@database "ar409.guide" @Node MAIN "Amiga Report Online Magazine #4.09 -- June 30, 1996" =========================================================================== June 30, 1996 @{" Turn the Page " link MENU} Issue No. 4.09 =========================================================================== ,a c4%&; 1%%%b 9%=~ " m; mmmm; nmm mmmmm .,pmq,. m; j#6 ##6 j### ### ,#'~ ~`g, j#6 ##&; ##&; #### ### ,#f `# ##&; jP##6 ###6 jP### ### .##' " jP##6 #'$#&; #$#&; #'### ### i## #'$#&; jP l##6 #l##6 jP ### ### &## jP l##6 #' $#&; # $#&;#' ### ### &## #' $#&; j#mmmd##6 # l##6P ### ### ?## mmmw j#mmmd##6 #' $#&; # $##' ### ### ##; $#$ #' $#&; jP l##6 # l#P ### ### `#l ,&#'jP l##6 #' ###mm # $' mm###mm mm###mm `#q,.,p#' #' ###mm (R) "~^~" &&&&q, , ,P `b d' tm d' ,P d&&&P ;P .,d' ,c&&q, &&&&q, ,c&&q, q&,e&q ;P' d&&&P ;P' `& d' `b ;P' `b dP~ `P d' ;P'`&; dB&&&&P ;P ,P d' P ;P ;P d' `&; &, , d' .,d' &, .,d' d' d' , &&& &&'`&&&P' ;B&&&P' `&&&P' &&& `&P' d' ;P &&& "THE Online Source for Amiga Information!" Copyright 1996 FS Publications All Rights Reserved @endnode @node MENU "Amiga Report Main Menu" @toc MAIN Amiga Report 4.09 is sponsored in part by: @{" ClickBOOM " link AD1}, authors of the upcoming @{" Capital Punishment " link AD1}, and by @{" AmiTrix Development " link AD2}, publishers of the upcoming @{" AWeb-II " link AD2}. =========================================================================== == Main Menu == =========================================================================== @{" Editorial and Opinion " link OPINION} @{" Featured Articles " link FEATURE} @{" Reviews " link REVIEW} @{" News & Press Releases " link NEWS} @{" Aminet Charts " link FTP} @{" Reader Mail " link MAIL} --------------------------------- @{" About AMIGA REPORT " link ABOUT} @{" Dealer Directory " link DEALER} Contact Information and Copyrights Amiga Dealer Addresses and Numbers @{" Where to Get AR " link WHERE} @{" Advertisements " link COMMERCIAL} Mailing List & Distribution Sites Online Services, Dealers, Ordering ______________________________________________ // | | // ========//====| Amiga Report International Online Magazine |======//===== == \\// | Issue No. 4.09 June 30, 1996 | \\// == ==============| "THE Online Source for Amiga Information!" |============= |______________________________________________| @endnode @node JASON "Editor" @toc STAFF =========================================================================== EDITOR =========================================================================== Jason Compton ============= Internet Address -------- ------- jcompton@shell.portal.com 1203 Alexander Ave jcompton@xnet.com Streamwood, IL 60107-3003 USA Fax Phone --- ----- 847-741-0689 708-736-1286 @endnode @node KATIE "Assistant Editor" @toc STAFF =========================================================================== == ASSISTANT EDITOR == =========================================================================== Katherine Nelson ================ Internet -------- Kati@cup.portal.com @endnode @node KEN "Games Editor" @toc STAFF =========================================================================== == GAMES EDITOR == =========================================================================== Ken Anderson ============ Internet Address -------- ------- kend@dhp.com 44 Scotland Drive ka@protec.demon.co.uk Dunfermline Fife KY12 7TD Scotland @endnode @node WILLIAM "Contributing Editor" @toc STAFF =========================================================================== CONTRIBUTING EDITOR =========================================================================== William Near ============ Internet -------- wnear@epix.net @endnode @node ADDISON "Contributing Editor" @toc STAFF =========================================================================== CONTRIBUTING EDITOR =========================================================================== Addison Laurent =============== Internet -------- addison@jobe.shell.portal.com @endnode @node EDITORIAL "compt.sys.editor.desk" @toc OPINION =========================================================================== compt.sys.editor.desk By: @{" Jason Compton " link JASON} =========================================================================== I remember, a good year or so ago, there was a massive argument on Usenet over where Amigas should get big marketing pushes. As with just about anything on the Amiga, you can find people at all levels of the issue. Some favored an approach that favored large consumer stores. They're not exactly getting what they wanted, but it looks like the department stores and American mega-marts may be getting Amiga technology in them whether or not they like it or know about it. Emerson has signed with VIScorp to exclusively distribute and sell VIScorp's UITI set-top box, a variant of the ED technology. Emerson plans to use its strong sales channels to stores such as Wal-Mart and Target to mass-market the machine. So the fight's not over--unfortunately, there's no deal in place to put 4000Ts on the shelves of Wal-Mart yet, but this may act as a foot in the door for the technology. Time will tell. I'm heading off for a short vacation (I'll be back by July 9) so try not to break the place up too much while I'm gone. We should be seeing the close of the VIScorp/Escom deal soon, as Jost of Escom and Buck of VIScorp have agreed and signed to terms. Now their respective boards of directors have to concur, and we'll be off and running. July is supposed to be the slow period in computing but with Softwood making a big push for Final Writer 5 upgrades, the deal breaking, and NTSC A1200s starting to trickle in, things don't seem all that standstill. Of course, more is always better. Enjoy AR 4.09. See you in a couple of weeks. Jason @endnode @node COMMERCIAL "Commercial Products" @toc MENU =========================================================================== Commercial Products =========================================================================== @{" Capital Punishment " link AD1} The upcoming action game from ClickBOOM @{" AWeb-II " link AD2} The WWW Browser, coming from AmiTrix @{" Editor's Choice " link EDITORCHOICE} Jason's picks @{" Portal Information Systems " link PORTAL} A great place for Amiga users. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- @{" News " link NEWS} @{" Opinion " link OPINION} @{" Articles " link FEATURE} @{" Reviews " link REVIEW} @{" Charts " link FTP} @{" Adverts " link COMMERCIAL} @endnode @node AD1 "Capital Punishment Is Coming..." @toc MAIN THEY say: "Amiga games suck" THEY say: "Developers are gone" THEY say: "No more good games" THEY say: "Amiga is dead" ...well, WE say: F*@% THEM !!! ------------- We are clickBOOM - the angriest team in cyberspace We have developed an amazing combat epic for Amiga called Capital Punishment It is what players asked for: playable fluid fast realistic... And what they hoped for: violent wild engrossing adrenaline-pumping... And it's coming soon to blow your Amiga away! You'll engage in battle against warriors, ninjas, aliens, and an assortment of other fearsome opponents in some of the goriest fighting scenes ever seen in a video game. Amiga Computing - "Capital Punishment could take fighting games into the next millennium" Amiga Format - "Capital Punishment has been proclaimed as the ultimate video game". Amiga Report - "Capital Punishment is a very smooth and engrossing game" CU Amiga - "Frame rate is higher than any fighting game I've seen" Visit "clickBOOM" web page for more information; chance to win one of 5 free Capital Punishment games; and to download playable beta demos: http://www.io.org/~clkboom/amiga/ Internet e-mail: clkboom@io.org beware...Punishment is coming @endnode @node AD2 "AmiTrix Development, Publishers of AWeb-II" @toc COMMERCIAL =========================================================================== AmiTrix Development, 5312 - 47 Street, Beaumont, Alberta, T4X 1H9 Canada Phone/Fax:1+403-929-8459 Email:sales@amitrix.com www.networkx.com/amitrix =========================================================================== Direct Mail Order Price List June - 1996 ============================ (Prices subject to change without notice.) Product Description CAN $ US $ ------------------- ------- ------- AWeb-II (AWeb2.0/HTML-Heaven2.0 WWW Software) $ 55.00 $ 45.00 SCSI-TV HD controller for CDTV with 2.5" Drive Adapter $190.00 $149.00 SCSI-TV for CDTV, with-out Adapter $180.00 $142.00 SCSI-TV570 HD controller for A570 with 2.5" Adapter $200.00 $157.00 SCSI-TV570 for A570, with-out Adapter $190.00 $149.00 Amiga-Link/Envoy Starter Kit (2-unit), $270.00 $210.00 - the peer-to-peer network for external floppy port. - (also available as expander kit with extra cable) Amiga-Link/Envoy Expander Kit (1-unit) $175.00 $135.00 Amiga-Link Expansion Kit (1-unit) $135.00 $105.00 Amiga-Link Accecories: 2-way Floppy Port Splitter $ 39.00 $ 31.00 RG58 cable - 1m(3.5ft.) $ 10.00 $ 8.00 RG58 cable - 5m(16.5ft.) $ 13.00 $ 10.50 RG58 cable - 10m(33ft.) $ 17.50 $ 14.00 - (custom lengths available on request) Extra BNC-T connectors $ 4.50 $ 3.50 The P-Net Box, a ParNet Adapter $ 15.00 $ 12.00 AM33C93A-16PC SCSI controller for 3000/2091/HC+8 $ 26.00 $ 20.00 A3000 U202/U203 chip ram control PALs - each $ 15.00 $ 12.00 External Active SCSI Terminator - C50 male $ 29.75 $ 23.50 Internal Active SCSI Terminator - IDC50 male $ 19.00 $ 15.00 External Passive SCSI Terminator - C50 male/female $ 12.25 $ 9.75 External SCSI Drive Box - (Mini-Tower e/w: C50/Internal bus/C50 pass-thru) $145.00 $115.00 DIY Cable Kit (Internal) for Mini-T Ext. SCSI Box $ 30.00 $ 23.50 Hard Drives (Quantum, Micropolis) $ Call $ Call CD-ROM Drives (Sony, NEC) $ Call $ Call Anti-Static Mat (soft-20x24) & Wriststrap $ 34.00 $ 28.00 Anti-Static Wriststrap $ 8.00 $ 6.50 DB23 solder-type connector - male, female, or chrome hood - each $ 1.65 $ 1.25 Repair Services: ---------------- - A1200/4000 CIA replacements, General repairs $ Call $ Call - SMD equipment fixed charge $ 35.00 $ 28.00 - Labour rate per hour $ 35.00 $ 28.00 Shipping Costs: (most large boxed items) --------------- First Class Mail: within Canada $ 10.00 within USA $ 10.00 International $ 15.00 $ 12.00 Shipping: (for small bubble-packet items) $ 5.00 $ 5.00 Orders should include a Bank Draft/Money Order or Postal MO, payable to AmiTrix Development in CAN or US dollars. COD orders inside Canada only. Shipping costs may vary for quantity orders/alternative method of shipment. Canadian customers add 7% GST to all orders. =========================================================================== @endnode @node MAIL "Reader Mail" @toc MENU =========================================================================== Reader Mail =========================================================================== Date: 15 Jun 96 12:16:11 +1000 From: mingleby@netspace.net.au (Michael Ingleby) Subject: The winning edge??? Hi Jason, After reading the excellent articles by Kermit Woodall, Sergei Nester and Wolf Deitrich in AR4.08, I sat and pondered what the future holds for the Amiga... If things eventually come together the way they seem to be, then the future may be a bit brighter than many have realised. Faster CPUs, better graphics and 16 bit sound will finally bring the Amiga to a position where it can proudly stand shoulder-to-shoulder with today's hordes of wintel machines. As I sat and wondered, a thought entered my mind: "What will give the Amiga an extra 'edge' against the pee-cees?"... All pee-cees have good graphics, good sound, large hard drives, plenty of memory, serial, parallel, joystick ports... The Amiga has all of those (plus a superior OS), but what would give it an edge? Then I thought back to the Atari ST... A nice machine, but no match for the Amiga... But why did it last for so long without the great graphics and sound offered by the Amiga systems? The answer is simple: MIDI... I was the only low-cost machine (not counting the CDTV!) to come standard with MIDI IN and OUT ports... Not a single pee-cee came stanard with MIDI then, and the situation remains the same to this day... With this in mind, it seems to me that any future Amiga systems (I'm tending towards Phase-5's philosophy at this point) should come standard with MIDI ports. This would give it an advantage over any other systems I can think of. I know many people who would jump at the chance to by an Amiga-like machine with built-in MIDI. With the emphasis on Multimedia and Video Production, MIDI would complement the capabilities of the new Amigas in these fields. Look at how the Macs have taken over in the field of audio/MIDI production. Any future Amiga would have the power to trounce the Apple machines in this area. With software such as 'SoundStudio', 16 bit audio and MIDI, the Power Amigas would soon gain wide acceptance as the ultimate low-cost music-computer. I'm not sure if the inclusion of MIDI has been considered, but I believe that at this early stage of development, ALL new machines should be designed with MIDI ports as standard. The cost of the two 5 pin DIN sockets and the associated controlling hardware IS negligible, compared to the extra sales that would result form it's inclusion. Since you're the 'collator of ideas' at VIScorp, I thought I'd send these thoughts to you first. I hope you can pass them on to someone who will take note and not just pass them off as, "Not worth it". Because it certainly IS worth it... Believe me, this is a great opportunity to give the Amiga that extra 'somthing' that's missing from every pee-cee! Thanks for your time (as always!) And keep up the great work at VIScorp/Amiga Report! Mike --- --- --- --- --- Date: Tue, 18 Jun 1996 10:12:47 -0700 From: Nigel Milnes Subject: A Letter to the Editor! Hi Jason!!! Hi! Recently I was in need to upgrade my old Amiga 500 and I could only think of one thing--the Processor! So I set out to find a better and faster upgrade, and along the way I found out about the Motorola 68010 and how easy it was to fit in, so I decided to get one. After a most hardy search for this rare chip I came to the conclusion that there was only one place to get it, and so I rang the Australian distributors for Motorola (VSI). After a good chat with the StoreMan I discovered that they could not find a 68010 anywhere either! Then low and behold they blurted out that there was a MC68000 P12 (P12 = 12 Mhz). Well being a curious man as i am I ordered the minimum amount allowed of 5 at AU $14. When I recieved them in the post I instantly put one in the old 68000 P8 socket and low and behold my computer ran faster! Then I loaded up Sys Info and found No difference. The computer didnt realise that this chip was faster by 4 Mhz. Then I decided to use my beloved program Image FX and it ran faster as well! Then a friend told me that Motorola made some processors with MMU capacity (Memory Management Unit). Wow! What if this litle beauty had virtual memory! So i checked Image FX again and turned on its virtual memory prog. It worked and now i can get more out of this now old Dinosaur. My conclusion is that if you have a bog 1000,500,2000 with the old 68000 P8, change it Now. This new one is better in Speed and the new option of Virtual memory with No compatabitlity problems! Trust me it's good, and for a quarter of the price of a game who can resist! Yours Faithfully Nigel M Australia, Tasmaina @endnode @node OPINION1 "Forthcoming Amigas: Open Letter From France" @toc OPINION =========================================================================== Forthcoming Amigas: Open Letter From France =========================================================================== This is an open letter to whoever plans to build new Amigas. As for now the situation is totally unclear and seems more like a Dallas episode than everything else. As of Today, we know that AT is ready to build PPC Amigas, Phase5 is building its own prototype, MacroSystems is known to think hard about it, and Pios will build PPC Amigas. This should be what all Amiga owner wanted, as everybody seems to like PPC Amiga. Major problem however is that those companies will build also new operating system for their amiga. Their amiga, and not for the other companies' PPC Amigas. I'm speaking as for now for the largest part of the French Amiga Community,both Net users, BBS users and friends. Chances are that all Amiga users althrough the world feel the same way as we do. What we want is a SINGLE operating system. We don't want to buy in a near future a PPC Amiga from Viscorp and find out that it is not compatible on the software level with Phase5's Amiga, which in turn is not compatible with PIOS's Amiga. What we want is some sort of cooperation between those companies, as little as possible if they want it, but cooperation anyway, for both software and hardware. We want a portable operating system, which can run on either systems and we want add-ons which will work on either systems. Perhaps this letter has no reason to exist, perhaps there's already strong cooperation between companies, but rumors, lack of information, and even companies official talks, tend to proove this kind of letter is necessary. Feel free to proove us we're wrong. Co-signed: Users, IRC, BBS, Usenet fr.comp.sys.amiga, RTC: Philippe Brand,Jean Luc Sorrel,Samuel Devulder,Stephane Haytaian,Frank Prevot Laurent Giroud,Laurent Caillat-Vallet,Vincent Oneto,Sylvain Rougier,Yann Serra Yann Moreaux,Philippe Thomas,Tardif Hugues,Laurent Rochetta,Thomas Thery Franck Chevalier,Guillaume Bozon,Yohann Auriau,Thomas Cuzin Rambaut Thomas Mangin,Sebastien Provost,Sven Luther,Laurent Delayen,Jerome Zago Alban Brument,Franck Aniere,Gwenael Tranvouez,Yann-Erick Proy Alexandre Gevers,Nikita De Heering,Christopher Potter,Corinne Villemin-Gacon Jean-Alexis Montignies,Pierre Cadeot,Michael Bruyere,Rolf Diensten Patrice Pappalardo,Frederic Poels,Francois Billard,Yannick Perret Nicolas Maillet,Nicolas Pomarede,Mathieu Gardere,Gilles Masson Jean-Philippe Metz,Jerome Jantzen,Francis Mouthaud,Sebastien Greau Arnaud Dury,Christelle Gabin,Olivier Biffaud,Yves Libercier,David Presle Olivier Fabre,Emmanuel Barriera,Georges Merlino,Jean-Francois Pik Sebasien Godbille,Lionel Menou,Laurent Thouy,Patrice Cornillon Christophe Laino,Eric Menou,Guillaume Proux,Frederic Mossmann,Jerome Lovy Jerome Chesnot,Nicolas Gelenne,Benoit Planquelle,Alexandre Granvaud Michel Franquenk,Laurent Angeli,Loic Le Texier,Claude Dehais,Vincent Ardiet Frederic Helly,Franck Gimond,Thierry Martinez,Yohann Courtois,Emmanuel Letondor Sylvain Martinez,Hakim Ramdane,David Kaminski,Yvan Le Texier,Hadrien Nilsson Yan Pujante,Laurent Peron, Frederic Planche Etienne Schneider,Jean-Christophe Pottier,Frederic Botton Stephane Gaubert,Regis Rampnoux,Ludovic Robinot,Olivier Lahaye,Frank Geider Alexandre Del Bigio,Frederic Leconte,Stelian Pop,Jerome Souquieres Regis Levie,Rodrigo Reyes,Philippe Lespinasse,Georges Goncalves,Eric Levesque, Florent Monteilhet,Christophe Labouisse,Stephane Legrand,Jean-Marc Xiume Nicolas Pernoud,Stephane Desneux,Philippe Bastiani,Florent Brun,Cedric Souchon Philippe Fabry,Luc Gibert,Remi Perrot,Michel Julien,Fabrice Sabatier Gilbert Helbecque,Alain Chofardet,Denis Bernard,Christian Herblot Stephane Bunel,Jean-Claude Dang,Simon Gris,Laurent Desarmes,Alain Petit Otmar Bender,David Molinier,Philippe Carpinelli,Dominique Douteaux,Michel Donat Olivier Brosse,Pascal Roch,Christophe Le Roch,Gael Martinez,Ludovic Brevilet Emmanuel Vacher,Arnaud Meurgues,Patrice Orio,Eric Totel,Jean-Yves Catella David Dudziak,Denis Ribayrol,Olivier Aubert,Olivier Jeannet,Patrick Castel Gilles Morain,Emmanuel Doguet,Thibault Carrier,Aymeric Vague,Cyrille Thieullet Xavier Billault,Laurent Jean-Rigaud,Nicolas Dehaine,Christophe Lize Christophe Herubel,Jean-Pierre Riviere,Frederic Dalesme,Paul Redondo Kersten Emmrich,Fabrice Hulen,Marc Ferrari,Jacques Pereira Jean Francois Bouderlique,Guillaume Laurent,Wilfried Dupeyroux,Loic Devaux Jean-Bernard Corazzi,Jerome Fleury,Denis Gounelle,Eric Gerard,Pascal Belaubre Eric Giguere,Olivier Collard,Jean-Philippe Gadenne,Stephane Anquetil P Lefrancois,Denis Galiana,Vincent Morenas,Laurent Gely,Guillaume Girard Eric Delord,Herve Sonneville,Philippe Bastiani,Georges Segel,Philippe Rousseaux Francois Lemarchand,Laurent Desarmes,Regis Levie,Pierre Delisle Fabrice Hulen,Jean-Luc Manchon,Bruno Rohee,Daniel Mercier,Frank Atikossi,.... and a few thousands more, all members of french amiga community. French Companies/Newspapers/User Associations: Ailpe Informatique, Anews, Dream, Gelain, Amie, Corvette Production Frontieres Informatique, Ramses Diffusion @endnode @node OPINION2 "Open Letter to Amiga Enthusiasts" @toc OPINION =========================================================================== Open Letter to Amiga Enthusiasts Cleveland Area Amgia Users Group =========================================================================== Cleveland Area Amiga Users Group 18813 Harlan Dr. Maple Hts., Ohio 44137-2239 VIScorp 111 North Canal Street, Suite 933 Chicago, IL 60606 Subject: An Open letter to all Amiga Enthusiasts. To the Managers and Amigans at VIScorp, and Amiga User Every where, We the members of The Cleveland Area Amiga Users Group, are interested in the plans of VIScorp for the Amiga. We have pledged support to the Amiga and have expressed that support by in vesting money and time in our machines. We still find the Amiga our choice of computer and look forward to the next generation of Amiga computers. The PowerAmiga is an example of a new generation that we would definitely be interested in purchasing. Many professionals and enthusiasts make up our group. Two (and perhaps more ) are well known in the Amiga community. We all have an interest in seeing the Amiga continue and would support any company endeavour to continue producing the machines we love. In fact we are willing to offer our time in anyway that would be helpful to you and your efforts to create the next generation as well as update current soft-and-hardware. We will share our next Journal, the Amiga-GURU that we have published for over ten years. In fact, last February was the tenth anniversary of our User Group. We look forward to hearing about your plans for the future of the Amiga and hope that you include user groups, such as ours, in those plans. Our offer to help is no ploy; it is a serious commitment to con tinuing the only computer that created a community of users rather than just purchasers. We hope that other User Groups and you will join with us in renewing our community through a new generation of commitment, cooperation and soft/hardware. Membership of The Cleveland Area Amiga Users Group Peter Babula George Woodworth Joanne Bandlow Ed Marconi Dan French Larry Keller Bob Tracy Frank Augustine Steven Yee George Pirkel Tony Botta James Boros Douglas Lehnhart Jeffery Burford Paul Marinchick Frank Purdy John Welch Bill Strack Steve Roberts Mike Kramer Carl Hartman Sally Caskey John Rozack Arthur Luecke James Marras Phyllis Edberg Dale Barnett Doug Blakeley David Hare Al Gudenas James Wessel Carl Skala Julia Grauel Ken Gessford Sanford Lebovitz Clifford Holt Alexander Rivera Christopher Simmons Wayne Draznin Calvin Simmons Art Rossi Jim Wohl Mike Rozack Philip Stelmashuk Edith Goldstein Chuck Miller Mark Schweter @endnode @node OPINION3 "View From Belgium" @toc OPINION =========================================================================== View From Belgium Alexandre Thilmany visiteur@potaulait.be =========================================================================== My name is Alexandre from Belgium. I'm a young analyst programmer of 23 and, you guess it, a 'still' lover of the amiga. Sorry for my english. I don't actually have a personnal address mail. You may answer me at this (temporary) address for any reason : "visiteur@potaulait.be" If you answer me, please put my name in the "Subject" I will try to make this mail as short as i can without forgeting my point of view. I think i know the computers market enough to have good ideas about the future of the amiga. The reason why i do so much is because, in a few days, i'll start an independent job based on interactive box, i hope to have a contract in a near future to really start. Actually, i use an amiga with Scala, but, it's at its limit. I want and really want to do all on amiga, but now, becoming a pro, i need the best, and i can't forget the PC or the Mac. So, with my knowledge of programmer, my passion for the whole computer market and my new activity in the 'multimedia' (i don't like this word ...) i think that what follows is or are good ideas to take in consideration. Let's speak technicals ... The PPC first. Enough people spent too much time on this project, it's the best choice and we don't have the time to choose another processor. But, after the integration of the PPC, the Amiga OS should be portable on other processors (Alpha and Intel, yes). CHRP : Common Hardware Reference Platform. The new amiga must be CHRP, and the new Amiga OS must run on a CHRP machine. And what about the originality of the new Amiga : - The worst is a PCI card containing the Amiga Custom Chipset (ACC), and the Amiga OS can use them and the softwares can also use them. There's just the problem that i don't want to see other OS to be able to use the ACC. Only workbench can. But it's not a good idea because where is the amiga if it's only a Power Mac (or any CHRP machine) with a card ? No the new amiga must have its ACC on the CHRP 'motherboard'. The Amiga OS should come in two version. A binary version for CHRP machine and one other for Power Amiga (CHRP + ACC). Of course, when you have a Power Amiga, you can run the two version of the Amiga OS and you can run any OS for Power XXX. In this way, it's thinkable to make a PCI card for the rest of the market containing ACC ? Our strength will still be in the Workbench which is able to use the ACC the best possible. The ACC should be a chipset that you can activate or deactivate, a second layer after the CHRP. But i don't have enough technicals skills to adventure there. What about the ACC. The ACC must be easily upgradable (change a chipset with a new version). I think we need there a 68020, a DSP (MPEG 2), a 3D processor (look at the Power VR from england), and plenty of little specialized chipsets. About the sound : 16 or 32 channels in 16 bits, maybe include facilities for the new special effects (THX, Dolby), i don't know very well this domain. Also, an idea is to develop a kind of a ROM disk of a minimum of 2 or 4 Megs (EEEPROM), removable and replacable with more. There, the user can put his most used softwares. We need such innovations if we want to have a 'really' better machine. A few words about the rest of the hardware needed : i want TV (input, output) and a good relation with the video market. A microphone. I also think about ISDN and network card integrated, but you also need not to put too much to allow other companies to develop peripherals. Why CHRP is so needed ? Everybody play with their computer. Actually, games on amiga are, sorry, very limited. And why ? Because the raw power of the amiga is ridiculous. But, so, why CHRP. A new dimension in the game domain has started since the begining of 96. There are the online games. Just one example. A young guy want to buy a computer. Power Amiga is the best in capacities (let's hope), BUT, the Power Amiga is not CHRP, and as the Power Amiga is not spread in the world as the PC or Power XX, this guy will never have the opportunity to play online games which i think will become an huge market in the next years. I think the major parts of the online games will be developped on PPC, but never on the little amiga market. So, this reason is quite sufficient to go on PPC and to accept the CHRP and not to come back on the question any more. Well, i hope this mail will be useful. I hope for reactions. Spread these ideas if you agree with me, and sign your name at the bottom of the mail and send it again to who you want. Alexandre Thilmany (Belgium) "visiteur@potaulait.be" (temporary address, sorry) @endnode @node NEWS15 "VIScorp Values the Amiga--A Letter" @toc NEWS Chicago, IL USA June 19, 1996 VISCORP VALUES THE AMIGA System Improvements In the months ahead, VIScorp will be making substantial improvements to the Amiga system architecture, including both the hardware design and the operating system software. These advanced new systems will be developed not only for our upcoming Set Top Boxes, but also for future Amiga Desk Top Computers. VIScorp is investing considerable resources into engineering these improvements. One of the primary objectives of VIScorp's business plan is to develop, manufacture, market, and sell Amiga Desk Top Computer Systems. Architecture Group Many of the above improvements require an in-depth knowledge of specialty markets and technologies. Because of this, VIScorp made the decision in May 1996 to form an Architectural Design Group consisting of a small number of highly qualified Amiga experts. While this group is still in its early formation stage, we intend it to oversee and resolve the numerous suggestions and enhancements that must be addressed for the long term success of the Amiga. Technology Licenses As stated above, VIScorp will research and develop valuable enhancements to the architecture and technology of the Amiga, resulting in a wide range of next generation, price competitive computer products. There are, however, situations in which it makes sense for VIScorp to license Amiga related technology to qualified companies whose business objectives are consistent with VIScorp's long range plan. Such agreements may include binary, ROM, and documentation licenses for the distribution of Amiga OS upgrades, hardware and software system licenses for specialty markets, and possibly source code co-development licenses to help expand the Amiga and its feature set into the next decade. Property Rights Infringement It has come to our attention that several companies plan to build their own "compatible" or "extended" versions of the Amiga without obtaining the proper licensing from VIScorp. These companies will be placing themselves at legal risk, because their systems will undoubtedly infringe on Amiga intellectual property rights, including copyrights, patents, and trade secrets. In addition, we have recently become aware that versions of the Amiga System ROMs are being reproduced and distributed without proper licensing. This is a violation of international copyright law, and VIScorp will prosecute offenders to the full extent of the law. Realize that VIScorp is purchasing Amiga Technologies at great expense for ownership of precisely the above property rights and considers them a fundamental asset of the company. As such, VIScorp intends to aggressively defend its position as the owner of the Amiga and its related technologies. Companies that choose to violate the law are well advised to consider the easier and less costly path of obtaining a license. _______________________________________________________________ If you have important comments regarding the above statement, please send us email, using a subject line of "We Value Amiga". Your mail will be read carefully, but please realize that we cannot directly respond to all mail. E-mail should be directed to carl@sassenrath.com. @endnode @node NEWS16 "Escom Finalizes Agreement with VIScorp" @toc NEWS Bochum/Heppenheim/Chicago June 24, 1996 ESCOM AG Finalizes Agreement to Sell Amiga Technologies GmbH To VIScorp ESCOM AG and Visual Information Service Corp. (NASDAQ: VICP, Bulletin Board) announced they have now signed the final agreement about the acquisition of Amiga Technologies GmbH by VIScorp, subject to approval by their boards. According to the agreement, the entire staff and property of ESCOM subsidiary Amiga Technologies GmbH will pass into the possession of VIScorp. This includes all existing components and finished goods inventory of Amiga and the intellectual properties of the former Commodore group, excepted Commodore trademarks. The purchase price is approximately US $40 million in stock and cash. VIScorp's products, the Universal Internet-Television Interface(R) (UITI(R)), the Electronic Device(R) (ED(R)), the UITI(R)-TV and the ED(R)-TV (smart television set systems), are powered by Amiga custom chip-sets and the Amiga operating system, and offer a means by which TV viewers can bridge the separate worlds of television, computing and telecommunications. VIScorp states that Amiga Technologies GmbH will continue to coordinate the production and distribution of Amiga computers at its headquarters in Bensheim, Germany. Additional information on VIScorp and its technologies is available through its Web site at www.vistv.com. If you have important comments regarding the above statement, please send us email, using a subject line of "We Value Amiga". Your mail will be read carefully, but please realize that we cannot directly respond to all mail. E-mail should be directed to fradulovic@aol.com. Product names mentioned herein may be trademarks and/or registered trademarks of their respective companies. @endnode @node NEWS17 "VIScorp and Emerson Radio Sign Distribution Agreement" @toc NEWS FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Chicago, IL June 27, 1996 VISCORP AND EMERSON RADIO CORP. SIGN LETTER OF INTENT FOR EXCLUSIVE DISTRIBUTION BY EMERSON RADIO OF INTERACTIVE SET-TOP DEVICE AND "SMART" TV Visual Information Service Corp. (NASDAQ: VICP, Bulletin Board) ("VIScorp") and Emerson Radio Corp. (AMEX:MSN), announced today that they have entered into a letter of intent granting Emerson the North and South American exclusive distribution and sales rights to VIScorp's interactive Internet television set-top device, the Universal Internet-Television Interface(R) (UITI(R)), and the UITI(R)-TV interactive "smart" television set. Terms have not been disclosed, pending a definitive agreement. However, pursuant to the letter of intent, VIScorp would be granted warrants to purchase up to a maximum of one million shares of Emerson common stock at an exercise price of $6 per share. "The UITI(R) provides new and exciting entertainment, information and telecommunications capabilities using any standard television set, including easy access to the Internet, World Wide Web and on-line services,"" said William Buck, Chief Executive Officer of VIScorp. "The Emerson Radio branded set-top device will dramatically expand the capabilities of the family TV set by providing TV viewers a host of services like e-mail, on-line chat and Net surfing that have, until now, been available only to those who own personal computers. "The UITI(R) is more than a network computer (NC) as it turns the TV set into a sophisticated communications center, offering an on-screen menu, a speaker phone, the ability to send and receive fax messages, on-screen caller identification (Caller ID) where available, calendar, telephone and address storage, and other services. In addition, it comes with a series of "in-ROM" interactive multimedia games so that it provides greater value to the whole family," Mr. Buck continued. VIScorp explains that the UITI(R) runs on an enhanced Amiga+ operating system which, VIScorp says, is internationally recognized as one of the finest multitasking multimedia systems, as well as one of the most cost effective systems. The UITI(R) comes equipped with a built-in modem; includes special fonts and graphics so that networked text, data and images can easily be read at normal viewing distance; contains random access memory (RAM) to enable users to download text, messages and other information; and, comes with a sleek, easy-to-use remote control with an imbedded keyboard for convenient information input. "We are extremely excited about the prospect of our product carrying the Emerson Radio name," said Mr. Buck. "Emerson is an internationally recognized leader in consumer electronics, with a reputation for quality and value." Eugene I. Davis, President of Emerson, stated: "We are very optimistic about the inclusion of UITI(R) technology into our product mix going forward. We believe that convergence products will be a major emphasis in the consumer electronics business over the next several years and we believe that Emerson will be a value product to the mass market in this area. We believe the Emerson Radio brand name, which is recognized as one of the top brands in consumer electronics, will help drive not only the Internet-television interface products, but also the second and third generation units which VIScorp has already demonstrated to us. We are currently a major supplier to some of the largest retailers in the U.S., such as Wal-Mart, Target and Kmart and believe these retailers will be looking forward to getting into interactive TV products with the Emerson Radio brand name, a brand name that has always sold well in their stores." For more information on Emerson Radio Corp. and its products, interested persons may contact Eugene I. Davis, President, at (201)428-2000, or Adam Friedman at KCSA Public and Investor Relations at (212)682-6300, ext.215. Product names mentioned herein may be trademarks and/or registered trademarks of their respective companies. Contact: Florine Radulovic, Director of Communications, VIScorp @endnode @node NEWS18 "Amiga-Link and SCSI-TV Price Drops" @toc NEWS ======================================================================= AmiTrix PRESS RELEASE June 20, 1996 ======================================================================= Amiga-Link & SCSI-TV products get another Price Reduction --------------------------------------------------------- AmiTrix Development announced today that they have reduced the prices for their Amiga-Link/Envoy networking package for the external floppy port, and also their SCSI-TV & SCSI-TV570 hard drive controllers for the CDTV and A570 CD-ROM units. Amiga-Link is a complete solution to your Amiga peer-to-peer networking needs. With the included software and hardware, you can share your hard drives, printers, and also run other network applications as well. The package is compatible with all Amigas, using the external floppy port for maximum compatibility across all models, while keeping the rest of the ports available for their intended uses. The Amiga-Link package comes with both the standard AmigaLink software and also the Amiga Envoy software from IAM. The Amigalink software's advantage is that it works with Amiga WB 1.3, providing compatibility with older machines. Amiga Envoy requires 2.04 or higher, but provides superior reliability, device sharing, and an API that allows for the development of third-party networking applications, with many of these already available on AmiNet. The new MSRP for the 2-unit Starter Kit is $210.00 US or $270.00 CAN. This represents a $65US/$80CAN reduction in the price of the basic package, with corresponding savings on the expansion kits. Floppy port splitters, cable options and accesories are also available. SCSI-TV is an autobooting 2091 compatible DMA SCSI controller which plugs into the expansion port at the back of CDTV and A570 CD-ROM units. Matching coloured steel case for both applications, with external DB-25 connector and optional 2.5" adapter for internal drive mounting. Both include HDToolBox and a printed manual with detailed instructions, and use the latest AMD-33C93A SCSI chip running at 14MHz. SCSI-TV & SCSI-TV570 prices have been reduced by from $10-$20 depending on configuration. See our add in this issue of Amiga Report for a more complete listing of products and prices, or check our web page at the address below for the latest information. Dealer and Educational Institution inquiries welcomed. For more information or ordering AmiTrix products, contact us at: AmiTrix Development, 5312 - 47 Street, Beaumont, Alberta, T4X 1H9 Canada Phone or Fax: 1+ 403-929-8459 (Please leave your mailing address on phone messages when requesting information, or contact us via email at the addresses shown below.) Email: sales@amitrix.com or: support@amitrix.com http://www.networkx.com/amitrix/index.html @endnode @node NEWS1 "EMC 'Phase' CDs" @toc NEWS *** NEWSFLASH FROM E.M.COMPUTERGRAPHIC *** Following a staggering level of interest from American, Canadian and South American customers, we are now pleased to announce that the multi award winning range of "Phase" CDs from E.M.Computergraphic are now available directly from our newly appointed US distributors... Computer Safari. Computer Safari will be handling ALL American based sales and distribution of the EMC CDs, and also controlling the new EMC web site at... http://www.woodland.net/EMC Computer Safari have set the US retail price for the EMC CDs as follows... EMC Phase 1... $39.99 + shipping (for DTP/DTV) EMC Phase 2... $39.99 + shipping (for DTP/DTV) EMC Phase 3... $39.99 + shipping (for DTP/DTV) EMC Phase 4... $59.99 + shipping (for ScalaMM/DTV) EMC Index... $24.99 + shipping (time saving/utility) Computer Safari accept all major credit cards and can arrange cash on delivery (US only) if required. You can contact Computer Safari at... Suite K, Tel: 916 661 3328 353 West Main Street, Fax: 916 666 1813 Woodland. Email: safari@woodland.net CA 95695 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- For full EMC CD information you can FTP to your local Aminet site and download docs/hyper/EMCsCD_Guide.lha for our custom Amigaguide file containing full details of our CDs including... 1. Complete contents listings for each CD. 2. Full ordering details, prices and contact addresses. 3. Details of the magazine reviews that each CD has received. 4. Details of the customer feedback that each CD has received. 5. Details of our other CDs along with details of our next CD releases. @endnode @node NEWS2 "Amiga Computing Greek Edition" @toc NEWS P R E S S R E L E A S E ------------------------- (Deltagraph Ltd., 1 Chlois & Diogenous str., Metamorfosi Attikis 144 52, GREECE) "AMIGA COMPUTING" GREEK EDITION, Stephanos C. Siopoulos, Editor-in-Chief Dear Sirs, Concerning the release of the Greek edition of "Amiga Computing" Magazine --------------------------------------------------------------------------- As Editor-in-Chief, I would like to inform AR as well as the international Amiga community, on matters concerning the release of the first Amiga-only magazine to appear in the Greek computer press for over 4 years. It is a publication already well known in the European and American Amiga press: "AMIGA COMPUTING". So, after successful negotiations with the IDG Media Group, Deltagraph Ltd., a Greek publishing company specialising in computer-related magazines (already publisher of "User", "Multimedia World/ Greek Edition" and "GamePro/Greek Edition") are proud to announce that a deal has been made for publishing a Greek edition of the successful "AMIGA COMPUTING" magazine, and issue 1 (July'96) is already out. The decision for the publication of an Amiga-related magazine in Greece was made after careful consideration and study of factors and circumstances contributing to the revitalisation and re-organisation of the Amiga markets throughout Europe and -especially- Greece at this given time-frame. Thus, this decision and all the subsequent moves leading to the creation and organisation of a competent team of editors, translators and Amiga experts who will cooperate in order to make the aforementioned magazine a reality, should be seen in the right perspective as an indication of an overall attempt made by several interested parties whose common objectives are : (a) the revitalisation of the Amiga market in Greece, (b) the promotion of the existing and -more importantly- future Amiga models (either from AT/Viscorp or 3rd parties, eg. phase5, PIOS, Eagle, etc) and (c) the support of the end-users. Given the above, "AMIGA COMPUTING/Greek Edition" will closely co-operate with all Amiga-related companies or organisations in Greece (e.g. "Greek Amiga Club", "DIONIC SA" and "ACROPOLIS NETWORK" among others) for the implementation of a proper method and practice of Amiga support and promotion in this country. Awaiting the comments, wishes and -of course- the "press releases" and announcements of Amiga-related developers and organizations, Sincerely Yours, Stephanos C. Siopoulos, Editor-In-Chief of "Amiga Computing"/Greek Edition. (e-mail: ssiop@acropolis.gr) NOTE: "AmigaComputing/Greek Edition" e-mail address is: acgr@acropolis.gr [VALID from July 1996] We also hope that by mid-July '96 "AC/Greek Edition" will also be "on-line" soon at the following URL: http://www.acropolis.net/acgr) @endnode @node NEWS3 "Instant CGFX" @toc NEWS INSTANT-CGFX ------------ Call For Participation: The CyberGraphics ScreenMode Definition Library ----------------------------------------------- Most CybgerGraphics users spend hours in generating usable screenmodes for their monitor and often new CGFX users ask if someone can send them a screenmode definiton file. Motivated by other cybergraphics users I'm trying to build up a library containing screenmode definition files. If *YOU* want to help building up the library then please follow the steps below and upload your definition file. If there is enough response to my call I make the archive public available via FTP/WWW. (Please note that I have _NO_ commercial intention regarding the library!) -------------------------------------------------------------------------- - Create a LHA-archive containing your screen-mode definition file. (To find out the name of your current definition file, use the command "type ENV:Cybergraphics/*Monitor". The output will look like "Monitor-57KHz". This file can be found in the subdirectory in your "ENV:Cybergraphics" directory. For a CyberVision card this would look like "ENV:Cybergraphics/CyberVision/Monitor-57KHz". Simply add this file to the LHA-archive.) Important: DO NOT ADD the monitorfile itself, but only the definition file. - Choose an approriate name for your archive (and readme) that reflects the brand and type of your monitor, eg. "nec4fg.lha"/"nec4fg.readme" or "philips15b.lha"/"philips15b.readme" (Only one file per archive!) - Create a .readme file with the following layout: Monitor: Bandwidth: H-Freq: V-Freq: Card: Modes: Uploader <_your_ email-address and name, in case of questions> (check 'CVMode' for bandwidth, h-freq, v-freq and mode values!) Here is an example (for my monitorfile): Monitor: NEC MultiSync 4FG Bandwith: 75MHz H-Freq: 27-57kHz V-Freq: 50-90Hz Card: Cybervision 64 Memory: 4MB Modes: 256: 320x240, 640x256, 640x480, 640x512, 768x680, 800x600 912x708, 1024x768, 1120x900, 1280x1024, 1600x1200 64k: 320x240, 640x480, 800x600, 912x708, 1024x768, 1120x900 16M: 320x240, 640x480, 800x600, 912x708, 1024x768, 1104x800 Uploader: sfx@unix-ag.uni-siegen.de (Lars Eilebrecht) - Upload both files into the "/incoming" directory of the ftp-server "ftp.unix-ag.uni-siegen.de". - and last but not least, send a mail to "sfx@unix-ag.uni-siegen.de" including the name of your upload! (Please use "CGFX: " as the subject of your mail!) -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Spend 5 minutes of your time and help new CGFX users to save 5 hours... If you have any questions or comments, please respond to Lars Eilebrecht (sfx@unix-ag.uni-siegen.de). @endnode @node NEWS4 "F1 Shareware" @toc NEWS V2.02 June 21st 1996 Dear Shareware author, This is the FOURTH draft in as many days of the proposed F1 Shareware scheme. There are quite a few changes from V2 so please read it carefully. I have had some good ideas and suggestions and below we now have a simple, but effective plan for the operation of the scheme. It is very similar to other schemes on the PC, probably because it is the best way to do it? However, we are still open to suggestions, but you will need to be quick as I think we can get this easier scheme up and running quite quickly. Comments to: F1 Software 31, Wellington Road, Exeter, Devon. EX2-9DU. England. E-Mail: steve@f1LW.demon.co.uk Phone: (UK)01392-493580 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- The F1 Shareware Scheme YOU HAVE NOTHING TO LOSE BY READING THIS TEXT, IT IS NOT A GIMMICK, IT IS A SERIOUS BUSINESS PROPOSITION OPEN TO ALL SHAREWARE AUTHORS AND BEST OF ALL, IT WON'T COST YOU ANY MONEY, IN FACT IT WILL MAKE YOU MONEY. PLEASE NOTE: This scheme is set up mainly for Amiga Shareware, but there is no reason we cannot accept PC software too. At present we do not own other systems (Mac, Unix etc.) so we cannot evaluate the software and therefore we must restrict ourselves to Amiga and PC only. PC authors, obviously references to the Amiga press and distributors are not valid for the PC, YET. So what are we trying to achieve here? We are trying to create a scheme that will benefit: i) Shareware programmers (To enhance your sales and consumer awareness of your product. Also to help you make some money and therefore keep on developing quality software.) ii) Shareware customers (where they can register Shareware conveniently and without any worries about money or receiving their goods,) iii) F1 Shareware (i.e. create a useful service and make a few bob) iiii)Enhance the Shareware image in general as we believe the future of decent Amiga software will be just Licenceware and Shareware and we intend to be there, big time. If you think any part of this scheme is unfair or crap or just a bad idea then don't go around slagging it off, let me know and I will do my best to fix it. It is important that programmers and customers are happy with the running of the scheme, as this alone will ensure its success. General concept --------------- The original concept drawn up in the beta version of this text turned out to be far too complicated and many problems would have arisen. I thought programmers would want a complete service from us, i.e. taking the orders, copying the disks and posting the goods direct to the customer. It turns out that most of you just want us to take orders on your behalf and e-mail the order to you. We are trying to please everyone now, So, here is the revised concept: * There are two ways the scheme can operate: Standard service: 1) We take orders (money) on your behalf and e-mail you the details the same day, you then dispatch the goods to the customer and we pay you your money once every three months. (see later for more detail) Full service: 2) We take orders and send out your product the same day to the customer. We pay your share once a quarter. Requirements: * Authors MUST have e-mail access if you want us to take orders and pass them on to you, we will NOT be operating a telephone service for various reasons. This is of course irrelevant if you want the full service (see above). * To qualify into the scheme a FULL registered version (registered to F1) must be sent along with the Shareware demo version to be considered. If we feel the program is good value at the price and the software is also good then we will accept it into the scheme. If we reject it, your disks will be returned. We DO NOT make copies of evaluations, so do not worry. In over 3 years of trading in Licenceware no author has had any reason to complain about our honesty or service. I feel it is important to only sell high quality, good value titles as this enhances peoples perception of F1 and helps to sell all our products, (creates a domino effect) F1 does not, and will never, sell sub-standard software or products at rip-off prices. * Once accepted, your (Amiga) program will benefit from the many resources F1 has in the Amiga world. We will spread your demo version around the world and get you magazine reviews all at our expense. Your program will also be featured in the F1 catalogue of which we give free to anyone who requests it and a free copy to everyone who buys anything off of F1, which means you will have access to thousands of F1 customers who already buy Licenceware. We will also have a F1 web site set up soon (hopefully) where anyone will be able to download info and your demos. * The author MUST supply a contact address on-disk for customer enquiries, problems etc. F1 is not in the position to deal with technical support. * You must also supply us with a fairly detailed description of your product for use in our catalogue disk and for review purposes. * A few small 'F1 Shareware' files will be put on the disk, just a small text similar to this doc to tempt new Shareware authors to the scheme. * When a customer contacts us to buy your program they will have the opportunity to pay by Access/Visa/Eurocard or Mastercard credit cards, this in itself is a huge bonus to most Shareware authors. Customers can of course also pay us by cheque or postal order (UK). * F1 is a business and we have to make an operating profit. After lengthy discussions with lots of people this is how the costings will work: 1)Standard service (we pass on orders to you) We will charge your customer 20% on top of the price you are selling your product for. For example, if you are selling at 10 we charge your customer 12. You STILL get your 10 and we take the 2 to cover our costs and make a small profit. So in effect YOU are getting our services free of charge. 2)Full service (We handle the complete sale) It is difficult to put a percentage on this, we will take each program on its merits. For example, you may want to supply a printed manual with pre-labelled and copied disks, or you may want us to do this. The cost will depend on how much work is involved and of course how much it costs us to reproduce your product. We can use the standard 'F1 Software' label if you want, it is professionally printed label of the thick glossy type and looks quite nice. We can not have program names printed on these for various reasons, the title will be hand-written. (Standard service) * The same day we take an order for your product you will be e-mailed the details of the customer. We urge you to send out the goods promptly. We will refuse to take any further orders for your product if we receive complaints of authors keeping customers waiting without reason, this is one of the main reasons (along with no goods sent at all) that people are loathe to send money to Shareware authors. (all services) * Money from your sales will be paid once a quarter (every three months) at the same time as all F1 royalties are paid, there are set months for this to keep life at F1 simple. The months are: March, June, September, December. Payment is sent during the first few days of the month , usually the 2nd or there abouts with a statement of your sales. We can only pay foreign programmers on a UK cheque in Sterling, you should check with your bank if or how much you will be charged for conversion. There will be a minimum cash sum that we pay out, this will be 50. If your programs sales are less than 50 then we will hold the money over until the next quarter or until 50 is reached. This should be unusual in most cases, but we have to keep our bank charges down. For a nominal fee (probably 1 taken off your royalty) you can claim your cash if you really need it, but not early, we are strict on that as it causes chaos. * Unlike our Licenceware scheme, we do NOT expect to have exclusive distribution rights. In other words you can continue selling your program as well, and in other outlets if you wish too. We do ask that you do not sell your program at a lower rate than you quote to us to sell it at as this could be unhealthy for F1's reputation. You keep all copyrights to your program of course. You can withdraw your program from F1 Shareware at any time, giving two months notice, this is needed to halt any possible advertising, let us fill any orders and to give your customers one last chance to buy. Not only that, it's the decent thing to do. If for some reason F1 wants to stop selling your program we will afford you this same courtesy as long as you have abided by the rules. There will be no contract, just terms and conditions which will be laid out in this document and revised from time to time, as any contract will be fairly useless anyway due to the international flavour of this scheme. * We will NOT accept pornography or anything likely to offend. * We will consider any type of program util/game/tutor etc. What do you, as a programmer get out of the scheme? ---------------------------------------------------- * Marketing ----------- ADVERTISING: A percentage (tba) of profits from Shareware sales will go toward advertising in the UK Amiga magazines and maybe other Euro mags. This won't happen at first though as we will have start-up costs and need to retrieve this first, at the low margins we are working on this could be quite some time to be honest, especially with the crazy prices the Amiga mags are charging at present. Considering their circulation is falling fast their advertising prices are not doing the same and so represent bad value. MAGAZINE REVIEWS: F1 has many contacts within the Amiga mags and a proven track record of getting a high hit ratio. We have secured nearly 200 reviews in UK mags in the last three years. Reviews are an essential ingredient to your products awareness. We can virtually guarantee you at least one review. We are also making new contacts with Amiga mags in Germany, Holland and Sweden and starting to get good reviews there too. NEWS PLUGS: Another form of free advertising that we can get you. We know the tricks of the trade and you can benefit from the F1 name. DISTRIBUTION: Your demo version, that you must supply us with of course, will be uploaded to the Aminet and other distribution sites (suggestions please) The demo will also be passed to all our distributers, which between them have the UK market virtually sewn up. They include 17 Bit Software, Active Software, Seasoft Computing, Saddletramps PD, Exclusive PD and others. We MAY also upload to PD bulletin boards. Demos and or flyers will also be sent to customers on the F1 database that may have an obvious interest in your program. For example if your program was a brilliant game creation system we would contact all our customers that bought Grac from us. (Graphical Adventure Creator) and there are a LOT of them, we have thousands of Amiga customers on our list just waiting to buy quality software. The planned F1 Web site will also carry your demo for downloading too. THE F1 CATALOGUE: The F1 Licenceware catalogue is sent out FREE OF CHARGE to hundreds of customers all over the world every month, your programs will be listed in there in a special section. * Other benefits: ----------------- Your program will gain instant respect by being attached to the F1 name. This is not an idle boast, we have spent 3 years building a solid reputation of quality and trust with our customers, programmers and the Amiga press. In other words people WILL take notice of your program, simply because F1 are selling it for you. We can accept credit card orders on your behalf. This will be a MAJOR advantage to most of you. How many Shareware programmers do you know that can accept credit card orders? Around 70% of all mail order goods are bought by credit card, some people refuse to pay by anything else because with a credit card they can't lose their money, in the event of the customer being ripped off the credit card company refunds them and so this is insurance for the customer. There is no doubt about it, you will lose sales if you can't take credit cards. The whole system will not cost you anything, we do NOT request any money from you at any stage. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- As this is very nearly the last draft of the scheme (bar small changes) I will soon be e-mailing this text to a lot of Shareware authors (hundreds) over the coming weeks and we will be getting a mention for the scheme in a few of the UK mags so keep an eye out. Please help the scheme by spreading this text to everyone you know. Please send in your comments/ideas/enquiries and/or evaluation copies now and we will get in touch very soon. We hope to start the scheme proper in July 96 sometime, so get a move on and you could be one of the first to be in on the biggest shake up in Shareware history on the Amiga. I used that line when we started F1 Licenceware and it seemed a bit optimistic at the time, but it wasn't, we are now the largest and most successful Licenceware scheme that has existed on the Amiga, we now surpass even the legendary CLR. YOU HAVE NOTHING TO LOSE, AND EVERYTHING TO GAIN Thank you for your attention. Steve & Belinda Bye F1 Software 31, Wellington Road, Exeter, Devon. EX2-9DU. England. E-Mail: steve@f1lw.demon.co.uk Phone: (UK)01392-493580 V2.02 June 21st 1996 @endnode @node NEWS5 "MRBackup" @toc NEWS IAM is proud to announce that MRBackup has been sold by Mark Rinfret and it is now published by IAM. Robert Hardy will be supporting and continuing the development of the product. It is no longer available as shareware. We've already made a few improvements, and are now shipping MRBackup 2.5 to customers. If you need a backup program that is still supported and developed on the Amiga, we urge you to consider purchasing MRBackup. Buy DiskSalv4 at the same time and save! PLEASE spread the word. It's hard for Amiga companies to get the message out about new products these days... MRBackup 2.5 sells for US$60 + s/h (or US$10 + s/h for upgrades from previous registered versions). It is also available in a special package deal with DiskSalv4 (shipping now) for only US$80 -- a savings of $20 on the two products! For more information, see below. You can also write to mrbackup@iam.com, see our web pages at http://www.iam.com/, or download our AmigaGuide catalog file via anon FTP to file://ftp.iam.com/biz/iam/ IAM publishes "Connect Your Amiga! A Guide to the Internet, LANs, BBSs and Online Services" (second printing, revised for 1996, shipping now), "Eight Freely Redistributable Disks to Connect Your Amiga!", "MegaBall4", "The Deathbed Vigil", and "Amiga Envoy 2.0b." It also distributes DICE in North America. [If you maintain a BBS or other archive of freely redistributable software, please remove any old versions of MRBackup -- they are no longer freely redistributable. We plan to release a demo version of 2.5 soon.] Details follow: -- MRBackup is an Amiga hard disk backup program with friendly graphical interface and extensive ARexx support. You need a backup program to: * Protect your valuable files against loss * Remove rarely-used files from your harddrive, freeing up needed harddrive space * Transfer larger-than-fits-on-one-floppy files between systems MRBackup provides a wide range of services to support Amiga file management and backup/restore of files to/from hard disk. Files can be backed up to: * Floppy disk, in AmigaDOS format * Floppy disk, in a special "fast" format * Any sequential file or device (local or networked) in "fast" format * SCSI streaming tape MRBackup was originally written by Mark Rinfret nearly ten years ago. During the program's long history, with the suggestions of many thousands of Amiga users, it has evolved a great deal of stability, functionality, and ease-of-use. As of June, 1996, MRBackup is published by IAM, who is proud to add MRBackup to its fine line of Amiga products, and to add to its stable of outstanding Amiga authors Mr. Robert Hardy of HardKore Software. Bob is the new owner of the source code for MRBackup, and will be providing support for new and existing customers, bug fixes and future development. He has already produced version 2.5 and started work on version 3. MRBackup is designed to behave well in your Amiga's multi-tasking environment. It does not "take over the machine" and will allow you to use your Amiga for other activities while backups are being performed. MRBackup is controlled by a flexible set of user-configurable parameters and offers a wide range of backup and restore options. Its Intuition-based user interface is designed for a pleasing appearance and ease of operation. MRBackup provides a complete and powerful ARexx interface through which you can access most operating parameters and features. Automate complex backup procedures through relatively simple rexx macros. Launch ARexx macros separately or from the Macros Menu. Run multiple "copies" of MRBackup, with a unique ARexx port name for each instance of MRBackup. MRBackup uses the Amiga's speech capabilities to provide an effective means for presenting prompts, error conditions and requests for floppy disk insertions, etc. While DEVS:narrator.device and LIBS:translator.library are no longer shipped with the Amiga operating system, you can copy them from your older copies of the AmigaDOS installation disks and they will work just fine. MRBackup provides optional data compression which will reduce the number of diskettes (or other media) required for a backup. A saveset catalog file is created for each saveset, allowing quick retrieval of individual files when necessary. Should the catalog file become damaged or lost, MRBackup can recreate it by scanning the saveset. Requirements The following minimum requirements should be met in order to assure proper operation of MRBackup: * any Amiga system with at least 1 MB memory and AmigaDOS 2.04 or higher * 1 floppy disk drive or SCSI streaming tape drive (Archive Viper, Wangtek 50XX, TEAC 36XX, Sony DAT, etc.) * MRBackup will work with any hard drive supported by the AmigaDOS operating system @endnode @node NEWS6 "Amiga Translators' Organization" @toc NEWS Amiga Translators' Organization Ladies and gentlemen, a new era has begun on the Amiga. No more shall users struggle with technical English jargon (or, even worse, German, French or Italian), no more shall programmers struggle with getting translators for their programs. Amiga Translators' Organization is born! The function of Amiga Translators' Organization should be pretty easy to render: We are an organization consisting of, at the time of writing, over 40 translators of 13 languages willing to translate anything for the Amiga, and at the same time, we are always seeking new members. So: If you are a programmer who wants translations for your program, please contact us. If you are/want to be a translator, please contact us too. In an earlier Amiga Report, Anders Bakkevold of Norway has introduced his "locale" homepage. ATO is in no way in open war with Anders, in fact we have merged. However, as ATO has is a little more organized (no offence, Anders!), I would like to give you a brief overview of ATO: One of our biggest visions is the perfect translation. We do not just want to be a pool of translators, we want quality controlled translations. This means that for every project (except very small ones) we will occupy at least BOTH a translator and a proofreader, and for large projects more people will get involved. In addition, our different language departments are continually setting up guidelines for translation and developing technical dictionaries in order to make translations uniform and as user-friendly as possible. In the past, there have been problems with translations. I can speak of Danish: Often Danish translations are even worse using than the English originals because translators do not follow the guidelines of the Workbench, and in some cases the translators simply cannot spell. I know that this sounds rude, but nevertheless it is the pure truth. These problems will vanish if programmers start using ATO instead of picking up the first volunteering translator on a random mailing list. If you are interested, either as a programmer or as a translator, you are very welcome to visit our homepage: http://www2.dk-online.dk/users/Ole_Friis/Trans/Index.HTM Here you will find lots of useful information on how we are organized, how you join, how you get a program translated, links to our language departments etc. etc. Please mail me your opinion(s) about ATO, both negative and positive. Kind regards, Ole Friis olef@dk-online.dk Main Administrator & Danish Language Administrator of Amiga Translators' Organization: www2.dk-online.dk/users/Ole_Friis/Trans/Index.HTM @endnode @node NEWS7 "Amiga CDROM Guide" @toc NEWS TITLE Amiga CDROM Guide VERSION 1.6 AUTHOR Anders Bakkevold (andersb@intercom.no) DESCRIPTION Amiga CDROM Guide (ACDG) was made to help Amiga-owners to pick the right CDROM for their needs. It doesn't include commecial games or photoCD-discs, but all Amiga PD/clipart/fonts/modules collections. - It is in the Amigaguide-format. - You will find all the vital information on a CDROM, like price, contents, publisher etc. - Covers 354 CDROMs! - 165+ of the CDROMs have a review - If you're interrested in for instance raytracing, click on the keyword "Raytracing" to get a list of all CDROMs that can be assosiated with ratracing. - Other keywords: Clipart, fonts, pictures, utilities, GNU, text-files, fish etc - It's up-to-date with the latest CDROM releases. - It is completely independent All in all: 790kB of pure information! NEW FEATURES v1.6 Seventh release. Contains information about 354 CD-ROMs. - 39 CD-ROMs Added: 3D Objects A Bun for Barney ADX AGA Experience Vol 2 American Vista Atlas Amiga Developer CD v1.1 Amiga Magazin CD 1/96 Amiga Magazin CD 10/95 Amiga Magazin CD 3/96 Amiga Magazin CD PD 1 Amiga Utilities 2 AmigaPlus CD 1/96 AmigaPlus CD 2/95 AmigaPlus CD 2/96 Aminet 11 Aminet 12 Arcade Classics Plus Artworx CD " lin CU-Amiga Mega I CU-Amiga Mega II dataTAX Forms Demos are forever Do It! Hottest 6 Japan World Magic Publisher 4 CD-ROM-set Magic Workbench Enhancer MaxonRAYTRACE Professional MODS Anthology Movie Maker Vol 1: Special FX My Paint Online Library Vol 1 Scene Storm SFX Volume 2 The Blanker Collection The EPIC Multimedia Encyclopedia Utilities Experience Workbench Add-On XiPaint v4.0 Zoom 2 - Many crosslinks between CDs have been added. (EG between Lock'n'Load 1 and Lock'n'Load 2) - Some information updated/corrected SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS You will need a program able to display Amigaguide files, like Multiview or xkpGuide. AVAILABILITY Amiga CDROM Guide is available from any Aminet site, for instance: ftp://ftp.netnet.net/pub/aminet/docs/hyper/ACDGv16.lha You can also email me (andersb@intercom.no) and I will send you the latest version uuencoded. There is also a WWW version available here: http://www.intercom.no/~andersb/acdg/MAIN.html PRICE Amiga CDROM Guide is freeware. DISTRIBUTABILITY Amiga CDROM Guide v1.6 is copyright 1996 Anders Bakkevold. All rights reserved. You may copy it as you like, as long as no changes are made to the archive, and you don't charge more than Ł2.00 for the media and copying fees. @endnode @node NEWS8 "Amiga CD-ROM Survey 1996" @toc NEWS The Amiga CD-ROM Survey 1996 ---------------------------- Please take your time to fill out this survey and send it to andersb@intercom.no before 1st September 1996. Please keep the comments short and to the point. Tick only one box per question, and tick correctly: Valid answers : [*] or [ ] Invalid answers: [* ] [ *] [ * ] [x] [* -+-+-+-+-*-+-+-+-+- PERSONAL_DATA> Name : E-mail (Optional) : QUESTIONS> I. General Information. Tick only one box; the setup you use for CD-ROM. 1> What Amiga model do you have? [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] A500 A600 A1200 A2000 A3000 A4000 CD32 CDTV 2> What OS do you have? [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] 1.3 2.0 2.1 3.0 3.1 3> How much chip RAM do you have? (Mb) [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] 0.5 1 1.5 2 4> How much fast RAM do you have? (Mb) [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] 0 1 2 3 4 6 8+ 5> What processor do you have? [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] 68000 68020 68030 68040 68060 6> Do you have a harddrive? [ ] [ ] Yes No -+-+-+-+-*-+-+-+-+- II. CD-ROM information 7> What CD-ROM Setup to you have? [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] Squirrel+CD-ROM Zappo SCSI IDE Other 8> How fast is your CD-ROM? [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] 1xSpeed 2xSpeed 3xSpeed 4xSpeed 6xSpeed or faster 9> Are you able to boot from your CD-ROM drive? [ ] [ ] Yes No 10> How many CD-ROMs do you buy each year? [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] 0 1 2 3 4-6 7-10 10+ -+-+-+-+-*-+-+-+-+- III. Your opinions 11> What do you use your CD-ROM for? [ ] [ ] [ ] Games Other Both 12> Do you think that Amiga CD-ROM are generally: [ ] [ ] [ ] Cheap Ok Expensive 13> Would you rather buy a magazine with a cover CD-ROM instead of coverdisks? [ ] [ ] Yes No 14> Would you like to see more commercial programs on CD-ROM? [ ] [ ] Yes No -+-+-+-+-*-+-+-+-+- IV. ACDG information 15> Have you seem the Amiga CD-ROM Guide? (ACDG) [ ] [ ] Yes No If no, skip to the the comments section. 16> Do you use the ACDG? [ ] [ ] Yes No 17> Do you think it gives you the information you seek? [ ] [ ] Yes No 18> Should more CD-ROM retailers advertise in the guide? [ ] [ ] Yes No -+-+-+-+-*-+-+-+-+- V. Comments section 19> What would you rate as the 3 best CD-ROMs you've seen? 1. 2. 3. 20> What whould you rate as the three worst CD-ROMs you've seen? 1. 2. 3. 21> Do you have an idea for a new CD-ROM, which you would like to buy? 22> Is there an available software title you would like to see on a CD-ROM? 23> What should be changed in the Amiga CD-ROM Guide, to make it better? 24> Is there something publishers should look out for when designing a CD? 25> Is there anything else you would like to say? -+-+-+-+-*-+-+-+-+- Thank you for filling out this survey! Send the complete survey via email to andersb@intercom.no. @endnode @node NEWS9 "EnPrint 2.1" @toc NEWS TITLE EnPrint VERSION 2.1 COMPANY Endicor Technologies, Inc. P.O. Box 29000 #355 San Antonio, TX 78229-0999 (Please note: this address will change within the next two months, but will remain valid for the next year. Please watch our Web site listed below for our new address, which has yet to be determined) (210) 650-4988 Phone (210) 650-0054 FAX (210) 650-4365 BBS info@endicor.com -- Information requests sales@endicor.com -- Orders WWW: http://www.crl.com/~endicor AUTHOR Ty Sarna (tsarna@endicor.com) DESCRIPTION This is a standard Amiga printer driver with an additional printing program for the Stylus Color inkjet printers from Epson, including the II, IIs, and Pro. The printer features resolutions from 180x180 dpi to 720x720 dpi, with optional MicroWeave printing (an Epson feature that uses overlapping passes to reduce banding), Optimized Black Mode (on the Stylus II model only), and Small Dot mode (for the II, IIs and Pro models). The driver also implements horizontal and vertical whitespace stripping, as well as Epson compression mode 2 ("TIFF v4.0 packbits mode") to minimize the amount of data that must be sent to the printer and improve printing speed. EnPrint 2.x is based on a totally new portable 24 bit printing engine developed by Endicor instead of the standard Amiga 12 bit printing engine. This allows advanced user-accessible controls for gamma, intensity range, color correction, a wide selection of dithering options, color-to-grey conversion formula, and much more. The preferences driver has been updated to use this engine, providing all of these capabilities to all applications. Also included is a printing program that uses the printing engine directly, providing full 24 bit printing capability even to users who do not have other software that supports 24 bit printing. The printing program also features reduced memory usage, allowing large, high-resolution prints even on systems with very little memory. Note that printing time depends greatly on the application used, processing speed of the computer, and amount of data in a given output. FEATURES Built in calibration utility. User adjustable Time-Out control. Full 24 bit printing support. Completely user-controllable gamma and range adjustments for full control over brightness and contrast. Three modes of color correction: adjustable in terms of RGB, CMY, or Y in M/M in C. The latter produces the best results as it most closely models the inaccuracies of printing inks. These modes are also completely adjustable. In greyscale mode, complete user control over the color-to-grey conversion process, plus three convenient preset configurations for the NTSC, HDTV, and equal-parts formulas. In B&W (thresholding) mode, the threshold is fully adjustable over an 8-bit intensity range, rather than Preference's 4 bit range. Sixty Five dither modes. Sixty Two are matrix dithers (many sizes and varieties of ordered, halftone, bricks, diamonds, etc., providing a lot of "special effect" options), plus Random Threshold and two Floyd-Steinberg algorithmic dithers. Flexible configuration scheme: The system works in terms of configurations. A configuration consists of settings for resolution, dither, mode (MicroWeave, Optimized Black, Small Dot, etc.), color correction, gamma, etc. The Preferences editor allows for seven configurations corresponding to the 7 density options. Thus any density can be chosen to be any configuration of resolution, mode, dither, and corrections that the user wants. Additional configurations can be loaded and saved . The printing program also keeps a separate configuration. Configurations are edited with a friendly GUI configuration editor. Preferences driver supports printing HAM-8 and 7/8 bit modes on AGA machines in all their glory, plus 12 bit single-CLUT style like FinalWriter(TM) and others use. Preferences driver is smart about the true paper dimensions. It should handle all of the standard paper sizes correctly, plus if given enough maneuvering room, it will truly center the image on the paper, rather than centering within the printable area like the previous version and other standard Workbench drivers. Context-sensitive online AmigaGuide help. All documentation can also be brought up from within the program itself. Printing Program: Allows users to load pictures in IFF format (supports HAM-8, EHB, 24 bit, even Dynamic-HAM and Dynamic-HiRes), operate on them (rotate/flip, invert, etc.), size and position them, and print them. Any picture (even 24 bit) can be printed on any Amiga. There is no conversion to HAM or HAM-8 to cause loss of quality -- it's 24 bit all the way through when using the printing program. The printing program also includes a module that can generate pictures in 10 different modes, as an alternative to loading IFFs. Modes include things like user-selectable solid colors, color gradients, two kinds of color bars, and a hue/saturation "wheel". These modes are useful for calibrating color correction, gamma/lo/high, and for examining the effect of different dithers over ranges of intensity/color. An additional mode is a Workbench screen capture. There is support for output spooling and multiple print copies. A hard disk is required with a minimum space free of about 2 meg. More is required for using the printing program on large pictures, and lots when using output buffering or multicopy support because it must store the complete printer output generated. This can be up to 20 megs a page at 720dpi full color, though the compression usually keeps it to about 12-16 megs or so. Only enough storage for one page at a time is needed, however. Using this method, a minimum amount of RAM required at the expense of the higher disk space requirements. UPDATES EnPrint 2.1 is a free update for registered owners of EnPrint v2.0 or Epson Stylus Color Printer Driver version 1.2, 1.1 or 1.0. You may get an upgrade in one of three ways: By email: Email to sales@endicor.com with your name and serial number and a request for an upgrade, and we'll email EnPrint 2.0 back to you. Ask for details. From our BBS: We now offer product support on our BBS, The Flying Circus, at phone number +1-210-650-4365. You will be asked for your product serial number when you first log on and then receive access to the support area after verification (usually within 24 hours). Once you have access to the Endicor area you can download updates. Send us $4.00: If you wish to have a new 2.1 disk shipped to you, send a check for US$4 to our address above with a note requesting EnPrint 2.1 and include your serial number and address. The $4 covers the cost of the disk plus shipping. SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS Workbench 2.04 or higher. (3.0 and later required for some features). Hard Disk Drive with Min 2 meg free (20 meg free recommended). An Epson Stylus Color series printer. OTHER The driver takes advantage of Stylus Color features not present on older ESC-P2 printers, such as compression mode 2 (packbits). Because of this it will not work on previous (800, 300, 1000, etc) Stylus printer models. LIST PRICE US$44.95 List Price Sales Tax: In San Antonio, Texas: 7.75% ($3.48) Elsewhere in Texas: 6.25% ($2.81) Outside Texas: Endicor does not collect sales tax for out-of-state purchases. Outside the US: see our Distributors list below. EnPrint is also availible through many national Amiga stores in the US, including Safe Harbor, Software Hut, etc. SHIPPING AND PAYMENT METHODS In the US: US Mail, UPS Blue and Red Canada: Postal Mail, Global Priority Mail (3-5 Days) Outside US: Postal Mail, or see Distributors below. For a complete discussion of shipping methods and rates, please see our web page or email info@endicor.com. Payment: VISA, MasterCard, American Express, Discover, COD. There is an additional US$5 charge for COD. We can also offer electronic delivery for prepaid orders (check, money order, credit card or bank draft) in which case there is no shipping charge. International orders may wish to use electronic delivery to save on shipping. Please email us for details. When ordering by mail or email please include: Name, shipping address, postal or email address, phone number, payment information, and method of delivery. If you include an Internet or FidoNet email address, we can use it to notify you of updates rather than using traditional mail. DISTRIBUTORS Dealers in North American may order the product direct from us or through MicroPace distributors. Individuals and dealers in Europe can order through our European distributor: Eyetech Group Ltd. The Old Bank 12 West Green Stokesley North Yorks TS9 5BB UK Direct line Phone: +44 (0) 1642 713 185 FAX: +44 (0) 1642 713 634 email: eyetech@cix.compulink.co.uk Individuals and dealers in New Zealand can order through our New Zealand distributor: Perrytech 54 Glasgow Street Wanganui New Zealand Phone/FAX: (06) 343-2699 email: BRIAN@ptech.wanganui.gen.nz DISTRIBUTABILITY Copyright (c) 1994-96 Endicor Technologies, Inc. All Rights Reserved. EnPrint(TM) is a trademark of Endicor Technologies, Inc. Epson is a registered trademark of Seiko Epson Corporation. Stylus is a trademark of Seiko Epson Corporation. AmigaGuide, AmigaGuide.info, amigaguide.library (c) Copyright 1991-93 Commodore-Amiga, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Reproduced and distributed under license from Commodore. Other brand and product names may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies. This is commercial software. @endnode @node NEWS10 "Mail Manager 1.2" @toc NEWS TITLE Mail Manager VERSION Version 1.2 (1-May-96) AUTHOR Pino Aliberti E-Mail: aliberti@mbox.vol.it Fidonet: 2:335/602.2@fidonet Amiganet: 39:102/10.0@amiganet DESCRIPTION Mail Manager is a Full Integrated Tosser/Scanner/Editor/Tick Processor for Fidonet Technology compatible networks. Mail Manager... ... is able to manage both a Point or a Node in Fidonet Technology. ... is able to manage Tick Files. ... is able to manage Echo File Attached. ... is able to automatically create new Echo Areas. ... is able to manage 4 different types of message bases. ... is able to manage 3 different types of Mail Packets. ... is able to use full 5 dimensional addressing. ... has a powerful ARexx interface. ... has a powerful OnLine Help. ... has a powerful Threads management. ... has a powerful NetMail Routing management. ... has a powerful support for UUCP gates. ... has incredibly powerful Search/Sort/Show functions. ... has powerful Quoting routines. ... supports multiple character sets. ... supports the Nodelist and the Userlist. ... uses fast Memory Pools functions. ... uses fast asynchronous I/O functions. ... is a MUI Application !!!! ... is fully localized ( Kickstart 2.1 or higher). ... is Faaaaaaaast. Up to 3 times faster than Spot or EMS. ... is easy to configure. ... has many many other features ! NEW FEATURES - Added some new features and additions, and others are enhanced. - Several minor bug fixes. SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS Mail Manager has only a few requirements to work properly: - Kickstart 2.04 or higher - MUI 2.0 or higher - a 68020 processor or faster is recommended AVAILABILITY Any Aminet site, such as ftp.wustl.edu or ftp.luth.se in the pub/aminet/comm/fido directory: ftp://ftp.wustl.edu/pub/aminet/comm/fido/mm_1_2.lha (564566) mm_1_2-030.lha (563508) mm_1_2-rexx.lha (732199) And with these archive-names: MM_1_2.LHA Main Archive for 68000 processors MM_1_2-030.LHA Main Archive for 680x0 processors MM_1_2-REXX.LHA Collection of many useful ARexx scripts on the following BBS'es: Italy MAUI for Amiga 2:335/602.0@fidonet Glass Globe 2:332/118.0@fidonet Double Impact 2:335/202.0@fidonet ]\[IB!_LINK 2:335/703.0@fidonet Amiga & Technology 2:334/21.0@fidonet ToTaLLy_WiReD 2:333/714.0@fidonet UNIVISION 2:333/707.0@fidonet Eclipse 2:332/113.0@fidonet Germany Firebrigade 2:2448/7022.0@fidonet Professional Amiga 2:2490/1015.0@fidonet Lonely Platform 2:2437/901.0@fidonet Amiga's Choice 2:2455/160.0@fidonet NEC-BBS 2:2490/3225.0@fidonet United Kingdom Creations 2:254/205.0@fidonet Spain Amiga-Penedes 2:343/119.0@fidonet Denmark Amiga Aarhus 2:238/24.0@fidonet Nemesis Amy 2:238/43.0@fidonet Poland DiXiE 2:484/22.0@fidonet Russia NEW ORDER 2:5030/221.0@fidonet Australia Crazy Diamond 3:633/359.0@fidonet PRICE Shareware: The registration fee for Mail Manager is: Point Only Full Node ----------------- ------------------ Itl Lire 50000 (35000) 100000 (85000) DM 50 (35) 100 (85) US $ 35 (25) 70 (60) UK # 23 (15) 46 (38) The registration fee for Mail Manager together with MUI is: Point Only Full Node ----------------- ------------------ Itl Lire 78000 (63000) 128000 (113000) DM 73 (58) 123 (108) US $ 52 (42) 87 (77) UK # 34 (26) 57 (49) The fee between brackets is reserved only to Registered Users of Point Manager (the "predecessor" of Mail Manager) v3.10 and higher. DISTRIBUTION Freely distributable via CD, disk, FTP, or any other form (if NO charge is asked for, except for the media) when the original distribution archive(s) are kept intact. @endnode @node NEWS11 "sort 1.5" @toc NEWS TITLE sort VERSION 1.50 AUTHOR Ruediger Werner E-Mail: wernerr@iee1.et.tu-dresden.de URL: http://home.pages.de/~wernerr S-Mail: Ruediger Werner Stresemannplatz 2 01309 Dresden GERMANY DESCRIPTION The basic function of sort is to sort ASCII-files in alphabetical order. But its functions are not restricted to sorting. I implemented many options which allow to manipulate file(s) in different ways. The sort program is started from Shell. NEW FEATURES (registered version) * added an option which deletes spaces and tabs at the end of a line * added an option which removes a given number of lines at the beginning of a file (selectable for the first and the other files) * added a option for sorting in two passes * changed the -i option * increased sorting speed FEATURES (unregistered version) * sorting files alphabetically (ascending, descending) * distinguishing and no distinguishing of capitals and small letters * erasing of empty lines (registered version) * sorting files alphabetically (ascending, descending) * sorting with columns, variable length of sort string * removing and replacing of characters * picking out lines * throwing out lines * joining files * ignoring of specified strings at the beginning of a line * all functions are operating in a given range, if desired * selectable distinguishing of capitals and small letters * erasing of empty lines * erasing of double lines (improved now!) * dividing a file into two, according to the given pattern, which is specified with the -q|Q option. * reversing of the file (without sorting) * verbose function SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS none AVAILABILITY this program is available for the following systems: - AMIGA - MS-DOS - Ultrix 4.4 - Solaris 2.4 - SUN OS 4.1.3 - AIX 3.2.5 - Linux via aminet (util/sys) or from my homepage: http://eeetw0.et.tu-dresden.de:8080/~wernerr/amiga.html the latest version will be available from my page, for all above mentioned systems PRICE 5 US$ for registration (binaries) & sending by e-mail 8 US$ for registration (binaries) & sending by post or equivalents in DM registration see doc-file DISTRIBUTABILITY The unregistered version is freely distributable if it is done in a noncommercial way and the contents of the archive is kept intact. The registered version is not freely distributable. @endnode @node NEWS12 "RevUp 1.5" @toc NEWS TITLE RevUp VERSION 1.5 (27.4.96) PROXITY SOFTWORKS Proxity Engineering and Technical Support Usenet: pets@amiuni.tynet.sub.org Fidonet: 2:246/1416.0 (pets) AUTHOR Boris Folgmann Address: Friedrichstrasse 7 71546 Aspach Germany Usenet: Internet: WWW: Fidonet: 2:246/1416.41 (Boris) IRC: PRX PGP Fingerprint: 82 84 70 38 26 5E 50 5A 9C DB CA CA 62 0A 31 52 Phone: ++49-(0)7191-23439 Fax: ++49-(0)7191-2604 DESCRIPTION RevUp manages version strings following the Amiga standard for including in own programs, e.g. '$VER: YourTool 2.4 (11.9.95)'. It's a must for every serious C, Oberon or Assembler programmer, so have a look at it! Your makefiles together with RevUp will do all the work for you. RevUp {} [REV ] [BETA] [C] [ASM] [OBERON] [LOG] [EXTRA] [FULLYEAR] [ENVVAR] [TINY] Required: VERSION : Version number. PROJECTNAME : Basename to use for all RevUp files. Multiple: DEPENDENCIES: Files which dates are checked. Optional: REV : Explicit revision number. BETA : Generate beta information. C : Generate C headerfile (default). ASM : Generate Assembly includefile. OBERON : Generate Oberon definition module. LOG : Interactively add history info to logfile. EXTRA : Generate extra information. FULLYEAR: Use four digits for year strings. ENVVAR : Set envvar for archive naming. TINY : Don't print credits. EXAMPLE With RevUp SuperTool_rev.h will look like this: /* C headerfile generated by RevUp 1.5 */ #define VERSION1 #define REVISION5 #define DATE"28.3.95" #define VERS"SuperTool 1.5" #define VSTRING"SuperTool 1.5 (28.3.95)\r\n" #define VERSTAG"\0$VER: SuperTool 1.5 (28.3.95)" #define VSTR"SuperTool 1.5 (28.3.95)" #define USER"boris" #define HOST"prox" #define TIME"14:57:51" #define PRGNAME"SuperTool" #define BASENAME"SUPERTOOL" #define _CREATIONDATE_"12.7.95" #define _COPYRIGHTYEARS_ "1995-1996" User and Host are imported from environment variables. FEATURES o RevUp generates and maintains include and header files with revision information. o Basically RevUp is similar to the developer tool BumpRev, but it offers a lot of additional features. o ANSI-C, Oberon and Assembly language supported. o Multiple dependency files. o Beta count management for beta versions included. o Interactive logfile generation. CHANGES SINCE 1.4 (8.1.96) NEW: FULLYEAR switch enables four digit year strings. NEW: Changed Revision storage file format. Betacount storage file no longer needed. NEW: New definitions _CREATIONDATE_ and _COPYRIGHTYEARS_ SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS Kickstart 2.04 Workbench 2.0 Workbench 2.1 for localized DOS error messages. AVAILABILITY PRICE Free DISTRIBUTABILITY Freeware (C) 1994-1996 by Proxity Softworks @endnode @node NEWS13 "BattleDuel V1.4.80" @toc NEWS TITLE BattleDuel V1.4.80 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) - nice graphics and sound effects - full multitasking - OS friendly NEW FEATURES - base with windgauge - 4 different cannon damages - network support: nullmodem, modem and TCP/IP - dynamic wind - date and time for highscores SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS Kickstart2.0, Harddisk, Flickerfixer recommended, at least 1 MB memory AVAILABILITY ftp://ftp.wustl.edu/pub/aminet/game/2play/BattleDuel.lha (805490) PRICE Shareware fee of $15 US / DM 20 DISTRIBUTABILITY BattleDuel is Shareware! Copyright (C) 1995 Jochen Terstiege, Michael David, Marco Seine @endnode @node NEWS14 "MapRZ2_EVD 1.1" @toc NEWS TITLE MapRZ2_EVD VERSION 1.1 (06.05.96) AUTHOR C.W.Niedeggen@newcastle.ac.uk (Christoph Niedeggen) DESCRIPTION External video driver for the Macintosh Emulator ShapeShifter and the Retina Z2 of MacroSystems. Uses MMU to map the Retina video RAM into the Amiga address range and therefore provides maximum video speed. Currently supports only 8bit screens. Full source and documentation included. NEW FEATURES V1.1 fixed a bug in Retina_OpenScreen parameters SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS Retina Z2 68020/68881 or 68030 ShapeShifter V3.0+ AVAILABILITY MapRZ2_EVD is available on any Aminet site, for example ftp://ftp.wustl.edu/pub/aminet/misc/emu/maprz2_e.lha (71974) PRICE MapRZ2_EVD is free. DISTRIBUTABILITY MapRZ2_EVD is public domain. @endnode @node FEATURE1 "Going On The INet" @toc FEATURE =========================================================================== Going On The INet Robert Davis rdavis@nyx.net =========================================================================== Amiga users generally regard the software they use as superior to that which performs similar tasks but runs on clone type computers. But most every Amiga owner will agree that getting a clone computer attached to the Internet through a local Internet Service Provider (ISP) is much easier than getting an Amiga attached to the INet. One consideration: Each ISP has a somewhat different connection procedure. But each ISP can provide a custom installation for Windows software simply because the vast majority of their customers will use clone computers and Windows. Amiga owners, who use many different ISPs, will have to do nearly all the work to configure their systems to work with one of the more than 2000 ISPs operating in North America as of mid 1996. The purpose of this article is to show Amiga owners a fairly easy way to get their favorite computers "onto the Internet." Defining just what it means to be "on the Internet" is rather important. For years, my Internet access was just like calling a Bulletin Board System. My Amiga would call a system which was itself part of the Internet, but offered a dial-up interface for users simply calling from their home computers. The only software I needed for that connection was a terminal program, such as Terminus or VLT. Using such a terminal program to a remote system, I could only perform one task at a time. Also, the terminal program did not permit use of programs with slick graphic interfaces to do the various neat things one can do when on the Internet. Being "on the internet" means that your computer actually has an IP address. Such an address might be 204.120.185.79, which is the decimal representation of four eight-bit numbers separated by periods. Once my Amiga is on the internet, I use client programs to do things like transfer files, send and receive E-Mail, and of course browse the World Wide Web. Since I have an Amiga, I can do all those things simultaneously. Connecting to the Internet requires a lot more software than just a terminal program. A PPP device driver is necessary, unless you have a direct network connection, or you use a Serial Line Interface Protocol (SLIP) connection. For some really important technical reasons, PPP is better than SLIP. In addition to PPP, you need TCP/IP software. Assuming you are not an expert at network software installation, an installer program makes things go so much more smoothly. Then a few client programs allow you to do real work with your Internet connection. I'll list some which I think are most useful after we look at basic installation. The installation procedure requires you to type shell commands from your keyboard, and you must know four things about your Internet account and your Internet provider. Those four things are ..... sample entries (but you must use your own) My chosen login name ...... robertd My secret password ........ PassWord My provider's domain name . smartnet.net My provider's IP address .. 204.120.185.5 I recommend you get the following three programs first. They are all available from the Aminet archives on the Internet, or from other sources. The PPP program ........... PPP1_45.lha (105K) pub/aminet/comm/net/PPP1_45.lha The TCP/IP program ........ AmiTCP-demo-40.lha (738K) pub/aminet/comm/tcp/AmiTCP-demo-40.lha The installer program ..... iiNST_151.lha (26K) pub/aminet/comm/tcp/iiNST_151.lha By the time this article appears, there may be newer versions of some of these programs. You will have to look for yourself. Extract the iiNST151 archive to your hard drive. Copy both the PPP archive and the AmiTCP archive into the iNTERiNSTALL directory created when you extracted iiNST151.lha. From the shell, change to that directory and extract both the PPP1_45.lha and AmiTCP archives. Now comes the hard part. If you are not going to connect to one of the four service providers for which dialer scripts are included with the iNTERiNSTALL software, you must modify one of those iiMOD files to work with your provider. Here is where things may become confusing. What you must do is call your ISP with a normal terminal program and see just what their computer sends to and expects from your system. You must pay close attention to the exact procedure your ISP uses for the logon sequence. After I made that call, I could see that the EMPIRENET.iiMOD file provided with the iINTERiNSTALL program was closest to the script I needed to connect my system. So I copied EMPIRENET.iiMOD to SMARTNET.iiMOD then I changed the DOMAIN aand NAMESERVER lines in the script file SMARTNET.iiMOD as follows: #MODULE FOR iNTERiNSTALL 1.51 - EmpireNet (empirenet.com) # Submitted by Thomas Barker (72027.3476@compuserve.com) # ECHO OFF TIMEOUT 3600 ; Set maximum wait time (in ticks) REDIAL "BUSY" ; Redial on busy signal DELAY 100 SEND "" DELAY 50 ;INSTALL Enter the modem initialization command SEND "$RESPONSE" ; Initialize the modem DELAY 20 WAIT "K" ; Wait for the OK ;INSTALL Enter the telephone number for EmpireNet SEND "ATDT$RESPONSE" ; Dial DELAY 20 WAIT "CT" ; Wait for connect DELAY 50 SEND "" ; Send a CR-LF DELAY 20 WAIT "ogin:" ; Wait for Name: ;INSTALL Enter your user name (lower case) SEND "$RESPONSE" ; Send your User ID DELAY 20 WAIT "d:" ; Wait for Password: ;INSTALL Enter your password SEND "$RESPONSE" ; Send your password DELAY 50 #END ; Domain names DOMAIN smartnet.net <--- was empirenet.com ; Name servers NAMESERVER 204.120.185.5 <--- was 205.164.88.1 After you save the changes, run the iNTERiNSTALL program. It takes just a few seconds to complete the PPP and TCP/IP installation. Reboot your Amiga, open a shell, and type internet to start the procedure of connecting to your Internet Service Provider. You will see a new shell window open showing progress and results of the dialing and connection efforts. That window will close and an AmiTCP/IP window will open with a ghosted 'OK' requester. When that ghosting clears, you may click on it to finish starting AmiTCP/IP. If you get the commercial AmiTCP/IP version 4.x, you won't have to click on OK. I also suggest that you register the PPP device, using the registration form in the archive. It is inexpensive, and the registered PPP 1.xx does work faster than the distributable version. Some of the programs you will find useful once your Amiga is 'on the Internet' include: AmiFTP ... a client program with intuition interface to receive and send files using the standard File Transfer Protocol. On the aminet archive, look for /pub/aminet/comm/tcp/AmiFTP-1.264.lha (207K). AmIRC ... a client program (requires MUI) to use Internet Relay Chat. IRC is keyboard to keyboard talk in thousands of "chat rooms" on several networks, of which Undernet and EFNet are the biggest. Look for /pub/aminet/comm/tcp/AmIRC.lha (816K). YAM ... Yet Another Mailer (uses MUI) a program to send and receive Internet E-mail directly from and to your Amiga. Once you install it and get it running, YAM registration costs nothing, you just send a mail to the author of the program for a registration number. Look for /pub/aminet/comm/mail/YAM12.lha (135K). Telser ... a replacement for serial.device which allows your favorite terminal program to act as a telnet client. Look for /pub/aminet/comm/tcp/telser140.lha (251K). If you want to wander the World Wide Web (WWW) with your Amiga, there are several browsers available. To access the Web, you should have OS 3.0 or 3.1 running on your Amiga. You must have at least OS 2.04 ... and Amiga OS 2 limits you to two browsers, either ALynx or the rather old Mosaic 1.2. ALynx may be found in /pub/aminet/comm/net/ALynx.lha (277K), and Amiga Mosaic requires the Magic User Interface, found in: /pub/aminet/dev/gui/mui33usr.lha (797K). Once you have OS 3.x, you may use AWeb, which does not use MUI, /pub/aminet/biz/demo/AWeb.lha and if you have MUI installed, the newer versions of Mosaic (1.2.1 or 2.0r3) and the newer browsers, Voyager, /pub/aminet/comm/www/Voyager.lha or IBrowse are useable on your Amiga. Getting IBrowse or the various versions of Mosaic requires an ftp connection to ftp.omnipresence.com where you look in the directories /pub/amiga/ibrowse or /pub/amiga/amosaic to get the programs. Of course there are other programs available to do each of the tasks described above. But I know that these programs work, so I can recommend each of them. And I know that we have a circular problem here. You have to be on the Internet to access the ftp sites, and you have to get the software on the ftp sites to be able to access the Internet. If you need more help, I will be happy to answer questions. If you send me paper mail, please include a self-addressed, stamped envelope with your question. Robert Davis Amateur Radio K0FPC 1107 Mary Apt. 4 Emporia, KS 38 24 43 3 N Emporia, KS 66801 96 09 40 2 W 316 341 9115 @endnode @node FEATURE2 "Stop Power Woes" @toc FEATURE =========================================================================== Stop Power Woes Donald Dalley ab732@torfree.net or nfn07075@gator.naples.net =========================================================================== (c) Copyright 1996, Donald Dalley --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Are you willing to gamble thousands of dollars worth of computer equipment on a $5 powerbar? We can all relate to seeing LED clocks and the VCR blinking at us because of a power disturbance, which barely hints at what actually occurred. If you have seen lights dim or flicker as your air-conditioner starts running, it is giving you a clue that lots of power has quickly drained from the system. Similar events can happen at any time and, without protection of the proper type, you are powerless to do anything about electrical damage. How common are these disturbances? A US study covering nearly 40 years quantified what happened electrically at a "typical" location. There were 443 disruptive or destructive power disturbances; 15 outages, 36 spikes, 128 surges and 264 sags, causing a variety of errors or failures. There were 3 times as many power outages in 1991 as in 1972. Do you feel safe with your computer now? Just how bad is it for electronics, especially your computer equipment? Do you need an uninteruptable power supply (UPS)? From my experience, yes, and here is why. You just can not predict when or with what force power problems will occur. After two previous experiences with power related damage done to motherboards of a printer and a Commodore 64, I didn't want any power problems to affect my Amigas. I now use a standby power supply (SPS) for an Amiga 2000, a UPS for the A4000 station, and surge protectors for the C=64, modem and laser printer. Seriously consider getting appropriate protection, since computer hardware is expensive to repair and down-time could be disastrous. Amiga stuff may be rare or nearly impossible to replace and your data could be priceless! Power Absolutely Corrupts Using a UPS is better than buying insurance because the situation is not could your computer be hit, it's how often or how severely has it already been hit! If a circuit is near capacity, you may be subjecting it to many under-voltages, the most frequent problem, which could invisibly corrupt data. Over-voltages can take their toll over time; a spike can kill your computer immediately. These all could be from something as powerful as a lightning strike, a motor turning on, or as innocuous as warming up a laser printer. Many problems, except long-term power failure, are local to your building, not from outside. I often watch a small nearby light dim in rhythm with the heatlamp doing its job inside the printer! So, depending on what was just turned on, you can see the voltage drop, but chances are these attacks will go unnoticed. The damage done may not be apparent until later when chips, components, disks or tiny motherboard traces finally fail. The location of your computer has a great effect on reliability. If you live near parks, ravines or wooded areas, animals on overhead powerlines can be a big problem. Industrial areas or certain floors in a big building can have widely variable fluctuations. Power fluctuations in rural areas are known to be more severe than the ones in cities, too. With computer chips using lower voltages and operating at much faster speeds, they are increasingly more sensitive to changes in electricity. A UPS/SPS is a battery-backed and filtered power source that protects against various power anomalies; spikes, surges, sags (brown-outs) and RF noise, among others, including outright power failure (blackouts). Sags and surges can be caused by a sudden change in demand from a device being turned on or off. Lightning, solar radiation, or changes made by a power utility are more reasons. The lowly surge is more dangerous the longer or more frequent it is, not necessarily by its magnitude, by accumulating undetected damage. Superior SPS/UPS models have meaningful surge protection (pass ing ANSI, IEEE and CSA/UL Category A and B tests) to dampen the size of any over-voltage or spike to very small amounts. Figures to look for regarding suppression are the lowest pass-through on over-voltages, and the higher joules number. The unrated power bar you may be using probably has little or no ability to handle spikes, let alone typical over-voltages. Cheap powerbars may not even have an overload reset button (similar to a fuse) or isolation between its outlets. Only higher quality UPSes have brownout protection, preventing some problems such as disk read/write errors. Another less common power problem is an outright power loss. This could last for hours, but more than likely it will happen only briefly. While older analog power supplies can't handle any loss in power, most computer power supplies today have the ability to bridge a gap of a relatively lengthy time. Depending on quality, most standby power supplies have a power break time of 2-10ms; an uninteruptable power supply has no break at all and is more expensive than an SPS as a result. Total loss of power (longer than about 10ms) not only loses your data since the last save, but, if writing data to a disk at the time of failure, would cause data corruption and potentially hurt the hard drive media, or worse. Disk file systems become corrupted if the power failure interrupts a write-to-disk operation. This means the hard drive or floppy probably won't be recognised when power returns. The UPS has saved me in this circumstance, too. At the same time, as power comes back into the system, your equipment could also be hit with a line spike! Numbers When buying a UPS, get one with a large enough power capacity to keep your primary equipment (CPU, monitor and external drives) working until you power down, which should potentially be no more than a few minutes. An Amiga 4000 could draw 5.0 Amps (depending upon boards, hard drives or extra RAM) when initially turned on. This is the in-rush current, but most of the time it will idle much lower, around 1 Amp for a 150W computer box. An EnergyStar monitor could draw .6 Amp, to well over 2 Amps for coal- fired ones, with a 1084 drawing 1A. Then you have to consider power used by any other externals and how long you want to run under battery power. Here is how you calculate your needs: 1. List all equipment you need to connect to the UPS with their Ampere and Volt ratings found on the back or bottom. You may as well get the Watt ratings, if they are listed, too. 2. Multiply the Volts (120 in North America) by the total Amp figure to get the V-A requirements for all devices. For example, a system with a draw of 3.3 Amps x 120 Volts = 396 V-A. If you use 220-240 Volts, cut the V-A time in half. If the power consumption is in Watts, simply multiply Watts by 1.43 to get V-A. The V-A duration is the main figure for choosing a UPS. 3. Catalogues will list battery capacity as V-A or KV-A (1000 V-A) with full-load and half-load durations. Half-loads will usually extend the full-load duration by about 3 times. If you can't find this number, UPS cases have an output (don't confuse with the input rating) Amp and Watt rating on the back. You can compare the total Amps or Watts to see if your estimate is reasonable. Pick a model that has at least a 25% increase in capability over the total V-A load. This allows longer run times and future increased loads. 4. Costs vary for battery capacity, component quality, design and features, and customer support. Expect to pay between $120-400 for popular models (from 200 to 650 V-A) from APC, Best, OPTI-UPS or TRIPP-Lite brands. Save your #%% (CPU) In real use even small SPSes can handle more than a minimal computer set-up, such as my A2000, 8Mb RAM card, network board, a hardcard controlling two SCSI devices, and a 1084 monitor. The American Power Corporation's Back-UPS 400 supports a large inefficient monitor and my A4000 with lots of RAM, two hard drives and a network board by supplying only 3.3 Amps. Although this is close to its recommended limit, the in-rush does not set off the alarm. Some laser printer power supplies now have their own MOVs to protect against power surges and don't need to be attached to a suppressor or standby. My printers, external speakers and modem do not, but they are connected through a powerbar to a separate integrated phone/power surge protector and can recycle when the power returns. When a dangerous power situation exists, the UPS will warn you with an alarm. I have been using my computer for months at a time with no indication that anything is wrong. Then, more than once and for no obvious reason, the alarm has gone off 3-8 times within a few minutes! Damage and data loss could have occurred with the first hit, as these were more than likely caused by sags or surges. The lights did not flicker and neither were any clocks blinking at me. Without the alarm, I would never have known there was a hit! My computers have never been powered by a cell for an extended time to know just how long my set-up would run on battery power, nor do I want to be in this position. Both supplies should be enough to keep things running for less than 10 minutes, which is a long time to be without power. Tips Although a UPS can be bought in computer and chain stores, there are specialists who can help you accurately assess your needs and sell you power supplies that are not available from discounters. Commonly, an SPS is mistakenly called a UPS, so make sure you know what you are buying. Any good SPS, UPS or surge suppressor comes with a computer equipment replacement guarantee of some sort - higher values are better, of course. Read and keep this guarantee! Also, find out if the model you want allows user replacement of the battery. The sealed battery is protected from being drained too deeply (below 10 volts), but don't leave it in a discharged state. There is PC, Mac and UNIX (no Amiga) software for some models to automatically shut the system down so that you don't lose data if the battery runs out of power. Don't tempt fate by using computers during a local electrical storm. If power does go off, turn the power On/Off switch off so that equipment will not be affected by a blast when the power returns. Be careful if you plug a big monitor or laser printer into the power outlet of the computer; you may be taxing a low wattage computer power supply. If you transport your computer to a different location, such as a business demo or computer club meeting, take your protection with you! Don't forget that there is a back-door into the computer through any telephone or network connection; integrated phoneline surge suppressors are readily available. With the summer storm and air-conditioner season soon upon us, some shocks are coming your way, but by now you know how to keep the computer safe and protected with clean, continuous power. Inform yourself about your purchases - use this info at your own risk. Don't hold me responsible if you make a wrong choice and your computer disintegrates in a cloud of smoke. Thanks go to Best Power Technology, Inc. of Canada (800-356-5794), Rolf Stiefel of Power Control in King City (905-833-4327) and North York Hydro for information and their kind assistance. Prices and phone numbers are Canadian. ----- This text may be freely reprinted only in other e-zines or computer club newsletters. If you do so, please send me a copy of your newsletter. @endnode @node REVIEW1 "EZ135 Followup" @toc REVIEW =========================================================================== EZ135 Followup: The Search for Storage Continues Paul Idol 76375.1776@CompuServe.COM =========================================================================== In Which the Search Ends in Disaster and the Author Likely Winds Up Dead of a Shot in the Back, and for Good Cause --- --- --- --- --- Mea culpa. Mea maxima culpa. Some time ago, I told all you readers out in Amiga-Report-land to go forth and buy SyQuest's EZ135 removable hard drive in quantities of a hundred. Probably a mistake. Since that time, I've had to take a total loss on my EZ and all the many EZ disks I bought. If any of you have been burned by SyQuest's drive because of my review, my apologies. If you were burned because of my very late followup, you have my permission to shoot me in the back if you see me on the street. Yet I claim innocence on the first count: the drive worked EXACTLY as I described it for practically a month before I wrote that review! Then, shortly after the review was published, things went straight to hell. The drive stopped mounting disks. So I tried it on my partner's 4000 (outfitted with a Fastlane AND an Emplant), I tried it on a client's A3000 (I have an A3000, so I figured this would be a good test) and on the Emplant SCSI port of my own A3000. Then, for reasons I won't get into here, I bought an A3000T and tried the EZ on THAT machine. Again, no dice. I even broke open new EZ disks I could otherwise have returned and tried the drive with them, to no effect. Naturally, during the course of all this frenetic testing, I called SyQuest. They got back to me after a couple days and told me they couldn't help, that I'd have to contact the dealership from which I purchased the drive. Fair enough. Except that during the time I was waiting for SyQuest to return my call, the dealership's free return period lapsed! So J&R Computer World (an excellent place in NYC; I don't hold this against them) reasonably enough told me to contact SyQuest. But SyQuest was no help, and I don't plan to ever buy one of their products again. So anyway, to make a long story short, there I was, stuck with a useless drive, some lost software, and a hole in my wallet approaching $300. What did I do? I needed a largish removable-medium drive, so I broke down and bought a Zip. So far (and this time, the testing period has been rather longer) it's worked fine. It's slow as a dead dog, small, and the chassis feels like it could crack open at any time from its own weight, but I have no significant complaints. (I'm dimly aware of the irony of that last statement. Dimly.) My problem with the EZ appears to be part of a pattern of total unpredictability. I know a couple people who've had absolutely no trouble with the EZ on the Amiga. I know some people who can get the drive to work on the Mac but not the Amiga. And I know some who, like me, are just screwed. If the world were a better place, there'd be a cool-looking drive like the Zip with its excellent load/eject mechanism and reliability but the speed and capacity and solidity of the EZ. But we all know the world isn't a perfect place. So for all you out there who haven't been conned yet, I warn you: buy a Zip. And for all you who have EZ drives and are content: I envy you; stay away from me. @endnode @node REVIEW2 "SciFi Sensations Followup" @toc REVIEW =========================================================================== SciFi Sensations Volume 2 Followup Gerard Sweeney Gss@arts.gla.ac.uk =========================================================================== [In AR 4.08, we ran an overview of the Sci-Fi Sensations CD. This review was presented as a review of the second CD of that series, as it was presented to the reviewer. However, it was in fact just the second ISSUING of the original CD-ROM. This situation has been sorted out and the author explains the mix-up. We apologize to Epic Marketing for the error. -Jason] Following a lengthy email exchange with Andy at Epic, I have been asked to write the following statement to explain what it was all about. When I wrote my article on Sci-Fi Sensations volume 2, I had just paid 20 quid for it under the impression that it was a completely new CD. I was annoyed, so I wrote the article which has managed to get me on Epic's most wanted list :) It now transpires that what is being called "Sci Fi Sensations volume 2" is NOT a new CD, but an upgrade with any corrupt files from volume 1 removed. This short note is to say that based on information given to me by Andy that I now realise that it is an upgrade and my (frankly) rant about it should, by and large, be ignored. My only criticism of volume 2 now is that it would have been nice to have seen some more files to replace the corrupt ones, and that it should be displayed more clearly on the front of the CD that it is an upgrade. Oh, and some of the organisation is still a bit ropey. However, I've been told that this will hopefully be amended for the next update, and more (Sci-Fi related) files will be added. Just for the record, Weird Science (who I bought the CD from) were not the only ones who thought it was a new CD... I called several companies (Epic included!), and they all assured me that it was a new CD.. My article was never meant to be a review, so the grammar in it was poor (at best), and I may have made one or two damning statements which have resulted in the request for my head upon a stick at Epic. If I have any further comments on the next UPDATE of Sci Fi Sensations (note the word update CAREFULLY!), I'll let you know. Oh, just a plug here - Sci Fi Sensations II (that's the ACTUAL, REAL version, not an update) should be coming out soon, and should be a bit special... I'll let you know :) Gerard Sweeney Gss@arts.gla.ac.uk 19 June 1996. @endnode @node REVIEW3 "Workbench Add-On Volume 1" @toc REVIEW =========================================================================== Workbench Add-On Volume 1 Bohus Blahut bohus@xnet.com =========================================================================== The massive potential of the CD rom format took some time to reach the Amiga market, but discs like this one more than make up for it. While most Amiga users have hard drives, CD rom drives haven't reached the level of popularity as on other platforms. While many of the files on this disc are freely available for download from Aminet, the CD circumvents devoting hard drive space to file storage. This CD (and any other for that matter) is an inexpensive way to have a sizable library of files conveniently on hand. The files are also archived for use on BBS's, or to facilitate easy movement on floppy discs. In past articles, we've discussed the uses of CDs for the graphic artists or animator, but here's a disc designed to enhance the day to day enjoyment of your computer. This CD rom takes advantage of the massive storage (650 Megs) potential of the disc rom format by offering the Amiga a huge number of new tools. With Amiga development coming in fits and bursts from a number of different sources these days, this CD can help your Amiga continue to look modern. My favorite inclusion is artist Roger McVay's "New Icons"; an icon replacement set. New Icons is a set of very professional looking 256 color icons, although the icons still look snappy even under a 16 color ECS workbench. I've installed these on my DraCo, and Amiga 2000 to give both machines a sleek and professioanl appearance and get away from the rather anemic looking Commodore icons. Also included are several replacement icon sets by other authors including the popular Magic WorkBench. The CD includes an easy installer script that will set up your Workbench for New Icons, and also install MUI to help other applications on the disc run properly. Users of Amiga Workbench 3.0 and above have an included AmigaDOS CD rom driver. This CD driver can be flakey at times, and is also unavailable to OS 2.0 user, so I prefer the commercial product ASIMcdfs by ASIMware Innovations. ASIMcdfs includes several useful CD utilities. There is a Kodak photoCD to IFF convertor, and an audio CD player and librarian. Many other utilities like these are avilable as shareware on this disc as well, and at a discount! The CD's booklet contains discount coupons, and author's addresses for utilities such as: PowerPlayer, SuperView, and ShapeShifter. There is a Comm directory containing telecommunications and networking software including Term and AMItcp. The Sound directory has a sampling (pun intended) of IFF sound samples from the another available disc, the DaCapo sound CDrom. The DaCapo CD has more than 10000 samples, and 1400 MODs on it. Additionally there are several commodities, screen blankers, MODs by noted artists, music players, workbench games, text readers, and disk copiers, but here are my personal favorites... There is a graphics directory with the best WorkBench backgrounds and patterns that I've ever seen. There are many organic tileable textures, and tools for modifying icons. There are even directories of clipart and Compugraphic fonts for creating your own artwork. Also, there is an entire directory dedicated to emulation. There's a VIC-20 emulator, and the non-registered version of the ShapeShifter Mac emulator. The jewel in ShapeShifter's crown in this release is the inclusion of a complete 50 meg Mac boot partition. This means that you can drop the partition onto your hard drive, and get Mac-ing away. The Mac OS 7.0.1 is freely redistributable [sort of], and is enough to get you started. Ther are a couple of other fun Amiga utilities including LetterMatcher. This takes any 2bit graphic and converts it into ascii. (See the Amiga Logo at the Top of AR) I've often thought that it would be cool to take a batch of animation frames, and convert them to these ascii representations for a new look in animation. There's also IntuiCookie, a really neat random fortune cookie generator. One could conceivably drop this into the WBstartup drawer and get a different inspirational mesage every boot up. This CD is truly inspirational. Hopefully this will spin off more Amiga specific CD roms. Often when I'm "painted into a corner", I can reach into my stack of Amiga CDroms, and pull out a solution. While it's unfortunate that CDTV and CD32 weren't nearly as popular as they could've been, hopefully this will not prevent companies from producing more excellent CDs like this one. Workbench Add-On Volume 1 a workbench enhancement CD rom Schatztruhe Veronikasstrasse 33 D-45131 Essen Bohus Blahut (BOH-hoosh BLAH-hoot) Bohus@xnet.com Modern Filmmaker 312.465.5158 DraCo gigolo "Imitation is the sincerest form of copyright infringement" -BB @endnode @node REVIEW4 "Aminet 12 CD-ROM" @toc REVIEW =========================================================================== Aminet 12 CD-ROM By: @{" Jason Compton " link JASON} =========================================================================== Well, at least I know I'm not alone in the world anymore. It was refreshing to read CU Amiga's Aminet 11 review, where there was the same frustration expressed that I've been talking about for some time now: just what can I tell you about Aminet 12 that I haven't said about Aminets in the past? Ok, I do have one complaint. The new disk icon is in my opinion inferior to the old. But beyond that, it's pretty much the same Aminet CD we've come to expect-nice AmigaGuide interface, settable preferences, and the featured theme is music, with a load of MODs and instrument files on tap. The commercial software package this time around is, appropriately enough, OctaMED 5, which should encourage you to consider OctaMED SoundStudio when it becomes available later this summer. Also included is a special version of the soon-released Symphonie. Both should be reviewed in upcoming Amiga Report issues. I swear, I keep watching for big problems and I'm just not finding them. Of note on the CD is an MPEG animation of Urban Mueller juggling hard drives. It's horrifying to watch, especially the ending... Published by Stefan Ossowski's Schatztruhe Veronikastr. 33 D-45131 Essen Germany +49 201 788778 voice +49 201 798447 fax stefano@tchest.e.eunet.de e-mail http://www.schatztruhe.de/ @endnode @node REVIEW5 "NetNews Offline CD-ROM" @toc REVIEW =========================================================================== NetNews Offline CD-ROM Vol. 1 By: @{" Jason Compton " link JASON} =========================================================================== I suppose the nice thing to say about NetNews Offline is that it's the sort of thing I think needs to exist. It's just a shame it's not something that deserves to fly off the shelves. NetNews Offline, Volume 1 (promising more) is a CD full of archived Usenet material from Amiga and computer-related newsgroups. Included is the GRn newsreader to make browsing through the hundreds of megs of text palatable. Like I said, this is the sort of thing that deep down I like to see existing. I always wonder what history will record of this time period and how it will be interpreted. Past history seems to be based on a ridiculously small sample of texts that survive wars, plague, and destruction which may or may not really be indicative of an era. While I'd hardly say that Usenet is indicative of our era, it is a part of it, and I hate to see collective wisdom just vanish. The more places something that is written is archived, the better. Now, of course, is the flip side--do we really need the dozens of Amiga Tech-slamming postings recorded for posterity? More to the point, do you personally? While I will readily admit there are benefits to having a Usenet archive handy (useful information really does get shared sometimes and you forget to save it for future reference), there are public Web search engines that allow for this sort of thing now. I'm not sure having the CD in your own home will be all that useful, because even on an 040 machine with a 4X CD-ROM drive, plowing through these thousands of messages takes GRn quite a lot of time. Another general GRn complaint is the amount of overhead you need to get it to recordkeep for the CD (30 megs), and the amount of time it takes to start running and quit. It's a result of having tens of thousands of articles to handle, but it's just that much LESS convenient for the home user. What about the other marketing angle of the CD, that it's for those who either don't have time or don't have the connectivity for Usenet? Well, for the latter I suppose it's a relatively painless and risk-free way to introduce them to what actually goes on in Usenet. But part of Usenet's whole concept is that it is interactive and shared. The conversation on the CD is already stale and dead (most likely) by the time you get the CD. There's no good way for you to get your two cents in, unless you really want to run the risk of reopening a dead issue and old wounds. For the former, those who don't have time for Usenet--if they don't have time to browse through TIN on their service provider, they'll hardly have time to go through stale dead Usenet articles on CD-ROM. It's a good idea. Years from now I know I'm going to enjoy pulling this CD out, just to see the sorts of things that I used to talk about with Usenet regulars of the era. Who knows, there may not even BE a Usenet as we know it by then. But for the present day, I just don't see the value. Altavista or DejaNews are just a whole lot cheaper and in general are going to be faster to use, too. NetNews Offline Vol. 1 Published by Stefan Ossowski's Schatztruhe Veronikastr. 33 D-45131 Essen Germany +49 201 788778 voice +49 201 798447 fax stefano@tchest.e.eunet.de e-mail http://www.schatztruhe.de/ @endnode @node REVIEW6 "EMC Phase4 Desktop Video Dreams CD-ROM" @toc REVIEW =========================================================================== EMC Phase4 Desktop Video Dreams CD-ROM By: @{" Jason Compton " link JASON} =========================================================================== You may not believe this, but there are a lot of people who use the Amiga to produce videos. All kidding aside, there's an awful lot of stuff out there to help video amateurs, enthusiasts, and professionals put out a top-notch product. The problem, of course, is that a lot of it has been scattered about and it takes a brave heart, not to mention someone with some time on his or her hands, to go and dig up that particular subtitling program you heard was good somewhere once. EM Computergraphic decided to save you the trouble. Their Phase 4 CD, Desktop Video Dreams, is designed to pull a great deal of tools and useful items for video producers together in one place--music, backgrounds, textures, buttons, and editing and post-production tools such as image processors and the aforementioned subtitlers. A number of the packages included are not full versions, such as the DeluxePaint 5 demo. The CD is Amiga-only, with a friendly, personable, if not extravagant layout. Almost everything is easily accessed from CD, although there was a small problem where an animation section presumes you have the proper libraries installed on your system. You'll definitely want to check out MMExperience and ImageVision if pictures and video are your thing, and Phase4 brings them to one place for you. EMC has done a solid job. There are a lot of Amiga video hardware companies but nobody really seems to have the foresight to produce a CD such as this, as a companion piece to their customers' studio. So EMC did it and they deserve notice for it, Phase4 is a well-constructed video-targeted CD. Available from: E.M. Computergraphic 8 Edith Road Clacton on Sea Essex. CO15 1JU UK +44 1255 431389 phone +44 1255 428666 fax @endnode @node CHARTS1 "Aminet Charts: 10-Jun-96" @toc FTP | The most downloaded files from Aminet during the week until 10-Jun-96 | Updated weekly. Most popular file on top. | |File Dir Size Age Description |----------------- --- ---- --- ----------- CyberAVI.lha gfx/show 23K 0+V1.2a, AVI animation player for Cybe VirusZ_II131.lha util/virus 173K 0+VirusZ v1.31 by Georg Hoermann GuiAmiTCP.lha comm/tcp 95K 0+Gui front for Amitcp thor23_inet.lha comm/mail 203K 0+Internet archive for THOR 2.3 (TCP/S AmiTrack1.0.lha comm/tcp 21K 0+AmiTCP on-line Amiga tracking system thor23_main.lha comm/mail 911K 0+Offline reader, main archive (requir AmiPPP11a.lha comm/net 130K 0+A great PPP device with GUI 1.1a AWeb.lha biz/demo 352K 1+AWeb 1.2 DEMO, limited features thor231u.lha comm/mail 205K 0+Update for THOR 2.3 (bugfix) poweroids13.lha game/shoot 429K 0 Multitasking Asteroids, raytraced gf AmigaOS-4.lha pix/illu 170K 0+My Amiga OS4 GUI design ideas httpproxy-0_13.lha comm/tcp 229K 0+Caching Proxy for AmiTCP/INet (all B CGraphX218u.lha gfx/board 464K 1+CyberGraphX Extension Update V2.18 FinalDT.lha biz/swood 8K 0+(V1.00) Import images using DataType hijack.lha comm/tcp 5K 0+Share an IP address among local host xfd114.lha util/pack 130K 0+Decrunch almost every packed file (e WBStart2_1.lha util/libs 23K 0+Emulate program starting from WB (V2 SANA2Meter.lha comm/net 139K 0+SANA-II network device statistics mo OptyCDTool.lha disk/cdrom 53K 0+MUI3 CDDA Player/Editor/Programmer/S Hidus.lha game/demo 397K 0+Superb platform/shoot'em up with gre | The highest rated programs during the week until 10-Jun-96 | Updated weekly. Best program on top. Please rate all the programs you | download. To do so, send to aminet-server@wuarchive.wustl.edu : | RATE | where is the file you want to judge and is a mark from 0..10 | with 10 being the best. You can rate several programs in one mail, but | don't rate your own programs. Example: RATE dev/gui/mui23usr.lha 8 | |File Dir Size Age Description |----------------- --- ---- --- ----------- HyperDrive.lha game/misc 324K 38+FAST tunnel race - hideously addicti AlgoMusic1_4.lha mus/misc 103K 32+Creates and plays great algorithmic Breed96.lha game/misc 177K 6+Space colonisation/exploration game MCP110.lha util/cdity 395K 18+MAJOR UPDATE! The mother of the WB-U ShapeShifter.lha misc/emu 224K 5+Macintosh II emulator, V3.5 ZGIFDT39.18.lha util/dtype 7K 10+The FASTEST gif.datatype there is. KingCON_1.3.lha util/shell 128K 105+Replaces CON: (Review, menus, TAB-ex ToolManager21b.lha util/boot 490K 160+ToolManager 2.1 (Binaries and Docume AWeb.lha biz/demo 352K 1+AWeb 1.2 DEMO, limited features BlacksEditor.lha text/edit 245K 4+Wonderful Text Editor (Version 1.02) HDSleep.lha disk/misc 30K 6+Turns your hard drives motor off. v1 bah.lha text/edit 79K 2+Adds button panels to BED. v1.1 Play16_1.6.lha mus/play 91K 17+Plays WAV, IFF, MAUD, etc, 14 bit ou PPP1_45.lha comm/net 105K 13+SANA-II PPP.device evaluation versio AmIRC.lha comm/tcp 816K 10+Fully featured GUI IRC Client (v1.1) FTPMount-1.0.lha comm/tcp 113K 8+Mounts FTP sites as part of a filesy Ays-vert.lha demo/aga 837K 5+"Vertigo" by Abyss. FastIPrefs4017.lha util/boot 28K 3+IPrefs 40.17 & WBPattern 40.02 biorhythms.lha misc/misc 65K 8+Nice WB biorhythm calculator, V3.2 gcc270-base.lha dev/gcc 1.5M 40+Gcc v2.7.0 - Base part - C/C++/ObjC gcc270-c020.lha dev/gcc 708K 40+Gcc v2.7.0 - 68020 C part - C/C++/Ob gcc270-cp020.lha dev/gcc 1.7M 40+Gcc v2.7.0 - 68020 C++ part - C/C++/ gcc270-doc.lha dev/gcc 1.1M 40+Gcc v2.7.0 - Doc part - C/C++/ObjC C gcc270-inclib.lha dev/gcc 918K 40+Gcc v2.7.0 - Headers and Libs part - mm_1_2-030.lha comm/fido 550K 5+Mail Manager v1.2 - 680x0 version Base64Coders.lha comm/mail 10K 12+Fast base64 (MIME) decoder/encoder. AWebHotlist.lha comm/www 4K 8+Compose a well designed AWeb hotlist awebmail.lha comm/www 3K 6+Mail plugin for Aweb (TCP: required) dft-disc.lha demo/aga 754K 3+DISCO IS OUR CONTRIBUTION TO THE SYM BattleDuel.lha game/2play 787K 4+The ultimate 'Artillery' game ECS,AG @endnode @node MAILLIST "Amiga Report Mailing List" @toc WHERE =========================================================================== Amiga Report Mailing List =========================================================================== If you have an internet mailing address, you can receive Amiga Report in @{"UUENCODED" link UUENCODE} form each week as soon as the issue is released. To be put on the list, send Email to majordomo@amigalib.com Your subject header will be ignored. In the body of the message, enter subscribe areport 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.bengala.saccii.net.au/ar/main.html http://www.livewire.com.au/amiga/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 June 30, 1996 Issue No. 4.09 Copyright 1996 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 Portal. Distribution on public domain disks is acceptable provided proceeds are only to cover the cost of the disk (e.g. no more than $5 US). 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 or VIScorp. 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 EDITORCHOICE "Editor's Choice" @toc COMMERCIAL =========================================================================== Editor's Choice =========================================================================== These are selected products, reviewed by myself, that I've liked. So, I've landed them and decided to sell them. All prices are in $US. John McDonough's The Music Maker, a Contemporary New Age CD composed on the Amiga, is available through Amiga Report. The crisp, clean sounds and calm melodies present a welcome alternative to many pounding alternatives. Available for US$12.00 plus $3 shipping in the US. Non-US orders, please contact before ordering. Check or money order accepted addressed to @{" Jason Compton " link JASON}, shipments made by the artist. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | Issue | Approximate | Amiga Report | | Product | Reviewed | Retail Price | Reader Price | ---------------------------------|----------|--------------|--------------| | | | | | |GPFax Amiga Fax Software | 2.30 | $100.00 | $60.00 | | (Class 1 and 2) | | | | | | | | | |Micro R+D CD-ROM Volume 1 | 2.25 | $69.00 | $30.00 | | (Includes early Transition | | | | | graphics converter and loads| | | | | of artwork) | | | | | | | | | |Micro R+D CD-ROM Volume 2 | 2.26 | $99.95 | $46.75 | | (Includes entire Nature's | | | | | Backdrop series) | | | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Orders may be placed via check, money order, or postal cheque, made out to Jason Compton. Visa/Mastercard accepted via post or E-Mail. No CODs. Mail all orders to @{" Jason Compton " link JASON}. Orders will be processed by Amiga Report and drop-shipped from Micro R+D. In the US, add $5/$10/$20 for UPS shipping, ground/blue/red label, respectively. Overseas: It is recommended that you consider $20 to be the minimum cost for shipping. If you plan to order more than one item, E-mail for shipping cost. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sidewinder's Future Shock II CD is now available through Amiga Report. Featuring 15 Amiga-generated tunes totalling 71 minutes, Eric Gieseke's work is captured on an Amiga-independent media. Available for US$12.00. Please add $5 for shipping. Make check or money order payable to @{" Jason Compton " link JASON}. Orders will be drop-shipped from Sidewinder Productions. For overseas orders, please contact through E-Mail before ordering. @endnode @node PORTAL "Portal" @toc ONLINE =========================================================================== Portal: A Great Place For Amiga Users =========================================================================== The Portal Information Network's Amiga Zone The AFFORDABLE alternative for online Amiga information "Not just another UNIX Shell account!" ------------------------------------------------------- Portal is the home of acclaimed Amiga Zone, a full-service online SIG (Special Interest Group) for Amiga owners and users. We promise, and WE DELIVER ongoing & aggressive Amiga support! Now, more than ever, with so many Amiga magazines gone or shrunken, you need a viable, professionally-maintained resource for information, software, and a link to the world-wide Amiga community. You can dial into Portal to access the Amiga Zone in many ways: direct dial to our San Jose, CA high-speed modems (you pay for the phone call if it's not local), or though any SprintNet or Compuserve indial anywhere (with a small hourly fee) or via the World-wide Internet "telnet" program to portal.com (no hourly fee). Even Delphi and BIX users can Telnet into Portal for a flat $19.95 a month, with *unlimited* use. Portal is NOT just another shell service! Its Online system is fully menu-driven with on-screen commands and help, and you can easily customize it for your favorite terminal program and screen size. Some of Portal/Amiga Zone's amazing features include: * 2.5 GIGabytes of Amiga-specific file space - we have so much Amiga Stuff online, we've lost count! * The *entire* Fred Fish collection of freely distributable software, online. ALL 1100 disks! * Fast, Batch Zmodem file transfer protocol. Download up to 100 files or 100 email letters at once, of any size, with one command. * Amiga vendor areas with many companies participating. * So many incoming lines you'll probably NEVER get a busy signal * 40 "regular" Amiga libraries with over 12,000 files. Hot new stuff arrives daily. * No upload/download "ratios" EVER. Download as much as you want, as often as you want, and never feel pressured doing it. * Live, interactive nightly chats with Amiga folks whose names you will recognize. Special conferences. Random chance prize contests. We have given away thousands of bucks worth of Amiga prizes - more than any other online service. * Message bases where you can ask questions about *anything* Amiga related and get quick replies from the experts. * Amiga Internet mailing lists for Imagine, AMosaic, LightWave, ImageFX, Picasso II & others feed right into the Zone message bases. Read months worth of postings. No need to clutter your mailbox with them. * FREE unlimited Internet Email with 5 meg of free storage. Your email is private, secure, and never censored or monitored. * A FREE UNIX Shell account with another 5 meg of free storage. You can run AMosaic and other Browses via your shell and explore the vast World Wide Web! Intermediate to advanced users can use any standard UNIX mail and news utilities, compilers, and other tools. Ask for your free UNIX book when you sign up. * A home for your own Web page! Your UNIX Shell on Portal is linked to Portal's Web Server. Create your own WWW pages for the whole world to access. No extra charges! * Portal has the Usenet. Thousands of "newsgroups" in which you can read and post articles about virtually any subject you can possibly imagine. Newsgroups are not censored! * Other Portal SIGs (Special Interest Groups) online for Mac, IBM, Sun, UNIX, Science Fiction, Disney, and dozens more. ALL Portal SIGs are accessible to ALL Portal customers with NO surcharges ever. You never worry "Ooops... Am I paying more for this area?" again! * Portal was THE FIRST online service to offer a full package of Internet features: IRC, FTP, TELNET, MUDS, LIBS wrapped into user-friendly menus. And you get FREE unlimited usage of all of them. * Our exclusive PortalX by Steve Tibbett, the graphical "front end" for Portal which will let you automatically click'n'download your waiting email, messages, Usenet groups and binary files! Reply to mail and messages offline using your favorite editor and your replies are sent automatically the next time you log into Portal. (PortalX requires Workbench 2.04 or higher) * Portal does NOT stick it to high speed modem users. Whether you log in at 1200 or 2400 or 9600 or 14.4K you pay the same low price. To join Portal or for more information call: 1-800-433-6444 (voice) 9a.m.-5p.m. Mon-Fri, Pacific Time 1-408-973-9111 (voice) 9a.m.-5p.m. Mon-Fri, Pacific Time 1-408-725-0561 (modem 3/12/2400) 24 hours every day 1-408-725-0560 (modem 96/14400) 24 hours every day or enter "C PORTAL" from any Sprintnet dial-in, or "portal" at any CI$ network dialin, or telnet to "portal.com" from anywhere, and then enter "online" and then "info" or send email to "sales@portal.com" Visit the Amiga Zone Web page at http://www.portal.com/~harv Call and join today. Tell the friendly Portal Customer Service representative, "The Amiga Zone sent me." Ask for the "Interactive" account to get the Amiga Zone, the Online System and a UNIX Shell for only $19.95 a month. The Portal Information Network accepts MasterCard, Visa, or you can pre-pay any amount by personal check or money order. The Portal Online System is a trademark of The Portal Information Network. SLIP, UUCP, custom domain and corporate accounts are also available. @endnode @node BBS_ASIA "Distribution BBSes - Asia" @toc BBS =========================================================================== Distribution BBSes - Asia =========================================================================== -=JAPAN=- * GIGA SONIC FACTOR * Email: kfr01002@niftyserve.or.jp +81-(0)564-55-4864 @endnode @node BBS_AUSTRALIA "Distribution BBSes - Australia" @toc BBS =========================================================================== Distribution BBSes - Australia =========================================================================== -=NEW ZEALAND=- * BITSTREAM BBS * FidoNET 3:771/850.0 AmigaNET 41:644/850.0 +64-(0)3-548-5321 -=VICTORIA=- * NORTH WEST AMIGA BBS * EMail: mozza@nwamiga.apana.org.au Fido: 3:633/265.0 BBS Phone/Fax: +61 3 9331 2831 USR Courier V.Everything @endnode @node BBS_EUROPE "Distribution BBSes - Europe" @toc BBS =========================================================================== Distribution BBSes - Europe =========================================================================== -=FINLAND=- * HANG UP BBS * Email: helpdesk@hangup.nullnet.fi +358 - 0 - 278 8054 * LAHO BBS * +358-64-414 1516 +358-64-414 0400 +358-64-414 6800 +358-64-423 1300 * KINDERGARTEN * Email: matthias.bartosik@hut.fi +358-0-881 32 36 -=FRANCE=- * DYNAMIX BBS * Email: erlsoft@mcom.mcom.fr +33.1.48.89.96.66 Minitel to Modem * RAMSES THE AMIGA FLYING * Internet: user.name@ramses.fdn.org Fidonet: 2/320/104-105-106 +33-1-45845623 +33-1-53791200 -=GERMANY=- * DOOM OF DARKNESS * Email: marc_doerre@doom.ping.de +49 (0)4223 8355 19200 AR-Infoservice, contact Kai Szymanski kai@doom.gun.de * IMAGINE BBS * Email: Sysop@imagine.commo.mcnet.de +49-69-4304948 Login: GAST (Download area: "Amiga-Report") * LEGUANS BYTE CHANNEL * Usenet: andreas@lbcmbx.in-berlin.de 49-30-8110060 49-30-8122442 Login as User: "amiga", Passwd: "report" * REDEYE BBS * Internet: sysop@coolsurf.de Modem/ISDN: +49-89.54662690 Modem only:+49.89.54662680 * STINGRAY DATABASE * EMail: 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 * EMail: cocos@prometheus.hol.gr Telnet: hellas.hol.gr ++301/ 620-6001, 620-6604, 620-9500 * ODYSSEY BBS * email: odyssey@acropolis.net Amiganet: 39:250/1.0 ++301-4123502 23.00-09.00 Local Time http://www.acropolis.net/~konem/odygb.html -=IRELAND=- * FWIBBLE! * Fidonet: 2:263/900.0 E-Mail: 9517693@ul.ie Phone: +353-902-36124 Midnight to 8am (GMT) Freq "Readme.txt" for details -=ITALY=- * AMIGA PROFESSIONAL BBS * Amy Professional Club, Italian Amos Club +(39)-49-604488 * AMIPRO BBS* AR and AMINET distributor +39-49604488 * FRANZ BBS * EMsil: mc3510@mclink.it +39/6/6627667 * IDCMP * Fidonet 2:322/405 +39-542-25983 * SPEED OF LIFE * FidoNet 2:335/533 AmigaNet 39:102/12 The AMIGA Alchemists' BBS +39-931-833773 -=NETHERLANDS=- * AMIGA ONLINE BS HEEMSTEDE * Fidonet: 2:280/464.0, 2:280/412.0 Internet: michiel@aobh.xs4all.nl +31-23-282002 +31-23-470739 * THE HELL BBS * Fido-Net : 2:281/418.0 e-mail : root@hell.xs4all.nl +31-(0)70-3468783 * TRACE BBS GRONINGEN * FidoNET 2:282/529.0 Internet Martin@trace.idn.nl +31-(0)-50-410143 * X-TREME BBS * Internet: u055231@vm.uci.kun.nl +31-167064414 -=NORWAY=- * FALLING BBS * EMail: christon@powertech.no +47 69 256117 -=POLAND=- * SILVER DREAM!'S BBS * SysOp: Silver Dream +48 91 540431 -=PORTUGAL=- * CIUA BBS * FidoNet 2:361/9 Internet: denise.ci.ua.pt +351-34-382080/382081 -=RUSSIA=- * NEW ORDER BBS * E-Mail: norder@norder.spb.su FidoNet: 2:5030/221.0 +7-812-2909561 -=SPAIN=- * GURU MEDITATION * +34-1-383-1317 * LA MITAD OSCURA * E-Mail: jovergon@offcampus.es Fido: 2:341/35.19 +34-1-3524613 * MAZAGON - BBS - SYSTEMS * E-mail: jgomez@maze.mazanet.es FTP: ftp-mail@ftp.mazanet.es +34 59 536267 Login: a-report -=SWEDEN=- * CICERON * E-mail: a1009@itv.se +46 612 22011 -=SWITZERLAND=- * LINKSYSTEM LINK-CH1 * contact: rleemann@link-ch1.aworld.de +41 61 3215643 ISDN: +41 61 3832007 Local newsgroup link-ch1.ml.amiga-report -=UKRAINE=- * AMIGA HOME BBZ * E-Mail: Oleg.Khimich@bbs.te.net.ua FidoNet: 2:467/88.0 +380-482-325043 -=UNITED KINGDOM=- * AMIGA JUNCTION 9 * Internet: sysadmin@junct9.demon.co.uk FidoNet: 2:440/20 +44 (0)372 271000 * CREATIONS BBS * E-Mail: mat@darkside.demon.co.uk 2:254/524@Fidonet +44-0181-665-9887 * DRAUGHTFLOW BBS * Email: Ian_Cooper@draught.demon.co.uk +44 (01707) 328484 * METNET CCS * Email: metnet@demon.co.uk FidoNet: 2:2502/129.0 2:2502/130.0 +44-1482-442251 +44-1482-444910 * OCTAMED USER BBS * EMail: rbfsoft@cix.compulink.co.uk +44 (01703) 703446 * SCRATCH BBS * EMail: kcci1@solx1.susx.ac.uk Official Super Skidmarks site +44-1273-389267 @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 * EMail: steve_hooper@comm.tfbbs.wimsey.com Fido: 1:153/210.0 604-945-6192 -=CALIFORNIA=- * TIERRA-MIGA BBS * FidoNet: 1:202/638.0 Internet: torment.cts.com 619.292.0754 * VIRTUAL PALACE BBS * Sysop Email: tibor@ecst.csuchico.edu 916-343-7420 * AMIGA AND IBM ONLY BBS * EMail: vonmolk@crash.cts.com AmigaNET: 40:406/7.0 (619)428-4887 -=FLORIDA=- * LAST! AMIGA BBS * (305) 456-0126 -=ILLINOIS=- * EMERALD KEEP BBS * FidoNet: 1:2250/2 AmigaNet: 40:206/1 618-394-0065 * 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 * STARSHIP CUCUG * Email: 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 * E-mail: Geoff148@delphi.com 504-882-6576 -=MAINE=- * THE KOBAYASHI ALTERNATIVE BBS * FidoNet: 1:326/404.0 (207)/784-2130 (207)/946-5665 ftp.tka.com for back issues of AR -=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 * InterNet: stace@tecnet1.jcte.jcs.mil FidoNet: 1:3604/60.0 601-374-2697 -=MICHIGAN=- * DC PRODUCTIONS * Email: dcpro!chetw@heifetz.msen.com 616-373-0287 -=NEVADA=- * PUP-TEK BBS * EMail: darkwolf@accessnv.com 702-553-2403 -=NEW JERSEY=- * T.B.P. VIDEO SLATE * 201-586-3623 * DLTACOM AMIGA BBS * Internet: dltacom.camphq.fidonet.org Fidonet: 1:2606/216.0 (201) 398-8559 -=NEW YORK=- * THE BELFRY(!) * stiggy@belfry.org 718.793.4796 718.793.4905 http://www.belfry.org/ -=ONTARIO=- * COMMAND LINE BBS * 416-533-8321 * CYBERSPACE * joehick@ophielia.waterloo.net (519) 579-0072 (519) 579-0173 * EDGE OF REALITY BBS * EMail: 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! * Email: root@amicent.raider.net 615-383-9679 * NOVA BBS * FidoNet 1:362/508.0 615-472-9748 -=VIRGINIA=- * NETWORK XXIII DATA SYSTEM * EMail: gottfrie@acca.nmsu.edu 804-266-1763 Login: anon Password: nopass -=WASHINGTON=- * FREELAND MAINFRAME * Internet - 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=- * AMIGA DO PC BBS * Fidonet: 4:801/44 Internet: fimoraes@dcc.unicamp.br +55-192-33-2260 Weekdays: 19-07 (-3 GMT) Weekends: 24 hours @endnode @node DEAL_ASIA "Dealers - Asia" @toc DEALER =========================================================================== Dealers - Asia =========================================================================== -=JAPAN=- Grey Matter Ltd. 1-22-3,Minami Magome HillTop House 2F suite 201 Ota-ku,Tokyo 143 Tel:+81 (0)3 5709-5549 Fax:+81 (0)3 5709-1907 BBS: +81 (0)3 5709-1907 Email: nighty@gmatter.japan-online.or.jp @endnode @node DEAL_AUSTRALIA "Dealers - Australia" @toc DEALER =========================================================================== Dealers - Australia =========================================================================== -=QUEENSLAND=- Image Domain 92 Bridge St Fortitude Valley, Brisbane E-mail: s322698@student.uq.edu.au Voice: 617-3216-1240 Fax: 617-3852-2720 -= NEW ZEALAND =- CompKarori LG/F Karori Shopping Mall Karori, Wellington Tel/Fax: +64 4 476-0212 Email: sales@compkarori.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 EMail: 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 Email: 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 INTERNET: vanhoutv@nbre.nfe.be FIDO: 2:292/603.9 -=BULGARIA=- KlubVerband ITA Gmbh 1309 Sofia P.F.13, KukushStr. 1-2 Tel: +359-2-221471 Fax: +359-2-230062 Email: KVITA@VIRBUS.BG Contact: Dr. ING B. Pavlov -=DENMARK=- Data Service Att. Soren Petersen Kaerhaven2a 2th 6400 Sonderborg Phone/Fax: +45 74 43 17 36 EMail: sorpe-95@sdbg.ih.dk Nemesis Amy BBS EMail: boersting@hoa.ping.dk Fido: 2:238/43 USR 33k6 V.E. +45 75-353726 -=FINLAND=- Lincware Computers Ltd Lovkullankuja 3 10300 KARJAA Voice: +358-50-5573696 Fax: +358-11-231511 EMail: 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 (automatique): +33 50.52.83.31 E-Mail: tcp@imaginet.fr -=GERMANY=- AMItech Systems GmbH Ludwigstrasse 4 D-95028 Hof/Saale VOICE: +49 9281 142812 FAX: +49 9281 142712 EMail: bsd@blacky.netz.sub.de dcp, desing+commercial partner GmbH Alfredstr. 1 D-22087 Hamburg Tel.: + 49 40 251176 Fax: +49 40 2518567 EMail: info@dcp.de WWW: http://www.dcp.de Hartmann & Riedel GdbR Hertzstr. 33 D-76287 Rheinstetten EMail: rick@p22.aop.schiele-ct.de Fido: 2:2476/12.22 Voice: +49 (7242) 2021 Fax: +49 (7242) 5909 Please call before visiting, or we may be closed. Hirsch & Wolf OHG Mittelstra_e 33 D-56564 Neuwied Voice: +49 (2631) 8399-0 Fax: +49 (2631) 8399-31 Pro Video Elektronik Roßmarkt 38 D-63739 Aschaffenburg Tel: (49) 6021 15713 Fax: (49) 6021 15713 -=ITALY=- C.A.T.M.U. snc Casella Postale 63 10023 Chieri (TO) Tel/Fax: +39 11 9415237 EMail: fer@inrete.it (Ferruccio Zamuner) Fido: 2:334/21.19 Cloanto Italia srl Via G. B. Bison 24 33100 Udine Tel: +39 432 545902 Fax: +39 432 609051 E-Mail: info@cloanto.it CompuServe: 100145.15 -=NETHERLANDS=- Chaos Systems Watermolen 18 NL-1622 LG Hoorn (NH) Voice: +31-(0)229-233922 Fax/Data: +31-(0)229-TBA E-mail: marioh@fwi.uva.nl WWW: http://gene.fwi.uva.nl/~marioh/ -=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 -=NORWAY=- DataKompaniet ANS Trondheim Innovation Centre Prof. Brochs gt. 6 N-7030 Trondheim Tel: +47 7354 0375 Fax: +47 7394 3861 EMail:datakompaniet@interlink.no WWW:http://www.interlink.no/datakompaniet Sezam Software Ulsmĺgveien 11a N-5o5o Nesttun Tel/Fax: +47 55100070 (9-20) ABBS: +47 55101730 (24t) Email: oleksy@telepost.no -=SWEDEN=- DataVision Box 1305 753 11 Uppsala Street Address: Sysslomansgatan 9 Orders: +46 (0)18-123400 Shop: +46 (0)18-124009 Fax: +46 (0)18-100650 -=UNITED KINGDOM=- Almathera Systems Ltd Southerton House / Boundary Business Court 92-94 Church Road Mitcham, Surrey / CR4 3TD VOICE: (UK) 081 687 0040 FAX: (UK) 081 687 0490 Sales: almathera@cix.compulink.co.uk Tech: jralph@cix.compulink.co.uk Brian Fowler Computers Ltd 90 South Street / Exeter Devon / EX1 1EN Voice: (01392) 499 755 Fax: (01392) 493 393 Internet: brian_fowler@cix.compulink.co.uk Visage Computers 27 Watnall Road Hucknall / Nottingham Tel: +44 (0)115 9642828 Tel/Fax: +44 (0)115 9642898 EMail: 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 EMail: info@animax.com http://www.animax.com/ APC Computer Services 402-5 Tangreen Crt Willowdale, Ont. M2M 3Z1 Voice/Fax: (416) 733-1434 EMail: shadow@interlog.com WWW: www.interlog.com/~shadow/apccomp.html Atlantis Kobetek Inc. 1496 Lower Water St. Halifax, NS / B3J 1R9 Phone: (902)-422-6556 Fax: (902)-423-9339 E-mail: 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 EMail: s2200147@nickel.laurentian.ca CineReal Pro-Video 272 Avondale Avenue Ottawa, Ontario K1Z 7G8 Phone/Fax: (613) 798-8150 (Call first to fax) EMail: 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 Email: austin@canuck.com WWW: http://www.canuck.com/cshop Computerology Direct Powell River, BC V8A-4Z3 Call 24 hrs. orders/inquiries: 604/483-3679 Amiga users ask for HEAD SALES REP for quicker response! Comspec Communications Inc 74 Wingold Ave Toronto, Ontario M6B 1P5 Computer Centre: (416) 785-8348 Sales: (416) 785-3553 Fax: 416-785-3668 Internet: 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 EMail: saurus@xcelco.on.ca 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 Email: mchabot@nationalnet.com National Amiga Oakville, Ontario Fax: 905-845-3295 EMail: gscott@interlog.com WWW: http://www.interlog.com/~gscott/NationalAmiga.html Oby's Amigo Computing Shop 765 Barrydowne Rd Sudbury, Ontario P3A 3T6 Voice/Fax: (705)524-5826 Email: obys@vianet.on.ca http://icewall.vianet.on.ca/pages/obys Randomize Computers R.R. #2 Tottenham, Ont. L0G 1W0 vox: 905-939-8371 fax: 905-939-8745 email: randomize@interlog.com www: www.interlog.com/~randomize/ Software Supermart 11010 - 101 Street Edmonton, Alberta T5H-2T1 Voice: (403) 425-0691 Fax: (403) 426-1701 EMail: ssmart@planet.eon.net SpectrumTech Electronics 412-1205 Fennell Avenue East Hamilton, ON L8T 1T1 Voice: (905) 388-9575 BBS: (905) 388-2542 E-Mail: ste@spectrum.gryn.org Contact: Derek Clarke Wonder Computers Ottawa Retail Store 1315 Richmond Road Ottawa, Ontario K2B 8J7 Voice: (613) 721-1800 Fax: 613-721-6992 Wonder Computers Vancouver Sales Office 2229 Edinburgh St. New Westminster, BC W3M 2Y2 (604) 524-2151 voice young monkey studios 797 Mitchell Street Fredericton, NB E3B 3S8 Phone: (506) 459-7088 Fax: (506) 459-7099 EMail: sales@youngmonkey.ca -=UNITED STATES=- A&D Computer 211 South St. Milford, NH 03055-3743 Voice/Fax: 603-672-4700 BBS: 603-673-2788 Internet: amiga@mv.mv.com Alex Electronics 597 Circlewood Dr. Paradise, CA 95969 Voice: 916-872-0896 BBS: 915-872-3711 EMail: alex@ecst.csuchico.edu WWW: http://www.km-cd.com/~alex/ Amigability Computers P.O. Box 572 Plantsville, CT 06479 VOICE: 203-276-8175 Internet: 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 Internet: amiga-x@tka.com Amiga Library Services 610 Alma School Rd, #18 Chandler, Az 85224-3687 Voice: (800) 804-0833 Fax: (602) 491-0048 E-Mail: orders@amigalib.com Amiga Video Solutions 1568 Randolph Avenue St. Paul, MN 55105 Voice: 612-698-1175 Fax: 612-224-3823 BBS: 612-698-1918 Net: wohno001@maroon.tc.umn.edu 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 Portal: Apogee Internet: Apogee@cup.portal.com Armadillo Brothers 753 East 3300 South Salt Lake City, Utah VOICE: 801-484-2791 Internet: B.GRAY@genie.geis.com Computer Advantage 7370 Hickman Road Des Moines, IA 50322 Voice/Fax: 515-252-6167 Internet: 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 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 Email: moxley@value.net http://www.ccompsol.com/ CyberTech Labs PO Box 56941 North Pole, Alaska 99705 Vox: (907) 451-3285 BBS1 : (907) 488-2547 BBS2 & Fax: (907) 488-2647 EMail: 71516.600@CompuServe.com Fido: 1:355/17.0 DC Productions 218 Stockbridge Avenue Kalamazoo, MI 49001 (616)373-1985 (800)9DC-PROD Email: 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 EMail: Sheep@netins.net Electronic Connection 635 Penn Ave West Reading, PA 19611 Phone: 610-372-1010 Fax: 610-378-0996 HT Electronics E-Mail: HT Electronics@cup.portal.com BIX: msears 422 S. Hillview Dr. 211 Lathrop Way, Ste. A. Milipitas, CA 95035 Sacramento, CA 95815 V: (408) 934-7700 V: (916) 925-0900 F: (408) 934-7717 F: (916) 925-2829 Industrial Video, Inc. 1601 North Ridge Rd. Lorain, OH 44055 VOICE: 800-362-6150, 216-233-4000 Contact: John Gray Internet: af741@cleveland.freenet.edu Kipp Visual Systems 360-C Christopher Ave. Gaithersburg Md, 20878 301-670-7906 kipp@rasputin.umd.edu The Lively Computer - Tom Lively 8314 Parkway Dr. La Mesa, CA 91942 Voice: 619-589-9455 Fax: 619-589-5230 Net: tlively@connectnet.com Magic Page 3043 Luther Street Winston-Salem, NC 27127 Voice/Fax: 910-785-3695 E-mail: Spiff@ix.netcom.com Contact: Patrick Smith MicroSearch 9000 US 59 South, Suite 330 Houston, Texas VOICE: 713-988-2818 FAX: 713-995-4994 MicroTech Solutions, Inc. 1885 N. Farnsworth Ave. Suites 6-7-8 Aurora, IL 60505-1162 Voice: 708-851-3033 Fax: 708-851-3825 BBS: 708-851-3929 Email: info@mt-inc.com WWW: http://www.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 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 Internet: PSIANIM@agora.rain.com Raymond Commodore Amiga 795 Raymond Avenue St. Paul, MN 55114-1521 VOICE: 612.642.9890 FAX: 612.642.9891 Safe Harbor Computers W226 N900 Eastmound Dr Waukesha, WI 53186 Orders: 800-544-6599 Fax: 414-548-8130 WWW Catalog: www.sharbor.com Slipped Disk 170 E 12 Mile Rd Madison Heights, Michigan 48071 Voice: (810) 546-DISK BBS: (810) 399-1292 Fido: 1:120/321.0 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 EMail: 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 FIDO: 1:2613/323 INTERNET: neil@rochgte.fidonet.org Zipperware 76 South Main St. Seattle, WA 98104 VOICE: 206-223-1107 FAX: 206-223-9395 E-Mail: zipware@nwlink.com WWW: http://www.speakeasy.org/zipperware @endnode @node OPINION "Editorial and Opinion" @toc MENU =========================================================================== Editorial and Opinion =========================================================================== @{" compt.sys.editor.desk " link EDITORIAL} Emerson? @{" Open Letter From France " link OPINION1} An open letter. @{" Open Letter to Enthusiasts " link OPINION2} And another one. @{" View From Belgium " link OPINION3} Go for three. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- @{" 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 =========================================================================== @{"VIScorp Values the Amiga " link NEWS15} An open letter from VIScorp @{" Escom Finalizes Sale " link NEWS16} The Escom chapter, almost closed @{" VIScorp and Emerson " link NEWS17} Electronics giant to distribute UITI @{" EMC 'Phase' CDs " link NEWS1} The Phase series of useful tools @{" Greek Amiga Computing " link NEWS2} Greece gets a translated AC magazine @{" Instant CGFX " link NEWS3} A call-for-participation paper @{" F1 Shareware " link NEWS4} F1 explains their shareware model @{"AmiTrix Price Reductions " link NEWS18} Amiga-Link and SCSI-TV get cheaper @{" MRBackup " link NEWS5} Sold to IAM @{" Amiga Translators " link NEWS6} A new group for universal understanding @{" Amiga CDROM Guide " link NEWS7} A catalog of CDs and reviews @{" Amiga CDROM Survey " link NEWS8} Speak your mind on CD-ROMs @{" EnPrint 2.1 " link NEWS9} Upgrade your printer drivers @{" Mail Manager 1.2 " link NEWS10} FIDOnet interface package @{" sort 1.5 " link NEWS11} Sort your ASCII files @{" RevUp 1.5 " link NEWS12} Manage version strings @{" BattleDuel V1.4.80 " link NEWS13} Artillery Duel revisited @{" MapRZ2_EVD 1.1 " link NEWS14} Optimize Retina Z2 ShapeShifting --------------------------------------------------------------------------- @{" 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 =========================================================================== @{" Going On The INet " link FEATURE1} A tutorial @{" Stop Power Woes " link FEATURE2} A look at UPS systems --------------------------------------------------------------------------- @{" 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 =========================================================================== @{" Workbench Add-On CD " link REVIEW3} A CD full of enhancers @{" Aminet 12 CD-ROM " link REVIEW4} Aminet's latest release @{" NetNews Offline CD-ROM " link REVIEW5} Nice thought, but... @{" EMC Phase4 Video CD-ROM " link REVIEW6} A video tools CD @{" EZ135 Followup " link REVIEW1} The bed of roses grows thorns @{" SciFi Sensations Followup " link REVIEW2} A big correction --------------------------------------------------------------------------- @{" 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 =========================================================================== @{" 10-Jun-96 " link CHARTS1} --------------------------------------------------------------------------- @{" 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: @{" Addison Laurent " link ADDISON} --------------------------------------------------------------------------- @{" 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 PORTAL} --------------------------------------------------------------------------- @{" 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} @{" Australia " link BBS_AUSTRALIA} @{" Europe " link BBS_EUROPE} @{" North America " link BBS_NAMERICA} @{" South America " link BBS_SAMERICA} Sysops: To have your name added, please send @{"Email", link JASON} with the BBS name, its location (Country, province/state) your name, any internet/fidonet addresses, and the phone number of your BBS --------------------------------------------------------------------------- @{" 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} @{" Australia " link DEAL_AUSTRALIA} @{" 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