@database "ar402.guide"
@Node MAIN "Amiga Report Online Magazine #4.02 -- January 31, 1996"
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  January 31, 1996            @{" Turn the Page " link MENU}             Issue No. 4.02
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To: Kati@cup.portal.com Subject: Amiga Report Thank you for all the hard work you & J.Compton do on AR. As an Amiga 500 owner still stuck with 1.3. I look forward to every issue. I hve lived in places that had only a bbs to get it from & it was my only link to Amiga news. Thank you both :) Take care & have a great Day. :) John V. Pickett afn35081@afn.org Amiga 500 Powered ! The Truth is out there. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - From: "Kennedy, James" Jason (& Co), Thankyou for providing a current and accurate source of Amiga information, FREE! The Amiga has some real strengths with well received concepts like Aminet, Fred Fish and Amiga Report --these resources should be treasured and give the Amiga a real global feel, rather than fragmented around the planet. I need to know what has happened to Sunrise Audio (The AD516 audio cards etc) and what may happen. For the past 5 years my only reason for wanting to get into Amiga was to implement Sunrise Audio as a digital recording studio. Time and again I have investigated other platforms or standalone solutions. They are either more expensive or don't cut it like AD516. And now finally I can afford it... and they seem to have gone broke! Last week I purchased a Mac/Power Mac magazine to check their progress and looks like they have almost caught up in the features & cost, but still not quite so I still want to buy Sunrise Audio. I think the Amiga has been tremendously undervalued as a powerful music platform, and Microsoft buying Blue Ribbon out is a REAL worry. Since the new Amigas promise PCI buses (please include a couple Zorro III as well or develop Zorro IV to be a superset of PCI and Zorro III ESCOM!), Amiga developers should note the MAC products are mainly Nubus still --so is anyone planning an Amiga/Mac/PC PCI direct to disk recorder system while the starting line's even? ESCOM please note --music is an area that can be marketed because muso's aren't always so worried about compatible platforms, they just want a friendly solution that works, and there are so many industry standards for music (digitised formats, MIDI, etc) that platforms just don't matter much. In fact artistic people often love the idea they are using something different to the crowd. High Quality audio is also an important part of Video production, and this is supposed to be one of the Amigas' strengths --but what good is it if we have to resort to non-Amiga solutions for audio? Regards, Jim Kennedy >> To my knowledge, SunRize went out of business. There is a press >> release for a new dedicated 16-bit audio card for non-linear editing in >> this issue, however. -Jason - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - From: Roger Long Would you happen to know the answers to the following questions: 1) What happened to the law suit that was going to be brought against Gould and Ali for their mis-management of Commodore? 2) Reportedly, Gould and Ali had taken out insurance on themselves to help protect themselves from any liability resulting from CBM's closure. Was this true? >> #2 was very true, and pretty much precluded #1 from being carried out. 3) A smaller, but still relevant portion of the CBM properies is the Commodore 64 and 128 computers. Many people are still interested in them, still use them, and still want to add to them. (I use my C128 and my A3000 about equally, though for Internet access, the Amiga wins.) The 10 and 20 MHz accelerators are due out by the end of February. Has Amiga Technologies made a decision as to what to do with the rights for the 8-bit line? >> There was that plan to make them in China but that seems to have fallen >> through. They apparently licensed the ROMs, because Activision recently >> released a 64 emulator pack. 4) Our local Amiga club received one of the "4000 Reasons To Own an Amiga" T-Shirt, and I won it. So, I know 2 of the 4000 reasons: #573=Videography, and #1098=Animation. Is there a list of those 4000 Reasons? (If not, it's another example of failed CBM follow-through on marketing.) >> Never heard of that campaign, I'm afraid. -Jason @endnode @node OPINION1 "World Wide Amiga In A Box" @toc OPINION =========================================================================== World Wide Amiga In A Box Paul Kyle PKyleCA @aol.com =========================================================================== [Not since the buyout has a single issue captured the attention of so many Amiga users, this elusive "$500 Internet Box" thing. Now that Amiga Tech has announced its "$720 Internet Box", the Amiga Surfer A1200 pack, the complexion of the issue is a bit different...-Jason] For about two months now, I have been reading about this $500 "Internet in a box" idea. From what I have read, it has been stated that it is the wish of several large OEM's to get out from under the licensing and influence of Microsoft for a variety of published and unpublished reasons, too numerous to discuss here. I have read numerious articles in Upside Magazine, Electronic Design News, OEM, Inc/Technology, and a host of other industrial technical journals. Needless to say, there would be a tremendous perceived competitive advantage in such a market segment, if this were to occur. The vision of the future unfolds in several different directions: First- we have seen numerous utilities incorporated into operating systems, thus obviating the need for some of these smaller companies to publish such utilities. The companies that did not 'reinvent themselves' to deal with the newer eficiencies or inefficiencies of our pc operating systems have disappeared. This vision extends to the future where the operating system will include such things as an 'office-suite' package as the operating system (As our hard drives grind on endlessly exchanging information with gigabyte sized swap-files). Many companies fear that there will only be one or two companies left in such a vision of the future, leading them to alternate visions of the future. Second. With a $500 internet in a box, users are visioned to 'lease' software while connected to the site. If you want to use a spreadsheet, draw or CAD package once or twice a month but can't justify a $600 professional program the $500 box owner would rent its use for the time hooked up on the phone. The visionaries proposing this idea are targetting a group of users that can not afford a $1500-$2000 computer. I think they have failed to reason that the software has to be real darned intuitive if they expect people to rent things other than games or a simple word processor. Secondly, if someone can't afford a $1200 computer, are they willing to pay an extra $30 to $50 per month for internet usage? The main target audience will still be those already connected to the net, and most of us won't want to have to buy another box to connect to the net. This means that the server communicating with the $500 client will either have to communicate with both the PC and the server, or they will be left with an uncertain market for these $500 servers. Thirdly, privacy is a hotly contested issue. How would your data files be stored, accessed, protected when it comes to intellectual property such as authored text, illustrations, drawings and such- that can be patented or copyrighted? Having had an Amiga, with a lower installed user base, yet much more affordable software for many years, this vision of the future does not help me to understand how such software becomes so 'unaffordable', necessitating the idea of 'renting it out' over the phone line on a per-use basis. The Amiga is the better mousetrap, but the world is not yet beating a path to its door. More on this later. If the Amiga 1200 could interface to this language/system, there would be a clear reason to buy the Amiga version- it would no longer be a dumb box that had to be hooked into a phone line to get some use from it- (especially when word gets out that these $500 boxes have a $30-$100/month utility bill attached to it every month because of usage). The A1200 could be marketed as a stand alone, operational computer, game machine, and browser for surfing the net. This would be one way to increase market share and increase the installed user base. Somehow, I suspect this is more difficult than it sounds. In an alternate vision in a current technical journal/editorial, a large computer company (currently on the comeback trail) with the #2 operating system should purchase a popular spreadsheet company which is for sale, purchase a popular word processor currently up for sale and also buyout a struggling elite computer manufacturer, currently offering a power-ful platform. In this article that I read, the editor stated that with the given popularity and established presence and staying power of the individual pieces, it would be a refreshing, welcome alternative to the current popular operating system. In this version, there may be room for the Amiga to survive as an add-in high performance graphics and math board. I am certainly waiting for this day, as it is the only way many of us Amiga users can hope that such a system will enter the professional workplace and establish a larger installed user base that will attract more developers to publish software for it. Others visions have this as the $500 box where you can rent software, interactive rendering of your own opinion (America's funniest home-video voting in the privacy of your own home?), purchase hyster/overpriced/infomercial/trinkets, rent pay-per view movies with an unlimited selection from a tremendous library at your own schedule, etc.. This will be in direct competition with some very large telecommuincations companies, so it does not appear feasible. Now we start to see why this starts to take on such significance, and why maybe the Amiga has such a hard time gaining professional respect or credibility particularly from those with a market turf to protect. If a new computer technology takes a foothold, there is a tremendous competitive advantage, as we have seen other companies abuse that power in their arrogance and negligence of the customer. As an Amiga user, I have seen true productivity increases, on a platform that does more for me with each application that I purchase. I still use my Amiga whenever I can, simply for two reasons: My Amiga helps me be more creative than does my PC because of its flexibility, and I can multitask more effectively, so the job gets done quicker. The amount of "IDLE" time- waiting for task completion (or the hourglass to go away) so I can continue, is far less with my Amiga than on the PC where frequent trips to the coffee machine break up the monotony waiting for my PC to let me finish the job (Is Juan Valdez behind this conspiracy too?). In other words, If my PC is analogous to being my pickup truck then my Amiga is my sports car, and I wish there were more places I could drive it! I'm tired of driving in first gear in the slow lane! My pickup truck may have more prestigious under-the-hood specs, but when it comes to road handling and travelling with style, and getting to the final destination, my sports car handles better, gets better mileage and gets me there a lot faster than does my pickup truck. The people who do the benchmarking tests forget about that part of the test-drive. While they are still looking at compression ratios, the size of the spark plugs and the size of the gas tanks, they haven't gotten out of the starting gate! Its the performance, not the specs! Those of us who use Amiga's haven't lost sight of this fact. While the wimp (Windows, Icons, Menus, Pulldowns) interface can make it easier and more intuitive for the average user to get started, we have to remember that those of us who depend on computers to be more productive, the market has moved us into areas where we constantly have to learn new interfaces, new methods, new macros each time a software publisher decides to issue an upgrade, and this slows us down each time, while the machines slow down with such overdeveloped applications. Those of us who bought Amiga's did so because it had both features- the wimp interface (for those things we aren't quite up to speed on) and the Shell/CLI (for those of us power users who can adapt our platform to meet our specific POWER needs). Yes, Virginia, there is a POWER USER, and its not simply a matter of having a 200MHz, 64 meg RAM, 2.5 Gigabyte HD with a 6X CDROM connected to an ISDN phone line! It's those of us who want to get out of the office by 5PM each night, not having to re-print a WYSIWYG document for the 12th time, because it isn't exactly WYSIWYG, but more like WYSIWYAGBHTRSTTGITLLWYRWOP (What you see is what you almost get but have to reprint several times to get it to look like what you really wanted on paper) and you have to guess how the magical operating system is going to interpret your desires, only to find the tachyon field array random number generator is seeding the flux capacitor to outguess you in a stressful chess strategy so that it can drain more power, memory and system resources (so that you will believe its time to trade it in for a newer more powerful model). It's those of us who graduated from a wimp interface to a tailorable platform (that can be modified to meet our computing power needs) who recognize the value of a fast machine, fast software that operates quickly. This is not simply measured by some standardized performance test in MFLOPS/lightyear, but by how many trips to the water cooler, or coffee machine it takes while waiting for the machine to free up, or whether the TASK/JOB can get done before the 5:15 traffic jam adds another 20 minutes to the ride home, and spouse is mad because you're home late for dinner again. (My wife doesn't understand when I stagger in the door and mumble WYSIWYAGBHTRSTTGITLLWYRWOP'd again! Many times, I will postpone a task to bring it home for my Amiga, because I know the task will only take 3 to 5 minutes on my Amiga 4000, while the contorted logistics of my PC (or the lack of imaginative software) turns the same task into a 30 minute job, even with OLE, SHARE, ODBC, OB-GYN, DNA, AHA and Clipboard. Sometimes I think those design engineers put more efforts into the acronyms than coming up with a user-friendly program or operating system! While we all had hopes that Escom could 'reinvent and revive' the Amiga, the jury is still out. Colleagues tell me stories about Amigans visiting Escom retail outlets in Europe, seeing Amigas turned off and collecting dust, and being steered to PC's when asking for a platform that performs to the Amiga's specifications- concluding that the Escom folks had not educated their retail sales people about their new acquisition. I don't know how true these stories are, or whether its an isolated case, but if so, it sounds like we are not out of the woods yet. The Amiga, despite the rescue and attempted revival by Escom, remains the U.S.'s best kept secret in terms of raw, creative computing power. I can't say that I have seen Escom overcome any of the problems of Commodore in terms of that- which directly relates to a larger installed user base as well as a software developer base- but then again, that's my opinion, and what really counts is whether Escom or SMG are selling machines at a level that meets or exceeds their business plan projections! I was pleased to hear that SMG was recently named as the U.S. distributor, so I would like to see how they take part in shaping the future destiny of the Amiga. I was very happy with SMG when they took over Commodore's failed Gold Service policy. They did a superior job supporting me with my 4000 through the period when no spare parts were available and Commodore was in the final death throws. Perhaps SMG can help the destiny of the Amiga also. HOW CAN WE HELP? Those of us already using Amiga's, realize the boost in creativity, productivity and to selfishly protect that vital interest, we would like to see the Amiga platform survive as a healthy competitor. This means we can get our machines repaired, we can upgrade them in the future and we can get more new software in the future. We wished that upon Commodore, and helped protect it, and for that, Commodore survived longer than it deserved to. In fact, the Amiga was a survivor in spite of everything Commodore did to kill it as a viable computing platform! In thinking about marketing, whether it be an appliance, politician, software or computer, one needs household, brand-name recognition before anything else. The Amiga does not yet have this. It does not share the same elite status that Apple Macs do, in spite of it being superior to the Mac in performance, though some Mac software support is clearly superior. Why the difference? Politicians resort to grassroots campaigns. Netscape has done well in the last year with a grassroots effort and a free engine for everyone to use. People are posting Netscape logos on their pages, boasting that their site is enhanced/supported by Netscape. Almost every web page that I see has a reference that it was enhanced by "Netscape", almost like a status symbol, like driving a certain car, wearing a shirt or cap with a certain logo or popular phrase! Can Escom provide some support- such as an official picture/logo (not just the new Amiga logo, but something incorporating the logo? Are there better web links for all of us to use to spark the curious but not-yet-converted? Thoes of us who have web pages would be glad to support such a grassroots support movements to give credit to our creative machines and the software behind it? How many others would develop top-notch links that entice more users and developers to support our platform? How about Amiga platform developers- do they want such credit too? This is FREE ADVERTISING and I am sure many of us Amigans would give up the few kilobytes to store the images and links to a page that essentially promotes the Amiga hardware platform, dealers, etc. Current tech pundits claim there is 24 billion to be made off the internet each year either directly or indirectly. I would be more than happy to give credit in the PC world net pages to those tasks which are more readily created by the Amiga and simply ported over to the pc side. If I had 'created by' logos from Electronic Arts Deluxe Paint, Soft-Ligik's PageStream, etc....I would certainly use them, and leave in a link to those sites so users could see their offerings, advertising etc. (NOTE: I've cruised the existing Amga web pages- this is not what we need- unless they already exist but are just harder to find!) This page reference would be for the curious user that needs to be quickly told about the Amiga). What we need is a page link that catches the existing pc user that is contemplating an upgrade- persuading them to consider adding an Amiga to their household instead of trading in their pc. This web page would also hook developers into writing for the Amiga. Perhaps we need a page with some credits to famous users, TV shows, special effects done with it, etc., system cost comparisons ie, Toaster, vs Sun, vs PC etc. This sort of grassroots marketing campaign would be neccessary, independent of any direction the hardware takes on. Brand name recognition (brand familiarity) is first and foremost before any sale is made! Does Escom and software developers support this conceptually? Can a world wide user group pull it off- with or without a nod from Escom? Currently, I'd have to say most of the Escom web links remain as 'insider information', links for existing Amiga users to stay informed and agonize over whether Escom appears to be marketing the Amiga propertly,. and what the latest information is about how many units are being shipped to where, and what distributors are being named, etc. almost like Escom expects to keep existing Amiga customers (BTW, I'm not exactly ready to upgrade my 4000 yet, unless it's to trade in my 486 PC for a PC/Amiga platform) Most people that subscribe to commercial internet providers have free web space to run a web page. On America On-Line, I have 10 megs for my account, which is 2 megs for each screen name. As soon as I can, I'd like to do something like that to give credit where credit is due! Can Amiga Report be a forum for this effort- a clearing house to publish web sites that promote the cause and provide such artwork for top-notch professional web links???? @endnode @node NEWS1 "SoundStage" @toc NEWS SoundStage ---------- SoundStage is a new 16 bit audio card for the Amiga 3000/4000 series computers. It has been developed by Applied Magic Inc to operate in conjunction with the Broadcaster Elite and the Digital BroadCaster32 (DBC32) JPEG video cards. Zorro-III bus architecture has been implemented to ensure maximum audio throughput (up to 16 channels), while playing the highest quality video through the JPEG card. Technical Information on SoundStage ----------------------------------- Hardware requirements - 32 bit Zorro III, i.e. Amiga 3000(T) or Amiga 4000(T) - 32 bit SCSI device. - An Elite or DBC32. Note: A stand-alone software maybe developed in the future if there is demand. Audio Inputs - 2 balanced XLR analog inputs. - 1 (Stereo pair) digital input (AES/EBU format). Audio Outputs - 4 balanced XLR analog outputs (i.e. surround sound capable). - 1 (Stereo pair) digital output (AES/EBU format). SoundStage Processor - 40MHz Texas Instruments TMS32C30 DSP. - Rated at 20MIPs and 40MFlops. SoundStage Memory - Audio sample memory: up to 4MB of static memory (SRAM). - Program memory is 32Kb of high speed dual ported SRAM. SoundStage Audio Support - 16 internal 16bit audio channels (with at least 2MB of SRAM). - Sample rates : 32KHz, 44.1KHz, 48KH. - Real time volume envelope control (i.e. no rendering). - Real time pan control. Place sound anywhere in the room. - Audio effects such as compression, noise gating, and reverb. - Audio scrubbing. Video Effects Supported - The SoundStage will also serve as a transition and CG rendering accelerator. - Accelerating transition rendering times to 4-10 faster over a stock A4000. - More complex transitions and video effects, such as 3D page turns with realistic rendering times. Retail prices - $1399 US with 0K of SRAM. - $150 US per 512K SRAM SIMM. - $250 US per 1MB SRAM SIMM. Background on Applied Magic Inc. -------------------------------- Applied Magic Inc (AMI) has been in existence since the middle of 1994. It has been producing digital video editing products for the Amiga, such as the Broadcaster Elite and MPEG playback cards for the PC market. AMI also developed "Producer", a non-linear video editing package that controls the Elite and DBC32 JPEG hardware. Contact details: Applied Magic Inc. 2649 Vista Way, Suite 837, Oceanside, California, 92056 USA Phone: (619) 966-8080 or: 1-800-619-ELITE Fax: (619) 966-8075 World Wide Web: ftp://ftp.cts.com/pub/dan/index.html @endnode @node NEWS2 "fifolib" @toc NEWS TITLE fifolib -- fifo.library and dos handler VERSION 38.1 (10.12.95) AUTHOR Chronologically: Matthew Dillon up to version 37.4 David Varley 37.5 Hans Verkuil 38.0 J"org H"ohle 38.1 Address: J"org H"ohle Steinacker 44 53229 Bonn Germany Internet: Joerg.Hoehle@gmd.de Phone: +49 228 431235 DESCRIPTION FIFO: is like PIPE: but is based on fifo.library rather than its own implementation. Fifo.library is a general fifo library implementation that supports named fifos, writing to a fifo from a hardware exception, multiple readers on a fifo with each getting the same data stream, efficient reading, and automatic or manual flow control. Programs that require non-blocking IO can access one side of a FIFO: connection via the fifo.library instead of the FIFO: handler. Includes source. Now programmers of getty, telnetd, remote shells etc.: stop writing custom DOS handlers and use fifo.library and FIFO: instead, you'll get all the benefits of a common handler. Emacs, AUUCP and other programs already use it. FIFO source might be of interest to programmers, topics include: o interactive DOS handler, CON/AUX: like o library creation, even with GCC+Libnix yet 1.3 compatible o deep use of GCC inlines and GCC-specific optimizations o usage of PA_SOFTINT port arrival action o usage of SIGB_SINGLE signal bit EXAMPLES NewShell FIFO:shell1/rwkecs Run >NIL: RemCLI shell1 Run >NIL: Type FIFO:shell1/rmt TO CON:0/11/500/150/Tee_output NEW FEATURES o corrected ACTION_WAIT_CHAR (with timeout). o corrected ACTION_SCREEN_MODE. o recognizes CONSOLE: o ACTION_CHANGE_SIGNAL, ACTION_IS_FILESYSTEM, ACTION_SEEK. o many error checks and error return codes. SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS OS 1.3 is still supported (untested). AVAILABILITY Aminet: util/misc/fifolib38_1.lha, for example at ftp://ftp.uni-paderborn.de/pub/aminet/util/misc/fifolib38_1.lha Hopefully soon part of Fred Fish's upcoming ADE: ftp://ftp.amigalib.com/pub/amiga/ade/.../fifolib-38.1-(src|bin).lha DISTRIBUTABILITY Placed in the Public Domain by Matthew Dillon Left there for the benefit of all. Joerg Hoehle. Joerg.Hoehle@gmd.de hoehle@zeus.gmd.de Author of Amiga-CLISP, a Common Lisp implementation @endnode @node NEWS3 "Amiga Typeface Engine" @toc NEWS My current job gives me NO time to continue my Amiga Typeface Engine project. I'm opening up development to interested programmers. Ultimately, whoever wants to continue development of ATE will get my source code and development log and a license to use it to finish the program. Whatever you end up doing with it is up to you, as long as it results in a finished program to use PostScript type in any Amiga app; the original intent. Contact: Gordon Fecyk (gordonf@freenet.vancouver.bc.ca) 5531 McRae Street Richmond, BC V6V 2P5 Canada Phone: (604) 526-8724 or (604) 681-1373 ext 105 Conditions: If the final product will be free/shareware/otherwise publicly available for little or no money, the only condition is you reach the original objective; A typeface manager allowing PostScript type to work in any Amiga application, preferably using a bullet.library style process (I kept getting slammed for my hacker's approach). If the final product will be for commercial sale, you and I must work out some kind of payment for work already completed. You must still reach the final objective. Sincere hopes: I hope that someone else, with a lot more time on their hands than me, can see Amiga Type Engine to completion. @endnode @node NEWS4 "AmiBroker v1.6" @toc NEWS TITLE AmiBroker - Stock charting/analysis program. VERSION 1.6 (16 Dec 95) AUTHOR Tomasz Janeczko email: tjaneczk@asic.ict.pwr.wroc.pl DESCRIPTION AmiBroker is a powerful and easy to use stock charting/analysis program. Main features include candlestick, bar and line charts; moving averages; Bollinger bands; ROC, RSI, MACD, OBV, TRIX, Stochastics, Ultimate studies; trendlines drawing; portfolio management with customisable commisions and taxes. All chart parameters are user-definable. Now, with version 1.6, AmiBroker provides easy quotation data import from simple ASCII file. Data format is freely definable. Two more specialized, Warsaw Stock Exchange specific import options are also included. Version 1.6 introduces also powerful ARexx port implementation with lots of internal commands/options providing total control over stock database. SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS AmiBroker requires Release 2 of the Amiga operating system; it also requires the ReqTools library. AVAILABILITY ftp://wuarchive.wustl.edu/pub/aminet/biz/misc/AmiBroker160E.lha (258931) PRICE Requested shareware fee is $15 US. DISTRIBUTABILITY The version available on aminet is a 98% functional demo version which is freely distributable, but remains copyrighted Tomasz Janeczko 1995. OTHER If there are any further queries regarding this software or its usage please email, tjaneczk@asic.ict.pwr.wroc.pl @endnode @node NEWS5 "IntuiCookie for MUI" @toc NEWS TITLE IntuiCookie for MUI VERSION 2.96 (01.01.96) AUTHOR Christian Kemp Address: 52, BD Patton L-2316 Luxembourg E-Mail : ckemp@innet.lu WWW : http://www.club.innet.be/~year0183/ DESCRIPTION IntuiCookie is a fortune cookie program with many features and support for formatting characters. Its only purpose is to display random quotes, jokes or fortunes at bootup. It can only be used from Workbench and its look and behaviour is very configurable. NEW FEATURES Some minor bugfixing and addition of more tooltypes to allow further customisation. v2.96 is fully localized and comes with English (built-in), German and French catalogs. SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS IntuiCookie requires OS2.04 or later and MUI v8.0 or later. AVAILABILITY IntuiCookie is available from my home page: http://www.club.innet.be/~year0183/IntuiCookie/ICookie_MUI.lha (176635) or on Aminet as: ftp://ftp.wustl.edu/pub/aminet/util/misc/ICookie_MUI.lha (176635) PRICE IntuiCookie is Giftware, but a mail will make me perfectly happy ;-) DISTRIBUTABILITY IntuiCookie is subject to the "Standart Amiga-FD Software Copyright Note". OTHER I will no longer support the Reqtools version of IntuiCookie. If anybody is interested in enhancing the Reqtools version, or in writing a version for other GUI libraries, I am prepared to make the C source code of both the MUI and Reqtools versions available. @endnode @node NEWS6 "AMIGA Surfer" @toc NEWS Press Information Bensheim 22.01.96 Amiga Surfer available! The "AMIGA Surfer" pack will hit the shelves at the end of January 1996. The "AMIGA Surfer" consists of an Amiga A1200HD multimedia system fitted with 260MB hard drive and two megabytes of RAM, together with a complete suite of Internet software and a 14,400bps modem. The package will be priced at approximately USD 720 (exclusive of VAT). This complete solution from Amiga Technologies is the cheapest available plug&play Internet bundle. The Amiga A1200 is video-compatible and can be easily connected to a Television set, saving the additional cost of a monitor. Other Internet options soon to be available from Amiga Technologies include: the "Surfkit", a package consisting of the Internet software suite and modem, at an approximate price of USD 190 (excluding VAT). A package call "Surfware" is also being planned which will provide the Internet software alone. All packs will include an option to connect to the IBM Internet Link and get 100 hours free connection. About the Internet Software: MUI3.2: Magic User Interface is an Amiga-OS extension that makes dedicated applications more ergonomic with a friendlier user interface. With MUI, the user can also customise and configure their applications individually. AS 225 R2: A new and completely reworked version of the original AMIGA TCP/IP software is provided. This software handles the connection between the Amiga and the network. [Note: This is I-Net 225, single-user version. -Jason] Mindwalker: The WWW Browser with MUI-support: A full featured graphical World Wide Web Browser that can handle forms, bookmarks, search functions, hotlinks and many more. AMIRC: The IRC Client with elegant MUI interface, gives access to the "Internet Relay Chat", where one can participate on-line and in real-time to discussion forums. Several thousands of users meet here daily to discuss various topics. Binary files can also be sent among users using AMIRC. AMFTP: The FTP Client also uses the MUI-extension. The graphical interface of AMFTP makes the handling of files and directories from distant servers very effective and comfortable. The program works as a file-manager and gives access to tremendous amounts of Amiga software available on the Internet. Voodoo: The included E-mail manager is a fully new development and supports the "Mime-standard" to send, receive and view graphics and other binary files easily. UU-Encoded binary files are also supported. The advanced user interface of Voodoo helps to handle electronic mail quickly and easily. The Surfer pack also includes the popular Amiga Magic Bundle's productivity software of a wordprocessor, spreadsheet, database, organiser and graphic tools. Contact: Gilles Bourdin Tel +49 6265 709 195 Amiga Technologies GmbH Fax +49 6252 709 520 Berliner Ring 89 E-Mail: gbo@amiga.de D64625 Bensheim HTTP://www.amiga.de Germany @endnode @node NEWS7 "The Pentatrator" @toc NEWS The specs on the Pentatrator, the new Pentium "bridgeboard" emulator for the Amiga. Thanks to the many people who sent these spec sheets in... The Pentium card: ---------------------------------------------------------------------- PCI ISA architecture, compatible with PICMG standard, 132 MB/sec PCI-Bus transfer, Up to 4 extra Master PCI external cards, CPU: Pentium 75-166 MHz Cache Ram: 256Kb to 1MB, Ram: up to 128 MB Bios: 1x27C010 EPROM with Award BIOS, PC/104: 1 for PC/104 module Clock: Dallas/batterie, Storage: Floppy controller 2XFDD, IDE interface for 2 Harddisks Flash-ROM-Disk: 360 Kb Flash or 1.44 MB Eprom-Disk, bootable, Multi I/O Chip set: SMC-FDC-37C665 all I/O Setup in BIOS, 2 X RS-232 High-Speed 16C550 compatible (COM1, COM2) 1 X PS2 compatible Bi-Directional Paralell Port with EPP/ECP functions (MS-HP Mod.) WatchDog-Timer: 1-220 seconds. Mouse port: PS/2 or RS-232, Keyboard: PS/2 The Shuttle: 2 x Vide Buses, 8 x ZorroIII buses(5 of them clean DMA), 6 PC-ISA buses, EPS bus for 8 more ZorroIII buses. Retailer: Eagle Computer Products Altenbergstrasse 7 D-71549 Auenwald Germany Phone: Int. +49 (0) 7191-53773 / 59028 Telefax: Int. +49 (0) 7191-59057 @endnode @node NEWS8 "VISCORP License" @toc NEWS PRESS INFORMATION FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE "VISCORP agreement complete" Bensheim 23/01/96 Chicago - January 12, 1996 - Visual Information Service Corp. (VISCORP), an INTERACTIVE TV developer headquartered in Chicago, Illinois and AMIGA Technologies GmbH, headquartered in Bensheim, Germany, have finalized an international license agreement to adapt, utilize, license and distribute the AMIGA technology within VISCORP's interactive intelligent set-top TV appliance - Electronic Device (ED). The license authorizes VISCORP the right to use, re-license and distribute the AMIGA operating system and compatible parts of current versions of the technologies where the AMIGA products are used as, or as part of, interactive television devices. In 1995, ESCOM AG acquired all Commodore and AMIGA licenses, patents and trademarks. Amiga is an acknowledged leader in the computer industry in the area of providing high-quality graphics for monitors and television broadcasts through their sophisticated chip sets. The combination of the AMIGA hardware/software technologies and intuitive operating system makes them a viable contender in the development of high-speed delivery for complex graphic programming. The AMIGA technology can import and adapt software to the set-top box with minimal changes. By employing the sophisticated AMIGA chip set, VISCORP will have the ability to provide a complex set-top appliance with multitasking functions to integrate affordably the TV set, phone line, and network service providers. This ability has not yet been offered or available through existing systems" said Jerome Greenberg, VISCORP's chairman of the board. "By utilizing our unique set top appliance and incorporating the AMIGA technology, VISCORP is able to provide a complete practical solution for interactive TV-services, and now the ability to access the Internet through a standard TV set with pricing that makes sense for the average TV viewer". The integration of the AMIGA system with the VISCORP set-top appliance will allow access to the Internet, on-line services and voice "chat" programs through the TV set. As planned, ED will access any on-line services and any address on the Internet's superhighway. Access can be though a TV remote, a computer keyboard, a touch-sensitive pen or the microphone in the ED. Additional plans will enable consumers to play games (e.g., individually, against a networked opponent), or enable home shopping, electronic banking, and enable a subscriber to gain access to information services through a TV set. About VISCORP VISCORP develops and markets a brand of cost effective set-top appliances for the home, business, government and educational users of interactive TV devices. VISCORP's set-top device integrates the television and telephone line to access on-line services, interactive applications and direct Internet service through the TV set. Through blending of the existing VISCORP set-top TV appliance and the AMIGA technology, VISCORP will be able to provide a gateway for every household to enter into the age of interactive services at a cost-effective price and user friendly environment. Information about Amiga Technologies GmbH is available on the URL HTTP://www.amiga.de PRESS CONTACT : Gilles Bourdin Tel +49 6252 709 195 AMIGA Technologies GmbH Fax +49 6252 709 520 Berliner Ring 89 E-Mail : gbo@amiga.de D-64625 Bensheim HTTP://www.amiga.de Germany Regards, Gilles Bourdin @endnode @node NEWS9 "Amiga Atlanta Anniversary Banquet" @toc NEWS Amiga Atlanta 10th Anniversary Banquet: The CuSeeMe Broadcast! Amiga Atlanta's 10th Anniversary Banquet was a huge success. The AAi crew professionally videotaped the event and will be broadcasting highlights over CuSeeMe on February 3rd. No time has yet been set, but it will likely be 6 PM EST. The reflector is noel.pd.org. Any info/questions/problems on this should be directed banquet@ttlchaos.randomc.com. @endnode @node NEWS10 "Looking for Amiga Assistance" @toc NEWS News Service Looks for Amiga Assistance NY -- Operators and Troubleshooters needed. We have a customized application currently running on an AMIGA platorm with integrated PC-based components and plans to fully convert to a PC-based platform. If you have related PC experience or you're very familiar with AMIGA operating systems (i.e.3000's-4000's, SCALA/Infochannel software, Lightwave, PAR boards, AD PRO, ARREX, SUPERGEN's, Studio 16's, AmigaDOS) have knowledge of PC's and networking, are interested in animation/graphic art, are used to working with industrial grade videotape recorders, and would like to get involved in a new and very fast-paced type of innovative local news coverage that combines digital photography-voice and music tracks, contact my E-MAIL at America on Line (BRVID) to discuss temp., part-time or full-time work on Long Island. Entry, senior and management level positions are available. http://www.blue.aol.com brvid@aol.com @endnode @node NEWS11 "Atari President Leaves" @toc NEWS [Thanks to Fabian Jimenez for sending this in. Apologies to Reuters, but I think this is really important. Another great computer pioneer reduced to a sorry state...-Jason] Atari President Leaves After Layoffs By Katharine Stalter, Reuters HOLLYWOOD (Variety) - Atari Corp. president of North American operations Ted Hoff left his post Wednesday, following layoffs of 20 employees and amid reports that the company is liquidating its videogame assets. Those assets include Jaguar, Jaguar CD, and Atari Interactive, a CD-ROM unit formed two weeks ago. According to a report that first appeared in Bethesda, Md.-based Multimedia Wire, Jack Tramiel, who purchased Atari from Warner Communications in 1985, plans to use $50 million in cash currently tied up in Atari to make an investment in a computer hardware firm. Sources close to the company said lack of interest in the business on the part of Tramiel and his family -- not lackluster sales -- is behind the move. Hoff told Daily Variety he resigned because of the direction the company was taking with the layoffs: ``It was an indication that Atari's long-term intentions were not to continue in pursuit of videogame developing or publishing, neither for Jaguar nor Atari Interactive.'' Hoff said the layoffs include staffers from the engineering, testing, production, customer service, marketing, merchandising and advertising areas. Those left, he said, don't constitute ``the ranks you would need to continue in the videogame industry.'' Before joining Atari in June, Hoff had been VP and general manager of Fox Interactive. Before that, he was senior VP at Time Warner Interactive. Atari chief financial officer August Liguori denied any assets are being liquidated. ``We're not going out of the videogame business. We have $50 million, and we're going to continue making strategic investments and developing and publishing for all our platforms,'' he said. But sources said it's unlikely that development deals already under way will proceed, and said the Jaguar videogame hardware and CDs are no longer being manufactured. In addition, sources said, Atari plans to vacate its office space by the end of next month, and its warehouse must be emptied by the end of April. Reuters/Variety @endnode @node NEWS12 "OctaMED Web Site" @toc NEWS From RBS Software, publishers of OctaMED Pro... There is now an OctaMED Website and allthough in its infancy, visitors will be able to get the latest info on OctaMED SoundStudio V1 http://www.compulink.co.uk/~octamed/ @endnode @node NEWS13 "da capo 2" @toc NEWS da capo 2 Is Coming... For the forthcoming release of da capo, Volume 2 (planned in April 1996) we are looking for good modules, samples and music programs. We are planning to put some audio tracks onto it and therefore we are looking for people who would like to have their music on this CD. If you are interested then please contact me at the following address: Daniel Amor Thanks, Danny @endnode @node NEWS14 "Wonder Computers, Incorporated Restructures" @toc NEWS WONDER COMPUTERS, INC. TO ENTER HEAVY RESTRUCTURING, EMERGE AS NEW FIRM January 30, 1996 Ottawa, Ontario, Canada Today, Wonder Computers Inc. entered the most dramatic and critical stage of its restructuring, initiated two weeks ago when a large corporate loan was called in. Despite record sales in January, Wonder Computers Inc. has operated at a loss for months, attributable to the lack of available Amiga computers to sell. It was no longer possible to extend Wonder Computer's credit. As of January 30th, all Wonder locations will be under the supervision of court-appointed trustees. Regular business will not be conducted at WCi headquarters, nor at Wonder's 6 retail locations. However, this does not spell the end of Wonder Computers. WCi President and CEO Mark Habinski has put a plan into action to enlist venture capital from an outside firm and purchase the assets of WCi from the trustees. These assets, comprising the inventory, intellectual property, equipment, and leases of WCi, would then be used by a new company, to be dubbed Wonder Computers International. This company would be debt-free and would continue WCi's business, ideally with minimal interruption of service. It is Habinski's goal to have Wonder Computers International up, running, and functional for a March 4th launch. All retail operations will be restarted at this time, hopefully with the same phone numbers to minimize the impact on service to its customers. The Amiga market is beginning to turn around for North America. It is the belief of the Wonder Team that a leaner, debt-free company with world-class resources is the best thing for the market right now, and they are striving to create such a company. Contact: Jason Compton, Promotional Director, WCi 847-741-0689 fax, jcompton@shell.portal.com e-mail -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Attached: A Letter From Mark Habinski To the Amiga Community At this time I'd like to thank all of those who helped to make the Wonder dream a reality. First, I'd like to thank my wife and family, without who's support none of Wonder's successes would have been possible. I'd also like to thank all of our shareholders. You believed in me, and in the Wonder concept, and I thank you for your unswerving confidence. Next, I'd like to thank all of our suppliers and developers, particularly those top flight people who work hard day in and day out to bring new and exciting products to the Amiga platform. Theirs is often a thankless task, and without them, the Amiga would never have survived Commodore's Demise. I'd also like to thank the brave hearts at Escom and Amiga Tech for doing something daring, and bringing the Amiga back to market. Petro and his team have worked hard, and I believe, stand every chance of succeeding in their quest to bring the Amiga back to the forefront of personal computing. I'd especially like to thank my team: the Wonder team, for working so incredibly hard over the past three years to promote and support our company and the Amiga platform. Never have I had the privilidge to work with such a dedicated and inspiring group. Wonder employed just over 100 people during its 33 months in business. At our zenith, a few short weeks ago, our team consisted of 62 people, by all accounts, the largest Amiga-dedicated workforce on earth. I'd like to write in detail about each of these quality individuals, and will do so in another forum. But here, I trust it will suffice to say thank you, one and all for bringing Wonder the most valuable gift in your possession, yourselves. I look forward to working with you all again in the near future. I'd also like to thank all of the unsung heroes in the Amiga success story (for I believe the Amiga's mere existence today to be a tremendous success against the odds). I'd like to thank every Amiga user group, every show co-ordinator, every Sysop, every journalist, and every dealer who has contributed to the continuance of the Amiga platform. Your efforts have not been in vain. The Amiga has weathered an incredible storm; but it is back now, and its back to stay! Finally I'd like to thank our most ardent supports, our customers. Wonder has been far from perfect, but despite our numerous mistakes, our customers have stuck by us. They've spent just under ten million dollars of their hard earned money on our Amiga products and services. They've been patient, they've been loyal, and over the past few days I've seen them be incredibly supportive. Thanks to each of you, for helping to prove to the world that an Amiga-dedicated retail chain can succeed in North America! Signed, Mark Habinski Founder, President, CEO Wonder Computers Inc. @endnode @node FEATURE1 "About the 68010" @toc FEATURE =========================================================================== About the 68010 Robert Davis Amateur Radio K0FPC rdavis@nyx.net =========================================================================== Every few weeks, a series of exchanges about using the 68010 CPU appears in the comp.sys.amiga.hardware newsgroup. A somewhat related discussion reappears whenever someone asks if putting a higher speed 68000 in an older Amiga will speed up the computer. I hope to offer some answers to those questions in this short article. First, just putting a 68000 rated at a higher speed will do nothing. The speed of the CPU is not determined by what is printed on the chip. The speed is determined by the computer timing device, its "clock" which is separate from the CPU. So putting a 10mhz 68000 in an Amiga means the Amiga won't run any faster than with an 8mhz 68000. Think of it like this: Which is faster? A Yugo travelling at 55 miles per hour, or a Ferrari travelling at 55 miles per hour? Just because you can go faster does not mean you are going faster. Now there are hacks on Aminet which do change the clock speed of the Amiga to speed up the CPU while keeping the necessary parts of the computer at the necessary, slower speed. Some commercial accelerators have used the same principle. AdSpeed and Supra units come to mind. If you want to construct one of the hacks, be my guest. Don't come to me if it does not work. Now about the 68010. That IC does exactly replace the 68000 in its socket in any older Amiga. And, that IC does execute some instructions faster than does the 68000. Some small loops and all of the more complicated math instructions are faster on the '010 than on its older sibling. Therefore the 68010 will run programs which use those particular instructions faster than the 68000 will run the same programs. But the speed up is not very great. My own tests on an A500 indicate ray tracing with Imagine isabout five per cent (5%) faster on the '010. Many respondents to news postings caution potention users of the 68010 to get the old program DECIGEL which will fix a problem with one instruction on the 68000 which is not handled in the same manner on the 68010. They tell everyone that some of their software will crash without decigel. That is garbage. The particular MOVE instruction which messes up on the 68010 but not on the 68000 will also crash any computer using a 68020, 68030, 68040 or 68060 cpu. And all programmers have been aware of that instruction and its problems since the mid-1980s. More specifically, writers of compilers have made sure their code generating software did not use that instruction as it was defined on the 68000. It has been literally years since any new software for the Amiga suffered from the MOVE SR,Destination bug in the 68000. So, the conclusion. If you want a small speed increase for your older Amiga (A1000, A500, A2000) changing to a 68010 cpu will do it. Since the speed up is small, it will likely be economical only if you get the cpu chip free or for a very low price, and if you are able to do the installation yourself, without paying someone else to do the work. I have 68010 cpus in both my A500 and my A2000. I paid $5.00 for four of the '010 cpu ICs at an Amateur Radio swap meet. For a cost of $1.25 per cpu, it was worth it for a five per cent speed up. You must make your own decision as to whether a 68010 is cost effective for you. Robert Davis 1107 Mary Apt. 4 Emporia, KS 66801 316 341-9115 rdavis@nyx.net @endnode @node FEATURE2 "Modify an Analog Joystick" @toc FEATURE =========================================================================== How to Modify an Analog IBM Joystick For Use With the Amiga Jim Franck MIJ67@Delphi.com =========================================================================== [Please don't attempt to do this if you think you might blow yourself or your computer up. -Jason] Let's face it, finding an analog joystick for the AMIGA at your local computer store is virtually impossible. On the other hand, the hordes of IBM clone users can take their pick from a dozen options at the smallest of stores. Being an avid fan of flight sims, I finally got so sick of digital joysticks that it motivated me to sit down and figure out how to wire up these nice IBM compatible joysticks for my AMIGA. The following procedure describes the conversion process. Disclaimer: Although I have successfully converted at least a dozen joysticks for myself and friends, I can't guarantee that every analog joystick on the planet conforms to the same standards. This document is for information only, and I will not be responsible for blown out joystick ports, damaged joysticks, or any other damage or expenses incurred because of an "unsuccessful" conversion attempt. If you feel squeamish about attempting the following procedure, consult with someone who has knowledge of electronics and/or the AMIGA before attempting it. To sum it up...if you don't feel comfortable doing the procedure, DON'T DO IT!. Also, the application(s) you wish to use the analog stick with MUST SUPPORT AN ANALOG JOYSTICK! Programs written to work only with digital joysticks will not work with an analog stick. * PLEASE READ EACH STEP COMPLETELY BEFORE EXECUTING THE STEP! EQUIPMENT/MATERIALS REQUIRED: * Soldering Iron * Solder * Wire Stripper/Cutter * Ohm Meter (or other type of continuity tester) * 9 pin Female D-Sub Connector with Solder Terminals and Hood (even Radio Shack sell's em!) STEP 1: Be sure that the analog joystick you buy for conversion was originally intended for use with IBM and compatible computers. These joysticks come with a 15 pin Male D-Sub connector. Looking into the end of connector, it should look something like this: Pin 1 Pin 8 | | +--|-------------|--+ |.-|-------------|-.| |` o o o o o o o o '| | ` o o o o o o o ' | | `|-----------|' | +---|-----------|---+ | | Pin 9 Pin 15 STEP 2: Cut the 15 pin Male D-Sub connector off of the joysticks cable. BE SURE TO LEAVE AT LEAST 3 INCHES OF CABLE STICKING OUT OF THE CONNECTOR THAT YOU CUT OFF, YOU WILL NEED TO PROBE THE ENDS OF THE WIRE LATER! Strip the ends of the wire on the joysticks cable, and strip the ends of the wire on the cut off connector. STEP 3: Solder the 9 pin Female D-Sub connector to the joysticks cable according to the following diagram. Use an ohm meter on the 15 pin D-Sub (that was cut off) to determine which color wire connected to each pin. AMIGA SIGNAL 15 Pin Connector NAME 9 Pin Connector ---------------- ------------ --------------- The wire that was Should be soldered connected to: to: Pin 1...............< VCC +5V >...............Pin 7 Pin 2...............< RIGHT >...............Pin 4 Pin 3...............< POT Y >...............Pin 9 Pin 4...............< GROUND >...............Pin 8 Pin 6...............< POT X >...............Pin 5 Pin 7...............< LEFT >...............Pin 3 Pin 5, 8-15 Not Used Pin 1, 2, 6 Not Used Pin 1 Pin 5 | | +--|-------|--+ |.-|-------|-.| Solder |` o o o o o '| Side------> | ` o o o o ' | | `|-----|' | 9 Pin D-Sub +---|-----|---+ | | Pin 6 Pin 9 When you have finished soldering all six wires, complete the job by assembling the 9 Pin D-Sub connectors hood. STEP 4: ENJOY THAT NEW JOYSTICK! @endnode @node FEATURE3 "Amiga Atlanta Anniversary Banquet Report" @toc FEATURE =========================================================================== Amiga Atlanta 10th Anniversary Banquet Report By: @{" Jason Compton " link JASON} =========================================================================== Since we're just barely clearing the Amiga's 10th anniversary, not many user groups can claim to have been supporting the Amiga for a decade. And not many who can would have put on as big--or as good--of a party as Amiga Atlanta did on January 20th to celebrate their milestone. They invited me to come, but that was really pretty unimportant compared to the rest of the lineup. Not only did they secure the trio from this past autumn's videotaping session (Dave Haynie, Fred Fish, and myself) but they got Dale Luck and RJ Mical, original Amiga Corporation employees, to come to the party as well. Toss in hosts Stewart "Computer Chronicles" Cheifet and Susan "CNN TalkBack Live" Rook, and over a hundred attendees, and you're talking about a pretty unique Amiga event. Of course, that was Saturday night. When Katherine Nelson of AR and I arrived, it took a little while for Eric Webb, our ride, to realize that we were indeed the people he was looking for. He then proceeded to try to get us killed while driving us to the Terrace Garden Hotel. But his plans were foiled and we arrived safely. The afternoon was interesting (more on that later) but the evening was what everyone paid for. At 7 PM, the hallway area outside the banquet room was open. Two Amiga Tech 4000Ts were on display, as was a large piece of sheet metal with various Amiga hardware components mounted on it, including an A2000 (with a leaky battery. Amiga users take note--if you leave your computer to rot for a long time, when the battery recharges, it will likely leak and corrode your motherboard.) At the far end of the hall was a machine running Windows NT. But it belonged to Motorola and was powered by a PowerPC 604 chip, manned by two local representatives of Motorola RISC Marketing. Yes, Motorola cared enough about this event to send reps. They were happily giving away stacks of PowerPC developer documentation, audio tapes, and refrigerator magnets. The coolest items, their PowerPC ties, were sadly not available. Wandering through the halls were legions of banquet attendees, all seemingly surprised to meet us. IRC nicknames were exchanged like wild. Standing out of the crowd were a bunch of guys in Newtek jackets. Tim Jenison, chief of Newtek, put roughly half a dozen of his employees on vacation and shipped them down to Atlanta, along with himself, for the party. To put it mildly, the crowd was pleased. It was also a first for Amiga Report, as three editorial members were in the same place at the same time (Myself, Assistant Editor Katherine Nelson, and Contributing Editor Addison Laurent). Amiga Technologies cancelled at the last minute. Boo, hiss. For an hour, everyone mingled in the crowded hallway, got their badges, and drank from the expensive cash bar. One of the more interesting items keeping the crowd's attention was the Mindlight. This little device, originally released in the late 80s, plugs into your joystick port and reacts to the noise around it to make cool effects on the screen. It's making a comeback and going back into production, and yes, the software works (but does not support the new features, apparently, yet) of AGA Amigas, as it was running on an A1200 hidden under a table. Finally, the doors were opened. The tables were arranged, well, much as you'd expect a banquet hall to look. Every table got a rather original display of Amiga balloons held down by an unfortunate 5.25 inch hard drive platter. After a few opening remarks, we got to eat. Eating up at the head table wasn't as self-conscious of an experience as you might think. It was that unique meal known to the universe only as Banquet Chicken. THEN, it was time to party. Susan Rook of CNN's TalkBack Live show hosted the first half. For those of you who missed it and can't catch the CuSeeMe rebroadcasts and can't wait for the banquet tape to be released, I can sum up the two most memorable elements of her tenure. 1. She doesn't know much about computers. In fact, she reminded the audience of that fact about every 90 seconds. 2. She flirted a lot with RJ. The setup of the hall put the speakers at a long head table with a podium in the center and a big-screen projection TV on the left end (facing it) of the table, where the multi-camera production could be seen. One of the original 2 members of the group was on hand to re-tell the story of the group's inception. Unfortunately, his name isn't listed in the program. He did memorably please the crowd by relating his tale of the Newton's OS, which politely kept asking him to let it restart in order to clear up an error it kept having--to wit, it ate his speech notes. It recalled a lot of hot meetings in the Atlanta summer, stories of the first software packages making big splashes...all of that stuff I missed out on by not getting an Amiga until '91. The former group presidents who were on hand also took a brief turn addressing the audience, including Joe Torre, who worked on the original CSA Amiga accelerators. Fred Fish, infamous among Amiga users, recounted the story of the inspiration to compile and distribute Amiga software--he couldn't find any. He bought one of the very first A1000s and was a Unix man by day, so he brought a bunch of source home and made it work, and got the idea to share it with everyone else. Perhaps most interesting was the fact that he didn't name them Fish Disks at all, it was Perry Kivolowicz (of ASDG, later Elastic Reality, and one of the authors on Fish Disk #1) who mentioned to a user group that he had some new neat "Fish Disks." Fred had been referring to them as something like "Freely Redistributable Amiga Software Disks", which isn't nearly as pleasant to say. RJ gave his speech next, telling assorted tidbits from the history of Amiga Corporation, the company that built the first Amiga computer. Most interesting was the story of Jay Miner's dog, who apparently offered design advice to his owner, shaking or nodding his head at various gates he drew on the chip layout sheets. (also interesting, the Amiga was designed largely with paper and pencil.) He also proclaimed somewhere along the line that he shared Susan Rook's inability to program a VCR, but I would have thought that the man who worked at the very heart of the Amiga could handle a few buttons and a flashing LED. RJ still owns a Joyboard, the device that lead to the naming of the Guru Meditation. Apparently, RJ is writing some sort of book, but we never actually heard about it... The hosts changed here, and we were treated to two videos, the first, produced and edited by Aaron Ruscetta of Amiga Atlanta, was a "Message to Escom", including clips from AAi members, Dale Larson, and the three of us brought down for taping. Anchoring the various segments was the now infamous "clawed hand shooting out of the ground clutching a Boing! ball" logo. The second, brought by Cheifet, was a brief video history of Computer Chronicles' coverage of the Amiga, from 1985 to 1993. I never got a chance to ask what happened to the last 2 years, but I have a sneaking suspicion it had something to do with the virtually invisible market. It was also an opportunity to see the Boing! demo, even if it was on video. Dave Haynie was the speaker up next, and he mostly focused on what makes the Amiga special, the magic about it. (Not to be confused with the Amiga Technologies "Amiga Magic" software package.) He kept up what by now was an absolute tradition by now amongst the speakers--slamming Microsoft, hard and often, and gave the audience reason to keep up their interest in the Amiga. Perhaps most surprising of all was that Dave managed to stay entirely within his alloted time. Then it was my turn. Since I had virtually no notes worth speaking of, you'll just have to wait for the tape to hear what I said, because I have a tough time remembering it. I do remember GVP being in there somewhere, though, and I got people to applaud for the presence of Newtek and Motorola. After my speech (which ran a bit over, so Katie tells me), I was up there to field questions from the audience. That didn't last long, however. A question was asked about Newtek, and Tim Jenison was given the mike. He talked for a good 10 minutes on the future of the Amiga and his confidence in Amiga Technologies. This got the crowd very excited, and was an excellent way to close the evening. (He didn't answer the question, though.) Cheifet closed the evening with some parting comments. He defended his show and himself by pointing out he still had two Amigas that he loved and used regularly, to resounding applause. Finally, around midnight, way over schedule but loving every minute of it, the banquet ended and it was time to go. Well, all except the AAi crew who had the unpleasant task of cleaing the place up, breaking down the very impressive set of video equipment. I really lost count over the course of the evening as to how many rousing rounds of applause and standing ovations there were. Reportedly, the wives of the Motorola PR guys were looking a bit overwhelmed. Amiga users came here to be entertained, and to find a reason to be enthusiastic about the Amiga, and they got it. The banquet was a celebration of 10 years of AAi and the Amiga, and I'd like to be invited back for #20. The Side Notes: Atlanta has some really interesting ideas about restaurants and cuisine. While looking for a place to have lunch, the most interesting location we passed was The Rusty Nail, a barbeque joint with a 10 foot long smoking gun on the front lawn. The Thai restaurant we had lunch at on Sunday was interesting, too. The food was great, but the place served Buffalo wings (as apparently ALL restaurants in Atlanta do) and had jalapeno pepper slices in a jar on every table. After the banquet, a lot of people headed to The Bucket Shop, a bar just down the road from the hotel. The Guiness there wasn't as good as it was in Toronto. Dale Luck's Boing! optical mouse is now in its final days. He's only got a limited quantity left and his supplier has stopped building them, since he was the only guy who actually bought them. When the question was asked "How many here owned an original A1000?" at the banquet, well over half the hands in the room shot up, in addition to every hand at the head table but mine. Man, did I look out of place. RJ Mical left 3DO earlier this year. Dale Luck remains, as Senior Software Architect. All of the banquet's sponsors had banners up around the room. Unfortunately, the Computer Chronicles banner kept falling off. The tape of the banquet should be available soon. It's much more than a bunch of people eating dinner, it's one of the greatest Amiga events I've ever been to. @endnode @node FEATURE4 "Amiga Atlanta Banquet" @toc FEATURE =========================================================================== The 10th Anniversary of Amiga Atlanta Inc. Banquet By: @{" Addison Laurent " link ADDISON} =========================================================================== Since Jason is writing this up, probably in much better prose than mine, I'll just try to touch on the main points, and my observations. I arrived slightly early, got to watch two dueling brand new AT Amiga 4000Ts. (complete with turbo button to turn built-in-speaker on and off) Then I found Motorola's representatives, complete with PowerPC 604 demo model running Windows NT. The Representatives told me it was there, to show the 604 existed and could run NT. (From what I gathered, they were local Motorola employ ees sent to show the colors. So I explained slightly what the signifigance of Motorola was to the Amiga, and I think Jason later did a better job.) I then wandered around, looking at the local Atlanta stores that had set up the displays, and ran into Dave Haynie, who was looking at one of the 40 00Ts. I got a chance to sound him out a little on the BeBox, having noticed quite a few posts from him on comp.sys.be. [Personal aside - I don't know whether I want to see the Be succeed. On the one hand, we've got just about every major remaining Amiga developer and quite a few ex-Amiga developers interested in the machine. And that *could* be bad. On the other hand, if AT doesn't keep new Amigas rolling, and the spirit begins to flag even worse - the Be MIGHT be just the machine to move to. It certainly looks very nice, with the dual PPCs, with the off-the-shelf component factor. I can only hope that the Be makes AT more competitive, instead of less. ] [deleting a lot of milling around, meeting people, talking, etc] I found Dale Luck and Fred Fish discussing X11 emulators and a few things. R. J. Mical joined them, and began talking about the 3D0 operating system that he and Dale had been major movers during the design of. After his description, I was ready to go get one, and put a keyboard on it. He talked at great depth about the lengths th t they went to to get errors reported, "you WILL RETURN an ERROR CODE!" and the customised filesystem, with the ability to mirror files to reduce seek times... One comment he made was that they took the lessons they learned with the Amiga, and didn't make their mistakes this time. I had heard a rumor that there were several NewTek employees in attendance, but hadn't seen any. So I was slightly surprised when Tim Jenison joined the group and greeted everyone there. The dinner started, and I was sitting with two friends from college, and the Motorola representatives and their wives. After dinner we had the speeches (please see JC's article for more information). The speeches seemed to group into two themes, past and future. The Amiga club, Mical, Haynie and Fish talked about the past. Mical and Haynie each touched upon a point, and I cannot do it justice by repeating offhand what they said, but it helps me try to explain why I use and support the Amiga..... That the Amiga wasn't a job, it was a goal, it was a work of art, so to speak, that they weren't just looking to get the job done, but done well, and elegantly, and with flair. [ In "real life" I'm a Netware/Windows/OS/2 administrator. And every day I work on PC machines with easily 3-20X the horsepower of my 3000-040. And it never fails to amaze me that I'd much rather be using my Amiga than the PCs. Explaning this is hard, and I don't think there =5Fis=5F an answer. Tho se of you reading Amiga Report obviously know at least slightly what I allude to. I'd love to see a transcript of those sections of their speeched edited and published as a guide to the rest of us. ] Compton and Jenison (who answered a question at length during the Q&A session) talked about the future. Afterwards, a large group went to the "Beer Bucket". As is usual in my experience with Amiga users, the discussions rambled around, often on diverse issues with no bearing on the Amiga. I heard Haynie, and a couple of NewTek employees talking about martial arts. I was able to talk to Dale Luck and R. J. Mical a great deal, and tried to convince R. J. that his newfound freedom needed to take him to Germany, that I'd heard there was this company there, looking to hire... Attending the Amiga Atlanta 10th anniversary celebration was at the same time fun and sad. The contacts, the people, the stories... And the worry that the Amiga might not outlive Commodore by much. I can only hope that Amiga Technology has the understanding of the community they they have inherited from Escom. @endnode @node REVIEW1 "Cardinal v.34 External Modem" @toc REVIEW =========================================================================== Review: Cardinal v.34 external modem Robert Davis Amateur Radio K0FPC rdavis@nyx.net =========================================================================== I know a few Amigans who use the Supra V.34 modem as reviewed in AR 401. But when I decided to get a higher speed modem, I could not find the Supra in any of the stores I frequent. So I bought a Cardinal v.34 external modem. It had been available for several months, but with the introduction of a model supporting voice-mail, the older unit suddenly got cheaper. I spent $170 for mine, without voice-mail, at the Elek-Tek store in the Kansas City area. I have seen the Cardinal in Computer Shopper for less than $150, mail-order. The modem does not come with a serial cable, so if you don't already have one, it will cost you a few bucks more to get the modem going. And of course, the included software is for clone computers, so you gotta find your own programs to make it work on an Amiga. My favorites are Terminus and VLT. The modem lives in a plastic box about the same size as a Supra and about the same color as my Amiga 3000. It has eight LEDs on the front panel. My Cardinal modem replaced a Zoom 14.4 which I had owned for about three years. I've used several modems on my Amigas. An early 1200 bps unit, a Supra 2400, a Cardinal 9600, a GVC 9600, an AT&T 14400, the Zoom 14400 and a LineLink 14400 (which I still have). The Cardinal v.34 is the FIRST modem I've hooked up to an Amiga which required NO change in configuration and worked the first time I tried it. Almost all of my use of this modem is to call my Internet Service Provider. I only call a couple of BBSes. My A3000 contains a GG2 bridgecard and an ISA dual 16550 buffered UART serial card. Therefore, the A3000 talks to the Cardinal modem at 115200 bps. Since I got the modem in November '95, it has not dropped a byte. Also, I sent a few faxes from the A3000, using GPFax 2.347. Without changing anything from the default configuration set up by the GPFax installation, it worked perfectly. To get some type of speed indication, I downloaded the INDEX.Z file from ftp.netnet.net. The file transfer came over the Internet at a busy time, during the noon hour on a Friday. On this day, INDEX.Z measured 724717 bytes. AmiFTP showed a transfer rate of 2696 characters per second on this binary file. I can live with that speed. I have not yet called the Cardinal BBS to see if there is a Flash Rom upgrade for this modem. As a firm believer in "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" I am very reluctant to make any change in this modem. It works so well. Is there anything this modem does not do? Uh, yeah. It does not connect properly to one local system which I am told runs a bank of USR Sportster 28.8 modems. I have no idea why. But I keep my LineLink 14.4 around just for the times I need to communicate with that particular IBM mainframe computer. We've reached the bottom line. I am very pleased with this Cardinal v.34 modem. I recommend it. Robert Davis 1107 Mary Apt. 4 Emporia, KS 66801 316 341-9115 rdavis@nyx.net @endnode @node REVIEW2 "Review: DKB Cobra A1200 030 Accelerator" @toc REVIEW =========================================================================== Review: DKB Cobra A1200 030 Accelerator Paul Morabito paulmbto@world.net =========================================================================== PRODUCT NAME: DKB Cobra A1200 030 accelerator AVAILABILITY: contact DKB for your nearest distributor: DKB PO BOX 438 Michigan 48393-0438 Phone: (810) 348 3821 Fax: (810) 348 3531 PRICE: 28mhz with 4 meg SIMM $AUS499 40mhz version with 4 meg SIMM $AUS699 A SCSI controller is available for $AUS189 In todays world it's becoming cheaper and cheaper to accelerate an A1200.The DKB Cobra accelerator combines power at a reasonable price. For this review I will concentrate on the 28mhz version although if there are differences between the two models they will be stated. A1200 accelerators are renowned for their difficulty to install.I got mine installed by a technician which going by stories of mishaps I've heard seemed to be the intelligent way to go.Just a word of warning to prospective buyers - apparently *some* A1200's require a modification performed before any accelerator or RAM expansion will function properly. Personally mine had the modification and still doesn't function properly (sometimes hanging on reset) although this may just be my A1200. The Cobra like a plethora of A1200 accelerators and RAM expansions includes a battery backed clock,one standard 72 pin SIMM socket along with a PLCC FPU socket.The RAM unlike other accelerators can be in any size up to 128mb.A utility is also provided to map KickStart into fast RAM and the usual SCSI controller is available. The 28mhz version includes the full 68030 CPU incorporating a Memory Management Unit (MMU).In reality they aren't much use except for Virtual Memory and the odd debugging utility (namely Enforcer).With the addition of Gigamem or VMM you can transform part of your hard drive into RAM. This of course is no where near as fast as real RAM but it may appeal to some.An interesting side note is that DKB do not include an MMU with the 40mhz version of the board and incidentally the 40mhz version is actually only clocked at 33mhz. Now to the most important part of any accelerator - SPEED. The Cobra is no slouch clocking in at around 5.3 MIPS (Millions Of Instructions Per Second) according to Sysinfo 3.23. Of interest to current A1200 owners is that it is 4.32 times faster than a base A1200 and slighty faster than a 25mhz A3000. Overall the Cobra is one of the best accelerators for the A1200.Combining power at an affordable price it easily beats other 020 accelerators and RAM expansions for the best low end A1200 accelerator. @endnode @node REVIEW3 "Review: EIZO FlexScan T563" @toc REVIEW =========================================================================== Review: EIZO FlexScan T563 Christian Rotter christian.rotter@rz.fh-regensburg.d400.de =========================================================================== PRODUCT NAME EIZO FlexScan T563 BRIEF DESCRIPTION A 17-inch, .25 pitch, multisync monitor with tension mask CRT Vertical Scan Rates: 30-86 kHz Horizontal Scan Rates: 55-160 Hz Recommended Resolution: 1280x1024 at 80 Hz (more possible) Display Size: 323 mm x 242 mm Compliant with: MPR-II, TCO-II, ISO9241-3 Energy Star guidelines COMPANY INFORMATION Name: EIZO CORPORATION Address: 655 Fukudome, Matto, Ishikawa 924 Japan LIST PRICE 2450.- DM (Germany, date: January 1996) SPECIAL HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS HARDWARE An Amiga Computer with GFX-board (for full utilization) or display enhancer (flicker fixer). SOFTWARE The Monitor will work on any Amiga with the above add-ons. COPY PROTECTION None 8-) But who _can_ copy this wonderful piece of hardware ? MACHINE USED FOR TESTING Amiga 3000 68030/25, 12 MB Fast RAM, 2 MB Z2-Fast RAM, 2 MB Chip RAM Retina BLT Z3 with 4 MB RAM, Retina System Software Quantum Lighning 730S, Quantum LP240S AmigaDOS/WB 3.1. INSTALLATION Plug in and switch on. REVIEW The T563 is the big brother of the F563. The difference is the tension mask CRT and the CRT trio pitch of 0.25 mm, resulting in a sharp display of various screenmodes. I owned a 14" no-name SVGA-monitor quite a long time, and it annoyed me more from day to day (in the university, I use only Suns with 17+" displays, so I started to hate this 'mouse-cinema' at home). And I wanted to use my GFX-board to display a bigger Workbench than the 14" could display, so I decided to get something bigger. Some things were a problem: I wanted a display for the normal (flicker- fixed) VGA-connector and the Retina Z3-connector, so I thought about buying a electronic monitor switch (damn expensive !). I already had a manual switch (normally used for printers), but this one even had problems transmitting a 35 kHz signal, so I feared the worst for 60 KHz or more. After testing some monitors and reading some tests, I went for the T563. Happily, I discovered that this display has two input connectors, one for D-Sub mini 15 pin and one for 5-BNC (R,G,B,H,V), and so I connected the normal A3000 flicker-fixer port via D-Sub and the Retina port via BNC. Result ? Well, I feared that the monitor would not display the standard 50 Hz from the ECS (used mostly for WORMS :), since it's specified for 55 to 160 Hz horizontal, but it worked quite fine. The only drawback is that RetinaEmu can't turn off the ECS completely, so automatic switching from D-sub to BNC is not working (ECS always spits out some signals), so I have to press a button everytime I change the display from GFX-board to ECS and vice versa. However, I can live with that. The monitor checks incoming signals, if the frequencies are too high/low, the monitor turns off, avoiding possible damage (however, 50 Hz works). The on-screen display manager (multilingual) has lots of possibilities, in fact, you can change _every_ setting form the display, and you can even lock the manager, avoiding that silly users change your settings. There are 4 factory settings and 18 user-definable settings. Adjusting the display is quite easy, instead of trimming height, width, left and right offset separately, simply use the Auto-adjust feature: with a simple button-press the monitor does this for you, the displayed picture fills the visible screen with very high accuracy. Manual adjustment was not necessary until now. There are three different settings for colors, one for normal computer usage, one for paper-like display, and one for viewing videos or digitized images. All settings can be modified temporarily or permanently. Power saving is implemented in several ways: -Off: no power saving at all -Nutek: use a screenblanker that blanks the screen totally, the monitor switches to suspend mode after a set time and to powersave-mode after a second set time. -VESA DPMS: this is an extension to Nutek and requires special software for your GFX-board. The main difference to Nutek is that the monitor suspends after a given time _after_ the screen went black. After that, it works like Nutek. -Power consumption: maximum 120 W normal 115 W suspend mode < 10 W powersave mode < 5 W A feature I have not seen before is display chaining. That means linking several monitors together with BNC connector cables, producing a 'showcase' for presentations, all monitors display the same picture. And should someone finger-print the anti-reflex coated CRT surface, remove it with the supplied cleaning cloth (and cut the finger that touched it :). DOCUMENTATION There is one multi-lingual manual with instructions in English, German and French and several other papers (see OTHER ACCESSORIES). The manual contains a lot of safety information and describes everything needed for operation on 38 pages with explaining pictures. The installation instructions are very straightforward, no problems here. There is an extensive troubleshooting section in the manual, but I never needed it. OTHER ACCESSORIES VGA signal cable (D-Sub mini 15 pin) AC cord Warranty Card User's Manual ScreenManager Quick Reference Guide CRT Cleaning Cloth (!) Tilt-swivel Stand SPECIAL KNOW-HOW As far as I know, EIZO monitors are sold under the NANAO-label in the US. The factory settings are 100% for brighness and contrast, I would reduce that to about 70% to avoid excessive CRT-stress. LIKES Very good display, sharp, with bright colors. Monitor feels 'solid' and looks attractive (think I already love it :) Lots of goodies: -Auto-resize button - fast way to adjust to different resolutions -Dual video input (good for using Retina & ECS-chips, video switch no longer required !) -CRT Cleaning Cloth is included (good for removing fingerprints) -On-screen display manager (multilingual) -possibility to lock the current settings, a 'normal' user cannot mess up anything -several monitors can be chained together, ideal for presentations I really like using a flicker-free 1120x832 Workbench. DISLIKES AND SUGGESTIONS The monitor is pretty expensive (but it's worth it). Loudspeakers are missing, but I prefer a good amplifier with good speakers anyway. I would prefer a BNC video cable, but this is personal 'taste'. So: no real dislikes COMPARISON TO OTHER SIMILAR PRODUCTS I've seen a lot of other 17" monitors before, from Sony, Idek and Miro, and some more. The Eizo may be pretty expensive, but it beats all the other monitors when it comes to economy and quality. BUGS None. VENDOR SUPPORT All worked fine right from the start, so I had no need to check this. However, the local EIZO dealer is very kind and a real pro, so I would say support is very good (he offered me a refund if I would have been discontented with this monitor). WARRANTY Normally one year, if you mail an enclosed warranty registration card to EIZO, warranty is extended to three (3 !!) years. CONCLUSIONS A monitor for everyone who needs a high resolution and ergonomic display. Ok, it's expensive, but I'm already wearing glasses (nearly 20 years now), and I know how important my eyes are. So why should I use something that possibly is not good for my eyes ? Everyone looks at CPU MHz, HD size and RAM amount, but most people I know have cheap monitors and some even get headaches when working for several hours. And before I spend 1500.- DM on a 17" display that I'm discontented with (because some 'minor' noise or 'flaky' display), I'll better buy quality. I rate this product 5 stars out of 5. AT should try to improve graphics performance in future models, high resolution - flicker free - is a must for the next generation of computers with improved GUIs. COPYRIGHT NOTICE Copyright 1995 Christian Rotter. All rights reserved. This review may be redistributed for free, please avoid changes. Copies go to Amiga Report and AmiNet (directory: docs/rview). EMail: christian.rotter@rz.fh-regensburg.d400.de WWW: http://rfhs1012.fh.uni-regensburg.de/~rotter/ PS HTML version is available at this URL: http://rfhs1012.fh.uni-regensburg.de/~rotter/WWW/Amiga/Eizo_T563.html Should you have any questions about the hardware I use, please drop me a mail. For regular mail check out my homepage, you'll find all the information you need there. @endnode @node REVIEW4 "AFS Review Fallout" @toc REVIEW =========================================================================== AFS Review Fallout =========================================================================== [Generally, people are happy enough to let me do my reviews. But the review of Ami-File Safe did not go unnoticed...-Jason] From Osma Ahvenlampi, editor of the Amiga Report Tech Journal: The speed tests you made were hardly fair, giving AFS 7 times as much RAM buffers as FFS. Admittedly, FFS does not use them for much, but still, you effectively were using a disk cache on AFS and none on FFS. I've found the results to be completely different when both are cached, or AFS has only 30-40 buffers like FFS. Also, DiskSpeed didn't show the CPU usage in your tests. If it had, you would have found that FFS took 10-30% of CPU, depending on buffer size, while AFS took 100%. From: John Larkin Hi, I just read your review of AFS and there's one very important point you over-looked; reliability. I'm not a programmer, but I do understand, basically, the way that AFS works. AFS tries to be as safe as possible by writing the file to disk, then creating a new copy of the directory and when everything has been successfully written, it updates the pointers from the old dir to the new dir. This is the point where the entire thing is vulnerable. If something happens at exactly that point, such as a crash, popping the floppy out, or a read/write error on the disk, AFS will fail and leave you with a corrupted disk that you cannot access at all. You can see this for yourself; format a fresh AFS disk and copy a few files to it. Watch the drive activity light and listen to the head move after the main write operation is finished. There should be a pause and then two distinct drive-head movements before the drive stops for good. (you might have to copy 300-500k to the disk before you notice both head movements) Now copy another small file to the disk, wait for the pause and the second head movement, then pop the disk out immediately after the second one. You should get a requestor on Workbench telling you the disk has a read/write error. Cancel it, wait a few seconds and then re-insert the disk, and if you timed it correctly, the result should be AF0:??? on Workbench. You might have to try it a couple times to get the timing down pat, but after a while, you cand do it every time! Now, you may be thinking; "If I have to work so hard to make this happen, then it'll probably never occur on its own." Just think about the number of read/write errors you've ever encountered, the number of crashes, the number of times you've forgot and popped a disk out too early etc, and consider that just one error at the proper time can render the entire disk unreadable. AFS comes with no disk salvage or repair utilities and I've been told that Disksalv 4 will have only limited AFS salvage capabilities. During my experimentation, I managed to create a read/write that would not go away, short of re-formatting the disk, definitely not something you want to happen on a hard drive. Please note; I have nothing against the creators of AFS, or their company, but I think people should know that AFS isn't as safe as it claims to be. AFS disks may never get 'invalidated' (a relatively minor problem with FFS considering the amount of disk utilities available to users) but they can become unreadable due to a single error. I know it's unlikely that you could manage to crash the Amiga during the fraction of a second AFS would take to update the pointers on a good hard drive, but if you're unlucky enough to get a read/write error in just the right place, kiss the entire contents of that partition goodbye! @endnode @node REVIEW5 "SupraFAXModem Review Fallout" @toc REVIEW =========================================================================== SupraFAXModem Review Fallout =========================================================================== [Just can't leave me alone...-Jason] From: mathias.axelsson@coders.ct.se (Mathias Axelsson) Hello Jason! I read your review on the SupraFAXmodem 28k8 V.34, and I just like to comment a few things. JC> compatible with the Amiga. As cables go, it's nice. The modem also ships JC> with some PC telecom and fax software, but you're on your own as far as JC> getting Amiga software goes. This one of the few drawbacks with the Supra modem. A friend of mine (another sysop) bought his SupraFAXmodem 28k8 V.FC modem on sysopdeal and asked if he could get the GPFax bundle instead, but he still got the PC software pack... :( At least here in Sweden they bundled GPFax with the old SupraFAXmodem 14k4 V.32". It's a pity they don't do the same with the sysop deal. JC> forgotten the business of the Amiga community. You'll find an Amiga tech JC> support number listed in the manual, and they have Term on their JC> ftp.supra.com FTP site, as well as GPFax drivers. Here's also a big plus on Supras side. They finally made a flasher program for the Amiga. It gives an occational Enforcer hit, but it works. [Of course, now you can flash the ROM without the program, as I pointed out in the review. -Jason] JC> flashing LEDs and a small LED letter display, used for a variety of JC> purposes. The letter display indicates your state of connection, any This is also great, because one can actually see when it retrains/recieves errors, as well as the current connect speed. JC> Real world use of the modem in an MLink network setup to Xnet at 28.8k JC> tends to give me in the range of 2700-3000 usable CPS. (That is, I can I, as a Fidonet sysop, calls different places every night to get mail, and on big zipped (or lha/lzx:ed) files I get almost always 3200-3300 cps in transfer rate (if I get a 28k8 connect that is). I've been using the modem for about 1.5 year (I got mine in September 1994) and it only failed once, but that must have been an rare occasion. Other Supra sysops I've talked to has said that the V.34 modem is very stable. Using NComm to download, with the port set to 115200 (on my A3000/25) I get 3200-3300 cps as well when up/downloading files. Even on long distans calls (more than 500 km away) I still get good transfer rates, so I class their modem as very good. I can also say that they have great support, with quick response time. They also have a great sysop deal. I bought my SupraFAXmodem 28k8 V.FC for US$ 169 + p&p. The p&p was quite expensive for sending it to Sweden, US$ 90 for one modem and US$ 20 for each extra modem. I bought mine with a friend, so I only got US$ 55 in p&p, but that is still very expensive. The modems was quickly delivered though. Less than a week after I faxed the order I had the modems. I had problem with my first V.FC modem. The display just went dead and I couln't even flash the modem. I had to send it in, and asked for them to update the modem to a V.34 modem at the same time, and I got the modem upgraded and sent to me for the upgrade cost of US$ 49.95. That is truly great! It's also great to see a company that still supports the Amiga. @endnode @node REVIEW6 "Review: Iconographics" @toc REVIEW =========================================================================== Review: Iconographics Christian Kemp year0183@mailhost.innet.lu =========================================================================== PRODUCT NAME Iconographics 3.0 BRIEF DESCRIPTION 8 color Workbench icon collection with NewIcon support. AUTHOR/COMPANY INFORMATION Name: Tom Ekström Address: Tiilentekijänkatu 16 as.10 SF-20810 Turku Finland E-mail: litoek@uta.fi LIST PRICE Freely distributable. SPECIAL HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS No special hardware and software requirements, although Kickstart 2.0, a hard disk and a multiscan monitor are suggested. COPY PROTECTION None. MACHINE USED FOR TESTING A1200, 68030, 6 MB RAM, 250 MB hard disk INSTALLATION Installation is accomplished through a special script, which will copy all icons to their relevant places. This installation can be interactive or automatic. This is very straightforward and Iconographics can be installed in a few minutes. REVIEW I have always hated the old 4 color icons that came with my Workbench. Then came MagicWB, and my life changed. My Workbench turned into something beautiful, which was actually fun to use. But then I realized that it was Shareware. My philosophy is to be honest and either register for a Shareware program or stop using it. With much regret I deleted all MagicWB icons and sweared that I would register one day. Then came Iconographics 1.0 and my life changed again. I can't remember where I first saw it, but it was impressive! Lively colors, icons which are easily recognisable and, best of all, it was not Shareware. I immediately installed it and since then I have converted all my Workbench icons to the Iconographics standart. But what makes Iconographics different from the other packages that float around on Aminet? Well, first, it has a good installer. No fiddling around with tooltypes, no manual installation of the icons in the SYS: device, and very important, it is complete. There are icons for every purpose, the need to get additional icons from another source is fairly low. Before I continue this review, let me describe you the colors Iconographics uses. Firstly, it uses the first 4 colors from a standard Workbench, grey-black-white-blue. The four additional colors are dark blue, light green, orange and red. This covers the RGB spectrum, which means that you will have less difficulty to draw something than with the pale MagicWB-type colors. The colors are layouted in a way which makes it possible to view the icons in 4 color mode without losing too much information. There is not much to say about the replacement icons for the Workbench files. They are simply great. My Workbench looks so much more professional with them. All Iconographics icons have the same dimensions, which make it easy to tidy up your Workbench. The real strenght of Iconographics are the tons of additional drawer and file icons. They cover every aspect of computing on the Amiga and they are mostly not related to a specific program, but almost always to a program type. There are 80 drawer icons, 71 "flag drawers" showing flags of different countries, 52 program and prefs icons, 45 dock icons and 116 def_icons. The def_icons can be used in conjunction with DefIcons from the NewIcons collection. DefIcons is an enhancement of the default Amiga icon.library which features an automatic recognition of the file type of files which don't have an icon. For example when doing a on a directory on the Aminet CD, lots of icons will be displayed. NewIcons is not only supported through DefIcons, but rather the whole icon collection can be converted to newIcons format. I won't describe NewIcons here in every detail, this has already been done more than once. For people new to the Amiga, NewIcons is a system patch that is able to show icons - no matter what their colors are - in best-possible quality and no matter which palette is installed on the computer. The Installer can automatically convert standart Iconographics and Workbench icons to NewIcon format. Installing the additional icons is accomplished through the IconInstaller program, which is very user-friendly and has drag and drop capabilities. Normally, no more than two mouse moves are needed to replace the imaginary of an icon with the one of a Iconographics one. The nice thing about this is that IconInstaller will not modify the tooltypes of the old icon, only its look. IconInstaller can also be configured to automatically convert icons to given format (tool, project, disk, trashcan) and it can be used to quickly set or change the default tool of files. Iconographics comes with a construction kit, an IFF picture full of small "cliparts", which make it easy for you to construct your own icons with a minimum of effort and time. v3.0 also includes a font, a mouse pointer, some Workbench patterns and images for MUI gadgets. DOCUMENTATION The documentation consists of an AmigaGuide® text, it contains all the information you are likely to need. A documentation is not essential for an icon package, but the author seems to have put a lot of work in it nevertheless. LIKES I like everything about Iconographics. It's perfect! (Well, nearly) All the features I mentioned in the review can be considered as LIKES. DISLIKES AND SUGGESTIONS My only dislike is that all icons are saved in 8 bitplanes, which causes long loading times when a drawer is opened and which also implies that the icons are rather large. However, this is not the fault of the creator, but rather the fault of the palette system developed by Commodore. If you want speedier access to directories you can still alter the depths of the icons from 8 Bit to 3 or 4 Bit. Programs for doing this are available on Aminet. COMPARISON TO OTHER SIMILAR PRODUCTS I used MagicWB before I installed Iconographics and I wouldn't want to change again. Iconographics is just so much better ;-) BUGS I found a slight annoyance in the IconInstaller, but this only occured once, when I had little memory remaining. The author knows about it, and if there should be a bug in the program (which I am not sure), there will probably soon be an update. CONCLUSIONS Get it! A rating of 5 stars out of 5 is the only logical conclusion to this review. COPYRIGHT NOTICE Copyright (C)1996 Christian Kemp. Freely distributable as long as the review is not altered. All opinions are my own, I wasn't paid by Tom Ekström for this review! @endnode @node REVIEW7 "Review: Light ROM 3" @toc REVIEW =========================================================================== Review: Light ROM 3 Bohuslav Blahut x5440 bmb000@dns.colum.edu =========================================================================== If you've worked in any of the 3D animation softwares available for the Amiga or the PC, you may recall your feeling of awe at the vastness of the virtual universe that were creating. Combine that with the limitless reaches of the Internet, and you've got a mindboggling amount of space to fill. Graphic Detail has bridged some of that vastness with the release of Light ROM 3: a set of three CD roms primarily dedicated to the Lightwave 3D artists. Don't let the name fool you, there is much to interest users of other software packages on both the Amiga and PC. Most of the 3D models, textures, et al are available in the public domain. These CDs bring all of these resources together in one convenient and inexpensive package. Much of the material on the discs is available exclusively to Light ROM 3 purchasers. The first disc in the set contains literally hundreds of LightWave models, loadable into both Amiga and PC versions. Also on the disc are full color thumbnail pictures showing you the models already rendered. Since there is no good way to preview models on the net, this feature alone makes the discs worth adding to your collection. New to this version of the collection is the fact that the models, their surfaces, imagemaps, etc. are in directories on the CD optimised for easy loading into LightWave. Another LightWave-aimed directory includes several Plug-ins, Arexx scripts, surfaces, and other related programs. Also is a directory of Jpegs produced by Questar's World Construction Set, a landscape generating program. I loaded this demo sequence into my DraCo, and was surprised at the stunning realism. The WCS demo sequence takes you on a slow flight into a canyon, as the sky goes from day till night. This is truly a superb demonstration of the latitude of this program. Those of you who have Vlab Motion or PAR cards, would do yourselves a service if you load up these frames. Disk #2 in the set has 100.7 megs of objects in 3D studio format, some with GIF thumnail renderings. Other directories contain objects in Imagine (176 Megs), Real 3D (7.2 megs), and Sculpt (32.7 megs) formats. These objects can be converted for use in LightWave by using both Pixel Pro (axiom) and Interchange (Syndesis). 820 textures are included in Jpeg format, along with thumbnail renderings. It would be nice to have these organized into categories, and have names instead of numbers. Another of Graphic Detail's CD collections Texture Gallery, does have it's textures named and categorized. These new textures include cloth, brick, tiles, and a directory of greyscale images for bumpmapping and alpha channel compositing. In addition to a Video Toaster directory with accessories and textfiles for NewTek's Amiga video hardware, is a directory of DEM objects. Landscape generators such as World Construction Set and Vista Pro use DEM (Digital Elevation Maps) to create their landforms. DEMs are geographic digital data gathered by the US Government. DEM compatible software uses this information to fractally generate landscapes. This disc's DEMs have been converted into actual 3D objects for use in LightWave, 3D studio, and Imagine. There are Thumnail indexes in IFF and Targa format on disc 2 for the true DEMs on disc 3. Also included on Disc 2 are various PD programs for both Amiga and PC, and issues of "Tesselation Times", another electronic publication concentrating on 3D graphics. Disc 3 contains the true DEMs mentioned earlier. On this disc are thumbnail rendering of the DEMs in JPeg format. In my work I've used all three volumes of LightROM, and this latest 3 disc set represents an impressive accomplishment. While many of these programs and objects are available in the public domain, having so many of them assembled in one place on a rapid access disc makes this volume well worth the $49.95. If you're a 3D graphic artist, you cannot be without a CD ROM reader. Internal double speed drives are availble for about $50, and there are several good PD CD interface programs for the Amiga. With the increasing number of texture and object CDs coming out, you won't want to be left behind. This CD set is a great example of what's out there for computer users with CD rom readers. LightROM 3 is an excellent investment for any artist, and the investment of time that Graphic Detail has put into this collection is clear in the high quality of the CDs. Since the objects and textures are created by users of varying skill levels, be prepared for varying levels of quality in the material on the discs. I've been very satisfied with the CD's objects. Even if an objects isn't exactly what I need for a particular project, I've found that having even a rough object to use as a template saves me considerable time in modeling. As you can see LightROM 3 is a very complete answer to the needs of beginners and pros alike. The CDs are updated every six months, and are very reasonably priced. Available from: Graphic Detail Inc. 4556 South 3rd St. Louisville, KY 40214 USA orders: 1.800.265.4041 voice/fax: 502.363.2986 email: michael@iglou.com Light ROM 3: $49.95 shipping: $ 4.95 US and Canada $ 6.95 international orders @endnode @node REVIEW8 "FantaSeas PhotoCD" @toc REVIEW =========================================================================== Review: FantaSeas PhotoCD Bohuslav Blahut bmb000@dns.colum.edu =========================================================================== FantaSeas- a portfolia PhotoCD Many Amiga owners still don't have CD rom drives. While other platforms have more of a pressing need for CD roms, most Amiga software publishers still provide software on Double-Density floppy discs. In the past. there were few advantages (and even fewer titles) offered Amiga CD rom owners, but that is rapidly changing. If you use your Amiga for graphics, animation, or video, there are a number of exciting new CD roms available to the Amiga owner. CD rom readers are coming down radically in price. Internal SCSI 2x units start at $50, though if you can afford to, you should consider a 4x drive. In my day to day use of a 4x, it seems as fast as a harddrive. AmigaDOS 3.0 or higher already has built-in facilities for reading CDroms, but 2.0 users have to find other ways to make their systems CD compatible. While there are several PD tools for accessing CDs, I have had the best success with ASIMcdfs, a commercial product. ASIMcdfs has facilities for converting PhotoCds to Amiga IFFs, and has a great library program for audio CDs. ImageFX can load PhotoCDs as well. I mention Photo CDs because there have been more and more available texture PhotoCDs for multiplatform use. Corel (makers of Corel Draw) have come out with a series of photoCDs for Mac and PC use, but as long as the disc is in ISO-9660 format, it should read on your Amiga. Other CDs are available with TIFF and Jpeg format images, so armed with your CD rom reader and your favorite IP software, you have expansive choices from an inexpensive armada of textures. Caveat Emptor, as usual. Just because it's on CD, that doesn't gurantee you the best possible quality. I've bought texture CDs with almost unusable fuzzy HAM format imagery. However, I've found that PhotoCD selections represent better quality. One of the best I've seen is FantaSeas from Amiga Library Services. This 2 disc set is readable by any CDrom that supports Kodak's PhotoCD format. The discs contains almost 300 (most photo CDs have around 100 photos) of undersea life and exploration. I used ImageFX to load the pictures onto my DraCo. The images are stored in full photo quality on the disc, and different viewers/programs will treat the large-resolution phot images in different ways. ImageFX's PhotoCD loader gives you the option of loading the image at the following reolutions: 192x128, 384x256, 768x512, 1536x1024, 3072x2048 Lo Res, and 3072x2048 Hi Res. If you open the image on a 24bit screen, you'll be treated to a bevy of beautiful underwater photography. There are series of photos of fish, anemones, divers, skulls, shipwrecks, and more. All of the pictures are indexed by description and name in the Cd's booklet. These photos could be great backgrounds in Lightwave 3D, the closeups could be highly-detailed imagemapped textures for models. You could bluescreen actors in diving suits against these deep sea scenes, and perhaps animate some bubbles over the background to add some life to the still. ImageFX would be perfect to add a slight ripple to the imagery to camouflage it's still photograph origin. Since these pictures can be interpreted by your Amiga in a number of different resolutions, this means that you can use FantaSeas equally well in video projects as well as publishing at full photo quality. Your purchase of FantaSeas includes your right to include these images in your work with a run of under 5000 copies. A deal to be sure. (How did I get through this review without making the obligatory "make a splash in your video with FantaSeas jokes?") available from: Amiga Library Services 610 N. Alma School Rd., Suite 18 Chandler, Arizona 85224-3687 USA call: 1.800.804.0833 email: info@amigalib.com FantaSeas: $49.95 Shipping: $ 3.95 @endnode @node CHARTS1 "Aminet Charts: 22-Jan-96" @toc FTP | The most downloaded files from Aminet during the week until 22-Jan-96 | Updated weekly. Most popular file on top. | |File Dir Size Age Description |----------------- --- ---- --- ----------- ar401.lha docs/mags 66K 0+Amiga Report 4.01, January 16, 1996 Floppy_fix.lha hard/hack 6K 0+Fix for the floppy problem of newer Voodoo-1.103.lha comm/mail 424K 1+Very nice GUI MIME E-Mail reader for mn_ansitest.lha comm/mebbs 3K 30+ANSI Test Door for MEBBSNet AMountains.lha gfx/fract 67K 1+Fractal landscape generator taskbar3.lha util/wb 19K 0+Win95 style taskbar (bugs fixed) ST210.lha biz/patch 767K 0+Studio V2.10b Update of the printer cybershow60.lha gfx/board 96K 1+SlideShow&Viewer(incl.PCD)for CybGfx DeliTracker222.lha mus/play 717K 1+Bugfixes & some new players/genies gsv.lha game/gag 17K 1+Win95's General Priviledge Violation uconv14.lha gfx/conv 1.1M 0+Best converter. 32 Filters...MPEG Su amtank.lha game/2play 322K 1+A tanks clone. GUItcp.lha comm/net 3K 1+Launches TCP & Related programs from mnews0_2.lha comm/news 45K 0+MUI news group reader for AmiTCP. V0 MagiC64.lha misc/emu 286K 0+The fastest C64 emulator for Amiga V RAM-icon.lha pix/mwb 10K 0+Replaces RAM-icons (Disk, Env, T, Cl xtd-tp5.txt demo/tp95 19K 1+Report from THE PARTY 5 - Worst Part IconifyGadget.lha util/misc 12K 1+Adds iconify gadget to windows. BETA Worms+.lha game/misc 37K 1+2 new WORMS Maps by Maxime/RamJam | The highest rated programs during the week until 22-Jan-96 | Updated weekly. Best program on top. Please rate all the programs you | download. To do so, send to aminet-server@wuarchive.wustl.edu : | RATE | where is the file you want to judge and is a mark from 0..10 | with 10 being the best. You can rate several programs in one mail, but | don't rate your own programs. Example: RATE dev/gui/mui23usr.lha 8 | |File Dir Size Age Description |----------------- --- ---- --- ----------- imdbDiff951222.lha biz/dbase 704K 3+Diffs for the Internet MovieDatabase upcat13.lha biz/dbase 64K 91+A disk catalog program. Voodoo-1.103.lha comm/mail 424K 1+Very nice GUI MIME E-Mail reader for E-MailMosaic.lha comm/tcp 23K 6+To get & put E-Mail with Mosaic ar401.lha docs/mags 66K 0+Amiga Report 4.01, January 16, 1996 AmigaFAQg.lha docs/misc 489K 4+Amiga: H ufig gestellte Fragen ( 5.0 ParrotIsland.lha game/demo 761K 3+Very great adventure like Monkey Isl tritus_demo.lha game/demo 213K 6+Superb 3-player Tetris Clone DiamondCave2_3.lha game/misc 563K 4+The ultimate Boulder Dash Clone V2.3 JTEWorms.lha game/misc 54K 5+4 Custom Maps for Worms xanimwin003.lha gfx/show 34K 2+MUI based GUI for XAnim SoundBox22.lha mus/misc 122K 11+Converts soundfiles and plays 14 bit viva-amiga.lha pix/imagi 300K 7+Pro-Amiga Imagine raytrace - VIVA AM Repack3_4.lha util/arc 27K 2+Update of the best ->LZX repacker, G uuxt31.lha util/arc 109K 26+The Best UUcoder with full WB suppor Remind1.52.lha util/cdity 55K 19+Never forget an important event agai mcxp212.lha util/cdity 54K 2+MUI Preferences for MultiCX scrwiz11.lha util/cdity 68K 41+Small,configurable public screen man Index2GuideV13.lha util/conv 14K 4+AmiNets Index/Recent -> AmigaGuide V PGPtoGUIV2.0e.lha util/crypt 36K 1+A GUI for PGP. V2.0e-english-languag XPKDT-1.0B.lha util/dtype 14K 8+DataType for XPK compressed files ReqToolsUsr.lha util/libs 156K 1+ReqTools 2.4 - the requester toolkit GrabKick.lha util/misc 3K 1+Copy KICKSTART-ROM to a file V1.7 snoopdos30.lha util/moni 128K 70+System monitor, many new features ad VZ_II126.lha util/virus 160K 5+VirusZ v1.26 by Georg H rmann TimeConnect.lha comm/misc 66K 0+Phone Call coster/logger with MUI AmigaFAQ.lha docs/misc 468K 4+Amiga: Frequently asked questions 5 nemac4d1.lha game/demo 441K 6+3D T-mapped game demo 1/3. Read .rea nemac4d2.lha game/demo 695K 6+3D T-mapped game demo 2/3. Read .rea nemac4d3.lha game/demo 698K 6+3D T-mapped game demo 3/3. Read .rea @endnode @node CHARTS2 "Aminet Charts: 29-Jan-96" @toc FTP | The most downloaded files from Aminet during the week until 29-Jan-96 | Updated weekly. Most popular file on top. | |File Dir Size Age Description |----------------- --- ---- --- ----------- mn_ansitest.lha comm/mebbs 3K 31+ANSI Test Door for MEBBSNet ar401.lha docs/mags 66K 1+Amiga Report 4.01, January 16, 1996 TCPIP-Master15.lha comm/tcp 30K 1+Version 1.5 of an TCP/IP Controll-Pa FastExec11.lzh util/boot 6K 1+Moves exec.library to fast memory mftp1_33.lha comm/tcp 79K 0+Update for mftp1_31.lha (MUI ftp cli WinPlay.lha gfx/show 41K 0+Workbench Anim Player - Version 1.31 CGWBPat105.lha util/wb 101K 0+New WBPattern (supports. CGfx) Now l ju257.lha hard/hack 121K 1+How to modify Panasonic 3.5" disk dr picturedtV43.lha gfx/board 103K 0+24Bit picture.datatype for CyberGfx FTPMaker.lha comm/misc 40K 0+Help you to configure your ftpaccess taskbar3.lha util/wb 19K 1+Win95 style taskbar (bugs fixed) MUIXAnim10.lha gfx/show 20K 1+A Graphic User Interface to use with ifftoasc.lha gfx/conv 70K 1+Converts IFFs to ASCII art! MountInfo.lha disk/misc 5K 1+Shows Mountlists for auto-mounted de Rocko.lha game/misc 294K 0+Boxing Game with Digitized Graphics slipcall4.lha comm/tcp 97K 0+Dialer for AmiTCP, v37.51, bugfixes. GPDialv1.0.lha comm/tcp 59K 1+A script based dialer for AmiTCP mcx243.lha util/cdity 53K 0+Multi Function Commodity sfx-doc_eng.lha mus/edit 76K 0+V 3.3 Docs english | The highest rated programs during the week until 29-Jan-96 | Updated weekly. Best program on top. Please rate all the programs you | download. To do so, send to aminet-server@wuarchive.wustl.edu : | RATE | where is the file you want to judge and is a mark from 0..10 | with 10 being the best. You can rate several programs in one mail, but | don't rate your own programs. Example: RATE dev/gui/mui23usr.lha 8 | |File Dir Size Age Description |----------------- --- ---- --- ----------- upcat13.lha biz/dbase 64K 92+A disk catalog program. Voodoo-1.103.lha comm/mail 424K 2+Very nice GUI MIME E-Mail reader for E-MailMosaic.lha comm/tcp 23K 7+To get & put E-Mail with Mosaic ar401.lha docs/mags 66K 1+Amiga Report 4.01, January 16, 1996 AmigaFAQg.lha docs/misc 489K 5+Amiga: H ufig gestellte Fragen ( 5.0 ParrotIsland.lha game/demo 761K 4+Very great adventure like Monkey Isl tritus_demo.lha game/demo 213K 7+Superb 3-player Tetris Clone JTEWorms.lha game/misc 54K 6+4 Custom Maps for Worms argus.lha game/shoot 357K 16+Fast with lots of weapon powerups. xanimwin003.lha gfx/show 34K 3+MUI based GUI for XAnim MagiC64.lha misc/emu 286K 1+The fastest C64 emulator for Amiga V SteveHeadroom.lha misc/misc 1.0M 4+Random talking head, needs 2M chip r SoundBox22.lha mus/misc 122K 12+Converts soundfiles and plays 14 bit viva-amiga.lha pix/imagi 300K 8+Pro-Amiga Imagine raytrace - VIVA AM Repack3_4.lha util/arc 27K 3+Update of the best ->LZX repacker, G uuxt31.lha util/arc 109K 27+The Best UUcoder with full WB suppor Remind1.52.lha util/cdity 55K 20+Never forget an important event agai scrwiz11.lha util/cdity 68K 42+Small,configurable public screen man Index2GuideV13.lha util/conv 14K 5+AmiNets Index/Recent -> AmigaGuide V PGPtoGUIV2.0e.lha util/crypt 36K 2+A GUI for PGP. V2.0e-english-languag XPKDT-1.0B.lha util/dtype 14K 9+DataType for XPK compressed files ReqToolsUsr.lha util/libs 156K 2+ReqTools 2.4 - the requester toolkit Executive.lha util/misc 527K 9+UNIX-like task scheduler (V1.30) GrabKick.lha util/misc 3K 2+Copy KICKSTART-ROM to a file V1.7 snoopdos30.lha util/moni 128K 71+System monitor, many new features ad VZ_II126.lha util/virus 160K 6+VirusZ v1.26 by Georg H rmann TimeConnect.lha comm/misc 85K 0+Phone Call coster/logger with MUI AmigaFAQ.lha docs/misc 468K 5+Amiga: Frequently asked questions 5 FOV_3Ddemo.lha game/demo 389K 13+Breathless Demo. @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 majordomo@amigalib.com Your subject header will be ignored. In the body of the message, enter subscribe areport ie: subscribe areport jcompton@xnet.com The system will automatically pull your e-mail address from the message header. 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! ** @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.netnet.net, 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 one of the following URLs: http://www.omnipresence.com/Amiga/News/AR/ http://www.pwr.wroc.pl/AMIGA/AR/ http://mm.iit.uni-miskolc.hu/Data/AR http://www.fhi-berlin.mpg.de/amiga/ar/ http://ramiga.rnet.cgi.com/~AR http://www.sci.muni.cz/ar/ http://metro.turnpike.net/P/panther/main.html http://www.lysator.liu.se/amiga/ar/ http://ArtWorks.apana.org.au/AmigaReport.html http://www.vol.it/MIRROR2/EN/AMIGA/ The following AR sites also have a mailto form, allowing you to mail to Amiga Report from the web site.

http://www.cucug.org/ar/ar402.guide

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08/1997