Reader Mail

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==                             Reader Mail                               ==
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[Last issue, Robert Niles talked about scams in the Amiga used-hardware
marketplace.  It seems that he wasn't alone...]

From: carroll@milliways.jsc.nasa.gov (Carroll Moore)
Subject: Chasing the Demon

Well he's back!

Saw your article.  Wish I would have read it Thursday!

There is a user on the net going by the email address of
MAHZTER@delphi.com.  He's using the name of David Miller but his M.O.  is
the same and the address he gave me was:

2486 Lincoln Way East 76-107
Massiloon, Ohio 44646
216-683-7983

Taka was given the following information:

2316 Lincoln Way East
Massilon, OH 44657
216-683-7881  (notice the number? ;) )

I know of at least two other guys who were taken for cash.  This guy is
friendly and quite knowledgeable about Amiga's.  He won't take COD because
he claims he has had too many people send stuff back.  He also suggests
sending a Western Union wire right before hanging up to "help speed things
along!" I have contacted the Massiloon Police Department (216-830-1735) and
a detective Hendricks (216-830-1749) has been assigned the case.  I'm
suppose to call him back Monday morning around 9:00am.  The Feds will
probably be brought in.  I'll relay your article to Detective Hendricks on
Monday.

I've been leaving rather mild warnings in c.s.a.marketplace to discourage
new "marks" but I don`t want to scare this guy into closing up shop and
moving to another city before the police can find him.  If he does I think
we need to put out the "NET" looking for the clown to surface again and I'm
sure he will.  It would be nice to find any contacts in the Ohio area
around these two cities.  I'm going to look them up tonight on my atlas.

We have enough problems right now in the Amiga community without bastards
like this one.  I WANT TO PUT HIS ASS IN JAIL!!!

I would be more than happy to compile a list of victims for the police.  If
your newsletter would like to get the word out, I'll take information at
this e-mail address.

BTW: Someone sells CD's containing the directory listings for the entire
US.  If one of your readers has access to this information maybe they can
do a search on the phone numbers I've provided.

Carroll James Moore, Jr., B.S.E., E.I.T.
carroll%dp4@jesnic.jsc.nasa.gov

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From: Fredrik Lundin <flundin@algonet.se>
Subject: reader mail

Hello!
I would like to make a comment on this "Phoenix" deal.  First, the largest
portion of the Amiga market lie in Europe.  Most of us European's do not
speak English as our first language, "Phoenix" isn't a very easy word,
people will have trouble not only writing it, but maybe even pronouncing it
right.

2nd.  50 million other things already use this name !  Also, the
pronouncements in all countries will be different, "Amiga" is a basic word,
and most countries do not have a problem differing it from "Omega" like
some do..

Opel Omega
Opel Amiga.

BIG difference, maybe not for Englishmen and Americans?  For Germans and
Scandinavians etc.  it's not even close.  But how will 'Phoenix' be
handled in the different countries ?

A Swede could hear the word from a friend and then he might write it like
"Finix"...  and the PC-nerds in Sweden might call it for "f}n-ix", sort of
like "silly-ix".

Anyway, can't we just end this stupid "Phoenix" campaign now ?  It just
doesn't make any good sense, wow...  because some 'rise and return from the
ashes' nonsence ?  or what ?  I say...  bah!  :) Why not "The Amiga Vision
5000" just as well ?

Kind regards,
Fredrik

       Email: flundin@algonet.se    IRC-nick: HeadQuake

I would also like to say hello to Richie and Hobbe! hej hej. :)

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From: Alan Braggins <armb@setanta.demon.co.uk>
Subject: Re: Call To Arms: Rewrite the Amiga OS!

> ==  Call to Arms: Rewrite the Amiga OS!          By: Maarten Ter Mors  ==

> 1.3) THE WHEEL.
>
>  I don't know about you, but re-inventing wheels is not one of my
> favourite pastimes.  We should use as much existing material as possible 

Might it be easier to add features to Linux or NetBSD, than to try to
rewrite an entire existing OS, make significant enhancements to it (like
retargetable graphics, for the 64-bit graphics cards the "rest of the
world" are moving on to), catch up with improvements made to competing OSes
while you're doing it and then try to persuade application developers to
produce new versions to run on your new platforms?

A DEC Alpha running AmigaOS would be a great system to play with, but the
only things you could run on it would be stuff you have the source to, and
which doesn't make too many assumptions about word length etc.  (apart from
the stuff running under any 680x0 emulator that might be part of this
project).

DEC managed to move from VAX to Alpha, Sun from 680x0 to Sparc, HP from
680x0 to HP-PA, so it is possible, but none of those people had to reverse
engineer the existing OS, and working in assembly is more common on the
Amiga.  On the other hand, if someone doesn't succeed in buying Commodore
soon, rewriting the OS might be the only way we'll ever see a new version.

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[Eric Rainbolt provided a detailed tutorial on how to escape Amiga Beige
through marbelizing.  Yuri Tacher took him up on it...]

From: Yuri Tacher
Subject: Marble-ized Amiga

The aches and pains of marble-izing an AMiga 4000.  (And doubts and fears.
:)

Well, after reading the article in AR about marbleizing your Amiga I
decided I was sick of my ugly A4000 case and thought "why not?" I purchased
the Black Onyx kit after looking for it for almost a week.  I finally hit
upon an art supply house that had 2 kit's left (phew!) I bought one of them
for the grand total of $34 bucks.  Not bad I say.  With instruction manual
in hand, I proceded to sand my computers plastic parts (with a cloud of
friends telling me it wasnt going to work, and I'd have the UGLIEST amiga
in Mexico) Goood friends suporting me all the way :)

I decided to do my A4000, my 1960 monitor and the keyboard, so I took them
apart and washed them first, then started sanding the back panel on the
monitor first (not visible if I screwed up) Sanding in small square
patterns It took me all of 7 hours sand everything CAREFULLY.  Then I
decided my nerves where dead for the day, so I took a rest :)

The next day I decided now was the time to die (or end up with the coolest
amiga in Mexico :) And proceded to paint the plastic parts as per the
instructions which I might add, are pretty well written.  Over the next 2
days I aplied the base coat and let it dry.  A black A4000 is WAY cool!
but I wanted marble, so I went ahead with the process :).  Now, in AR and
in the kits manual, they say not to be too carefull when putting on the
veins, and thats true :) I was so nervous (after sanding the machine and
having it look nice, I just wanted to stoip there) But if you are nervous,
the veins come outgreat!

So, after 4 days, I put my now VERY cool looking Amiga back together, and
my fellow amigans are royally pissed off, because the kits finished, and
I am the only one that had the guts to do it, and now I'm the ONLY one
with a marble-Amiga :) And with NetBSD running, people think I have a NeXT
machine.  :) So, if you wanted to try out that little project, go ahead,
it loks GREAT!  :)

Yours truly, Yuri tacher AKA Genom on IRC

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