanted marble, so I went ahead with the process :). Now, in AR and in the kits manual, they say not to be too carefull when putting on the veins, and thats true :) I was so nervous (after sanding the machine and having it look nice, I just wanted to stoip there) But if you are nervous, the veins come outgreat! So, after 4 days, I put my now VERY cool looking Amiga back together, and my fellow amigans are royally pissed off, because the kits finished, and I am the only one that had the guts to do it, and now I'm the ONLY one with a marble-Amiga :) And with NetBSD running, people think I have a NeXT machine. :) So, if you wanted to try out that little project, go ahead, it loks GREAT! :) Yours truly, Yuri tacher AKA Genom on IRC @endnode @node NEWS1 "TelePro Technologies Purchased" @toc NEWS Automated Telephone Information Systems --------------------------------------- TelePro Technologies' DLG Pro BBS/OS Purchased Outright __ / ) _/_ Automated Telephone Information Systems /--/ / o _ 4545 E. SHEA #230 PHOENIX AZ 85028 / (__(__(_/_)_ 602-494-7857 609-957-7045 (fax) 602-494-2620 (Data) Contact: Greg Bastow Telephone: 604-535-9352 Facsimile: 604-535-4329 Internet: Admin@tvbbs.wimsey.com Fidonet: 1:153/910 For Immediate Release January 1, 1995 The Premiere Third Party Developer for DLG Professional BBS/OS (DLG) has purchased all rights for DLG BBS/OS from TelePro Technologies. Bold Move Re-Affirms Faith in Amiga BBS Market! Phoenix, Arizona - Automated Telephone Information Systems (ATIS) has purchased TelePro Technologies (TPT) of Red Deer, Alberta, Canada. ATIS is a software technology company, developing automated solutions to tedious and expensive business problems, including voice response systems for use in the research industry under DOS and OS/2 platforms. TPT is the original designer and creator of a bulletin board system for the Amiga platform called "DLG Pro BB/OS" in the late 1980's. The purchase of TPT includes all sources and rights to DLG Pro BBS/OS, the only Amiga "bulletin board operating system" in existence. This move signals that ATIS is committed to strongly supporting all existing users, as well as developing a new generation of software. This bold move also signifies a resurgence of interest in developing high quality, dependable and reliable software for the Amiga platform. It is the intent of ATIS to redefine the standards that all bulletin board system software be judged against. ATIS has acquired the entire database of DLG Pro Customers and will be informing current DLG Pro BBS/OS owners of the new ownership. This will also include information regarding software upgrades, compatibility lists, bulletin board lists, third party developer support and annual newsletters. Information regarding the imminent release of V2.0, along with a list of upgraded features will be released very shortly. ATIS's development and marketing team consists of Steve Lewis, Greg Bastow and Jeff Webster. As the author of DLGMail, selected from among several Fidonet mail processing software candidates for license and inclusion with DLG Pro BB/OS by TPT, Steve brings several years of hands-on experience in working with the software and source code. Steve also wrote several other modules under the label of PDQMail Utilities that finish integrating Fidonet and DLG Pro. Greg Bastow was a part of the original beta team for DLG Pro BBS/OS V1.0, and has pushed the software to its limits running Tunnel-Vision BBS, a 4 node multiline system with 6.2 gigabytes of storage, 4 CD-ROM drives and over 700 users - running in 5 networks including Usenet, and operating as a regional hub in many of these networks. Greg has also been involved with numerous beta products over the years and brings his development and design knowledge with him. Jeff Webster is the new recruit into the DLG Pro domain, though he has always shown tremendous enthusiasm, creativity and skill in programming the Amiga. Jeff has been authoring software for several years. ATIS is confident that with the development team in place, they will set new standards that bulletin board system designers of all platforms will strive for. Fully expanding and enhancing the already stable DLG Pro v1.0 product, one that takes full advantage of the many unique advantages of the Amiga's operating system, is the goal of ATIS. @endnode @node NEWS2 "Mascot Contest Winners" @toc NEWS Oregon Research --------------- CONTEST WINNERS ANNOUNCED! The new mascot from our telecommunications package "Termite" needed a name, so in our ads we asked you to submit your ideas for a name for our critter. We are pleased now to announce the winners of our "Name That Critter" contest and would like to thank everyone who sent suggestions. There were many creative entries and the judging was difficult. The winners are: Steve Fox of Callaway, FL submitted the winning entry of "Reggie". Steve wins a Magnum 28,800 V.FC FaxModem and a copy of Termite. Second prize was taken by Dave May, who receives a copy of Termite and a copy of our new personal information manager, On The Ball. Third prize was taken by Ron Ohlendorf who wins a copy of Termite. Again we thank everyone who entered, and you'll be hearing much more from Reggie in the future! For more information on Termite, or any Oregon Research product, contact us at: Oregon Research 16200 SW Pacific Hwy, Suite 162 Tigard, OR 97224 Tel: 503-620-4919 Fax: 503-624-2940 Internet: orres@teleport.com -- Steven Frank Oregon Research @endnode @node NEWS3 "LightROM" @toc NEWS ============================================================================ L I G H T - R O M In cooperation with Lightwave artist Michael Meshew, Amiga Library Services is producing a new CD called "LIGHT-ROM". This is a 650 Mb CD-ROM dedicated to 3D artists all over the world, and contains Lightwave objects, scene files, textures, bump maps (JPEG, IFF, & TARGA), fonts, thumbnail renderings, and text files with advice from the rendering pros. It also contains a "Showcase Directory", displaying the talents of selected Lightwave artists from all over the world. ========================================================================== LIGHT-ROM Volume 1 contains the following: o Lightwave 3D scene files,objects, image sequences. o Imagine objects, surface attributes, and text files for Amiga and IBM Imagine artists. (Over 100 megs of objects & text files). o Sculpt 3D objects, readable by Lightwave 3D. o GEO objects, readable by Lightwave 3D and Videoscape 3D. o A collection of textures, images and bump maps in IFF, TARGA, and JPEG formats, for use in 3D packages such as Lightwave or Imagine. o A collection of DEM's (Digital Elevation Maps) for use in Scenery Animator or VistaPro. Can also convert to 3D landscapes. o An exclusive "Showcase Directory", where Lightwave artists from around the world can showcase their talents and skills to the rest of the Lightwave community, and advertise their abilities. o A collection of text files covering the Video Toaster and Lightwave, from the Internet mailing lists and from various BBS systems. These text files consist of advice and tips from some of the professionals. o Thumbnail renderings of Lightwave objects, images, textures and bump maps, included for your convenience. LIGHT-ROM will be updated at approximately 6 month intervals. Contributors will be eligible for a free copy. ============ HOW TO ORDER ============ The retail price of LIGHT-ROM is $39.95 plus $3.95 for shipping and handling. Orders can be sent via mail, FAX, email, or voicemail to: Mail: Amiga Library Services 610 N. Alma School Road, Suite 18 Chandler, AZ 85224-3687 USA VOICE: (800) 804-0833 Email: orders@amigalib.com Overseas orders can be taken by Email & a credit card. Please ask for exact overseas shipping charges. For submitting your original work, please request a submissions form from; Mail: Michael Meshew Graphic Detail 4556 South Third Street Louisville, Ky. 40214 USA Email: michael@iglou.com LIGHT-ROM is currently advertised by several mail orders companies in AmigaWorld magazine. [Yes, we've run a press release on Light-ROM before, but hey, they did give us 10 CDs to give away. -Jason] @endnode @node FEATURE1 "Keeping Your Amiga Cool" @toc FEATURE =========================================================================== KEEPING YOUR AMIGA COOL Calum Tsang tsangC@io.org =========================================================================== {Disclaimer. I do not take any responsibility for any damages incurred by trying the things in my article. Take it as a guideline. If you are not comfortable with these procedures, ask a more experienced friend, or your user group. Remember, I will not take responsibility} Introduction ~~~~~~~~~~~~ What scares me late at night, is not the threat of nuclear war in Korea, the late night talk show circuit contest, nor the demise of the Amiga. Actually, it's the fear of my happy little Amiga 3000 overheating. I've never really given much thought to my two other Amigas-the 2000 was always cool, and ran for days without trouble, and the 500, well I just didn't care. But my newly acquired A3000/25 is my most cherished piece of computing hardware-something I can depend on when everything else is falling to pieces. So when my Amiga 3000 began to overheat, I decided to look into finding extra ways to keep my machine cool. First off, let me describe my A3000 configuration-an original LP52S hard disk, plus 2MB of standard 3000 DIPs. In addition, a SupraRAM 2000/2 memory board, a A2300 genlock, the ever amusing A2088D bridgeboard, and an XT Tecmar board. I recently was given a 20MB SCSI hard disk as a gift, a rather hot running Miniscribe. {which makes me ask, when visiting a friend, is a hard disk a good gift? Usually, I bring chocolates, or maybe a cheesecake I've baked myself. And what does one offer, when presented a hard disk? Offer a danish pastry, or some cheap instant coffee?} Suggestions: ~~~~~~~~~~~~ Let's take a look at some of the things you can do to keep your hardware cool. Many are things we take for granted, but read it. You may be forgetting something. Simple environment things: 1. Keep Your Environment Healthy-For you and your Amiga. Make sure it's ventilated, cool, and clean. Dust is a killer. Change your air conditioner filters. Non Amiga using householders will thank you too! Dust will get into your fan filters, making your life miserable and keeping air from leaving your machine. {vacuum, often! I sound like a househusband. I decided to wipe down all my working surfaces, plus do a good clean up} 2. Place Your Amiga Well-Don't put it in the sun, next to a radiator. Think smart about how heat rises-and moves inside your working area. {I placed my A3000 in front of a window, facing north. Which isn't a great idea, but the only spot in my room. I remember to close my drapes in the daytime} Also, make sure nothing blocks the back of your machine, give at least six inches behind your computer. For those with those every popular hutch type desks, remove the particle board panel to allow proper air flow. And now, some more important hardware things: 1. Remove Unused Hardware-There are some, who like every piece of hardware they own attached to their Amiga simultaneously. My recommendation-Take it off! Genlocks don't need to be powered at all times-and if you do, they will age faster and restrict you from certain screenmodes. Likewise, other things don't need to be online, like your modem. Turn it off. And for those of you with one button powerbars, consider one that has multiple switches to selectively control what you have on and off. Increased heat, even from external devices, will generate extra heat in the room. {in my case, I removed my 2088 Bridgeboard and XT expansion card, plus my genlock. I returned them to my A2000. Don't worry, more silly Bridgeboard articles will come} 2. Heat Sinks-Some chips in your Amiga will run hot. Buy some heat sinks, which are little funny shaped metal things that dissipate heat from hot components and some heat sink grease to attach them-they aren't glued on though. You can find both at a Radio Shack store. Be careful about applying the grease. Read the manual. 3. Place Expansion Cards Wisely-{I made the stupid mistake of placing my 2MB RAM card on the lower slot, below the genlock, XT bridgecard, and XT expander. I removed the three cards, as above, and placed the SupraRam at the top of the machine, so heat from the motherboard would escape though my secondary fan (see below) and heat from the RAM card would be drawn out via the main fan} RAM cards generate the most heat, followed by hard disks. Place them correctly. For you lucky folks with 2000's and 3000/4000T's, space your cards out if you have the free slots. It's rather stupid to place your accelerator, hard disk controller, and graphics board all next to each other, when you have five slots to fill. Space them evenly, if possible. The Amiga's autoconfig doesn't care if you place them all in a line, or spread out. Some cards must be in certain spots-do the best to place cards around them. Also-the 3000 and 4000 bridge slots are dynamically allocated-unlike the 2000 design, where placement of your bridgecard determines how many Zorro's you have, the new machines let you place cards all over. 4. Clean Your Fan-While it may be dangerous to open your power supply, where the fan is-some machines will have a fan filter, which should be easily removable. If not, remove the power supply from the machine, remembering where everything is connected, and use a powerful vacuum cleaner and suck out all the dirt and dust. 5. Take Off All Decorative Duct Tape-Actually, be careful, sometimes, we think we're quite stylish in placing duct tape over strategic areas. The ventilation grilles on the front of the 2000 and 3000 have a purpose. So do the grilles on the top of console type machines. Same goes for leaving papers propped up in front of our Amigas and on top too. Amiga Fan Club: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ And now, the special part of this article. A do it yourself, extra fan project. I take no responsibility for your actions, by the way. And opening your Amiga does void the warranty. Okay! The idea here is to install an extra fan into your machine to draw more air out. Other ideas: Buy a dual fan card, for about $69 dollars. Or, remove the existing fan, and add a more powerful one. 1. Get a fan. (make an album, promote it...apply all Latoya Jackson jokes here.) Fans can be purchased at most electronics stores. I ventured out to Active Surplus here in Toronto, Canada. It's on Queen West, if you need to know. They look like little black frames-more or less like the fan on the back of your machine. Good brands are Boxer and Panaflo. First, make sure it's a DC Brushless type. Brushless fans generate less electric noise, meaning better for computers. Next, examine what kind of voltage and what kind of power draw it has. My Microboxer was a 12V, 0.10 Amp model. Your Amiga should be able to generate both 12V and 5V. DC, by the way. Look at how much air it blows out. Air flow is measured in cubic feet per minute. Compare numbers and prices. My fan was $6.00 Canadian. It should end in two wires. Some may have a convenient header block. Let them show you a demo unit. Feel the air coming out. Is it strong? Or weak? 2. Take the fan home and open your Amiga. Find a good spot for it to sit. I opened up a few unused expansion slots on my A3000, and put it on the back, sitting it on the little "ledge" in the expansion card port area. I attached it with twist ties, wrapping around opened slot covers and the like. Strategically placing hardware allowed me to put the fan where it could suck through the open slot covers. Placing a fan requires knowledge of how air is supposed to flow around your specific machine. For instance, on an A3000, air is sucked through the back left, across the expansion slots and motherboard, over in a U shape around the drive area and back out through the power supply and normal fan on the rear right. By adding a fan sucking in (make sure you're sucking or blowing, wherever appropriate-god that's sick) at the back left, I increase airflow in the way Commodore intended, cooling the components. If you have conflicting airflows because you put the fan in the wrong place, or set the polarity wrong, then you'll have trouble. On the A2000, air is sucked from the front grille across all the components out the back right on the power supply. This is rather stupid sometimes, because it sucks dust through your internal floppies. A good place in my view to put a secondary fan would be blowing out on the left rear. 3. Attach the fan via a spare molex 4 pin connector (male) to a drive power cable from your power supply. The centre two are ground, and the outer two are five and 12 volts positive DC. Make sure your fan is either 5 or 12 VDC! You may need a small piece of electricians tape or rubber band to keep the connector snug. The result system will look like this: ____ | | |------[||]----| |____|------[||]----| | fan molex PS connectors 4. Close up your Amiga and replace everything making sure the fan works the way you want before you put in the screws. @endnode @node FEATURE2 "The GIF Controversy" @toc FEATURE =========================================================================== THE GIF CONTROVERSY Michael Console Battilana mcb@cloanto.it =========================================================================== [It has been quite complicated to follow the GIF licensing situation as of late. Initially, it looked like CompuServe were the "bad guys"...the real situation is far more complex. This article, while certainly not the final word, is quite a few illuminating words. -Jason] THE GIF CONTROVERSY: A SOFTWARE DEVELOPER'S PERSPECTIVE January 27, 1995 - Text revision 1.00 by Michael Console Battilana Copyright (c) 1995 Cloanto Italia srl, All rights reserved Parts are quoted with permission from CompuServe Information Service Permission granted for non-profit electronic distribution Suggested file name: "giflzw1.txt" Free by mailing before February 28, 1995 This article was written with great care. It may reflect personal opinions of the author, which are not necessarily shared by the publisher, who cannot assume any responsibility for mistakes or misprints. Nothing in this article should be regarded as legal counsel. If you require legal or other expert assistance, you should consult a professional advisor. Many of the designations used by manufacturers and sellers to distinguish their products are trademarks. The author of this article has made every attempt to supply trademark information about manufacturers and their products. GIF and Graphics Interchange Format are service marks of CompuServe Inc., an H&R Block Company. PostScript is a registered trademark of Adobe Systems Inc. TIFF is a trademark of Aldus Corp. During the past eight years, GIF (Graphics Interchange Format) has peacefully become the most popular file format for archiving and exchanging computer images. At the end of December 1994, CompuServe Inc. and Unisys Corporation announced to the public that developers would have to pay a license in order to continue to use technology patented by Unisys in certain categories of software supporting the GIF format. These first statements caused immediate reactions and some confusion. This is a very interesting case, which could teach more than one lesson on the theory and practice of software and the laws. There are many entities involved. Fingers have been pointed at lawmakers, Unisys, CompuServe and developers. In theory, it may have been possible for any or all of these parts to prevent the matter from creating so much anxiety in the first place. Yet we are all here, debating on this issue. This article intends to provide a collection of information from the history of the controversy to the most recent events, as they were perceived by a software developer. CompuServe released GIF as an open specification in 1987. GIF soon became a world standard, and today it also plays an important role in the Internet community. It was well supported by CompuServe's Information Service, but many developers wrote (or acquired under license) software supporting GIF without even needing to know that a company named CompuServe existed. GIF was relatively simple, and very well documented in books, articles and text files. GIF images are compressed to reduce the file size. The technique used to compress the image data is called LZW (after Lempel-Ziv-Welch) and was first described by Terry A. Welch in the June 1984 issue of IEEE's Computer magazine. Unisys holds a patent on the procedure described in the article, but the article describing the algorithm had no mention of this. The LZW procedure was simple and very well described, and it soon became a very popular technique for data compression (just as GIF would become a standard in its own field). It appears that neither CompuServe, nor the CompuServe Associate who designed GIF, nor the computer environment in general were aware of the patent. GIF is not alone in the use of LZW. The TIFF file specification also includes LZW-compression among its compression methods, and so do dozens of very popular file archiving programs (such as Compress). Normally, procedures such as LZW are published on magazines so that they can be shared by the community of software developers. LZW itself is a refinement of other algorithms published in the years before (Ziv-Lempel and others). Software is usually protected by copyright law, but in recent years (since around 1981 in the USA) in several countries it has become possible to patent software. While software patents have become an opportunity for many, they remain a controversial danger for others. Any programmer or publisher might be trapped at any time by a patent infringement claim that could not be foreseen or avoided. While having the right to pursue legal action or seek damages against infringing LZW developers and publishers, Unisys has so far been very accomodating and fair. It is likely that the success of LZW and its thousands of implementations, especially among small developers, caught Unisys unprepared. Otherwise, it would be difficult to understand how Unisys could first allow a very large number of small and big developers to use LZW for years, and then, after the establishment of various standards based on LZW, change its attitude. The original CompuServe/Unisys licensing agreement text which had upset so many developers was immediately followed by clarifications from both CompuServe and Unisys. Given that the on-line community tends to be suspicious about anything that is big, has a legal department or owns software patents, Unisys had to face a particularly delicate challenge. But it probably wasn't easier for CompuServe, who had to explain the patent issue to its own developers, some of whom felt "betrayed". The outside world would learn about this issue from the press in the following days. Even Time magazine reported about this matter, although like most of the newspapers it concentrated on GIF more than on TIFF, LZW, Unisys or software patents. The full texts of four official statements from CompuServe and Unisys are included at the end of this article (scan this text for #1). Among the first reactions, some bulletin board systems had all GIF files deleted from their hard disks (or converted into JPEG format). Common remarks included: "PROTEST OF NEW COMPUSERVE-UNISYS GIF USAGE TAX !!" "They [CompuServe] seem to think that GIF is the greatest thing since free online magazines." "The announcement by CompuServe and Unisys that users of the GIF image format must register by January 10 and pay a royalty or face lawsuits for their past usage, is the online communications community's equivalent of the sneak attack at Pearl Harbor." These reactions may require some clarification. GIF files are not covered by the patent. There is no risk in distributing GIF files or in using the GIF name. According to a CompuServe spokesperson, "Recent discussions of GIF taxes and fees are totally without merit. For people who view GIF images, who keep GIF images on servers, or who are creating GIF images for distribution, the recent licensing discussions have no effect on their activities." Only the software employing the LZW algorithm for writing GIF files is "at risk". The Unisys patent includes claims which specifically cover the decompression of LZW-compressed material, so it may also affect simple GIF readers. However, it is in theory possible to create and read GIF files without using the LZW procedure. Some developers have produced results which are similar, if not equivalent, to the LZW algorithm, basing their routines for compression of binary data and text on Shannon-Fano and AVL trees. Unisys, and not CompuServe, has been "trying to impose" a royalty. The problem is not specific to GIF, but includes TIFF and archiving software. However, it was later clarified that "... Unisys does not intend to pursue previous inadvertent infringement by versions of GIF-based software products marketed prior to 1995... Unisys does not require licensing, or fees to be paid, for non-commercial, non-profit GIF-based applications, including those for use on the on-line services..." The most popular computer systems still have display and memory configurations which make them considerably more efficient in displaying palette-based images. This is 8-bit indexed data, as supported by the GIF format. The creation of a palette-based picture may take hours of professional color quantization and remapping applied to 24-bit data, in order to achieve 8-bit results which cannot easily be distinguished from the original. The resulting GIF files can quickly be processed with minimum RAM requirements. JPEG is excellent for many applications, but it is not an alternative to GIF. Unlike GIF, JPEG is lossy (i.e. it changes the images as they are compressed) and it does not support palette-based images. Also, it was not designed with professional high-resolution images in mind. CompuServe stated: "CompuServe is announcing that we will coordinate the development of GIF24, a successor to GIF capable of 24-bit lossless compression. CompuServe is committed to keeping GIF24 as an open specification, available without cost." The CompuServe licensing agreement was intended as a voluntary service to the few dozen developers creating software for use primarily in conjunction with the CompuServe Information Service (CIS). This includes applications such as CompuServe "navigators", but does not apply to general purpose GIF readers/writers (which are not intended for use primarily in conjunction with CIS). Any organization using LZW should look at whether they have an infringement on Unisys' patent. CompuServe is not involved in any of these discussions - they are between Unisys and outside developers. Other interesting considerations emerged. For example, there is more than one patent involved. Lempel, Ziv, Cohn and Eastman patented their original LZ78 algorithm (US patent 4,464,650). One Internet leader has collected information on more than 350 patents on lossless data compression and 100 on lossy image compression. The LZW algorithm which is now attracting so much attention is patented by both IBM (4,814,746) and Unisys (4,558,302). The IBM patent application was filed three weeks before that of Unisys, but the US patent office apparently failed to recognize that they covered the same algorithm. (The IBM patent is more general, but its claim 7 is said to be exactly LZW.) The LZW patent issue first surfaced in the press in 1989, when the BTLZ algorithm (a procedure similar to LZW developed and patented by British Telecom) was to be approved for data compression into the V.42bis modem standard. Unisys said on at least one occasion that it first began to learn of the widespread use of LZW in connection with the development of this standard. The first licensing arrangements put into place included those with modem manufacturers ($ 20,000 for each one-time license) and with Adobe PostScript developers ($ 10,000). An article on "LZW Data Compression" was published in the October 1989 issue of Dr. Dobb's Journal (see bibliography for more details - scan this text for #3). A reader replied in the December issue explaining that the algorithm was patented. The author of the article added that he was unaware of any patent on the algorithm. More readers wrote, and in the March 1990 issue the editor-in-chief dedicated his Editorial to this topic, which in his words "sparked a forest of fires". The same issue also contained an official statement by Unisys Corporation, which confirmed that LZW was patented, mentioned the modem industry, and indicated how developers could contact Unisys. In the October 2, 1989 issue of PC Week a columnist wrote: "Alas, there's no consolation for developers of archiving programs that rely on the LZW data-compression algorithm. While cruising the bulletin boards last week, Spencer learned that Unisys has a patent on the algorithm, upon which a slew of data-compression programs are based. Watch out." Probably in the same period, an article in InfoWorld mentioned modem manufacturers paying or agreeing to pay royalties to Unisys for the right to use LZW. The better informed developers were aware of the LZW patent, and this issue was debated among a small group of members of the CompuServe PICS Forum (now GRAPHSUP). The general feeling at that time was that "Unisys only intends to get royalties from hardware vendors," and there was some consensus on the idea that Unisys "wouldn't do anything about pure software implementations." Until the end of 1994, debates on CIS show no clear mention of the requirement to get a license from Unisys for using LZW in GIF applications. During 1988 at least one developer stopped working on GIF tools because of considerations regarding the LZW patent, and reportedly "made CIS aware of it". This apparently was limited to private verbal conversations, and information on this behalf could be found neither in the press nor in CIS. Page 132 ("LZWEncode Filter") of the PostScript Language Reference Manual, Second Edition, published in December 1990, contains the address of the Welch Licensing Department at Unisys Corporation. At this point, at least the readers of some publications were potentially aware of the LZW patent. But still, there was no link to GIF. Unisys apparently didn't know about GIF, nor did most GIF developers know that GIF contained LZW technology. And those who may have known, not necessarily knew about the patent. Among the developers who contacted Unisys between the end of 1990 and the beginning of 1991, there was at least one GIF developer. He recently described his experience: "Finding the right person was the most difficult part of licensing LZW, but hopefully it's easier today (perhaps only 5 phone calls would be needed!)... When talking to Unisys back then, my recollection is that we had to basically tell the people at Unisys, 'Believe me, you DO own a patent on LZW; who do we talk to about LICENSING?' When we finally reached the licensing/legal department, THEY knew they had a patent, and spelled out the terms. I recall the person we were dealing with saying something like, 'They [Unisys] laugh when I make all these $1 deals, but we have to charge something to protect the patent.'" The standard back then for PC based software products was $1 per copy sold (or a 1% royalty), after a $100 advance payment. Apparently, Unisys still didn't know that GIF was based on LZW. In January 1995, Unisys stated: "Two years ago, Unisys learned that the LZW method was incorporated in the GIF specification and immediately began negotiations with CompuServe in January of 1993. We reached agreement with CompuServe on licensing the technology in June 1994..." Two years before that, at the end of 1992, Cloanto, an Italian software house, contacted Unisys because it was originally interested in a license for the possible use of LZW in its PostScript Level 2 drivers. That correspondence also mentioned GIF and TIFF as using LZW, and anticipated some of the controversies which would follow 25 months later. Unisys replied: "... You raise a number of interesting issues which require consideration..." While disclosing the full contents of this correspondence would probably not serve anyone's interest, the text of two letters sent to Unisys in 1992 is included at the end of this article (scan this text for #2), because the author feels that this 1992 perspective could complement the article with a few interesting ideas. The letters have not been edited, so some details (such as the reference to ZIP) may be incomplete with respect to current knowledge. Unisys offered Cloanto a $ .25 per unit royalty (1% of the net income) as an alternative to the PostScript one-time license, but did not directly answer the question risen by Cloanto: "If we implemented a software GIF or TIFF image file loader and saver (both formats are based on the LZW algorithm), would we need a license from Unisys Corp., as far as U.S. Patent 4,558,302 is concerned?". According to public statements, Unisys did however contact CompuServe the following month. Between 1993 and 1994, the majority of developers still didn't know that GIF employed a patented algorithm, although both Unisys and CompuServe were aware of this, as the developers would learn in December 1994. Different opinions have been expressed on this. Some developers feel that reaching an agreement behind the scenes was the least destructive thing that could be done. Other (at times passionate) opinions picked up on electronic media are similar to these three: "Consider this. CompuServe admits to knowing about patent problems with the GIF file format as early as January of 1993. ... [We] added GIF support... months after CompuServe admits knowledge of the patent problem... We relied on the information that was supplied to us by CompuServe. If CompuServe had told us the truth when they knew it, we never would have added GIF support..." "If I chose to put GIF encode/decode functions in my software development toolkits, my main threat of legal liability would not come from Unisys, but rather from one of my customers being sued by Unisys, who would turn around and sue me for selling them some code that contained patented algorithms." "I still don't have a clue what my situation is if I want to sell source and object code that imports and exports GIF images. I am not in the end-user app business, but my customers are, and they certainly will have to have an LZW license, but what about me? I've talked with Unisys by voice and E-mail, and the voice discussion was entirely unsatisfactory as I posted when it happened - basically the Unisys guy said anyone who sells code for $100-$300 a pop was a total _____ for selling it that cheap. The E-mail discussions I've had said 'OK - we hear you - we'll get back to you.' Never happened." Unisys replied in part with reassuring clarifications to the general public, explaining that if the software was developed prior to 1995, or if it is public domain or freeware, the developer need not to worry. On January 27, 1995, Unisys announced new licensing policies regarding "The Welch Patent". These include a .45% royalty on the total unit selling price of GIF/LZW products (minimum $0.10, maximum $10.00 per unit) and a .65% royalty on GIF/TIFF/LZW products (minimum $0.20, maximum $25.00). For further information and a copy of the written agreement it is possible to call Unisys at +1 215 986-4411. While this enables many software publishers to again ship their products after a month-long pause, other GIF developers prefer to wait and see how this situation further evolves. One developer asked "What if I sign up and then they announce a new GIF specification which does not use LZW?" Some of the most active developers prefer to collaborate on the design of a patent-free evolution of GIF (and TIFF's LZW compression mode). Suggestions can be sent via E-mail to GIF24@csi.compuserve.com when sending from the Internet, or CSI:GIF24 when sending from CompuServe. Several backwards compatibility issues related to GIF24 are currently being evaluated by CompuServe and by the other communities participating in this cooperative project. Examples of contributions from third parties include the specification for a "GEF" graphics-exchange format, and the experience gathered by the developers of the GZIP procedures for data compression. At the end, it appears that if so many efforts converge into a new, improved standard, we still have to give part of the credit to the LZW patent... You can contact the author of this text at . Any comments, or experience you would like to share, would be very appreciated. #1 If the four official texts from CompuServe and Unisys are not included here in order to keep the file size reasonable ("lossy compression"), please check for another file accompanying this text, or send E-mail to before February 28, 1995. [I have decided to take the author up on this offer and have removed some of the official texts-the developer agreement as previously published in AR, and a Tim Oren posting. -Jason] --------------------------------------------------------------------- #: 181065 S3/Hot News and Rumor 07-Jan-95 19:12:19 Sb: #Unisys GIF Clarification Fm: Steve Ahlstrom/SYSOP 76703,2006 To: All Unisys Clarifies Policy Regarding Patent Use in On-Line Service Offerings The concerns, inquiries and some apparent confusion that have resulted from the December CompuServe advisory clearly indicate that we need to clarify our policy concerning the use of the Unisys Lev Zempel Welch [Lempel Ziv Welch] (LZW) patent by software developers for the major on-line services. We want to reiterate earlier communications that the issue of patent licenses is not focused on the end users of on-line networks, including the Internet. We encourage end users to continue to take full advantage of the outstanding benefits of a rapidly growing on-line community. Unisys was awarded the patent in 1985. We became aware of the increasing interest in our LZW patent beginning in 1990 when many companies approached us to license the patent for their hardware and software products. The growth in the use of compression technology was mushrooming in order to meet the demands for transmitting increased amounts of data. To date, more than 100 companies, including hardware, software and on-line information services, have licensed the Unisys LZW technology. Two years ago, Unisys learned that the LZW method was incorporated in the GIF specification and immediately began negotiations with CompuServe in January of 1993. We reached agreement with CompuServe on licensing the technology in June 1994, which calls for CompuServe to pay Unisys a royalty of 1% of the average selling price it charges for its software. This represents approximately 11 cents for each copy sold and connected to its information service. Under the agreement, CompuServe, at its discretion, could relicense the LZW technology to commercial developers using the GIF specification in software that connected directly to the CompuServe information service. With the agreement completed on June 21, 1994, CompuServe was given six months to implement the terms of its license. CompuServe later asked for a one-month extension, which we granted. Unisys did not require CompuServe to pass on any fee to its sublicensees or end users. Such a decision, and the content and timing of CompuServe's advisory, was at their discretion. Consistent with the entire information industry's desire to protect intellectual property, Unisys will expect all of the major commercial on-line information services companies employing the LZW patent to license the technology from Unisys at a reasonable rate. The on-line service companies are not required to sublicense the technology to developers producing software for the commercial on-line services. It will be, as it is today, at the on-line service's discretion as to whether it charges a license fee to developers or chooses an alternative method to account for its licensing fees payable to Unisys. We recognize and are concerned -- thanks in large part to the recent and very active use of the on-line network -- that developers did not understand that the patented technology was resident in GIF. Taking that into account, Unisys does not intend to pursue previous inadvertent infringement by versions of GIF-based software products marketed prior to 1995. Concerning all future software product development and enhancement of existing products for accessing on-line services, Unisys expects developers of commercial, for-profit sftware to secure a license from Unisys, or through the licensed on-line service, for the use of the patented technology. The very reasonable terms should prove no financial barrier to the introduction of product into the on-line network. Unisys does not require licensing, or fees to be paid, for non-commercial, non-profit GIF-based applications, including those for use on the on-line services. Concerning developers of software for the Internet network, the same principle applies. Unisys will not pursue previous inadvertent infringement by developers producing versions of software products for the Internet prior to 1995. The company does not require licensing, or fees to be paid for non-commercial, non-profit offerings on the Internet, including 'Freeware'. Commercial developers of GIF-based software for the Internet are expected to secure a licensing agreement with Unisys for software products introduced beginning in 1995, or enhancements of products that were introduced prior to 1995. Again, terms should not preclude the entry by these firms into the marketplace. For organizations introducing World Wide Web servers and 'Home Page' offerings, most will not be required to secure a license from Unisys. Most organizations acquire software from other developers to create their offerings on their servers. Therefore, only the software firms who sell the enabling software for profit would be expected to secure a licensing agreement from Unisys. Unisys understands that this issue has caused concern. We want to reassure all users and developers that we are strong proponents of the on-line industry. We're proud that this important Unisys technology has played a role in the introduction of innovative products and services, many of which are fueling the explosive growth of the information superhighway. As members of the information community we want to strike the appropriate balance between information access and the rights of all information companies, including the developers of software, to protect their intellectual property rights. Patent information: Contact Welch Patent Licensing Department; Unisys;Mail Stop C1SW19; P.O. Box 500, Blue Bell, PA 19424. Or via Internet, send E-mail to LZW_INFO@UNISYS.COM, or use a form available on the Home Page of the Unisys Web Server (http:\\www.unisys.com) to request follow-up information. Media contacts: Unisys Public Relations -- Bob O'Leary (215) 986-6413 or Oliver Picher (215) 986-5367 --------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------- From: rmarks@ecdcsvr.tredydev.unisys.com (Richard Marks) Date: Fri, 6 Jan 1995 22:09:14 GMT Unisys LZW Patent FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS January 6, 1995 Since we released our statement this morning clarifying the terms of our LZW patent licensing agreement, we have received several questions from both the press and the on-line community at large. We thought we would share with you some of the most frequently asked questions -- and our answers. We hope this may help answer some similar questions you have. What is the LZW patent? The LZW patent covers methods and apparatus for lossless compression and decompression of digital data. Unisys holds a U.S. patent (number 4,558,302) as well as equivalent patents on the technology in Canada, France, Germany, U.K. and Italy. Equivalent patents are also pending in Japan. How did Unisys get the patent? Data compression and decompression is a critical aspect of data transmission and storage and is very much of interest to Unisys and the industry. The patent is the result of research done by Terry Welch at Sperry Corporation in the early 1980s that extended previous work by researchers Lempel and Ziv. Sperry Corporation was granted the U.S. patent in 1985. Sperry and Burroughs merged in 1986 to form Unisys, thus Unisys became the owner of the Sperry patents. Why is LZW so widely used? It is a very efficient compression method and a highly advantageous way of compressing and decompressing data for a wide variety of purposes. It is easy to implement, operates at high speed and results in high compression ratios without loss of data (that is, it significantly shrinks the file size). GIF has been in use since 1987. Why is Unisys enforcing its rights now? Unisys only became aware of the use of LZW in the GIF specification two years ago. We immediately began negotiations with CompuServe at that time and reached an agreement in June, 1994. The existence of the patent has never been a secret. In fact, we have completed licensing agreements for LZW technology with over 100 companies since 1990, for products including hardware, software and on-line information services. With most of these companies, it was the licensees who approached Unisys, not Unisys forcing the taking of a license. Why did it take you so long -- almost five years -- to figure out that GIF was infringing on your patent? As is common in industry, we don't have massive people resources devoted to searching and finding products which may be infringing and then undertaking the complex task of reverse engineering the products to determine whether or not they have infringed on the patent. In the case of GIF, as soon as we became aware we immediately sought to protect the patent through a license to CompuServe. Is this part of a larger campaign to enhance your revenues? No. The actual revenue derived from this particular patent is not significant. However, Unisys has invested hundreds of millions of dollars in overall technology development and has protected its investments in the form of thousands of patents. We have a responsibility to our shareholders to ensure that we protect these valuable company assets. Why have you targeted the on-line industry now? Unisys has not specifically targeted the on-line industry, evidenced by the fact that we have licensed this technology to hardware, software and information services companies over the past several years. We became aware of the applicability of our patent to the GIF specification and we simply undertook negotiations with CompuServe as the primary stakeholder in this specification. The announcement content and timing of CompuServe's action was solely a CompuServe business decision. The agreement with CompuServe says I can only use GIF in accessing CompuServe? What about other on-line services? Our relicensing agreement with CompuServe allows CompuServe to relicense the technology only for use in accessing the CompuServe information network. However, commercial, for-profit developers are free to contact us to secure a license for LZW. Non-commercial, non-profit users aren't required to secure a license to use the technology. Is Unisys willing to negotiate with other developers? Absolutely. Unisys wants to encourage the use of its patented technology and is therefore continuing to make licenses available under the patent at reasonable and non-discriminatory terms and conditions to any interested party. Keep in mind that Unisys can only license the patented LZW technology. Unisys has no other stake in GIF (other than using it for our own graphics transmission). What do you consider "reasonable terms"? While we will conduct negotiations with each applying developer, the CompuServe royalty rate is somewhat indicative of the terms that should cause no financial barrier to product entry into the on-line marketplace, or anywhere else. The CompuServe agreement calls for the company to pay Unisys a royalty of approximately 1% of the selling cost of the product for each product sold and connected to the on-line service. Given the calculation of the average price of CompuServe products, this came out to about 11 cents per product sold and connected. GIF is used extensively on the World Wide Web. What does Unisys intend to do there? Unisys in no way wants to discourage end users and developers from making use of this technology. We intend to license commercial software developers. However, non-commercial, non-profit products, including freeware, need not pay license fees. Organizations introducing a World Wide Web server and home page to the Internet are not expected to license the technology if they used a third-party software application to develop their server offering. Only the commercial third-party developer in that case should secure a license. What about Internet browsers? Again, our focus is on the developers and not on the end user. Also, our action is primarily focused on for-profit developers. If a developer intends to make a profit or provide a product for commercial use, they should negotiate a license from Unisys. Will this hurt the use of GIF? We certainly hope not. GIF has been outstanding for handling graphics files and its use of LZW technology is one of the factors in its success. Again, the licensing terms are very modest and should not be a barrier to its use. Will users of CompuServe have to pay a royalty to Unisys every time they upload or download a GIF file? No. Revenue to Unisys under the CompuServe license is independent of the number of files transferred. What will be the impact on end users and commercial software developers? There should be no impact on individual end users. We encourage them to take full advantage of GIF. For developers, the impact should be minimal. Again, Unisys continues to make licenses under the patent available to any interested party at reasonable and non-discriminatory terms and conditions. License fees for this technology should not be a barrier to any software developer. Why did you announce the changes during the Christmas holiday? We concluded the license with CompuServe on June 21, 1994. CompuServe was given six months to implement the terms of the license agreement. CompuServe asked for, and we granted, a one-month extension. The timing and content of the announcement, and for that matter, the need for the announcement, were entirely of CompuServe's choosing and without Unisys knowledge or approval. I'm using freeware or shareware that can manipulate GIF files. Can I still use it? Yes. What about freeware developers? Our focus is on commercial, for-profit developers. Freeware is exempted from licensing fees. And shareware developers? Shareware developers that intend to make a profit from their software should negotiate a license with nisys. Alternatively, if their software is intended to access CompuServe only, they might want to take advantage of CompuServe's relicensing agreement with us. Was the Unisys patent ever challenged? The Unisys LZW patent was challenged in 1993, re-examined by the United States Patent and Trademark Office, and the patentability of all claims was reconfirmed in January of 1994. This is a valid and fully enforceable patent. Via Internet, send E-mail to LZW_INFO@UNISYS.COM, or use a form available on the Home Page of the Unisys Web Server (http:\\www.unisys.com) to request follow-up information. Media contacts: Unisys Public Relations -- Bob O'Leary (215) 986-6413 or Oliver Picher (215) 986-5367 --------------------------------------------------------------------- #2 If the texts of the two letters are not included here in order to keep the file size reasonable, please check for another file accompanying this text, or send E-mail to before February 28, 1995. --------------------------------------------------------------------- From Cloanto/Unisys - November 6, 1992 [salutation] Thank you for your kind reply. I don't want this matter to take you more time than necessary. I'll try to concentrate on a few very practical points, confident that Unisys understands the position of thousands of developers like us, and will maybe increase both its popularity and its profits by applying more diversified policies. Let's suppose we added the Welch algorithm for data compression in our low end paint program and word processor, sold at $ 99 and $ 49 list, with a 75% distributor discount. Data compression is clearly not one of the major reasons why one would buy such a product. Also, there are more efficient and specific algorithms than Lempel-Ziv-Welch. A 1 $ royalty (as in your standard proposal) would increase our costs by more than 25%. The book-keeping overhead alone would be a good reason for us to employ different compression algorithms. So, why would we use LZW? Ever since the original 1984 article on data compression by Terry Welch, this algorithm's diffusion was boosted by an incredible number of publications, "public domain" source code and de-facto standards. Just look at the TIFF and GIF image file formats and the many LZW based file archivers no BBS or PC-user could do without. Nobody (and here I must include Unisys) has ever done anything practical in order to let reasonably informed programmers know that Unisys Corporation could some day ask 1 $ for each product sold. Given the success of the algorithm, not taking a strong position was equivalent to encouraging people to use it. On the other hand, it is not quite clear to what degree and in which countries the Unisys patent should be relevant to pure software applications. (I was asking you something similar in my first letter.) At the same time, while public discussions rise awareness of these issues, many opinion leaders are warning about possible degenerations of a system which accepts "software patents". I understand that in this complex and potentially unstable situation Unisys may prefer prudent and diplomatic moves. Adobe Systems' developer support material says that "Unisys has agreed that ISVs may obtain such a license for a modest one-time fee." A una tantum solution seems to be very appropriate to me (in the 50 to 250 $ range?) I know and work with several companies with similar standards. No doubt that, excluding hardware applications and compression-oriented software (which is what I expect you to be more interested in protecting), such a policy would allow to Unisys to address the smaller developers and software vendors with more success and less bureaucracy. In the case of your proposed license agreement, I would have no problem paying the required advance (i.e. one time fee) and signing for a 0 $ royalty (and at the same time becoming a strong Unisys supporter). Reconsidering Adobe's note quoted above, maybe I just received the wrong contract proposal. [regards] --------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------- From Cloanto/Unisys - November 12, 1992 [salutation] I appreciated receiving your second letter. As far as my case is concerned, I would only like to repeat one simple question. Beyond this, I am very interested in the various aspects of the matter, and would like to provide you with some stimuli from my point of view (corporate developer support programs, developers, developer conferences, specialized press, etc.) My question: If we implemented a software GIF or TIFF image file loader and saver (both formats are based on the LZW algorithm), would we need a license from Unisys Corp., as far as U.S. Patent 4 558 302 is concerned? If I were on your side, and had to start from scratch, I would consider different groups of LZW implementors. In the first group, I would put everybody who developed an interface to handle the very popular PC standards for file formats (e.g. GIF, TIFF, ZIP, ARC, ZOO, LHA, LZH, IFF-C1C0/C1K0, Compress, etc. - mainly bitmap graphics files and file archiving formats) which derived from the 1984 article by Terry Welch. In the second group, I would target all those interested in hardware implementations of the algorithm, and software which depends heavily on the use of the algorithm. I don't know enough about your business or the Patent to define more groups. Maybe all the above names of file formats do not mean much to you. If you have a friend who enjoys PC graphics, he or she certainly uses (knowing it or not) those formats, and has several files ending with ".GIF" or ".TIF" on the hard disk. If you also know somebody who has a modem connected to the PC, all the archives he has ever transferred probably had one of the other suffixes mentioned. A bitmap file format specifies how images you use on your PCs should be stored on disk for future reuse, or exchange with other software. An archiving program merges several different files, belonging to the same collection (e.g. a piece of software and its support files), into a single file, which is easier to store and transfer. Right now, LZW is certainly not the most space efficient way for compressing an image or another type of file for archiving purposes, but all this started back in 1984, and has now become a standard. There was a big boom in 1985. Back then, only Huffman and run-length compression were widely used. Ancestors of LZW, like LZ77, LZSS, LZH and LZ78, were blurry defined and had not encountered much success. The programs I mentioned in the first group do not even depend on LZW because of its run-time speed (one of the key aspects of LZW), but because it was supported and documented everywhere. It's a bit like the history of VHS videotapes (Beta was the better format, but VHS somehow became the leader). There are hundreds of publications explaining LZW without a single reference to Unisys. I see new articles every few weeks on very popular magazines. There are CD-ROMs sold for less than 50 $, each containing hundreds of references to LZW. The applications of the first group are not "broader than simply driving PostScript printers". I write PostScript drivers and can assure you that only very few companies and people will ever have to handle LZW for this purpose. PostScript is a very specific case, and it is not simple. File formats, instead, are everywhere. The reason why I put hardware and software in the same second group is that the distinction between the two is becoming more and more faint. For example, on many PCs equipped with a Digital Signal Processor, a modem featuring the V.42bis standard you mentioned can be emulated in software. I know of several modem manufacturers who distribute new releases of their microcode on private or public electronic bulletin boards, so that users can either reprogram their modems automatically, or burn a new EPROM and install it into the modem. If it were difficult to decide whether LZW is strategic to a piece of software which cannot immediately be classified as belonging to the first group, the usual royalty agreement could be applied. However, I wouldn't expect this formula to encounter much popular success. Once a solution had been found for settling the de facto situation, defining which file formats fall into the first group, and a clear policy for approaching those implementing the formats, one would have to start advertising, contacting all magazines, publishers, BBSs, etc. Somebody would have to be hired to keep track of all the new material which is published every day, attend conferences, etc. The royalty solution will not work with the first group. It will even be hard to convince them to accept that there is a patent involved (is it relevant, after all?) People would find solutions for not paying royalties (like writing a paint program and then releasing public domain external modules to handle GIF and TIFF). Of all the solutions I have seen companies adopting, I feel that only a one time, 50 $ to 250 $ fee, would be accepted. It could be bundled with a package of technical documentation on LZW, and a dissertation on the patent, so that people could better appreciate what they receive in change. It would have to become a popular solution, something the small developer would be proud paying for because "He has licensed a patent from Unisys Corporation". You could even authorize everybody to use LZW for free for applications in the first group (possibly starting with us), but you cannot afford to have the public against you. [regards] --------------------------------------------------------------------- #3 --------------------------------------------------------------------- Bibliography: [Author Unknown - Information Appreciated] "Spencer the Katt" PC Week, October 2, 1989 [Author, Article Title and Exact Date Unknown - Information Appreciated] [Article on LZW and Modem Implementations] InfoWorld, Probably 1989 +/- 6 Months Adobe Systems Incorporated "LZWEncode Filter" PostScript Language Reference Manual, Second Edition Addison-Wesley Publishing Company ISBN 0-201-18127-4 Association of Shareware Professionals Forum CompuServe GO ASPFORUM Bell, Timothy C., Cleary, John G. and Witten, Ian H. "Adaptive Dictionary Encoders" Text Compression Prentice Hall ISBN 0-13-911991-4 Cloanto Italia srl Supplement to Personal Paint Manual Version 6.1/1995, January 27, 1995 Console Battilana, Michele "LZW Data Compression without Hashing" University of Udine Exam Project, July 9, 1987 Elmer-Dewitt, Philip "Will Gates Get the Net?" Time, January 30, 1995, Page 47 Erickson, Jonathan "Patent Letter Suits" (Editorial) Dr. Dobb's Journal, March 1990, page 6 Gardner, Ray "LZW Patent Issues" (Letter) Dr. Dobb's Journal, December 1989, page 8 Graphics Support Forum CompuServe GO GRAPHSUP Knuth, Donald E. The Art of Computer Programming Volume 3 / Sorting and Searching Addison-Wesley Publishing Company ISBN 0-201-03803-X Landy, Gene K. The Software Developer's and Marketer's Legal Companion Addison-Wesley Publishing Company ISBN 0-201-62276-9 Nelson, Mark R. "LZW Data Compression" Dr. Dobb's Journal, October 1989, pages 29-36, 86-87 Nelson, Mark R. "LZW Patent Issues" (Reply to Letter) Dr. Dobb's Journal, December 1989, pages 8-12 Unisys Corporation "Patented Algorithms" (Letter) Dr. Dobb's Journal, March 1990, page 8 Welch, Terry A. "A technique for high performance data compression" IEEE Computer, June 1984, pages 8-19 @endnode @node FEATURE3 "A500 to the Tower of Power" @toc FEATURE =========================================================================== A500 to The TOWER OF POWER: Simple Hacks in Lieu of Upgrading! Tom-D-Tek tww2568@acs.tamu.edu =========================================================================== [Note: With ANY sort of hardware upgrade or hack, you should feel very confident in what you are doing. If you don't, find someone who is. If you can't, don't do it. If you do, and blow something up, it's still not our fault, nor is it the author's fault. Please, don't do something you might regret. If you DO try it, though, tell us what happens. -Jason] While Finishing up the last of my upper level EET classes at Texas A&M University about 10 months ago, I began to notice how many hard core Amiga users were making the choice of either upgrading to the "New and Improved", 32 bit, AGA power houses, or jumping ship all together and getting a 486DX66, a double speed CD ROM player, and the latest "Lucas Films Saga" on CD. I also noticed, working as a part time "Authorized Commodore"(?!) Amiga Tech, that many of my customers were beginning to squirm at the prospects of throwing out all their old gear and making the leap of faith into the AGA realm. After all, we had all heard the _HORROR_STORIES of "Incompatibilities" and how all those great games that we once played until numb, in the world of AGA would leave one blankly staring into the now politically reformed guru message, "Software Failure"!. These two harsh choices were making Amiga owners across the land , and admittantly myself also, second guess their position and wonder wether or not they stick with their ole faithful , lowly A500 systems, dump it all and buy a Klone, or just "Take the AGA Plunge"! This got me thinking... Well.. I have acquired quite a system here over the years and have just got it set up the way I like it! I don't wanna sell it to some little snotty nosed, teenageNintendoMasterWannabe! Hmmm.. If I could only mold my system into... THE TOWER OF POWER! I already had a MASSIVE (for when I bought it) 160Meg, 5.25", HH, SCSI drive, a 44Meg SyQuest (that I bought off some blonde bowhead at the Dallas 1st Saturday flea market for $35 (she thought it was a floppy drive! HA!)), a CLtd Kronos SCSI controller, and my little Supra RX with 4 Meg of Fast RAM! My first move to the T.O.P. was to kick up my processing muscle... I had always been a keen observer of Amiga technology and never leaped onto hardware bandwagons. As having been an Amiga tech since '89, I found it was much wiser (and cheaper) to watch others jump on the bandwagons and learn from their mistakes in the form of unsupported hardware, defunct defacto standards, and unstable hardware add-ons. But now it was time for me to make my move... GVP was liquidating their 16 bit machine accelerators and my best friend, my Visa card, was my ticket to ride! I watched all the mail order prices like a commission brochure and caught an A530 40MHz 030 with 4Meg of RAM and NO DRIVE for $399! WOW! What a LEAP! My next big move was to get a tower case... I mean my A500 was like 6 feet wide with all the stuff I had plugged into it! I was sick of all the wires, cables, extra power supplies, and besides, all my Klone friends had those nice elegant cases... Why not me! So, with one of my techie acquaintances, I managed to get a Diamond Black Mid Tower Case for $140 delivered (whole sale cost), which due to an ordering error ended up being dark grey, but I could wait no longer, I had the fever! I had chosen this case very carefully, keeping in mind the dimensions that I would need to make my machines metamorphosis feasible. The case had 4 5.25" exposed drive bays and two internal 5.25" HH bays, a 300W power supply, a cool case stand, and an real slick CPU speed/indicator panel. It was 8.5" inches wide inside which would give me more than enough horizontal space to mount the A530 in that orientation. I went to work! My first move was to make sure that the mother board could be mounted... I was in luck.. the two screw holes on either side of the Zorro Expansion connector matched up perfectly with two of the mounting brackets of the case leaving my machine oriented with the rear connectors towards the rear, and the right hand side of the mother board flush with the top of the inside of the case! This was great! But two mounting points were not enough. I needed AT LEAST one more point for ANY stability. I found another bracket on the case that would do but I would have to drill a hole into the double sided mother board... "No Problem" I said.. I've done more hard core mods than this (but just never to my own baby!)... I carefully lined it up so that I was only cutting through a ground plane, and then, made the first incision! .. It was clean (thanks to my handy Dremel Moto Tool). I then turned it over to examine for any mischievous, loose copper shrapnel... and.... I was devastated! I just drilled through three address lines on the top side of my baby Rocklobster!!! Arrrrrgggg! .... I knew now there was no turning back. I cleaned up the hole, cut back the address lines and rerouted them leaving room for the metallic screw to form it's grip. I then finished mounting the mother board on brass standoffs, and with the help of an old power connector off a now retired KlOnE 286 PC board, made a power cord adaptor that skipped that old square DIN connector all together and used the IBM power supply's standardized Molexish connector to give my bantling back its breath of +5, +12, -12, and GND that it was so desperately crying for (in my head). I powered it up. It came to life and uttered the familiar "pause...click-click" that took me back smiling to the good ole days of floopy based operation. I then took on the MAJOR task of bringing each and every connector on the back of A500 to the back of the T.O.P.'s case... this could be an article all unto itself! The next step was to bring the A530, 40MHz, 68EC030 power house into play... "Hmm.. I know that I needed an 86 pin zorro female for this job if I am to mount the A530 as I have imagined." , (in the bottom of the tower case...) But where to get one?! I could have ripped one off an old A1000 expansion device if I were back home surrounded by dead Amigas, but I had to make due... Digikey and Mouser were no help... So I tucked my tail between my legs and went to... "The Shack"... Yea.. Thats right... The Rat Shack, The Hole, The Idiot Shack.. All the Engineer's derogatory slangs for Radio Shack rang through my ears as I walked through the door to the ever predictable and greedy welcome of, "May I help you find something?"... "Heh.. I doubt it..." I muttered under my breath... "Uhh.. Sir.. Are you looking for something in particular?" ... Hmm... Ok... I'll play... "Yeeeeea.. Ok.. I need a standard female, 16 bit, ISA bus expansion connector with either wire wrap or PC mounting solderable connectors."... "Mmmm... Ahh Iiii'm afraid we don't have that, but our Tandy 2500SX/33 has THREE of those ISA thingies in it and it's on SALE right now for..."... "Uhh.. Yea.. I'll just go have a look here in the back.. Thanx anyway..". I got my connector, chucked it on the counter and as fast as I could udder the last four digits of my phone number, I was outta there. I got back home, made the required and carefully measured marks on the connector to make the cut and then sicked Mr. Dremel on that nasty, ugly IBM ISA connector. The cut was clean and looked accurate enough. I then whipped out my trusty LOCTITE, 2 part, cold welding epoxy and lined up the two halves of this home made Zorro connector that I had sliced into being, let it dry on a sheet of wax paper over night (making sure that it was perfectly straight lest I have to go back to the Rat Shack) ..."and if all goes well, I should have my Zorro connector in the morning!" In the morning I skipped my first 5 classes and decided to tear out the ribbon cable and make this 3 inch ribbon nightmare a reality. I must say, it's some of the toughest soldering I've ever done. I had to solder 86 pins onto that hacked ISA connector and then the other 86 pins to the board side of the connector on the GVP A530, having to _BEND_ every other connector leg to get my solder tip in tight enough to get the job done! I never sweat so much in my life. After I finally got THAT up and running, I could now take all of my previously external SCSI drives and shove them into... THE T.O.P.! Some of the other hacks I had previously made to my system over the years just seem to fit into place as if by devine enlightenment, as if planned in the past by something outside myself, something that knew that the T.O.P. -M-U-S-T--B-E-...! sorry.. got carried away there... My switch debounced, TTL buffered, LED indicated, NTSC/PAL switch was set up so that it could be hooked directly to the cases elegant RESET button and Turbo LED. The A530's Game switch was now hooked up (with ease I might add) to the ever powerful TURBO button. The front LED MHz display was easily set to "40". The C= HD floppy drive took some doing trying to get to fit into a Klonez 3.5" to 5.25", 1/3rd height, floppy drive adaptor, but the pieces were quickly coming together! The next step was to internalize my fairly new purchase of one Line Link 14.4kBaud V42.bis, Voice/Fax modem into one of the 5.25" drive bays. This was tricky and I was not sure it would work because I had to cut the hell out of the multi layer board it was manufactured on to get it to fit, but I knew the areas I had to cut did not bear any important signals but merely the Vcc and GND planes so I did it and it worked. I did, however, have to build a new power supply (9VAC) out of a 12.6V Rat Shack Xformer, and a few clamping diodes to dissipate some of the extra juice. I then drilled holes in the dummy face plate I was mounting the modem behind (for the LED's to peep through) and brought the power switch up to the front. I needed, of course, to access the phone jacks on the back of the modem, so for this I got a hold of an old 1200 baud internal Klone Head modem (for free) and took great pleasure in cutting the hell out if it to extract the needed PC backplane with the RJ-11's in tact. By simply cutting a Male to Male RJ-11 cord in half and soldering IT to the backplane jacks and plugging it into the back of my modem, I was set! Then for the final touches, I used rub on lettering to define the modem LED indicators and the power switch. The T.O.P was beginning to take form an elegant and usable form! I decided THEN that I would DEFINITELY not want people coming over and mistaking my T.O.P. for some run of the mill, MSB, Klone headed, 386DX40, so I stenciled onto the side in big 3" High Letters, "AMIGA" for the whole world to see... All in all it turned out rather nice. I got my T.O.P. dream machine (with a little epoxy, solder, sweat, & tears), have a unit that turns 12+ MIPS (about 486sx25 speed), have plenty of room for expansion, and even enough case room to maybe even put in a dual Sling Shot type device for preparation of my REAL dream of: a GVP EGS 24 bit Spectrum Board (for emulated AGA) and an Emplant Mac/586DX emulator!!! With a little patience and some good technical support, anyone that's handy with a soldering iron can do these types of modifications. Even if you DON'T choose the T.O.P. route, there are still MANY options open to the often scoffed at, and lowly A500 user! The only limits are your own imagination... (and your current credit card status.) @endnode @node FEATURE4 "Amiga Report 1995 Survey" @toc FEATURE =========================================================================== == The Grand Gala Amiga Report 1995 Reader Survey! == =========================================================================== It's that time...time for us to figure out how we're doing, what we should do in the future...basically, the pulse of the Amiga Report public. Please fill out whatever you like, and get back to us. Send replies to @{" Jason Compton " link JASON}. And, thanks to Michael Meshew and Fred Fish, TEN Light-ROM CDs will be given away to ten random readers who respond to the survey. Even if you don't own a CD-ROM drive, the CD label is pretty. Incidentally, everyone who has already submitted a reply IS still eligible. Replies are due February 21, 1995. So, let's get underway. The best way to answer is to clip these answers out of the document and answer them below the question. Part I-Tell us about yourself. 1. Please tell us what system you use (briefly, we don't need to know every peripheral and card, just the model number and processor). 2. Would you consider your machine and your usage to be that of a high-end, middle, or low-end? 2a. How long have you been an Amiga user? 2b. How many Amigas do you own currently, and how many have you owned lifetime? 3. What other Amiga magazines do you read? 4. How often do you read Amiga Report, and how? (Are you on the mailing list, a distribution BBS, FTP, on a non-affiliated BBS...?) 4a. How long have you read Amiga Report? 5. Do you have full internet access, E-Mail/Usenet, or no internet access? 6. Please tell us what country you hail from, and what language or languages you are fluent in. Part II-Tell us about the magazine. 1. What sections of the magazine do you consider the best or most important? 1a. What sections of the magazine do you consider the worst or least important? 2. (For those who have seen earlier layouts) How does the current layout of the magazine compare to previous incarnations? 3. How does Amiga Report's feature quality compare to other Amiga magazines? (Be as specific as necessary) 4. Do you feel information is clearly and fairly presented in Amiga Report? 5. What do you think we're missing? What would you like to see more of? 5a. On the same token, what do you think we shouldn't have? What would you like to see less of? 6. Of the following sections of the magazine, please indicate how you feel about them by the following classification- Always Read / Sometimes read / Rarely read / Never read News/Press Releases/Features Reviews Opinion/Editorial Reader Mail FTP Announcements Dealer Directory Distribution BBS list 7. Back in 1993, Amiga Report carried more general-industry news. Would you like to see that return? @endnode @node FEATURE5 "Hardware Survey" @toc FEATURE =========================================================================== == Hardware Survey By: @{"Katherine Nelson" link KATIE} == =========================================================================== Here's the start of the Hardware Wish List survey... More questions will be in later issues. 1. Joystick a. Keep it how it already is b. Switch to analog joystick 2. Mouse: a. Keep it how it already is b. Switch to serial mouse 3. Keyboard a. Keep it how it already is b. Switch to IBM compatibles/Amiga keyboard emulation for IBM keyboards 4. Should 15 KHz be used for anything except video? a. Yes b. No 5. Where should the processor/graphics/sound/etc. components be located? a. On the board (hard to change) b. On separate cards (slows it down ) 6. What should the low-end Amiga cases be like? a. How they currently are, one-piece with keyboard attached b. A slim-line "pizza box" case, like low-end Macintoshes, with separate keyboard This is the last time this survey will be printed. Watch for the results (hopefully) in the next issue!!! Send responses to @{"Katherine Nelson" link KATIE} @endnode @node REVIEW1 "Review: QwikForms CD-ROM" @toc REVIEW =========================================================================== REVIEW: QwikForms CD-ROM Ivo Kroone raymond@cs.vu.nl =========================================================================== After seeing promising advertisements announcing the "QwikFroms" CD-ROM in Amiga World, I thought it would be the perfect disc for me. Clipart in ILBM format, ready-made documents in PageStream format, spreadsheet templates, standard letters and fonts compatible with PageStream. Although a little pricey (I paid Dfl. 59,-, which is about $ 35) this should be worth-while. Configuration for testing: Amiga 500 plus (68000/Kick 2.04/ECS) A570 CD-ROM drive HP LaserJet 4M PageStream 2.22HL TypeSmith 2.5a ViewTek 2.1 Everything the ad promises is true. But still I'm disappointed. The first, nasty, problem is that the disc has no label. No label means no booklet and a name-less volume. So far I have not found a picture of ready-made document providing the user with a print-it-yourself sleeve for the CD-case. Because of this, I decided to create a sleeve while exploring the CD to write this review. The sleeve can be found on any AmiNet site: /pub/aminet/text/dtp/QwikForms.lha one needs to have the CD present as the project uses fonts (Fox/McGarey- Fractured/Mongrel) only found on the CD. Of course only images from the CD have been used. ScalaMM cannot use this disc, it gets hopelessly confused by the name-less volume. With DirectoryOpus using "expand path names" the entire CD is not usable! Opus will keep returning to SYS: instead of reading CD0:. The solution is making an ASSIGN to it so the disc has a name, and turning off "expand path names". So after: Assign foo: CD0: one can access the disc as "foo:". WorkBench has no problems with a label- less disc, but as there are no .info-files the disc seems not to be meant to be accessed from the WorkBench. The volume size is 381 MB. There's no accompanying book showing thumbnails of all pictures. Playing around with the CD learns that this item is aimed at the Amiga as well as the Atari ST market. Lots of directories contain sub-directories "AM" and "ST". Most of the sub-directories contain the same data but stored in other formats. So most of the clip-art is stored in IFF and IMG format. As the Amiga is a true wizard at reading exotic file formats, this might be a waste of disc-space. On the other hand, using a slow Amiga like I do the IFF format alone is a reason to buy the disc, duplicates or no duplicates. All file-names are MS-dos style. A big turn off to me, especially compared to those more than excellent AmiNet CDs. The short upper-case filenames are really annoying. We have a capable operating system, a special Amiga CD-ROM (more about that later) and still MS-dos is bugging us! On a brighter note, there are a couple of pretty funny anti IBM pictures on the disc. :-) Contents Clipart is spread over a number of directories. The root reads: CLASSICW (dir) CLIPTO1 (dir) CLIPTO2 (dir) EPSALOT (dir) FONTFRM1 (dir) FONTFRM2 (dir) LOGOLIBR (dir) MORECLIP (dir) MOREFONT (dir) QWIKFORM (dir) QWIKLETR (dir) TEMPLCTY (dir) UTILITY (dir) READTHIS.TXT The first directory contains 38MB of so called classic software, from 1989 that is. Because of the Atari/MS-dos style file-names most software is crippled and therefore ot usable. 16MB of the total 38MB is Amiga software, the remainder can be used with your favorite Atari emulator! The Amiga programs can be used without any unpacking. Except for the silly ".INF" files it's a nice archive of real oldies. Much of them still have a ".FNF" file showing their origin (Fred Fish). The UTILITY directory is much like the classic software. Real old utilities with truncated filenames. This time usability is even less as everything has been put in one big directory. It is up to the user to find out which files belong to which program. Worthless. Bitmapped ClipArt Finally a CD-ROM with Amiga clipart, ILBM and PostScript! The directories have been separated in an Amiga and an Atari part, totalling 63MB of ILBM files. Both containing the exact same pictures, only ILBM (abbreviated .LBM) for Amiga and IMG for Atari. Using your average IFF viewer one easily can browse trough the images. And again "The Sterling Connection" company disappoints. Lots of the files contain nothing but a big mess (yes, with all viewers). Reading the file with a HEX editor proves that all files have been converted to IFF using "GraphicWorkshop 6", which seems to be a bad program as about 20% of all ILBM files has been crippled. The other 80% varies from useless to good. The useless category contains things like arrows (I could never have drawn a real arrow myself!), dots and boxes. More useful are the classic holiday, travel, school, people and cartoons which will surely make every document more attractive. As far as this is concerned this CD-ROM is no less than any other ClipArt CD-ROM I've seen for other platforms. The big difference is, of course, that this one contains IFF pictures. Most others are meant for PC (PCX/GIF) or Macintosh (MAC/TIFF) computers and therefore mean lots of conversion. For those with fast Amigas running KickStart 3.0 converting pictures should be no problem, still I personally prefer the native Amiga format. When using bit-mapped pictures for DTP purposes the pictures should be as big and oversized as possible. Even a real cheap matrix printer will output 200x200 DPI. Which means that a 200x200 pixel picture can only be printed on a square inch without getting jagged edges. The pictures on this disc will just about do. Most are black'n'white (1 bit plane) hires lace, taking up very little memory. Judging quality: all pictures have been scanned, none have been drawn by hand. Scanning quality is good. Other directories contain GIF files (colorful and therefore less useful for DTP purposes) redefining the word miscellaneous: everything from girls to open heart surgery. A "PI1" directory contains low-quality artwork from the Atari drawing package "Degas" (to be imported in PageStream). Structured Clipart The "EPS a lot" directory contains 5MB of postscript pictures. These will be recognized by PageStream as both "IBM postscript" and "Illustrator". This directory however is a mess. Pictures are not sorted in any way, just thrown in EPS1 to EPS9. Still these are nice, useful quality images. Another directory comprising 26MB of clipart-files is less useful. PageStream recognizes these as "IBM EPSF" which can be used but simply don't look very good on paper. Forms The unique thing about this CD-ROM are the ready-made PageStream documents. All have a ".DOC" extension, which is odd because Amiga owners usually end their filenames with ".PgS". As PageStream runs on both Atari and Amiga the creators had an easy job. Indeed PageStream accepts every document on the disc. Regrettably quality of the documents leaves much to be desired. Many are so simple one can make them in a matter of minutes. Others are so specialized I doubt anyone will ever find a use for them. Yet others only apply to American culture or law so no one outside the USA will ever make use of them. Same goes for the text files. Most of them are extremely short (less than 1024 bytes). All contain extra carriage returns which have to be stripped by Amiga users. What did they think, the Amiga is the latest type-writer from Commodore? :-) Templates (13MB) for various spreadsheets are nice but again chances are small one needs exactly the template found on this CD. Templates for Analyze!, MaxiPlan and Superplan are included. I tried most of the Analyze files and they all seemed to work OK. Models include things like book- keeping, savings plans, calendars and biorhythm. I found this library especially useful for examples. Fonts CompuGraphic, Outline and Type1 fonts can be used perfectly well with TypeSmith. Exploring with TypeSmith learns that all fonts are indeed public domain, some have even been created using TypeSmith! Installing is a breeze, just add them using PageStream's FontManager. This does not mean the QwikForms CD has to be in the CD-ROM drive from now on. As soon as a font from the CD is accessed a request will pop-up asking for CD0:. This again shows how anoying it is not to have a label attached to the volume. The solution is to access the CD by it's assigned name and using that assign from within the fontmanager. With any other CD in the drive, PageStream will accept that volume but cannot find the fonts. This means a big problem when working with more than one font CD-ROM. Fonts work pretty quick from CD, there's absolutely no need to copy them to the harddisk. As with all font-collections quality varies from nothing special to real smart or funny. Well, just take a look at the file I created for the sleeve, it uses a couple of interesting fonts. Conclusion This CD-ROM comes in handy when doing DTP work. If your system handles GIF, PCX or other non-Amiga formats as easily as ILBM, this CD might not be the perfect solution for you. If, on the other hand, you prefer native Amiga formats over everything else this CD is good. Compared to jewels like AmiNet4 the Sterling Connection did a very poor job. From a technical point of view this CD is terrible: no volume name, upper case filenames, 8 character file-names, crippled files, only 381MB used and old software. It seems like the CD has been mastered using an Atari ST or MS-dos machine and no one ever took time to test it with the Amiga. Still I had a lot of fun exploring the CD and creating a CD cover for it. My advice is to wait till it gets real cheap and then buy it. At $ 40 this disc is way overpriced. @endnode @node REVIEW2 "Review: SplatterPaint" @toc REVIEW =========================================================================== REVIEW: SplatterPaint @{"Jason Compton" link JASON} =========================================================================== There are times you want to come up with a masterpiece-something you want printed on magazine covers, t-shirts, and framed in a gallery. Or, a really incredible picture you can distribute proudly far and wide, knowing you have composed a masterpiece. You'll be retouching and retouching with a graphics package, making sure everything is just right. Splatterpaint isn't for these times. Splatterpaint is more for the times when you've got a lot of random creative energy and don't really want to get complicated. Splatterpaint is a free paint package. No, it's no ImageFX, Photogenics, Brilliance, or DeluxePaint. It's really not even a DeluxePaint II. What it is is a 64-color, 320x200 IFF paint program with some of the "standard" features (circle, polygon draw, fill, palette selection, etc.) and the title feature-the splatterpaint, which is essentially three spray-brushes with a twist, in that they "splatter" outward or downward across the page. What's to say? The painting itself works, although often the "outlines" of polygons to be drawn are too flickery. The options and preferences are somewhat sparse, but it doesn't promise what it doesn't deliver. The "file requesting" is thoroughly evil, requiring you to remember the name of everything, since it's just a line prompt. The palette changes can get problematic, as some buttons disappear if you turn their color to black. Oops. Splatterpaint was sired by Pete Storonskij, author of such fine games such as Mangled Fenders and Conundrum. He once again proves that while he's a good programmer, he's not much of a documentarian. The sparse text hypes the splatter-painter and says that the program contains many of the same keypresses as DP or Brilliance. This is not a big help. Plusses? It's free. It's good to just screw around with and come up with some pictures. It DOES have undo and a sort of magnification tool. Minuses? It doesn't multitask and it's not exactly bogged down with options. But the splatter painter IS sort of neat... Pete W Storonskij Incinerplex Games 200 A street Lincoln, NE 68502 USA @endnode @node REVIEW3 "Photogenics from Almathera" @toc REVIEW =========================================================================== REVIEW: Photogenics @{"Jason Compton" link JASON} =========================================================================== The first thing I noticed about Photogenics was the fact that Almathera is the only company I've ever encountered with letterhead packing tape. The second thing was that there was a rather nice t-shirt included. The first was amusing, the second a thrill (not only do software companies want to keep me well-stocked with programs, they want to clothe me! This is great!) But it was time to actually get to the issue at hand- Photogenics, the AGA and 24-bit image manipulation package. Photogenics ships in a rather large, sturdy box with a pull-out binder that contains the documentation-Almathera clearly is a member of the "big box" school of packaging, since the included documentation doesn't REALLY warrant a binder, as it's only 70 pages or so. But the box does draw attention to itself, with an attractive Photogenics-generated logo and large, friendly lettering. The program itself is contained on three disks, easily installed on your system. Note-while the package does NOT require AGA, it DOES require that you have either AGA or a 24-bit graphics board AND at least Kickstart 3.0. Almathera only specifies two supported graphics boards-OpalVision and Picasso II. I will check with Almathera to see if the unlisted boards are supported for next issue. You are also allowed to run the program on floppy and/or with a scant 2 megs of memory...but do you really want to mess with 24-bit images that can, depending on how you save them, take up more than the capacity of a regular floppy, or do you want some real power? Photogenics' working environment is much more reminiscent of a paint program than of an image manipulation package such as ImageFX. You are provided with a window full of tools to select, and can load in images in their own windows. A substantial difference between IFX and Photogenics, though, is that you choose from 16, 256, or HAM-8 previews of the image being worked on. The HAM-8 preview is astounding...but rather slow. While you can exclusively work in it if you choose, 256 will be considerably more comfortable. Photogenics is designed with a slew of effects to be "painted" onto the image. Effects such as AddNoise, Blur, Deinterlace, Emboss, MotionBlur, Roll, and Tile are all applied by brushes of configurable size and "pressure", allowing the ultimate control of their outcome. The brushes include pencil, chalk pastel, and my favorite, watercolor. The effects themselves come with a variety of mode settings to let you do what you want, quickly and efficiently. Another of Photogenics' operating quirks is that the area you "paint" with an effect is that, until you select to Fix your changes with the appropriate click, the areas you have "painted" can be altered to be any level or effect you choose, by simply selecting a new mode. So, if you decide that the apple would look better Pixelized than Blurred, you just select Pixelize and it will change accordingly. The file formats supported by Photogenics are in the vein you would expect and find most useful-variations on the Amiga IFF/ILBM scheme, JPEG, GIF, etc. Another nicety is the ability to load CDXL or QuadAnim (Almathera's format for Video Creator) frames. Unfortunately, CDXLs and QuadAnims cannot be created with this package. Direct grabbing from V-Lab is also supported, as is a screen grabber Almathera claims will work on all video boards. I consider the easy handling of Alpha and Secondary channels to be Photogenics' greatest strength. These "channels" (actually just other images) are used for effects involving blending or "rubbing through" onto the main image. The organization is handled on a thumbnail bar at the bottom of the screen-each image loaded into Photogenics is represented, and the appropriate nail can be dragged into the "Alpha" or "Secondary" box at will. To round out the package of options, a limited number of antialiased fonts are included for your works. They're rather nice, and of course Almathera is more than happy to tell you where to get more: one of their own CD-ROMs. A number of sample images, including three frames from the inception of the Photogenics logo, are included to get you started and get you through the tutorial in the manual. Photogenics is an excellent manipulation package. Its speed is considerable on a 4000/040 25mhz. On the base required system (a stock A1200) you'll have forgotten what it was you were trying to achieve before you actually finish. In terms of functionality, it is not the end-all and be-all of image processing, but it does an excellent job of applying effects. Missing is a more detailed manual (it's not bad, but there was some room for elaboration) and some sort of ARexx support for a more integrated image-processing system. But in general, Almathera has come up with a winner. (Taken from the packing tape) Almathera Southerton House Boundary Business Court 92-94 Church Road Mitcham Surrey CR4 3TD England +44 081 687 0040 voice +44 081 687 0490 fax @endnode @node CHARTS1 "Aminet Charts - Feb 5, 1995" @toc FTP | The 10 most downloaded files from Aminet during the week until 5-Feb-95 | Updated weekly. Most popular file on top. | |File Dir Size Description |------------------- --- ---- ----------- ar303.lha docs/mags 88K 0+Amiga Report 3.03, Jan. 30, 1995 AmiTCP-demo-40.lha comm/tcp 738K 14+TCP/IP protocol stack csh540.lha util/shell 246K 0+C-Shell (csh) 5.40, CLI replacement cp3.lha comm/tcp 93K 0+AmiTCP Control Panel V3.0 - Enables GUI tin123.lha comm/news 181K 0+Amiga TIN v1.23 - Full featured Usenet n Gui-FTP.lha comm/tcp 50K 0+Gui-FTP V1.1.0 GUI based FTP client GalagaSecrets.lha game/hint 2K 0+ALL Galaga Game Secrets JIV10.lha gfx/show 170K 0+View IFF,JPG,GIF,BMP,PNM on OCS,ECS, AGA, binarydt_v39.9.lha util/dtype 27K 0+Binary datatype v39.9 for >= OS3.0 Play16_1.3.lha mus/play 24K 0+Plays WAV, IFF, MAUD, etc, 14 bit output @endnode @node FTP1 "CardCam: VideoIn" @toc FTP TITLE Cardcam: VideoIn Amiga PCMCIA video capture card VERSION 1.0 COMPANY Quadrant International 65 Valley Stream Parkway Malvern, PA 19355 USA Phone: +610 251 9999 Fax: +610 251 9020 BBS: +610 251 9723 Email: 75147.2243@compuserve.com DESCRIPTION CardCam: VideoIn adds real-time video capture capability to PCMCIA equipped Amigas. CardCam captures 24 bit color images from any video source and saves them as standard Amiga IFF24 picture files for later manipulation with paint and image processing software. CardCam has sofware selectable composite and S-video inputs, and can capture from both PAL and NTSC video sources. CardCam can capture at full video resolution (640x480 NTSC w/overscan, 576 lines in PAL mode), and the software supports on-screen preview of live video. SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS CardCam: VideoIn requires an Amiga 600 or 1200 running Workbench 3.0 or better. A hard drive is recommended. PRICE CardCam's Suggested retail price is $400. OTHER Optional Microsoft Windows (tm) drivers are also available. The Video for Windows drivers make it possible to use the card with a PC laptop as well as an Amiga. For more information via email, write to 75147.2243@compuserve.com, with "Amiga CardCam" in the subject line. Please include your name, mailing address, and email address in the message. @endnode @node FTP2 "RexxOpt 1.7" @toc FTP TITLE RexxOpt - ARexx script optimizer VERSION 1.7 (09.01.95) PROXITY SOFTWORKS A cooperation of Amiga developers. Their intention is to release high quality software under one label. Members are: Boris Folgmann, Ulrich Sibiller and Christian Hechelmann. PETS Proxity Engineering and Technical Support Usenet: pets@amiuni.tynet.sub.org Fidonet: 2:246/1416.0 (pets) AUTHOR Ulrich Sibiller Address: Finkenweg 4 71540 Murrhardt Germany Usenet: uli@pizza.tynet.sub.org Internet: sibilluh@trick.informatik.uni-stuttgart.de Fidonet: 2:246/1416.38 (Ulrich Sibiller IRC: Proxity Phone: ++49-(0)7192-8908 V.32bis 14.4 or HST 14.4 with ASL/V.42bis DESCRIPTION RexxOpt optimizes your ARexx scripts by removing all information not necessary. This results in a faster execution speed, making working with ARexx much more comfortable. When run in default mode (no switch given in command line) the following is done: - all unnecessary blank characters (ASCII 9, 32 and 160) are removed - all comments are removed - consecutive strings are merged to one single string - ';' is inserted in front of any DO within the script - all blank characters outside strings and comments are replaced by (ASCII 32) - all (remaining) lines are put into one single line - a new comment line is put in front of the script because ARexx requires ARexx scripts to begin with a comment. This is V1.7, an update to V1.6. NEW FEATURES - New switch DEOPT: (re)insert linefeeds - Minor code optimization concerning nested comments - New switch FIRSTCOMMENT: Don't strip first comment - Filehandling rewritten: it is no longer necessary to provide a destination filename. This introduced some new error messages and made some of the old obsolete. - Titlecomment and filecomment are now set according to current mode (optimize/deoptimize). SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS You need AmigaOS 2.0 or better to run RexxOpt. Additionally it would be a good idea to have ARexx installed on your system since it makes not much sense to optimize ARexx scripts when you can't use them. HOST NAME Any Aminet site, e.g. ftp.uni-stuttgart.de (129.96.8.13) DIRECTORY /pub/aminet/util/rexx /pub/aminet/recent FILE NAME RexxOpt_1.7.lha 13967 Bytes DISTRIBUTABILITY Freeware ) 1995 by Proxity Softworks. @endnode @node FTP3 "Elversound" @toc FTP TITLE Elversound: Amiga PCMCIA audio Card VERSION 1.0 COMPANY Elverson Puzzle Company P.O. Box 258 Elverson, PA 19520 USA FAX: +610 277 9006 EMAIL: equack@bix.com DESCRIPTION Elversound is a multi-function audio card for any PCMCIA equipped Amiga. It was designed by the same engineers responsible for the DSS8+ sound sampler. Hardware features include: 1. Stereo CD quality 16 bit sound. 3. Separate stereo line level and stereo microphone inputs. 4 Separate stereo line level and stereo headphone outputs. 5. Built in multi-channel stereo mixer. 6. Built in 4:1 ADPCM compression hardware. 7. Sampling rates up to 48KHz in 16 bit stereo. Selected software features: 1. Record, playback, and edit samples from disk or RAM. 2. Plays standard Microsoft Windows (tm) .WAV files. 3. Built in signal processing routines for special effects. 4. ARexx interface allows customization and integration with other software. SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS Elversound requires an A600 or A1200 with Workbench 2.04 or better. A hard drive is recommended. PRICE Suggested retail price $299.00 OTHER Optional Microsoft Windows (tm) drivers are also available. With the Windows drivers you can use the card with a PC compatible laptop as well as an Amiga. You can obtain more information via email. Write to "equack@bix.com" with "Elversound info" in the subject line. Please include your name, mailing address, and email address in the message. @endnode @node FTP4 "pcmcom.device" @toc FTP TITLE pcmcom.device: Amiga PCMCIA driver for modems & serial ports VERSION 1.0 COMPANY Quackenbush 524 Crooked Lane King of Prussia, PA 19406 USA FAX: +610 277 9006 EMAIL: equack@bix.com AUTHOR Erik Quackenbush equack@bix.com DESCRIPTION The pcmcom.device let's you use most PCMCIA modem and serial port cards in your PCMCIA equipped Amiga. The driver emulates the Amiga's 'serial.device'. Any communications program that supports alternate device drivers will work with the package. The driver supports the hardware FIFO buffers that are built into most PCMCIA modems to achieve error free communication at high speeds. The driver supports connect baud rates up to 115.2 Kbps. The package includes a preferences program that allows extended baud rate selection. The software supports the X-Jack modems from Megahertz, and the Smart Serial Port card from Smart Modular Technologies. Most other PCMCIA modems and serial port cards are also supported. SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS pcmcom.device requires an Amiga 600 or 1200 and a PCMCIA modem or serial port card. Please note that some AMP, DataRace, and Practical Peripherals modems are not Amiga compatible and cannot be supported for hardware reasons. PRICE U.S. $35.00. Presently only available direct from the author. To order, send check or money order to the above address. U.S. & Canadian customers please add $3.00 for shipping. Non-U.S. customers, please add $6.00 for shipping. OTHER Questions about the product may be emailed to: "equack@bix.com". Please use a subject line of "PCMCOM Info" and include your name, street address, and email address in the message body. @endnode @node FTP5 "New IP policy" @toc FTP Well, the results are in from my survey about who needs IP numbers for FTP sites. My thanks to everyone who responded. My conclusion is that DNS is widely established. Direct IP numbers are still needed only in two rare situations: the DNS local installation is broken or the host is new and the name has not propogated up through the DNS servers. Neither of these situations are a real problem for the needs of the readers of this group. Most FTP sites are well-established. Most of the software goes on Aminet. People with broken DNS servers can get the numbers from the list of Aminet sites (which are included in the administrative posts). Therefore, I will no longer require IP numbers of FTP sites. If you are posting software somewhere other than Aminet, I strongly recommend that you include the IP number. However, I will no longer require that you do so. Instead, I will require the more modern URL. This will make things more convenient for users of certain software. It will also make posts a little shorter. As an example, one of the archives of this group would be specified in a URL as: ftp://ftp.wustl.edu/pub/aminet/docs/anno/announce450.lha Further notes: If your file does happen to be on Aminet, please say so. Please list the size of your files. Some of the readers here do their FTP by mail. They really like to know what they are getting into. I'll have the revised administrative posts out soon to reflect these changes. @endnode @node FTP6 "AlbIn_MUI v1.0" @toc FTP TITLE AlbIn_MUI - A Music database program VERSION v1.0 (Initial release) COMPANY none AUTHOR Niklas Dahlman. e-mail: d92nd@efd.lth.se DESCRIPTION AlbIn_MUI stores information about your records, tapes, CD-ROMs, videos etc. Supported information: Album title, artist, play time, format, songs+time, group members, record company, release date, cover design, catalog number, mixer, producer, rating, etc.... Just type in all information about your records, save the database and export an AmigaGuide document. The AmigaGuide document is the one you will use to view information. Just click on a record and all available information will be displayed. The program has various sorting functions and a powerful find function, so you can search for the works of a particular person or a song whose author you forgot. AlbIn_MUI can export ASCII & AmigaGuide documents and prints to your preferences printer. It supports external files for song lyrics and digitized pictures of record sleeves. AlbIn_MUI is distributed with databases containing a total of over 200 records. The Save function is disabled in the unregistered version. If you register you get a version optimized for your processor (020, 030...) if you like. SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS AlbIn_MUI requires OS2.04+, MUI 2.1 and memory to store your database. My database requires 1.3 Mb for 120 records. HOST NAME AlbIn_MUI is on Aminet. ftp.wustl.edu (128.252.135.4) DIRECTORY pub/amiga/biz/dbase FILE NAMES AlbIn_MUI_10.lha PRICE The shareware fee is 10 US dollars or equivalent. DISTRIBUTABILITY AlbIn_MUI is copyright ) 1995 Niklas Dahlman. AlbIn_MUI is shareware. @endnode @node FTP7 "Target 2.1" @toc FTP TITLE Target VERSION V2.1 (update from V2.0) AUTHOR Dalibor S. Kezele Toplicka 127 42204 Turcin Croatia e-mail: dalibor.kezele@120.hrfido.fesb.hr Fidonet: DALIBOR KEZELE 2:381/120 DESCRIPTION Target is a game for Workbench. One has to shoot the target that appears in a window opened by the game and gains points depending on the number of shot targets. With high score, pause and intuition look. SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS An Amiga since it works on all Amigas. (Tested on 500 and 1200) Target requires about 50K to run. HOST NAME any Aminet site, for example ftp.funet.fi DIRECTORY /pub/aminet/game/wb FILE NAMES Target.lha (8410 bytes) Target.readme (417 bytes) PRICE The shareware fee is a postcard to author. OTHER Source from author is also available. DISTRIBUTABILITY Copyright (c) 1995 by Dalibor S. Kezele The program is shareware. It's freely distributable. @endnode @node FTP8 "GetURL 1.0" @toc FTP TITLE GetURL.rexx VERSION 1.0 AUTHOR James Burton c/o Department of Computer Science & Computer Engineering Latrobe University Bundoora, Victoria, 3083 Australia EMail: burton@cs.latrobe.edu.au Web: http://www.cs.latrobe.edu.au/~burton/ DESCRIPTION -- Script to download HTML systems across the network -- GetURL.rexx is an ARexx script which will download World-Wide Web pages. With a simple command line it will download a specific page, and with more complex command lines it will be able to download specific sets of documents. The intention was to create a tool that allowed local caching of important Web pages and a flexible way of specifying what pages are important. The script has no GUI as of yet but may have at some stage in the future. If you have ever tried to download and save to disc a 200 page document using Mosaic, then you know what this script is for. Mosaic will only let you load a page, then load it to disc, then load another page etc. This is a very frustrating process. GetURL automates this process and will run in batch mode without user intervention. The major features of GetURL.rexx are as follows: * doesn't require AMosaic, you you can be browsing something else with AMosaic whilst this is running * save pages to your hard disc so that they can be read offline and you can also give them to friends on a floppy disc. Who know, you may even be able to sell discs containing web pages :-) * flexible set of command line switches that allow you to restrict the type of pages that it downloads * ability to specify files for the lists of URLs that it keeps so that any search for pages can be stopped and restarted at a later date. i.e. you could run GetURL for 2 hours a day whilst you are online and gradually download everything in the entire universe and it won't repeat itself. * ability to download itself when there are new versions. * will use a proxy if you have access to one, in order to both speed up access to pages and also to reduce network load. * will download binary files (*.gif, *.lha) as easily as text and html files. * documentation is in the top of the script file. SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS * Until somebody writes a TCP: device for the AS225 TCP/IP protocol stack unfortunately this script will require AmiTCP. * requires the TCP: device be mounted * either restraint, or an extremely large hard disc - your choice :-) * This script is no use at all unless you have AmiTCP set up and running. If you don't know what this means then please ask me (burton@cs.latrobe.edu.au). LOCATION This script is available via Anonymous FTP to AmiNet wuarchive.wustl.edu (128.252.135.4) /pub/aminet/comm/tcp/GetURL-1.0.rexx and all of it's mirrors. Please check the closest mirror FIRST. HTTP from my university account http://www.cs.latrobe.edu.au/~burton/Public/GetURL.rexx (this URL will always point to the newest version) FILE NAMES GetURL-1.0.rexx 41770 Bytes GetURL-1.0.readme 3874 Bytes PRICE Absolutely free to humans DISTRIBUTABILITY Public domain. But so that a hundred different versions of this don't appear, please send corrections, new features, bug fixes etc. to me and I will coordinate. @endnode @node FTP9 "CompilAIBB 1.0" @toc FTP TITLE CompilAIBB VERSION 1.0 AUTHOR Yann-Erick Proy e-mail : Yann-Erick.Proy@Imag.fr or Proy@Merlin-Gerin.fr DESCRIPTION CompilAIBB is a collection of small files, called modules, created with the AIBB software from Peter Lamonte Koop. AIBB (Amiga Intuition Based Benchmarks) enables you to : 1- Check the hardware and software setup of your Amiga : + processor kind : 68000, 68020, 68030, ... + its frequency : 14 MHz, 33 MHz, ... + possible presence of mathematics coprocessor + specialized chipset identification : Agnus, Alice, ... + possible presence of expansion boards + Kickstart version, i.e. system version : 37.175, 40.63, ... + system main libraries versions : exec.library, graphics.library, ... + Kickstart locations : ROM or RAM + ... 2- Evaluate the computing performance of your Amiga and compare it to others : + AIBB includes 20 different tests (integer, graphics, floating point, memory access, ...) + AIBB achieves comparisons by storing and retrieving the results of these tests in a very small file : a module. This is the 1.0 version of CompilAIBB, constituted of modules made with 6.0 or newer versions of AIBB. It features lots of 68030 accelerator boards for the A1200 and the A2000, 68040 accelerators boards for the A2000 and the A4000 and a 68060 prototype board for the A4000. Some boards are represented twice or more with small differences such as the Kickstart version, Kickstart location, cache status, etc. A big AmigaGuide document is provided with an inventory of these modules and instructions to provide the author with new ones. SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS The AIBB modules require the 6.0 or newer version of AIBB. The AmigaGuide documentation require either the Amigaguide software included in the 3.0 (V39) or 3.1 (V40) Amiga system or the standalone Amigaguide V34 package. Maximum efficiency can be obtained from the documentation if your humour board is plugged in... HOST NAME ftp.wustl.edu (128.252.135.4) or any Aminet site. DIRECTORY Aminet : /pub/aminet/util/misc (as AIBB) FILE NAMES CompilAIBB1.0.lha CompilAIBB1.0.readme PRICE CompilAIBB is free. If you use it, the author would appreciate it if you send him a nice postcard from where you live. DISTRIBUTABILITY CompilAIBB may be freely distributed on condition that : 1- the original form under which its author has published it is respected ; 2- the price asked for its distribution is not more than usually asked for Fish floppies ($3, 15 FF, etc) or CDs ($30, 200 FF, etc) ; 3- distribution will stop immediately if so requested by the author. CompilAIBB is Copyright .1994, 1995 Yann-Erick Proy. OTHER If you have restricted access to Internet (no FTP) you may request that CompilAIBB be sent to you by e-mail with each release. To suscribe to this service, send the author an empty message with the subject "CompilAIBB by e-mail". There is no warranty you will ever receive CompilAIBB this way : the author may be prevented from doing so by many reasons. @endnode @node FTP10 "TimeGuardian 1.2" @toc FTP TITLE TimeGuardian VERSION 1.2 AUTHOR Gerri Koerner, Markus Matern, Juergen Matern DESCRIPTION `TimeGuardian' is a shareware program package which makes it easy for you to automate processes which have to be done over and over again. It reminds you about important events or allows you to start programs or scripts at predefined points of time. You also may write log files to disk, where you can see when your computer was switched on. SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS Any Amiga with OS 2.0 or higher. MUI 2.0 or higher. Installer HOST NAME TimeGuardian is available on aminet. Uploaded to ftp.uni-paderborn.de on 18.1.1995 DIRECTORY util/time FILE NAMES TimeGuardian.lha TimeGuardian.readme PRICE US$ 15 or DM 20.- DISTRIBUTABILITY TimeGuardian is shareware, look at its documentation for further information. NEW FEATURES Some of the new features of version 1.2 : ----------------------------------------- - a comfortable scheduler which makes it very easy to create and modify CronTable files - GUI completely redesigned - builtin statistics functions - expanded CronTable syntax - selectable task priority of TGCron - single log file with configurable history - external module for Reminder/Alerts - TGCron is still 26kB small - execution of CronTables about 10 times faster - TGCron is a full featured Commodity now - the evaluation time for each day was expanded to 3h Have fun... @endnode @node FTP11 "PostNewsSpool" @toc FTP TITLE PostNewsSpool VERSION 1.1 AUTHOR James Burton c/o Department of Computer Science & Computer Engineering Latrobe University Bundoora, Victoria, 3083 Australia EMail: burton@cs.latrobe.edu.au Web: http://www.cs.latrobe.edu.au/~burton/ Also a few other people helped out, please read the documentation file. DESCRIPTION INetUtils is a package available from AmiNet by Michael B. Smith which includes the ability to post network news. Unfortunately you need to be online in order to post news. PostNewsSpool is a spooling system that will allow you to post news whilst offline and then send the news to your NNTP server when you are next online. NEW FEATURES * a few problems fixed * will automatically detect if you are online and send immediately if you are * setup scripts for GRn and Tin newsreaders * purge program to keep the size of your news directory down * script to print stats on news * slightly better documentation SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS * a dialup network connection either AmiTCP or AS225 * not tested with AS225 since I don't have that * NNTP server * enough hard disc room to keep news locally HOST NAME Uploaded to AmiNet ftp.wustl.edu is the main site, but please use the mirror closest to you. It is also available from my University account via http://www.cs.latrobe.edu.au/~burton/Public/PostNewsSpool.lha DIRECTORY /pub/aminet/comm/news FILE NAMES PostNewsSpool-1.1.lha 42203 Bytes PostNewsSpool-1.1.readme 2021 Bytes PRICE approximately free or thereabouts DISTRIBUTABILITY Public domain except where otherwise stated @endnode @node FTP12 "CDBoot 1.02" @toc FTP TITLE CDBoot VERSION 1.02 - (07.01.95) COMPANY Stefan Ossowski's Schatztruhe GmbH Veronikastr. 33 D-45131 Essen Germany Tel. +49(0)201-788778, Fax. +49(0)201-798447 AUTHOR Thomas Kessler (kessler@fim.uni-erlangen.de) DESCRIPTION CDBoot is a tool for booting almost any available CD32 game on any A1200 or A4000. CDBoot works with any AT/SCSI/PCMCIA CD-ROM drive and any available CD-ROM filesystem. It is possible to create config files for each CD, where a specific joypad emulation and language selection can be saved. The emulation supports up to four joypads, as planned by Commodore. Game high scores are saved to floppy or hard disk (if high score saving is supported by the game), with the nonvolatile RAM emulation. Usage and installation (Commodore installer) is very easy. There is no need to press any keys or buttons during startup to boot a CD. Harddisk usage is supported as well as floppy usage. CDBoot can also be removed again with the supplied installation script. The games are playable with joystick and/or keyboard as well as with an original CD32-joypad. Special emulations for some games, which would need a joypad for serious playing (e.g. SuperStardust by Team 17tm) are included and are described on the installation disk. CDXL anims will play on any CD file system. Playing ECS games (released on CD) with an upgraded OS3.x ECS- Amiga like A3000(T) is also possible, but not guaranteed. Pure audio tracks are not supported for all controllers/ filesystems due to incompatibilities with the original CD access of the CD32. REQUIREMENTS Required: - OS3.0 or higher - A1200/A4000(T) PAL/NTSC - CD-ROM drive (any) - CD filesystem (any) Recommended: - CD-games :-) PAL/NTSC PRICE The price is DM 69,- (German Marks) DISTRIBUTABILITY CDBoot 1.x is copyrighted 1994-95 by Thomas Kessler and distributed by Stefan Ossowski's Schatztruhe GmbH, Essen, Germany (see address and phone number above). @endnode @node FTP13 "Solar System Wars 1.37" @toc FTP TITLE Solar System Wars VERSION 1.37 AUTHOR James Cleverdon DESCRIPTION Solar System Wars is a game similar to Space Wars, pitting two players against each other, in orbit around 0 to 4 stars. Choose from 53 different solar systems, or turn on the random system selector for a new challenge every round. A variety of weapons are available. Two or three button joysticks are strongly recommended, but not required. Both NTSC and PAL are supported. Binary only. NEW FEATURES * Now support for three-button joysticks! * Everyone now gets Full Shields all the time, controlled by the third button, or the left/right Alt key. * New extra weapons! Get ready for the Anomalizer, Disruptor, Guided Torp, and the Cluster Pod! Sadly, Flip Ship has gone to that bit bucket in the sky. * Four star solar systems! * New Beginner mode, which keeps the Random System mode from picking high-gravity solar systems. * Each player now gets twelve active torpedos instead of nine. * Improved Seeker code. They no longer are useless in high gravity systems. * SSW's sound effects now come in an IFF file! Add your own sounds! Amaze your friends! Confound your enemies! * Fixed the sprite glitching problem on slower machines. * SSW no longer adds an input event handler to eat mouse events. No more compatibility problems with Commodities or other handlers. * Added a New Game requester that shows up after someone wins. SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS Works with AmigaOS 1.3 or higher. HOST NAME Available on any Aminet mirror, such as ftp.wustl.edu (128.252.135.4). Also will be available from Fred Fish. DIRECTORY Aminet: /pub/aminet/game/2play FILE NAMES SSW_1.37.lha (168K) PRICE Free. DISTRIBUTABILITY Copyright but Freely Redistributable @endnode @node FTP14 "ForceIcon 1.8" @toc FTP TITLE ForceIcon VERSION 1.8 COMPANY None working for AUTHOR Kai Iske Brucknerstrasse 18 63452 Hanau Germany Tel.: +49-(0)6181-850181 email: iske@informatik.uni-frankfurt.de DESCRIPTION ForceIcon is an utility mainly for users of CD-ROM drives or users of networking software capable of sharing devices and icons. Since one can not snapshot the position of a volume's icon (on read-only media), nor replace it by a user-defined one, I wrote this utility. ForceIcon allows you to set the position of a disk's icon and/or replace it by a different image/icon which doesn't have to be a disk.info file. All types of ".info" files may be selected. Special features include inheritance of device specific settings, specifying the root drawer`s size/position and display flags/modes. ForceIcon may even change the look and position of AppIcons. NEW FEATURES - Fixed severe bug in conjunction with ToolManager - Add NewIcons icons - Fixed problems with determining whether an old version of ForceIcon (non AppIcons supporting) is running SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS Only OS 2.x and up MUI (MagicUserInterface) version 7 (MUI 2.0) LOCATION Any AmiNet site, for example: ftp://ftp.wustl.edu/pub/aminet/util/wb/ForceIcon18.lha (117169 Bytes) PRICE GiftWare, i.e. anything you like ;) DISTRIBUTABILITY GiftWare @endnode @node FTP15 "MUIProCalc 1.5" @toc FTP TITLE MUIProCalc (MCalc) MUI'Programmer'Calc VERSION 1.5 AUTHOR Kai Iske Brucknerstrasse 18 63452 Hanau Germany Tel.: +49-(0)6181-850181 email: iske@informatik.uni-frankfurt.de DESCRIPTION MUIProCalc is a MUI-based calculator much like Jimmy Yang's Calc 3.0. It still lacks the plotter, but it offers a quite flexible history facility for inserting previously entered expressions. If offers different output formats and plenty of functions the user may choose from. Furthermore the look of the calculator may be customized. MUIProCalc comes with a fancy GUI you may configure to your needs. Function gadgets may be flipped through using pages so that they don't eat up too much of space. MUIProCalc supports an input/output history you may configure so that you may re-insert previously entered expressions/results. History entries may be copied to a user definable clipboard unit. It features various display/output bases such as decimal, hexadecimal, octal, and binary and of course calculation sizes ranging from 8-bit to 32-bit width. Angles may be displayed as radians, degrees, or grads. MUIProCalc offers an ARexx port you may use to calc expressions externally. These commands are able to return TeX compatible output such as "1\cdot 10^{-5}". It comes with two example scripts for use with CED Pro. NEW FEATURES - Added support for GRADS - Added great support for physical constants. 31 listed - Added full featured linear regression support - Added standard deviation support - Added (n k) n-over-k function, 1/x, and the y-th root of x function. - Increased number of internal memories from 3 to 18 (I-Z) - ...and some minor enhancements/bug fixes SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS Only OS 2.x and MUI v7 (MUI 2.x and up) (MagicUserInterface by Stefan Stuntz) LOCATION Any AmiNet site, for example: ftp://ftp.wustl.edu/pub/aminet/util/misc/MCalc15.lha (99989 Bytes) PRICE GiftWare, i.e. anything you like ;) DISTRIBUTABILITY GiftWare @endnode @node FTP16 "EGSShow 1.2" @toc FTP TITLE EGSShow 1.2 - GIF, JPEG and IFF viewer for the EGS window system AUTHOR Dietmar Heidrich s_heidri@ira.uka.de This software uses JPEG code from The Independant JPEG Group Version 5 and the GIF decoder written by Steven A. Bennett. IFF ILBM support by Dietmar Heidrich. DESCRIPTION EGSShow is a viewing program for GIF, JPEG and IFF files on the EGS window system. This program is able to read the JPEG format as well as the GIF formats GIF87a, GIF89a and all future GIF files compatible with both of the above as well as valid IFF ILBM files, including EHB, HAM6, HAM8 and IFF24. The format of the file is detected automatically. EGSShow needs a lot of memory for bigger pictures ( > 640 x 480) and EGS version 6 or higher. Selecting a lower colour depth than 24 bit for the EGS default screen will save you lots of memory. SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS Enhanced Graphics System Version 6 or higher. EGS, the Enhanced Graphics System, is a high-performance 24 bit true colour window system for the Commodore Amiga computers. It's the first system that brings 24 bit drawing capabilities to the Amiga. A demo EGS version for the native Amiga chipset is available on AmiNet. EGS is available for almost all Amiga graphics boards, among them EGS Spectrum, Piccolo, Piccolo SD64 and EGS 110. NEW FEATURES The main difference of version 1.2 to version 1.11 is speed. GIF was sped up by 20%. IFF was sped up by 30%. JPEG was sped up by 45%. There is a new submenu for the JPEG mode which lets you select various output size scalings. Grayscale JPEGs now work. HOST NAME AmiNet servers, e.g. ftp.wustl.edu (USA) ftp.uni-paderborn.de (GERMANY) And orion.etsu.edu (USA) FILE NAMES AmiNet: /pub/aminet/gfx/show/egsshow.lha Orion: /pub/egs/viewers/egsshow.lha PRICE Free. DISTRIBUTABILITY Public domain. @endnode @node FTP17 "ReKeyIt v2.1" @toc FTP TITLE ReKeyIt VERSION 2.1 AUTHOR Michael J. Barsoom Internet: mbars@bluejay.creighton.edu Fidonet: Michael Barsoom @ 1:285/5.9 DESCRIPTION Who was it that decided what the Workbench menu shortcuts would be? Have you ever wished you could change them to your preferences? This is where ReKeyIt comes in. ReKeyIt will allow you to fully customize the Workbench menus. You can give any menuitem or subitem any keyboard shortcut you want. You can even add shortcuts to menuitems which appear in the Tools menu. There is even a preference style editor, so you can easily edit the menus. The prefs editor is available in both a BGUI and MUI interface so you can choose the one you like best. NEW FEATURES - Complete re-write from previous version - Changes to menus now survive screen mode changes and ResetWB - ReKeyIt is now a commodity - If you add an item, to the Tools menu it ReKeyIt will automatically add the appropriate shortcut. ReKeyIt no longer has to be started after the AppMenu item is added. - Default menu will automatically be restored when you quit ReKeyIt, you no longer have to select ResetWB SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS Workbench v2.x+ ReqTools library v38+ () Nico Francois) Not Included Depending on which version of MenuPrefs you choose to use, you will need one of the following: BGUI library v1.1+ () Jan van den Baard) Not Included or MUI v2.x+ () Stefan Stuntz) Not Included HOST NAME Any aminet site such as ftp.wustl.edu (128.252.135.4). DIRECTORY /pub/aminet/util/wb/ FILE NAMES ReKeyIt2_1.lha DISTRIBUTABILITY Giftware. @endnode @node FTP29 "PopPhone 1.70" @toc FTP TITLE PopPhone VERSION 1.70 AUTHOR Jon Rocatis - jr@scala.ping.dk DESCRIPTION PopPhone is a freely-distributable phone/address book commodity. It hasn't got a zillion features, but is instead small and effective. (Executable is approx. 20K) FEATURES - 100% font sensitive - Supports the Clipboard - Localized (English and Danish at the moment) Catalog files included for making additional languages - Keyboard and/or mouse operated - Your Amiga can dial the phone numbers for you if you have a modem - OnLine context sensitive AmigaGuide help - Style guide compliant SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS MUI 2.3 installed AmigaOS 2.0 or better AmigaOS 2.1 or better is required for the localization HOST NAME Available on Aminet DIRECTORY /pub/aminet/biz/dbase/ FILE NAMES PPHONE17.lha (approx. 20K) PRICE Kind words to the author :-) DISTRIBUTABILITY Freeware @endnode @node FTP18 "Aminet Set" @toc FTP TITLE Aminet Set - The complete Aminet on four new CDs AUTHOR Urban D. Mueller (umueller@wuarchive.wustl.edu) CONTENTS The Aminet Set contains close to 4 gigabytes (more than 2 gigs compressed) of freely distributable software on 4 newly mastered CDs. There are 12500 archives from the following categories: 4600 Utilities 2600 Modules 1000 Games 1000 Communications programs 900 Graphics programs 800 Images ... and more. If you already have... You get an additional... Aminet CD 4 1425 Megs Aminet CD 3,4 1088 Megs Aminet CD 2,3,4 743 Megs Aminet CD 1,2,3,4 701 Megs USER INTERFACE Amigaguide based user interface, allows easy unpacking and viewing using a single mouse click. Extensive search facilities. Finds words in descriptions or readmes, and outputs matches as an index that allows direct viewing. Special support for the following categories of files: - Modules. Can be viewed and played from an index that is sorted by music style and subsorted by rating. - Images. Can be previewed in a database of thumbnail versions, and a double click on the thumbnail shows the full size image. - Games. Can be started using a single click from an index that lists all games that can be run on accelerated Amigas, with the best games on top. Degrading software started as needed. - Demos. As the games, they can be started using a single click. Demos with a quit function are listed separately. - Charts. A list of the most popular programs is on the CD, sorted by category. - Fish disks. You can find any of the programs on Aminet using the number of the Fish disk it can also be found on. All 1000 Fish disks are part of the Aminet CD. - German files. All new files and those with German documentation have a German description. CHANGES - 270M of new files out since Aminet CD 4 was made. Snapshot date of the set: Dec 18th - Special access features, see above. One of the main goals of the set is to provide the new interface for the old files as well. - Accelerated searches and full text searches (find any text in any readme within five seconds). COMPATIBILITY - All Amigas including CDTV/A570. Not compatible with CD32 plus Communicator. Compatible with CD32 plus SX1. Not bootable. - All Amiga OS versions for the access software. OS 2.0 or even 3.0 required for some of the direct viewing features. - Readable by all operating systems, including MSDOS, OS/2 and UNIX. AVAILABILITY Shipping PRICES The CD can be ordered from the following addresses: (credit cards OK) Germany: Stefan Ossowski (English spoken) Tel: +49-201-788778 Fax: +49-201-798447 Email: stefano@tchest.e.eunet.de Price: DM 59 USA: Fred Fish Tel: +1-602-917-0917 Fax: +1-602-917-0917 Email: fnf@amigalib.com Price: $39.95 Prices exclude shipping. Subscriptions are available. More information, including distributors in other countries, is found in the text file docs/misc/CD-Orders.txt on Aminet. A complete index of Aminet Set 1 is found in disk/cdrom/Aminet-Set-1.lha Aminet CD 4 is still available. @endnode @node FTP19 "T3DLIB R43" @toc FTP TITLE T3DLIB - See below for description VERSION R43 COMPANY none AUTHOR Glenn M. Lewis e-mail: glewis@pcocd2.intel.com or: glewis@netcom.com HOST NAME Aminet. Sent to ftp.luth.se DIRECTORY pub/aminet/gfx/3d FILE NAMES T3DLIB_EXE_R43.lha (Documentation and Amiga executables) T3DLIB_EXE_R43.readme T3DLIB_Src_R43.lha (Source code) T3DLIB_Src_R43.readme PRICE The shareware fee is 25 U.S. dollars. DISTRIBUTABILITY T3DLIB is shareware that is Copyright (C) 1988-1995 by Glenn M. Lewis. All Rights Reserved. DESCRIPTION Hi, all! ---------------------------------------------------------------------- First off, WHAT IS T3DLIB??? T3DLIB is a 3D object manipulation "kit" and converter and programmer's library and ASCII format, and all sorts of other things too. :-) It runs on a slew of different machines. (Basically, anything with a Real C compiler: djgpp, Watcom, gcc; UNIX, Amiga, PC, etc.) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- I just released version R43 of T3DLIB, and placed it in ftp.luth.se:/pub/aminet/new. It should show up in /pub/aminet/gfx/3d soon... The files are T3DLIB_EXE_R43.lha (Documentation and Amiga executables) and T3DLIB_Src_R43.lha (Source) (with their .readme files, of course). The main change is that Rob Hounsell added Imagine 3.0 support to it. Thanks, Rob! See the CHANGES file for more info. This will most likely be my *last* release of T3DLIB, unless it has a major problem. Many thanks to the few people who have sent in the registration fee over the years. I very much appreciate it! Believe it or not, T3DLIB has been around since 1988, when it started as TTDDD. It, I believe, has served its purpose well, and it is time that I lay it to rest. :-) Feel free to e-mail questions or comments to me at either "glewis@netcom.com" or "glewis@pcocd2.intel.com". Take care all, and thanks again. -- Glenn M. Lewis @endnode @node FTP20 "KingFisher 2.7" @toc FTP NAME KingFisher VERSION 2.7 SYNOPSIS An update to the PREMIER "Fish Disk" & CD-ROM software catalog maintenance and search tool available to all Amigas with KS2.04 or later. See PURPOSE section below for more details. NEW FEATURES ----- KingFisher 2.7 ------------------------------------------ Clipboard - Now write Search Sets, too Version Links - Scan to build Prev/Next version links Adding Fish - fixed bug where 'No' == 'Cancel' Server interaction - No longer restarts when server quits System Requesters - Now show up on same (custom) screen Miscellaneous - Some options available through menu ----- KFServer 2.7 -------------------------------------------- kfcSETPOS - Index referencing bug fixed ----- RexxFisher 1.9 ------------------------------------------ RF_TRUNCATE - Permits truncation of database PURPOSE KingFisher is a tool specifically designed to maintain and search one or more databases for software. The program permits manual browsing, but offers a powerful expression parser through which you can explain to KingFisher exactly what you are looking for. The layout of database records for display is programmable, as is the format used for printing and that for writing records to a file. KingFisher uses a resizable GadTools window on the default public screen or on a custom screen, offers the choice of both smart and simple refresh windows, and supports proportional fonts (including scalable fonts) of nearly any size. KingFisher supports more than one database, and databases that are larger than a single disk volume, which are spread over any number of disks to be mounted on request. Using advanced Client-Server Technology, KingFisher supports multiple simultaneous users with a minimum of memory overhead (as little as 25K) for each user. An ARexx-based interface, named RexxFisher, provides a BBS with the means to serve many databases to many users! KingFisher is localized. Catalogs are supplied for Dansk, Deutsch, Espanol, Nederlands, Suomi, and Svenska. More are expected as translators are found (hint, hint!) Context sensitive and fully integrated AmigaGuide provides help on gadgets, menu items, reference sections, etc. in over 150K of widely cross-linked text. KingFisher comes with a complete, read-to-use database of descriptions for Fred's "Fish Disks" 1-1000! REQUIREMENTS With Fish Disk Database (1.5MB), approximately 2.2MB of harddisk space is needed. The program requires about 300K of memory to run, depending on the size of the database index files and some other factors. Kickstart V37 (2.04) is required; V38+ (2.1) is required for localization. COMPATIBILITY Tested with 68000 through 68040 CPUs, V37, V38, V39, and V40 system software, Picasso II graphics board. Enforcer and Mungwall used during testing. PRICE Shareware registration fee is $20(US) or DM30. A registration site in Germany is available for European users. RESTRICTIONS The freely distributable, unregistered (EVALUATION) version is limited to a maximum of two simultaneous users. Register for the full version and give your support for future development! AUTHOR & AUTHOR'S ADDRESS (inquiries, registration, technical support) Udo Schuermann 6000 42nd Avenue, Apt. 405 Hyattsville, MD 20781-1518 USA email: walrus@wam.umd.edu LOCATION A patch file for the REGISTERED version of KingFisher 2.1, 2.3, 2.4, 2.5, and 2.6 (but not 2.2) is available on Aminet in 'biz/dbase' by the name 'KF-REGS-pch-27.lha' The EVALUATION version is available on Aminet in 'biz/dbase', as 'KingFisher27.lha' Aminet's main ftp site is wuarchive.wustl.edu [128.252.135.4] Please use Aminet's mirror sites whenever possible! @endnode @node FTP21 "Citadel 68K BBS" @toc FTP TITLE: Citadel 68K BBS VERSION: 3.42.P35 COMPANY: Freely supported by: Custom Services, P. O. Box 254, Moorestown, NJ 08055 AUTHOR: Tony Preston DESCRIPTION: Citadel is a full featured FREEWARE BBS program. It is the lowest cost way to start running a BBS. Citadel is a room oriented BBS program that has many unique features, some that even the commercial programs do not have! Citadel is available for most platforms, this version is Amiga-specific. Source is available from the Support BBS, The Amiga Zone, (609) 953-8159. NEW FEATURES: This version is an update for some new features and bug fixes. Two major improvements in this version are: -- Messages are customizable by the Sysop. About 70% of the BBS messages can be tailored. -- Message pausing is implemented. -- Bug fixes and other minor improvements. As always, the file UPDATE.342 is included in the archives to detail the changes. SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS: A Citadel BBS requires 8K of stack, and 300K of memory to run. It can be configured for as small a system as a 512K A500 with 2 floppies, but a hard drive and 2 MBs of memory are recommened. The BBS runs on all models and all versions of the OS from 1.3 on up. LOCATION: ftp.netnet.net, wuarchive.wustl.edu, and other Aminet sites. ftp.funet.fi DIRECTORY: Aminet sites: /pub/aminet/comm/bbs ftp.funet.fi: /pub/amiga/datacomm/bbs/citadel FILE NAMES: C342P35.LHA - Full archive, 68000 CPU C030P35.LHA - 68020/030 executables only PRICE and DISTRIBUTABLITY: $00.00, This software is freeware. No charge may be made for it's distribution other than a nominal fee for the cost of the media. Citadel 68K and Amiga Citadel are trademarks of this version for the Amiga. Citadel is copyrighted and all rights are reserved. This program may be distributed on the Fred Fish collections and on the Aminet CD distributions. Donations are accepted, but not required. @endnode @node FTP22 "HTML-Heaven v1.01" @toc FTP TITLE HTML-Heaven VERSION 1.01 AUTHOR Paul Kolenbrander Email : paul@serena.iaehv.nl Post : Postbus 5295 NL-5603 BD EINDHOVEN The NETHERLANDS DESCRIPTION HTML-Heaven is a suite of three programs intended to make the creation and maintenance of WWW (HTML) pages easy. The programs in the suite interface with your favorite editor (providing it supports text insertion via ARexx) to provide you with a very comfortable environment. Now inserting HTML commands is as simple as point and click. This is the upgrade from version 1.0 with a host of new features. NEW FEATURES version 1.01 has all the features of version 1.0. Plus: * New Tooltypes/CLI parameters: - HTML (UPPERLOWER) specify if outputted HTML commands are to be in upper or lower case. - MENU (COMBINESPLIT) specify if the menu should be with submenu's for the different HTML categories. (Like version 1.0) or that each HTML category gets their own menu. * New editors supported. Turbotext and Textra. * Now also supports HTML fill-in forms. * A number of other HTML commands like
, ALT=, HEIGHT=, WIDTH=, and so on have been added. SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS HTML-Heaven requires: * A Text-Editor allowing insertion of text via ARexx. Examples of such editors are SC, Ed, GoldEd, CygnusEd, FRexxEd to name a few. * Workbench 2.04 or above. * Around 1MB of free memory. * About 200KB of floppy or harddisk space. HOST NAME The HTML-Heaven anon FTP site: - ftp://ftp.iaehv.nl/pub/users/paul/amiga/HTML-Heaven-101.LHA 125KB The HTML-Heaven WWW page: - http://www.iaehv.nl/users/paul/index.html Other FTP sites: - Most Aminet sites. eg. ftp.luth.se, ftp.cdrom.com. eg. ftp://ftp.luth.se/pub/aminet/text/hyper/HTML-Heaven.lha DIRECTORY /pub/aminet/text/hyper/HTML-Heaven.lha FILE NAMES HTML-Heaven.lha HTML-Heaven.readme PRICE The registration fee for the HTML-Heaven package still is only: - Nederland Dfl 15,- - Europe DM 15,- / Dfl 15,- - Rest of the World US$ 15.- / Dfl 20.- DISTRIBUTABILITY The unregistered version is freely distributable. The registered version and it's keyfile are *NOT* freely distributable. The suite of programs is copyright 1994 by Paul Kolenbrander. OTHER To encourage users to register, the freely distributable versions does not support ToolTypes/parameters and will not supply on-line help. Furthermore a 'reminder' requester will appear on exiting any of the three programs. @endnode @node FTP23 "GFXBoot 1.0" @toc FTP TITLE GFXBoot VERSION 1.0 AUTHOR Paul Kolenbrander Email : paul@serena.iaehv.nl Post : Postbus 5295 NL-5603 BD EINDHOVEN The NETHERLANDS DESCRIPTION GFXBoot is a small script allowing users of EGS graphics cards to switch between the EGS and CyberGrafix system with just one command. FEATURES * Very easy installation. * Easily expandable to create complete custom configs for both EGS and CyberGrafix. * It's free. :-) SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS GFXBoot requires: * Workbench 3.0 or higher. * An EGS compatible graphics card. Eg. Piccolo, SD64, Spectrum. * The EGS software. (latest upgrade available at orion.etsu.edu) * The CyberGrafix software. (Demo available at AmiNet sites) * The ReBoot program from the AmigaDOS 3.x Install Disk (C: dir) HOST NAME The GFXBoot anon FTP site: - ftp://ftp.iaehv.nl/pub/users/paul/amiga/GFXBoot.LHA 2KB The GFXBoot WWW page: - http://www.iaehv.nl/users/paul/index.html Also available on most AmiNet sites like ftp.luth.se, ftp.cdrom.com. - Eg. ftp://ftp.luth.se/pub/aminet/gfx/board/GFXBoot.LHA 2KB PRICE It's free... Just my effort to help the EGS and CyberGrafix community get together and come up with a Kick-*ss graphics standard for the Amiga. DISTRIBUTABILITY GFXBoot is freely distributable. But still is copyright 1995 by Paul Kolenbrander. @endnode @node FTP24 "FrexxEd 1.4" @toc FTP TITLE FrexxEd VERSION 1.4 COMPANY FrexxWare AUTHORS Daniel Stenberg and Kjell Ericson email to Daniel: Daniel.Stenberg@sth.frontec.se FidoNet to: 2:201/328 DESCRIPTION FrexxEd is probably the most configurable/programmable text editor made for the Amiga. It uses the one-window concept, where a multiple of views are displayed in the same window. The main mission with FrexxEd has been to create an editor which is capable of doing whatever *YOU* want it to. To enable *very* much reprogramming/configuration for those who feel the need. A few of FrexxEd's features include: o 100% recursive undo, changeable undobuffer size and on/off toggle o unlimited number of buffers/blocks/macros in memory o unlimited line lengths and buffer sizes o 100% programmable, everything can be done by a script instead of interactive o *very* C-like programming language (FPL) o clipboard support, export to/import from any unit o uses V39-style memory pools o V39 aware, uses V39 functions when available o easy macro record/edit/view/play/save/load o customizeable look of any ASCII character (to i.e enable the inverse CED-look or the \xxx Emacs-look or...) o programmable keyassigns, make any key do anything o programmable mouseactions, make any mouse action perform whatever you want it to o programmable menustrip, make it contain whatever you please! o supports XPK and PowerPacker compression/decompression and encryption/decryption. o startup-script that loads any file into a running editor o ARexx port, capable of reading and writing ARexx variables! o A *LOT* of additional scripts that perform a multitude of different things. From mousedragging-style blockmarking, archive-flag removal when saving, center line, binary editor, snake game, incremental search, interactive C indenting and word wrap to generic assembler filters, bookmarks, backup, autosave and programs that easy interfaces RCS... o binary loading/editing/saving o font sensitive GUI o ability to replace/change the workings of any internal function through an advanced hooking procedure NEW FEATURES (since 1.0) o Lots of bugs removed. o Lots of new functions added. o Iconify()/Deiconify() uses appicon o Write protected files can't be modified with the 'rwed_sensitive' flag set. o A *LOT* of New and updated FPL programs o Doubleclick on appicon generates an exception which does a WindowToFront() by default. o Full regular expression search/replace, Emacs/UNIX style. o Smaller and faster executable o fpl.library v10 with lots of new features (100% ANSI C style when dealing with the &&, || and ?: operators, built-in sprintf() and more). o Time controlled function invokes! Once or repeated. o and much, much more... SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS AmigaOS v2.04+ or later Anything below 1MB ram wouldn't be useful Hard disk is preferred (less than 1 MB is used) HOST NAME ftp: Aminet, ftp.doc.ic.ac.uk http://www.lysator.liu.se/~matax/Main.html DIRECTORY /pub/aminet/util/edit FILE NAME FrexxEdV14.lha PRICE 200 SEK, 40US$ or 65DM DISTRIBUTABILITY Shareware Copyright (C) 1992-1995 by FrexxWare OTHER Uses a keyfile system, unregistered versions feature a small amount of cripples. @endnode @node FTP25 "ImageDesk 1.2" @toc FTP TITLE ImageDesk VERSION 1.2 AUTHOR Reinhard Haslbeck (haslbeck@informatik.tu-muenchen.de) (haslbeck@leo.org) DESCRIPTION ImageDesk is a program to catalog directories of picture files. It generates small representations of the pictures (so-called "thumbnails") and internally expands them to objects which include all essential attributes. It can save multiple thumbnails into a single catalog file for quick availability. With XPK installed, it can save files in packed format. The following picture formats are currently supported and are be recognized automatically: * IFF ILBM (std. palette upto 256 cols, EHB, HAM, HAM8, DEEP) * GIF (87a, 89a) * JPEG (by the use of Christoph Feck's 'Tower JPEG codec') * PCX (1 bit upto 32 bit) * BMP (4,8 & 24 bit, OS/2 and Windows formats, unpacked only) * PCD (upto BASE size) * PNM (P4, P5 und P6) * TARGA (all formats) ImageDesk 1.2 includes two image viewers (window and screen) for displaying pictures corresponding to each thumbnail. CyberGraphics and Picasso special screens are supported. ImageDesk can also use external picture viewers. SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS Amiga-OS 3.0 or better 8-bit Intuition Screen HOST NAME Any Aminet site, for example: ftp.wustl.edu (128.252.135.4) or ftp.uni-paderborn.de (131.234.2.42) DIRECTORY /pub/aminet/gfx/misc FILE NAMES ImageDesk12.lha ImageDesk12.readme PRICE The shareware fee is $20 (US) or 30,-DM. DISTRIBUTABILITY Unregistered version is freely distributable Copyright (c) 1994-1995 Reinhard Haslbeck @endnode @node FTP26 "easyrexx.library 1.78" @toc FTP TITLE easyrexx.library VERSION 1.78 AUTHOR Ketil Hunn E-Mail: Ketil.Hunn@hiMolde.no DESCRIPTION A small and very fast shared runtime library that allows you to add an AREXX port to your application with no fuss at all. o Makes the parsing of AREXX messages as easy as parsing DOS prompt arguments! Uses standard DOS templates for arguments. o Easy-to-use tag-based functions. o Also features a function to send AREXX messages to any named port. o Autodoc describing all functions in the library o Amigaguide documentation describing programming techniques using the library NEW FEATURES o Better support for calling functions in the commandTable. o Two test programs; one for ID handling, one for function handling. SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS OS 2.04 or higher. HOST NAMES wuarchive.wustl.edu (128.252.135.4) (USA) DIRECTORY /pub/aminet/dev/misc FILE NAME easyrexx.lha LHA-Archive PRICE Free, as long as you follow the two guidlines below: The license is the same for all software, regardless of what type of software the library is used in, be it commercial, freeware, shareware or whatever as long as you: 1) Note in the program and documentation that easyrexx.library is (C) 1994 Ketil Hunn. 2) You give me a copy of the software it is used in which includes different versions of the software that use the library (docs and registration card included). There should be no cost to me. DISTRIBUTABILITY The files may be distributed as needed. That means that for products that use the easyrexx.library, only that file needs to be distributed. For development purposes, the library and its documentation should be all distributed together. @endnode @node FTP27 "MultiTool II V2.1" @toc FTP TITLE MultiTool II VERSION V2.1 AUTHOR Boris Jakubaschk (Boris@alice.tynet.sub.org) DESCRIPTION MTool provides all standard features of a directory utility: You can use it to copy, move and delete files, analyze a file type and perform an action on it (i.e. show pictures or ani- mations, play mods, edit texts...). MTool handles LHA-archives like ordinary directories. You can doubleclick the name of a LHA-archive and its contents will be displayed in the filelist. Files can be deleted or copied to and from the archive. The layout of MTool resembles the good old DiskMaster (V1.4). MTool has been developed using the look and feel of OS2.04 and WB2.1. It works with WB2.0 (not localized, no screen mode requester), some features are added with OS3.0; KS1.3 is not supported any more. It can be run on an own screen, a public screen or on the Workbench (resizable, position and size can be configured). Docs and/or catalogs are included in English, German, Swedish, French, Norwegian, Danish, Italian, Finnish, Dutch and Slovakian. NEW FEATURES V2.1: - Optional action buttons at bottom of window - Directory caching - AppIcon - Number of selected bytes is displayed immediately - Copy/Move as - File notes are displayed in file lists ...and many more. DISTRIBUTABILITY MTool is shareware. It is freely distributable, as long as you distribute all files! Feel free to include it in public domain collections (i.e. fishdisks). REQUIREMENTS Workbench 2.04 or higher To use the archive support of MTool, you need any version of the LHA archiver (not included) To view pictures or animations, to play mods etc you need programs that can be included in the configuration of MTool. (i.e. VT, Player...) To install MTool with its installation script, you need the commodore installer (not included) RELEASE DATE February 6th, 1995. AVAILABILITY Any AmiNet site, for example: ftp://ftp.wustl.edu/pub/aminet/util/dir/mtool21.lha (362340) PRICE Shareware fee of $15 US / DM25 (MTool is slightly crippled in the unregistered version: One requester at startup and some less important features are disabled) @endnode @node FTP28 "Image Processing Revelations v1.0" @toc FTP TITLE Image Processing Revelations (IPR) VERSION v1.0 COMPANY Barnie Productions P.O.Box 172 2270 AD Voorburg The Netherlands PHONE/FAX: (int)-31-70 3854173 EMAIL: barnie@xs4all.nl DESCRIPTION IPR is a NEW, FAST and INTUITIVE image processing package with features not seen in any other image processor! Fast operation and the easy, intuitive control of the image processing are IPR's major advantages. - Supported file formats: BMP, GIF, IFF, JPEG, TIFF, PCX, TARGA, Datatypes (*), Multipic (*) (*) Special Amiga-libraries, allowing further loading of PBM, VLAB, YUVN, PGM, PPM, QRT, SunRaster, XIPaint, and others. - Internal screengrabber. - Support for all Amiga chipsets (screen modes PAL, NTSC, DblPAL, DblNTSC, VGA, MULTISCAN and others). - Easy-to-master, intuitive, consistent interface. - Color manipulations on one of (or a combination of) the red, green or blue components of the picture. - Color manipulations on specified color registers. - Real-time color manipulation. - Brightness, BroadCast, ColorFilter, Contrast, GammaCorrect, GrayScale, Intensity Range, Negative, Palette, Posterize, Arc, Fisheye, Flip, Mirror, Rotate, Shear, Sinewave, Pixelize, Spotlight, De-interlace, LineArt, Relief, Sharpen, Smooth, ColorReduction, Make 24-bit, Palette optimization, RenderHAM, CropRectangle, Scale, and more! - Each function has a built-in demo-mode, showing the user the possibilities of that function. - Extended, easy to access, fully supported AREXX-interface, clearly documented with lots and lots of examples. - Integrated viewer. IPR comes with an extensive manual covering a lot of examples. SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS IPR is compatible with all Amiga computers equipped with KickStart 2.0 (v37) or higher and a minimum of 2 megabytes of memory. AVAILABILITY To order, send an international money order to the above address. PRICE IPR's introduction price (including shipping) is until US$ 150 until June 1, 1995. After this date, IPR will cost US$ 200. For the Netherlands, introduction price is until 240 Dutch guilders until June 1. After this date, IPR will cost 300 Dutch Guilders (including shipping). DISTRIBUTABILITY Copyright (C) 1995 by Barnie Productions RELEASE DATE March 31st, 1995. OTHER A demo will be uploaded on Aminet. An announcement will be posted in this newsgroup when this has happened! @endnode @node MAILLIST "Amiga Report Mailing List" @toc WHERE =========================================================================== == Amiga Report Mailing List == =========================================================================== If you have an internet mailing address, you can receive Amiga Report in @{"UUENCODED" link UUENCODE} form each week as soon as the issue is released. To be put on the list, send Email to jcompton@bbs.xnet.com and in the body of the message ask nicely to be added to the list. ie: Please add me to the mailing list for Amiga Report magazine. My addresss is . Your account must be able to handle mail of any size to ensure an intact copy. For example, many systems have a 100K limit on incoming messages. ** IMPORTANT NOTICE: PLEASE be certain your host can accept mail over ** ** 100K! We have had a lot of bouncebacks recently from systems with a ** ** 100K size limit for incoming mail. If we get a bounceback with your ** ** address in it, it will be removed from the list. Thanks! ** *** The following is only for Australian readers! *** To circumvent the new pay-per-megabyte system for Australian Internet communication, Paul Reece has been kind enough to set up an AUSTRALIAN-ONLY mailing list, to save his fellow countrymen some money. You can join the list by sending mail to: majordomo@info.tas.gov.au with the single line (in body of message): subscribe ar Amiga Report will then be bounced to you. @endnode @node UUENCODE @toc MAILLIST =========================================================================== == UUDecoding Amiga Report == =========================================================================== If you receive Amiga Report from the direct mailing list, it will arrive in UUEncoded format. This format allows programs and archive files to be sent through mail by converting the binary into combinations of ASCII characters. In the message, it will basically look like a lot of trash surrounded by begin and end, followed by the size of the file. To UUDecode Amiga Report, you first need to get a UUDecoding program, such as UUxT by Asher Feldman. This program is available on Aminet in pub/aminet/arc/ Then you must download the message that it is contained in. Don't worry about message headers, the UUDecoding program will ignore them. There is a GUI interface for UUxT, which should be explained in the docs. However, the quickest method for UUDecoding the magazine is to type uuxt x ar.uu at the command prompt. You will then have to decompress the archive with lha, and you will then have Amiga Report in all of its AmigaGuide glory. If you have any questions, you can write to @{"Jason Compton" link JASON} @endnode @node AMINET "Aminet" @toc WHERE Aminet ~~~~~~ To get Amiga Report from Aminet, simply FTP to any Aminet site, CD to docs/mags. All the back issues are located there as well. Sites: ftp.cdrom.com, ftp.wustl.edu, ftp.tas.gov.au, ftp.doc.ic.ac.uk @endnode @node WWW "World Wide Web" @toc WHERE World Wide Web ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ AR can also be read with Mosaic (in either AmigaGuide or html form). Reading AmigaReport with Mosaic removes the necessity to download it. It can also be read using programs found in UNIX sites such as LYNX. Simply tell Mosaic to open the following URL: http://www.cs.cmu.edu:8001/Web/People/mjw/Computer/Amiga/News/AR/index.html Or, for those in Europe, the Polish site is: http://sun1000.ci.pwr.wroc.pl/AMIGA/AR/ Mosaic for the Amiga can be found on Aminet in directory comm/net, or (using anonymous ftp) on max.physics.sunysb.edu Mosaic for X, Macintosh(tm) and Microsoft Windows(tm) can be found on ftp.ncsa.uiuc.edu @endnode @node COPYRIGHT "Copyright Information" @toc ABOUT =========================================================================== == _ _ __ ___ _ == == /\\ |\\ /| || // \ /\\ == == / \\ | \\ /|| ||(< __ / \\ == == /--- \\| \/ || || \\_||/--- \\ == == /______________________________\\ == == / \\ == == Amiga Report International Online Magazine == == February 12, 1995 Issue No. 3.04 == == Copyright 1995 FS Publications == == All Rights Reserved == =========================================================================== Views, Opinions and Articles presented herein are not necessarily those of the editors and staff of Amiga Report International Online Magazine or of FS Publications. Permission to reprint articles is hereby granted, unless otherwise noted. Reprints must, _without exception_, include the name of the publication, date, issue number and the author's name. Amiga Report and/or portions therein may not be edited in any way without prior written permission. However, translation into a language other than English is acceptible, provided the editor is notified beforehand and the original meaning is not altered. Amiga Report may be distributed on privately owned not-for-profit bulletin board systems (fees to cover cost of operation are acceptable), and major online services such as (but not limited to) Delphi and Portal. Distribution on public domain disks is acceptable provided proceeds are only to cover the cost of the disk (e.g. no more than $5 US). Distribution on for-profit magazine cover disks requires written permission from the editor. Amiga Report is a not-for-profit publication. Amiga Report, at the time of publication, is believed reasonably accurate. Amiga Report, its staff and contributors are not and cannot be held responsible for the use or misuse of information contained herein or the results obtained there from. Amiga Report is not affiliated with Commodore-Amiga, Inc., Commodore Business Machines, Ltd., or any other Amiga publication in any way. All items quoted in whole or in part are done so under the Fair Use Provision of the Copyright Laws of the United States Penal Code. Any Electronic Mail sent to the editors may be reprinted, in whole or in part, without any previous permission of the author, unless said electronic mail is specifically requested not to be reprinted. =========================================================================== @endnode @node GUIDELINE "Amiga Report Writing Guidelines" @toc ABOUT =========================================================================== == Amiga Report Writing Guidelines == =========================================================================== The three most important requirements for submissions to Amiga Report are: 1. Please use English. 2. Please use paragraphs. It's hard on the eyes to have solid screens of text. If you don't know where to make a paragraph break, guess. 3. Please put a blank line in between paragraphs. It makes formatting the magazine much much easier. Note: If you want to check ahead of time to make sure we'll print your article, please write to the @{"Editor" link JASON}. @endnode @node EDITORCHOICE "Editor's Choice" @toc COMMERCIAL =========================================================================== == Editor's Choice == =========================================================================== These are selected products, reviewed by myself, that I've liked. So, I've landed them and decided to sell them at All prices are in $US. | | Issue | Approximate | Amiga Report | | Product | Reviewed | Retail Price | Reader Price | ---------------------------------|----------|--------------|--------------| | | | | | |Swifty 3-button mouse | 2.28 | $39.95 | $22.75 | | | | | | |GPFax Amiga Fax Software | 2.30 | $100.00 | $60.00 | | (Class 1 and 2) | | | | | | | | | |Micro R+D CD-ROM Volume 1 | 2.25 | $69.00 | $30.00 | | (Includes early Transition | | | | | graphics converter and loads| | | | | of artwork) | | | | | | | | | |Micro R+D CD-ROM Volume 2 | 2.26 | $99.95 | $46.75 | | (Includes entire Nature's | | | | | Backdrop series) | | | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Orders may be placed via check, money order, or postal cheque, made out to Micro R+D. Visa/Mastercard accepted via post or E-Mail. No CODs. Mail all orders to @{" Jason Compton " link JASON}. Orders will be processed by Amiga Report and drop-shipped from Micro R+D. In the US, add $5/$10/$20 for UPS shipping, ground/blue/red label, respectively. Overseas: It is recommended that you consider $20 to be the minimum cost for shipping. If you plan to order more than one item, E-mail for shipping cost. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sidewinder's Future Shock II CD is now available through Amiga Report. Featuring 15 Amiga-generated tunes totalling 71 minutes, Eric Gieseke's work is captured on an Amiga-independent media. Available for US$12.00. Please add $5 for shipping. Make check or money order payable to @{" Jason Compton " link JASON}. Orders will be drop-shipped from Sidewinder Productions. For overseas orders, please contact through E-Mail before ordering. @endnode @node DELPHI "Delphi" @toc ONLINE =========================================================================== == Delphi Internet Services -- Your Connection to the World! == =========================================================================== Amiga Report International Online Magazine and the Amiga Report Coverdisk are available in the Amiga SIG on DELPHI. Amiga Report readers are invited to join DELPHI and become a part of the friendly community of Amiga enthusiasts there. SIGNING UP WITH DELPHI ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Using a personal computer and modem, members worldwide access DELPHI services via a local phone call JOIN -- DELPHI -------------- Via modem, dial up DELPHI at 1-800-695-4002 then... When connected, press RETURN once or twice and.. At Username: type JOINDELPHI and press RETURN, At Password: type AMIGAUSER and press RETURN. For more information, call DELPHI Member Services at 1-800-695-4005 SPECIAL FEATURES ---------------- * Complete Internet connection -- Telnet, FTP, IRC, Gopher, E-Mail and more! (Internet option is $3/month extra) * SIGs for all types of computers -- Amiga, IBM, Macintosh, Atari, etc. * An active Amiga SIG hosting conferances, Usenet, Latest wares, and FTP Gopher coming soon * Large file databases! * SIGs for hobbies, video games, graphics, and more! * Business and world news, stock reports, etc. * Grolier's Electronic Encyclopedia! DELPHI - It's getting better all the time! @endnode @node PORTAL "Portal" @toc ONLINE =========================================================================== == Portal: A Great Place For Amiga Users == =========================================================================== The Portal Information Network's Amiga Zone The AFFORDABLE alternative for online Amiga information ------------------------------------------------------- Portal is the home of acclaimed Amiga Zone, a full-service online SIG (Special Interest Group) for Amiga owners and users. We promise, and WE DELIVER ongoing & aggressive Amiga support! You can dial into Portal to access the Amiga Zone in many ways: direct dial to our San Jose, CA high-speed modems (you pay for the phone call if it's not local), or though any SprintNet or Compu$erve indial anywhere (with a small hourly fee) or via the World-wide Internet "telnet" program to portal.com (no hourly fee). Even Delphi and BIX users can Telnet into Portal for a flat $19.95 a month, with *unlimited* use. Portal is NOT just another shell service! Its Online system is fully menu-driven with on-screen commands and help, and you can easily customize it for your favorite terminal program and screen size. Some of Portal/Amiga Zone's amazing features include: * 2.5 GIGabytes of Amiga-specific file space - we have so much Amiga Stuff online, we've lost count! * The *entire* Fred Fish collection of freely distributable software, online. ALL 1000 disks! * Fast, Batch Zmodem file transfer protocol. Download up to 100 files at once, of any size, with one command. * Amiga vendor areas with participants like AmigaWorld, Elastic Reality (ASDG), Soft-Logik, Apex Publishing, and others. * 40 "regular" Amiga libraries with over 10,000 files. Hot new stuff arrives daily. * No upload/download "ratios" EVER. Download as much as you want, as often as you want, and never feel pressured doing it. * Live, interactive nightly chats with Amiga folks whose names you will recognize. Special conferences. Random chance prize contests. We have given away thousands of bucks worth of Amiga prizes - more than any other online service. * Message bases where you can ask questions about *anything* Amiga related and get quick replies from the experts. * Amiga Internet mailing lists for Imagine, AMosaic, LightWave, EGS, OpalVision & others feed right into the Zone message bases. Read months worth of postings. No need to clutter your mailbox with them. * FREE unlimited Internet Email with 5 meg of free storage. * A FREE UNIX Shell account with another 5 meg of free storage. You can run Amiga Mosaic through your shell and explore the vast World Wide Web! * Portal has the Usenet. Thousands of "newsgroups" in which you can read and post articles about virtually any subject you can possibly imagine. * Other Portal SIGs (Special Interest Groups) online for Mac, IBM, Sun, UNIX, Science Fiction, Disney, and dozens more. ALL Portal SIGs are accessible to ALL Portal customers with NO surcharges ever. You never worry "Ooops... Am I paying for this area?" again! * The entire UPI/Clarinet/Newsbytes news hierarchy ($4/month extra) An entire general interest newspaper and computer news magazine. * Portal was THE FIRST online service to offer a full package of Internet features: IRC, FTP, TELNET, MUDS, LIBS. And you get FREE unlimited usage of all of them. * Our exclusive PortalX by Steve Tibbett, the graphical "front end" for Portal which will let you automatically click'n'download your waiting email, messages, Usenet groups and binary files! Reply to mail and messages offline using your favorite editor and your replies are sent automatically the next time you log into Portal. (PortalX requires Workbench 2.04 or higher) * Portal does NOT stick it to high speed modem users. Whether you log in at 1200 or 2400 or 9600 or 14.4K you pay the same low price. To join Portal or for more information call: 1-800-433-6444 (voice) 9a.m.-5p.m. Mon-Fri, Pacific Time 1-408-973-9111 (voice) 9a.m.-5p.m. Mon-Fri, Pacific Time 1-408-725-0561 (modem 3/12/2400) 24 hours every day 1-408-725-0560 (modem 96/14400) 24 hours every day or enter "C PORTAL" from any Sprintnet dial-in, or "portal" at any CI$ network dialin, or telnet to "portal.com" from anywhere, and then enter "online" and then "info" Call and join today. Tell the friendly Portal Customer Service representative, "The Amiga Zone and Amiga Report sent me!" [Editor's Note: Be sure to tell them that you are an Amiga user, so they can notify the AmigaZone sysops to send their Welcome Letter and other information!] The Portal Information Network accepts MasterCard, Visa, or you can pre-pay any amount by personal check or money order. The Portal Online System is a trademark of The Portal Information Network. SLIP, UUCP and custom domain accounts are also available. @endnode @node GENIE "GEnie" @toc ONLINE =========================================================================== == GEnie: Internet access, online games, more == =========================================================================== * What is GEnie? GEnie is a commercial on-line service that offers many services at a reasonable monthly rate. Some of the general services are: - Over 150,000 software files to download - Uploads to GEnie are free of any connect charges, so upload those Public Domain programs to add to the Starship Amiga Roundtable's vast selection of programs for free! - Real-time chat - Dozens of special-interest discussion areas - Challenging multi-player games with graphics (yes, there are Amiga front-ends) - Worldwide news, weather and sports - Electronic mail to and from the Internet - FTP Service which provides users with interactive access to any of the millions of files available for public access on the Internet - Usenet Newsgroups Service which allow users to participate in the global discussion areas collectively known as USENET - Outbound Telnet Service which enables users to connect to other host computers through the Internet - GEnie Mall with nearly 40 different vendors - Starship Amiga Roundtable which contains gigabytes of Amiga-only files - Commodore Roundtable for VIC-20, C-64, C-128 and other Commodore computers - Other Amiga software companies have their own Roundtables for customer support such as Soft-Logik where all the latest program patches and support files are available for their products - AmiAladdin Support Roundtable for getting the latest updates to the GEnie Aladdin software which is used to make maneuvering the GEnie menu system much easier and faster. This is a specific area for the Amiga version of this software which is free of charge - Hundreds of other areas and services available * How do I sigh up for GEnie? You may sign up for GEnie service by one of two methods: (1) Using your modem (8N1 half duplex 300/1200/2400 baud) dial 1-800-638-8369. Upon connection immediately enter HHH (Return), don't wait for any on-screen prompt. At the U#= prompt type SIGNUP (Return). You may use a major credit card account or your checking account (US only.) (2) Call GEnie client services via voice at 1-800-638-9636 or 1-301-251-6475 from outside the US and Canada. @endnode @node BBS_AUSTRALIA "Distribution BBSes - Australia" @toc BBS =========================================================================== == Distribution BBSes - Australia == =========================================================================== -=NEW ZEALAND=- * BITSTREAM BBS * FidoNET 3:771/850.0 AmigaNET 41:644/850.0 +64-(0)3-548-5321, SupraFaxModem 28k8 VFast Class -=SYDNEY=- * CONTINENTAL DRIFT BBS * USENET, Internet E-mail, Fidonet, Aminet (+61) 2 949 4256 @endnode @node BBS_EUROPE "Distribution BBSes - Europe" @toc BBS =========================================================================== == Distribution BBSes - Europe == =========================================================================== -=FINLAND=- * AMIGA-NIGHT-SYSTEM * InterNet: luumu@fenix.fipnet.fi FidoNet: 2:220/550.0 +358-0-675840 V.32bis * LAHO BBS * +358-64-414 1516, V.32bis/HST +358-64-414 0400, V.32bis/HST +358-64-414 6800, V.32/HST +358-64-423 1300, V.32bis * MOONLIGHT SONATA DLG * Fidonet: 2:221/112.0 +358-18-161763 - ZyXEL V32b 19200 -=FRANCE=- * RAMSES THE AMIGA FLYING * Internet: user.name@ramses.fdn.org Fidonet: 2/320/104-105-106 +33-1-45845623 V.34 +33-1-53791200 V.32bis -=GERMANY=- * DOOM OF DARKNESS * Email: marc_doerre@doom.ping.de +49 (0)4223 8355 19200 V.42bis/Zyx AR-Infoservice, contact Kai Szymanski kai@doom.ping.de * LEGUANS BYTE CHANNEL * Usenet: andreas@lbcmbx.in-berlin.de 49-30-8110060 49-30-8122442 USR DS 16.8 Login as User: "amiga", Passwd: "report" * REDEYE BBS * Internet: sysop@redeye.muc.de +49-89-5460535 (V.32b, Zyxel EG + / USR V.34) * STINGRAY DATABASE * EMail: sysop@sting-db.zer.sub.org.dbp.de +49 208 496807 HST-Dual * VISION THING BBS * Infect East German HQ, Keks ASCII Design World HQ ++49(0)345 663914 19200 System Password: Amiga -=GREECE=- * ODYSSEY BBS * email: guybrush@hol.gr 2:410/128.17@fidonet +++ 301-412-3502 (ZyXEL 16.8K) after 23:00 local time -=IRELAND=- * CUGI BBS * Fidonet: 2:263/155 +353 1 837 0204 V32bis * HIGHWAY TO HELL BBS * Fidonet 2:263/154 Internet: iblack@dit.ie Online from 22:00 - 08:00 GMT +353-1-847 5217 -=ITALY=- * AMIGA PROFESSIONAL BBS * Amy Professional Club, Italian Amos Club +(39)-49-604488 * SPEED OF LIFE * FidoNet 2:332/505 AmigaNet 39:102/501 ZyX 19.2k/V32/V32bis/V42bis +39-59-226454 -=NETHERLANDS=- * AMIGA ONLINE BS HEEMSTEDE * Fidonet: 2:280/464.0, 2:280/412.0 Internet: michiel@aobh.xs4all.nl +31-23-282002 +31-23-470739 14400 Supra * THE HELL BBS * Fido-Net : 2:281/418.0 e-mail : root@hell.xs4all.nl +31-(0)70-3468783 (v32bis Supra) * X-TREME BBS * Internet: u055231@vm.uci.kun.nl +31-167064414 (24h) -=NORWAY=- * FALLING BBS * EMail: christon@powertech.no +47 69 256117 28.8k -=PORTUGAL=- * CIUA BBS * FidoNet 2:361/9 Internet: denise.ci.ua.pt +351-34-382080/382081 (V32bis soon V34) -=SPAIN=- * GURU MEDITATION * Running Remote Access +34-1-383-1317 V.32bis -=SWEDEN=- * CICERON * E-mail: peman@solace.mh.se +46 612 22011 -=SWITZERLAND=- * LINKSYSTEM LINK-CH1 * contact: rleemann@link-ch1.aworld.de +41 61 3215643 V32bis/Zyx16800 +41 61 3832007 ISDN X75/V110 Local newsgroup link-ch1.ml.amiga-report -=UNITED KINGDOM=- * AMIGA JUNCTION 9 * Internet: sysadmin@junct9.demon.co.uk FidoNet: 2:440/20 +44 (0)372 271000 14400 V.32bis/HST * CREATIONS BBS * E-Mail: mat@darkside.demon.co.uk 2:254/524@Fidonet 39:139/5@Amiganet +44-0181-665-9887 Hayes Optima 288 2400 - V.FC * METNET TRIANGLE SYSTEM * FidoNet: 2:252/129.0 44-482-442251 2400 Voice: 44-482-491752 (anytime) @endnode @node BBS_NAMERICA "Distribution BBSes - North America" @toc BBS =========================================================================== == Distribution BBSes - North America == =========================================================================== -=ARIZONA=- * MESSENGER OF THE GODS BBS * mercury@primenet.com 602-326-1095 -=BRITISH COLUMBIA=- * COMM-LINK BBS * InterNet: steve_hooper@comm.tfbbs.wimsey.com Fido: 1:153/210.0 AmigaNet 40:800/9100.0 604-945-6192 USR DS 16.8 -=CALIFORNIA=- * MYSTIC CAVERNS * E-mail: roy@ctsnet.cts.com WWW: http://ramiga.cts.com (619)442-7030 14.4 (619)442-7060 28.8 * TIERRA-MIGA BBS * FidoNet: 1:202/638.0 AmigaNet: 40:406/3.0 Internet: torment.cts.com 619.292.0754 V32.bis * VIRTUAL PALACE BBS * Sysop Email: tibor@ecst.csuchico.edu 916-343-7420 -=ILLINOIS=- * EMERALD KEEP BBS * FidoNet: 1:2250/2 AmigaNet: 40:206/1 618-394-0065 USR 16.8k DS * PHANTOM'S LAIR * FidoNet: 1:115/469.0 Phantom Net Coordinator: 11:1115/0.0-11:1115/1.0 708-469-9510 708-469-9520 * THE STYGIAN ABYSS BBS * FIDONet-1:115/384.0 312-384-0616 USR Courier HST 312-384-6250 Supra V.32 bis (FREQ line) -=LOUISIANA=- * The Catacomb * E-mail: Geoff148@delphi.com 504-882-6576 Supra v.fc 28.8k -=MAINE=- * THE KOBAYASHI ALTERNATIVE BBS * Usenet and FidoNet Echo Areas FidoNet: 1:326/404.0 (207)/784-2130 (207)/946-5665 -=MEXICO=- * AMIGA BBS * FidoNet 4:975/7 (5) 887-3080 9600 V32,MNP * AMIGA SERVER BBS * Now with 17 CDs available Number: 5158736 -=MISSISSIPPI=- * THE GATEWAY BBS * InterNet: stace@tecnet1.jcte.jcs.mil FidoNet: 1:3604/60.0 601-374-2697 Hayes Optina 28.8 V.FC -=MONTREAL=- * GfxBase BBS* E-mail: ai257@freenet.hsc.colorado.edu Fidonet: 1:167/192 514-769-0565 14.4 -=NEBRASKA=- * OMAHA AMIGANET * FidoNet: 1:285/11 AmigaNet: 40:200/10 402-333-5110 V.32bis -=NEW JERSEY=- * T.B.P. VIDEO SLATE * Full Skypix menus + normal and ansi menu sets. 201-586-3623 USR 14.4 HST -=NEW YORK=- * THE BELFRY(!) * stiggy@dorsai.dorsai.org 718.793.4796 718.793.4905 -=ONTARIO=- * COMMAND LINE BBS * Canada's Amiga Graphics & Animation Source 416-533-8321 V.32 * REALM OF TWILIGHT BBS * Usenet: realm.tdkcs.waterloo.on.ca FIDO: 1:221/302 Fish: 33:33/8 519-748-9365 (2400 baud) 519-748-9026 (v.32bis) -=TENNESSEE=- * AMIGA CENTRAL! * Internet mail: root@amicent.raider.net 615-383-9679 1200-14.4Kbps V.32bis * NOVA BBS * AmigaNet 40:210/10.0 40:210/1.0 40:210/0.0 FidoNet 1:362/508.0 615-472-9748 USR DS 16.8 -=WASHINGTON=- * FREELAND MAINFRAME * Internet - freemf.eskimo.com 206-438-1670 Supra 2400zi 206-456-6013 Supra v.32bis * PIONEERS BBS * FidoNet: 1:343/54.0 206-775-7983 Supra 14.4k v32.bis Login: Long Distance Password: longdistance @endnode @node BBS_SAMERICA "Distribution BBSes - South America" @toc BBS =========================================================================== == Distribution BBSes - South America == =========================================================================== -=BRAZIL=- * AMIGA DO PC BBS * Fidonet: 4:801/44 Internet: fimoraes@dcc.unicamp.br Weekdays: 19-07 (-3 GMT) Weekends: 24 hours +55-192-33-2260 @endnode @node DEAL_ASIA "Dealers - Asia" @toc DEALER =========================================================================== == Dealers - Asia == =========================================================================== -=JAPAN=- Grey Matter Ltd. 1-22-3,Minami Magome HillTop House 2F suite 201 Ota-ku,Tokyo 143 Tel:+81 (0)3 5709-5549 Fax:+81 (0)3 5709-1907 BBS: +81 (0)3 5709-1907 Email: nighty@gmatter.japan-online.or.jp @endnode @node DEAL_EUROPE "Dealers - Europe" @toc DEALER =========================================================================== == Dealers - Europe == =========================================================================== -=BELGIUM=- CLICK! N.V. Boomsesteenweg 468 B-2610 Wilrijk - Antwerpen VOICE: +32 (0)3 828.18.15 FAX: +32 (0)3 828.67.36 INTERNET: vanhoutv@nbre.nfe.be FIDO: 2:292/603.9 -=FINLAND=- DataService Oy P.O. Box 50 Kuurinniityntie 30 02771 ESPOO Voice: +358 (9) 400 438 301 Fax: +358 (9) 0505 0037 -=GERMANY=- Hirsch & Wolf OHG Mittelstra_e 33 D-56564 Neuwied Voice: +49 (2631) 8399-0 Fax: +49 (2631) 8399-31 -=SPAIN=- Amiga Center Argullós, 127 08016 Barcelona Tel: (93) 276 38 06 Fax: (93) 276 30 80 Amiga Center Alicante Segura, 27 03004 Alicante Tel: (96) 514 37 34 Centro Informático Boadilla Convento, 6 28660 Boadilla del Monte (Madrid) Tel: (91) 632 27 65 Fax: (91) 632 10 99 Centro Mail Tel: (91) 380 28 92 C.R.E. San Francisco, 85 48003 Bilbao (Vizcaya) Tel: (94) 444 98 84 Fax: (94) 444 98 84 Donosti Frame Avda. de Madrid, 15 20011 San Sebastián (Guipuzcoa) Tel: (943) 42 07 45 Fax: (943) 42 45 88 GaliFrame Galerías Príncipe, 22 Vigo (Pontevedra) Tel: (986) 22 89 94 Fax: (986) 22 89 94 Invision San Isidro, 12-18 28850 Torrejón de Ardoz (Madrid) Tel: (91) 676 20 56/59 Fax: (91) 656 10 04 Invision Salamanca, 53 46005 Valencia Tel: (96) 395 02 43/44 Fax: (96) 395 02 44 Norsoft Bedoya, 4-6 32003 Orense Tel: (988) 24 90 46 Fax: (988) 23 42 07 PiXeLSOFT Felipe II, 3bis 34004 Palencia Tel: (979) 71 27 00 Fax: (979) 71 28 28 Tu Amiga Plaza Pedro IV, 3 08120 La LLagosta (Barcelona) Tel: (93) 560 76 12 Fax: (93) 560 76 12 vb soft Provenza, 436 08025 Barcelona Tel: (93) 456 15 45 Fax: (93) 456 15 45 -=NORWAY=- DataKompaniet ANS Pb 3187 Munkvoll N-7002 Trondheim VOICE/FAX: 72 555 149 Internet: torrunes@idt.unit.no -=UNITED KINGDOM=- Almathera Systems Ltd Southerton House / Boundary Business Court 92-94 Church Road Mitcham, Surrey / CR4 3TD VOICE: (UK) 081 687 0040 FAX: (UK) 081 687 0490 Sales: almathera@cix.compulink.co.uk Tech: jralph@cix.compulink.co.uk Brian Fowler Computers Ltd 11 North St / Exeter Devon / EX4 3QS Voice: (0392) 499 755 Fax: (0392) 423 480 Internet: brian_fowler@cix.compulink.co.uk CYNOSTIC Office O1, Little Heath Industrial Estate / Old Church Road Coventry / CV6 7NB Tel: +44 (0)203 681687 Fax: +44 (0)203 638508 David Cassidy email: bsupa@csv.warwick.ac.uk VISAGE COMPUTERS 18 Station Road / Ilkeston Derbyshire / DE7 8TD Tel/Fax: +44 (0)602 444501 Internet: floyd@demon.co.uk @endnode @node DEAL_NAMERICA "Dealers - North America" @toc DEALER =========================================================================== == Dealers - North America == =========================================================================== -=CANADA=- Atlantis Kobetek Inc. 1496 Lower Water St. Halifax, NS / B3J 1R9 Phone: (902)-422-6556 Fax: (902)-423-9339 E-mail: aperusse@ra.isisnet.com Computerology Direct Powell River, BC V8A-4Z3 Call 24 hrs. orders/inquiries: 604/483-3679 Amiga users ask for HEAD SALES REP for quicker response! Comspec Communications Inc 74 Wingold Ave Toronto, Ontario, Canada M6B 1P5 Computer Centre: (416) 785-8348 Sales: (416) 785-3553 Fax: 416-785-3668 Internet: bryanf@comcorp.comspec.com, bryanf@accesspt.north.net GfxBase Electronique, Inc 1727 Shevchenko Montreal, Quebec Voice: 514-367-2575 Fax: 514-367-5265 BBS: 514-769-0565 MusicMart: Media Sound & Vision 71 Wellington Road London, Ontario VOICE: 519-434-4162 FAX: 519-663-8074 BBS: 519-645-2144 FIDO: 1:2401/200 InterNet: koops@gaul.csd.uwo.ca Wonder Computers Inc. 1315 Richmond Rd. Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K2B 8J7 Voice: 613-596-2542 Fax: 613-596-9349 BBS: 613-829-0909 -=UNITED STATES=- A&D Computer 211 South St. Milford, NH 03055-3743 Voice/Fax: 603-672-4700 BBS: 603-673-2788 Internet: amiga@mv.mv.com AmegaByte! 5001 Garrett Ave. Beltsville, MD 20705 VOICE: (800) 834-7153 VOICE: (301) 937-1640 FAX: (301) 937-1658 INTERNET: amega@globe.net Amigability Computers P.O. Box 572 Plantsville, CT 06479 VOICE: 203-276-8175 Internet: amiga@phantm.UUCP BIX: jbasile Amiga-Crossing 176 Gray Road, Unit 5 Cumberland, ME 04021 VOICE: (800) 498-3959 (Maine only) VOICE: (207) 829-3959 FAX: (207) 829-3522 Internet: ewhite42@portland.caps.maine.edu Amiga Video Solutions 1568 Randolph Avenue St. Paul, MN 55105 Voice: 612-698-1175 Fax: 612-224-3823 BBS: 612-698-1918 Net: wohno001@maroon.tc.umn.edu Apogee Technologies 1851 University Parkway Sarasota, FL 34243 VOICE: 813-355-6121 Portal: Apogee Internet: Apogee@cup.portal.com Armadillo Brothers 753 East 3300 South Salt Lake City, Utah VOICE: 801-484-2791 Internet: B.GRAY@genie.geis.com Computer Link 6573 middlebelt Garden City MI 48135 Voice: 313-522-6005 Fax: 313-522-3119 clink@m-net.arbornet.org Computers International, Inc. 5415 Hixson Pike Chattanooga, TN 37343 VOICE: 615-843-0630 DC Productions 218 Stockbridge Avenue Kalamazoo, MI 49001 (616)373-1985 (800)9DC-PROD Chet Wisniewski - Owner Digital Arts 122 West 6th Street Bloomington, IN 47404 VOICE: (812)330-0124 FAX: (812)330-0126 BIX: msears Finetastic Computers 721 Washington Street Norwood, MA 02062 VOICE: 617-762-4166 BBS: 617-769-3172 Fido: 1:101/322 Internet: FinetasticComputers@cup.portal.com HT Electronics 275 North Mathilda Avenue Sunnyvale, CA 94086 VOICE: 408-737-0900 FAX: 408-245-3109 Portal: HT Electronics Internet: HT Electronics@cup.portal.com Industrial Video, Inc. 1601 North Ridge Rd. Lorain, OH 44055 VOICE: 800-362-6150, 216-233-4000 Contact: John Gray Internet: af741@cleveland.freenet.edu Magic Page 3043 Luther Street Winston-Salem, NC 27127 Voice/Fax: 910-785-3695 E-mail: Spiff@cup.portal.com Contact: Patrick Smith MicroSearch 9000 US 59 South, Suite 330 Houston, Texas VOICE: 713-988-2818 FAX: 713-995-4994 Mr. Hardware Computers P.O. Box 148 / 59 Storey Ave. Central Islip, NY 11722 VOICE: 516-234-8110 FAX: 516-234-8110 A.M.U.G. BBS: 516-234-6046 OverByte Industries, Inc. 661 Blanding Blvd. Suite 391 Orange Park, FL 32073-5048 Voice: 904-858-3348 E-mail: overbyte@jax.gttw.com URL: http://www.jkcg.com/Webmaster/Overbyte/index.html PSI Animations 17924 SW Pilkington Road Lake Oswego, OR 97035 VOICE: 503-624-8185 Internet: PSIANIM@agora.rain.com Raymond Commodore Amiga 898 Raymond Avenue St. Paul, MN 55114-1521 VOICE: 612.642.9890 FAX: 612.642.9891 Software Plus Chicago 2945 W Peterson Suite 209 Chicago, Illinois VOICE: 312-878-7800 Zipperware 626 S. Washington Seattle, WA 98104 VOICE: 206-223-1107 FAX: 206-223-9395 E-Mail: Jon.Funfar@p0.f203.n138.z1.fidonet.org @endnode @node NEWS "News & Press Releases" @toc MENU =========================================================================== == News & Press Releases == =========================================================================== @{" DLG Professional BBS/OS " link NEWS1} Rights purchased from TelePro Technologies @{" Mascot Contest Winners " link NEWS2} Termite's mascot has a new name @{" LightROM " link NEWS3} Press release from its makers @endnode @node FEATURE "Featured Articles" @toc MENU =========================================================================== == Featured Articles == =========================================================================== @{" Keeping Your Amiga Cool " link FEATURE1} How to deal with overheating @{" The GIF Controversy " link FEATURE2} A revealing piece @{" A500 to the Tower of Power " link FEATURE3} Hackin' it up @{" Amiga Report 1995 Survey " link FEATURE4} Last chance to tell us... @{" Hardware Survey " link FEATURE5} Last chance to send in your vote @endnode @node REVIEW "Reviews" @toc MENU =========================================================================== == Reviews == =========================================================================== @{" QwikForms CD-ROM " link REVIEW1} Clip Art and Font CD @{" SplatterPaint " link REVIEW2} Free paint program @{" Photogenics " link REVIEW3} Almathera's image-processing package @endnode @node FTP "FTP and Product Announcements" @toc MENU =========================================================================== == FTP and Product Announcements == =========================================================================== @{" Aminet Charts - Feb 5 " link CHARTS1} Top downloads for February 5, 1995 @{" Cardcam: VideoIn " link FTP1} A PCMCIA video capturing card @{" RexxOpt 1.7 " link FTP2} An ARexx script optimizer @{" Elversound " link FTP3} Amiga PCMCIA audio card @{" pcmcom.device " link FTP4} PCMCIA driver for modems/serial ports @{" New IP policy " link FTP5} Notes from the c.s.a.announce Admins @{" AlbIn_MUI v1.0 " link FTP6} Record/Tape/CD-ROM/Video database @{" Target 2.1 " link FTP7} A Workbench game of hitting (surprise) Targets @{" GetURL 1.0 " link FTP8} Web page downloader @{" CompilAIBB " link FTP9} A collection of files created with AIBB @{" TimeGuardian 1.2 " link FTP10} Reminder, task scheduler, and much more @{" PostNewsSpool " link FTP11} Now you can write up your posts while offline @{" CDBoot " link FTP12} Boot almost any CD32 game on A1200 or A4000 @{" Solar System Wars 1.37 " link FTP13} Two player spaceship fighting game @{" ForceIcon 1.8 " link FTP14} Changes AppIcons, CD-ROM icons, etc. @{" MUIProCalc 1.5 " link FTP15} Calculator with a configurable GUI @{" EGSShow 1.2 " link FTP16} Graphic viewing program for EGS @{" ReKeyIt 2.1 " link FTP17} Change the Workbench menu shortcuts @{" Aminet Set " link FTP18} The complete Aminet on four new CDs @{" T3DLIB R43 " link FTP19} Version R43 of 3D object manipulation kit @{" KingFisher 2.7 " link FTP20} Software catalog maintenance and search tool @{" Citadel 68K BBS " link FTP21} Version 3.42.P35 of the BBS software @{" HTML-Heaven v1.01 " link FTP22} Suite of programs for WWW documents @{" GFXBoot 1.0 " link FTP23} Easy switching between EGS and CyberGfx @{" FrexxEd 1.4 " link FTP24} Powerful configurable text editor @{" ImageDesk 1.2 " link FTP25} Thumbnail generator for pictures @{" easyrexx.library 1.78 " link FTP26} Easy AREXX port addition to programs @{" MultiTool II V2.1 " link FTP27} A directory utility @{" IPR v1.0 " link FTP28} A new graphics-processing utility @{" PopPhone 1.70 " link FTP29} A compact phone book/address organizer @endnode @node ABOUT "About AMIGA REPORT" @toc MENU =========================================================================== == About AMIGA REPORT == =========================================================================== @{" AR Staff " link STAFF} The Editors and writers @{" Writing Guidelines " link GUIDELINE} What you need to do to write for us @{" Copyright Information " link COPYRIGHT} The legal stuff @endnode @node STAFF "The Staff" @toc ABOUT =========================================================================== == The Staff == =========================================================================== Editor: @{" Jason Compton " link JASON} Senior Editor: @{" Robert Niles " link ROBERT} Assistant Editor: @{" Katherine Nelson " link KATIE} European Editor: @{" Michael Wolf " link MICHAEL} Games Editor: @{" Sean Caszatt " link SEAN} Contributing Editor: @{" David Tiberio " link DAVID} Contributing Writers: --------------------- Calum Tsang Michael Console Battilana Tom-D-Tek Ivo Kroone @endnode @node WHERE "Where to Get AR" @toc MENU =========================================================================== == Where to Get AR == =========================================================================== @{" The AR Mailing List " link MAILLIST} @{" Aminet " link AMINET} @{" World Wide Web " link WWW} @{" Distribution Sites " link BBS} @{" Commercial Services " link ONLINE} @endnode @node BBS "Distribution Sites" @toc WHERE =========================================================================== == Where to find Amiga Report == =========================================================================== Arranged by Continent: @{" Australia " link BBS_AUSTRALIA} @{" Europe " link BBS_EUROPE} @{" North America " link BBS_NAMERICA} @{" South America " link BBS_SAMERICA} Sysops: To have your name added, please send @{"Email", link JASON} with the BBS name, its location (Country, province/state) your name, any internet/fidonet addresses, and the phone number of your BBS @endnode @node DEALER "Dealer Directory" @toc MENU =========================================================================== == Dealer Directory == =========================================================================== Arranged by Continent: @{" Asia " link DEAL_ASIA} @{" Europe " link DEAL_EUROPE} @{" North America " link DEAL_NAMERICA} Dealers: To have your name added, please send @{"Email", link JASON} with the name, address, phone, and net address (if available) of your establishment. @endnode @node COMMERCIAL "Commercial Products" @toc MENU =========================================================================== == Commercial Products == =========================================================================== @{" Editor's Choice " link EDITORCHOICE} Jason's picks @{" Commercial Online Services " link ONLINE} Sign-Up Information @endnode @node ONLINE "Commercial Online Services" @toc COMMERCIAL =========================================================================== == Commercial Online Services == =========================================================================== @{" Delphi " link DELPHI} Getting better all the time. @{" Portal " link PORTAL} A great place for Amiga users. @{" GEnie " link GENIE} Internet access, online games, more. @endnode