@database "ar505.guide"
@Node MAIN "Amiga Report Online Magazine #5.05 -- May 31, 1997"
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  May 31, 1997                @{" Turn the Page " link MENU}             Issue No. 5.05
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Hello Jason! It's good to read a new issue of Amiga Report after many weeks of waiting. Although I have left the Amiga community some years ago I still have a look at the development of the Amiga from time to time, and your AR is an excellent way to do so. However, in issue 5.04 you reported about one MPEG audio compression scheme and, after listing some names for it, you decided to call it "MPEG3". Unfortunately, this is defintely the wrongest one (greetings to Murphy 8-) ). To enlighten you, here is a short description of the MPEG family. MPEG-1 ------ Video: non-interlaced video with frames up to 4095*4095 pixels theoretically, real implementations mostly use 352*240 at 30 frames/s and 352*288 at 25 frames/s Audio: 16 bit PCM audio mono or stereo at 32/44.1/48 kHz sampling rate There are three encoding schemes for audio which are called Layer 1, Layer 2, and Layer 3. The different layers are optimized for different intended target bitrates of 192, 128, and 64 kb/s per audio channel respectively with maximum total rates of 448, 384, and 320 kb/s respectively. System: How to mix video and audio data streams into one data stream MPEG-2 ------ Video: interlaced and non-interlaced video with frames up to 16383*16383 pixels theoretically, real implementations with 720*480 at 30 frames/s, 720*576 at 25 frames/s (both used in DVD Video), 1920*1080 at 30 frames/s (US digital television, maximum values) Audio: same as MPEG-1 Audio, extended with specs for: - sampling rates 16/22.05/24 kHz - surround sound channels compatible with MPEG-1 Audio - surround sound channels _not_ compatible with MPEG-1 Audio System: as above, with compatible extensions MPEG-3 ------ intended for High Definition TV (e.g. 1920*1080 pixels), but dropped because MPEG-2 was sufficent for this, too MPEG-4 ------ video and audio encoding for very low bitrates (ca. 64 kb/s), still under development More information is available via http://www.mpeg.org. Summary and conclusion: The right name is "MPEG-1 Audio Layer 3". Best wishes, Dirk Tust - Thanks for the summary, Dirk. I understand the confusion the term "MPEG3" doubtless causes among those who really understand MPEG but the fact is that most of the resources our readers will be looking through will indeed refer to MPEG-1 Audio Layer 3 as "MPEG3" or simply "MP3". In a way that seems appropriate if the real "MPEG-3" is a defunct standard. -Jason ******** From: ratkins@osix.com.au (Robert Atkins) Subject: Why people wanted the Gateway AR issue... Jason, There are two sources of information I believe for Amiga buyout related news. Official press releases in comp.sys.amiga.announce, and the news and editorial of AR. It's just not worth the trouble of believing anything else these anymore. Up until a couple of days after "the announcement", nothing had turned up in c.s.a.a on my news server, and that's why *I* was hanging on for the buyout issue of AR. I think that's why people still wanted the GW buyout issue -- so we had the real story from the source we trust. Thanks. @endnode @node NEWS1 "HotListHandler 1.10" @toc NEWS TITLE HotListHandler 1.10 (30-Mar-97) AUTHOR Robert Nienkemper, Den Helder, The Netherlands robertn@tip.nl DESCRIPTION HotListHandler (HLH) will manage your hotlist! Share one hotlist with all the browsers available for the Amiga. If you use more than one browser then use HotListHandler. If you stick with one browser, well, use it anyway. HLH FEATURES o A nice toolbar o Easy to use o Share one hotlist among Amiga browsers o Offers a QuickMenu for fastlinks o Creates an index when viewing the hotlist through a browser o Grab URL's from browsers* (if the browser supports it via ARexx) o Edit the hotlist while off-line (create Groups, add URL's, etc.) o Jump to any public screen o Totally font sensitive o AddToHotlist conversion NEW FEATURES o Sort a hotlist o Search a hotlist o An HLH ARexx port o More Tooltypes for a better startup o Multiple hotlist support (Open, Save As) o Step through groups o Print a hotlist o Use the "hide" flag from AWeb hotlists o Support for Voyager-NG o And more..... HLH SUPPORTS o AWeb o IBrowse o Voyager* o Mosaic o Voyager-NG* * QuickGrab cannot be supported with Voyager as these browsers have no ARexx command to share the URL with other programs. REQUIREMENTS Amiga OS 3.0+ AVAILABILITY ftp://ftp.wustl.edu/pub/aminet/comm/www/HLHandler110.lha (57344) http://www.tip.nl/users/robertn/ PRICE & DISTRIBUTABITY Shareware: $10 US Distribution: Not restricted. Copyright (c) 1996-1997 Robert Nienkemper @endnode @node NEWS2 "AHI Audio System R4" @toc NEWS TITLE AHI Audio System VERSION Release 4 AUTHOR Martin Blom DESCRIPTION Retargetable Audio for AmigaOS (When refering to this software, the correct term is 'AHI audio system' or just 'AHI', never 'Audio Hardware Interface'! 'AHI' is pronounced 'atchii', as in 'God bless!'.) Starting with version 3 of AHI, the MC68000 processor is also supported. However, many features are lacking: * 16 bit samples are converted to 8 bits before they are mixed. * No HiFi mixing routines are available. * No stereo samples * No DSP effects are available. * Less precision on some calculations * Slower As you can see, this version is very primitive. Get yourself an accelerator! I cannot guarantee that I will continue to support this processor in the future. Quick overview * Driver based Each supported sound card is controlled by a library-based audio driver. For a 'dumb' sound card, a new driver should be written in a few hours. For a 'smart' sound card, it is possible to utilize an on-board DSP, for example, to maximize performance and sound quality. For sound cards with own DSP but little or no memory, it is possible to use the main CPU to mix channels and do the post-processing with the DSP. Available today are drivers for * Aura (sampler only) * Delfina * DraCo Motion * Paula (8/14/14c bit) * Prelude * Toccata * Wavetools * 8SVX (mono) and AIFF/AIFC (mono & stereo) sample render * Fast, powerful mixing routines (yeah, right... haha) The device's mixing routines mix 8- or 16-bit signed samples, both mono and stereo, located in Fast-RAM and outputs 16-bit mono or stereo (with stereo panning if desired) data, using any number of channels (as long as 'any' means less than 128...). Tables can be used speed the mixing up (especially when using 8-bit samples). The samples can have any length (including odd) and can have any number of loops. * Support for non-realtime mixing By providing a timing feature, it is possible to create high- quality output even if the processing power is lacking, by saving the output to disk, for example as an IFF AIFF or 8SXV file. There are so-called HiFi mixing routines that can be used, which use linear interpolation and gives 32 bit output. * Audio database Uses ID codes, much like Screenmode IDs, to select the many parameters that can be set. The functions to access the audio database are not too different from those in 'graphics.library'. The device also features a requester to get an ID code from the user. * Both high- and low-level protocol By acting both like a device and a library, AHI gives the programmer a choice between full control and simplicity. The device API allows several programs to use the audio hardware at the same time, and the AUDIO: dos-device driver makes playing and recording sound very simple for both the programmer and user. * Future Compatible When AmigaOS gets device-independent audio worth it's name, it should not be too difficult to write a driver for AHI, allowing applications using 'ahi.device' to automatically use the new OS interface. At least I hope not. SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS AmigaOS release 2. MC68020 processor strongly recommended. AVAILABILITY Aminet, for example: ftp://ftp.germany.aminet.org/pub/aminet/dev/misc/ahidev.lha ftp://ftp.germany.aminet.org/pub/aminet/mus/misc/ahiusr.lha ftp://ftp.germany.aminet.org/pub/aminet/docs/misc/ahiman.lha WWW: http://www.lysator.liu.se/~lcs/ahi.html PRICE Free. But if you use it in a shareware of commercial product, I would like a registered copy for me and each of the audio driver authors (this is merely a wish, you don't have to do it if you don't think we deserve it). See the AHI User's Guide for more information. DISTRIBUTABILITY Copyright 1994-1997 Martin Blom. Freely distributable in unmodified form. See the AHI User's Guide for more information. @endnode @node NEWS3 "AHI R4 Extra Utilities" @toc NEWS TITLE AHI extra utilities VERSION Speak Freely6.1b Newtracker3.56/AHIr2 AHI-Noteplayer 1.4 HardDiskRecord 1.1 AHI-SoundDT40.6 patched ProtrackerDT1.11 AUTHOR Martin Blom Bjornar Henden John Walker Commodore-Amiga, Inc.Hell? DESCRIPTION Speak Freely This is a quick port if John Walker's "Speak Freely" (Unix version). The AUDIO: device that is part of the AHI package (see Aminet:mus/misc/ahiusr.lha or ) is used to play and record sound. This means that it was a walk in the park to port the program, and that it also supports sound cards. Newtracker This is a program to compose music modules. It should be compatible with the ProTracker module-format. Some of the advantages: - requires 2.0 and asl.library v38 - font-sensitive gadget user interface - multiple windows, most of them sizeable - opens on any public screen - select screenmode - support for xpk - doesn't mess up your hires pointer - correctly allocates audio.device - builtin sampler (not the best) Some of the disadvantages: - no documentation - maybe too few functions at the moment Original program written by Bjornar Henden, this version hacked to use AHI by Martin Blom. My changes include: Replaced audio.device opendevice/closedevice with AHI routines. Added an audio mode requester. Added the new AHI variables to the prefs file. Redirected all audio hardware banging to AHI. Changed sample loading to fast-memory instead of chip. Removed CIA timer code, AHI's timing is used instead (yes, it works with the filesave driver!). Commented out the Filter and Funk effects (Funk works perfectly, but it's such a lame effect that I wont support it). r2: I had the channels (left/right) swapped. The quadrascopes works with sound cards now. Some error checking added. AHI-Noteplayer This is a DeliTracker NotePlayer for the AHI audio system. Based on the Toccata NotePlayer Genie by Delirium Softdesign. HardDiskRecord This is the binary distribution of HardDiskRecord, a simple program that I wrote to demonstrate how to use AHI for recording. The full source is included in the AHI Developer's Archive. AHI-SoundDT This is just yet another of those quick'n dirty one-day hacks for AHI. This time a small patch for sound.datatype that makes it use the AHI audio system version 4 instead of audio.device. Hopefully Jonathan Gapen will finish his new sound.datatype featuring 16 bit sound soon, but in the mean time this hack may be useful. ProtrackerDT Protracker datatype, using AHI version 2 or later. Quite hackish, but it works. SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS AmigaOS release 2. MC68020+ processor strongly recommended. AHI audio system version 4. AVAILABILITY Aminet, for example: ftp://ftp.germany.aminet.org/pub/aminet/comm/net/ahi-sf-6.1b.lha ftp://ftp.germany.aminet.org/pub/aminet/mus/edit/NewTracker-AHI.lha ftp://ftp.germany.aminet.org/pub/aminet/mus/play/AHI-NotePlayer.lha ftp://ftp.germany.aminet.org/pub/aminet/mus/misc/HardDiskRecord.lha ftp://ftp.germany.aminet.org/pub/aminet/util/dtype/AHI-SoundDT.lha ftp://ftp.germany.aminet.org/pub/aminet/util/dtype/ProtrackerDT.lha WWW: http://www.lysator.liu.se/~lcs/ahi.html PRICE Free. DISTRIBUTABILITY Freeware. Freely distributable in unmodified form. @endnode @node NEWS4 "STU - System Test Utility V8" @toc NEWS TITLE STU - System Test Utility VERSION 8.0 AUTHOR Tony Preston, apreston@k2nesoft.com DESCRIPTION STU is an Amiga system diagnostic. Its purpose is to test disk drives and memory on any model Amiga using the operating system functions. With this program you can test all available memory and the disk functions of the system. The user has the ability to test individual drives for errors. NEW FEATURES There are a few small bug fixes for some enforcer hits. SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS STU will run on any Amiga running OS 1.3 or later. AVAILABILITY Available from any Aminet site such as: ftp://ftp.doc.ic.ac.uk/aminet/disk/util/stu.lha The latest version can always be downloaded from: The Amiga Zone BBS (609) 953-8159 DISTRIBUTABILITY The STU archive may be downloaded to any BBS or distributed on any CD-ROM archive or FTP site. OTHER Copyrighted 1997 Custom Services. All rights reserved. STU is a shareware product. The fee for registration is $10 @endnode @node NEWS5 "PC-Task 4.2 with FPU Emulation Available!" @toc NEWS Attention! PC-Task 4.2 is now available! PC-Task 4.2 is the latest release of the 486 PC Emulator. This update includes full FPU emulation! Now you can watch Quake without 3rd party FPU emulation software. New features of PC-Task 4.2 include: o Full FPU emulation o Faster graphics and Cybergraphics modes o Improved Dynamic compilation (with loading Windows and programs as well) o Increased compatibility Loading Doom and Windows can be up to 30% faster than version 4.1. See our web site for FREE upgrade for 4.0/4.1 users and a demo at: http://www.ozemail.com.au/~pctask More speed tests have been done, so check them out! Quasar Distribution @endnode @node NEWS6 "CheckHTML V1.2" @toc NEWS TITLE CheckHTML VERSION 1.2 RELEASE DATE 29.04.1997 AUTHOR Kai Hofmann (i07m@zfn.uni-bremen.de) (http://www.informatik.uni-bremen.de/~i07m/) DESCRIPTION CheckHTML checks whether a HTML document is conforming with the HTML (3.2) DTD. This will be done by using the sgmls parser from James Clark, the HTML DTD and a small Shell script. CheckHTML can verify HTML 3.2 and HTML 2.0 documents. Newer HTML versions can be easily supported by placing the new DTD into the 'sgml:' directory and adding their public identifer to the 'CATALOG' file. The upcoming XML standard could be easily supported the same way! AVAILABILITY http://www.informatik.uni-bremen.de/~i07m/amiga/CheckHTML.html ftp://wuarchive.wustl.edu/pub/aminet/comm/www/CheckHTML.lha And all other Aminet sites. SEE ALSO - ftp://wuarchive.wustl.edu/pub/aminet/dev/lang/sgmls.lha - The SGML Handbook, Charles F. Goldfarb - ISO 8879 (Standard Generalized Markup Language), International Organization for Standardization - http://www.w3c.org PRICE This is Freeware! DISTRIBUTION SGMLUG hereby grants to any user: (1) an irrevocable royalty-free, worldwide, non-exclusive license to use, execute, reproduce, display, perform and distribute copies of, and to prepare derivative works based upon these materials; and (2) the right to authorize others to do any of the foregoing. IMPORTANT NOTE This package may not be included on any further Aminet CD-ROMs unless authors contributing their software to the CD-ROM, (without mentioning distribution "NoCD") are granted a copy of the CD completely free of charge. @endnode @node NEWS7 "Directory Opus 5 Magellan Announced" @toc NEWS Press Release: Immediate May 11th 1997 GPSoftware demonstrates its continuing support for the Amiga by announcing the release of the NEW version of Directory Opus the World of Amiga show in London May 17/18. The new product will be demonstrated on the GPSoftware/Wizard Developments stand at the show and will be available for purchase as a full product or an upgrade for existing Opus 5.5 users. ------------------------------------------------- Welcome to Directory Opus 5 Magellan! From its first release in early '95, many Amiga users have seen the raw power provided by Opus 5 with its unique concept integrating Workbench Replacement Mode (tm), file management and custom functionsin the one package. These concepts were further refined in the Opus 5. release in May '96. During this time of great uncertainty for the Amiga platform as a whole, we have been buoyed by the support of Opus users, many of whom have given us continual encouragement as well as much valuable feedback and suggestions on future directions for Opus 5. Through your support Opus 5 has now become firmly established as the premier workbench replacement and file management program for the Amiga. Thanks! With this new version we have attempted to return your loyalty with ongoing support for the Amiga platform and a continuation of our development plan for Opus 5. We have also tried to add as many of your user suggestions as possible which are consistent with the metaphor of Opus. We hope you will enjoy the advanced features in this new version which we call the Directory Opus 5 Magellan version. Summary of Enhancements: The Magellan version is not just a simple upgrade but the product of 12 months of intensive development of many components of the Opus 5 system and enthusiastic testing by our beta testers. This version gives you many new features with superior useability especially in Workbench Replacement Mode(tm) with greater control over icons, actions on and with icons, plus many new features such as Start Menus, extra popup sticky menus and new background images to name but a few. After extensive testing we have also improved the compatibility with Workbench and other Amiga programs with in-built support for the NewIcons system, better Cybergraphics support, faster icon layout, dragging and display routines and so on. A rewritten OpusFTP module complements these changes and not only gives you up to five times faster access to the Internet but now has a full GUI for the Address Book and operational parameters. New features include:- . Enhanced Lister functionality including:- . Command functions can now act on icon mode listers; . New popup menus; . Optional Space Gauge showing free space on drives . Inline Editing for Name mode listers . Enhanced Opus FTP including:- . New GUI Address book . New GUI for configuration system . Up to 5 times faster access with less memory usage . Individual directory cache exclusive to each FTP Lister . Optional idle timer . Auto index download for AmiNet index files. . A new integrated system of Start Menus. . New Desktop Folder mechanism:- Drag and drop items to the desktop with the support of optional popup menus . New Icon Positioning system:- Configure areas where icons will appear and their priority. . Global control of icon labels and icon borders. . Direct byte-for-byte copy of icons. . Icon label splitting for long labels. . New Icon Command function for special "command" files. . New Icon Information requester with extensive popup options. . Faster icon dragging routines. . Use traditional Workbench icon positions for icons or exclusive Opus positioning. . New Popup menus with shadow look. . New Environment GUIs for greater control over Opus configurations. . Cybergraphics support for dragging icons and general display speed with full 24 bit backdrops. . Integrated NewIcons support not just for icons but for all system images including graphic button banks. . Improved compatibility with MUI, DataTypes, MCP and a number of other programs. . New environment variables to allow you to customise Opus functionality even more. . Rewritten Text Viewer for faster access and better scrolling especially on Cybergraphics screens. . New Filetypes including ability to match on disks. . New Scripts system of disk inserted/disk notification gives control over new disks or newly mounted remote file systems. . New Command Functions plus enhanced Argument Variables. . Buttons/Images: Full NewIcon image support plus more support for image and animation file formats including DPaintV/PPaint AnimBrushes. . Groups: Can now contain icon-less items plus you may now add left-out commands to groups. . New ARexx commands. . More than 40 new callback hooks for easier user programming of Opus Availability The Directory Opus 5 Magallan version will be on demonstration and available for purchase direct from us on the Wizard/GPSoftware stand at the World of Amiga show at the Novotel in London May 17/18. We apologise! Our priority has been to get this new Magellan version ready and available for the WoA show so as to show off new Amiga developments. So I just have not had time to notify existing users. All registered users will be notified by mail with a special upgrade offer sometime around the start of June. NOTE: Because of show schedules and resulting time and travel delays, stocks of the Directory Opus 5 Magellan version will most likely not be available for sale from main distributors apart from Wizard until approximately end of May or early June. Check out Opus Magellan's New Features from our web page:- -- Regards, Dr Greg Perry GPSoftware, PO Box 570, Ashgrove, Brisbane, Australia 4060 Phone/Fax +61 7 33661402 Email:zzgperry@mailbox.uq.oz.au URL:http://www.livewire.com.au/gpsoft @endnode @node NEWS8 "Games Master System V0.6B" @toc NEWS TITLE Games Master System (GMS) VERSION 0.6B (Released 11 May 1997) AUTHOR Paul Manias (paul@ethos.co.nz) DESCRIPTION The Games Master System is a developers kit that is aimed at enhancing the functionality of the Amiga OS, with emphasis on games programming. It is based on the Amiga shared library standard, so will work with any programming language such as C, Assembler, E, Basic etc. The system can be ported across to other platforms besides the Amiga, and in future GMS programs could be run on other platforms without recompilation (CPU's must match or they have to be emulated). Here are just a few of the GMS features: - Fast blitter functions, including CPU assisted blitting. - Full sprite support. - In-built proportional fading functions. - Sound support, includes intelligent channel play-back. - Support for raster/copperlists with built-in special FX. - External structure and object pre-processing, allows user editing of program data. - Smart saving/loading of files, including auto de/packing. - Support for all kinds of input devices (joysticks, joypads etc). - A system debugger is provided. - A preference program that allows editing of things such as default screen dimensions, resolutions, mode promotion etc. - Multi-tasking and screen-switching is supported. The system has a very modern design and includes full resource tracking and safe task destruction features. A debugger has been included which GMS functions co-operate with, so there is no need for special patches or debugging tools. Functions are written with garbage protection features and where possible, software based memory protection. GMS can recover from many programming errors that usually result in software failures. Full documentation and 260k of example source in C, Assembler and E is included within the archive. NEW FEATURES Some of the new features present in V0.6B are: - Transparent chunky 2 planar implemented. - Picture resizing/scaling for LoadPic(). - IceBreaker (the GMS debugger) is now available and working. - GMSPrefs is available and working. - 24 bit colour as standard (no more 12 bit colours). - Compiled code will be compatible with 680x0 machines that do not have the Amiga hardware or the Amiga OS (eg Macs). - Full resource tracking. - Task destruction features - just press Left Amiga and Delete to automatically kill a GMS program. SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS There are no must-have requirements, but an AGA Amiga is necessary for about 5% of the demos. KingCON or any other enhanced shell with a scroll back buffer is desirable for running IceBreaker. AVAILABILITY GMS is available on all up to date Aminet sites, for example: ftp://ftp.wustl.edu/pub/aminet/dev/misc/gms_dev.lha (460k) PRICE This beta version is free. DISTRIBUTABILITY The distribution of the Games Master System is limited to Aminet and may not be redistributed without permission from the Author. The Games Master System is (c) Copyright 1996-1997 Paul Manias / DreamWorld Productions. @endnode @node NEWS9 "fMSX Amiga 1.4" @toc NEWS TITLE fMSX Amiga 1.4 AUTHOR Hans Guijt (h.guijt@inter.nl.net) DESCRIPTION fMSX Amiga emulates an MSX computer on an Amiga. Features include: - Full emulation of the MSX1 system. - Fair emulation of the MSX2 system. - Support for reading/writing MSX disks and disk images. - Can play all types of MSX ROMs, including ROMs bigger than 32KB. - Support for the PSG, SCC, and SCC+ sound chips (through AHI or native). - Support for MSX memory sizes of up to 4Mb. - Can be controlled through ARexx. 'MSX' is an 8-bit computer system with surprisingly good graphics and sound capabilities. How does graphic resolutions of up to 512 * 424, up to 256 colors on screen, and 9 channel music sound? To demonstrate, several MSX pictures (taken from fMSX while running) have been uploaded to aminet (pix/illu/msx_emu.lha). Software is not included with the package, but many packages (mostly games) can be found on FTP sites: ftp.saitama-u.ac.jp/pub/msx/ altair.komkon.com/pub/MSX/ ftp.funet.fi/pub/msx/ riaph.irkutsk.su/pub/ Hundreds of games are available from these sites, and some form a worthy addition to the Amiga software collection. Of course fMSX Amiga is fully multitasking, runs in an intuition screen, and has a font-sensitive user interface. NEW FEATURES Most of the VDP (the MSX2 blitter) was rewritten in assembly. This speeds MSX2 games up enormeously and removes many of the crashes that previous versions of fMSX suffered when running MSX2 games. Of the 101 megaROMs that were tested 80 worked fine! At last, AHI support was added to fMSX. Now you can listen to the full musical scores of classic Konami games such as Nemesis 2 or 3, Salamander, F1 Spirit, Gryzor, or Metal Gear 2. Because of the way AHI works a fast processor is recommended, though. Of course the old style sound emulation is still supported. Line interrupts were added to the screen 5 emulation. This makes it possible to play games such as Aleste (recommended!), Zanac-Ex, Quarth, and Ashguine 2. fMSX can now be controlled through an ARexx port! Example scripts and relevant documentation are included. Other new features include less aggressive blitting and user-selectable double buffering (both good for CyberGfx owners), slightly rewritten highspeed mode (it should work fine on ECS now), and a host of minor bugfixes and features. As a special gimmick fMSX allows you to change the font used by the MSX. Several fonts are included in the package. SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS Required are: - AmigaOS 2.0 - 68020 processor - 350 kilobytes chip ram - 1000 kilobytes other ram Recommended: - AmigaOS 3.0 - 68030 processor, at least 25MHz - Those 1000 kilobytes of 'other' ram had better be fast ram! Note that fMSX Amiga does *not* require the AGA chipset. In fact it runs on any chipset upto and including graphics cards! AVAILABILITY fMSX Amiga 1.4 is available from any aminet site, such as: ftp://ftp.wustl.edu/pub/aminet/misc/emu/fmsx_1.4.lha PRICE It's free. DISTRIBUTABILITY fMSX Amiga 1.4 is publically supported freeware. If you are interested in the source, and you're not afraid of function pointers and huge amounts of assembly mixed with C, you can request it from me. @endnode @node NEWS10 "BattleDuel V1.6.96" @toc NEWS TITLE BattleDuel V1.6.96 AUTHOR Jochen Terstiege Michael David Marco Seine DESCRIPTION BattleDuel is a game like 'Artillery Duel' on the C-64: Two players fight against each other with cannons placed in a windy mountainous landscape. To hit the other they change the power and angle of the cannons. A duel is finished if one of the cannons is totally damaged. Some features: - up to 4 players - computer opponents - normal duel mode, 2 tournament modes, practice mode - ECS/AGA/GraphicBoard support (only one program) - network support: nullmodem, modem, parnet and TCP/IP - nice graphics and sound effects - full multitasking - OS friendly - support for publicscreens NEW FEATURES - bomber now works correct in network mode - possible sync-error with parachute solved - improved recognition of error correction (modem) - window position is saved (publicscreen) - support for OwnDevUnit.library - it was not possible to deactivate the "Shakescreen" option - the game can be controlled with a gamepad - new highscore window - several small bugs were removed SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS Kickstart 2.0, Harddisk, Flickerfixer recommended, 1 MB chip memory AVAILABILITY Complete version ftp://ftp.wustl.edu/pub/aminet/game/2play/BattleDuel.lha (1215133) Update from V1.6.80 ftp://ftp.wustl.edu/pub/aminet/game/patch/BattleDuel_Update.lha (135990) PRICE Shareware fee of $15 US / DM 20 DISTRIBUTABILITY BattleDuel is Shareware! Copyright (C) 1997 Jochen Terstiege, Michael David, Marco Seine @endnode @node NEWS11 "WOA UK Gateway Address Videotape" @toc NEWS From Amazing Computing/Amiga Due to the high interest in this event and due to the misinformation and some misunderstanding by some net users, Amazing Computing has made the London press conference (May 16, 1997) with Jim Taylor, Senior Vice President of Global Marketing for Gateway 2000, and Petro Tyschtschenko of Amiga International available on video. Discover what was really said in their speeches and in the question and answer session. Jim Taylor outlined Gateway 2000's philosophies, Petro Tyschtschenko outlined the present and future position of Amiga International, and both men fielded questions from the floor. Nowhere has this conference been completely reported (of course AC's July issue will cover the high points) as thoroughly as this unbiased taped event. Be a Fly on The Wall and see for yourself the direction and promises that have been made to the Amiga community. Also, discover what PIOS has to say. What are their plans, what is their foundation, and how are they going to work in this new environment. Take advantage of this special opportunity to discover PIOS current products and future plans. The PIOS Press conference and question and answer session has also been included on this video at no extra charge. For pricing and order information, please see Amazing's web site at http://www.pimpub.com or Dial 1-800-345-3360 M-F 9-5 EDST. Watch your head! The site is still under construction with new items added daily. Visit often! @endnode @node NEWS12 "AAA Awards Announcement" @toc NEWS The AAA Awards - You're in the Jury! Contact: Martin Sahlin Amiga Computer Group Skolgatan 14 SE-903 22 UMEE Sweden +46-[0]90-139798 (07:00 - 08:00, 16:00 -> CET) martin.sahlen@amiga-cg.se More information: AAA Awards Homepage - http://www.amiga-cg.se/aaaa/ Umee, Sweden - Friday, April 18, 1997. Amiga Computer Group (ACG), an amiga user association based in Umee, Sweden, hereby announce the introduction of the annual ACG Amiga Achievement Awards (the AAA Awards) - an award program aimed at strengthening the Amiga Community. Background The Amiga computer has always been recognized for its devoted users and developers. Even after the Commodore bankruptcy in 1994, and also the ESCOM bankruptcy in 1996, Amiga users are still supporting and using their favourite system, often with even more intensity than ever before. There is great potential in the Amiga Community. Amiga users are innovative, both in terms of hardware and software. The Commodore commercials of 1989 stating "Amiga - A Computer for the Creative Mind" are still valid as ever before. However, in times like these, when the future of the Amiga is somewhat uncertain, all members of the Community need motivation and inspiration to go on working the Amiga magic. The Amiga has still so many boundaries to break, and we all need to work together to show it to the world. That's where the AAA Awards come in. The AAA Awards are intended to be a source of inspiration and motivation for users, developers and other people working for and with the Amiga. The AAA Awards may also be a source of unification, bringing about groundbreaking international Amiga projects. Regard them as the achievement awards of the Amiga Community. The Awards The AAA Awards are presented by Amiga Computer Group (ACG), a non-profit-making Amiga User Association based in Umee, Sweden together with its associates world-wide. The AAA Awards logo has been designed by Bjvrn Hagstrvm (orgin@medio.mh.se), of "AmiTech '97" and "Svenska AmigaMagazin" logo fame. The AAA Awards consist of fine hand-written diplomas with motivation and the honorable official recognition. The AAA Awards are divided in two groups: International and National. The AAA Award International and the AAA Award Sverige (Sweden) will be handled by Amiga Computer Group. Amiga user groups in other countries may apply for exclusive representation in their own native country. Please see the AAA Awards Homepage for more information on this, or contact Amiga Computer Group by phone or mail. Everyone is welcome to suggest candidates for the AAA Awards. If you do so, please include a brief explanation as to why this person or group of persons should receive the AAA Award. Also include your own name and addresses, as we may want to ask some additional questions. There are basically no limits as to who you may suggest. Private persons, companies, associations, etc. The AAA Awards may be presented posthumously, and you may also suggest yourself. The criteria for the AAA Awards are very simple: "The awards should go to he/she/that/those which/who has/have done the greatest achievement in contributing to the upkeeping of AMIGA. values during the past year." Suggestions for the 1997 AAA Awards will be accepted until January 5th 1998 through the AAA Awards Homepage, e-mail or regular mail. All suggestions will be considered by the ACG-appointed jury and its international associates in early 1998, and three final nominees for each category will be made official. Anyone may then vote at the AAA Awards Homepage for the nominee he/she feels should receive the AAA Award. This voting period will span over one month. Exact dates will be announced at a later time through the AAA Awards Homepage, Amiga-related newsgroups etc. ACG and its associates world-wide will then solemnly announce the AAA Awards Winners 1997. First Winners The first AAA Awards will be presented at the AmiTech 97 show in Stockholm, Sweden 25 - 27 April 1997. This will signify the launching of the awards. Those awards will be presented for long-term achievement. The jury has decided as follows: AAA Award International Dave Haynie "For his contributions to the computer development in general, and a true commitment to the Amiga platform, bringing a unique personal touch to the machine. And of course for being cool." AAA Award Sverige Thomas Svenson "Fvr sin starka drivkraft och entreprenvrsfvrmega i att frdmja Amigans fortlevnad och utveckling i Sverige." ("For his strong driving force and entrepreneural ability in promoting the survival and development of the Amiga in Sweden.") Contributions Companies, associations and such that wish to contribute to the AAA Awards by donations or likewise, may see the AAA Awards Homepage or contact ACG president Martin Sahlin at martin.sahlen@amiga-cg.se for more information. We offer great advertising opportunities at the AAA Awards Homepage. Supporting Visit the AAA Awards Homepage and download a AAA Awards Button which you may include in your own WWW pages. Please do not refer to the image on our server at your homepage, since that will result in our server being over-loaded with requests. Updates All the latest news regarding the AAA Awards will be made official at the AAA Awards Homepage. Please check back regulary, the pages are yet not completed. Acknowledgements The AAA Awards is copyright 1997 Amiga Computer Group. The AAA Awards logo is copyright 1997 Amiga Computer Group and Bjvrn Hagstrvm. The national and international AAA Awards are copyright 1997 Amiga Computer Group. AMIGA. is a registered trademark of Amiga International. More Information AAA Awards Homepage - http://www.amiga-cg.se/aaaa/ Amiga Computer Group Homepage - http://www.amiga-cg.se/ @endnode @node NEWS13 "MCC-Install 43.8" @toc NEWS TITLE MCC-Install VERSION 43.8 RELEASE DATE 21.04.1997 AUTHOR Kai Hofmann (i07m@zfn.uni-bremen.de) (http://www.informatik.uni-bremen.de/~i07m/) DESCRIPTION MCC-Install is an installer script for MUI Custom Classes that is highly modular to be reusable for other installer scripts. MCC-Install features: - Follows the V43 Installer Style Guide - Correctly supports the different user levels - Install new/update mode - Uninstallation - Supports Installers prior to V43 - Highly automated - Very flexible - Very intelligent (for an installer-script ;-) - It uses WrapGuide (if present) for the AmigaGuide documentation if running under a pre V39 system. - Autodetects the CPU/FPU - Autodetects the OS version - Autodetects the MUI version - Autodetects existing files within the distribution archive - Installs the optimal 68010-68060 binary if available - Supports the following document formats: ASCII, AmigaGuide - It supports the following languages: English, German, French, Danish, Italian, Dutch, Swedish, Polish, Finnish, Greek, Czech - Supports source code installation for the following programming languages: C, Assembler, Amiga-E, Modula II, Oberon - It can be reused by (hopefully) all other MUI custom classes since the authors of custom classes need to change only a few things: * The #copyright variable * The #min_mui_version and #min_mui_revision variables * The #language_mcc and #language_mcp variables * The P_CustomExists, P_CustomInstall and P_CustomUninstall procedures * The 'APPNAME' tooltype within the MCC-Install icon NEW FEATURES - Separate archive - Added Documentation SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS Installer AVAILABILITY http://www.informatik.uni-bremen.de/~i07m/amiga/mui/MCC-Install.html ftp://wuarchive.wustl.edu/pub/aminet/dev/mui/MCC-Install.lha And all other Aminet sites. PRICE This is Giftware! DISTRIBUTION Permission is hereby granted, without written agreement and without license or royalty fees, to copy and distribute this software and its documentation for any purpose, provided that the copyright notice and the following paragraphs appear in all copies of this software, to: - All who will distribute this software for free! - All free accessible Internet servers! - All Aminet sites - Fred Fish for his great Amiga-Software-Library - The German SAAR AG PD-Library - Angela Schmidt's Meeting Pearls serie - All Simtel sites and CD-ROMs - All others who do NOT take more than US$ 5.- for one disk that includes this software! This package may not be included on any further Aminet CD-ROMs unless authors contributing their software to the CD-ROM, (without mentioning distribution "NoCD") are granted a copy of the CD completely free of charge. @endnode @node NEWS14 "MCCLib 12.1" @toc NEWS TITLE MCCLib VERSION 12.1 RELEASE DATE 21.04.1997 AUTHOR Kai Hofmann (i07m@zfn.uni-bremen.de) (http://www.informatik.uni-bremen.de/~i07m/) DESCRIPTION MCCLib serves as a basis for writing public MUI Custom Classes including preference classes. It is a competitor to "mccheader.c" giving a custom class developer the basic library initialization code. MCCLib features: - Supports 68000-68060 including FPUs - Automatically generates version-string including copyright and CPU information - Supports preference classes including preference images - Well formatted/readable source code NEW FEATURES - Separate archive - Added Documentation SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS MUI 3.1 Developer SAS-C AVAILABILITY http://www.informatik.uni-bremen.de/~i07m/amiga/mui/MCCLib.html ftp://wuarchive.wustl.edu/pub/aminet/dev/mui/MCCLib.lha And all other Aminet sites. PRICE This is Giftware! DISTRIBUTION Permission is hereby granted, without written agreement and without license or royalty fees, to copy and distribute this software and its documentation for any purpose, provided that the copyright notice and the following paragraphs appear in all copies of this software, to: - All who will distribute this software for free! - All free accessible Internet servers! - All Aminet sites - Fred Fish for his great Amiga software library - The German SAAR AG PD-Library - Angela Schmidt's Meeting Pearls series - All Simtel sites and CD-ROMs - All others who do NOT take more than US$ 5.- for one disk that includes this software! This package may not be included on any further Aminet CD-ROMs unless authors contributing their software to the CD-ROM, (without mentioning distribution "NoCD") are granted a copy of the CD completely free of charge. @endnode @node NEWS16 "F1GP-Ed 3.32" @toc NEWS TITLE F1GP-Ed VERSION 3.32 AUTHOR Oliver Roberts E-Mail:Oliver@POBoxes.com WWW:http://www.nanunanu.org/~oliver/ Address: 30 Tillett Road Norwich NR3 4BJ ENGLAND DESCRIPTION An editor for use with the Formula One Grand Prix or World Circuit game (published by MicroProse Software). It is very easy to use, with a standard 2.0 look graphical user interface (even on KS 1.x!) and on-line help should you need it. Allows you to alter most of the in-game setup, including computer car performance, car/helmet/pitcrew colours, car fragility and many other things (and I MEAN many!). Sound samples can also be replaced, cockpit graphics changed, and lap records and setups printed. Changes can be saved directly to a copy of the game which is running in memory, or to the main file used by the game for a more permanent change. Also incorporated in the main program are a number of memory patches, including Toni Wilen's GPPatch and Grant Reeve's PatchF1GP. F1GP-Ed breathes new life into an ageing, but excellent game. 1994, 1995, 1996 and 1997 sample datafiles supplied for those who don't want to mess about. The program itself is auto-enhancing, which means that it will run on a basic A500 with KS 1.2, but will make use of KS 2.x or KS 3.x specific routines on suitable machines to make itself even better. Supported languages: English, German, French, Dutch, Spanish, Italian, Danish, Swedish, Finnish, Norwegian and Czech. NEW FEATURES o GPPatch "turbo keys" can now be disabled o "Exit to DOS - Are you sure?" requester in the game can now be skipped o The time it takes for a pitstop can now be adjusted o Colours can now be imported from (and exported to) IFF image / palette files o "Practice Fuel Load" feature has been improved - the fuel load calculated will now be exactly the same as the fuel load in a race of the same number of laps o Localized a lot of the older strings that couldn't be translated before o Optimized (40% reduction) the data used to draw the images in the colour editors - this means the colour editors will open faster initially and the images will be drawn a little bit faster. And, of course, some bug fixes ;-) SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS Formula One Grand Prix or World Circuit game by Geoff Crammond, published commercially originally by MicroProse Software. Approximately 1.5Mb of free ram needed to load the game and the editor to be able to use the memory patches. But, the editor itself and most of the features will work on machines with less memory. AVAILABILITY F1GP-Ed Web Page: http://www.nanunanu.org/~oliver/F1GP-Ed/ Aminet: ftp://ftp.wustl.edu/pub/aminet/game/misc/F1GP-Ed.lha (472309) PRICE Shareware fee: United Kingdom - 6 UKP Rest of the World - 7 UKP / US$ 15 / DM 20 See documentation for further details. DISTRIBUTABILITY F1GP-Ed is a Shareware product and it may be distributed freely provided none of the files (including the executable) are tampered with in any way whatsoever. A registration fee is requested if the product is found to be useful by the user. Registering means helps insure that I continue to develop the program, and as a bonus all features will be enabled. Copyright (c) 1994-1997 Oliver Roberts, All Rights Reserved. *** Not officially endorsed by MicroProse Software *** @endnode @node NEWS17 "MidiTracker V1.1" @toc NEWS TITLE MidiTracker V1.1 AUTHOR Sven Thoennissen Karlsgraben 35 52064 Aachen Germany svent@pool.informatik.rwth-aachen.de sa80@corona.tng.oche.de (if the other email doesn't work) DESCRIPTION MidiTracker is a MIDI sequencer that uses the 'tracker' concept for composing songs, hence the name. :-) Unlike other tracker programs that have MIDI capabilities, MidiTracker has been designed specifically for MIDI composing and does not use Amiga audio (except for the metronome). If you have used trackers before, then it shouldn't take you too long to get accustomed to MidiTracker. The intention with MidiTracker is to keep everything as dynamic as possible thus giving you more freedom and control over your MIDI data within a tracker environment. For example, have you ever had the problem of wanting to realtime record pitchbend, modulation, aftertouch and sustains but the tracker either didn't get the notes properly or wasn't capable of doing so? MidiTracker can do it. NEW FEATURES Important changes since 1.0: - Keyboard Actions Window (trigger transport-controls via synth) - Import OctaMED MMD1 modules. - Import GM-type-1 files (SMF). - The Stacker/Remapper is not disabled if MT is unregistered. People asked me and wanted to test the MIDI-thru feature so here it is. - Block-randomize function (in Block-menu). - Tempo BPM values from 1-27 are also allowed. - SysEx Editor - MIDI In/Out Filter - New Score window layout, looks like a timeline now. SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS - Kick 2.04, better 3.0+ - 68020 with fastram would be good - MIDI interface plus equipment (e.g. synthesizer, keyboard) strongly recommended for composing AVAILABILITY MidiTracker is available on all Aminet sites, eg. ftp://ftp.doc.ic.ac.uk/aminet/mus/midi/MidiTracker1_1.lha It is also available at its support mailbox in Germany: Corona BBS, Sysop is Mathias Frankenbach. +49 241 39164USR V34+ 24846V34 Zyxel D 4090012 V34 Zyxel 2864ID (ISDN + V34) 4090013 ISDN Master Login: MidiTracker Password: MidiTracker PRICE Shareware DM 50,- or US $35.00 or AUS $45 (at the Australian Registration Site). DISTRIBUTABILITY MidiTracker is Shareware. The archive as provided by myself may not be altered. It can be distributed everywhere if it's free of charge. MidiTracker is (c) Copyright 1996-1997 Sven Thoennissen. @endnode @node NEWS18 "Re-Release of Deathbed Vigil in NTSC" @toc NEWS Due to popular demand, IAM is making available a limited number of additional VHS NTSC copies of the "Deathbed Vigil... and other tales of digital angst". This moving 90 minute video celebrates the stars of the Commodore-Amiga engineering team, and tells the tales of management gone wrong. This tape has received rave reviews. More info about the video is available at: http://www.iam.com/amiga/deathbed.html Each of these copies will be hand-signed by Dave Haynie. The tapes may only be ordered directly through IAM (online or via phone, fax or mail), and IAM will only accept new orders for the tapes through June 30, 1997. (VHS PAL format tapes are avaialble through LH Publishing in the UK, but are no longer available directly through IAM.) These additional tapes will be produced only as ordered, so it may be up to 6 weeks before your order is shipped. The price of the tapes is US$35 plus US$6 shipping and handling (worldwide). If ordered with other IAM products, the tape will ship seperately with only the regular shipping and handling charge (no additional s/h for the video). Intangible Assets Manufacturing 828 Ormond Avenue Drexel Hill, PA 19026-2604 USA http://www.iam.com sales@iam.com phone (orders only) +1 610 853 4406 fax: +1 610 853 3733 @endnode @node NEWS19 "Eucalyptus 1.0a" @toc NEWS TITLE Eucalyptus VERSION 1.0 (alpha) COMPANY Isengard Developments AUTHOR Paul Schifferer DESCRIPTION Eucalyptus is a new e-mail program for the Amiga. Features include:= - Supports multiple user accounts - Unlimited message folders - Full-featured address book - Multiple message read windows - Multiple signature files - PGP signature/encryption/key-transfer - Spell-checking - Extensive filtering system - Scheduled message delivery - Integrated SMTP/POP3 clients (and possible IMAP support) - Configurable external viewers for different media types - Full multi-threaded operations This product is a pre-release alpha. Not all features are fully operational, and the software may contain bugs. Use it at your own risk. SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS Amiga OS 2.04 or better ClassAct gadget classes (included in archive) Internet connection AVAILABILITY http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Pines/3517/Eucalyptus.gz (249621) Or request the most recent version from . PRICE Free DISTRIBUTABILITY This product is freeware, copyright (c) 1997 Isengard Developments. @endnode @node NEWS15 "Visage 39.14" @toc NEWS TITLE Visage VERSION 39.14 AUTHOR Magnus Holmgren Kvarnbergsv=E4gen 5 S-444 47 Stenungsund Sweden E-mail: cmh@lls.se 2:203/512.10@fidonet DESCRIPTION Visage is a picture viewer for all Amigas with OS 3.0 or better. The goal is to have a rather fast viewer, with lots of features. Picture quality is not the most important thing. Features include: * Can display IFF ILBM, JPEG, PNG and datatype pictures. * Full AA, ECS, CyberGraphX and RTG (I hope! ;) support. * Supports PCHG (Palette CHanGe) and SHAM (Sliced HAM) IFF ILBM pictures. * Can display "deep" pictures in all formats on ECS Amigas, rendered in HAM, "normal" color (graphics card recommended) or grayscale. * Xpk support for IFF ILBM pictures. * Can scale any rendered picture to fit the screen. * Extensive monitor support. Uses a BestModeID()-like function to find a suitable mode (if needed). * Several slideshow options, including a random and a sort mode, making Visage nice for use with screen blankers as an external module. * Background loading of next picture while viewing the current, if there is enough memory (this can be disabled). * Can read pictures from a named pipe. NEW FEATURES In 39.14: * Some bugs and quirks fixed. SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS OS 3.0 AVAILABILITY Any Aminet site, e.g.: ftp://ftp.wustl.edu/pub/aminet/gfx/show/Visage.lha Via WWW, at: http://www.lls.se/~cmh/ PRICE None. DISTRIBUTABILITY Copyright (c) by Magnus Holmgren 1995-97 Visage is freely distributable. @endnode @node NEWS20 "Amiga Elm 10.12" @toc NEWS TITLE Amiga Elm VERSION 10 (10.12) AUTHOR Andreas M. Kirchwitz E-Mail: elm-fan@zikzak.in-berlin.de DESCRIPTION AmigaElm is an "Electronic Mail Reader" which allows you to read and write mail. Normally you'd need a properly installed UUCP or IP package (eg, AmigaUUCP, Feulner-UUCP, Dillon-UUCP, wUUCP or AmiTCP plus INetUtils) to receive and send mail, but AmigaElm is highly configurable so that you can take a mail-folder from a UNIX box, answer the messages and bring the answers back to the UNIX box. AmigaElm is easy to install and to use. The user interface is very intuitive and similar to the well-known UNIX "elm". Beginners can control all basic functions with menus and some nice GadTools requesters. Advanced users can use aliases, prioritized message tagging, various filename-offers when saving messages and lots of options to configure AmigaElm to fit your needs. In a system with multiple users, AmigaElm allows separate configuration files for each user. AmigaElm can be invoked in a special "terminal mode" (all input/output from/to console). This is useful for running AmigaElm in the current shell window or over a serial line (eg, with AUX-Handler). AmigaElm offers basic internal MIME (multimedia mail) functionality (eg, sending 8-bit-text and binaries over 7-bit-lines) and supports "MetaMail" (a full-featured package for handling all kinds of MIME messages -- also available on Aminet, see section "AVAILABILITY") and "ReqTools" library 2.x (reqtools.library is included). AmigaElm has built-in support for cryptographic applications (eg, PGP). Encryption and decryption of messages is user-configurable. NEW FEATURES Changes since version 8 and 9 (summary): - Now RFC1522/Quoted-Printable decoding not only for sender's realname, but also for subject and receipient's realname. - New in .elm/elmrc: "PrintCmd" finally implemented. You can define your own printing command. (was broken in version 9) - Fixed bug with very long lines (introduced in Elm version 7). Don't worry about this... Elm always prints a warning message, if it feels that something is wrong with the line length, the folder length or a message offset. - Config variables "AnswerReturnReceipt" and "AnswerReturnView" are now ignored when folder is specified with option "-f". See manual for other "limitations" when option "-f" is used. - In compact header display (built-in pager) only the first line of long header lines will be displayed. Use "show header" function to display complete header lines. - Now displays one more line per page on index screen. - Significantly enhanced terminal mode: now displays title bar and shortens it (compact format) if it becomes too long. Makes Elm look more like Unix "elm". (see file "History.Txt" for complete list of changes) SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS AmigaOS 2.0 (or higher) And for normal usage: a properly installed UUCP or IP package. But can be configured to run without a UUCP or IP package for processing ready-made mail-folders (eg, from your work or university). AVAILABILITY FTP/Internet: Aminet and mirrors ftp://ftp.wustl.edu/pub/aminet/comm/mail/AmigaElm-v10.lha (217590) UUCP/E-Mail : mail-server@cs.tu-berlin.de Send mail to the address above and put the line "send /pub/aminet/comm/mail/AmigaElm-v10.lha" in the body. DISTRIBUTABILITY Shareware, Copyright by Andreas M. Kirchwitz Source code only available to registered users. @endnode @node NEWS21 "SoundStage Pro Rev B/C" @toc NEWS TITLE SoundStage Pro (Hardware) VERSION Revision B (Rev.C of the SoundStage series) COMPANY Applied Magic Inc 2234 Ruthford Rd Carlsbad, CA, 92008 Toll Free: 1-888-MAGIC-55 or Phone:619-931-6417 FAX:619-931-6440 email: product_info@amagic.com web: http://www.amagic.com/ orhttp://www.applied-magic.com/ orhttp://www.sorceror.com/ DESCRIPTION SoundStage and now the SoundStage Pro series is a professional digital audio board for Amiga 3000(T) and 4000(T) computers. It hardware is based on a Texas Instruments 40MFlop DSP, which is used to manage all audio I/O up to six different sources. Audio I/O consists of 4 balanced +4dBu input and outputs, and 2 channel (1 stereo pair) AES/EBU digital input and output. Digital I/O also supports the SP/DIF standard. For further details and software features please look at the Applied Magic Inc web pages, or for SoundStage information directly, go to http://www.amagic.com/html/sound4.html. NEW FEATURES The SoundStage Pro incorporates 20bit audio samplers and digital to analog convertors to acheive the best signal to noise ratio. Previous hardware revisions only used 16bit parts. Many other audio quality issues have been addressed. SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS An Amiga with a Zorro-III bus (SuperBuster-11 required). AmigaOS 3.x. PRICE SoundStage Pro with ProducerAUDIO software $1899 US. AudioLab16 for SoundStage $149 US. Timecode option $149 US. AVAILABILITY Shipping from 21-April-1997. Timecode option will ship in May. POSTED BY David A Newman Director of Engineering Applied Magic Inc dan@amagic.com @endnode @node NEWS23 "LotsaBlankers 1.01" @toc NEWS TITLE LotsaBlankers VERSION 1.01 AUTHOR Dag Ĺgren email: dagren@abo.fi DESCRIPTION LotsaBlankers is a blanker package for the Garshneblanker - system. Plus that it features a replacement for the original Garshnelib.library, that has better AGA support. The blankers themselves are a set of five excellent blankers, most coded in highly optimized assembler for the best speed. The blankers are also configurable to a high degree: LotsaSnow-Very simple, snowflakes that fall down your screen, but many of them! LotsaStars-Rides through a space of colorful stars, uses a special colorcycling method to give the stars beatiful trails. LotsaPlasma-Generates a double plasma and animates it with two- dimensional color-cycling, you must see it to get the picture! LotsaLego-Builds random constructions of Lego building blocks, it is for all of us who miss the days when we were kids and spent hours building with these. LotsaDistortion-Renders a distortion and moves it around the screen. Picture a twirl that bounces around on your desktop, or a magnifying glass! NEW FEATURES v1.01 26.4.1997 o FIXED: Division by zero bug in LotsaDistortion. o ADDED: FPU version of LotsaDistortion. SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS You need the following to use LotsaBlankers: o GarshneBlanker v3.6 o AmigaOS v3.0 or higher. o 020 or better processor. o AGA chipset or 100% compatible. Most of the blankers also look better if you have a faster processor. LotsaDistortion does in practice require a 68030. AVAILABILITY LotsaBlankers will be available on our homepage at: http://www.abo.fi/~mamannev/circlesoft/lotsablankers.html Currently it's only available on aminet as: ftp://ftp.uni-paderborn.de/pub/aminet/util/blank/LotsaBlankers.html DISTRIBUTABILITY LotsaBlankers is Freeware. Copyrighted to CircleSoft 1996 - 1997. @endnode @node NEWS22 "Atlantis 1.1" @toc NEWS TITLE Atlantis VERSION 1.1 RELEASE DATE 2 May 1997 AUTHOR Staffan Palmroos (crush@lysator.liu.se) (http://www.lysator.liu.se/~crush) DESCRIPTION Atlantis is THE game map editor for two-dimensional multi-directional scrolling platform games using the technique of block graphics. Atlantis has features rarely or never seen in other packages of the same category: * Multiple editing windows * 'Display cache' for faster redrawing * Overview mode * Multiple Undos * Flood filling with patterns * Point out important places with 'marks' * Bubble help * Arexx Interface * Localized * Commodities support * Screenmodes support * Adapts to low-memory situations by disabling various features * Supports VMM (virtual memory) * File notification * Optional Auto-save * Uses MUI for a powerful and flexible GUI * Only requires OS V37 (2.04) * Extensive AmigaGuide documentation CHANGES * Fixed a serious bug in the save-routine * Fixed some graphic bugs in the block window * Added a skeleton rexx script * Atlantis no longer complains if it can't find the prefs file REQUIREMENTS * All Amigas with AmigaOS 2.04 (V37) or higher * 68000 processor (A special 68020 version is included in the archive) * MUI 3.3 (not included) * About 500Kb memory (mostly because of MUI) AVAILABILITY Atlantis can be downloaded from: * http://www.lysator.liu.se/~crush/Atlantis.lha or any Aminet site, for example: * ftp://ftp.luth.se/pub/aminet/dev/misc/Atlantis.lha (195382) PRICE Atlantis is SHAREWARE! The shareware fee is * 15 UKP * 20 USD * 30 DM * 120 FIM * 160 SEK DISTRIBUTION Atlantis is Copyright (c) Staffan Palmroos. Permission is hereby granted to redistribute the program archive as long as the archive itself and all the files in the archive is not modified in any way. It is not allowed to redistribute parts of the archive. @endnode @node NEWS24 "The 6809e Emulator V1.01" @toc NEWS TITLE The 6809e Emulator VERSION 1.01 AUTHOR Steven Goodwin No E-Mail, Web page or FTP site :-( DESCRIPTION A program to emulate the 6809e processor (as found on the Dragon 32 computer). It comes with a GUI-based virtual machine/debugger and a command line assembler. Features: * Example programs, ready to run! * Load and save are NOT disabled!!!!!!!!!!!! * Multiple Hex view windows * Multiple Disassembler windows * Stacks (both user and system) * Symbols * Breakpoints * Memory view/modify * Control bar * Self modifying code * Very fast hard-coded assembler, supporting most directives (including dbc, fcc etc) * Saves virtual machine/raw data * Memory-mapped text display screen NEW FEATURES 1.01 is a PAL/NTSC update. SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS 68000. This product uses self-modifying code, and CCR, so any MMU and/or CPU above 68000 will crash! AVAILABILITY Aminet, for example: ftp://ftp.doc.ic.ac.uk/aminet/misc/emu/D32.lha DISTRIBUTABILITY Freely distributable. Copyright 1995-7 by Steven Goodwin. This version uploaded by the author. @endnode @node NEWS25 "PEEK_POKE" @toc NEWS TITLE PEEK_POKE AUTHOR Simon N Goodwin (simon@studio.woden.com) DESCRIPTION Powerful and dangerous STRUCTURED PEEK and POKE for the Amiga Shell Would you like to be able to read analogue joysticks, switch the audio filter, check library and device versions, reset MIDI devices, blink the power LED, check your Amiga chip set or CPU type, start and stop floppy drive motors or change the sex of the narrator device - all from the comfort of your shell or a script file? All these and much more - including numerous ways to crash the machine - are now available via structured PEEK and POKE extensions for the Amiga Shell. These make automatic program configuration simpler and prevent the need to write and test 'trivial' stand-alone utilities to check or tweak system variables or registers. They've very convenient when hacking but positively dangerous for people who don't know their way around the Amiga system. Examples of ease of use: peek long hex lib=exec 62 returns the top limit of Chip memory (e.g. $200000, $80000 etc.). POKE CIAA 0 2 turns the audio filter off FEATURES: o Permits access to all system library, device and resource variables o Read bytes, words, long words or strings from any memory address o Convenient access to memory pointers, using indirect addressing o Supports input and output in decimal, hexadecimal or binary formats o Access to CIAA, CIAB and CUSTOM chip registers by name and offset o AmigaGuide & text documentation with many examples including scripts SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS Any Amiga or emulator with Kickstart 2.0 or above. AVAILABILITY Available on Aminet, e.g. ftp://ftp.wustl.edu/pub/aminet/util/cli/PEEK_POKE.lha (24K) PRICE Absolutely nothing. OTHER Well-annotated stand-alone assembler source file included. The author cannot be held responsible if PEEK_POKE causes damage. DISTRIBUTABILITY Copyright (c) 1996-7 by Simon N Goodwin. It's freely distributable. -- Cheers, Simon N Goodwin, simon@studio.woden.com AKA simon@silicon.studio.co.uk @endnode @node NEWS26 "Same Difference 1.01" @toc NEWS TITLE Same Difference VERSION 1.01 AUTHOR Steven Goodwin No E-Mail, Web page or FTP site :-( DESCRIPTION Same Difference allows you to compare, list and edit changes between two text files. It shows both files, side by side, in a scrolling list with each difference hightlighted in different colours. These changes can be edited by the line, or block (i.e. a sequence of consequtive lines that are all different). You can: * Replace * Insert * Append * Clear or just edit the text directly yourself. NEW FEATURES 1.01 is a PAL/NTSC update. SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS None AVAILABILITY Aminet, for example: ftp://ftp.doc.ic.ac.uk/aminet/misc/edit/SameDiff.lha DISTRIBUTABILITY Freely distributable. Copyright 1996-7 by Steven Goodwin. This version uploaded by the author. @endnode @node NEWS27 "SMT V2.31" @toc NEWS TITLE SMT - Steevs MIDI Trigger VERSION 2.31 AUTHOR Steven Goodwin No E-Mail, Web page or FTP site :-( DESCRIPTION SMT plays samples from a MIDI keyboard, or the Amigas own keyboard. These samples can be played as required. Featuring: * As many samples as memory allows * Variable pitch on samples * Software MIDI Thru * Filter out MIDI channels * Output sound on next free channel, specific channel, or on alternate channels * Three demo enviroments - Virtual Piano, House, GM Drums * Backing MOD (start/stop/pause with any combination of joystick/mouse/keys) * Program note range * Sampling looping NEW FEATURES 2.31 is a PAL/NTSC update. SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS None AVAILABILITY Any Aminet site, for example: ftp://ftp.doc.ic.ac.uk/aminet/mus/misc/SMT_23.lha DISTRIBUTABILITY Freely distributable. Copyright 1995-7 by Steven Goodwin. This version uploaded by the author. @endnode @node NEWS28 "Anarchy Software Formed" @toc NEWS Announcing the existence of ANARCHY SOFTWARE --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Producers of software for the AMIGA. And the IBM, but we won't talk about that here :) WHO? --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Anarchy Software is the name myself (David Stroud) and a friend of mine have given our combined programming efforts. A kind of software label, if you will. WHY? --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Because. I've programmed a couple of things in recent times, and I wanted an outlet for them. My friend is doing a computer science degree (so is involved with those other computers, the name of which I've been trying to forget for a long time :). And the Amiga needs all the support it can get at this time... every little helps. Allegedly. WHAT? --------------------------------------------------------------------------- On the Amiga side of things, I've programmed a few simple games, and some C programs may become available sometime in the future, when I become a competent enough C programmer. They're not ground-breaking. Yet. No snazzy 3D graphics, gouraud shading, texture mapping, etc. I'll leave that to those that can. That's not to say the games don't look nice, though. The best is done with limited artistic ability to make them good enough to at least look at. And I hope they're well written, with features that work. WHERE? --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Http://www.nebula.demon.co.uk/anarchy/ WHEN? --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Now. And for the last few months, in case you hadn't noticed. SO? --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Please take a look. Constructive comments, encouragement etc. always welcome: Email: Anarchy@nebula.demon.co.uk Thankyou, David Stroud, Anarchy Software. @endnode @node NEWS29 "wfmhcybergfx_r3d.library V40.2" @toc NEWS TITLE wfmhcybergfx_r3d.library VERSION 40.2 AUTHOR Miloslaw Smyk E-Mail: thorgal@dedal.man.szczecin.pl WWW: http://wfmh.man.szczecin.pl/~thorgal IRC: Thorgal S-Mail: Miloslaw Smyk ul. Orawska 22/34 70-131 Szczecin POLAND DESCRIPTION This is external display library for Real3D v3.11 and CyberGraphX, which has some special features. FEATURES - rendering on 15/16/24-bit deep screens directly to windows you use for modelling, - simultaneous rendering to several windows at once, - two optional dithering modes - Floyd-Steinberg and ordered 4x4 for high quality 15- and 16-bit deep renderings, - contents of any window can be saved as IFF file, - small preferences editor that lets you change dithering modes and save your preferred settings to disk, - you can have more than one copy of Real3D using this library at the same time. NEWS v40.2 - Some heuristics added that prevent it from rendering in non-view windows. No more trashed Animation windows! Busy-looping in prefs window fixed - oops! :) This also resolves problems with 68060 some of you might have had. Documentation updated with new info and new e-mail. SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS - gfx-board with CyberGraphX - Real3D v3 AVAILABILITY From aminet (gfx/board/wfmhcybergfx.lha) or from my homepage http://wfmh.man.szczecin.pl/r3d PRICE US$ 20 or 30DM for registration special price 25PLZ for people living in Poland The software is free for people who registered previous version. For details see doc-file. DISTRIBUTABILITY The unregistered version is freely distributable if it is done in a noncommercial way and the contents of the archive are kept intact. The registered version is not freely distributable. @endnode @node NEWS30 "ClickBOOM Conversion Wish List" @toc NEWS CLICKBOOM "CONVERSION WISH LIST" PRESS RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Toronto, May 5, 1997: PXL computers and clickBOOM would like to inform all Amiga users of a brand new concept for the gaming future of our favourite computer. It is called "conversion wish list", and it is located on our web site at http://www.clickboom.com For several years Amiga lacked conversions of big hits from other platforms. We at clickBOOM decided to change all that, and earlier this year announced Myst conversion. Being the best selling CD-ROM game ever, Myst is a perfect starting point for the future in which big games will appear on the Amiga, as well. Choosing Myst as the first conversion was a simple task, for it truly is a special game. However, for our next projects we would like to convert games you, Amiga players, would like to play the most. Hence -- "conversion wish list"! It is clickBOOM's plan to asses Amiga market needs in the best possible way -- by asking users to vote for the games they would like to see appear on the Amiga. We have assembled a list of the biggest titles from consoles and PC, and it is up to you to let us know which ones you would like to see on the Amiga as soon as possible. It is very simple, and it will truly shape the Amiga's future! As always, feel free to contact us with your suggestions and comments at info@clickboom.com Best regards, PXL computers and clickBOOM @endnode Light Designs has developed a new amiga game called QUASAR WARS. The game is a mix between a shoot-em-up and a simulator with a smooth multi-scroll at 50 fps, intelligent enemies... It works in any Amiga with 1Mb and will be distributed as shareware. You can find a demo in Aminet, pub/aminet/game/misc/quasarw.lzh http://wuarchive.wustl.edu/pub/aminet/game/misc/Quasarw.lzh You can contact Light Designs at : lightdesigns@redestb.es @endnode @node NEWS31 "Amiga Review Issue 4 Announcement" @toc NEWS *****Are you aware of the newest UK Amiga paper magazine?***** MediaSoft Magazines have recently released issue four of Amiga Review, the mail-order only, value for money magazine that covers all aspects of the Amiga market, from games to DTP and programming. The latest issue features interviews with Larry Hickmott at LH Publishing, Sadeness Software, Red When Excited (the people behind Blitz Bombers) and Pure Amiga (the Amiga web site), as well as reviews of PageStream, Drawstudio, Burn Out, and previews of Myst, Nemac and Worms. The main cover feature this issue is the complete guide to writing music with your Amiga. We take a look at how bedroom bands such as White Town have managed to top the charts by writing on budget equipment from their bedrooms, and how you could do it too using your Amiga. Continuing our aim to constantly improve and better Amiga Review, the magazine has now been split into five sections, each with their own look: - Seriously Amiga, containing all the serious news, features and reviews - Amiga Gamer, containing all the gaming content - Amiga Interview, this speaks for itself! - Amiga Opinion, reader opinions, and letters including columns such as Rant and Objects of Desire, as well as company columns from Mutation and Vulcan Software - Amiga Aspects, at the back of the magazine, a regular column dedicated to every aspect of Amiga usage, from music to ARexx, the WWW, comms and art and graphics. Amiga Review is growing stronger with every issue and will be here to stay. MediaSoft Magazines have just initiated a large marketing campaign to increase awareness and readership of the magazine, and are negotiating with Crystal Software & Distributions in the Netherlands to provide distribution throughout Europe, the USA and Australia. We have found a market niche in mail order publications, our A5 titles cut production costs by half, meaning cheaper cover prices and lower advertising rates all benefitting the end reader. We are now also supporting an individual charity for each one of our magazines. Amiga Review has chosen to support ChildLine, the UK Charity which provides a 24 hour freephone line for children in trouble or danger. We believe firmly in the Amiga computer, and we use nothing but Amigas to produce our publications in house. We are soon to release The Noise, a music magazine and Cyber.cafe, aimed at the internet, both of which will be produced on Amigas. The Amiga has been down, but it's coming back brighter." If you would like to be placed on the mailing list you will receive a complimentary copy of every issue of Amiga Review from issue four onwards, please e-mail your site name and snail address to list@mediasft.demon.co.uk. *******EXCHANGE BANNERS FOR FREE! Increase our hits together!******* Amiga Review has also just been updated on MediaNet, our electonic zine that features daily news, and all our publications on line. (http://www.mediasft.demon.co.uk/) Features, interviews, news, and reviews can all be found on-line. We are now taking the internet version of AR as seriously as the paper version. As part of our marketing campaign, we want to link with as many other Amiga sites as possible, through banner exchanging. It's simple: you place our banner on your site, and we'll place yours on ours. Simply fill out the form on the advertising section of MediaNet - it will take you under a minute to do. We are initiating a marketing campaign on MediaNet on the 15th June. This will include advertising it on Yahoo!, within some of the major Amiga and Internet magazines, and of course, links to related sites. -----> Watch out for our news on our Internet Clean Up Campaign soon. **ALSO! Make sure you keep us up to date with your latest developments. If you have products for review, press releases, reader offers or any other proposals please contact the editor, David Pettifer (david@mediasft.demon.co.uk) or deputy editor, Matt Parsons (mattp@mediasft.demon.co.uk). We'll be pleased to hear from you. This message was from DAVID PETTIFER at MediaSoft Magazines. Telephone: +44 (0)1983 867377 Ext 1001 Facsimile: +44 (0)1983 867482 Pager: +44 (0)1426 141249 MediaSoft Magazines is a member of The David Group Limited. Registered Office: Communications Hse, Isle of Wight, PO37 7LU URL: http://www.mediasft.demon.co.uk/ For more information send an e-mail to info@mediasft.demon.co.uk and our auto responder will return a list of subjects available. MediaSoft Magazines - Telling it how it is. @endnode @node NEWS32 "Imagine 6 Feature List and Upgrade Info" @toc NEWS IMAGINE 6 features: ------------------ * New GUI..Up to date with the present OS * Inverse Kinematics * New Preferences Editor * Optimized for the 040 and 060 * PPC support * New Special FX: Jiggle.. Make objects behave like jello Jitter.. Make the camera shake like something big hit the ground * New Textures * Linear Fog Fall off * New Staging functions to make character animation very easy * Animating Deform Tool * Free Form 2d Spline Editor with PS font support * New & Improved lens flare options * Volumetric light sources * JPEG file support * ASL file requester support * New Complete Electronic Manual with interactive index * Free Technical www support * (this is only a partial list) Registered Imagine-Amiga users: ------------------------------ Subscribe to the Amiga Constant Upgrade Program (CUP) for only $100. You will receive no less than 4 updates over the next 12 months. If you have web-access, you will have access to more frequent updates. You will be given a user-name & password to access the new code. When Imagine6 is finished, the price will be $200 so it's advantageous to register with the CUP program. If you don't presently own Imagine: ---------------------------------- You can purchase Imagine5.0 for $100. Once you're registered, you can enroll in the CUP program for Imagine6.0. You won't find a better 3D program at this price! You're not sure about Imagine?: ------------------------------ Check http://www.coolfun.com. You can download a FREE demo version of Imagine. You should have an FPU. The webpage also features: tutorials, free objects, current information, cool artwork & animations. How to reach IMPULSE?: --------------------- Impulse, Inc. 8416 Xerxes Avenue North Minneapolis, Minnesota 55444 In Canada or USA: 1-800-328-0184 Elsewhere in the world: 1-612-425-0557 FAX: 1-612-425-0701 Email: SALES@coolfun.com Web: http://www.coolfun.com The future of the Amiga rests on you and Impulse. Impulse will do their best to continue writing the kind of 3D software that has made Imagine the leader for over 8 years. Your support is necessary to continue to make this possible. @endnode @node NEWS33 "VideoTurtle RGB to S-Video Converter" @toc NEWS The VideoTurtle is a video-convertor product. It converts RGB known as TV RGB, 15.7 KHz, into S-Video. So many systems use TV RGB Monitors as their primary display. Slight problem, though! TV RGB Monitors are no longer made for general consumer use. The choice for us has been to either buy a used monitor, or somehoew use a regular TV. Not much of a choice is it? VideoTurtle, from Turtle Enterprises, gives you a better choice, and in many cases, even better than the old monitor! By taking the output from your home computer/video games system, attaching a cable to the VideoTurtle, and an S-Video cable to the S-Video TV, you are ready to go! Plug and Play! Some systems come with TV RGB but with distinctions, and VideoTurtle can handle that with mere jumper changes! All in all, no software drivers to load, or certain video modes to use, to utilize the VideoTurtle! Tex Comp Ltd is the authorized distributer of the VideoTurtle. To order call (800)846-3474. Technical help from Turtle Enterprises is (818)967-3341! The price of the VideoTurtle is $149.95. Shipping is 4 weeks. For more information, mail ab453@cleveland.freenet.edu. @endnode @node NEWS34 "SViewNG PowerUP Modules" @toc NEWS 1.6.97 Release of SViewNG powerUP (TM) modules --------------------------------------- Registered users of SuperView/SViewNG have been informed that optional powerUP (TM) plugin modules for SuperView-Library are available now. Official release date is 1st June 1997. The PPC module plugin package does include at least 26 PPC plugin modules for existing SuperView-Library SVObjects and SVOperators, as well as commonly shared support functions. New modules are currently under development and are going to be added to the release package when available, so the module count may be permanently growing. As an example, how operations are to be speeded up by powerUP (TM) PPC plugin modules, we took a 716x580 sized 24 Bit graphics and turned it by 125.3 degrees with SuperView- Library's "RotateFree" operator, which makes heavy use of integer and floating point operations as well as various transient math functions. Here are the measured times: CyberStorm 060/50 ca. 21 seconds CyberStorm 060/50 plus 603e/150 ca. 2 seconds This obviously is more than 10 times faster. Actually it's more, since we a) rounded the times up (it must have been around 1 second, actually) and b) there had not been much 64 Bit RAM on the CyberStorm board. The operation perhaps mainly took place on the slow A4000 motherboard RAM... The optional PPC plugin modules are available now for registered users - for a fee, which is equal to the normal SViewNG registration fee. Some commercial programs, which offer licensed SuperView- Library support, will probably be shipped with these modules later on, too. There will also follow module packages with exclusive add-ons for specific commercial programs. @endnode @node NEWS35 "IPISA '97 Call for Papers" @toc NEWS IPISA '97 Incontro Programmatori Internazionali Sistemi Alternativi International Programmers' Meeting for the Development of Alternative Systems Seventh Edition Call for Papers November 1997 - Milano, Italy IPISA is an annual meeting autonomously organized by a group of computer science professionals. Until last year, it used to focus on programming and applications for the Amiga line of computers. Starting with this edition the meeting is open to projects, experiences and products which have been developed on the following platforms: Amiga, BeOS, GNU, Inferno, Java, Linux, NetBSD, Network Computer, OpenStep, TeX, X11, Internet, etc. As in the previous events, it will be possible to discuss research programs or job contacts with people otherwise difficult to reach. The organizers invite authors to submit proposals in the form a short and detailed abstract, which is to be received by June 15, 1997. Papers to be published in the proceedings can be accompained by a public talk by the author (depending on his or her will). The papers can be submitted in English or in Italian. If the author desires to personally exhibit his or her work, it is necessary to specify the estimated duration of the talk. Authors will receive confirmation of their participation by July 1, 1997, and will have to send the complete papers and related software by October 1, 1997. The exact date, place and subscription instructions for the Conference will be disclosed in future press releases. IPISA is a non-profit event and subscription costs are aimed to cover the expenses. Surface Mail (preferred for papers submission) IPISA '97 c/o Sergio Ruocco via Di Vittorio 4 I-20019 Settimo Milanese (MI) Italy Internet: ruoccos@comm2000.it (Sergio Ruocco) Web: http://www.bhuman.it/ipisa/ @endnode @node NEWS36 "McFiler 4.4" @toc NEWS TITLE McFiler VERSION 4.4 AUTHOR Roberto Bizzarri E-Mail:robiz@mbox.vol.it FidoNet: 2:334/201.34 DESCRIPTION This program was born to achieve a better way to catalogue and archive files on your floppies, although it can be used as well with files stored on any other media device. It features functions able to quickly trace, view, unpack, rename, discard a file, as well as hide it from your list. You'll have at your disposal two nice routines, "FitDisk" and "SingleFit", which will allow you to optimize your collection of files to fit in the least possible number of disks. SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS McFiler requires OS 2.0+ (v37+) and "reqtools.library" v38+ ((c) by Nico Francois & Magnus Holmgren - included in the archive). AVAILABILITY ftp://ftp.uni-paderborn.de/pub/aminet/biz/dbase/McF44.lha (128Kb) ...and all Aminet mirror sites. PRICE Requested shareware fee is $15 US. The sole limitation of the unregistered version regards the maximum capacity of archiving: the program won't go farther after having stored 250 files. DISTRIBUTABILITY This piece of software is to be distributed "as is" with no warranty of any kind. The author won't be held responsible for any damage occurred by its [mis]use. OTHER For any question or suggestion please email me! Roberto Bizzarri E-Mail:robiz@mbox.vol.it FidoNet: 2:334/201.34 @endnode @node NEWS37 "RBProductions Announces Scientific Amiga Website" @toc NEWS For Immediate Release RBProductions are pleased to announce the Scientific Amigan website: http://www.goodnet.com/~cyrano/ Scientific Amigan - Dedicated to scientific and technical use of the Amiga platform. The Scientific Amigan website offers software, links and articles of interest to the technical Amiga user. The website is constantly being expanded to include: o The full contents of the origninal Scientific Amigan disk library, plus new additions. o The full text of each Scientific Amigan magazine published, available for download (PostScript), on-line (HTML) reading, or hardcopy order. o Information on technical uses of the Amiga throughout the world. o Information and links regarding hardware and applications of interest to the technical Amiga user. Technical computing is much more than programming; Data acquisition, scientific computation, system simulation, modeling and analysis,statistical analysis, home automation and robotics... the potential technical uses of the versatile Amiga platform abound. Originally billed as The Key to Technical Productivity With Your Amiga and published by Walt Lounsbery, Scientific Amigan suspended publication in August, 1995. RBProductions have secured the rights to republish the Scientific Amigan material (Walter A. Lounsbery retains the original copyright). RBProductions 835 West Warner Road Suite 101-251 Gilbert, AZ 85233 (602) 545-6162 fax/bbs http://www.goodnet.com/~cyrano/ cyrano@goodnet.com @endnode @node NEWS38 "Impulse Announces Imagine 6.0" @toc NEWS Impulse Announces Continued Support For the Amiga: Imagine 6.0 Impulse Inc. of Minneapolis Minnesota announced the continued support for the Amiga Computer. Recently Impulse released Imagine version 5.0 to all Amiga users for a price of $100.00. Due to the success of this program, development has begun on a completely new version of the Imagine 3D software package for the Amiga. The new version will be sold as the Amiga constant update program (ACUP) and the cost will be $100.00 for registered 5.0 Imagine users. If you do not yet have version 5.0 you may order it directly from Impulse for $100.00 The Impulse web site at http://www.coolfun.com/amiga.htm will give you all the details for version 5.0 of Imagine. Impulse will accept advance orders for the 6.0 version but will not charge any credit cards or cash checks untill the software is ready to ship. You may place your order via fax 612-425-0701, phone in the US 1-800-328-0184 outside the US 612-425-0557, or e-mail sales@coolfun.com. Please include name, address, phone, e-mail address, and payment information. Imagine is one of the best know 3D software packages on the Amiga platform and will continue to be with the support of the Amiga community. Impulse is excited about the future and the rebith of the Amiga. Thank You Larry Halvorson V.P. Sales Impulse Inc. @endnode @node NEWS39 "AmiTrix Announces AWeb-II V3" @toc NEWS =========================================================================== AmiTrix PRESS RELEASE April 18, 1997 =========================================================================== AmiTrix Development announces AWeb-II, v3.0 ------------------------------------------- AmiTrix is proud to announce the pending release of AWeb-II, version 3.0. This all new version of AWeb, the culmination of six months of work, is now nearing completion, and in the final testing stages during preparation of the package. Totally re-written and re-designed for greater flexibility in future updates, it retains it familiar GUI with some additions, and more configurable options. More complete details will be forthcoming soon. Release date: The final shipping date is not certain as yet, but projected ------------ for the latter part of May/97. Some of the new features of AWeb-II v3.0 are: o Full support for frames, table backgrounds, and more HTML features. o Now has support for server push and client pull. o Added support for proxy authorization. o Internal FTP support. o A new public plugin interface. Plugin modules can do their rendering directly in the AWeb browser window. The API (Application Program Interface) is available as a separate archive, contact Yvon Rozijn for further information. o Standalone images are now shown in the AWeb window, or can use an optional external image viewer. o More versatile cookie protection and a cookie alert requester. Cookie save file is now in readable form. o Greatly enhanced and expanded Arexx command set. o Now with Clipboard support, added Control Menu items, including copy selected text from a page. o New, fully configurable user buttons, below the existing toolbar. o The Image and Link popup menues are now fully configurable. o New URL template popup menu on the URL field. o A new info window with HTTP transfer headers, meta information and current documents links. o The Network status window now shows CPS rate. o New powerful hotlist manager. o Enhanced cachebrowser with find functions and able to delete multiple file entries. o The Search function now highlights the text found. o Improved greyscale palette. o Added Project Menu item: edit HTML source. o New Settings Menu items: load settings, save settings as, GUI settings. o The No-proxy, No-cookie, and Do-not-cache lists are now sorted and support pattern matching. o ...and many, many other things including updates to HTTX and AWebNews plugins, and HTML-Heaven. MSRP remains unchanged at $45.00US / $60.00CAN plus $5.00 shipping. Current owners of AWeb may upgrade to 3.0 for $20.00US / $27.00CAN, plus shipping. Canadian orders add 7% GST to the total amount. Customers purchasing or upgrading to AWeb-II v3.0 will receive a free update to v3.1 when it becomes available at a future date. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- NOTES:- We now have VISA for direct sales, orders should be submitted via ===== fax with card details and signature for authorization. - You can now reach our web site using the new "http://www.amitrix.com" URL. Dealer and Customer inquiries welcomed! For more information, ordering AmiTrix products or dealer locations, contact us at: AmiTrix Development, 5312 - 47 Street, Beaumont, Alberta, T4X 1H9 Canada Email: sales@amitrix.com (preferred if possible) Phone or Fax: 1+ 403-929-8459 (Please leave your mailing address, phone/fax number, &/or email address on phone messages when requesting information.) You may also contact us via email at the following addresses. Email: support@amitrix.com or http://www.amitrix.com/index.html =========================================================================== @endnode @node NEWS40 "GamaSoft Announces Alliance Program" @toc NEWS GamaSoft (GamaSoft LLC, a division of Pantheon Systems LLC) FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE GamaSoft, the Detroit, MI-based Amiga software publisher and distributor, announced on May 6, 1997 that it is forming a new alliance of dealers and software developers. This alliance, called the GamaSoft Dealer-Direct Network (DDN), will allow dealers of software distributed by GamaSoft to take advantage of: -- Special dealer incentives, spiffs, and sales contests for various GamaSoft products -- Professionally produced multimedia selling tools for GamaSoft products, available as props for the sales floor. -- Special pre-release merchandise -- T-shirts, banners, posters, and other promotional goods -- The GamaSoft Network Partner logo, a sign of quality and legitimacy for the dealer Any dealer who wishes to join the DDN must make a query by emailing twalling@pantheon.macomb.mi.us with all of the dealer's contact information. Selected dealers will become GamaSoft Network Partners, with all the benefits listed above. Said Ted Wallingford, Production Director of GamaSoft, "One of the pitfalls in the Amiga market has been lack of marketing power--not only for the Amiga itself, but also for the truly sellable products within the Amiga market. Too many great software products have disappeared from the Amiga market because people chose not to buy them, maybe because of a nervous feeling about the Amiga. Well, the Dealer-Direct Network is our response. With a strong alliance of uniform marketeers, and a slick, active sales program, we're going to starting turning the tide." GamaSoft conducts distribution and publishing of software products for the Amiga computer system. Products in exclusive North American distribution include Web Cruiser, New York, Voodoo 2.0, and MOca. GamaSoft also conducts direct sales of DrawStudio. Direct sales and dealer sales are conducted from the same office. GamaSoft LLC 2644 Botsford St. Hamtramck, MI 48212 (313) 365-8414 Contact: Ted Wallingford @endnode @node NEWS41 "Cloanto Releases PowerPC Blitting Library" @toc NEWS CLOANTO RELEASES POWERPC BLITTING LIBRARY FOR PERSONAL PAINT 7 The "personal_ppc_blit.library" for Personal Paint 7 and other Cloanto programs has just been released on Aminet (biz/cloan/PBlit_PPC.lha). Like previous 68K CPU blitting libraries, this library allows Personal Paint to work on bitmaps in Fast RAM instead of Chip RAM in supporting RTG environments. The PowerPC version adds to this advantage a considerable performance boost. Benchmarked on a PowerPC 603e running at 150 MHz, this software-only blitter performed twice as fast as an AGA hardware blitter. The tests were conducted on a PowerUP board by Phase 5, running a mixed combination of average blitter operations (not just simple copies, but complex blitter logic). These results are particularly impressive in consideration of the performance overhead associated to 68K-PowerPC interprocess communication, task switching and memory sharing, which among other things involve frequent CPU cache flushing. As more parts of the Amiga OS are ported to native PowerPC code, and with the fast evolution of Amiga PowerPC compilers, these results can only get more and more exciting. We proudly believe to be the first company shipping PowerPC code to Amiga users. In spite of the very difficult times for Amiga software developers, at Cloanto we continue to invest more than ever in the Amiga, and we are working on new versions of popular titles like Personal Paint. We would like to thank the entire Amiga community for its continued support and trust in our software. For more information write to info@cloanto.com, or visit the Cloanto web site at http://www.cloanto.com. @endnode @node NEWS42 "Directory Opus 5 Magellan Announced" @toc NEWS Welcome to Directory Opus 5 Magellan! From its first release in early '95, many Amiga users have seen the raw power provided by Opus 5 with its unique concept integrating Workbench Replacement Mode (tm), file management and custom functions in the one package. These concepts were further refined in the Opus 5.5 release in May '96. During this time of great uncertainty for the Amiga platform as a whole, we have been buoyed by the support of Opus users, many of whom have given us continual encouragement as well as much valuable feedback and suggestions on future directions for Opus 5. Through your support Opus 5 has now become firmly established as the premier workbench replacement and file management program for the Amiga. Thanks! With this new version we have attempted to return your loyalty with ongoing support for the Amiga platform and a continuation of our development plan for Opus 5. We have also tried to add as many of your user suggestions as possible which are consistent with the metaphor of Opus. We hope you will enjoy the advanced features in this new version which we call the Directory Opus 5 Magellan version. Summary of Enhancements The Magellan version is not just a simple upgrade but the product of 12 months of intensive development of many components of the Opus 5 system and enthusiastic testing by our beta testers. This version gives you many new features with superior useability especially in Workbench Replacement Mode(tm) with greater control over icons, actions on and with icons, plus many new features such as Start Menus, extra popup sticky menus and new background images to name but a few. After extensive testing we have also improved the compatibility with Workbench and other Amiga programs with in-built support for the NewIcons system, better Cybergraphics support, faster icon layout, dragging and display routines and so on. A rewritten OpusFTP module complements these changes and not only gives you up to five times faster access to the Internet but now has a full GUI for the Address Book and operational parameters. New features include:- Enhanced Lister functionality including:- Command functions can now act on icon mode listers; New popup menus; Optional Space Gauge showing free space on drives Inline Editing for Name mode listers Enhanced Opus FTP including:- New GUI Address book New GUI for configuration system Up to 5 times faster access with less memory usage Individual directory cache exclusive to each FTP Lister Optional idle timer Auto index download for AmiNet index files. A new integrated system of Start Menus. New Desktop Folder mechanism:- Drag and drop items to the desktop with the support of optional popup menus New Icon Positioning system:- Configure areas where icons will appear and their priority. Global control of icon labels and icon borders. Direct byte-for-byte copy of icons. Icon label splitting for long labels. New Icon Command function for special "command" files. New Icon Information requester with extensive popup options. Faster icon dragging routines. Use traditional Workbench icon positions for icons or exclusive Opus positioning. New Popup menus with shadow look. New Environment GUIs for greater user control over Opus configuration options. Cybergraphics support for dragging icons and general display speed with full 24 bit backdrops. Integrated NewIcons support not just for icons but for all system images including graphic button banks. Improved compatibility with MUI, DataTypes, MCP and a number of other programs. New environment variables to allow you to customise Opus functionality even more. Rewritten Text Viewer for faster access and better scrolling especially on Cybergraphics screens. New Filetypes including ability to match on disks. New Scripts system of disk inserted/disk notification gives better control over new disks or newly mounted remote file systems. New Command Functions plus enhanced Argument Variables. Buttons/Images: Full NewIcon image support plus more support for image and animation file formats including DPaintV/PPaint AnimBrushes. Groups: Can now contain icon-less items plus you may now add left-out commands to groups. New ARexx commands. More than 40 new callback hooks for easier user programming of Opus - See Opus SDK Availability The Directory Opus 5 Magallan upgrade version will be on demonstration and available for purchase direct from us on the Wizard/GPSoftware stand at the World of Amiga show at the Novotel in London May 17/18. Come and see it demonstrated by Leo Davidson and Dr Greg Perry Pricing Direct from GPSoftware, the Magellan upgrade will be priced at our usual upgrade fee of Australian $65.00 plus $A10 package and air mail postage. From Wizard Developments at WoA the price will be approximately GBP 30.00. Prices from other distributors such as Micro R&D, Wonder and Schatztruhe will be equivalent. We apologise! Our priority has been to get this new Magellan version ready and available for the WoA show so as to show off new Amiga developments. So I just have not had time to notify existing users. All registered users will be notified by mail with a special upgrade offer sometime around the start of June. (When I get back from Europe.) NOTE: Because of show schedules and resulting time and travel delays, stocks of the Directory Opus 5 Magellan version will most likely not be available for sale from main distributors apart from Wizard until approximately end of May or early June. Dr Greg Perry, GPSoftware, Brisbane. GPSoftware PO Box 570, Ashgrove, Brisbane, Australia 4060 Phone/Fax +61 7 33661402 Email: zzgperry@mailbox.uq.edu.au @endnode @node NEWS43 "Air Mail Pro Announced" @toc NEWS Toysoft Development Inc. 131 64 Ave N. W. Calgary, Alberta T2K 0L9 Canada Phone: 1-403-680-1656 Email: toysoft@spots.ab.ca From: Danny Wong May 12, 1997 Re: Air Mail Pro press release Availibility: Mid May, 1997 Toysoft Development Inc. the makers of the only commercial email program for the Amiga has announced the release of Air Mail Pro for Magic User Interface (MUI) and Class Act environments. Air Mail Pro is a powerful and yet easy to use Internet email program for sending and receiving messages using SMTP and POP protocols. Air Mail Pro has all the features of the original version plus more. New features in Air Mail Pro includes: more preferences are added for user customization, log file to keep track of all incoming and outgoing messages, new interface for composing messages, multiple ASCII signatures, automatically get notified when a user receives your message (only works if both users are using Air Mail Pro), additional forms are included, import and export Address book, supports multiple email accounts. A new Helper preference has been added to support MIME formatted messages. Air Mail Pro can now display any types of pictures eg: GIF, IFF, JPEG or PNG or play any types of sounds eg: IFF, AU or WAVE and animations such as MPEG, CDXL, AVI or Quicktime using the external helper programs. Both MUI and ClassAct version are identical in features and can be installed on the same system without any conflicts. The MUI version requires MUI v3.2 or higher and the ClassAct version includes all the BOOPSI libraries, a minimum of one meg of free RAM is recommended after TCP/IP stack is loaded. Air Mail Pro is compatible with AmiTCP, Miami, TermiteTCP and Mlink. Air Mail Pro is $40.00 US plus $5.00 US for shipping and handling in North America and $7.00 US for shipping and handling worldwide. Please state the MUI or ClassAct version when ordering. Registered users of Air Mail v4.2 MUI version will automatically be given free upgrade thru email. If you have not gotten your free upgrade please contact Toysoft Development Inc. All other registered users of Air Mail can upgrade to Air Mail Pro MUI or ClassAct version for $15.00 US plus $5.00 US for shipping and handling in North America and $7.00 US for shipping and handling worldwide. Also contact Toysoft Development Inc. for competitive upgrades. For more information please contact: Toysoft Development Inc. 131 - 64 Ave N. W. Calgary Alberta T2K 0L9 Canada Tel: 1-403-680-1656 Email: toysoft@spots.ab.ca WWW: http://www.spots.ab.ca/~toysoft Danny Wong Toysoft Development Inc. @endnode @node NEWS44 "Amiga Industrial Council and Open Amiga Workgroup" @toc NEWS FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE The AMIGA INDUSTRIAL COUNCIL and The OPEN AMIGA WORKGROUP (ICOA) For the past nine months, an international cross section of Amiga developers, original Amiga and Commodore veterans and informed Amiga users (The ARise Initiative), have been discussing, debating, analysing and deliberating over the future of the Amiga platform. This culminated in the creation of the Industry Council/Open Amiga working group (ICOAWG), a formal project built around the two most promising ideas to come from the study. The Industry Council proposes a co-operative forum of serious Amiga designers and developers, providing them with a forum in which they can debate, create and plan for the future of the platform as a single set of focused concerns rather than competing against each other and wasting time and resources re-inventing the wheel. The Open Amiga is seen as one of the by-products of the Industry Council. First, it would work towards the establishment of a common set of Open API's, protocols and specifications. Secondly it would lobby for the creation of a shrink-wrapped Amiga operating system that could run potentially on any platform, platform specific HALs (Hardware Abstraction Layers) providing the translations that would allow Open AmigaOS to run on disparate systems. A week ago, the formal project proposal was dispatched to Gateway for their consideration and inclusion in their future plans for the Amiga. We are pleased to announce that Gateway responded favorably to the outreach by the ICOA, without endorsing ICOA or any strategy thus far offered. This weekend, at the World of Amiga show in London, representatives of ICOA workgroup will be giving a presentation at the Amiga Society's Developers Conference (DEVCON), on Saturday. If you are an Amiga Developer, please attend. If you are an Amiga User, please stop by at the Finale Developments booth at WOA. They have kindly offered us a space to present the ICOA initiative. We look forward to seeing you there. For any further information please contact the project manager, Fleecy Moss at fleecy@netreach.net Skal Loret Director of Communications The Jay Miner Society for The Advancement of Personal Computing skal@nac.net The Industry Council Open Amiga Initiative (ICOA) is sponsored and supported by the Jay Miner Society for The Advance of Personal Computing. A non-profit society incorporated in the State of New York. JMS has no economic association with any company, nor does the JMS specifically endorse any Amiga-oriented Companies, Products or Commercial Concerns. The Jay Miner Society for Independent Computing 140 West 24th St., NY, NY 10011, USA. 14 May 1997 @endnode @node NEWS45 "Phase5 Expands PowerUp Product Line" @toc NEWS phase 5 digital products expands the PowerUp product line Oberursel, Germany, May 12 1997: phase 5 digital products today announced the expansion of the PowerUp product family for Amiga computers. Beside the two products that had been announced earlier, the Cyberstorm PPC and the Blizzard 603e Power Board, there will be an additional model for the A12000, the Blizzard 603e+ Power Board, which combines the PowerPC RISC processor with an 68040 or 68060 CPU, as well as a model for the Amiga 1500/2000, the Blizzard 2604 Power Board. Additionally, it has been decided that all PowerUp boards will come with SCSI on board instead of being an option, which adds additional value to these products. With this expanded product line, phase 5 digital products offers a complete line of PowerUp accelerators for the Amiga 1200, 1500/2000, 3000 and 4000 models, and provides a smooth upgrade path for owners of 68030-, 68040- or 68060-based accelerators. Additionally, phase 5 will release a fast graphics card as an add-on to those PowerUp models that go into the desktop and tower models, namely the Cyberstorm PPC and the Blizzard 2604 Power Board. The 1997 PowerUp accelerator product line includes the follwoing models: Cyberstorm PPC -------------- The Cyberstorm PPC accelerator is the high-end PowerUp accelerator for Amiga 3000/4000(T) systems and systems with a compatible processor slot. It features a high-performance PowerPC604e RISC processor in different clock speeds and a socket for either a 68040 or a 68060 processor, a memory expansion option for up to 128 MByte of ultra-fast 64-bit memory, a Wide-Ultra-SCSI controller on board and an expansion slot for high-performance expansions such as the CyberVisionPPC (see below). This board is ideally suited for all A3000/A4000 users who already own an accelerator with either a 68040 or 68060 processor; for Cyberstorm users it will be the PowerUp upgrade offer. Blizzard 603e Power Board ------------------------- The Blizzard 603e Power Board is the inexpensive PowerUp accelerator for Amiga 1200 systems. It features a high-performance PowerPC603e RISC processor @ 175 MHz clock speed and a socket for a 68030 companion processor @ 50 MHz, a memory expansion option for up to 64 MByte of high-speed memory, and a Fast-SCSI-II controller on board. This board is ideally suited for all A1200 users who already own an accelerator with a socketed 68030 processor; for Blizzard 1230-II, Blizzard 1230-III and Blizzard 1230-IV users it will be the PowerUp upgrade offer. Blizzard 603e+ Power Board -------------------------- The Blizzard 603e+ Power Board is the high-end PowerUp accelerator for Amiga 1200 systems. It features a high-performance PowerPC603e RISC processor @ 200 MHz clock speed and a socket for a 68040 or 68060 companion processor, a memory expansion option for up to 64 MByte of high-speed memory, and a Fast-SCSI-II controller on board. This board will be ideally suited for all A1200 users who already own an accelerator with a 68040 or 68060 processor; for Blizzard 1240T/ERC and Blizzard 1260 users it will be the PowerUp upgrade offer. Blizzard 2604e Power Board -------------------------- The Blizzard 2604e Power Board is the high-end PowerUp accelerator for Amiga 2000 (in the UK Amiga 1500) systems. It features a high-performance PowerPC604e RISC processor and a socket for either a 68040 or a 68060 companion processor, a memory expansion option for up to 128 MByte of ultra-fast 64-bit memory, a Wide-Ultra-SCSI controller on board and an expansion slot for high-performance expansions such as the CyberVisionPPC (see below). This board is ideally suited for all A1500/A2000 users who already own an accelerator with either a 68040 or 68060 processor; for Blizzard 2040/2060 users it will be the PowerUp upgrade offer. Quick Table: CyberStorm PPC Blizzard 603e Blizzard 603e+ Blizzard 2604 -------------- ------------- -------------- ------------- CPU: PowerPC 604e PowerPC 603e PowerPC 603e PowerPC604e 150-200 MHz 175 MHz 200 MHz 150-200 MHz 0x0 CPU:68040/60 68030 68040/60 68040/60 25-50 MHz 50 MHz 25-50 MHz 25-50 MHz Amigas: A3000/4000(T) A1200 A1200 A2000 Out: June 97 June 97 July 97 August 97 Price: 150 MHz: $709 $429 $599 150 MHz: $739 180 MHz: $849 180 MHz: $879 200 MHz: $969 200 MHz: $999 PowerUP 150 MHz: $669 $399 $529 150 MHz: $699 Upgrade 180 MHz: $769 180 MHz: $799 Price: 200 MHz: $869 200 MHz: $899 (Prices listed in US$. Prices are without the required 68040 or 68060 chip.) CyberVisionPPC - A high-end graphic card for use with the Cyberstorm PPC and the Blizzard 2604 Power Board The CyberVisionPPC is a high-performance graphic card which can be installed on the expansion slot of the PowerPC604e-based PowerUp Accelerators, the Cyberstorm PPC and the Blizzard 2604 Power Board. It is scheduled for delivery in August, and will become available simultaneously with the Blizzard 2604 Power Board. Especially for the Blizzard 2604 the use of the CyberVisionPPC is highly recommended as the slow access to the ECS chip memory or Zorro-II-based graphics boards in the A1500/A2000 may limit the system performance in applications with lots of graphic output; but also the performance of the Cyberstorm PPC will benefit significantly from the data transfer rates of up to 100 MB/s (from the processor into the video memory) in demanding applications such as fast 3D visualization and similar tasks. Not only the ultra-fast access of the processor into the video memory, but also the internal speed and functionality of the CyberVisionPPC will provide a breathtaking performance. The CyberVisionPPC is equipped with the powerful PERMEDIA graphics controller, which provides an outstanding 3D performance of up to 42 million textured 3D pixels per second, with hardware-accelerated rendering functions such as z-buffering, gouraud-shading, fogging, blending and anti-aliasing. As the design of the PERMEDIA hardware suits perfectly for OpenGL implementations, it's 3D performance can support the CyberGL functionality of CyberGraphX V3 Native which comes along with the PowerUp boards. In combination with the high floating-point performance of the PowerPC604e processor a breathtaking performance in professional 3D applications can be achieved by this implementation. Additionally, the PERMEDIA processor supports functions like color space conversion, chroma keying and XY-scaling which will be used by the software MPEG decoding routines of CyberGraphX V3 Native. The CyberVisionPPC used 64-bit wide SGRAM with a data transfer rate of up to 660 MB/s; this in combination with the fast RAM-DAC allows display resolutions of up to 1280x1024 pixel in true color mode and with a high refresh rate of at least 70 Hz. The boards comes along with 4 MB of display memory as standard. The recommended price for the CyberVisionPPC will be at US$299.00; customers of a PowerUp upgrade can buy this board for a special rate of US$239.00. @endnode @node NEWS46 "Cloanto Launches Personal Paint 7.1" @toc NEWS CLOANTO LAUNCHES PERSONAL PAINT 7.1 AT WORLD OF AMIGA SHOW IN LONDON After weeks of sleepless nights, we have the pleasure to announce that the Personal Paint 7.1 package will be launched at the World of Amiga show in London this week-end. The new CD-ROM not only contains the first Amiga PowerPC code ever shipped (excluding developer tools), but also adds dozens of new features, including: * Finely-tuned 68000, 68020, 68030 and 68040 editions of Personal Paint 7.1 * New Rexx scripts, including text animation and animation paths * Improved blitter emulation and support of third-party graphics.library enhancements to store bitmaps in Fast RAM instead of Chip RAM * Improved support for environments like Siamese RTG, UAE, PowerPC and popular Amiga utilities * Loads TIM graphics directly from Sony PlayStation CDs, with extended TIM saving options for developers * New user interface languages (now totalling 16 languages) * Improved and extended manuals (in English, German and Italian) * Cloanto Internet graphics DataTypes (GIF, JPEG, PNG and XBM) * GIF utilities by third parties * Special bonus: Cloanto ColorType 3.1 software Some of these enhancements, including a free upgrade of the main program from version 7.0 to version 7.1, will be released on Aminet in the "biz/cloan" directory immediately after the show. For additional information, please write to info@cloanto.com, or visit the Cloanto "Web Workbench" at http://www.cloanto.com/amiga/. @endnode @node NEWS47 "Amiga Informer's New Web Site" @toc NEWS ******FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE****** The Amiga Informer Zine, the new Amiga print publication, is announcing that our newly redesigned web site is up and running. You can visit our new site at: http://www.amigainformer.com Our new site has been completely redesigned by Ted Wallingford of Pantheon Systems using Amiga computers. You will find our site much more pleasing to the eye and a great deal kinder to use as you browse selected articles reprinted from issue 7. The Informer site includes many new features. You will find a new Public Service Database that allows vendors, user-groups and individuals to join and become included in future Amiga related mailings. You will also find a search engine that will allow you to do specific searches of the posted articles and news items. There are hot links on our front page that connect you to some of the best Amiga sites on the web for quick access to the latest news. In addition, we list a wide variety of Amiga vendors on our front page with quick links to their sites. This is a great way to get the best prices on those items you've been wanting to purchase. All the vendors listed on our front page support The Amiga Informer and we hope you will support them in turn. Other features planned for our site but not yet available will be First Virtual and PGP protected on-line subscribing, a full archive of many past articles, full searching of achived articles, Music of the Month as you browse, downloadable links to programs mentioned by columnists in Informer articles, and a feedback section for subscribers to air their thoughts on future issue content. It is no secret we want you to subscribe to The Informer, but, that doesn't mean we won't fully reprint articles to our web site. We want you to have access to the information contained in The Informer regardless whether you subscribe or not. However, we don't post all the articles from the print edition and articles are posted to our web site approximately 2-3 weeks after they are received by our subscribers. This delay makes it much more advantageous to subscribe if you want to get all the details hot off the press. Right now, the information on our web site is from issue 7 which was in our subscribers hands on or about April 15th. Please visit our new web site at http://www.amigainformer.com and see for yourself what our new site is all about. Thanks for your support, Fletcher Haug Editor eldritch@mhv.net @endnode @node NEWS48 "Opportunity With Learning Moves" @toc NEWS Opportunity With Learning has moved to a new location at 98 Pine Ridge Rd. Reading, MA. We are proud to be supporting both the Amiga and Windows 95 versions of the multimedia program, Physics Laboratory in Mechanics. Please make a note of our new address. Our phone number remains the same. We currently are offering a 10% discount on all PC and Amiga orders placed before July 31, 1997. Visit our web page listed below for prices, system requirements, and a demo of Physics Lab. Lori -- Opportunity With Learning - Educational Software for the Future 98 Pine Ridge Rd., Reading, MA 01867-3819 Lori Vinciguerra - President Internet: owl@davinci.reading.MA.US www: http://pages.prodigy.com/ralph/owl.htm @endnode @node NEWS49 "Amiga Informer To Change Distribution Method" @toc NEWS ********************** FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE ************************ By now many in the Amiga community may have seen at least one issue of The Amiga Informer. If you have, you know that The Informer is a publication dedicated to promoting the continued use and application of the Amiga computer. If you haven't seen one, now is the time to take a look. We have been in publication for nearly 16 months and have continued to grow. Some of you might recall that the first Informer contained only 8 pages. In contrast, the soon-to-be released issue 8 will contain 32 pages. We have continued to grow in spite of a questionable future by providing readers with a useful resource free of fluff and full of fact. We take pride in our publication and the service and responsiveness we give to our subscribers. We are also proud of the fact that we are the only North American commercial Amiga publication that is produced entirely using Amiga computers. In the past, The Informer was distributed primarily through select Amiga dealers that included a complimentarily issue with each Amiga order. This served to introduce The Informer to the community at large, letting them know we were available and that we were committed to the future. While this method of distribution served us well, it is time for a change. Since our subscriber base has continually grown, and we have gained retail sales partners among Amiga dealers, we will be limiting the number of issues we distribute as complimentary copies. While we will continue to distribute some complimentary issues through some dealers, you will find they will no longer be as easy to obtain. Complimentary issues will continue to dwindle in supply. If you like The Informer and want to get every issue in a timely manner, the only certain way to be assured of getting an issue is to subscribe or to purchase an issue from a retailer. In fact, a subscription is a wise way to go. It assures that you get the latest issue delivered to your door while granting you certain special benefits. These benefits include: > Delivery by email of Brad Webb's Amiga Update electronic newsletter. This newsletter quickly brings you the latest news and announcements with the expedience of email. > Free classified ad space in our Marketplace section to advertise your used Amiga products. > 10% discount on any product ordered from Liage International. > Automatic entry in our bimonthly prize drawings of great Amiga products.* A one year subscription of 6 issues to The Informer is (all in US dollars): $14 for USA subscribers, $16 for Canadian subscribers, or $21 for subscribers in all other countries. If you are interested, there are several ways for you to subscribe. You can: > Call us at 914-566-4665 and subscribe with you Visa or Mastercard. > Call or Fax us at 914-566-4665 and request that we Fax you one of our subscription forms. You can send or Fax you subscription back to us. > Email us at eldritch@mhv.net and request that we email you a subscription form. You can email, Fax or send it back to us. > Visit our web site at www.amigainformer.com and fill out the on-line subscription form and we will send you a bill along with your first issue. > Send a check or Money Order made out to ELDRITCH ENTERPRISES to: The Informer, PO Box 21, Newburgh NY 12551-0021 We at The Informer believe the Amiga will soon enter a new era. After many years of mismanagement and failed opportunities, the Amiga is finally in the hands of a company that looks as thought they will make some good decisions. Our aim is to grow with this new wave of Amiga computing and continue to provide our readers with the most useful, informative and detail orientated publication around. Our hope is that you will ride that wave with us. Thanks for your support, Fletcher Haug Editor eldritch@mhv.net http://www.amigainformer.com *No purchase necessary. Prize drawings open to anyone. If not subscribing, send one postcard for each drawing with your name, address, phone number, email address and the date to: The Amiga Informer, PO Box 21, Newburgh NY 12551-0021. Postcard must be titled "Free Informer Prize Drawing" and be dated at least 2 weeks before each drawing. Drawings are held bimonthly. @endnode @node NEWS50 "Australian Amiga Gathering Update" @toc NEWS AUSTRALIAN AMIGA GATHERING Update 30/5/97 The countdown begins to the weekend of the Australian Amiga Gathering 97 to be held at the Sydney Showground. Many Australian & Overseas companies will be represented at the show. Amadeus Computers http://www.amadeus.com.au Amiga Genius Computa Magic P/L Gsoft GPsoftware http://agnus.livewire.com.au/gpsoft/index.html Resource Managment Force http://www.mpx.com.au/~normanp/index.html Tech Media http://www.techmedia.zip.com.au Unitech Electronics North West User Group Commodore Hornsby User Group Greg Ball Electronics St Johns Park High School Sharewaree Booth http://www.pnc.com.au/~mother/shareware.html Digita http://www.digita.com/index.html Cloanto http://www.cloanto.com ProDAD http://www.prodad.de DKB http://web.idirect.com/~amiga/dkb.html Golden Image http://www.reserve.co.uk/gold/ Bio-Con Phase 5 http://www.phase5.de/homee.html WizardDevelopments DraCo http://www.draco.com/draco Haagge & Partner http://ourworld.compusereve.com/homepages/Haage_Partner HiQ http://www.hiq.co.uk MotherBoard Computers http://www.pnc.com.au/~mother Geodesic Design Inc http://www.mindeye.com Stay Tuned For More ! Michael Burak Australian Amiga Gazette Suite 19, 9-11 Abel Street, Penrith NSW 2750, Australia Ph: (047) 222-803Fax: (047) 215-277 Email: mother@pnc.com.au Web: www.pnc.com.au/~mother/AAG.html @endnode @node NEWS51 "Amiga Browser Market Share Analysis" @toc NEWS FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - May 31, 1997 Amiga Browser Market Share Changes Amicrawler.Com today released the reults of the Amiga web browser market share for the month of May 1997. The most widely used was IBrowse, from Omnipresence International, with a 67.8% market share. AmigaVoyager (VaporWare) followed a distant second with a 21.8% share (up from 14.6% in March), and AWeb (AmiTrix Development) with 6.8% (down from 16.1%). The long-term data compiled over the months between March and May 1997 show IBrowse with 72.1%, AmigaVoyager with 17.1%, and AWeb with 10.2%. Browsers such as AmigaMosaic with 0.3% and ALynx with 0.1% have shown a steady decline. A similar study performed by BrowserWatch shows IBrowse with a 74.8% market share, AmigaVoyager with 21.9%, and AWeb with 3.2%, among graphical Amiga web browsers. This study used a smaller sample of only 1,661 visitors over many weeks, while the Amicrawler study used a sample size of over 220,000 visitors. For further information, please visit the Amiga Browser Watch at http://www.amicrawler.com/bwatch/. David Tiberio http://amicrawler.com dtiberio@amicrawler.com @endnode @node NEWS52 "STFax 1.360" @toc NEWS TITLE STFax VERSION 1.360 AUTHOR Simone Tellini E-Mail: wiz@pragmanet.it WWW: http://www.pragmanet.it/~tellini/main.html FidoNet: 2:332/502.18 DESCRIPTION It all began almost an year ago, when for the first time I needed to send a fax... "Well", I said, "I've got a fax modem, I can send it from home...". Unfortunately I had no fax software: the ones provided with the modem were just for MS-Dos and Windows, as usual. So I started looking around for fax programs for my Amiga: there were only two commercial packages, but as I'm almost always out-of-money, I thought it was a good idea to look in the shareware before. I did, but with no luck: I just saw a couple of programs, one worst than the other. Thus, I sat down and began to type... I tried to put in STFax all the functions I thought I would need, like: - Nice, handy user interface - Phonebook - Scheduler - Reports - ARexx port - Datatypes support for image conversion - On-line help - Printer driver to redirect all print-outs to a fax file and so on... SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS STFax requires OS 2.0+ (v37+) and "reqtools.library" v38+ (Copyright by Nico Francois & Magnus Holmgren). AVAILABILITY http://www.pragmanet.it/~tellini/STFax/STFax.html Aminet mirrors: comm/misc/STFax.lha PRICE Requested shareware fee is $35 US (LIT 45000 for Italy, LIT 50000 for Europe). DISTRIBUTABILITY This piece of software is to be distributed "as is" with no warranty of any kind. The author won't be held responsible for any damage occurred by its [mis]use. @endnode @node NEWS53 "SBase Pro Upgrade Offer" @toc NEWS [This is actually a news item a few months old but it's slipped through the cracks. Our apologies to Mr. Hardware. -Jason] For Immediate Release Wednesday, February 5th 1997 Contact: Joe Rothman Mr. Hardware Computers 59 Storey Ave. Central Islip, NY 11722-2332 USA 516-234-8110 Voice or Fax Central Islip, NY - Wednesday, February 5th 1997 Mr. Hardware Computers announced today that they are offering a special upgrade price for anyone currently in possession of a previous release of SBase4 or SBase4Pro Amiga. We don't care if you were the original purchaser or not. All we need is the registration number from the version you currently own. On April 29th 1996 Mr. Hardware Computers purchased all rights to the Amiga version of SBase4Pro from Oxxi, Inc. We did not publicize this purchase because we fully expected to have been able to release an expanded new version of SBase4 by January 1997. However, we have run into numerous difficulties, including a total lack of contracted support from Oxxi, Inc. Although work continues on brand new Mr. Hardware Computers labeled versions of all SBase4 products, it has recently come to our attention that many people do not realize that SBase4 isn't dead. We have also found out that many people are needlessly using buggy versions of the current SBase4 and SBase4Pro releases. If you are among the thousands of Amiga users who are still using SuperBase Personal, SuperBase Professional, older versions of SBase4, or SBase4Pro, you can upgrade to SBase4Pro v1.30n for the following prices in US dollars. From Cost Including Shipping -------------------------------------------------------------- SuperBase Amiga any version - $60.00 SuperBase Professional Amiga any version - $30.00 SBase4 Amiga any version - $50.00 SBase4Pro Amiga version v1.30m or older - $20.00 There are many good reasons for upgrading your current software to SBase4Pro v1.30n. These include many bug fixes and some new features that have been implemented since the version you are currently using was created. Your participation in this upgrade program will also make it easier for us to continue with the further development of SBase4 and SBase4Pro. Mr. Hardware Computers is 100% Amiga and 100% committed to the further development of SBase4 and SBase4Pro for the Amiga. We have some incredible new ideas and development programs we will be implementing in the future. We invite you to help us prove that the Amiga is better at running business software than any other computer platform available anywhere. @endnode @node NEWS54 "Sagittarius Software Lowers Prices" @toc NEWS 07-MAY-97 Sagittarius Software - Price reduction on Vulcan Software titles! Vulcan Software Limited is planning to enhance their line of products by producing high-quality CD-ROM titles for Amiga systems. Because of this change in direction, all current Vulcan software titles are being liquidated at closeout prices to make room for upcoming products. Take advantage of these incredibly low prices while they're available -- we will be sold out soon! VULCAN SOFTWARE PRICE LIST - MAY 1997 BlobZ (AGA) $20.99 Bograts (AGA) $20.99 Burnout (AGA + 6MB RAM) $28.99 Hillsea Lido $20.99 JETPilot $24.99 Timekeepers $20.99 Timekeepers Expansion Disk $12.99 Tiny Troops $25.99 Valhalla III $25.99 Our products can be ordered online, by mail, by FAX, or by telephone. (Mail orders, please add $2.50 to total bill for shipping) Checks, Money Orders, MC, VISA, and Discover are accepted methods of payment. Sagittarius Software 1706 Canton Road Akron, OH 44312 USA http://sagsoft.ald.net E-Mail: sales@sagsoft.ald.net FAX : 1-330-794-2170 (10am - 6pm EST Mon-Sat) Phone : 1-800-426-7687 @endnode @node NEWS55 "Legacy Magazine to Feature Deathbed Vigil Footage" @toc NEWS LEGACY TO FEATURE DEATHBED VIGIL DOCUMENTARY IN 1997 ISSUES May 25, 1997 Chicago, IL Looking for a new, fresh way to stay in touch with the latest for your Amiga? Want a poignant glimpse into the rise and fall of Commodore at the same time? Now you can have it all delivered to you on video! Subscribe to Legacy: The Groundbreaking Amiga Magazine on Video! Now is the best time to subscribe to Legacy--the new magazine dedicated to bringing you and your Amiga the latest info. The hottest products, the coolest tricks, and the future--all on video! Not only are we planning to bring you everything from graphics tutorials you can use to a complete overview of the tools you should be watching for on the Internet, but in 1997 Legacy will be running scenes from Dave Haynie's legendary Deathbed Vigil documentary, back in publication by IAM. Included will be footage never before seen, and not available on the regular commercial release! Legacy will be published 5 times a year (3 in 1997) and contain over 60 minutes of coverage in each issue. Starting in June, Legacy will be distributed through direct subscriptions as well as Amiga dealerships. We are currently in negotiations with European companies to ensure sales overseas as well. Be a part of the Legacy: Legacy is interested in contributions from Amiga users! While we will do most of the segments in-house, we're particularly interested in showing off Amiga still or animated artwork, and incorporating Amiga-scored music in Legacy. Subscriptions are being taken now! 8 issues (1997 and 1998): Just $11.45 per issue! 3 issues (1997 only) : Just $12.95 per issue! Sample issue (Issue #1) : $14.95 Shipping and handling per tape is $2.05 within the US. Illinois residents add 8.25% sales tax. To subscribe, send a check or money order payable to "Legacy Maker" to: Legacy Maker PO Box 60711 Chicago, IL 60626 USA To subscribe by credit card, fill out the details of your card (type, account number, expiration date) on a form with your subscription information and mail to the above address. To subscribe by phone, call 773-465-5158. Subscription prices (includes domestic S&H): Eight issues: $112.00 Three issues: $45.00 Sample (#1): $17.00 For more information, contact Jason Compton at jcompton@xnet.com Legacy's web page is located at http://www.xnet.com/~jcompton/legacy.html @endnode xxx FEATURE @node FEATURE1 "Monster World of Amiga UK Report" @toc FEATURE =========================================================================== World of Amiga UK Report: Flashes From the Archives Of Oblivion Luke Osbaldeston lo3@ukc.ac.uk =========================================================================== [Mr. Osbaldeston is back for the second year in a row with an extremely comprehensive look at the recent World of Amiga UK show. Mr. Osbaldeston has a number of strong opinions on Amiga companies and personalities, which to the best of our ability we've retained in the article, without sacrificing our accountability. With that, over to Luke. -Jason] The World of Amiga Show 17th & 18th of May 1997 Novotel Hammersmith London United Kingdom "Osbaldeston's 3rd law of computer shows states that there will _definitely_ be some people in attendance who are either very fat, or very thin." This year's show certainly proved this law absolutely, with some monstrously fat people there, one or two of which are quite well known. Don't worry, names _will_ be dropped later on ;-) (You might like to check out the piece I wrote about last year's show in AR 4.06. It could help you understand this article a little better.) Okay, solid. Rather like last year's show, 'love was in the air, every sight and every sound.' Well, perhaps not quite love, but Gateway. Could there be some more hot news from this show like last year's now in retrospect VIScorp debacle ? (The scum basters !) The quick answer is no. For the long answer I guess you'll have to read all this and make your own mind up. When I arrived at the naughty Novotel, I was surprised, and at first a little heartened, to see that there was no real queue to speak of, unlike last year. My reward for arriving early I presumed. In actual fact this wasn't the case, as shall be explained later - much later. I was grateful none-the-less for being admitted almost immediately - buying a ticket this year was a sage decision, as there was a queue of people paying on the door. Ha ! Of course, this is the kind of punishment one likes to see the lumpenproletariat have to endure ;-) Okay, so now I am inside. Same room as last year's show unsurprisingly, which some of you might know means a rather bland grey low-ceilinged room which someone had obviously decided didn't need any air conditioning, even though that day was the hottest of the year so far in this country. Someone at the Novotel must have figured along the same lines as the late great Bill Hick's father, i.e. that a/c 'wastes gas.' Even though I was the only person I saw all day at the show to be wearing just shorts and a t-shirt (both green) I spent a fair amount of the day perspiring. Not pleasant, but not nearly as bad for me as it was for everyone else. You probably know what the standard uniform is for the computer freaks for the most part at these shows, black leather jackets _must_ be worn at all times (to hide their nauseating 'negative' arms amongst other things) irrespective of weather conditions. Still, they all probably had B.O. already, so what did it matter ? In fact, I think they wear those black leather jackets to keep the stench in, which is thoughtful of them. Pity they can't keep their mouth's closed too, and keep the redolence of cheese & onion crisps, nicotine, coke and 3 days worth of plaque to themselves also ;-) Those involved were probably mostly students from Kent ... So, using the devilishly clever technique I pioneered to describe last year's show, I will describe the exhibitors clockwise from the left perimeter. It's easier to figure than it might sound. Okay, the first exhibitor, from the entrance and to the left was the mighty Gasteiner. In terms of Star Wars characters, I don't know, perhaps they are like Admiral Ackbar from Return of the Jedi. Not really mighty, but good to see them again. They too were one of the architects of this year's show by all accounts. Again they had 'bargains galore, even holes in the floor (sic )'. I can't say enough about their stand. Actually, I can. They didn't have any computers setup displaying any software etc., just piles of goodies to be bought cheaply. I remember being impressed last year because I bought an 8mb ram simm for 75 pounds (get your own bloody currency converter this year) - a 16mb simm cost me approximately 55 pounds earlier this year. Sigh. How times and prices have changed, huh ? And by the way, the 16mb simm was for my Amiga too. They had the their usual piles of old cack for sale, faulty bits and pieces that may do something for you, if you fancied taking a chance, though I didn't, and it seemed like most other people felt that way too, as by the end of the Saturday, not much of their 'dodgy' gear had gone. Still, they claimed to be giving a 'free' zal (game - in this case the Chaos AGA pack) away to anyone who spent 10 notes or more, providing they had stocks left. They also had a very poor joke up concerning a '26 speed (or some such) CD ROM' for the Amiga. It was such a poor joke, a guy, sorry no, strike that, not a guy, a _huge_ guy who must have weighed at least 20 stone or so I'd have thought (what did I tell you about fat people ? ) had to explain it to a couple of funkwits who still didn't get it. The 'joke' was that the name of this device had the acronym of F.A.R.T. Bloody hell. BLOODY HELL. Their stand did a brisk trade for most of the day. So, a good stand for bargains, but nothing particularly exciting. Okay, left boy, left, there was the bar. If anyone read my account of last year's show you will know how I felt then about the bar - I still feel the same now. Suffice to say a pint of lime cordial and lemonade cost me 2 pounds. 2 funking pounds ! No air conditioning ! Basters ! I think they made the funking bar prices up as they went along. Cake-sucking mutha-crushers ! to use Granada's dubbing policy whenever they show the film 'Robocop' (in-joke for North of England readers. Just what is a cake-sucker though? And how can being called one possibly be offensive?) The next exhibitor was Snap Computer Supplies. Again, like Gasteiner no machines setup, just lots of computer consumables to be purchased, disks, inkjets etc. No real hardware for sale. Their prices seemed okay, worth a look if you were after six thousand floppy labels. Their CD-R'S were a little dear though. They didn't look like they were doing a particularly outstanding amount of trade to me. Do you need to know more ? No. Good. I guess next up came Eyetech. Oh Eye ! Famous in this part of the cosmos for their CD 32 expansion stuff and other nice bits and pieces, infamous for their campaign of mis[?]information concerning the ide interface on the A1200, and how it should be buffered, "or else your machine will funking blow up !" Hmm. I was going to say that they didn't have any computers setup doing anything much though I am not 100% about this. I don't recall seeing any software running on their stand. They apparently had a thing called the PortPlus, and, wait for it, the NEW PortJnr, which are both high speed serial and parallel expansions for the A1200. The also had their version of the 'let's jump on the band-wagon and make a tower' tower system for the A1200. Out of all the systems I have seen, this one is possibly the easiest to fit, but the messiest of the lot, in that you leave your A1200 in the bottom half of its plastic case, and then ram, yes, _ram_ it, understand, you RAM it into a full tower case. I guess it'll work, but I don't think I like it much. Apparently they had a new version of their dirty low-down 'buffered' ide interface for the A1200 available too, as well as, here I quote, " ... much, much more - all at unbeatable show prices." Well, _some_ of their prices were pretty cheap, for instance Blitz Basic 2.1 for 10 pounds is pretty good going (they sold out) but some of their hardware prices seemed verbatim as their normal ads in the paper Amiga mags published here. Hardware wise though they were a cut above many stands, so 'Hats off to Eyetech.' They had a guy from the now defunct AUI magazine serving for them, just one of the many 'celebrity' sales assistants to be found around the show. Their stand did a very good trade nearly all day as a consequence - maybe. After Eyetech were the little known Wisedome Ltd. They have just published a couple of CD roms in this country at least, one called the History of the World Cup, the other a World Atlas or something like that anyway. The History of the World Cup cd was very well received by CU Amiga Magazine in this country, and I guess they were there in order to flog a few as a result. The guy operating their stand was a very mellow looking bloke, 'keeping an eye on the world passing by his window'. They had a machine setup demonstrating their wares, mainly the football cd. To paraphrase the loathsome Brian Sewell, 'I don't care tuppence for football', so I wasn't really that interested. I didn't let this interfere with my strictly impartial observance of the stand though. They seemed to do reasonable business, on and off. Next are Digita. Their stand was remarkably similar to last year's. Once again, no machines setup to display their rather good software - why the funk not ? Perhaps they think we are all such die-hards at those shows that we already know what their stuff can do. Maybe. One machine wouldn't have hurt though surely ? They had the usual suspects regarding software, Wordworth 6 & Office (yes, I did upgrade from using Wordworth 2 those of you who might remember me using it to write last year's report - I'm now using Wordworth 5), Personal Paint 7, Turbo Calc et al., on both floppy and cd rom etc. Their stand was manned by the 'cute' Jeremy Rihill, big boss at Digita, nice to see him getting his hands dirty flogging a few copies, and a guy called Dan, who was quite helpful. I guess Jeremy is, in Star Wars terms, probably Bib Fortuna, "and I mean that most sincerely, folks." They did have some of their software going for pretty decent prices, and certainly I would have agreed with anyone who said that there were bargains to be had on their display. Their stand did good business I guess for the most part. Very important that a company like Digita are supported, so do what you can for them. I personally signed a crucifer in blood. Keeping left and turning left too, a couple of stands not on the Exhibition Catalogue map or detailed inside either. Late arrivals ? The first was Finale Development. Just a sec, I'll find their flyer. Okay. They do "Innovative Applications for AmigaOS and pOS Computers." Apparently. Blah blah blah, they publish ClassAct, which I have heard of but never used, and they are 'committed to a "no compromises" paradigm of software development.' In other words, cobblers. Joke. [BTW, I helped write the lines Luke's making fun of here. :) -Jason] They had an A4000 on their stand with one of the biggest, most expensive looking monitors I can recall ever seeing (a Philips) showing off some of their stuff. They were running the Finale Web Cruiser on it, and it looked pretty good too. They mention some other stuff too, MOca, a Java based app, Voodoo, an Emailer, and New York New York, start spreading the news, I'm leaving today, I wanna be a part of it ... yes, a newsgroup reader type thang, as well as Digital Quill, which I was hoping was an Amiga version of the now legendary Spectrum utility, The Quill, which was used for writing text-based adventures on the Spectrum, but no, in fact Digital Quill is a boring text editor ! Their stand was rather basic looking but not bad though, and they do seem to be supporting the Amiga, so good on ya Finale. I don't think they actually had anything for sale at the show, so trade wise it was hard to call, but people did seem to be showing an interest, and Finale themselves seemed to have come all the way from America [The corporation is based in America but the presenter, Alain Penders, came from Belgium], so what can I say ? Full marks for effort methinks, and buy their products if you can. They reminded me of the join at approximately 1 minute into Strawberry Fields. Why ? I don't know. Next to Finale was Budget Computer Software. To their credit, their name says it all really, to their minus, their prices weren't that cheap I thought. They had various games, and a few small consumables for sale. No computers setup though. I guess they didn't really need them. They didn't look like they really sold that much to me, but who knows ? There was a large space and gap between the next stand, with an area where you could just crash down to take the weight off your feet etc. Rather disgustingly, I saw someone drinking Coke. Some people have no shame. The next stand was certainly not just one of the busiest, and biggest, and best too, but also one of the most eagerly anticipated by myself. It was the Phase 5 stand, part of the rather good CU Amiga Magazine stand. I'm sure most of you are aware of Phase 5 and their naughty hardware. On show they had a couple of 4000's, both connected to nice 17" Microvitec monitors. Inside they had Cybervision cards (presumably the latest version ?) and, well, imagine that scene from Monty Python & The Holy Grail where Michael Palin sees the grail above a castle and you get the idea, da da daaa, yes, a couple of PowerPC accelerators too. Having watched the demos they had running for most of the day, it seemed to me that the graphics cards were doing most of the work. They had the WB window displaying some full-screen mpeg's - which I thought in itself was pretty impressive, though a little useless pragmatically wise, and the PPC doing, or at least trying to, some Mandlebrot type fractal gubbins in another window on WB. The fractal window though did keep on slowing down quite worryingly I thought, and wasn't really that impressive anyway. They are gonna need something a little more than that to impress the masses with. Perhaps I was missing some eruditely impressive part though. It was hard to get near the machines themselves as the stand was busy all day. There were a couple of Phase 5 guys on hand to answer questions and the like, but I didn't really have anything to ask so I didn't say a bloody word - I just looked on knowingly, stifled a chorus of 'Springtime for Hitler and Germany' and wandered on ;-) I picked up the latest flyer concerning all their planned PPC products (including a couple of new ones) and had a gander, but it is unlikely that there is anything much mentioned on it that isn't on their web site. All in all, though a little small, and only part of another stand too, I was reasonably impressed, and at least they had made some effort. Plus the PPC cards really do seem to exist, which is something I guess. Just have to wait and see what they are like when they go on sale. The CU Amiga stand itself was pretty good - much MUCH better than the dreadful Amiga Format stand, which I will detail later. They had the putative TFX on playable demo at CU Amiga, not that it looked very playable, but at least you could see what you were missing - not much really ! They had Mat Bettinson (in trim) and his magic 3000 (I think) and some video conferencing gear which was having problems when I saw it, as well as some special show subscriptions too I guess. They had at least 3 machines set up doing different things. It was a pretty good stand overall, though perhaps a little too easy for the public to get on, as it did seem to clog up a bit from time to time. A small yet confident show of strength methinks. Both CU Amiga and Phase 5 should be applauded and supported for making some effort. Next to CU Amiga was Direct Software. They are riding the crest of a wave at the moment in this country with various things they are doing making the small headlines. The most well known of these is their 'Power' Amiga. This is simply an Amiga with some Zorro slots, a 060, 22 mb of ram (and there's the rub) a graphics card with '64 bit' capability, some pci slots, and perhaps something else too which I don't recall - research, what research ? In actual fact, there is nothing remotely 'Power' about their Amiga at all, it's basically banged together out of things you could quite easily do yourself. I don't wish to seem down on Direct without due cause, but I for one am completely unimpressed with their 'Power' Amiga, which, by the way, was distinctly conspicuous by its absence. All they had was a rather poor rolling video with some half-baked gamess on it. The software that they did have for sale was pretty dear too - certainly my local branch of Game is cheaper for much of its Amiga software, and they are a high-street dealer at that. Oh dear. All these things didn't stop the Direct stand being full for most of the day. I still don't know why. I guess people must have thought there was something worth seeing there. They didn't, if I remember correctly, have any computers setup. I'll probably get some mail now for having a go at them, but I'm not, this is just the way how I saw things. Good luck to them if they can make a go of things. I hope they manage to release the excellent game Trapped over here. I mailed the author, Michael Piepgras, ages ago telling him he should get a UK distributor, but do people ever listen to me ? No, not usually, then when it turns out I am correct (often) I have to be the first one to tell them, 'I told you so you cracker.' Okay, next up were Weird Science. Again, no machines setup. They sell mainly cd roms for the Amiga. They were also flogging their Network PC thang too, which sounds like a neat device, it can connect a PC & Amiga together and access drives etc. from each. Useful, though _very_ slow in doing it. They were offering two free cd roms with every purchase. Okay I guess if you have a cd rom. Their stand was reasonably busy, though not made so by me. Not bad I guess, though it didn't excite me. Ah ha ah. Next in line, Wizard Developments. Wizard indeed. Any machines setup ? No. At least, not on 'their' part of their stand directly. They were also harbouring some other Amiga exhibitors rather akin to CU Amiga on their stand though, and these other people did have some Amigas setup. Wizard themselves had a few bargains, though nothing that bursts my spleen thinking back. I picked up a copy of Opus Magellan from them for 30 bills being a registered Opus user (Pirate rant - listen, if you have a pirate copy of Opus, or Wordworth, or any of those other few still in development on the Amiga programs, go and kill yourself. I'm not joking. Pirate stuff on the pc if you want to. Pirate PSX stuff if you want to. They can survive it. The Amiga simply cannot at the moment, so all you cracker-assholes reading this who use pirate copies, just go and rid the world of your probably perverted genes and kill yourselves. It is your only chance of redemption, just like Anakin Skywalker. So think on. Or buy the original software. That would work too.) However, you could buy the entire Opus package, i.e. version 5.5 and Magellan for only 40 nicker. Bloody hell, I'm doing something wrong somewhere. More on this later. (Some of you may now realise that I have upgraded my version of Opus from last year's 4.12 too. You see, I have put my money where my mouth is. A little anyway.) So Wizard did a pretty good trade all day it would seem, I left it until approx. 4:10 pm until I picked my copy of Magellan up. I still had to wait a bit then to be served. Don't they know who I am?! The soon to be written "Osbaldeston's 10th law of computer shows" is that Osbaldeston should get priority in any queue he might join ... Next to Wizard, but forming part of the 'franchise' as it were, stood the robust, nay, dare I say it, 'stout', figure of Kermit Roosevelt, sorry, Woodall. Looking a little like a dwarven warrior from the hinterland with his broad shoulders, he was indeed a figure to behold. I was little distressed to see him wearing approximately the same clothes he had for the Gateway show a few weeks back - are things _that_ bad in the Amiga market ? ;-) Anyway, he had his big black Image FX banner above him, and was selling copies of it, or at least Wizard were, for just 95 pounds, a large saving and no mistake. He had an Amiga to stand in front of, which he did very well, the Amiga was running, presumably, Image FX version 2.6 I guess. Perhaps it was Aladdin. I'm not really into image processing, however, if the guy can make the effort to come from America to show off his wares, then definitely a big Wigan kiss to him. He looks like he might be from Wigan actually, apart from he's a native of America I guess. In the Star Wars analogy he would probably be Max Rebo. Yeah, that sounds about right. He was also part of the 'diplomatic envoy' who witnessed the 'rebel assault', lead by for a second year running Andy Davidson and his 'retinue of funkwits', on the dev con later on in the evening, though that information is classified for the moment. Anyway Kermit does seem like a good guy, and one we should all be rubbing our thighs with in appreciation of his efforts - it's a large weight, but he carries it well. I had nothing to say to him though at the time, nothing, do you understand ? Many other people did though, and I overheard at least one proposal of marriage ;-) Again, support this man and his program - you know it makes sense. Okay, along a bit, keeping to the left, breaching the gap in floor space, and, made it, it was the final part of the triptych that was the Wizard dungeon. This stand consisted of IrseeSoft from Guten Tag Germany (their name probably loses something in the translation) and GP Software from bonza Australia. IrseeSoft had a guy there who by all accounts _was_ Mr. Irsee Soft himself. He was demonstrating TurboPrint 5. I have nothing more to say about him, except he seemed quite busy all day and again, he had made some effort to attend so all I can say is jolly well done sir. Let him be a lesson to us all in these dark times. Turboprint looks pretty good, so get thyself a copy if needest. Next to Irsee was GP as stated. Does GP stand for General Practitioner ? Yes, and no. In this case, there is a doctor involved, but he is Greg 'The Bear' Perry, hence GP, unless he just sneakily calls himself Dr. 'cos his initials _are_ G.P. Who knows ? I did mean to ask him what he was a Doctor of, but forgot. Oh dear. So, the hirsute Greg Perry was there, along with his trusty sidekick and beautiful Opus beta tester Leo 'Nudel' Davidson, equally hirsute, though in a different manner. I meant to ask him too what the Nudel business was all about but forgot that as well. Must have been those illegalities I took the evening before. Greg, Leo and Kermit would make quite a good front row in a scrum, with Greg being the hooker, Leo openside prop, and Kermit blindside prop. I'm talking rugby league of course. And I used to know Les Boyd too ! Two 'big lads' anyway Leo and Greg, though Greg isn't that tall. They had Opus Magellan running on their solitary machine, which Leo was demonstrating to all and sundry all day pretty much. It was his own machine too. Little does he know I secretly attached a bugging device to it in a clandestine manner, and have been bugging him since ! I spoke to Leo just after I had bought the Magellan upgrade. He kindly showed me upon request (yet again, no doubt, for him) some of the improvements etc. to Magellan. Personally I think the cli is better than Opus, I just bought it for something to talk about ;-) We had a bit of a natter, then Greg came along, shook my hand for buying a copy of Magellan, then him and I had a bit of a chat. I had to buttonhole him for paying 65 bills for Opus & then the Magellan upgrade separately, when I could have scored them both for 40 if I had waited for the show. Needless to say, he had no answer for me. Well, actually he did, and I can't grumble too much, he had flown from Australia after all. Foremost amongst the things we spoke about, and this is a subject I had discussed with a fellow Amiga owner a few weeks previously, was a possible port of Opus to the PC. Shock! Horror! It's true. A very good idea I think, and this is what I had said to the fellow Amiga owner a few weeks previously. If a port of Opus could be done with as much functionality on the PC, and as a replacement for, dare I say it, obviously the Emperor Palpatine of the piece, 'Windows', then buying a PC would become a much better thing all round I thought. I certainly told this to Greg. He said that it was still being investigated at the moment - doubtless the proverbial 'feasibility study.' They deserve to make some money from Opus it is so good, and although when I asked him he said they had sold somewhere between 5000 to 10000 copies of Opus, this is nothing compared to how many sales could be made from the PC, providing a decent version of Opus could be done. I for one would be all for an Opus on the PC. (I hope that this subject wasn't supposed to be kept secret, Greg ? You never said so anyway...) They could use sales of it to subsidise the Amiga Opus until (if?) things get better again. If Kermit Woodall earned much respect for making the trek from America to attend, then strewth, how do you quantify Greg Perry's efforts ? He came from the other side of the world to attend. Definitely top of the podium for effort. He is Donovan Bailey to Kermit's Ato Bolden - I don't know who Frankie Fredericks is. In Star Wars terms, Greg can only be Nien Nunb ! (laughter.) It was good to meet these two stalwart (I knew I'd get it in somewhere, 'stalwart') Amiga figures, and as I said to Greg with my parting shot, the very best of luck to them. It's ironic that a computer, which some may say is in its death throes, still has probably the best file manager, call it what you will, anywhere in the world. If there is any justice, Gateway will buy Opus and package it as part of the next OS for a new Amiga. It is _essential_ that people buy this product for the Amiga, so you must support GP Software if you don't already. People might think I am preaching to the converted as regarding piracy on the Amiga when it comes to the readership of Amiga Report, but I know for a fact that this definitely _isn't_ the case, that there are many pirates still who have Amigas and read AR. It is to these people that I am speaking to. Well, to the very few of them with any kind of intelligence and moral fibre, anyway. Okay, free ad for GP Software over with ;-) Next to them was Amiga Em Magazine. This is part of the Larry Hickmott empire, Larry probably being more Sanders than Moff Tarkin, but you get the idea. He had Draw Studio on his stand, along with various other bits and pieces. I don't know if the Dean brothers were there (Graham and Andy, not Roger and Martyn,) the authors of Draw Studio. The stand was okay, it seemed pretty busy, to be honest it didn't do much for me, but it was okay, and served its purpose well enough. I don't think other than a machine with Draw Studio running on it they had 'owt else. Next to Larry was Analogic Computers. They are a specialist Amiga repair centre. They had a 4000 on their stand doing nothing really. They repair Amigas, in case that wasn't clear. I can't think of anything much more to say. I think they had a few 1200's for sale. Case closed. Next to Analogic was one of Epic Marketing's stands, the other being opposite them, in the centre of the room. The centre ? Yes, pay attention, remember I'm going clockwise around the left perimeter of the room, and I'm still on the outside yet. At least, I think it was an Epic stand, the top of the stand was covered up with something, so I don't know what the name was on it. Either way, it looked like Epic. I'll leave describing their stand until I get to their main stand mentioned previously. Discs Direct were next up. As you may imagine, they sold discs, consumables etc., no computers setup, no big deal really. Don't recall any exceptional bargains. Next please. Ah. I see. I understand. Yes, okay, fine. Next were the mighty Pios Computers AG. Mighty, mighty indeed - have you ever seen Peter Kittel ? No, I thought not. [It was a tough call, but I had to edit what followed. It involved a lot of sweaty guys and was funny but sometimes you just have to bite the bullet and exercise editorial control. -Jason] Pios had with then one of their naughty but nice TransAm things. I had a look through the port-hole on the side of the machine facing into the hall. Lo and behold, I see Dave Haynie's name on the board. (c) 1996 too. The TransAm was setup, but they had a Keenya there, running MacOS. I don't wish to seem deflatory, but I wasn't that impressed, though I was pleased that at least they had made an effort. Also present was John Smith, whom I'm sure enough of us are familiar with, along with two of the ex Escom staff from last year's show, Ash(ley) Thomas and Andrew Elia. They both stunk up the dev con later, but I'll bore you with that in a while. I'll tell you, if being able to type 'Keenya', 'TransAm' and 'Maxxtrem' on a screen running MacOs is what the Pios gig is all about then count me in - I was very impressed. (Irony there for certain American readers.) The Pios stand was busy for pretty much all of the day. I got a voucher for 50 bills off a Pios machine, should I want one. We'll see. That was it really, a small stand, quite inoffensive, not particularly impressive software wise, but at least they turned up. I think that they are probably the Biggs Darklighter's of the show - will they share the same fate though? The one and only ICPUG were next to Pios. Bloody hell, they have been around even longer than the Amiga I think. Nice to see them, to see them, nice. They had a 1500 running something. Might just have been WB. Nothing exciting, unless you were after some Pet software, so apart from the obligatory well done for turning up, I'll move on. Oh dear. Next to ICPUG were Siren Software. I had a bit of a run in with them over something I bought from them, but I won't mention it here - if anyone wants details email me. They didn't have any machines setup (just like last year), just a lot of gear for sale, but rather suspiciously, no prices posted on anything much, it was a case of ask how much, then haggle if you could. They remain a little dodgy I feel, even though I have dealt with them before, so beware if you are gonna buy anything from them, make sure you are certain first. Their stand wasn't that exciting, and they seemed to be trying to flog a copy of some crappy Amiga Format book to anyone who would even look in their general direction. I didn't need any expensive bog roll, so I didn't bother. There was a bit of a gap between Siren and the next stand. In this gap for sometime stood Andy Davidson, surrounded by weak-minded fools who seem to think he is the next coming, when all he has done is write some dodgy artillery clone. Several times over. I've nothing against him though, and if he has enjoyed any success from his efforts then fair enough. He signed a few Worms posters around and about, but you will have to wait until the dev con section for more from him. So next up were Guildhall Leisure. They are well known in this country for selling the Acid range of zals, along with various other re-releases as well. They had a _lot_ of software for sale at the show. No machines setup at all, just boxes on boxes of games games games! Their posted prices didn't seem that cheap to me, however, a guy came up to me and asked what did I want, said he would 'do me a deal.' I told him I wanted some quality heroin. He said he meant what did I want software wise from Guildhall. I mentioned Blitz Basic. Their poster said 19.95 pounds. He said 14. I said okay. Now, I think I'll go write some game, what sort? I might try an artillery clone, they seem simple enough. He wanted to sell me some games too, but when you have played NetHack (3.2.1) then you don't _need_ any other games. So I told him, but I don't think he understood me. I left. Okay, that completes the left perimeter of the hall. Now for the right interior perimeter, starting from the entrance. First up, HiSoft. Hello! Remember my mentioning the film Star Trek 5 on their stand last year ? Obviously no-one had changed the cd, as it was playing again this year, though to greatly diminished numbers it has to be said. They also managed to sneak a picture of a Fender Strat in again ! Bloody hell, what is it with them and Strats ? Anyway, stand wise, it was reasonably neat. They had scrapped the open-plan design of last year's stand, although it was still slightly open-plan I guess. The Net & Web sign was probably lurking somewhere too. They were demonstrating, or at least possibly demonstrating, their new product, called, The Whippet, which no doubt will sell like the proverbial dime bags of crack up in Barnsley - you need to be English to get that probably. This item is a high-speed serial port for the A600 / A1200. I guess you shove it into the PCMCIA slot and hope for the best. They also had the cd rom version of Cinema 4D, so their info says, as well as the Squirrel CDR. cd rom recording system, which I didn't see and would definitely have noticed if I had. Termite TCP was mentioned (is this some kind of anti-septic mouthwash for insects ?) - now with email, net and ftp clients! Oh my gosh! Plus Studio 2. Plus, 'of course, lots and lots of bargains !' I don't recall any. They did have some stuff going cheaper than normal, but still not exactly cheap. Perhaps I am just a cheapskate. Their stand was certainly one of the better ones though, perhaps in the top five even. I guess they are probably Gargan when it come to Star Wars. Next to HiSoft were HiQ. They do that Siamese. Their stand was pretty neat in a way, in that they had a nice large demonstration going on, with some seats set out that you could go and sit on and watch, then ask questions of the guy doing the demo. Or just bug him. It was more than a little reminiscent of the Scala stand from last year. Apparently you had to ' ... ask Steve what all the fuss is about.' I didn't ask him, as I don't know who he was, and I personally couldn't discern any fuss. A PC and an Amiga. Big deal. Sheesh. I know perhaps that sounds a little arrogant, but I'm just not that bothered about it. Of course, I hope they do well, they certainly seem like they deserve to. Their stand was neat, neato in fact, it's just a pity from my point of view that I wasn't really that interested in it. Of course, I follow the development of these products, I just don't get that excited by them. Oh well, as I say, they had the Siamese thang running, and I think that they had another Amiga just looking sorry for itself too. Paul Nolan's name (the creator of the Siamese methinks) was mentioned predominantly on the stand, but I don't know if he was around, I didn't see him. But then I don't know him, so perhaps I did see him after all. Along and to the right was the Blittersoft stand. They had several machines setup, one Amiga running Linux, one was a Power Mac, not really doing much, they had a PC I think not doing much either, and probably a few more Amigas too, but none of them were that exciting. However, they were doing a terrific trade all day, often several people deep. Surprising in a way, because their prices weren't cheap at all, but they did have several products that I didn't recall seeing for sale anywhere else, such as high-density internal floppy drives for the 1200, of which I scored one. It cost 55 notes - again, not cheap as I say, but I've been thinking about getting one for a while, so I finally did - got a 'free' cd rom with it too. They were selling all the Micronik line of gear, which for those who don't know it, is reasonably good stuff. They do all tower stuff for the 1200, including the now nearly mythical Zorro board 'adder', which adds several Zorro II slots to your 1200. However, I've yet to see this piece of hardware reviewed yet anywhere, so how good or bad it is I don't know. I can't really list all the stuff that Micronik do, but it seems reasonably well made, just a little dear to buy. The drive I bought didn't come with any instructions or anything, however, it was a simple enough job to fit. It works well too, no patches needed, just plug it in and you are away, everything knows you've got an hd instead of a dd, including wb. Nifty. So good in fact that I started to cry. Blittersoft also were selling the Phase 5 stuff like the Blizzards and what have you, again though with only a small saving to be made. For example, they were selling the A1240T/ERC, a 68040 accelerator for the 1200. This is usually sold for approximately 250 pounds over here, but they were selling them for 230 pounds at the show. Not really much of a saving I thought. Eagle Computer(s?) were also kind of based on the long thin Blittersoft stand, which ran along the back of both the HiSoft & HiQ stands, to form a triumvirate of pretty good stands. Eagle didn't seem to have anything much though, and it was a little difficult to try and tell where Eagle started and Blittersoft finished. A good stand though for diverse and quality products, they had the Picassole IV board there, oh all sorts of neat stuff. A good stand overall from a good company by all accounts. Star Wars wise they were probably most like Marty Robbins. Do a little dance, and you would be at the next stand on the right, which would be Power Computing. Another 'stalwart' Amiga company (who recently have taken to flogging pc stuff as a sideline ? ), the first thing to note about them was that they boasted not one, but _two_ celebrity salesmen - David 'Donald' Pleasance, and Jonathon something or Other, another ex-CBM-UK'er, whose last name I don't recall. Well, David Pleasance, what can I say ? It was good to see him, though not necessarily in this capacity. I figured he was just helping Power out for the two days or so, but for all I know he works for them full-time, assuming he isn't involved with Tangent Music Design anymore etc., more on which in a moment. The Power stand was better than last year. I can't really comment about prices, as I don't recall really seeing any, and last year some of their show prices were just the same a their usual adverts, but overall it seemed better than last year's display. They had their new game Big Red Adventure playing on a machine at one end of the stand, with sales people occupying the rest of the stand. They had quite a high ratio of sales staff to punter, which was good if you were gonna buy anything, and they did seem to do a good trade. I don't think that they had any other machines setup though. David Pleasance is a bit of a stocky guy, a man 'used to good living' by all accounts. So in fact is the Power boss Tony Ianari, I think that is how you spell his name. I bought a copy of "Everybody's Girlfriend" off Mr. Pleasance. In fact, I'm listening to it as I type. Not a bad album. In case you aren't aware of the cd, it is an Amiga produced music cd, made by the aforementioned Tangent Music Design. DP plays on at least one track on the album, Para Mi Amiga, a tribute to Jay Miner. Mr. P plays the 'Spanish / flamenco' guitar on it for want of a better description. He wrote the tune himself too. Not bad, though his articulation is a little fuzzy 'n' buzzy in places. Everybody's Girlfriend Blues is okay as well I guess. The album ends with a cheap Satriani attempt. Mind you Satriani is pretty cheap anyway. Overall not a bad album - pick it up if you get chance. A piece of musical Amiga history. Some of the Amiga lyrics are funny - often unintentionally perhaps. Cost me 5 notes, though it should have been 6, but Mr. P didn't have the squid change from a tenner, so I got it for 5. Yay ! Last year they were approximately 10 pounds to buy, however, the copies being sold this year were minus the rear liner notes from the jewel box, hence it being sold cheap. I asked P how many copies had been sold overall and he said something like 7000. Not bad methinks. That was it really for Power. Nice to talk to Dave though. I guess he must be General Jan Dodonna from Star Wars if I am gonna keep ploughing this rapidly boring SW analogy. A little stand next, Sadeness Software. No machines set up, they sell mainly pd type stuff. Nothing really to report from them, perhaps a few bargains, but nothing I felt I had to have - if you have access to the internet and hence Aminet, I guess you don't often need the services of a pd house. I thank you. (coughs slightly) Next were Amiga Format. Their stand was poor, piss-poor in fact. A solitary machine running WB was the best they could offer. The only other thing they had were lots of copies of their mag, old issues and the current one. Not just in terms of booths, CU Amiga outsrips it quite easily. I should hasten to add obviously I have no affiliation to any Amiga mag, I simply _DISSEMINATE THE TRUTH_ - sound familiar ? Both Nick Veitch and Ben Vost kept on disappearing from the stand for long periods of time. Not that you could tell much of a difference ;-) More on these two later. Definitely the Greedo of the show. That's it. Next door to AF was Scala. Who remembers their farcical 'theatre' from last year ? Me too. This year they had gone for a much simpler stand, simply trying to flog Scala. I don't recall seeing any machines setup, but don't quote me on that, there may well have been some. If so, they must have been pretty unremarkable. But then again, I've never found Scala particularly exciting. Good of them to turn up, I guess, and they were selling Scala 'cheaper' than normal. Other than that, I don't recall anything much more of note. So now onto the reason d'etre - Amiga International. Amiga International were there demonstrating the new Amigas - WB 4, Dec-Alpha Risc processors, AAAA chipset, 16mb ram standard, dsp sound, cd rom as standard, midi port, I could go on, but I won't, as this is a complete lie. I don't mean Amiga Int. being there was a lie, no, they were there okay, but no new Amigas. At least, not yet. Instead, they had probably the largest, floorspace wise, of all the stands, in exactly the same place the Amiga Technologies stand had been the year before - not necessarily a good omen, but perhaps not a bad one either. A grey omen then. Starting at the corner nearest the Scala stand, machine wise they had a Micronik tower 1200 setup, connected to a gen-lock, overlaying a real-time video picture from a mounted video-camera onto, yep, you might have guessed it, a Star Trek film. I don't know which one, but it had William Shatner in it. Does that help ? Does it _always_ have to be Star Trek ? Try some hard core porn, I'm sure that will get a large crowd. The Micronik tower had a clear perspex panel in one side so you could see what was going on inside, and we all know what a lot of moving parts there are in a 1200 ;-) Useful I guess to clock how it all goes together. On the next corner of the AI stand was an HiQ Siamese thang. You know the sp with these things by now. On the next corner of the stand was a woman. A Woman ! Good god man, don't say that ! Yes, I'm very sorry to say that a woman was at this show. Actually, she was minding the shop for Gateway whilst the big bosses were otherwise occupied. Which reminds me, as you walked around the AI stand, it became apparent that inside the stand was some space not accessible to the public. There was a small window into this space, through which could be seen a few guys no doubt up to no good. For the most part there were two Gateway guys in there, Jim Taylor and another guy whose name I don't think I caught, and Petro T, well, I'm sure you all know him. Is it Gateway policy that every employee wears the same beige jacket ? From time to time they frogmarched some poor sap in there from elsewhere in the show, bent their arms up their back, kneed them in the bollocks and shouted something at them. I'm not quite sure what. Actually, they just took various people into the 'space' to chat with them, sound them out etc. As I'm sure you will mostly be aware, there had been a press conference at the Novotel on Friday the 16th. I didn't attend that, but you should have all read the transcription of what said on CUCUG by now, so I won't bother with what the flyer I was given said. The woman manning the desk (neat turn of phrase huh ?) was quite helpful and pleasant, though she couldn't tell me anything much. Oh well. She tried. She did give me a free Amiga mouse-mat though. And a flyer from last year with the Q-Drive on it :-( And the Surfer pack. Whatever happened to the Surfer pack ? That could have been a good idea. On the final corner were yet more Micronik tower 1200's, one of them was named a 1300, the other a 1500 I think - strange choice of number I'd have thought. I think one had Zorro slots and the other didn't. It's all nice stuff the Micronik stuff as I have said. At this juncture, and as you may have seen, the AI stand was pretty much full of other people's stuff, mainly Micronik. It struck me that maybe AI and Micronik were 'up to something' so I decided to buttonhole another person about it - I like my buttonholing. The guy I spoke to was a 'large German gentleman', sweating a little, but weren't we all ? Perhaps he had something to hide though, and that is why he was sweating ? I asked him what had gone on at the press conference the day before. He told me pretty much what you will have probably read and heard by now, though in a slightly different manner naturally. He seemed quite happy about what had been said, and was happy overall with the situation of things. It seemed that as things stood, Micronik were doing quite well out of the Amiga. Greg Perry had had a quite different opinion about the press conference when I had asked him - he felt that not nearly enough was being committed too. Hmm. Opposing opinions then. But then, that is the beauty of the world, that we can all live in peace and harmony with our differing opinions (breaks into chorus of 'Everything is beautiful') - and you thought I was a cynic, no ? If it came to a fight, I think I would back Greg Perry over the Micronik guy - he was bigger than Greg, and heavier, but I know these Aussies, and they are a tenacious lot. Greg has a lower centre of gravity, and very likely could use it to devastating effect over the taller German. But then again, who remembers the lethal 'Jurgen' from Shadow Fighter ? 'Halt !' indeed. I digress. I then quizzed Mr. Micronik over the fact the AI had Micronik stuff all over their stand and what was the reason behind this ? His answer wasn't really - the gist of it was that it was good for AI to have something on their stand. I never quite grasped his answer to this exactly, it sounded a little like babble, and not just because of his accent either, perhaps I had touched a nerve, I don't know. He was a decent bloke though, and we spoke for some time. He didn't give too much away, but he did seem as I say quite happy with the current situation. He did mention that there might be a new OS out in November, when pressed, he said that there could be a new version of WB. I think Greg Perry mentioned this too. And that was it really for the AI stand. Nothing for sale, so I guess the Micronik guy was right over that, they had to have something on display. Considering they didn't have their own stand Micronik they did pretty bloody well publicity wise. AI's stand was pretty busy all day, not surprising, with people flowing around it. Let's hope next time they have some new home-grown products on it. Or at least an effigy of Bill Gates we can hang. And then burn. I suppose AI are the Obi Wan's of the piece - how will their young apprentice turn out though ? Next to AI then round the corner was Epic Marketing. They had two stands I think as you should have read. Their main stand gave me a bit of a laff, mainly because it featured some pretty naff takes on that fake Roswell footage currently doing the rounds. Someone had mocked a little man up, complete with damaged right leg - quite amusing. They had a rolling video showing off some of their wares and coming attractions - fortunately there wasn't a repeat of last year's 3D porn pictures debacle, or if there was, I didn't see it. They had made a little effort to make their stand look lively and it did, though a little tacky, though that is to be expected with the subject matter, i.e. ufo's, aliens, 'cobblers and cracker-assholes.' You get the picture. Their satellite stand over the way was much smaller, but seemed to be selling the same type of stuff. I didn't buy anything, but I did have a look. And a listen. No computers setup I think, just the video. They were selling mainly CD roms, pd. and the like - you know the routine. Also, they are starting to branch out into commercial games apparently with the Amiga with their Islona label, so good luck to them there. They were also running a competition to explain what PC really stood for. 'Personal Computer' last time I looked. Epic's remit is ' ... to carry on supporting the Amiga, which is why we are continually developing new products that will create an interest in this great machine.' So I for one thank them for the music, the song they're singing, thanks for all the joy they're bringing. Quite a busy stand on and off. In the Star Wars world, they are probably Pandit Ravi Shankar. Go figure. And now, live from Cheshire, is the last stand. Oh, thank you Lord ! This great honour goes to Golden Image. They are a well know company in this country, selling mainly hardware for the Amiga, accelerators, hard-drives, that kind of thing, 'all at unbelievable prices.' Hmm. It's true - I couldn't sleep that evening. A thought just kept on running through my mind all the time - "Golden Image's prices are just unbelievable ! I don't believe it !" Actually, their prices seemed pretty average to me. I seem to recall that they had the Chaos Engine 2 running on a machine there. Other than that I don't think that there was anything too much of note to note. And that, my friends, was that, regarding stands. I do believe I have covered every single exhibitor at the show. Now watch someone prove me wrong ... There were some well known Amiga faces to be seen, and I think I have mentioned everyone whom I saw, recognised and remembered, though there may have been others. There were a couple well known features missing though - the Walkers for example, both scruffy Jeff and the machine itself. Perhaps Gateway aren't gonna do anything with it after all. We'll see. Or rather we won't, or didn't anyway, not at this show. Team 17 have apparently jacked the Amiga in, so they weren't there either - no great loss for me personally, and not seeing Steve McGill this time could only be classed as a pleasant experience ;-) Yeah, Amiga stalwarts, right ? Overall, I think personally the show was better than last year's show. I'm not just saying that because the Amiga has a new owner, though that is at least part of the reason. In actual fact, the overall number of attendees at the show was definitely down, as alluded to in the opening couple of paragraphs, or at least it certainly was on the Saturday. Not surprising really, though a little disappointing. Perhaps people were just staying at home watching the F.A. Cup final, a little akin to the Superbowl in America, except for not nearly as good as the SB. Perhaps. It was a better show by the fact that people like Phase 5 had turned up this year, with some genuinely new products which may well be of help - certainly there was a rumour that the PowerPC cards Phase 5 are working on may play some part in a new Amiga, which might not be a bad thing. Blittersoft were another welcome addition. What I think became apparent is that another year cannot go by without something else decent happening for the Amiga - the numbers can't be allowed to atrophy any more. After the show closed at approx. 5.00 pm there was a bout of hospitality generously provided by CU Amiga magazine at the ludicrously overpriced bar. Unfortunately, I didn't hang around long enough to really sample any of the free booze etc., as I intended to crash the developers conference planned to start at 5.30 pm, as it struck me that this is where the real action would be going down. As usual, I was right ;-) I hot-footed it up to the Salon Bourg part of the Novotel - pretentious, moi ? The room did its job though, and I do like roaming around hotels into places I shouldn't be - stealing things ! Ha ! Kermit Woodall was to be the front man, being filmed by his sidekick big Don Hicks. Kermy stood in front of a lectern that had the Amiga logo on it. Very effective. The lectern was off to the left of the room, looking from the back. In the middle of the front part of the room was a large desk with a solitary computer on, an Amiga I presume but I never got close enough to look at it. Surrounding this computer were far too many people, including for various spells, Ash Thomas, Andrew Elia, Ben Vost, Ash's mate Tushar (I think) and way too many other people too. I was sitting in the midst of Andy Davidson & his band of bummers (which placed me to the extreme right of the room looking from the back, roughly in the middle front to back). All the people around the computer were apparently trying to get some IRC thang sorted out, and finally did so - how many did it take to do it again ? The room was quite noisy at around 5.30 pm when the 'conference' was supposed to start, so Kermit tried the little known public speaking technique of simply talking above the noise, but with his normal speaking voice. As a consequence about 3 people heard him. The idea rippled slowly through the attendees though, and things quietened down after a short time. All he said at first was that the irc thing wasn't working as yet, and that he would speak as soon as it had been fired up. The irc thing was an attempt to relay as much of the conference live to the internet. A laudable idea, it's a pity that some more capable people weren't in charge of doing it ;-) So, finally Kermit started his 'presentation'. He stated that the conference had been hastily put together by some people called the Industry Council Open Amiga, amongst others. He made some people stand up in order that we applaud them for organising the conference, so a few of us clapped. There was a right-angled projector displaying the goals of the conference on a screen, unfortunately though the text it used was too small to be read easily unless you were at the front, so that was a bit of a waste of time really. However, it was from this list of objectives displayed that Kermit was going to try to take his cue. He probably did a few more introductions, then cracked on. I didn't write down everything that the projector was displaying for obvious reasons really, so don't ask. The info is probably available on someone's web page somewhere. In fact, try http://www.znet.com/~colin/icoa - I can assure you that that is first and last web address I'll give out. Kermit said that a guy called Wayne Hunt deserved our thanks - [he set up the page on amiga.org for the efforts Kermit has been putting together -Jason] The blokes from Gateway & that Petro emotion sidled in roughly around now, and sat quietly at the back, pretty much directly behind where I was sitting. However, they didn't stop very long, as you will see. Ben Vost mentioned some stuff about someone writing a driver for a new HP product - yeah yeah big deal. Although Vost's points weren't really accepted by most people (who were, after all, only there to find out what Gateway were gonna do with the Amiga ;-)) because they weren't really interested in what he had to say, and were a pretty hostile crowd too for that matter, at least he made an effort, which in the end saved him from the imminent physical assault I had planned to give him later on. I must have been feeling happy - I'm hard but fair after all I guess. However, as bad as AF might now be, at least they were there - I don't recall CU Amiga being anywhere in the room. I can only assume that they were still downstairs with their hospitality, unless they sneaked in later on when I wasn't looking. I don't know if they planned their hospitality before they know of the developers conference, but perhaps it might have been an idea to call it off, so that people could concentrate on the conference only. Perhaps Mat Bettinson was hiding somewhere, but I don't think he was there at the dev con. Mind you, it could be argued that they didn't miss much really, just the usual slanging match. Kermit was making a little headway with the subjects to be covered, and someone brought up a question as to why iff wasn't still supported in PhotoShop I think, or some program like that anyway. Turns out it was, just in a roundabout fashion. [If anybody's interested, I had a small but turbulent discussion with a noted Photoshop third party support guy about IFF, Photoshop, and the Amiga. E-mail me and maybe I'll sum it up sometime. -Jason] Someone made a good point about did EA & CBM still own the iff format or the like, though no-one seemed quite sure as to the answer. A question came in from the irc - one of only two I think that made it. It was something along the lines of 'Who is coding the new OS ?' A good question - anyone know the answer ? I don't recall it being answered at the conference. Developer only stuff was mentioned, but this was pooh-poohed by many. And then it had to happen. It was _always_ going to happen. Bear in mind, this was supposed to be a developers conference. But that didn't matter. I guess it was never gonna stop the inevitable. Which, for those of you who remember last year's conference when VIScorp turned up, meant Andy Davidson having a bit of a spat with Bill Buck. Last year, this seemed entirely appropriate - VIScorp were 'greasy basters' (tm), so much so that try and pin them down about anything and they flirted away under the pressure. This year though things were different - Gateway truly have bought the Amiga, they own it completely, so their loyalty to it in that sense is beyond question. What Mr. Davidson and his pack of dopey attack dogs wanted to know though was, "What is happening ?" Meaning what is happening with the development of the Amiga as a computer ? Like many of us, Andy had missed the press conference the day before, when I guess his questions would have been more appropriate, though I understand that at the press conference no questions were taken from the floor anyway. So AD started tearing the place up with his almost unceasing ululation concerning the Amiga. I have no axe to grind against Mr. Davidson, he seems like a decent enough guy and has certainly made an effort where the Amiga is concerned regarding developing software for it - well, Worms anyway. He is quite articulate in speaking, although the actual words he used tended to form a more synesthetical semantic than a syntactical one - maybe he was just so worked up he couldn't quite control his anger - definitely a candidate for the Luke Skywalker 'don't give in to hate' school of public address. Needless to say, he kept on haranguing Kermit about the subject of what was gonna happen to the Amiga. It wasn't for Kermit to answer such a question, as he said, so then, when it had become known that Gateway & Petro were sitting at the back of the room, all attention was turned to them, with a 'come on, we dare you to answer us' type attitude. As I say, if this had been VIScorp I for one would have agreed with this approach, but I didn't feel personally that Gateway deserved to be put under this kind of pressure. Sure, we all want to know what is going to happen about the Amiga, but it seemed to me that hassling them at this early stage only did more harm than good. Of course, some people may disagree with that - fair enough. In the end though I think I will be vilified anyway - so what _did_ hounding them achieve ? Nothing, they just got up and left without so much as a goodbye. Petro tried to make a reply to AD and his crew on a few occasions, but all he could do was toe the party line and keep stating what had been apparently said at the press conference, namely that the Amiga will be supported, but no real mention of a new machine, which of course doesn't mean there won't be one. The conference kind of slipped into an uproar for a few minutes, with no-one really holding court. Some people were a little hot under the collar, and loud words were spoken by many. This really wasn't in Kermit's remit, though he did a good job I thought of trying to hold everything together. Very diplomatic. With all the sporadic conversations breaking out around various groups in the room, things did get a little messy, though big Don the camera man stepped in on more than one occasion to try and sort things out. He looked like he had cracked a few heads in his time. I personally think he was carrying a piece - don't these naughty Americans know we don't allow such naughtiness in this country ;-) A guy sitting on the end of the row which housed myself and the rest of AD's mob kept piping up, usually to drop names etc. He was called Ian Robson, and was somewhat floppy haired and flame-eyed - never heard of him personally, but I won't forget him now. "Oh, my cousin worked on Blade Runner. A friend of mine worked on GoldenEye !" Nice. He made one or two salient points I'll give him that, but often he just seemed to make statements that no-one else had anything to say to. I can only assume he was a developer of some description, and I think he said he was a producer of some sort too. Films and or tv perhaps. Or then again ... he was okay though, his heart was probably in the right place, even if his mind wasn't ;-) The Gateway crew, as mentioned, had probably picked up on the bad vibes coming from certain members of the audience, and slipped out a little later on, when the heat was temporarily off them. Believe me, at one point 'I thought we wuz gonna have ourselves a lynchin'.' I think some people who were sitting near me, sorry, strike that I don't think it, I _know_ it, just liked the sound of their own voices. Certainly the guy sitting next to Andy Davidson managed to have the most annoying drawl I've heard in a long time. Kermit struggled manfully on with the things mentioned on the projection. I don't seem to have covered much of them do I though ? No, well, check the web site for the info boyo. Besides of which, the main reason why I went to the conference was that I thought there might be a bit of excitement, and there was ! Development conferences are boring otherwise ! Probably. Actually, Gateway didn't go just at that moment, no, the funniest thing had yet to happen. Greg Perry had slipped into the room sometime after the conference had started, and sat down, along with one or two other people, including Peter Kittel. As I have said, various conversations kept on breaking out between different factions in the room, not least of which was a conversation with the Gateway boys, Petro, and probably some other people, all sitting at the back. It was a little rude of everyone, talking whilst Kermit was trying to do his thang. Greg Perry hadn't been sitting down long, when he suddenly galvernised into typical Aussie action, though I mean that in a complementary sense. To paraphrase the great man, "If people want to have a conversation then can they piss-off out the back !" He, like several of us no doubt who weren't taking part in one of these conversations, was having difficulty hearing what was being said at the front. At one point even poor Andrew Elia stood at the front and tried to quiet the dissenting voices. Again, I don't blame people for wanting to know, but they had had their say and it was starting to get a little tiresome, so much so that some of the otherwise partisan crown were starting to get a little brassed off with AD & his mob keep hogging the floor with their 'let's hassle Gateway' stance. A woman who happened to be at the conference made some comment to the same effect to AD & his lot, though it fell on largely deaf ears. After Greg Perry's kind offer to the ignorant masses holding conversations, Gateway and Petro did indeed 'piss off out the back'. Oh dear. And the hastily devised plan by this guy Robson & Davidson was to have been to get them up at the front whilst they were grilled on the subject. Yeah, right. I'm sure they intended to stand there too. The other well known Doctor, Peter Kittel, chimed in at this point. He said that bugging them was probably being counterproductive and we should give them time. Apparently, he said, Gateway have been speaking to a lot of people and are trying to sort things out. For all I know, all of this information will have been superseded anyway if they have made a press statement etc. Big Pete was right though so it seemed to me. Again, new products were mentioned for November, I think it was Kittel who said this too. After Bill Buck was slammed, and the editor (like you didn't all know already) of AR was mentioned, Jason Compton, that just about wrapped up Kermit's section. He had started approx. 5.35 pm and kept going to around 7.20 pm or so, and I did think that he had done a pretty good job, all things considered, and 'shook his hand, and walked away' after the conference itself had finished. There was still at least one more laugh to be had though. As Kermit was finishing, he introduced the ICOA, and a representative of their's, who was gonna 'speak' to us now just to explain what the ICOA were all about etc. To describe this young man is quite hard without appearing nasty, which I certainly don't wish to be. If you are from the UK, and are familiar with them, imagine one of those Open University tv presenters circa 1970 and you get the picture. Truly, I thought this lad had just stepped out of a time machine and we were gonna get a lecture on the diverse nature of the East Anglian marshland or the like. Instead, what we got was a description of the ICOA & its goal delivered in John F Kennedy style, without the charisma. By that, I mean it was f a s t ! I don't think the guy stopped to take a single breath ;-) I don't know his name, but there could of been a reason for it, perhaps they had to be out of the room by a certain time. I guess he would probably be, er, I don't know, Boba Fett from Star Wars. Probably not, actually, but I can't be bothered looking up another name :-( I've been typing this cobblers for over 570 minutes now and am starting to get a little fed up - everyone has limits. Because of the bullet-style delivery of the young guy, I heard very little of his speech, and took even less in. I think everyone else was the same. After Kermit's easy going style, it was just a little too hard to take. A bit like eating some cheese, then a chocolate bar straight afterwards. He did mention some Jay Miner Society for Computing or the like, but I'm sure you can find out about this elsewhere. Strangely enough, although quite a few people had filtered out at this point along with Gateway (who Ian Robson said he was gonna get to come back - they didn't needless to say, but I guess he tried) everyone stayed pretty quiet whilst he spoke. You might be wondering what happened to the irc thing ? Well, bugger all really. Ash remained sitting at the machine nearly all the conference, and only chimed in twice I think. The odd person went up to see what was going on every so often, but nothing much came of it. I don't know if anyone reading this was following the irc thing as it happened, if so, you will have a much better idea as to what it was like. The junior Open University guy wrapped his words up after several minutes, and then that was it really, the show was over. I think Kermit said one or two things more, but other than that we were left to out own devices. Some Swedish journalists buttonholed Andy Davidson almost immediately (I _do_ like the buttonhole expression) and started asking him various questions, so that was his ego taken care of ;-) They also had a massage from the Swedish Prime Minister for him. Oh, honourable mention goes to Carl Sassenrath who made an appearance via the irc - a small cheer went up when he 'spoke.' I don't recall what he wanted though - perhaps just some free pr. Anyone who wanted to go to the front of the room to speak to him via the irc could do so if they wanted to, but I didn't bother. The conference started to break up, people started to drift off. I sat around for a while just clocking everyone and seeing what action may have been going on, but there was nothing really. Ian R went over and pestered big Don. Perhaps Don's camera had got him excited. I guess the conference itself finished at approx. 19:42, and at 19:50 a good many people had left - overall I'd have said that there were probably at least a hundred or so at the conference originally. At the show itself, I don't know. My ticket number was 3000 odd, so make your own mind up about that. In case anyone is wondering who the Han Solo of the event was, of course, that was me ;-) Okay, before I finish, here come the disclaimers - needless to say, this is my take on the show and conference. If I have made a factual mistake(s) of any description, then I apologise unreservedly to those people involved - this is what happens when you write something almost entirely from memory. For the most part though this article is _my_ opinion. If anyone has any problems with anything I have said, take it up with _me_, not with AR. My email address is at the top of the piece. Of course, some of you might not like my 'style' of writing if you can call it that - well, to those of you, again, I am sorry if that is the case, but it's just tough shit. I guess it is my own little self-indulgence for having the patience to sit down and type all of this guff. It is _very_ likely I have forgotten something I was going to say, something I was going to have mentioned etc., and this for me is the most annoying part, and the part that needs the biggest apology. However, a line has to be drawn somewhere as to when something is finished, and that is now. So, that's about it really. I enjoyed the show and as I have said, I thought it was better than last year's. I thought that there might have been more of a good vibe, considering the Gateway news, but I didn't really feel it if there was. However, things certainly do seem more optimistic than last year. All we can do is wait and see I guess. And support the few companies still supporting the Amiga that are left. This is imperative. Unfortunately I don't have anything to match last year's Bill Buck door episode to sign off with, so instead I'll leave you with a quote from Faust, part 2, by Goethe, which seems particularly apposite at this point, both from the Amiga's point of view, and from a personal one too. "But their spirit shall recover, Sing new songs, forget your pain, For this soil has bred forever, Greatness it will breed again." ********* I'd like to dedicate the spirit of this article to my grandmother, Edith Yates, who died during its creation. ********* @endnode @node FEATURE2 "More CDTV Retrospective" @toc FEATURE =========================================================================== CDTV Retrospective Update Peter Olafson peteroo@aol.com =========================================================================== Just when you thought you'd read everything there was to read about CDTV games, I'm back with an update. In the wake of my two-part retrospective (in ARs 5.01 and 5.02), I've received Email from two people shedding new light on titles whose status couldn't be nailed down for the article. In addition, I reached Gail Wellington -- former head of Commodore's CDTV unit, now vice president of marketing for Philips' CD-i division -- who was able to lend additional insight into CDTV's failure. "The biggest problem with CDTV was money - money for development of software and money for marketing," she wrote in an Email. "Commodore was already in trouble and had had some layoffs. The funds just weren't available to support much development. I think the total development funding, including the Grolier's bundle commitment, was about $5 million." "Philips spent that much on three titles." "We had 35 titles within three months of when we launched and 70 not long after. Of course, not all were games. There were the Xphias titles, Grolier's, Garden Fax, a title about military aircraft and others. Several were roll-overs, as you said, which is typical with any new platform unless there is huge development money available from the hardware manufacturer. Second-generation things were planned, but the development funding dried up completely and lots of them ended up never happening." "There also was some dissension within C=, since CDTV was not developed as part of the main engineering group, but by a small separate team. This resulted in people within the company not giving it their wholehearted support and is, in part, why it was considered a 'crazy younger brother.' As for unreleased titles, money evidently prevented completion of Garfield: A Winter's Tail CDTV. The game had given the developer more trouble than the earlier Snoopy: The Case of the Missing Blanket and it wanted "a fortune" to finish it, wrote Ms. Wellington. (I was unable to locate Garfield's developer, The Edge Interactive, to obtain a comment.) She also recalled that Infogrammes also had "a couple of other CDTV games, at least one of which was finished." (She didn't remember the name -- it was a "flying shooting game" -- but reports that it had a great soundtrack.) And Ms. Wellington also confirmed the existence of unreleased CDTV versions of LucasArts' Loom and Indiana Jones & the Last Crusade -- reporting that they were in "near-final form" when she left Commodore in the spring of 1992. "I don't know what happened thereafter," she wrote. "I'm surprised they never did come out." Apparently they came close. For a correspondent from Germany reports seeing pre-production CDTV versions of Indiana Jones and The Secret of Monkey Island and offered some speculation about their fate. He reports trying out a gold-disk Monkey Island in 1992 at Germany's CeBIT fair and finding it a more or less straight port of the disk-based version. With one difference: The four-voice music had been replaced by 16-bit CD audio. The Indiana Jones CD was said to be "broken," and the writer indicates that MI, while playable, could have sustained similar damage from "rough handling." His hunch is that, "through a chain of confusion," the gold masters somehow wound up as product samples. Thus, scratch the disks, and scratch the games. "I can't prove that," he acknowledges, "and my view is pessimistic. But given how Commodore operated these days this would be the shortest possible way to disaster. And pretty embarrassing for Commodore to call LucasArts [and say,] 'Um, we somehow managed to break the, um, CD gold masters you sent us. Could you please, um, cut another three CDs for us?" "At that time CD writers and CD-R discs were not a common sight. I remember from a visit at Sonopress in 1991 (back then the second largest CD manufacturer in Germany; a subsidiary of Bertelsmann, the world's third largest media company) that customers had to deliver the data to go onto CD in the form of a tape. The tape contents were then converted into ISO 9660 format and a golden CD-R was cut." "At this stage you could either decide to have a production master made from the CD-R or first use the CD-R sample for prior product testing. Lose or break the CD-R and you'd have to pay for most of mastering process again." Which, given the money woes described above, might have been more than CBM could chew. Finally, another German correspondent confirms the release of the Shiftrix/Lettrix two-pack on our "Only CBM Knows for Sure" list. He's spotted it in a local shop. It's apparently been there since 1991, he writes, but is still selling for 29 DM (about $20). @endnode xxx REVIEW @node REVIEW1 "AudioLab 16 Review" @toc REVIEW =========================================================================== Review: AudioLab 16 Part One By: @{" Bohus Blahut " link BOHUS} =========================================================================== If you've read my last few articles, you'll note that I've been waxing wisttully about my days playing around with the native 8bit audio on the Amiga. However, most computer platforms now support 16bit CD quality audio. Just as many Amiga users were eager to shatter the HAM8 graphics barrier by adding 24 bit display boards, many audiophiles now seek to boost the Amiga's aural performance by adding one of several 16 bit audio cards. One of the earliest of these 16bit cards was the SunRize Studio16 card. This is a card aimed to replace an analog multitrack recorder in a sound studio. Many of my colleagues used it to create soundtracks for films, or record bands. Sadly, this card is no longer available. In its stead are several other 16 bit audio cards for the Amiga like the Toccata, and the Delfina. The problem is that there hasn't been a single piece of software that supported several audio cards for editing, converting, and other operations. Enter AudioLab 16. If I were to compare AL16 to another piece of software, it would be ImageFX. ImageFX lets you load up 24 bit pictures into a RAM buffer, and uses any of a myriad of displays to show you the image. If you have an ECS machine, it can give you a rough preview of the image. IFX can also take advantage of an advanced graphics card. In both cases, IFX enables you to work in full 24bit quality no matter what your preview looks like. The same is true of AL16. If you're using the native Amiga audio, AL16 will work in full 16 bit quality internally, and produce a 14 bit preview out the Amiga's 8-bit audio connectors! If you have one of several supported audio cards, you can hear the full 16 bit version. This flexibility allows you to use AudioLab 16 in a regular Amiga, and not have to change the way you work when you upgrade to using an audio card. When you first open up AL16, you're greeted with a little window asking whether it should open up on a public or custom screen. Every time you close the program, it asks whether you'd like to save the layout of your windows. This makes it easy to keep your workspace neat, which becomes pretty necessary with a program like this. There are a lot of windows, which may be daunting to some. Since I use MacroSystems' MovieShop editing software every day, I have become used to programs that are a veritable WindowFest. This may make AL16 seem complicated at first, but any sophisticated multi-step process is going to seem complex to the uninitiated. To aid in this, AudioLab 16 is logically laid out. The GUI is a little sparse, but not unfriendly to getting the job done. AL16 covers the bases well, and has many of the components of a full-fledged sound studio. There are tools for file conversion, DSP special effects, editing, mixing, remote triggering, multitracking, and more. Almost all of the things that you need to get done in an audio project are here. In fact, there is so much to cover, we've split this article into two parts. This time we'll cover some of the basics, and leave complex and multilayered processes like multitracking till next issue. For this look at Audio Lab 16, we'll be using an Amiga 4000 equipped with 16 megs of RAM on an '040 Warp Engine. This machine is hooked up to a 17 inch monitor using a Retina Z3 and CyberGraphx. (The extra real estate of a monitor this size is definitely helpful with a program with this many options.) There's no extra audio hardware in this machine, so we'll use AudioLab's ability to squeeze 14bit of performance out of native Amiga hardware. Next time, we'll use a Toccata card in an '040 2000, and the we'll also test AL16 with the DraCo version of theToccata. The test sample is the music from our upcoming demo video for The Vantage Point. We've licensed a brilliant performance of the song "Brazil", and it's ideal for testing out this software. The recording features lots of panned stereo effects, and is an extra dimensional recording from the 60's. (For you audiophiles out there, the recent resurgence of Lounge Music has brought with it CD reissues of several superlative recordings from the 60's featuring experimental stereo techniques, and outstanding instrumental performances. Some titles to check out are "Persuasive Percussion" from Varese Sarabande, and "Space Capades" from Capitol records) I recorded the music through the Toccata using MovieShop software, and exported it in several formats. The way that AudioLab16 keeps the various phases of work separate is by grouping related windows. Clicking on an item in the 'Environments' list brings up various groupings of windows, dependant on the work you're doing. The first Environment is the 'I/O Mapper'. This is where you perform file conversions, play files, and record sounds. You get to these various functions through another list manager of windows. Since we simply want to load up "Brazil" and play it, we use the first optionFile: Analog. This will automatically detect and load formats like AIFF, Studio 16_3, WAV, RAW, MAUD, and 8SVX, and play the sound through whatever output device you're configured for. After hitting 'Execute' the sound starts playing through the 4000's audio outputs almost instantly. The "Brazil" file is over twenty megs long, and AL16 played it from the hard drive flawlessly. The output is quite good, definitely good enough to serve as a preview for most work that you might be doing. (I'd also like to point out that I've hooked up the 4000 to a stereo system. Even 16 bit audio is going to sound pretty crappy coming out of the speakers of a 1084 monitor.) Once we're finished playing the sample, we need to convert it to AIFF, Maestro, or MAUD to continue working on it within AL16. You choose one of these three formats as the internal format that AL16 will use for all of its work. This means that if you are planning on a project with several audio samples in different formats, you'll first have to convert them to one of the above three formats. If the samples are stereo, you'll also have to unzip them into two separate Right and Left Channel files. All of this conversion is a step that I wish were unnecessary. To go back to the ImageFX analogy, IFX will load a myriad of file types, and convert them to 24 bit IFF internally. You don't have to first go through and convert all of your pictures to a single format first. It would be nice if AL16 could simply autodetect and convert files at the same time. While it is good to be able to unzip stereo files to be able to work with individual channels, all of the work involved can be cumbersome. For simple effects like reverb, I'd like to be able to add it to both channels at the same time. What if you perform the reverb on both separate channels, then re-zip the file, only to find it unsuitable? That's a lot of steps to have to re-create. As far as sources for sounds, the Web is replete with sound files. The problem is that these are often ripped from movies and songs, and are subject to copyright restrictions. It's fine to use these for just playing around, but as far as creating a product for a client, these files are strictly verboten. Since much of my work is in editing, I usually record sounds myself using a Nagra (an analog portable recorder), or DAT. For music, I use CDs that I bought from Token Music [(612) 437.1708] that include in the purchase price a licensing fee. I've also purchased several sound effect CDs. There is an excellent pair of CDs available from Sound Ideas: "SFX on CD Rom". The first disc has audio CD tracks of 300 awesome sound effects, and the on the same disc the same effects already in WAV format. The second CD has 1000 effects in WAV format only. The only problem I have with the discs is that the sounds are recorded at 22kless than half the quality of a CD. This isn't a problem with the first disc, since I can simply re-record the sounds from it, but the second disc doesn't feature the tracks in audio format. Fortunately. AL16 has the ability to convert the sample clock without changing the quality of the sound, allowing me to convert all of the WAV files up to 32k or 48k, whichever you're using. Even thought they are sourced at 22k, the sounds are pretty good. If what you're doing is multimedia or kiosk applications, then 22k is the ideal compromise between quality and space. AL16 also has the facility to rip sounds right off of an audio CD, provided your CD player supports this. I wasn't able to test this, since none of our CD roms drives are able to pull digital data off of CDs. There is also the ability to record through a parallel port sampler, which we will test in the near future. So, the I/O Mapper gets sounds into and out of AL16. It also lets you convert to other formats, especially if you plan on moving to other modules of the program. I used AIFF as the internal write format, and converted all of my work to that format. Now we move to the Signal Processor Environment to start messing around with Real Time effects, and sample editing. The 'Signal Processor Environment' consists of a large window with a list of several effect operators, range controls, and file selection. Each Operator opens up another smaller window allowing you to change parameters of the effect. It is here that you can also set ranges, or portions of your sample to be effected. This is also a good way to preview an effect on a sample before committing to rendering time. Yes, the effects are rendered. The 20 Meg "Brazil" file took little time to render on an '040 machine. What makes AL16 special, though, is the ability to preview many effects in real time! Most effects like Reverb, Tap, and Time Stretch have a realtime preview for immediate feedback. This is where most of your time will go, playing around with sounds and making them sound really freaky. Note that you can't stretch and pull at a sound too much without it starting to distort and lose some quality. It's just like taking a small graphic and blowing it up to twice its size. The image starts to look blocky because the computer has to "invent" data to put in the empty spaces. Although, don't forget to let creativity creep in. Weird distortions might be exactly the effect that you're looking for. If you're performing these effects on separate stereo files, once you've added the effect to both left and right, you can interleave the files back together into a single stereo sample. Here are some of the more radical effects that you can expect to play around with. Comb Filter Lets you pull a single frequency out of a sample Delay 'N' Tap Delay with user definable 'N' number of echoes Distortion Like stomping on distortion pedal for electric guitar. Wanna be Trent Reznor? Apply this operator to your voice. Flanger Adds a sweeping quality to sound. Hum Remover Removes 50/60 kHz hum from sound. Good for removing cable hum. Pitch Shifter Changes pitch of sound without changing duration. Change Dirty Harry into Dirty Shirley Temple. Room Reverb with selectable size of virtual "room". Time Inverter A fancy way to say "playing samples backwards". Time Stretch Change the duration of a sample without changing its pitch. Good for trying to cram in dialogue where it just doesn't fit. There's a lot to cover here, and now that we've gone through the basics, next issue we'll get serious. We'll get into applying some of these effects, and using some of the other facilities of Audio Lab 16. We'll work with the signal generation tools, the remote triggers, and the multitracker mixer. We'll see, er... hear the difference that adding an audio card can make. Until then, check out the demo version of AudioLab 16 on AmiNet. (Just to remind you how cool the Amiga is, I wrote this review in Final Writer while playing a song in AudioLab 16 and also was transferring a 25 Meg file over ethernet to another Amiga!) @endnode @node REVIEW2 "Clarity 16" @toc REVIEW =========================================================================== Review: Clarity 16 from HiSoft Michael Vissers michel@hell.xs4all.nl =========================================================================== "Revolutionary sound". Yes, back in 1985 the Amiga was the best you could get in sound quality. 4 channel, 8 bit stereo sound. Now look at the Amiga. 1997, and we still have 4 channel, 8 bit stereo sound. It's rather sad. While for the PC you can get 16 bit sound cards for only $30, we are stranded...or aren't we ? New soundcards are appearing everywhere, like the Delfina and the Soundstage for example. But also the somewhat older soundcards like the Toccata seem to get more attention. Especially with AHI, the new retargetable audio software for the whole Amiga family. Of course those new soundcards are, although still a bit pricey, very interesting and it's good to know that there are still companies developing for the Amiga. However, those cards are all zorro cards, which means people, like me, with an A500, A600 or A1200 (without zorro expansion) are not able to use them. The Clarity 16 however, is an external "soundcard", which can be connected to the parallel and serial ports on every Amiga. THE PACKAGE The Clarity 16 comes in a big box, containing the Clarity 16, an audio cable for connecting to the in- or out-put, 2 disks with software and examples and a 56-page manual. FEATURES The Clarity 16 is a small box with 2 audio inputs, 2 audio outputs, 1 midi in and 1 midi out. The Clarity 16 is capable of sampling and playing 16 bit stereo audio up to 44.1 kHz (CD quality). The midi interface included is compatible with existing midi software. THE SOFTWARE The software supplied with the Clarity 16 supports, next to sampling, playing and cut&paste, different editing functions like overlay insert, mix and fading but also filtering and echo. Real-time effects are possible too. Next to sample edit functions, the software also contains a small sample and midi sequencer. TEST Well, the moment I came home I hooked up the Clarity 16. The first thing I wanted to do was to sample something. Didn't matter what, as long as I could hear the difference between 8 and 16 bit. So I grabbed a CD connected the player to the Clarity 16, pushed play and started the monitoring as described in the manual. Nothing...only some noise. Some fiddling with cables, restarting the software and even the machine, somehow did the trick. I finally heard something. I was monitoring the sampling through my Amiga outputs. Logical, since the parallel port was busy reading samples from the sampler. But the sound was way too loud, so I had to decrease it. But nowhere a volume knob on the box, or a input volume slider in the program could be found. I couldn't set the input volume so I ended up using a mixingboard between my CD player and the Clarity 16. Then I created a new sample, 16 bits stereo at 44,1 kHz, and as large as possible. I selected a CD and started the monitor to find the part I wanted to sample. But when I actually started the sampling I was already too late. Why ? Well, it's not possible to switch from monitoring to sampling directly. You have to end the monitor and start sampling at another window. I finally managed to start in time for the part I wanted. But I couldn't hear when I sampled enough, since the program doesn't output any sound while sampling. So I connected a headphone to my mixingboard to be able to hear when I had sampled what I wanted. Now I wanted to hear what I had sampled and pressed the play button. Again I heard nothing. The software can play using either the Clarity 16 or the Amiga. Ofcourse I wanted to hear it through the Clarity 16 so selected the Clarity, and removed the audio cable from my Amiga and plugged them in the Clarity 16 (yes, here also a mixingboard could come in handy). Again I pressed the play button and...WOW! Now that's what I call a nice sound. Next came the editing part. Since I wanted a usable sample I had to cut&paste a bit. I selected a range and searched for the "play range" button. But unfortunately I only found a menu item with this function. Not even a shortcut key. I selected the item and the range was played. The software fails again, since no pointer displaying where in the range it was playing was implemented. This made the cut&paste operations a bit hard. Finally I wanted to save the sample. I selected AIFF (the software supports IFF, AIFF and it's own format) and saved the sample. I tried loading it in Symphonie, but due to a bug it ended up as trash. Converting the sample to WAV solved the problem, so I could use the sample. (Since I don't own any MIDI equipment I couldn't test the MIDI interface...sorry) OPINION The Clarity 16 is really cool. Both the input and the output quality is top notch. I sampled a bit without a CD playing and couldn't hear any noise unless I set my amplifier real loud. Eventhough there is enough in my room to cause interference, the Clarity 16 doesn't pick up any. The samples are clear and both the high and low frequencies sound fine. What I missed though are a input volume knob and inputs to connect the Amiga to the Clarity 16 so it can mix these two signal together. The software however is terrible. It crashed 2 twice the fist day I used it. It misses a lot of desperately needed functions like a playing position pointer and a quick way to switch from monitor to sampling and is awkward to use. CONCLUSION The Clarity 16 could have been a great product, if only HiSoft had taken the trouble to rewrite the software. Since there is no 16 bit parallel sampler standard (unlike the 8 bit samplers) there is only one way to support it, and that is by using AHI. However I haven't seen a driver for the Clarity 16 yet so... I'd say skip it, until an AHI driver is available. If you own a A500, A600 or A1200 and you really want 16 bit quality, go bother HiSoft, and demand AHI drivers, or get them to release programmer information so that someone else can make one. FINISHING TOUCH The Clarity 16 is still available for about $150-$170 (I think). Thanks must go to OCS for supplying a Clarity 16 for review... OCS Computers Van Goghstraat 1-5 3331 VM Zwijndrecht Holland ocs@indi.nl HiSoft's web site is http://www.hisoft.co.uk @endnode @node REVIEW3 "Melody Z-II Sound Card Review" @toc REVIEW =========================================================================== Review: Melody Z-II Sound Card Ralph Debusmann rade@coli.uni-sb.de =========================================================================== We already know of the positive impact of hobbyists on the Amiga - most notably the Aminet of course. Also done by hobbyists is a new and quite ingenious piece of hardware - the Melody sound board for one of your Zorro II/III-slots. The card was designed by four German students in their spare time, the KATO-Development-Group. I was happy to be able to borrow board #23 (of 24 built boards from the first series) and have a quick look at it. So what is the Melody and what is the motivation behind it? First of all, the melody tries to substitute the Paula custom chip, i.e. Paula's main purpose: sound output. While the Amiga's sound output remained the same (8bit, 14bit with "cheats") during the last 12 years (!) PeeCees already have 16bit sound output for many years. The Melody sound board gives your Amiga 16bit sound output at 44.1 KHz. The second motivation behind the Melody board is that the developers wanted to have a gadget which allows to listen to MPEG-Audio files from within a multitasking environment - not easily possible since processor-driven MPEG-Audio decompression (mpega) takes lots of CPU time even on a 060. Thus the perhaps most interesting thing the Melody offers is the Texas Instruments DSP, which not only allows 16bit audio output but also has the capability to decode ISO-MPEG (Layers 1+2) in realtime. That simply means that you can listen to Audio-MPEGs with your Amiga while the decoding process only takes a few percent and your main processor is free for other tasks. Installing the Melody is a breeze. I just plugged in the Zorro II-board into one of my A4000's free slots and had all the above described niceties built into my Amiga. The Amiga's native sound output (Paula) can be put into the Melody card and is put through to your stereo. This makes it possible to listen to Paula's and the Melody's output simulataneously. On the software side I got a program called MPEGPlay to play MPEG-Audio Layers 1+2 and 16bit audio files in AIFF, WAVE and AUD format through the melody - nice GUI included. A special version of the "toccata.library" emulates the Toccata soundcard on the Melody. This makes for AHI-compatibility of course and gives you the chance to run many applications which already offer Toccata compatibility. Proper AHI-compatibility through an own Melody audiomode will be available soon. After installing, you can use the melody for various tasks. You can utilize it for playing MODs, XMs and S3Ms using AHI under HippoPlayer or DeliTracker, and you can play 16bit audio files including MPEG Audio (Layers 1+2). As a composer Melody can give you real 16bit output in applications such as Symphonie or SoundStudio. I confess that I as a non-musician mostly played MPEGs (MP2s) through the Melody. I should also note two drawbacks I found out using the Melody. The one is that the samplerate and -resolution are fixed at 44.1 KHz/16bit. (i.e. CD-Audio-rate) This decision has been taking to keep the price low. While reading through the preceding paragraphs you might also have noticed that I did not talk about MP3-(MPEG Layer 3) compatibility. The actual DSP only decodes Layers 1+2 and thus fails when you face it with a song in Layer 3 format. Although Layer 2 still provides for good compression ratios (about 1:7 to 1:8) and near-CD quality, Layer 3 is *the* hype format (ratios 1:9 to 1:12) in the Internet. A cure in form of a chip upgrade is also in sight for this problem, but as Layer 3-chips seem to be too expensive at the moment, this should be regarded as a future option. Concluding I should note that I've never had a nicer gadget plugged into my A4000 than the Melody sound board. I am even thinking about buying one (the price of the upcoming non-developer boards should be around $175) just for the fun it offers. You can have dozens of near-CD quality-songs (in MPEG Layer 2) on your harddisk or self-burned CDs and access to them via a simple mouseclick. And playing them takes no almost no processor time. Playing 16bit music modules or samples whilst having real 16bit output also is a nice option, although several features are missing in the standard configuration of the Melody - to make for a reasonable price. I should notice last but not least that the Melody has been built in a very modular way which allows for many upgrades (e.g. a m56k-DSP, sampling facilities and even a serial port extension like Hypercom). For much more detailed information: http://members.aol.com/tgruner and http://home.pages.de/~kato @endnode @node REVIEW4 "Insert104 Review" @toc REVIEW =========================================================================== Review: Insert104 from MicroBit By: @{" Jason Compton " link JASON} =========================================================================== Insert104 from MicroBit There's just no getting around it. Amiga keyboards are expensive. You could pay upwards of US$60 or US$70 if you need to replace the keyboard to your "big box" Amiga. Over the years, people have tried to do various things to alleviate this problem. When expansion boxes have been built for CD32s, they've typically superceded the option all CD32 users have to hook up an Amiga keyboard to the AUX port in favor of giving the users a PC keyboard port. Most recently for the rest of us, Lazarus Technologies of Canada sold the KB-10, an affordable PC keyboard translator box. It exhibited a rather unfortunate flaw, however, in that it tended to lock up when the system locked up, forcing a cold reboot if you'd crashed the machine so bad it couldn't bring up the Guru screen. The Insert104 comes from MicroBit Research and is sold through National Amiga of Canada. In a tiny little piece of PVC pipe cap is a small circuit board with a microcontroller, which has been filled with epoxy. Extending from that are two short lengths of cable--one plugs into a "Windows 95" PC keyboard, the other plugs into the keyboard port of a 2000, 3000(T), or 4000T (A4000 and CD32 users need a small adapter). You can use an older, 101-key PC keyboard but it's far less convenient. The Insert104 maps the Amiga keyboard onto the PC keyboard rather well, now that PC keyboards have "left and right Windows" keys. The "menu" key flips through screens (a rather handy function) and a couple of keys not used on the Amiga keyboard are pressed into service as well. No trouble. So far I really haven't been able to find anything wrong with the Insert104. I do have to say I liked the KB-10's feature of using the Insert and Delete keys to flip forward and back through screens, but the use of the menu button to flip forward somewhat makes up for it. (Numlock flips you back, but that doesn't seem as intuitive). Now, I like my Amiga keyboard just fine but it's heavy and expensive to replace. PC keyboards, on the other hand, tend to be very light and they're exceptionally cheap. From consumer surplus catalogs, I've seen PC keyboards for US$15, and undoubtedly somebody's seen them elsewhere for less. The Insert104 sells for CDN$40, or about US$29. That means that replacing your Amiga keyboard is rather cheaper with an Insert104 and PC keyboard, and of course replacing THAT keyboard will be cheaper still. I highly recomment the Insert104 if your keyboard is starting to get flaky. National Amiga 519-858-8760 voice 519-858-8762 fax http://www.nationalamiga.com @endnode @node REVIEW5 "Topolino Review" @toc REVIEW =========================================================================== Review: Topolino from Raach By: @{" Jason Compton " link JASON} =========================================================================== Right now, I'm using a Pyramid three-button Amiga mouse, which I pressed into service about two years ago. Some people don't like the flatness of the Pyramid mice, but I'm pretty happy with it. I've dropped it on the hard floor many, many times. The plastic clips which help hold it together have broken with the abuse, although the screws are still in place. The mouse works fine, but one of these days it's going to die. The Pyramid mouse isn't being made anymore--in fact, rather few Amiga mice are. What there is in terms of selection isn't bad, but if you have a special need or are looking for something other than your basic black or white, you're pretty much stuck. On the other hand, the PC market has churned out just about every kind of mouse you'd ever want to see. All sorts of different shapes and sizes, lots of trackballs and remote control mice and other toys. These are generally off limits to Amiga users, since they work on PC serial ports. Hacks and a commercial product or two exist to let you use a PC serial mouse on your Amiga serial port, but of course that means giving up your Amiga serial port. Very few of us have more than just the one, and besides, they all require special drivers, making them useless unless you're running under Workbench. The Topolino changes all that. A small silver project box is all that's entailed, with a microcontroller and not much else inside. The whole affair is only a few inches long, but plug it in to any Amiga mouse port and you instantly have access to just about any PC mouse-type device there is. No configuration or software support required, the mice are instantly as much a part of the Amiga as a standard-issue boxy A500 mouse is. I didn't personally use any of the more esoteric PC mice with the Topolino but I did witness a demonstration: a Topolino was hooked up to the VIScorp ED prototype box Jim Goodnow brought with him to the St. Louis Amiga show this past March, and a Logitech hand-held remote control trackball was used in the demonstration of the machine. Both were quite interesting. For my part, I experimented with a few varieties of PC mouse. One, a cheapie from a no-name clone company, exhibited an oddity which the Topolino's creator, Stefan Raach, tells me has popped up from time to time. Some extremely cheap PC mice don't actually wire up the middle mouse button. The Topolino fully supports the MMB but if the mouse is not properly set up, you may find yourself wildly clicking away and getting nothing. A slightly better quality PC mouse performed like a champ, and the novelty "crayon" PC mouse I hooked up worked as well as can be expected. The Topolino sells for 49 DM, or about US$29. For that price, you certainly could buy an Amiga mouse and be done with it, so the Topolino doesn't immediately represent a huge cost savings. It is true that you can get PC serial mice for under $10, but caution is advised because of the MMB defect. If the MMB is unimportant to you and you burn through mice like crazy, those cheapie mice paired with a Topolino may be the best thing. Alternately, if you want a more ergonomic or stylistic mouse from the PC world, the Topolino is an affordable ticket to get you there. Ingenieurburo Raach phone: +49 07587 1201 fax: +49 07587 1202 e-mail: info@raach.com http://www.raach.com @endnode @node REVIEW6 "The Emulation Rambler" @toc REVIEW =========================================================================== The Emulation Rambler By: @{" Jason Compton " link JASON} =========================================================================== For openers: My apologies for a complete lack of a review of PC-Task 4 and PCx yet. Next issue, I promise. Here's a preview: Both are definitely more capable than their predecessors and match up well, but both are also something of a disappointment considering how long we waited for their release. A few months ago, I posted a message to comp.sys.amiga.emulations a lament about what I perceived to be an "emulation gap", where emulators were not being ported to the Amiga from other platforms (or being developed independently) despite the fact that the Amiga was perfectly capable of the task. Apparently, that fact was on a lot of other people's minds as well, because very soon after, the situation began changing. Within a few weeks, two emulators of the Sega Master System (and Game Gear) appeared. A little while later, the arcade emulator MAME materialized for the Amiga. And now, Mark Van Hal has released DarkNESs, the first publicly available Nintendo 8-bit emulator for the Amiga. Another is scheduled to follow very soon. Is this great or what? AMAME: Currently in version .20 on the Amiga, MAME is designed to emulate a number of different arcade games which shared common-ish hardware, mostly from the early 80s. A number of the MAME games are personal favorites: Pengo, Donkey Kong Jr., Mr. Do, Mario Bros, and a number of others. AMAME is still pretty rough around the edges and isn't as up to date as its PC and Mac counterparts but, in time, I'm sure it'll be a winner. AmiMasterGear: From Juan Gomez, the author of AmiMSX2 and AmiGameBoy comes this assembly-optimized emulator of the Sega Master System and Game Gear. As is trademark, the emulator defies you to multitask or use mode promotion, but what it does offer is quite a bit of speed and partial sound emulation. Compatibility is fairly high. MasterGear: Mark Van Hal's port of Marat Fayzullin's MasterGear is in some ways completely the opposite of AmiMasterGear. There is no custom GUI screen (however there is now a GUI window), no sound, and multitasking and mode promotion are possible. (If you do choose to promote, be sure to disable double buffering.) If it wasn't for the lack of sound I'd prefer MasterGear for the CyberGraphX element but for now it's pretty even money, depending on how important sound or graphics card use is to you. DarkNESs: A very early release version. DarkNESs supports the common ROM image formats of PC NES emulators, but is not fully compatible with all of the different types of Nintendo game configurations. At present, DarkNESs is entirely in C and is quite slow--the author gets about 5-8% performance on his 030 setup. There seems to be something wrong in the way it is compiled as the performance doesn't get much better--I got 16% on an 040/40 and 18% on an 060/50. Van Hal tells me he's looking into it. I'm quite interested to see where this leads--so far, DarkNESs is too slow to be playable and lacks sound (a common problem since very few people know how the NES' sound works), but in time it could be excellent. ANES: Not released yet, but the project has been announced and the authors promise some very fast performance in store for users--although sound is again a problem. Below are some excerpts from mail one of the authors sent me: - From: Morgan Johansson It all started a sunny day (nah, it was probably quite rainy) in the beginning of may 1997. I just tried out a PC NES emulator (called Nesticle) using Pc-Task (!).. It was slow but it worked. And then I started to think about why nobody have written a NES emulator for the Amiga. The NES has bitplane graphics, just like the Amiga, so there is NO slow chunky2planar conversions needed, which you need in for example "shapeshifter" or "pctask". My friend joined me in this project (Fredrik Schultz).. We had never done anything like this before so it sure was (and still is) a great challenge. We got some NES technical specifications (they are NOT easy too find, because the guys who actually has the documentation, often doesn't wants to share it! Too bad..) First, we started working on the cpu emulation. We have never worked with the 6502 processor before so it was a bit hard in the beginning... Well, the cpu emulation is now finished. (if you don't count those awfull bugs, crawling all over the place!) :) The graphics conversion is also finished, and also most of the sprite routines. We've got lots of support in this project. And I mean lots! I've been answering lots of e-mails concerning A/NES every day for the last weeks now. But I don't mind.. :) Most people wonder if we are going to support Cybergraphics / graphicboards The current answer is no! Not for the moment. We are now using OCS/ECS/AGA (yes, it runs on OCS!), hardware screens for getting maximum speed. Also alot of questions is concerning sound, if we're gonna support it. Well, as we have got NO technical information about how the sound works on a NES, it's at the moment impossible. The people out there who actually have information how the sound works, doesn't wants to share it.. It's a pity! And speed then? How fast will it run? Well, it's incredible fast on my 060. And it runs about 50fps on my friends 020/28mhz with fastmem so...:) -- And there you have it. Also, Microcode Solutions has released press preview copies of their Atari 8-bit and Apple II emulators, dubbed ACE and A-II, respectively. ACE is the highlight of the two. Finally, a usable Atari 400/800 emulator for the Amiga! While ACE promises to support the later models of the Atari line, at this point it actually emulates a modified Atari 400 which looks like an 800. That's still good enough to play around with most of the fun Atari software out there. ACE supports the popular .XFD disk image format (the .ATR format is the .XFD format with 16 extra bytes which you'll have to strip by hand) and I've found it to be delightfully compatible, although some games with complex graphical tricks do confuse it. For something which is, as we've been told, not quite done, I'll take what I can get. Sound seems to be quite well emulated. Unfortunately I haven't been able to get the original Alternate Reality to run on the Atari, which is one of the things I was specifically hoping to do. I sent the images off to Jim Drew who said he got them working fine--so we are at a bit of an impass. The bottom line is that ACE is a welcome product and anybody who's been frustrated with the extremely slow Unix port of Atari800 will be quite pleased to see it. A-II, on the other hand, is so far quite a disappointment. It really doesn't seem to offer much that Apple2000 doesn't do already. Most notable is the speed slider and the ability to toggle write-protect on the disk images (which, among other things, allows you to play Wizardry.) Support for machines beyond the Apple II+ is promised but as of today, only the Apple II+ is emulated, meaning that the emulator is pretty much the same as Apple2000. Apple2000 is easier to use in one regard--neither mode promotes, but Apple2000's image requester screen is on the Apple screen, while A-II goes to the workbench for its ASL requester. If you're using a manual monitor switch like I am on a graphics card without a passthrough (like the CV64/3D), this is INCREDIBLY inconvenient. ACE and AII will be sold together in a package for about US$40. The idea was bandied about to place both on a CD with a large quantity of Atari and Apple FD software, which makes it sound like a pretty good buy to me. So, all of a sudden we're far more up to date with emulation! Good deal. Emulation fan tip: If you've got ridiculous amounts of emulation software built up on your hard drive as I do, you should seriously consider a ZIP drive. They're now US$140 for external models and are perfect for this sort of "when I'm in the mood" use. ACE and AII will be available from Blittersoft through dealers worldwide. AMAME is not in general Aminet release but you can link to it through the Emulators on the Amiga page, http://www.pncl.co.uk/~martinc/emulators/index.html. AmiMasterGear, MasterGear, and DarkNESs are available on Aminet in misc/emu. @endnode xxx CHARTS @node CHARTS1 "Charts, April 20, 1997" @toc FTP | The most downloaded files from Aminet during the week until 20-Apr-97 | Updated weekly. Most popular file on top. | |File Dir Size Age Description |----------------- --- ---- --- ----------- MiSpeedMeter.lha comm/tcp 14K 0+V1.2 of cps counter for Miami 2.0+ ( BMPdt407.lha util/dtype 21K 1+Bmp picture datatype v40.7 for >= OS APatchBeta.lha util/boot 8K 0+Speed up patch for your 68020+ Amiga mpega.lha mus/play 241K 0+MPEG I,II & III audio decoder V2.4 ( GrabURL.lha comm/www 71K 0+Utilities to fetch HTTP files. (15/0 HL2000.lha comm/bbs 2K 0+A Clock for countdown to the year 20 ar504.lha docs/mags 72K 0+Amiga Report 5.04, April 16, 1997 Ilona12.lha comm/tcp 39K 1+Stand-alone bot for IRC, featuring M mn_ansitest.lha comm/mebbs 3K 95+ANSI Test Door for MEBBSNet TBL-CD.lha demo/tg97 4.5M 1+Captured Dreams/TBL - 1st at TG97! gs403_data.lha gfx/show 682K 0+Ghostscript4.03 data archive, get a wait11.lha util/wb 14K 0+Wait replacement with progressbar gs403_fnts-std.lha gfx/show 1.4M 0+Ghostscript4.03 HQ fonts archive AGPatch-1.0.lha util/sys 2K 0+Fix AmigaGuide v40 to show older gui ged462.lha text/edit 930K 0+GoldED Programmer's Editor 4.6.2 xwins.lha game/wb 32K 0+Very nice WB game (like wallstones) gs403_040fpu.lha gfx/show 422K 0+Ghostscript4.03 040fpu bin, bugfix 1 kaunistu.lha mods/jorma 141K 46+Kaunistune by Vesuri (from Leucemia) | The highest rated programs during the week until 20-Apr-97 | 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 |----------------- --- ---- --- ----------- Miami20g.lha comm/tcp 694K 7+TCP/IP stack for easy Internet acces pretium.lha biz/misc 132K 1+Checkbook accounting demo V 1.1 netstat18.lha comm/misc 120K 2+The Essential UK Online Timer. Updat KuangEleven28.lha comm/tcp 244K 1+Kuang Eleven 2.8-The ULTIMATE script Point_Rock4.lha demo/mag 602K 4+Issue 4 of a new Hard Rock Amigaguid Petition.lha docs/misc 1K 2+Amiga Games Petition rtgmaster_user.lha gfx/board 211K 0+Rtgmaster User Archive CyberAVI19.lha gfx/show 76K 4+AVI animation player for CyberGraphX CyberQT11.lha gfx/show 74K 4+QuickTime animation player for Cyber mathX111.lha misc/math 282K 9+Math program, V1.11, MUI AmigaAnim.lha pix/anim 67K 4+Amiga Animation for Web Pages EvenMore036.lha text/show 112K 1+Font sensative text viewer (BETA) FastIPrefs4035.lha util/boot 37K 6+FastIPrefs 40.35 & FastWBPattern 40. dtypeslib452.lha util/libs 130K 2+New datatypes.library, V45.2 mui38usr.lha util/libs 1.0M 9+MagicUserInterface 3.8, user files SerialPrefs26.lha util/sys 60K 4+V2.6 - Extended Serial Preferences f EagleWB.lha util/wb 237K 3+Eagle pic, 800x600x256, a great WB B AmIRCsounds.lha comm/tcp 240K 3+IFF samples to use with AmIRC Logic.lha game/think 290K 7+Great Game! Xtruder33.lha util/virus 435K 3+Virus killer with extensive checking WB_BootPic7.lha pix/boot 362K 5+Workbench Boot Pictures for Amiga OS TBL-CD.lha demo/tg97 4.5M 1+Captured Dreams/TBL - 1st at TG97! AlienF1.lha game/demo 139K 4+A fast, full texture-mapped F1 Game MasterMind.lha comm/cnet 3K 17+Mastermind door for CNet GuitBust.lha mods/rock 504K 4+GuitarBusting by T-REX/PRIDE PowerDrops.lha mods/sets 434K 188+PT-MODs (1) from Olof Gustafsson PowerFlops.lha mods/sets 598K 188+PT-MODs (2) from Olof Gustafsson SwitchbackMods.lha mods/sets 306K 118+Mods from Rebels Switchback by Chrom SPlayer_v1.6a.lha mus/play 172K 2+Update to 1.6a now ! (or else) PackDev1_9.lha util/arc 24K 4+Packs DFx, DHx etc., XPK support, V1 @endnode @node CHARTS2 "Charts, June 1, 1997" @toc FTP | The most downloaded files from Aminet during the week until 1-Jun-97 | Updated weekly. Most popular file on top. | |File Dir Size Age Description |----------------- --- ---- --- ----------- modemd.lha comm/misc 29K 0+Displays the LEDs of your Modem on W ShapeShifter38.lha misc/emu 244K 0+Macintosh II emulator, V3.8 Miami21amain.lha comm/tcp 407K 0+Internet TCP/IP stack (main archive) CyberAnim12.lha gfx/show 52K 0+IFF ANIM3/5/7/8 player, supports Cyb MiamiPM11.lha comm/misc 5K 0+Miami (reg) packetmonitor, bugfixed. Miami21areg020.lha comm/tcp 206K 0+Internet TCP/IP stack (reg. 020 bina Miami21aeval.lha comm/tcp 187K 0+Internet TCP/IP stack (demo binary) Twister038b.lha game/think 30K 0+The Ultimate Rubik's Cube program. ( MiamiSSL11.lha comm/tcp 46K 0+SSL (Secure Socket Layer) for Miami GMPlayGUI14.lha mus/midi 116K 0+Nice and working GUI for GMPlay1.2+ HoisAGA.lha demo/aga 472K 220+The first AGA-Demo by Team Hois, sim Multimedia.lha docs/help 23K 0+1.6 QT,AVI,MPEG,MPI&II&III FAQ ViNCEd.lha util/shell 302K 0+The final CON: solution, ^Z, XTerm, Netris1.00B.lha comm/net 125K 0+4-player Internet Tetris via AMarque gifanimkit.lha gfx/conv 14K 0+The *NEW* GIF-ANIM-Saver for UConv w GMPlay13.lha mus/midi 6.6M 0+Plays MIDI-Files with your Amiga (02 StudioUp214c.lha biz/patch 779K 0+V2.14c Update of Studio Prof. Printe BenchTrash.lha util/wb 48K 0+Global trashcan 4 WB, w. eject suppo am1_10htm.lha docs/mags 123K 0+The Amiga Monitor: May 1997 (1_10) H PeekMail0_8.lha comm/mail 23K 0+Check if there's new e-mail. | The highest rated programs during the week until 1-Jun-97 | 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 |----------------- --- ---- --- ----------- AlgoMusic2_1.lha mus/misc 1.2M 1+Creates algor. techno tunes. A must- AlgoMusic2_1Up.lha mus/misc 151K 1+Needs installed AlgoMusic V2.0 AlgoMusic2_1fi.lha mus/misc 20K 0+Patch fixing a bug in AlgoMusic V2.1 cnet4demo.lha comm/cnet 1.2M 3+CNet/4 Professional BBS DEMO HotStartup.lha disk/misc 15K 5+Runs a script every time you insert ar-gate.lha docs/mags 13K 1+Amiga Report Gateway Issue, May 18 1 ar504.lha docs/mags 72K 6+Amiga Report 5.04, April 16, 1997 AB3DTrainer.lha game/patch 26K 10+Cheat program for Alien Breed 3D Cannon2Cheater.lha game/patch 54K 2+Play every level of CannonFodder2 Faery_Patch.lha game/patch 56K 2+Unofficial Faery Tale Adventure HDpa soliton140.lha game/think 198K 3+Solitaire card game, V1.40 (MUI) Quine1_0.lha misc/sci 11K 3+Quine McCluskey function resolver (M AmIRCMPEGA.lha comm/tcp 2K 0+Mpega script for AmIRC DemonRobot.lha mods/crash 133K 5+Med module. Blast-beat speed metal Saucer.lha pix/jake 85K 3+The Saucer Is Landing. STFax.lha comm/misc 205K 4+STFax 1.360 - Powerful and user-frie New8n1.lha comm/misc 91K 1+Replaces serial.device. V37.38 hippoplayer.lha mus/play 651K 6+V2.39, module player. Try it! xwins.lha game/wb 32K 6+Very nice WB game (like wallstones) CGXPrefs.lha gfx/board 31K 3+PrefsPrg for CGX3 vars & tooltypes(M Blox_Face.lha game/data 301K 55+New set of BLOX levels MacFind.lha util/wb 77K 0+Find files the Macintosh way (v2.1) narrate.lha comm/tcp 10K 0+AmIRC SPEAK script with GUI v1.2 BackMan.lha disk/bakup 276K 27+The backup system v1.4 (OS3+ MUI3.3+ April.lha pix/jake 83K 7+April (HAM-6 320 x 400) Fullmoon.lha pix/jake 83K 7+Fullmoon (HAM-6 320 x 400) ldmndrvs.lha util/sys 1K 1+Faster loading of monitor drivers YAMscripts.lha comm/mail 31K 1+Useful ARexx scripts for YAM (rel 6) @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@ninemoons.com Your subject header will be ignored. In the body of the message, enter subscribe areport 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.luth.se, ftp.doc.ic.ac.uk @endnode @node WWW "World Wide Web" @toc WHERE World Wide Web ============== AR is also available on the WWW! Some of the mirror sites include a mail form, allowing you to mail to Amiga Report from the web site and some also include a search engine allowing you to search recent issues for specific topics and keywords (if your browser has forms capability). Simply tell your browser to open one of the following URLs (pick a location nearest you for the best performance): Australia http://ArtWorks.apana.org.au/AmigaReport.html http://www.deepwoods.saccii.net.au/ar/menu.html http://www.livewire.com.au/cucug/ar/ar.html (w/search and mail) http://www.phys.unsw.edu.au/~pec/amiga.html Germany http://www.fhi-berlin.mpg.de/amiga/ar/ Greece http://www.acropolis.net/clubs/amiga/amigareport/ Hungary http://mm.iit.uni-miskolc.hu/Data/AR Italy http://www.vol.it/mirror/amiga/ar/ar.html Poland http://www.pwr.wroc.pl/AMIGA/AR/ Sweden http://www.lysator.liu.se/amiga/ar/ United Kingdom http://ppewww.ph.gla.ac.uk/~gowdy/Amiga/AmigaReport/ http://www.iprom.com/amigaweb/amiga.html/ar/ar.html (w/search and mail) http://www.sussex.ac.uk/Users/kcci1 USA http://www.cucug.org/ar/ar.html (w/search and mail) http://www.omnipresence.com/Amiga/News/AR/ Additional Amiga information can also be accessed at this URL: http://www.cucug.org/amiga.html Mosaic for the Amiga can be found on Aminet in directory comm/net, or (using anonymous ftp) on max.physics.sunysb.edu @endnode @node COPYRIGHT "Copyright Information" @toc ABOUT =========================================================================== Amiga Report International Online Magazine May 31, 1997 Issue No. 5.05 Copyright 1997 FS Publications All Rights Reserved =========================================================================== Views, Opinions and Articles presented herein are not necessarily those of the editors and staff of Amiga Report International Online Magazine or of FS Publications. Permission to reprint articles is hereby denied, unless otherwise noted. All reprint requests should be directed to the editor. Amiga Report and/or portions therein may not be edited in any way without prior written permission. However, translation into a language other than English is acceptible, provided the editor is notified beforehand and the original meaning is not altered. Amiga Report may be distributed on privately owned not-for-profit bulletin board systems (fees to cover cost of operation are acceptable), and major online services such as (but not limited to) Delphi and Amiga Zone. Distribution on public domain disks is acceptable provided proceeds are only to cover the cost of the disk (e.g. no more than $5 US). CD-ROM compilers should contact the editor. Distribution on for-profit magazine cover disks requires written permission from the editor. Amiga Report is a not-for-profit publication. Amiga Report, at the time of publication, is believed reasonably accurate. Amiga Report, its staff and contributors are not and cannot be held responsible for the use or misuse of information contained herein or the results obtained there from. Amiga Report is not affiliated with Escom AG. All items quoted in whole or in part are done so under the Fair Use Provision of the Copyright Laws of the United States Penal Code. Any Electronic Mail sent to the editors may be reprinted, in whole or in part, without any previous permission of the author, unless said electronic mail is specifically requested not to be reprinted. =========================================================================== @endnode @node GUIDELINE "Amiga Report Writing Guidelines" @toc ABOUT =========================================================================== Amiga Report Writing Guidelines =========================================================================== The three most important requirements for submissions to Amiga Report are: 1. Please use English. 2. Please use paragraphs. It's hard on the eyes to have solid screens of text. If you don't know where to make a paragraph break, guess. 3. Please put a blank line in between paragraphs. It makes formatting the magazine much much easier. 4. Please send us your article in ASCII format. Note: If you want to check ahead of time to make sure we'll print your article, please write to the @{"Editor" link JASON}. Please stipulate as well if you wish to retain copyright or hand it over to the editor. @endnode @node ZONE "CalWeb" @toc ONLINE =========================================================================== CalWeb: The Home of the Amiga Zone! =========================================================================== AMIGA ZONE MOVES TO CALWEB! THE AMIGA ZONE MOVES FROM PORTAL TO CALWEB INTERNET SERVICES For over ten years the Amiga Zone has been an online resource, home, community, oasis, for Amiga owners. For over ten years I've made my living running the Zone and supporting Amiga users all over the USA, Canada, and the world. Five years ago when American People/Link pulled their own plug, we had to find the Zone a new home and we found a good one on the Portal Online System. Well, it's happened again.. Portal has informed all of its customers that its ten year history as an online service and Internet provider is coming to an end on Sept. 30, 1996. This is very sad, it's short-notice, and the decision is completely out of my control, but it's also irreversible. Portal is changing its entire business plan from being an ISP to selling an accounting system to other online services. So be it. It's sad, but like I said, the Zone went through this before and now we'll go through it again, and come out the other side better and wiser. THE AMIGA ZONE IS MOVING TO CALWEB INTERNET SERVICES. CalWeb (http://www.calweb.com) is a two year old Internet provider located in Sacramento, CA. It has a good sized customer base, and very knowledgeable support staff. It's also run by a long time Amiga owner who has been a friend of mine for many years. The world of modeming has changed much in the last ten years. In 1985 you had very few choices and you had 1200 baud. These days, everyone and his dog has an ISP running and a web page But the vast majority of those providers don't know an Amiga from a hole in the ground, and could care less about Amiga owners. Say "AWeb" or "IBrowse" to them and they'll say "Omega? Amoeba? What? Huh? They still make those things?" CalWeb is different because it's the new home of the Amiga Zone. In October 1996, a new custom front-end menued system will be added to CalWeb to host the Zone. It'll have features for Zone users that neither Plink nor Portal ever had nor were they willing to add. The tradition of a friendly online Amiga community, run by long time Amiga owners, users and lovers will continue. Message bases, huge file libraries (we plan to move over the 20,000+ files we have on the Zone on Portal to CalWeb, MANY of which you'll never see on Aminet or anywhere else), live nightly chats, vendor support and our famous prize contests will continue. We've given away tens of thousands of dollars worth of Amiga prizes in the last ten years. No one else even comes close. I urge any and all of you who were on Plink, or who are now on Portal or who may have left Portal.. or even if you were never on either but used or still use another online service to join CalWeb for the Amiga Zone. I personally promise you the best online Amiga community we can possibly build. You will not be disappointed. CalWeb has arranged a special signup offer for you! Call: 1-800-509-9322 or 1-916-641-9320 or telnet to calweb.com, login as "guest", and follow the prompts. You can join CalWeb for US$19.95 flat, a month. CalWeb takes major credit cards or you can establish a monthly invoiced account if you don't have plastic. The signup is FREE. To get this deal you must say "THE AMIGA ZONE SENT ME" when you call or signup online. I hope to see lots of you join CalWeb. You can telnet into it from anywhere for no hourly charges at all. Your $19.95/mo fee covers everything and also gets you ten meg of storage which includes hosting your own personal web page. Naturally, when the Zone opens there, you'll have unlimited use of all of its features and areas. Never a "money meter" clock to worry about. Your personal or business CalWeb Web pages are maintained by you via FTP. It's pretty slick. You can make a net connection to the server with any Amiga FTP client, put your files onto it, the permissions are automatically set (no "chmod-ing" required!) and flip to your running browser and see the changes instantly. The Amiga Zone's new home is already up at: http://www.amigazone.com running on CalWeb's server. Ckeck it out! Please feel free to write to me at harv@amigazone.com or harv@cup.portal.com if you want more information. Remember to say "THE AMIGA ZONE SENT ME!" when you join. A splendid time is guaranteed for all. Please plan to join us in the Amiga Zone on CalWeb! @endnode @node BBS_ASIA "Distribution BBSes - Asia" @toc BBS =========================================================================== Distribution BBSes - Asia =========================================================================== -= IRAN =- * MAVARA BBS * 0098 21 8740815 -=JAPAN=- * GIGA SONIC FACTOR * Email: kfr01002@niftyserve.or.jp +81-(0)564-55-4864 @endnode @node BBS_AUSTRALASIA "Distribution BBSes - Australasia" @toc BBS =========================================================================== Distribution BBSes - Australasia =========================================================================== -=NEW ZEALAND=- * BITSTREAM BBS * FidoNET 3:771/850.0 AmigaNET 41:644/850.0 +64-(0)3-548-5321 -=VICTORIA=- * NORTH WEST AMIGA BBS * mozza@nwamiga.apana.org.au Fido: 3:633/265.0 BBS Phone/Fax: +61 3 9331 2831 @endnode @node BBS_EUROPE "Distribution BBSes - Europe" @toc BBS =========================================================================== Distribution BBSes - Europe =========================================================================== -= BELGUIM =- * VIRTUAL VORTEX BBS * vzpirit@hotmail.com +32-2-3873391 -=DENMARK=- * NEMESIS AMY BBS * boersting@hoa.ping.dk Fido: 2:238/43 +45 75-353726 -=FINLAND=- * HANG UP BBS * (telnettable) helpdesk@hangup.dystopia.fi +358 - 09 - 278 8054 * LAHO BBS * +358-64-414 1516 +358-64-414 0400 +358-64-414 6800 +358-64-423 1300 * KINDERGARTEN * matthias.bartosik@hut.fi +358-0-881 32 36 -=FRANCE=- * DYNAMIX BBS * erlsoft@mcom.mcom.fr +33.1.48.89.96.66 Minitel to Modem * RAMSES THE AMIGA FLYING * Fidonet: 2/320/104-105-106 +33-1-45845623 +33-1-53791200 -=GERMANY=- * DOOM OF DARKNESS * marc_doerre@doom.ping.de +49 (0)4223 8355 19200 AR-Infoservice, kai@doom.gun.de * IMAGINE BBS * Sysop@imagine.commo.mcnet.de +49-69-4304948 Login: GAST (Download area: "Amiga-Report") * LEGUANS BYTE CHANNEL * andreas@lbcmbx.in-berlin.de 49-30-8110060 49-30-8122442 Login as User: "amiga", Passwd: "report" * REDEYE BBS * sysop@coolsurf.de Modem/ISDN: +49-89.54662690 Modem only:+49.89.54662680 * STINGRAY DATABASE * sysop@sting-db.zer.sub.org.dbp.de +49 208 496807 * VISION THING BBS * ++49(0)345 663914 System Password: Amiga -=GREECE=- * HELLAS ON LINE * cocos@prometheus.hol.gr Telnet: hellas.hol.gr ++301/ 620-6001, 620-6604, 620-9500 * LOGIC SYSTEMS BBS * Paddy@hol.gr (301) 983-4645 * ODYSSEY BBS * odyssey@acropolis.net Amiganet: 39:250/1.0 ++301-4123502 23.00-09.00 Local Time WWW: www.acropolis.net/~konem/odygb.html -=IRELAND=- * FWIBBLE! * E-Mail: 9517693@ul.ie Fidonet: 2:263/900.0 Phone: +353-902-36124 Midnight to 8am (GMT) Freq "Readme.txt" for details -=ITALY=- * AMIGA PROFESSIONAL BBS * +(39)-49-604488 * AMIPRO BBS* +39-49604488 * DB-LINE SRL * amiga@dbline.it WWW: www.dbline.it +39-332-767383 * FRANZ BBS * mc3510@mclink.it +39-(0)6-6627667 * IDCMP * Fidonet 2:322/405 +39-542-25983 * SPEED OF LIFE * FidoNet 2:335/533 AmigaNet 39:102/12 +39-931-833773 -=NETHERLANDS=- * AMIGA ONLINE BS HEEMSTEDE * Email: sysop@aobh.xs4all.nl Fidonet: 2:280/464.0, 2:280/412.0 +31-23-5471111 +31-23-5470739 * THE HELL BBS * Email : root@hell.xs4all.nl FidoNet: 2:281/418.0 +31-(0)70-3468783 * MACRON BBS HEILOO * Email: macron@cybercomm.nl FidoNet: 2:280/134.0 +31-(0)72-5340903 * TRACE BBS GRONINGEN * Martin@trace.idn.nl FidoNET 2:282/529.0 +31-(0)-50-410143 * WILD PALMS * radavi@xs4all.nl WWW: www.xs4all.nl/~radavi/wildpalms/wildpalm.html +31-(0)30-6037959 * X-TREME BBS * u055231@vm.uci.kun.nl +31-167064414 -=NORWAY=- * BODŘ BBS * bbsoft@sn.no +47 7552 2008 -=POLAND=- * SILVER DREAM!'S BBS * +48 91 540431 -=PORTUGAL=- * CIUA BBS * denise.ci.ua.pt FidoNet 2:361/9 +351-34-382080/382081 -=RUSSIA=- * NEW ORDER BBS * sysop@neworder.spb.ru FidoNet: 2:5030/221.0 +7-812-3270054 -=SPAIN=- * GURU MEDITATION * +34-1-383-1317 * LA MITAD OSCURA * jovergon@offcampus.es Fido: 2:341/35.19 +34-1-3524613 * MAZAGON - BBS - SYSTEMS * jgomez@maze.mazanet.es FTP: ftp-mail@ftp.mazanet.es +34 59 536267 Login: a-report -=SWEDEN=- * CICERON * a1009@itv.se +46 612 22011 -=SWITZERLAND=- * USE COMMUNICATIONS POP ZUG * wenk@use.ch +41 41 763 17 41 -=TURKIYE=- * NEEDFUL THINGS * Erdinc.Corbaci@beygir.bbs.tr 90-216-3629417 -=UKRAINE=- * AMIGA HOME BBZ * Oleg.Khimich@bbs.te.net.ua FidoNet: 2:467/88.0 +380-482-325043 -=UNITED KINGDOM=- * AMIGA JUNCTION 9 * sysadmin@junct9.demon.co.uk FidoNet: 2:440/20 +44 (0)372 271000 * CREATIONS BBS * mat@darkside.demon.co.uk 2:254/524@Fidonet +44-0181-665-9887 * DEMON FEARS AMIGA BBS * mike@timp8.demon.co.uk FidoNet: 2:250/194.0 +44-161-627-3360 * DRAUGHTFLOW BBS * Ian_Cooper@draught.demon.co.uk +44 (01707) 328484 * METNET CCS * metnet@demon.co.uk FidoNet: 2:2502/129.0 2:2502/130.0 +44-1482-442251 +44-1482-444910 * OCTAMED USER BBS * rbfsoft@cix.compulink.co.uk +44 (01703) 703446 * SCRATCH BBS * kcci1@solx1.susx.ac.uk +44-1273-389267 -=YUGOSLAVIA=- * UNIVERSE BBS * sule@universe.bc.co.ui +381-(0)21-741084 @endnode @node BBS_NAMERICA "Distribution BBSes - North America" @toc BBS =========================================================================== Distribution BBSes - North America =========================================================================== -=ARIZONA=- * MESSENGER OF THE GODS BBS * mercury@primenet.com 602-326-1095 -=BRITISH COLUMBIA=- * COMM-LINK BBS * steve_hooper@comm.tfbbs.wimsey.com Fido: 1:153/210.0 604-945-6192 -=CALIFORNIA=- * TIERRA-MIGA BBS * torment.cts.com FidoNet: 1:202/638.0 619.292.0754 * VIRTUAL PALACE BBS * tibor@ecst.csuchico.edu 916-343-7420 * AMIGA AND IBM ONLY BBS * vonmolk@crash.cts.com AmigaNET: 40:406/7.0 (619)428-4887 -=FLORIDA=- * LAST! AMIGA BBS * (305) 456-0126 -=ILLINOIS=- * PHANTOM'S LAIR * FidoNet: 1:115/469.0 Phantom Net Coordinator: 11:1115/0.0-11:1115/1.0 708-469-9510 708-469-9520 * THE SAGE'S TOWER * johnh@ezl.com FidoNet: 1:2250/7 618-259-1844 * STARSHIP CUCUG * khisel@prairienet.org (217)356-8056 * THE STYGIAN ABYSS BBS * FIDONet-1:115/384.0 312-384-0616 312-384-6250 (FREQ line) -=LOUISIANA=- * The Catacomb * Geoff148@delphi.com 504-882-6576 -=MAINE=- * THE KOBAYASHI ALTERNATIVE BBS * FidoNet: 1:326/404.0 FTP: ftp.tka.com (207)/784-2130 (207)/946-5665 -=MEXICO=- * AMIGA BBS * FidoNet 4:975/7 (5) 887-3080 * AMIGA SERVER BBS * 5158736 * TERCER PLANETA BBS * FX Network 800:525/1 [525]-606-2162 -=MISSISSIPPI=- * THE GATEWAY BBS * stace@tecnet1.jcte.jcs.mil FidoNet: 1:3604/60.0 601-374-2697 -=MICHIGAN=- * DC PRODUCTIONS * dcpro!chetw@heifetz.msen.com 616-373-0287 -=NEW JERSEY=- * T.B.P. VIDEO SLATE * 201-586-3623 * DLTACOM AMIGA BBS * dltacom.camphq.fidonet.org Fidonet: 1:2606/216.0 (201) 398-8559 -=NEW YORK=- * THE BELFRY(!) * stiggy@belfry.org WWW: www.belfry.org 718.793.4796 718.793.4905 -=ONTARIO=- * COMMAND LINE BBS * 416-533-8321 * CYBERSPACE * joehick@ophielia.waterloo.net (519) 579-0072 (519) 579-0173 * EDGE OF REALITY BBS * murray.smith@er.gryn.org Fido: 1:244/320.0 (905)578-5048 -=QUEBEC=- * CLUB AMIGA DE QUEBEC * Internet: snaclaq@megatoon.com Voice: (418) 666-5969 (418) 666-4146 (418) 666-6960 Nom d'usager: AMREPORT Mot de passe: AMIGA * GfxBase BBS* E-mail: ai257@freenet.hsc.colorado.edu Fidonet: 1:167/192 514-769-0565 -=TENNESSEE=- * AMIGA CENTRAL! * root@amicent.raider.net 615-383-9679 * NOVA BBS * FidoNet 1:362/508.0 615-472-9748 -=VIRGINIA=- * NETWORK XXIII DATA SYSTEM * gottfrie@acca.nmsu.edu 804-266-1763 Login: anon Password: nopass -=WASHINGTON=- * FREELAND MAINFRAME * freemf.wa.com (360)412-0228 * PIONEERS BBS * FidoNet: 1:343/54.0 206-775-7983 Login: Long Distance Password: longdistance Or FREQ: AR.lha @endnode @node BBS_SAMERICA "Distribution BBSes - South America" @toc BBS =========================================================================== Distribution BBSes - South America =========================================================================== -=BRAZIL=- * 68000 BBS * vaclav@centroin.com.br AmigaNET-BR: 120:5521/1 +55-21-393-4390 [16-06h (-3GMT)] * LITHIUM SYSTEMS BBS * pa100137@datacontrol.com.br 051-632-2805 (00:00 - 08:30) * STUFF OVERLOAD BBS * dan_cab@lepus.celepar.br AmigaNET-BR: 120:120/0 +55-41-252-9389 @endnode @node DEAL_ASIA "Dealers - Asia" @toc DEALER =========================================================================== Dealers - Asia =========================================================================== -=JAPAN=- Grey Matter Ltd. 1-22-3,Minami Magome HillTop House 2F suite 201 Ota-ku,Tokyo 143 Tel:+81 (0)3 5709-5549 Fax:+81 (0)3 5709-1907 BBS: +81 (0)3 5709-1907 nighty@gmatter.japan-online.or.jp -= MAYLAYSIA =- Innovations Lights & Magic (M) Sdn Bhd, A1106, University Towers, 28, Jalan Universiti, 46200, Petaling Jaya, Selangor Darul Ehsan Tel: +6 03 7544544 Fax: +6 03 7544588 skchiew@pc.jaring.my @endnode @node DEAL_AUSTRALASIA "Dealers - Australasia" @toc DEALER =========================================================================== Dealers - Australasia =========================================================================== -=AUSTRALIA=- Amadeus Computers 1/534 Old Northern Rd Round Corner, NSW 2158 Voice: 02 9651 1711 Fax: 02 9651 1710 WWW: www.amadeus.com.au amadeus@ca.com/au Amiga Genius 826 Hunter St. Newcastle West, NSW 2302 Ph: +61 49 623-222 Fax: +61 49 623-583 cdgtb@hunterlink.net.au Amiga 'n PC Centre Pty Ltd 644 South Road Glandore Adelaide, SA 5037 Phone: (08) 8293 8752 Fax: (08) 8293 8814 melbice@cobweb.com.au Amiga Technologies (Not ESCOM related) 17 Thompson Circuit Mill Park, VIC 3082 Phone: (03) 9436 5555 Fax: (03) 9436 9935 WWW: http://lion.cs.latrobe.edu.au/~laburacj/amitech.html laburacj@lion.cs.latrobe.edu.au Amilight Pty Ltd 47A Tate Street South Perth, Western Australia, 6151 Phone: (09) 367 4422 Fax: (09) 3674482 WWW: www.vianet.net.au/~dwark dwark@vianet.net.au Amitar Home Computer Systems Unit 1, 25 Gillim Drive Kelmscott, WA 6111 Phone: (09) 495 4905 Fax: (09) 495 4905 WWW: http://crystal.com.au/~amitar/ amitar@crystal.com.au Byte One 24 Silverton Drive Ferntree Gully, VIC 3156 Phone: (03) 9752 3991 gordon@ozramp.net.au Computa Magic Pty Ltd 44 Pascoe Vale Road Moonee Ponds, VIC 3039 Phone: (03) 9326 0133 Fax: (03) 9370 8352 Computer Affair 337 Penshurst Street Willoughby, NSW 2068 Phone: (02) 9417 5155 Fax: (02) 9417 5542 WWW: www.computeraffair.com.au sales@computeraffair.com.au Computer Man 611 Beaufort Street Mt. Lawley, WA 6050 Phone: (09) 328 9062 Fax: (09) 275 1010 WWW: www.iinet.net.au/~cman cman@iinet.net.au Desktop Utilities PO BOX 3053 Manuka, ACT 2603 Phone: (06) 239 6658 Fax: (06) 239 6619 WWW: ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/~dtu 100026.1706@compuserve.com Don Quixote Software PO BOX 786 Toowoomba, QLD 4350 Phone: (076) 391 578 Fax: (076) 320 145 donq@tmba.design.net.au Exclusive Computer Systems Street: 34 Weston Street Weston, N.S.W. 2326 Postal: P.O. Box 68, Weston, N.S.W. 2326 Phone: (049) 361213 Fax: (049) 36 1213 Email: peter.archer@fastlink.com.au Fonhoff Computer Supplies Baulkham Hills, NSW 2153 Phone: (02) 9639 7718 Fax: (02) 9639 5995 WWW: http://godzilla.zeta.org.au/~jfonhof jfonhof@zeta.org.au GSoft Shop 4, 2 Anderson Walk Smithfield, SA 5114 Phone: (08) 8284 1266 Fax: (08) 8284 0922 gsoft@cobweb.com.au Image Domain 92 Bridge St Fortitude Valley, Brisbane Queensland Voice: 617-3216-1240 Fax: 617-3852-2720 imagedomain@msn.com Motherboard Computers Suite 19, 9-11 Abel Street Penrith, NSW 2750 Phone: (047) 222 803 Fax: (047) 215 277 WWW: www.pnc.com.au/~mother mother@pnc.com.au MVB 506-508 Dorset Road Croydon, VIC 3136 Phone: (03) 9725 6255 Fax: (03) 9725 6766 Sigmacom Suite 16, 20-24 Gibbs Street Miranda, NSW 2228 Phone: (02) 9524 9846 Fax: (02) 9549 4554 WWW: www.sigma.com.au Software Buyers Service PO BOX 734 Belmont, VIC 3216 Phone/Fax: (052) 431 445 arne@euphoria.bay.net.au Software Circus 27 Darling Street Kensington, NSW 2033 Phone: (02) 9313 8484 Synapse Computers 190 Riding Road Hawthorne, Brisbane Queensland 4171 Voice/Fax: +61 7-3899-0980 WWW: www.powerup.com.au/~synapse/ synapse@powerup.com.au Unitech Electronics Pty. Ltd. / Maverick Amiga 8B Tummul Place St. Andrews, Sydney 2566 Voice: +61 2 9820 3555 Fax: +61 2 9603 8685 Valhalla: Games and Hobbies 493 Wellington Street Perth, 6000 Phone: (09) 321 2909 Westcomp 96 Bentinck Street Bathurst, NSW 2795 Phone: (063) 322 611 Fax: (063) 322 623 -=NEW ZEALAND=- CompKarori LG/F Karori Shopping Mall Karori, Wellington Tel: +64 4 476-0212 Fax: +64 4 476-9088 WWW: www.compkarori.co.nz sales@compkarori.co.nz Dezigna Systems PO BOX 33-959 Takapuna, Auckland Voice: 0064-9-478-9657 Fax: 0064-9-410-8788 dzign@ihug.co.nz @endnode @node DEAL_EUROPE "Dealers - Europe" @toc DEALER =========================================================================== Dealers - Europe =========================================================================== -=AUSTRIA=- A.R.T. Computeranimation Ges.m.b.H. Feldstrasse 13 3300 Amstetten Tel: +43 7472/63566-0 Fax: +43 7472/63566-6 Solaris Computec Ges.m.b.H. Mariahilfpark 1 A-6020 Innsbruck Tel: ++43-512/272724 Fax: ++43-512/272724-2 solaris@computec.co.at -=BELGIUM=- AVM Technology Rue de Rotheux, 279 B-4100 Seraing Voice: +32 (0)41 38.16.06 Fax: +32 (0)41 38.15.69 defraj@mail.interpac.be CLICK! N.V. Boomsesteenweg 468 B-2610 Wilrijk - Antwerpen Voice: +32 (0)3 828.18.15 Fax: +32 (0)3 828.67.36 vanhoutv@nbre.nfe.be Generation Amiga Rue Hotel des Monnaies, 120-122 B-1060 Bruxelles Voice: +32-2-538.93.60 Fax: +32-2-538.91.35 WWW: www.genamiga.arc.be/genamiga/ Email: genamiga@arcadia.be -=BULGARIA=- KlubVerband ITA Gmbh 1309 Sofia P.F.13, KukushStr. 1-2 Contact: Dr. ING B. Pavlov Tel: +359-2-221471 Fax: +359-2-230062 KVITA@VIRBUS.BG -=DENMARK=- Data Service Att. Soren Petersen Kaerhaven2a 2th 6400 Sonderborg Phone/Fax: +45 74 43 17 36 sorpe-95@sdbg.ih.dk -=FINLAND=- Gentle Eye ky PL 8 33841 Tampere Phone: 358-3-363-0048 Fax: 358-3-363-0058 WWW: www.ge.vip.fi ge@vip.fi Lincware Computers Ltd Lovkullankuja 3 10300 KARJAA Voice: +358-50-5573696 Fax: +358-11-231511 linctech@freenet.hut.fi -=FRANCE=- ASCII Informatique 10 Rue de Lepante 06000 NICE Tel: (33) 93 13 08 66 Fax: (33) 93 13 90 95 Quartz Infomatique 2 bis, avenue de Brogny F-74000 ANNECY Tel./Fax: +33 50.52.83.31 tcp@imaginet.fr -=GERMANY=- AMItech Systems GmbH Ludwigstrasse 4 D-95028 Hof/Saale Voice: +49 9281 142812 Fax: +49 9281 142712 WWW: www.hof.baynet.de/~mediatech mediatech@hof.baynet.de dcp, desing+commercial partner GmbH Alfredstr. 1 D-22087 Hamburg Tel.: + 49 40 251176 Fax: +49 40 2518567 WWW: www.dcp.de info@dcp.de Hartmann & Riedel GdbR Hertzstr. 33 D-76287 Rheinstetten Voice: +49 (7242) 2021 Fax: +49 (7242) 2167 rick@morrison.inka.de Please call before visiting Hirsch & Wolf OHG Mittelstra_e 33 D-56564 Neuwied Voice: +49 (2631) 8399-0 Fax: +49 (2631) 8399-31 Pro Video Electronic Gabelsbergerstr.6 D-63739 Aschaffenburg Voice: +49-(0)6021-15713 Fax: +49-(0)6021-15717 WWW: www.provideo.de provideo@primanet.de -=ITALY=- C.A.T.M.U. snc Casella Postale 63 10023 Chieri (TO) Tel/Fax: +39 11 9415237 fer@inrete.it (Ferruccio Zamuner) Cloanto Italia srl Via G. B. Bison 24 33100 Udine Tel: +39 432 545902 Fax: +39 432 609051 WWW: www.cloanto.com info@cloanto.com -=NETHERLANDS=- Chaos Systems Watermolen 18 NL-1622 LG Hoorn (NH) Voice: +31-(0)229-233922 Fax/Data: +31-(0)229-TBA WWW: gene.fwi.uva.nl/~marioh/ marioh@fwi.uva.nl Computer City Zebrastraat 7-9 3064 LR Rotterdam Voice: +31-10-4517722 Fax: +31-10-4517748 WWW: www.compcity.nl info@compcity.nl Computer + Repair Schoonbrood Rodeput 15 63695N Simpelveld Voice: 0031-455680048 Fax: 0031-455680049 CRS@CUCI.NL -=NORWAY=- Applause Data AS Storgaten 31 Postboks 143 2830 Raufoss Voice: +47 61 19 03 80 Fax: +47 61 19 05 80 WWW: www.applause.no post@applause.no DataKompaniet ANS Trondheim Innovation Centre Prof. Brochs gt. 6 N-7030 Trondheim Tel: +47 7354 0375 Fax: +47 7394 3861 WWW: www.datakompaniet.no post@datakompaniet.no Sezam Software Ulsmĺgveien 11a N-5o5o Nesttun Tel/Fax: +47 55100070 (9-20) ABBS: +47 55101730 (24t) Email: oleksy@telepost.no -=SPAIN=- Amiga Center Argullós, 127 08016 Barcelona Tel: (93) 276 38 06 Fax: (93) 276 30 80 Amiga Center Alicante Segura, 27 03004 Alicante Tel: (96) 514 37 34 Audio Vision San Jose, 53 Gijon (Asturias) Tel: (98) 535 24 79 Centro Informático Boadilla Convento, 6 28660 Boadilla del Monte (Madrid) Tel: (91) 632 27 65 Fax: (91) 632 10 99 Centro Mail Tel: (91) 380 28 92 C.R.E. San Francisco, 85 48003 Bilbao (Vizcaya) Tel: (94) 444 98 84 Fax: (94) 444 98 84 Donosti Frame Avda. de Madrid, 15 20011 San Sebastián (Guipuzcoa) Tel: (943) 42 07 45 Fax: (943) 42 45 88 Eurobit Informatica C/. Gral. Garcia de la Herran, 4 11100 - San Fernando Cadiz Tel/Fax: (956) 896375 GaliFrame Galerías Príncipe, 22 Vigo (Pontevedra) Tel: (986) 22 89 94 Fax: (986) 22 89 94 Invision San Isidro, 12-18 28850 Torrejón de Ardoz (Madrid) Tel: (91) 676 20 56/59 Fax: (91) 656 10 04 Invision Salamanca, 53 46005 Valencia Tel: (96) 395 02 43/44 Fax: (96) 395 02 44 Norsoft Bedoya, 4-6 32003 Orense Tel: (988) 24 90 46 Fax: (988) 23 42 07 PiXeLSOFT Felipe II, 3bis 34004 Palencia Tel: (979) 71 27 00 Fax: (979) 71 28 28 Tu Amiga Ordinadors C/ Progreso, 6 08120 La LLagosta (Barcelona) Tel: +34-3-5603604 Fax: +34-3-5603607 vb soft Provenza, 436 08025 Barcelona Tel: (93) 456 15 45 Fax: (93) 456 15 45 -=SWEDEN=- Orebro Videoreklam Slottsgatan 12 703 61 OREBRO Tel/Fax: +46 (0)19-123807 WWW: www.flevel.co.uk/videoking videoking@mbox200.swipnet.se Tricom Data Vision - Stockholm Birkagatan 17 113 36 Stockholm Voice: +46-(0)8-7360291/92 Fax: +46-(0)8-7460293 support@tricom.se Tricom Data Vision - Uppsala Svartbacksgatan 41 753 32 Uppsala Voice: +46-(0)18-124009 Fax: +46-(0)18-100650 info@tricom.se -=SWITZERLAND=- RELEC Software & Hardware AMIGA Village du Levant 2B CH 1530 PAYERNE Tel: +26 660 02 82 Fax: +26 660 0283 Relec@com.mcnet.ch Studio 4D Deinikonerstrasse 14 6340 Baar Voice: +41 41 763 17 47 Fax: +41 41 763 17 48 studio4d@zug.use.ch -=UNITED KINGDOM=- 5DLicenceware 1 Lower Mill Close Goldthorpe Rotherham South Yorkshire S63 9BY Tel/Fax: 01709 888127 WWW: www.ware5d.demon.co.uk phil@ware5d.demon.co.uk Almathera Systems Ltd Southerton House Boundary Business Court 92-94 Church Road Mitcham, Surrey CR4 3TD Voice: 081 687 0040 Fax: 081 687 0490 Sales: almathera@cix.compulink.co.uk Tech: jralph@cix.compulink.co.uk Brian Fowler Computers Ltd 90 South Street Exeter, Devon EX1 1EN Voice: (01392) 499 755 Fax: (01392) 493 393 brian_fowler@cix.compulink.co.uk Computer Magic Unit 8 Freemans Yard Doncaster Road, Barnsley S71 1QH Tel: 01226 218255 / 0378 425281 Visage Computers 27 Watnall Road Hucknall, Nottingham Tel: +44 (0)115 9642828 Tel/Fax: +44 (0)115 9642898 visage@innotts.co.uk @endnode @node DEAL_NAMERICA "Dealers - North America" @toc DEALER =========================================================================== Dealers - North America =========================================================================== -=CANADA=- Animax Multimedia, Inc. Willow Tree Tower 6009 Quinpool Road, Suite 802 Halifax, Nova Scotia B3K 5J7 Ph: (902) 429-1921 Fax: (902) 429-1923 WWW: www.animax.com/ info@animax.com APC Computer Services 402-5 Tangreen Crt Willowdale, Ont. M2M 3Z1 Voice/Fax: (416) 733-1434 WWW: www.interlog.com/~shadow/apccomp.html shadow@interlog.com Atlantis Kobetek Inc. 1496 Lower Water St. Halifax, NS / B3J 1R9 Phone: (902)-422-6556 Fax: (902)-423-9339 atkobetek@ra.isisnet.com Atlas Computers & Consulting - Derek Davlut 400 Telstar Avenue Suite 701 Sudbury, ON / P3E 5V7 Phone: (705) 522-1923 Fax: (705) 522-1923 s2200147@nickel.laurentian.ca CineReal Pro-Video 272 Avondale Avenue Ottawa, Ontario K1Z 7G8 Phone/Fax: (613) 798-8150 (Call first to fax) cinereal@proton.com Computer Shop of Calgary, Ltd. 3515 - 18th Street S.W. Calgary, Alberta T2T 4T9 Ph. 1-403-243-4358 Fx: 1-403-243-2684 WWW: www.canuck.com/cshop austin@canuck.com Computerology Direct Powell River, BC V8A-4Z3 Orders/inquiries: 604/483-3679 (24h) Ask for HEAD SALES REP for quicker response! Comspec Communications Inc 74 Wingold Ave Toronto, Ontario M6B 1P5 Computer Centre: (416) 785-8348 Sales: (416) 785-3553 Fax: 416-785-3668 bryanf@comcorp.comspec.com, bryanf@accesspt.north.net ElectroMike Inc. 1375 Boul. Charest Ouest Quebec, Quebec G1N2E7 Tel: (418) 681-4138, (800) 463-1501 Fax: (418) 681-5880 Forest Diskasaurus 35 Albert St., P.O.Box 84 Forest, Ontario N0N 1J0 Tel/Fax: 519-786-2454 saurus@xcelco.on.ca FranTek 5-353 McArthur Avenue Vanier, Ontario K1L 6N5 Phone: (613) 746-7854 ext 3 Fax/Modem: (613) 746-7854 WWW: www.travel-net.com/~frantek frantek@travel-net.com GfxBase Electronique, Inc 1727 Shevchenko Montreal, Quebec Voice: 514-367-2575 Fax: 514-367-5265 BBS: 514-769-0565 Le Groupe PowerLand 630 Champagne Rosemere, Quebec J7A 4K9 Voice: 514-893-6296 Fax/BBS: 514-965-7295 mchabot@nationalnet.com National Amiga London, Ontario Fax: 905-845-3295 WWW: www.interlog.com/~gscott/NationalAmiga.html gscott@interlog.com Oby's Amiga Computing Shop 16 Keziah Crt. Sudbury, Ontario P3B-2T9 Voice: 705-675-3331 Fax: 705-675-1333 WWW: icewall.vianet.on.ca/pages/obys obys@vianet.on.ca Oshawa Amiga Oshawa, ON L1J 5J8 Phone: (905) 728-7048 WWW: web.idirect.com/~oshamiga mjacula@idirect.com Randomize Computers R.R. #2 Tottenham, Ont. L0G 1W0 vox: 905-939-8371 fax: 905-939-8745 WWW: www.randomize.com randomize@interlog.com SpectrumTech Electronics Contact: Derek Clarke 412-1205 Fennell Avenue East Hamilton, ON L8T 1T1 Voice: (905) 388-9575 BBS: (905) 388-2542 ste@spectrum.gryn.org Valley Soft P.O. Box 864 Pembroke, Ontario K8A 7M5 Phone: (613) 732-7700 Fax: (613) 732-8477 WWW: www.renc.igs.net/~valsoft Wonder Computers Ottawa Retail Store 1315 Richmond Road Ottawa, Ontario K2B 8J7 Voice: (613) 721-1800 Fax: 613-721-6992 WWW: www.wonder.ca Wonder Computers Vancouver Sales Office 2229 Edinburgh St. New Westminster, BC W3M 2Y2 Voice: (604) 524-2151 young monkey studios 797 Mitchell Street Fredericton, NB E3B 3S8 Phone: (506) 459-7088 Fax: (506) 459-7099 sales@youngmonkey.ca -=UNITED STATES=- A&D Computer 211 South St. Milford, NH 03055-3743 Voice/Fax: 603-672-4700 BBS: 603-673-2788 amiga@mv.mv.com Alex Electronics 597 Circlewood Dr. Paradise, CA 95969 Voice/Fax: 916-872-3722 BBS: 915-872-3711 WWW: www.wordbench.com/ alex@wordbench.com Amigability Computers P.O. Box 572 Plantsville, CT 06479 Voice: 203-276-8175 caldi@pcnet.com Amiga-Crossing PO Box 12A Cumberland Center, ME 04021 Voice: 800-498-3959 (Maine only Voice: 207-829-3959 Fax: 207-829-3522 amiga-x@tka.com Amiga Exchange PO BOX 1381 Manhattan Beach, CA 90266 Voice/Fax: 310-534-3817 BBS: 310-325-1796 robertwt@ix.netcom.com Amiga Library Services 610 Alma School Rd, #18 Chandler, Az 85224-3687 Voice: 800-804-0833 Fax: 602-491-0048 orders@ninemoons.com Amiga Video Solutions 1568 Randolph Avenue St. Paul, MN 55105 Voice: 612-698-1175 Fax: 612-224-3823 BBS: 612-698-1918 wohno001@maroon.tc.umn.edu Applied Multimedia Inc. 89 Northill St. Stamford, CT 06907 Voice: (203) 348-0108 Apogee Technologies 1851 University Parkway Sarasota, FL 34243 Voice: 813-355-6121 Apogee@cup.portal.com Armadillo Brothers 4379 South State Salt Lake City, Utah 84107 Voice: 801-262-4454 Fax: 801-262-4441 WWW: www.armadillobrothers.com brent@armos.com Computer Advantage 7370 Hickman Road Des Moines, IA 50322 Voice/Fax: 515-252-6167 Number1@netins.net Computer Concepts 18001 Bothell-Everett Hwy, Suite "0" Bothell, WA 98012 Voice: (206) 481-3666 Computer Link 6573 middlebelt Garden City MI 48135 Voice: 313-522-6005 Fax: 313-522-3119 clink@m-net.arbornet.org The Computer Room 2760 South Havana Street Aurora, Colorado 80014 Voice: 303-696-8973 WWW: www.computerroom.com Email: sales@computerroom.com The Computer Source 515 Kings Highway East Fairfield, CT 06432 Voice: (203) 336-3100 Fax: (203) 335-3259 Computers International, Inc. 5415 Hixson Pike Chattanooga, TN 37343 Voice: 615-843-0630 Computerwise Computers 3006 North Main Logan, UT 84322 Concord Computer Solutions 2745 Concord Blvd. Suite 5 Concord, CA 94519 Orders: 1-888-80-AMIGA Info/Tech: 510-680-0143 BBS/Fax: 510-680-4987 WWW: www.ccompsol.com/ moxley@value.net CPU Inc. 5168 East 65th St. Indianapolis, IN 46220 Voice: 317-577-3677 Fax: 317-577-1500 cpuken@indy.net CyberTech Labs PO Box 56941 North Pole, Alaska 99705 Vox: (907) 451-3285 BBS1: (907) 488-2547 BBS2 & Fax: (907) 488-2647 71516.600@CompuServe.com DC Productions 218 Stockbridge Avenue Kalamazoo, MI 49001 Phone: (616)373-1985 (800)9DC-PROD dcpro!chetw@heifetz.msen.com Digital Arts 1321 North Walnut P.O. Box 5206 Bloomington, IN 47807-5206 Voice: (812)330-0124 Fax: (812)330-0126 BIX: msears Digital Castle 4046 Hubbell Ave. Suite 155 Des Moines, IA 50317-4434 Voice: (515) 266-5098 Sheep@netins.net Digital F/X, Inc. 1930 Maple, Suite 7 North Bend, OR 97459 Voice: (800) 202-3285 / (541) 756-6693 WWW: www.digital-fx.com DFX@Mail.coos.or.us Discount Computer Sales 1100 Sunset Strip #5 Sunrise, FL 33313 Voice: 954-797-9402 Fax: 954-797-2999 DCS@aii.net, DCS@interpoint.net Electronic Connection 635 Penn Ave West Reading, PA 19611 Phone: 610-372-1010 Fax: 610-378-0996 Hawkeye Communication 1324 Fifth Street Coralville, Iowa 52241 Voice: 319-354-3354 Hawkcom@inav.net HHH Enterprises Contact: Tom Harmon PO Box 10 Hartwood, VA 22471 Voice: (540) 752-2100 ko4ox@erols.com HT Electronics 211 Lathrop Way, Ste. A. Sacramento, CA 95815 V: (916) 925-0900 F: (916) 925-2829 BIX: msears HT Electronics 422 S. Hillview Dr. Milipitas, CA 95035 V: (408) 934-7700 F: (408) 934-7717 BIX: msears Industrial Video, Inc. Contact: John Gray 1601 North Ridge Rd. Lorain, OH 44055 Voice: 800-362-6150, 216-233-4000 af741@cleveland.freenet.edu Kipp Visual Systems 360-C Christopher Ave. Gaithersburg Md, 20878 Voice: 301-670-7906 kipp@rasputin.umd.edu Krulewich Enterprises 554 Vega Dr Corpus Christi, TX 78418 Voice: (512) 937-4624 1040.3444@compuserve.com The Lively Computer - Tom Lively 8314 Parkway Dr. La Mesa, CA 91942 Voice: 619-589-9455 Fax: 619-589-5230 tlively@connectnet.com Magic Page Contact: Patrick Smith 3043 Luther Street Winston-Salem, NC 27127 Voice/Fax: 910-785-3695 spiff@ix.netcom.com MicroSearch 9000 US 59 South, Suite 330 Houston, Texas Voice: 713-988-2818 Fax: 713-995-4994 MicroTech Solutions, Inc. 17W745 Butterfield Road, Suite F Oakbrook Terrace, IL 60181 Phone: 630-495-4069 Fax: 630-495-4245 WWW: www.mt-inc.com info@mt-inc.com Mr. Hardware Computers P.O. Box 148 / 59 Storey Ave. Central Islip, NY 11722 Voice: 516-234-8110 Fax: 516-234-8110 A.M.U.G. BBS: 516-234-6046 Multimedia Network Consultants Bellamah N.E. Albuquerque, New Mexico 87111 Voice: 505-292-3504 WWW: www.netcom.com/~hitscom hitscom@ix.netcom.com Paxtron Corporation 28 Grove Street Spring Valley, NY 10977 Voice: 914-576-6522 Orders: 800-815-3241 Fax: 914-624-3239 PSI Animations 17924 SW Pilkington Road Lake Oswego, OR 97035 Voice: 503-624-8185 PSIANIM@agora.rain.com Raymond Commodore Amiga 795 Raymond Avenue St. Paul, MN 55114-1521 Voice: 612-642-9890 Fax: 612-642-9891 BBS: 612-874-8342 WWW: www.visi.com/~raycomp raycomp@visi.com Safe Harbor Computers W226 N900 Eastmound Dr Waukesha, WI 53186 Orders: 800-544-6599 Fax: 414-548-8130 WWW: www.sharbor.com Slipped Disk 170 E 12 Mile Rd Madison Heights, Michigan 48071 Voice: (810) 546-DISK BBS: (810) 399-1292 Software Plus Chicago 2945 W Peterson Suite 209 Chicago, Illinois Voice: 312-878-7800 System Eyes Computer Store 730M Milford Rd Ste 345 Merrimack, NH 03054-4642 Voice: (603) 4244-1188 Fax: (603) 424-3939 j_sauter@systemeye.ultranet.com TJ's Unlimited P.O. Box #354 North Greece, NY 14515-0354 Voice: 716-225-5810 BBS: 716-225-8631 neil@rochgte.fidonet.org Zipperware 76 South Main St. Seattle, WA 98104 Voice: 206-223-1107 Fax: 206-223-9395 WWW: www.speakeasy.org/zipperware zipware@nwlink.com @endnode @node OPINION "Editorial and Opinion" @toc MENU =========================================================================== Editorial and Opinion =========================================================================== @{" compt.sys.editor.desk " link EDITORIAL} Keeping perspective... --------------------------------------------------------------------------- @{" News " link NEWS} @{" Opinion " link OPINION} @{" Articles " link FEATURE} @{" Reviews " link REVIEW} @{" Charts " link FTP} @{" Adverts " link COMMERCIAL} @endnode @node NEWS "News & Press Releases" @toc MENU =========================================================================== News & Press Releases =========================================================================== @{" Phase5 Expands PowerUP " link NEWS45} Now with A2000, 040/060+PPC A1200 cards! @{" PC-Task 4.2 Available " link NEWS5} PC emulation, now with FPU support @{" AHI Audio System R4 " link NEWS2} The AHI RTG Audio package @{" AHI Extra Utilities " link NEWS3} Support and third-party AHI utils @{" DirOpus 5 Magellan " link NEWS7} New enhancements over DirOpus 5.5 @{" Legacy and Deathbed " link NEWS55} The videomag to feature Haynie's documentary @{" Deathbed Vigil Returns " link NEWS18} IAM re-releases Haynie's documentary @{" Gateway at WOA Video " link NEWS11} Video for sale of Gateway's press conference @{" Australian Show Update " link NEWS50} The latest list of who's attending @{" ClickBOOM Conversions " link NEWS30} Check out ClickBOOM's Wish List! @{" Scientific Amigan " link NEWS37} Scientific Amigan is back! @{" AWeb-II V3.0 " link NEWS39} AWeb gets bigger and better @{" IPISA Call For Papers " link NEWS35} The November developer conference @{" Amiga Review Issue 4 " link NEWS31} MediaSoft announces Amiga Review #4 @{" Imagine 6 Announced " link NEWS38} Impulse continues the 3D development @{" Imagine 6 Feature List " link NEWS32} Imagine to get 060 and PowerPC support! @{" Personal Paint 7.1 " link NEWS46} New features and bonuses in free upgrade @{" www.amigainformer.com " link NEWS47} The Informer launches a new site @{" Opportunity w/Learning " link NEWS48} The educational publisher moves @{" Amiga Informer Changes " link NEWS49} Magazine expands, free distribution cut @{" System Test Utility V8 " link NEWS4} Hardware diagnostic software @{" CheckHTML V1.2 " link NEWS6} Verifies HTML 3.2 standards in documents @{" Games Master System .6 " link NEWS8} Latest version of the gamebuilding package @{" fMSX Amiga 1.4 " link NEWS9} Expanded MSX2 support in this version @{" BattleDuel 1.6.96 " link NEWS10} New version of the Artillery game @{" AAA Awards Release " link NEWS12} Vote for Amiga excellence @{" MCC-Install 43.8 " link NEWS13} Installer for MUI custom classes @{" MCCLib 12.1 " link NEWS14} Basis library for writing MUI custom classes @{" Visage 39.14 " link NEWS15} Picture viewer with emphasis on speed @{" HotListHandler 1.10 " link NEWS1} Share hotlists between browsers @{" F1GP-Editor 3.32 " link NEWS16} Newest version of Formula 1 editor @{" MidiTracker V1.1 " link NEWS17} MIDI sequencer with tracker paradigm @{" Eucalyptus V1 Alpha " link NEWS19} New e-mail reader for AmigaOS @{" Amiga Elm 10.12 " link NEWS20} AmigaOS port of the UNIX mailreader @{" SoundStage Pro " link NEWS21} New revision of pro audio board @{" Atlantis 1.1 " link NEWS22} Editor for 2-d block game maps @{" LotsaBlankers 1.01 " link NEWS23} Add-on/replacement for Garshneblanker @{" 6809e Emulator V1.01 " link NEWS24} Emulates the 6809e CPU @{" PEEK_POKE " link NEWS25} Bash around hardware from the shell @{" Same Difference 1.01 " link NEWS26} Compare and change two text files @{" SMT 2.31 " link NEWS27} Play samples from a MIDI (or Amiga) keyboard @{" Anarchy Software " link NEWS28} New Amiga development team announced @{" wfmhcybergfx_r3d.lib " link NEWS29} Support library for Real3D under CGX @{" VideoTurtle " link NEWS33} Take Amiga-style RGB signals to S-video @{"SViewNG PowerUP Modules " link NEWS34} SView-library to go PowerPC @{" McFiler 4.4 " link NEWS36} Track and catalog floppy files @{"GamaSoft Dealer Alliance" link NEWS40} Program for dealer product support @{"PPaint 7 PowerPC Library" link NEWS41} PPaint 7 can use PPC cards for blitting @{" DirOpus 5 Magellan " link NEWS42} GPSoft outlines the latest upgrade @{"AirMail Pro from Toysoft" link NEWS43} The e-mail reader with MUI or ClassAct @{"Amiga Industrial Council" link NEWS44} New non-profit grassroots outreach @{" Report from amicrawler " link NEWS51} Amiga browser market share data! @{" STFax 1.360 " link NEWS52} Shareware Amiga fax program @{" SBase4Pro Upgrade Deal " link NEWS53} New revision, upgrades for all users @{" Sagittarius Price Drop " link NEWS54} Vulcan distributor lowers prices --------------------------------------------------------------------------- @{" News " link NEWS} @{" Opinion " link OPINION} @{" Articles " link FEATURE} @{" Reviews " link REVIEW} @{" Charts " link FTP} @{" Adverts " link COMMERCIAL} @endnode @node FEATURE "Featured Articles" @toc MENU =========================================================================== Featured Articles =========================================================================== @{" World of Amiga UK Report " link FEATURE1} Luke Osbaldeston takes you through the show @{" CDTV Retrospective " link FEATURE2} More info on the machine's history --------------------------------------------------------------------------- @{" News " link NEWS} @{" Opinion " link OPINION} @{" Articles " link FEATURE} @{" Reviews " link REVIEW} @{" Charts " link FTP} @{" Adverts " link COMMERCIAL} @endnode @node REVIEW "Reviews" @toc MENU =========================================================================== Reviews =========================================================================== @{" AudioLab 16 " link REVIEW1} A first look at the "ImageFX of Audio" @{" Clarity 16 " link REVIEW2} Checking out the 16-bit sampler @{" Melody " link REVIEW3} The low-cost 16 bit DSP audio card @{" Insert104 " link REVIEW4} Cheap PC keyboard adapter @{" Topolino " link REVIEW5} Hook up serial mice to an Amiga @{" Emulation Rambler " link REVIEW6} NES, MasterGear, Atari 8-bit and more! --------------------------------------------------------------------------- @{" News " link NEWS} @{" Opinion " link OPINION} @{" Articles " link FEATURE} @{" Reviews " link REVIEW} @{" Charts " link FTP} @{" Adverts " link COMMERCIAL} @endnode @node FTP "Aminet Charts" @toc MENU =========================================================================== Aminet Charts =========================================================================== @{" 20-Apr-97 " link CHARTS1} @{" 01-Jun-97 " link CHARTS2} --------------------------------------------------------------------------- @{" News " link NEWS} @{" Opinion " link OPINION} @{" Articles " link FEATURE} @{" Reviews " link REVIEW} @{" Charts " link FTP} @{" Adverts " link COMMERCIAL} @endnode @node ABOUT "About AMIGA REPORT" @toc MENU =========================================================================== About AMIGA REPORT =========================================================================== @{" AR Staff " link STAFF} The Editors and writers @{" Writing Guidelines " link GUIDELINE} What you need to do to write for us @{" Copyright Information " link COPYRIGHT} The legal stuff --------------------------------------------------------------------------- @{" News " link NEWS} @{" Opinion " link OPINION} @{" Articles " link FEATURE} @{" Reviews " link REVIEW} @{" Charts " link FTP} @{" Adverts " link COMMERCIAL} @endnode @node STAFF "The Staff" @toc ABOUT =========================================================================== The Staff =========================================================================== Editor: @{" Jason Compton " link JASON} Assistant Editor: @{" Katherine Nelson " link KATIE} Games Editor: @{" Ken Anderson " link KEN} Contributing Editor: @{" William Near " link WILLIAM} Contributing Editor: @{" Bohus Blahut " link BOHUS} --------------------------------------------------------------------------- @{" News " link NEWS} @{" Opinion " link OPINION} @{" Articles " link FEATURE} @{" Reviews " link REVIEW} @{" Charts " link FTP} @{" Adverts " link COMMERCIAL} @endnode @node WHERE "Where to Get AR" @toc MENU =========================================================================== Where to Get AR =========================================================================== @{" The AR Mailing List " link MAILLIST} @{" Aminet " link AMINET} @{" World Wide Web " link WWW} @{" Distribution Sites " link BBS} @{" Commercial Services " link ZONE} --------------------------------------------------------------------------- @{" News " link NEWS} @{" Opinion " link OPINION} @{" Articles " link FEATURE} @{" Reviews " link REVIEW} @{" Charts " link FTP} @{" Adverts " link COMMERCIAL} @endnode @node BBS "Distribution Sites" @toc WHERE =========================================================================== Distribution BBSes =========================================================================== Arranged by Continent: @{" Asia " link BBS_ASIA} @{" Australasia " link BBS_AUSTRALASIA} @{" Europe " link BBS_EUROPE} @{" North America " link BBS_NAMERICA} @{" South America " link BBS_SAMERICA} Sysops: To have your name added, please send @{"Email", link JASON} with the BBS name, its location (Country, province/state) your name, any internet/fidonet addresses, and the phone number of your BBS --------------------------------------------------------------------------- @{" News " link NEWS} @{" Opinion " link OPINION} @{" Articles " link FEATURE} @{" Reviews " link REVIEW} @{" Charts " link FTP} @{" Adverts " link COMMERCIAL} @endnode @node DEALER "Dealer Directory" @toc MENU =========================================================================== Dealer Directory =========================================================================== Arranged by Continent: @{" Asia " link DEAL_ASIA} @{" Australasia " link DEAL_AUSTRALASIA} @{" Europe " link DEAL_EUROPE} @{" North America " link DEAL_NAMERICA} Dealers: To have your name added, please send @{"Email", link JASON} with the BBS name, its location (Country, province/state) your name, any internet/fidonet addresses, and the phone number of your dealership --------------------------------------------------------------------------- @{" News " link NEWS} @{" Opinion " link OPINION} @{" Articles " link FEATURE} @{" Reviews " link REVIEW} @{" Charts " link FTP} @{" Adverts " link COMMERCIAL} @endnode

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08/1997