@database "ar114.guide" @NODE MAIN "Amiga Report 1.14, June 25, 1993" _ ____ ___ ______ _______ _ d# ####b g#00 `N##0" _agN#0P0N# d# d## jN## j##F J## _dN0" " d## .#]## _P ##L jN##F ### g#0" .#]## dE_j## # 0## jF ##F j##F j##' ______ dE_j## .0"""N## d" ##L0 ##F 0## 0## "9##F" .0"""5## .dF' ]## jF ##0 ##F ##F `##k d## .dF' j## .g#_ _j##___g#__ ]N _j##L_ _d##L_ `#Nh___g#N' .g#_ _j##__ """"" """"""""""" " """""" """""" """"""" """"" """""" ###### ###### ###### ###### ###### ######## TM ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## #### ## ## ## #### ## ## ## #### ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ### ###### ## ###### ## ### ## International Online Magazine June 25, 1993 @{" Open Magazine " link menu} No. 1.14 ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// "Your Weekly Source for Amiga Information." // \\ // \\/ From STR Publications @endnode @node P2-1 "For Starters" @toc "menu" ----------------------------------------- * NOVA BBS * Amiga Report Headquarters * Running Starnet BBS * Wayne Stonecipher, Sysop FidoNet 1:362/508 An Amiga Software Distribution Site (ADS) 615-472-9748 Supra V.32bis 24hrs - 7 days Cleveland, Tennessee ------------------------------------------ * IN THE MEANTIME BBS * Official Amiga Report Distribution Site * Running Starnet BBS * Robert Niles, Sysop FidoNet 1:3407/104 509-966-3828 Supra V.32bis 24hrs - 7 days Yakima, Washington NOTE: New phone number in effect as of July 18th! ------------------------------------------ * CLOUD'S CORNER BBS * Official Amiga Report Distribution Site Starnet/MebbsNet Support Site West Coast USA * Running Starnet BBS * Larry Cloud, Sysop FidoNet 1:350/30 206-377-4290 USR HST DS 24hrs - 7 days Bremerton, Washington ------------------------------------------ Amiga Report can be FREQ'd from these boards each week. Use the filename AR.LHA and you will always get the latest issue. @endnode _____________________________________________________________________________ /// 06/25/93 Amiga Report 1.14 "Your Weekly Source for Amiga Information" -------------------------- · The Editor's Desk · CPU Report · New Products · Dealer Directory · AR Online · AR Confidential · Usenet Reviews · A.M.I.G.A. · Cow Wars · Sysop's Point of View · Fish Disks · Amiga Tip of the Week · Academic Censorship · A Price What?!? · Zoomer Z-550 PDA « Commodore Shareholder Movement » « Motorola 68060 Technical Documentation » « Amiga Report Now in AmigaGuide Format! » ============================================================================= Amiga Report International Online Magazine » FEATURING WEEKLY « Accurate UP-TO-DATE News and Information Current Events, Original Articles, Tips, Rumors, and Information Hardware · Software · Corporate · R & D · Imports ============================================================================= GENIE · PORTAL · DELPHI · BIX · FIDO · INTERNET · NVN ============================================================================= @node P4-1 "GEnie" @toc "menu" -=> HOW TO GET YOUR OWN GENIE ACCOUNT <=- --------------------------------- Set your communications software to Half Duplex (or Local Echo) Call: (with modem) 800-638-8369. Upon connection type HHH (RETURN after that). Wait for the U#= prompt. Type: XTX99587,CPUREPT then, hit RETURN. Rates Effective July 1, 1993 GEnie costs only $8.95 a month, and includes four hours of free online time, good for almost anywhere on the system. Additional hours are only $3 each. Choose from more than 100 services, including electronic mail (with optional Internet mail at no extra charge), online encyclopedia, shopping, news, entertainment, online games, and bulletin boards on leisure and professional subjects. The Amiga RoundTable has over 1 GIGABYTE of Amiga files online and ready for downloading. The Amiga RT staff is very knowledgeable and is more than willing to help with problems. Help Desks are held every night at 9 pm Eastern Time. 9600 BPS access is available ($6 surcharge) through many local nodes, or via GEnie's own 800 Watts line. GEnie Information Copyright © 1993 by General Electric Information Services/GEnie, reprinted with permission. @endnode ***************************************************************************** @node P1-1 "From the Editor's Desk" @toc "menu" /// From the Editor's Desk "Editorial Soapbox" ---------------------- Welcome to the first AmigaGuide issue of Amiga Report! I hope you enjoy it. A lot of initial testing and thought has gone into the layout, and this is what we've come up with. The design and implementation was done by Robert Niles, part of the Technical staff. We will continue to improve the design, and certainly open to suggestions. The majority of AmigaGuide codes have been placed at the very end of the issue, to maintain readability by normal ASCII readers. In last week's issue, I mentioned two programs to help combat the new F_ck virus in a sideline of the Press Release about that virus. These two programs are not approved by Safe Hex International, but have been tested and are what they claim to be. Michael Arends of SHI/West wanted me to make it clear that they do not endorse those programs, and I want to make it clear that they do what they are designed to do. He says they hope to have an 'official' virus killer with support for this horrible new virus available soon. We have added another BBS to the Official Distribution Site list. Please welcome the Cloud's Corner BBS as another site where Amiga Report can be found as soon as the issues are available. This board is fed Amiga Report immediately after the Headquarters board, Nova, receives it. I'm working on getting some sites in the UK and Europe, as our sysops have been reporting calls from Germany, Australia and Spain. If we can setup sites overseas, that will help reduce phone bills for these people. If you are a BBS operator overseas with an internet Email address or CompuLink account, and would like to be a distribution site, please send me Email. Lastly (but certainly not least), the Amiga staff on Delphi is going to try to revitalize the area by again having weekly informal conferences. The next one is scheduled for Thursday, July 1st at 10 pm Eastern Time. If you have a Delphi account, BE THERE. Rob @ Amiga Report @endnode ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ @node P2-2 "AR Staff" @toc "menu" /// The Amiga Report Staff Dedicated to serving you! ---------------------- Editor in Chief =============== Robert Glover GEnie: ROB-G Portal: Coming Soon! Delphi: ROB_G FidoNet: 1:362/508.6 Internet: ROB_G@Delphi.COM Associate Editors ================= Technical Department -------------------- Micah Thompson Robert Niles GEnie: BOOMER.T Delphi: RNILES FidoNet: 1:3407/104 Internet: BOOMER.T@GEnie.geis.com RNILES@Delphi.COM Graphics Department ------------------- Mike Troxell GEnie: M.TROXELL1 FidoNet: 1:362/508 Internet: M.TROXELL1@GEnie.geis.com Contributing Department ----------------------- Tom Mulcahy Delphi: 16BITTER BIX: HELMET FidoNet: 1:260/322 Internet: 16BITTER@Delphi.COM ________________________________________ Contributing Correspondents =========================== Marcus Albers Lloyd E. Pulley, Sr. PC DIVISION ATARI DIVISION MAC DIVISION =========== ============== ============ Roger D. Stevens Ralph F. Mariano R. Albritton @endnode ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ @node P1-2 "CPU Report" @toc "menu" /// CPU Status Report Late Breaking Industry-Wide News ----------------- TWO COMPUTER EXHIBITIONS HELD IN TOKYO TOKYO, JAPAN -- Two large computer exhibitions -- Network '93 and Windows World Expo -- were/are being held held in Tokyo. Network '93 has just started at Harumi, Tokyo. This is the second year the show has taken place and, as you can guess from its name, majors on network-related products, including both hardware and software. A total of 87 companies are participating in the show this year, including NEC, Sony, Fujitsu, IBM Japan, Oki Electric, Novell, Microsoft, Lotus and Phoenix International. The majority of the products on show are local area network-oriented, with a smattering of Windows applications. As with all exhibitions of this type, the real focus of interest was on the conferences. Several industry leaders, including Microsoft's Toru Furukawa and Novell's Jan Newman, were on hand to answer delegate's queries. While Furukawa discussed the era of "corporate resolution for Windows," Newman explained Novell's business strategy for Netware version 4.0. IDG World Expo, meanwhile, hosted Windows World Expo at the Makuhuri Messe in Tokyo last year. This is another show celebrating its second year, with 67,400 people -- twice those of last year -- flooding the show site during its three day run. Newsbytes notes that a total of 119 companies were exhibiting from 593 booths at the show this year. The major highlight of this show was, unsurprisingly, Windows-related packages such as Japanese Windows 3.1, Windows NT, Windows for Workgroups, Windows for Pens, Windows for Video and Modular Windows. The hands-on section of the exhibition had between 50 to 60 PCs on constant display. 27 overseas companies teamed up to create the International Pavilion at the show entrance. The foreign companies were keen to talk to distributors interested in stocking their products. At the keynote address, a tape of Microsoft's founder Bill Gates greeted the audience. The real Furukawa from Microsoft, meanwhile, introduced Japanese Windows 3.1 and Pen Windows. ------------------------------ CANADA'S NEW TELECOM ACT ABOUT TO BECOME LAW OTTAWA, ONTARIO, CANADA -- Royal assent may be given today to Canada's new Telecommunications Act, which would replace 85-year-old legislation and unify a fragmented regulatory structure. A spokesman for the federal Department of Communications confirmed that the act has been passed in the House of Commons and gone through third reading in the Senate, and is expected to be proclaimed very soon. The bill asserts federal jurisdiction over telecommunications across Canada. In the past many regional telephone companies were provincially regulated, while others were regulated by the federal government. Some provincial phone companies have accepted federal jurisdiction in the past three years, since a 1989 court decision that said the federal government had the right to regulate all telecommunications companies. That decision included companies owned by lower levels of government, but said Ottawa must first assert its authority in law. The new act will meet that requirement. A hole in the legislation gives the province of Saskatchewan -- which owns its own phone company and has staunchly resisted federal regulation -- five more years before it comes under federal control. Joseph Schmidt, president of the Canadian Business Telecommunications Alliance (CBTA), a lobby group of major telecommunications users, criticized this provision, saying it gives the province "five more years to shut out competition." But Schmidt said his group is pleased with the law over all, and accepts that some compromises were necessary. The CBTA sees the bill as promoting competition, Schmidt said. It "will help bring about a truly national dimension in communications," he said, and will give policy-makers new tools with which to do their jobs. The Information Technology Association of Canada (ITAC), also supported the bill. A statement from ITAC said the law "acknowledges that we are on the threshold of major telecom transformations, and that Canada intends to be a leader in telecom internationally." It also moves toward a more open domestic market, ITAC said. The original law, introduced in February, 1992, would have required all telecommunications carriers in Canada to obtain licenses from the federal government. It has since been amended to remove the licensing provision, instead giving the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) authority to enforce a rule limiting foreign ownership of licensed carriers to 20 percent. Earlier, Toronto telecommunications consultant Eamon Hoey said the 20-percent limit on foreign ownership would effectively shut out foreign investment, since no investor would want to pour money into a venture in which it cannot hold a controlling interest. This is bad, Hoey said, because "we don't have enough investment dollars in Canada ... to build the kind of facilities we're talking about." The result, he predicted, will be that no new telecommunications competitors will appear. Under the new law, the CRTC would also be allowed to decide not to regulate areas of telecommunications where it judged there was enough competition to serve as an alternative to regulation. ------------------------------ ZENITH DATA INTROS MONITOR THAT GOES TO SLEEP BUFFALO GROVE, ILLINOIS -- Zenith Data Systems will introduce at PC Expo in New York next week a new computer monitor that goes to sleep during periods of inactivity to lower the level of power consumption. The company claims that the 15-inch Super VGA multisync flicker-free display unit offers resolution up to 1024 horizontal by 768 vertical pixels and is intended for graphical applications, desktop publishing, layout work, or other environments where users have to look at the display for long periods of time. Called the ZCM-1540, the non-interlaced monitor automatically switches to lower levels of power consumption when not in use. ZDS says any application that has the capability to blank the screen, such as Microsoft Windows, or the multitude of "screen saver" software available commercially or from public access bulletin boards can automatically switch the monitor into its standby mode. The company sats that energy consumption can be lowered by as much as 30 percent, or to less than 30 watts in the standby mode. That makes it eligible for the Energy Star designation, a voluntary standard for computer equipment makers established by the US Environmental Protection Agency. After a further period of activity the 33 pound ZCM-1540 switches into a "rest state" in which it uses only eight watts of power. A touch of any key on the computer keyboard restores the monitor to full activity. ZDS spokesperson John Bace told Newsbytes features include 0.28 dot pitch, auto synchronization, auto-sensing of the power voltage being supplied, support for five different resolution modes, and conformation with both US and European standards. The latter is particularly important, says Bace. The US Federal Communications Commission and European regulatory agencies have established emissions standards, with some of the European standards being particularly tough. "The European and world-wide regulatories are absolute killers when it comes to monitors. This unit meets the Swedish and Norwegian standards. To be able to clear those Scandinavian regulations in particular is very difficult, and this unit does," he said. Price hasn't been established yet, but Bace says it will be about the same as other 15-inch color monitors. ------------------------------ IT'S CHAPTER 11 FOR COMPUADD'S RETAIL DIVISION AUSTIN, TEXAS -- Compuadd Computer Corporation announced this week that it has filed a voluntary Chapter 11 petition in order to settle claims by its creditors resulting from the phasing out of the company's retail stores. Several months ago Newsbytes reported that Compuadd planned to close all of its 110 US. retail outlets and sell its product through the direct market channel, using telemarketing and catalogs. Compuadd CEO Bill Hayden said that the company has tried for three months to reach an out-of-court settlement with creditors such as landlords and suppliers on claims that resulted from the discontinued retail operations. "This process was consuming an unacceptable amount of management attention that, when coupled with a substantial increase in our core business, a strong backlog, and the need to preserve the company's 435 jobs, made bankruptcy court protection the most orderly way to run our business in the short term," Hayden said. "Strategically, we had to leave the market-place to focus on our core business. In turn, we incurred liabilities we could not meet or resolve in an out of court settlement. Our direct marketing sales are strong, our customer and employee commitments will be met in a business-as-usual manner, and we'll begin shipping a new generation of products next month. We're mounting a full court press to emerge from Chapter 11 as quickly as possible," he added. Compuadd claims that it will continue to fulfil customer commitments and expects to emerge from bankruptcy protection following the filing of the requisite reorganization plan as soon as possible. The company said its European unit is not expected to be affected. Compuadd spokesperson John Pope told Newsbytes: "The toughest challenge in a situation like this is to get over the negative connotation. This is clearly not that type bankruptcy; it's a reorganization. We are putting together a plan and have every confidence that we will emerge quickly." Major creditors in addition to owners of the property in which the stores were located include Lexmark, IBM, Texas Instruments, and Samsung. Pope said the inventory of the stores has been consolidated in Dallas and Austin, Texas and Tulsa, Oklahoma for liquidation. Details of the plan are still in draft stage, said Pope, and no specifics are available, but he told Newsbytes that the plan is expected to be submitted "very soon." The company says it completed the closure of its retail store division last week. Calls to the closed store's phone numbers are now automatically routed to Compuadd's headquarters in Austin. ------------------------------ SOFTWARE PIRACY YET TO TAKE OFF IN INDIA NEW DELHI, INDIA -- India seems to be the odd country out in Asia as far as software piracy is concerned. While the rest of Asia is reknowned for piracy, a report just out from the Business Software Alliance (BSA) says that India is very much in the minor league as far as piracy is concerned. The news will a welcome relief to the Indian Government, which has been steeling itself against a strong set of trading rules from the US Government. Reports from the US suggest that the US might take punitive action against India under its anti-piracy legislation., According to the BSA, a not-for-profit association of major software vendors, around $12,000 million a year is lost in the software industry globally. Of this, around $5,400 million is lost in Asia, with China on its own accounting for $200 million in lost income. The losses due to software piracy in Europe and the USA, meanwhile, amount to $4,500 million and $1,900 million respectively. The BSA's reports also indicate that, in 1992, about 99 percent of the total software sold or used in Thailand was illegal. Japan came next down the list with 92 percent followed by 86 percent in Spain and 62 percent in Germany. India's contribution to piracy losses seem negligible, judging from the simple fact that it does not figure in the BSA table. ------------------------------ PACKARD BELL & ZENITH ANNOUNCE ALLIANCE CHATSWORTH, CALIFORNIA -- Packard Bell and Zenith Data Systems have announced a strategic alliance. The two companies say Packard Bell's expertise in desktop computers and ZDS's expertise in notebook computers will complement each other in a manufacturing economy of scale and in the distribution channel, meaning lower prices for the consumer. While no specific numbers were mentioned since Packard Bell is a privately held company, ZDS says it has purchased a 19.9 percent share in Packard Bell as part of the agreement and will be represented on Packard Bell's board of directors. ZDS is a subsidiary of Bull, a company whose primary shareholder is the French Government. ZDS President Bernard Pache said he expects the alliance to increase the sales volume of ZDS notebook and subnotebook personal computers (PCs) through Packard Bell's wide distribution network in the retail channel. Packard Bell boasts 1992 sales were $930 million with shipments up 40 percent and a 60 percent increase in unit sales over 1991. Before the ZDS alliance, Packard Bell estimated sales in 1993 would top $1.2 billion. International Data ZDS claims that its sales were $900 million world-wide in 1992. In addition, ZDS was recently awarded the Desktop IV contract from the Air Force which entails the purchase of 300,000 computers at an estimated cost of $800,000. The company said that the alliance with Packard Bell will offer it additional opportunity to produce and service the Desktop IV contract. Both companies are expecting to leverage their buying and manufacturing power together to cut costs. Packard Bell President Beny Alagem denied that Packard Bell was simply looking for an infusion of cash after its failed initial public offering (IPO) last year. Alagem said the IPO didn't happen because the price of the stock was unacceptable to the company's board of directors. While the core of the computers developed in the deal will be the same, Packard Bell and ZDS say they plan to retain their own labeling, although ZDS will supply Packard Bell with private label versions of its notebook and subnotebook PCs. Consumers can expect to see products developed as a result of the alliance as soon as September of this year. ------------------------------ FIRST CD-ROM ON MARS NEW YORK -- If there are any Martians on Mars, they may be able to read all about the way we have envisioned them throughout the years, thanks to a CD-ROM project being created by a US/Russian research alliance. The Planetary Society, in cooperation with the Russian Space Research Institute (IKI), will create Visions of Mars, a CD-ROM collection of science fiction stories, and have slated it to travel to the red planet aboard Mars 94 when it is launched to Mars next year. The probe is slated to be launched by Russia in mid to late 1994. Visions of Mars will be a collection of science fiction stories, sounds and images on a compact disc that chronicle humanity's fascination with Mars and its imagined Martians from H.G. Wells to the present day. A copy of the disc will be placed inside each of the two small stations that Mars 94 will land on the surface of the red planet in September, 1995, say organizers. The stations will not contain a CD-ROM drive, unfortunately, says Carols Populus, speaking to Newsbytes from the Planetary Society Headquarters in Pasadena, California. "The CD-ROM will have to be built, or saved from the past," he suggested. "It's really a time capsule to ourselves." It is still unclear as to whether the disc will be sold commercially or a limited number of discs will be made for this one event, he added. The flight disc and CD-ROM replicas will be produced by Time Warner Interactive Group (previously Warner New Media) in Burbank, California. The CD-ROM will be designed to play on both Apple and IBM computers. Dr. Carl Sagan, president of the Planetary Society, at the news conference in New York, said: "Before our technology caught up with our dreams, the way to Mars was described by the great writers of modern science fiction. Those who built and operated the first robot explorers of Mars, the Mariners and Vikings, and those who are now designing new missions -- for robots and for humans -- often recall how they were motivated by science fiction. The first adventures of space exploration were some mix of fiction and reality, interacting in the minds of the spaceflight pioneers. "Now, in 1993, we are preparing the first mobile robotic explorers of Mars, and human exploration of Mars is becoming more and more feasible. It seems appropriate to place a collection of these works on Mars -- as a motivation and memento for future explorers there. These will be the first volumes in Visions of Mars." A label on the exterior of each lander will announce in five languages what's inside and how to play it. A microdot on the surface of the disc will contain additional technical information about its operation. At the press conference to announce the disc, the editors issued a special call for additional submissions from non-English speaking countries. All stories will be recorded onto the disc in the language in which they were written. The disc will also include a portion of the Orson Welles radio broadcast of War of the Worlds that panicked thousands of people when it aired on Halloween in 1938; an audio recording made the night that the Viking I lander made the first successful landing on Mars, featuring reactions from Gene Roddenberry, Robert Heinlein, Ray Bradbury and others; and brief messages to the future inhabitants of Mars from key figures such as Arthur C. Clarke. A portfolio of artwork will feature images from classic science fiction stories and films as well as works of astronomical art. Artists include Kelly Freas, Frank R. Paul, Frank Frazetta, Chesley Bonestell, Andrei Sokolov and Robert McCall. ------------------------------ ATARI ESTABLISHES MARKETING FOOTHOLD IN FINLAND HELSINKI, FINLAND -- Atari is attempting to gain a marketing foothold in Finland, having seen its previous efforts to establish a distribution network in the country hit problems. According to the Finnish media, previous attempts to create a network of distributors in Finland were hampered by financial problems with the importers, as well as arguments over distribution rights. This time around, Atari has enlisted the help of Ion Finland, part of the Lauri Valjakka group, which will import and market Atari's entire range of computers and games consoles into the Finnish consumer market. The only exception to this is the Falcon 030 multimedia computer, which was unveiled in Europe at the Cebit computer show last March. This machine will be handled by SLO Viestinta, another Finnish company. ------------------------------ SPECTRUM HOLOBYTE TO MERGE WITH MICROPROSE ALAMEDA, CALIFORNIA -- As part of a larger trend within the entertainment software industry towards consolidation, Spectrum HoloByte has announced its intention to merge with fellow game-maker MicroProse. The deal, worth an estimated $10 million, is not yet completed, although the companies hope it will be finalized by June 30. A report in the Washington Post says that the two companies combined would account for about 17 percent of the market for computer games, excluding cartridges for video games such as Sega and Nintendo. Spectrum holds about four percent, while MicroProse has about 13 percent. However, MicroProse is cash-strapped and posted a loss for 1992. According to the Post story, Spectrum has already invested $1 million into the company this week, and will put the other $9 million in next week. Spectrum stands to own about 60 percent of the merged company, with MicroProse shareholders owning the rest. The Post report says that MicroProse owes an estimated $3 to $5 million to Signet Bank, and the bank has agreed to extend a line of credit to the company for daily operations while the merger negotiations continue. ------------------------------ MAXIS RAILROAD SIMULATION GAME ADD-ON ORINDA, CALIFORNIA -- One of the most popular hobbies in the country is model railroading. Probably no one knows how many basements are filled with the complex multi-level model train layouts that include scenery, towns, people and vehicles. Some of those enthusiasts choose to do their model railroading on personal computers, and that's where companies like Maxis come into the picture. Maxis publishes software that makes you the owner of your own private railroad company, and all that's required is your personal computer. Now the company has announced a Macintosh version of its A-Train Construction Set, software that allows the railroader to customize his or her terrain. Features of the add-on software include the ability to remove items such as buildings or animals from any scenario or saved game, or start from scratch with a blank screen to build the city of your dreams. You can also accumulate trains, track, land, buildings, even money, or sculpt the landscape to suit your playing strategy or aesthetic sensibilities. You can add mountains or valleys, lakes or rivers, forests, farms and crop fields, and operate as many as 27 trains simultaneously using A-Train. Since A-Train is a game, you can also give your computerized competitors assets such as airports, ski resorts, or sports stadiums, then compete against them in business. A-Train is a US version of a game originally published in Japan in 1990 by Artdink, based on a series of games that began in 1986. Maxis says the game has sold over 50,000 copies since its US introduction by the company in 1992. Maxis also publishes A-Train and the construction set for IBM-compatibles and Amiga, and supports Soundblaster, Sound Master, Adlib, Roland, Tandy, Macintosh and Amiga sound cards. The A-Train construction set for Apple Computer's Macintosh has a suggested retail price of $34.95, and requires a Macintosh A500 or above and two floppy drives or a hard disk. Other system requirements include Workbench 1.3 or higher, and one megabyte (MB) of system memory for low resolution monitors. The company says you need at least 1MB of system memory and 512 kilobytes of fast memory for high resolution monitors. ------------------------------ TINY AT-COMPATIBLE ON A CARD TOKYO, JAPAN -- Seiko-Epson has developed an IBM PC/AT-compatible card as small as a regular credit card, but with all the necessary features of a PC/AT packed onto a tiny board. The firm claims it is the smallest PC/AT-compatible card in the industry. Seiko-Epson's PC/AT-compatible card contains Intel's 80386SL processor, an I/O controller, a VGA controller, a 1-megabyte DRAM and a flash memory. Also, this card has a 236-pin connector which Seiko-Epson is trying to push as an industry standard. Called Cardio386, the card is slated for release by Seiko-Epson in October. The retail price is expected to be around 400,000 yen ($3,600). Total shipment is anticipated to be around 100,000 units per month. Seiko-Epson is targeting this PC/AT-compatible card at factory automation firms as well as personal computer companies on an OEM (original equipment manufacturer) basis. Seiko-Epson is planning to release an 8086-based PC/XT-compatible card and an 80486-based DOS/V-compatible card in 1994. The preceding stories are © 1993 NewsBytes. Reprinted with permission. __________________________________________________ THE TANDY Z-550 ZOOMER PERSONAL DIGITAL ASSISTANT Innovative, Ingenious, Revolutionary. Available This Fall At Participating Radio Shack Stores and Dealers Nationwide Consumer Electronics Show, Chicago -- Tandy Corporation unveiled today the Tandy Z-550 Zoomer PDA, a "personal digital assistant" which combines the simplicity of pen and paper, the logical power of a computer and the ability to connect to the world in a pocket-sized device weighing less than one pound. "The Zoomer PDA is a significant new electronics product for all consumers. it saves your handwritten notes, recognizes your printing and offers a keyboard on demand to intuitively organize your personal information, simplify complex calculations, translate languages, retrieve reference material and talk to your PC. It is affordable and, unlike portable computers, it has a long battery life, off-the-shelf batteries and is much lighter to carry," said Chairman and Chief Executive Officer John V. Roach. The Tandy Z-550 Zoomer PDA is the much anticipated product jointly developed by Tandy, Casio, Inc., and four major software companies -- GeoWorks, Palm Computing, America Online and Intuit. The technology was first introduced under the code name "Zoomer" at the Winter Consumer Electronics Show in January. Weighing just under one pound and operating up to 100 hours on three standard "AA" batteries, the Tandy Z-550 serves as an electronic "note pad" and includes a date book, address book, bank book, calculator, dictionary, thesaurus, world clock, language translator, and more. It also includes three entertainment (game) applications and a reference section for U.S. city and state information, nutrition guide, U.S. and international dialing codes, and other useful information for people "on-the-go." The Tandy Z-550 also has a personal finance manager which provides complete money management features for recording cash expenses, bank account trans- ctions and credit card spending. The Tandy Z-55O has patented features called Powerlink and Backspaceink which allow data to be entered and edited much like a "pen-on-paper." he user can choose three different ways to enter information: text entry by simply tapping the Zoomer pen on a pop-up style on-screen keyboard; electronic ink, for handwritten notes, sketches, or drawings using the pen; or, text trans- lated through handwriting recognition. Electronic ink and text can be mixed freely in notes, lists, sketches, maps or other fields and applications. Built-in infrared transceivers provide wireless communication between one Tandy Z-550 and another unit, allowing information to be transferred without the use of cabtes. In addition, an RS-232 compatible serial port allows information to be transferred to a personal computer, printer or other serial device. By using an optional modem, users can retrieve up-to-date news, weather, stock quotes, and other valuable information by connecting to the America Online information service. Electronic mail can also be sent and received. The GEOS operating system that powers the Tandy Z-550 Zoomer PDA is open so third-party companies can easily develop add-on software applications and hardware options. The Tandy Z-550 is built around a custom lntel®-compatible chip. It has one industry standard PCMCIA (Personal Computer Memory Card International Association) 2.0 card slot for third-party applications, storage, memory expansion and add-on peripherals such as pagers and fax modems. The unit has also three additional front-panel controls that can be used by party software developers. Its rugged, clamshell design has round edges and a hinged cover over the LCD screen. The cover can be folded back 360 degrees to provide a comfortable support when rested on a flat surface. The dispiay measures 4" x 3.2" (HxW), and the unit itself measures just 1" x 4.2" x 6.8" (HxWxD). Priced at only $699, the Tandy Z-550 Zoomer Personal Digital Assistant will be available in October at participating Radio Shack stores and dealers nation- wide. The Tandy Z-550 has a one-year limited warranty. Extended warranty plans, service and support are provided by Radio Shack Tandy Corporation is America's pre-eminent retailer of consumer electronics and personal computers. Radio Shack, a division of Tandy Corporation, is the largest U.S. retailer of consumer electronics and personal computers with nearly 6,700 outlets nationwide. __________________________________________________ ASDG ANNOUNCES SOFTWARE SUPER-BUNDLE We are considering creating a ``super-bundle'' which will contain several ASDG products together at a reduced cost. To help us determine if we should invest resources in new packaging for the ``super-bundle'', we are test marketing the idea via electronic networks. Included in the bundle are: Product List Art Department Professional $299 Pro Conversion Pack $90 Morph Plus $295 ProCONTROL $90 T-Rexx Professional $249 Total $1023 All of these products together (in their full form but without their usual packaging) are being test marketed for a combined price of $395. This test will conclude on July 31st, 1993, and is available to end-users only. Art Department Professional and MorphPlus need no other introduction. The Pro Conversion Pack adds comprehensive support for the TIF, TGA, RENDITION, X, SUN, and PICT file formats to both ADPro and MorphPlus. ProCONTROL is an alternative user interface/scripting environment for ADPro and MorphPlus. T-Rexx is a powerful Toaster system integrator and is such a flexible scripting environment (with built-in command sets for many programs including ADPro and MorphPlus), it is very useful even to people without Toasters. If you're interested in this bundle, give Gina a call at (608) 273 6585 for an exact price including shipping. ------------------------------ FTP SITE NO LONGER IN OPERATION The FTP site at amiga.physik.unizh.ch is no longer available for download access and will soon disappear completely. The reason for this is the excessive amount of bandwidth the site used (we *told* you to use the mirrors). Aminet will probably survive, although we haven't found a suitable replacement for our site yet. Uploads should go to ftp.luth.se for now, but this site is *not* going to be the new Aminet center. Whatever comes, don't expect full functionality from Aminet within the next one or two weeks. -Urban D. Mueller, Chris Schneider (Former?) administrators of Aminet PS: Do *not* try to log in. We've already had 13,000 attempted logins today, which shows how many people tried to force their way into amiga.physik using scripts. @endnode ------------------------------ @node P5-1 "ShowVic V3.01" @toc "menu" SHOWVIC V3.01 AVAILABLE FOR FTP TITLE ShowVIC VERSION 3.01 AUTHOR Matt Francis email: m.p.francis@newcastle.ac.uk DESCRIPTION ShowVIC is picture viewer which soley supports Commodore 64 format pictures. Many formats are supported, including Koala, (Advanced) Art Studio, Image System, FLI, Artist 64 and more. Colours can be edited while a picture is on-screen, and any picture can be saved as a compressed IFF ILBM file. Many example pictures are included. Also, a program called ConvertFox is included which converts certain types of PageFox pictures to a format ShowVIC can show. SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS ShowVIC was developed under Kickstart release 3.0, but has been tested (and works fine) on Kickstart release 2.04. ShowVIC uses the ReqTools and PowerPacker libraries, both of which are included in the distribution. HOST NAME Any AmiNet site, for example litamiga.epfl.ch (128.178.151.32) DIRECTORY /pub/aminet/gfx/show FILE NAMES ShowVIC301.lha PRICE Free. DISTRIBUTABILITY Freely distributable (as long as the archive remains intact), but (c) Copyright 1993 Matt Francis. @endnode ------------------------------ @node P5-2 "UUxT V2.0" @toc "menu" UUxT v2.0 AVAILABLE FOR FTP TITLE UUxT VERSION 2.0 AUTHOR Asher Feldman, asher@shell.portal.com or Wizard0@cup.portal.com DESCRIPTION UUxT is an update to UUx 1.0. UUxT is the ultimate uuencode/decode utility for the Amiga. Uuencoding is the process of converting a binary file into ASCII, so that it may be transmitted over a text, or "mail only" network such as the Usenet. Many files are posted to the Usenet daily, but the must be uudecoded before you can use them. UUxT makes the task of uuencoding and decoding simple, with its amiga style command interface. You can even LhA and uuencode multiple files in a single step. (And vice-versa) (LhA is a popular compression program/format that allows you to compress and archive multiple files) Also, UUxT will decode uuencoded files with multiple mail headers and other garbage in them. So you can download multiple part archives off the Usenet, and decode them without editing out all the headers. UUxT also allows you to decode multi-part archives without joining all the parts together first. NEW FEATURES - Now allows you to encode multiple programs into a single uencoded file. - Decodes all files in a "multi-file" uuencoded package. - Ability to decode "multi-part" (split) uuencoded files, without having to first join them together. The separate parts can even be on separate volumes, allowing floppy users to decode larger files. - Bath decoding. UUxT can now decode multiple uuencoded files at once. - Greatly improved status messages, and improved command line error- checking. - No longer asks if you want to overwrite an exsisting file. I liked this feature at first, but it got annoying so I removed it. I plan on putting it back in the next version, along with a "QUIET" parameter. - The 68030 version has been removed. The new decode routines are optimized and have caught up with the 030 version. SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS LhA by Stefan Boberg is required to use the LhA specific functions. UUxT works under all amigados revision. AVAILABILITY litamiga.epfl.ch (128.178.151.32) and all other Aminet sites: util/arc/uuxt20.lha util/arc/uuxt20.readme (The above is once you are in the aminet directory. The is usually /pub/aminet) DISTRIBUTABILITY UUxT is freeware. However, the copyright is maintained by Asher Feldman. @endnode ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ @node P1-3 "Online Weekly" @toc "menu" /// Online Weekly The lines are buzzing! -------------- From the Amiga RT on GEnie -------------------------- From Sahib (A.SAHIBZADA) about his new accelerator... Hi All! I received the CSA 1250 (Twelve Guage) SCSI/Accelerator/Ram unit yesterday. Here is my initial impression of it: When I opened the box, I found the following : A board with all the necessary electronics, a 25-pin SCSI plug (looks just like a parallel port plug) with an attached cable, four sheets of photocopied docs, a disk and a brochure. The documentation is adequate, with all relevant information, though one extremely important fact is missing : There is no mention of how to connect the board end of the SCSI cable to the board. There is also no ReadMe file on the disk though it has a number of utility programs. I therefore have not connected the SCSI cable as yet, but will do so on Monday after giving CSA tech support a call to find out the correct orientation of the cable (one edge of it is red). The 25-pin plug needs to be screwed into the empty socket on the back of the 1200. There is already a hole in the casing of the computer for the holding screw. The board itself is not difficult to install, and only takes a few seconds to push into place. On one side is the CPU and FPU, etc. and on the other side is a connector for a SIMM module. I have at the moment installed a 4 Mb SIMM in this socket, though you can upgrade to 32 Mb. System performance has improved remarkably. My computer is really flying now! There is a program on the disk called T3 that copies ROM to RAM. This increases performance even more, but at the expense of the loss of some Ram. AIBB however reports that the MMU is disabled. No mention in the docs on how to enable it. Any ideas? I'll upload an AIBB module for it in a day or two. My overall impression of the board : Very, very good, but could do with much better documentation. ------------------------------ From FidoNet's Amiga International Echo --------------------------------------- Area: AMIGA (MAIL:Fido/AMIGA/) From: Erik V. Petersen To: All Subj: Good Amiga Press! Date: 22 Jun 93 06:38:05 Canada has a tabloid computer paper that I've always thought of as a beemer rag with token Mac coverage to satisfy a couple of adverti- sers. It is published monthly on the West Coast (Vancouver) and the Alberta edition generally runs 52 to 56 pages. Circulation is pegged at 125,000 in Western Canada and 80,000 in Ontario. It is a freebie paper that you pick up to browse when you've idle time on your hands. It has just bowled me over with GREAT Amiga coverage in the last two editions! This good happening may have gone on for longer but I've only recently picked up the May and June issues. Last time I looked previous to then, it was pretty solid clone fare. Good Amiga coverage in a horizontal computer publication is a pure act of courage. Both magazines and the pulps are advertorial in natu- re. Advertising pays the shot and has been known to dictate contents. Editorial purity is rare. The guys paying the bills have no ideologi- cal generosity. I didn't see ANY Amiga advertising in either the May or June issues but I was only exposed to the Calgary editions. One must assume other regional Ami dealers pick up the slack. The Canadian Computer Paper is independently published. It is edited by Kirtan Singh Khalsa. In the May issue, Graeme Bennett, mana- ging editor ran the mine field with a 10,000-word article on operating systems. "Oh Yeah!" We say as we see OS/2v2.1; MS-DOSv6.0; Windows NT; Windows v3.1; NextStep; Unix and Mac v7.1, but wait! Here's AmigaDOS v3.0x, and what's more, we are getting a fair shake! Early on, Bennett proves he is historically up to date when he says "The Amiga 1000 was the first computer to bring the power of a true multitasking operating system into the hands of 'mere mortals'... The fact that it could run on a 256K machine with no hard disk was nothing short of amazing." Under "Network Services" he could have crucified us since this is a current weak spot but instead, Bennett generously comments: "Amiga users might do well to consider adding a PC-emulating 'Bridgeboard' in order to use IBM-compatible network cards and software..." Under printers, Bennett also is informed when he points out that AmigaDos v2.1 and 3.0 provide direct support for PostScript. The high- ly detailed comparison chart also shows Ami support for Compugraphic fonts, and is generally correct and extremely fair to our favorite pile of switches. Look and rejoice at Bennett's Miggy remarks under "Conclusion": "If you own or are considering an Amiga, I advise running AmigaDOS 2.1 or later. Earlier releases of AmigaDOS were not as stable or fea- ture rich. AmigaDOs has more in common with Unix than DOS or Macintosh operating systems. Although it can be used without a hard drive, I strongly recommend one. The Amiga makes a good choice for a home com- puter. Kids and novice adult users can use it with a mouse at first and move into the more complex world of command-line prompts and the subtleties of true multitasking as their expertise grows." Some Mac types were spitting nails in the following June issue because aspects of their OS had been termed mediocre. That issue had nothing short of a rave review (3,000 words) on the A1200; and a 3,500 word story on the Toaster 4000 with no attempt to hide the fact that an Amiga 4000 is at the heart of this system. More about that in a fol- lowing post. Good Amiga press has been rare in recent years. It is truly heart-warming to see objective, knowledgeable reporting from what I would have sworn was a clone bastion. @endnode ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ @node P1-3-1 "BootX News" @toc "menu" /// SHI Takes over BootX! --------------------- By Michael Arends SAFE HEX INTERNATIONAL NEWS ALERT !! ************************************ TOP NEWS.." BOOTX " CONTINUES AGAIN!!!!! We Have now got the confirmation that Peter Stuer has agreed to let SHI take over future support for his GREAT Virus checker/killer "BOOTX ". Now there may be some problems starting out at first, things may be slow BUT within a few months you SHOULD see a new update to BootX available from your SAFE HEX INTERNATIONAL regional anti-virus center (hooray!!) Now comes a slight problem, ONE of the original reasons BOOTX support was dropped was that no one was sending new viruses to the programmer. In order for the resurrection of " bootX " to happen we have to get support from everyone, in the way of sending NEW viruses to the anti-virus centers. PLEASE DO NOT UPLOAD new viruses to your SHI regional virus center BBS BUT instead send them on disk,marked "NEW VIRUSES" to one of the address's below. As always,order forms for ALL SHI disks are available for download at your SHI-RVC. At this time they are not available for file request. *********************************************** Address's for your SHI regional centers Michael Arends Jim Maciorowski SHI RVC/West SHI RVC/East P.O. Box 1531 P.O. Box 724 Lynnwood, WA Port Richey, FL 98046-1531 34673-0724 USA USA --------------------------------------------------------- SAFE HEX INTERNATIONAL Support BBS's PIONEERS BBS:SHI-RVC/Westcoast GROUND ZERO BBS:SHI-RVC/Eastcoast Line #1 (206) 775-7983 Line #1 (813) 849-4034 Line #2 (813) 845-4577 Line #3 (813) 934-9765 @endnode @node P1-3-2 "SHI Addresses" @toc "menu" /// Safe Hex International Address List ----------------------------------- The following addresses are for SHI's Regional Virus Centers WORLDWIDE and support addresses for SHI's Resident magazine, and Buddy system disks. SAFE HEX MAGAZINE "RESIDENT": ---------------------------- Kurt Hansen Langoyveien 13 N-4026 Stavanger Norway Phone : + 47 4 520420 SAFE HEX "BUDDY SYSTEM": ----------------------- Stefan Daugaard Hansen Tranehøjen 236 5250 Odense sv Denmark Phone + 45 65 92 65 42 SHI REGIONAL VIRUS CENTRE HOLLAND: --------------------------------- Marco van den Hout Doornboomplein 9 NL-5081 GR Hilvarenbeek The Netherlands Phone +31 04255 3513 SHI REGIONAL VIRUS CENTRE AUSTRALIA: ----------------------------------- Amiga Quarantine Brian & Rick Logan P.O. Box 533 Engadine N.S.W 2233 Australia (No phone) SHI REGIONAL VIRUS CENTRE SLOVAKIA: ---------------------------------- Ondrej Krebs SNP 4 908 51 Holic Slovakia Republic Phone: + 0801 3764 SHI REGIONAL VIRUS CENTRE CZECH: ------------------------------- MB Soft Dalimilova 6 130 00 Praha 3 Czech Pepublic SHI REGIONAL VIRUS CENTRE DENMARK: --------------------------------- Martin Harbo Sensommervej 167 DK-8530 Hjortshøj Denmark Phone + 86 229401 SHI REGIONAL VIRUS CENTRE ITALY : ------------------------------- Massimo Gais V. Vittorio Veneto 31 80029 S. Antimo (NA) Italy Phone + 39 81 5052256 SHI REGIONAL VIRUS CENTRE ENGLAND: --------------------------------- Michael A. Sewell "Omega House" 83 Railway Road Leigh, Lancashire, WN7 4AD England Phone + (0942) 68 22 05 Fax + (0942) 68 22 06 SHI REGIONAL VIRUS CENTRE USA: East ---------------------------- Jim Maciorowski P.O. Box 724 Port Richey FL 34673-0724 USA Phone: + 813 841 7587 BBS : + 813 849 4034 SHI REGIONAL VIRUS CENTRE USA: West ----------------------------- Michael Arends P.O. Box 1531 Lynnwood, WA 98046-1531 USA Phone: +206 776 7978 BBS : +206 775 7983 SHI REGIONAL VIRUS CENTRE GREECE: -------------------------------- Konstantinos Angelis P.O. Box 50784 54014 Thessaloniki 22 Greece Phone: +30 431 29207 Fax : +30 431 38214 BBS : +30 431 72171 SHI REGIONAL VIRUS CENTRE BELGIUM: --------------------------------- Dutch Language: Koen Peetermans Vrijheersstraat 8 B-3891 Gingelom Belgium Phone: + 32 11 48 58 19 SHI REGIONAL VIRUS CENTRE BELGIUM: --------------------------------- French Language: Gregoire Jean-Christophe 64 Franstimmermansstraat 1600 Sint Pieters Leeuw Belgium Phone: + 02 377 76 78 SHI REGIONAL VIRUS CENTRE SPAIN: ------------------------------- John Lohmeyer Parque Guell 7 08338 Premia de Dalt Barcelona Spain Phone: + 03 752 38 85 Fax : + 03 752 30 79 BBS : + 03 892 39 83 SHI REGIONAL VIRUS CENTRE GERMANY: --------------------------------- Dirk Rose Amalien Str. 75 D-4220 Dienslaken Germany Phone: + 49 20 64 78 56 SHI REGIONAL VIRUS CENTRE SWEDEN: -------------------------------- SHI SVERIGE Box 1220 501 12 Borås Sweden Phone : + 033 121118 BBS : + 033 291812 SHI REGIONAL VIRUS CENTRE POLAND: -------------------------------- Wojtek Gorzkowski UL. Rewolucji Pazd 95/102 01-242 Warsaw Poland Phone : + 48 22 367 443 (18.00-20.00) Phone : + 48 26 252 994 (10.00-17.00) BBS : + 48 22 367 443 (20.00-08.00) SHI REGIONAL VIRUS CENTRE FRANCE: -------------------------------- Brun Stephane 255 Chemin Fontisson F-84470 Chateaneuf de Gadagne France Phone : + 90 22 54 22 SHI REGIONAL VIRUS CENTRE NORWAY: -------------------------------- Kurt Hansen Langøyveien 13 N-4026 Stavanger Norway Phone : + 47 4 520420 SHI REGIONAL VIRUS CENTRE EAST ASIA: ----------------------------------- Javed Islam P. O. Box 10119 Feroze Pur Road Lahore 54600 Pakistan SHI REGIONAL VIRUS CENTRE YUGOSLAVIA: ------------------------------------ Nikolic Tomislav Matije Gupca 302 56258 Posavski Podgajci Croatia BBS : + 813 849 4034 SHI REGIONAL VIRUS CENTRE ARGENTINA: ----------------------------------- Pablo A. Trincavelli Dorrego 459 1 er. piso 2000 Rosario Santa Fe Argentina Phone: +54 41 252906 SHI REGIONAL VIRUS CENTRE FINLAND: --------------------------------- Johannes Verwijnen Hiihtomäentie 33 B 16 SF-00800 Helsinki Finland Phone: 358 0 759 1263 Phone: 358 0 787 449 SHI REGIONAL VIRUS CENTRE PORTUGAL: ---------------------------------- Alexandre Manuel Reis Casal de Sào Bràs Rua Antònio Nobre, Lote 5, R/C DTO 2700 Amadora Portugal Phone: + 351 01 494 8932 Fax : + 351 01 494 4662 SHI REGIONAL VIRUS CENTRE SWITZERLAND: ------------------------------------- Meier Remy Hardstrasse 111 CH-4052 Basel Switzerland Phone: + 41 61 312 63 95 Fax : + 41 61 312 63 95 SHI REGIONAL VIRUS CENTRE SOUTH AFRICA: -------------------------------------- Richard Harris P.O.Box 3147 1610 Edenvale South Africa Phone: + 27 011 453 6327 SHI REGIONAL VIRUS CENTRE TURKEY: -------------------------------- Volkan Uçmak Sakiz Sok. Berkel Ap. 6/2 81300 Kadiköy Istanbul Turkey Phone: + (1) 346 86 48 Fax : + (1) 349 96 35 SHI REGIONAL VIRUS CENTRE AUSTRIA: --------------------------------- David Van Assche Sieveringer Strasse 126, 4 Vienna 1190 Austria Phone: + 222 44 39 91 Fax : + 222 44 42 51 SHI REGIONAL VIRUS CENTRE IRELAND: --------------------------------- Anthony Melia 4 Seagrange Drive Baldoyle Dublin 13 Ireland Phone + 01 39 31 23 SHI REGIONAL VIRUS CENTRE IRAN: ------------------------------ Kamran Karimi 2,HassanAbad HaghShenas str. Navab str. 13599 Theran Iran SHI REGIONAL VIRUS CENTRE ROMANIA: --------------------------------- Prundeanu Cristian Str. Rodnei nr. 6 1900 Timisoara Romania SHI MAIN CENTRAL VIRUS CENTRE: ----------------------------- Erik Loevendahl Soerensen Snaphanevej 10 DK-4720 Praestoe Denmark Phone: +45 55 992512 Fax : +45 55 993498 @endnode @node P1-4 "CBM Shareholder Movement" @toc "menu" /// The Commodore Shareholder Movement ---------------------------------- ATTENTION COMMODORE SHAREHOLDERS! 6/18/93 In response to the overwhelming thirst for information concerning your rights as shareholders, the following information was obtained from the Securities and Exchange Commission. After reading it, you will see the obstacles to the election of new Commodore Directors. Commodore is subject to Bahamian laws rather than U.S. federal and state securities laws. This gives the Directors a great deal of power to deny shareholders their rights to include proposals in the proxy statement, to obtain the by-laws and charter of the company (necessary to know shareholder rights), and to obtain the list of shareholders for communication purposes. If you have experience in these areas and would like to join the cause, please contact us: Commodore Shareholder Movement P.O. Box 8296 Philadelphia, PA 19101 Internet: MarcR@cup.portal.com Information for Investors from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission SHAREHOLDERS' RIGHTS TO VOTE The corporation laws of most states, as well as company charters and by-laws provide corporate shareholders with several important rights. Among these are the right to vote for the election of directors who will oversee management of the company, and the right to vote on matters as changes to the articles of incorporation or by-laws, dissolution, and mergers with another company. In each instance, shareholders' votes may be critical to the future existence of the company involved. Prior to the annual meeting of its shareholders, the board of directors of a company establishes a record date for purposes of determining the shareholders who are entitled to vote at the meeting. This means that a shareholder must own the securities of the company on that record date in order to be eligible to vote them at the annual meeting. Under the laws of most states, the record date must be not more than 50, nor less than ten days prior to the meeting of shareholders. (in addition to the annual meeting, corporations sometimes also hold a special meeting of shareholders). Once identified, all shareholders entitled to vote are sent a proxy form, which allows them to vote by mail on management or shareholders proposals. Unfortunately, many shareholders receiving such proxies do not take the time to examine the accompanying material to determine what corporate action they are being asked to vote for or against. They may later discover that the other stockholders had voted to liquidate, merge or sell the company business. While an individual shareholder's vote may not block a proposed action, the proxy solicitation material does contain information vital for shareholders to know in order to make sound investment decisions. For example, if you fail to read the terms of any proposal or not, you may later discover that it is too late to participate in an exchange or redemption offer and that you do not have any remedies available to restore your ownership interest in the company. The Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") receives many inquiries from investors who fail to receive notices of shareholders' meetings or impending corporate proposals. If you hold possession of your own stock certificate, it is important that you make sure the company has your current correct mailing address. If, however, your shares are held by a broker ("in street name"), you cannot vote directly with respect to those shares since your name does not appear on the company's records as a shareholder entitled to vote. However, brokers who hold securities in street name for their customers are required, under the rules of the National Association of Securities Dealers and the exchanges of which they are members, to forward to the actual ("beneficial") owners, the material received from the company. The shareholders must then instruct his broker how he or she wishes to vote. Most companies take pains to furnish proxy material promptly to brokers in sufficient quantity to permit them to re-transmit the material promptly to shareholders in time for the shareholders to respond. Occasionally, however, shareholders fail to receive the material in time for it to be useful. This is one of the reasons many investors prefer to have securities registered in their own name rather than having the certificates held in street name by a broker. Questions concerning shareholders' votes may be addressed to the Office of Consumer Affairs and Information Services, Securities and Exchange Commission, Washington, D.C. 20549 SHAREHOLDER MEETINGS Among the many rights of a corporate shareholder are the right to elect the members of the board of directors of the corporation, and the right to vote on the approval of certain corporate decisions. These rights are exercised at the annual meeting of shareholders which is held in accordance with the laws of the state in which the corporation was chartered. At the present time, the statutes of all states contain provisions which specifically cover the holding of an annual meeting of shareholders. For example, Section 28 of the Model Business Corporation Act, applicable in most states, provides in part: "An annual meeting of shareholders shall be held at such time as may be stated in or fixed in accordance with the by-laws". In addition to the election of directors, in most states, fundamental corporation changes such as mergers, dissolutions or amendments of the articles of incorporation are also required to be submitted to a vote of the shareholders at the annual meeting. Annual meetings -- and the process of soliciting proxies prior to such meetings -- function as important means of communication between management and shareholders. The federal securities laws include requirements dealing with the form and content of the communications with shareholders sent in connection with an annual meeting. First, under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, if a proxy solicitation is sent to shareholders on behalf of the board of directors of a corporation for an annual meeting of shareholders at which directors are to be elected, the proxy statement must either be accompanied or preceded by an annual report. This is an extensive report on the company's operations and financial results for the year, and is considered by most companies to be the single most important shareholder communication published during the year. In theory, shareholders attend annual meetings to listen to a report on how the board and management have discharged their fiduciary obligations during the past year, and, depending on what they hear and have read in the proxy statement and annual report, elect directors for the ensuing year. Some investors do actually go to the meeting for this purpose. However, most investors, after reading the material sent to them, choose to vote by proxy. Therefore, the election of directors is usually decided by proxy votes submitted before the annual meeting takes place. Even though only a few shareholders may actually attend an annual meeting, many others do use the proxy mechanism to raise questions and give their views on the company and its operations. This may be done in the form of a letter submitted to the company with the returned proxy. This period of preparation prior to the meeting requires management to address and formulate positions on issues which are of concern to shareholders. The federal securities laws require that shareholders' proposals be included in the proxy statement sent to all shareholders if they meet certain tests. Management may take a position with respect to such a proposal and recommend that shareholders vote for or against it, or it may submit the proposal for voting with no recommendation. One of the most frequent questions from shareholders is "who may call a shareholders meeting?" The by-laws of a company generally indicate who may call a regular or special meeting of shareholders. Occasionally, provisions governing the calling of meetings may be included in the company's articles of incorporation. In many states, the manner of calling a meeting is fixed by statute. If you have specific questions concerning shareholders' meetings, you may wish to contact the Office of Consumer Affairs and Information Services, Securities and Exchange Commission, Washington, D.C. 20549. SHAREHOLDERS' RIGHTS Many investors who buy stock in a company are unaware of the rights which that ownership affords them. The specific rights of an investor may depend, however, on the type of stock they own, the laws of the state where the company is incorporated, and the by-laws and charter of the company itself. Companies generally issue one or more of various types of securities. The most well-known are common stock, preferred stock, and debentures or bonds. Investors who buy a share or shares of common or preferred stock are, in effect, actually buying an equity or ownership interest in a company. A debenture or bondholder is giving the company a loan of his money to use as capital, in return for which he or she may get a periodic interest payment which the bond agreement may call for, and the face amount of the bond at maturity. Under the company's by-laws and charter, the specific rights of shareholders who own each type, or class, of security may differ. For example, a company's charter may specify that only the common stock may have voting privileges, or that the preferred stock must receive dividends before any dividend is paid to the holders of common stock. The specific type of payments and privileges of a bondholder are also stated in the charter. In addition, the charter may state that if the company is liquidated, a bondholder would receive payment before the common and preferred shareholders. Therefore, it is important for a shareholder to read the company's by-laws and charter thoroughly to find out what his or her specific rights are. An investor should also be aware of the rights granted by the laws of the state in which the company is incorporated (the state of incorporation is shown on the face of the certificate). Most states provide that shareholders' rights shall include, among other things, the right to: (1) vote on questions affecting the company as a whole; (2) hold a proportionate ownership in the assets of the company evidenced by a stock certificate; (3) transfer ownership of their shares; (4) receive dividends when declared by the Board of Directors; (5) inspect the corporate books and records; (6) sue the corporation for wrongful acts; and (7) share in the proceeds of a corporate liquidation. In addition to these, most states also have laws pertaining to the type of corporate information to be given to shareholders; the requirements of an annual meeting; and dissenter's rights of appraisal for their securities in the event of a merger. While there is general uniformity in the various state laws concerning these requirements, investors should not assume that the commercial laws of one state apply to another state, and should, therefore, look up the specific laws which apply to the company in which they own stock. The federal securities laws also provide investors with important recovery rights when violation of the laws occur. To enforce these rights, shareholders must seek redress privately, either individually or as a class, before the appropriate United States District Court. If you have any questions concerning shareholders' rights, you may contact the Office of Consumer Affairs and Information Services, Securities and Exchange Commission, Washington, D.C. 20549. COMMODORE SHAREHOLDER MOVEMENT: 6/19/93 INTRODUCTION The users of Commodore computers should be happy to learn that the Commodore shareholders are finally taking action to solve the company's chronic problems which have led to its current grim financial situation. Faced with the daunting barriers of Bahamian law and an uncooperative Board, this movement which grew out of the concern of shareholders, developers and dealers, is actively enlisting the aid of the Amiga-user-base to support the effort. THE MOVEMENT The Commodore Board of Directors was warned at the 1991 shareholder meeting, "If things don't improve, Commodore will go out of business." It's a year-and-a-half later and Commodore's value has plummeted, largely due to lack of leadership and poor management. In response a movement has been organized to replace the Board of Directors. THE PROBLEM Commodore had the potential to become a 10 billion dollar-a-year company back in 1985. Instead, they went dormant with only sporadic attempts to generate sales. Now, Commodore is on the brink of ruin and a community of people including shareholders, businesses and customers have a stake in Commodore's survival. Irving Gould, the Chairman of the Board and C.E.O. of Commodore International Limited is the greatest barrier to Commodore's survival. Gould has eroded the loyalty of their only reliable revenue source (the customer base), driven Commodore into debt, and brought the company to the edge of collapse (1993 3rd quarter disclosure). Meanwhile, Gould has compensated himself with annual salaries of over 1.7 million dollars, plus stock options and bonuses (1992 Proxy Statement 3). Shareholders who have already lost a great deal of money stand to loose everything. Commodore is also the sole source of Amiga computers, a proprietary product in which many people have invested. These customers will be abandoned and possibly forced to buy products less suited to their needs. A top-caliber engineering team will be broken up, many small symbiotic companies will loose their market, and potentially successful products will never be developed. THE SOLUTION The change of top-level management is believed to be Commodore's only chance for survival. This can be accomplished through the election of new Directors. The upcoming 1993 shareholder meeting presents the chance to break Gould's stranglehold on the company and to replace him with dynamic leadership. A movement to nominate and elect new directors is being organized. Both Irving Gould and Al Haig are up for reelection to the Board of Directors. All shareholders should vote for the alternative candidates who will become known in the following months. Talks are being made with some very exciting possibile candidates. With Gould gone, Commodore can start on its path to recovery, being led by capable new Directors. Without Gould, the remaining Directors will likely step down. BUYING STOCK AND VOTING If the shareholder movement is successful, then Commodore stock may have been a smart investment. Many companies have come back from the brink. The purchase of stock will allow you to cast a proxy vote in the upcoming election, or attend the shareholder meeting (at your own expense). In order to buy stock, contact a discount stockbroker. There will be a transaction fee which shouldn't be over $50. Order as many shares as you want. To expidite the proxy voting process, ask for the stock certificate to be sent to you. Get your friends to buy stock. Ask for it for your birthday. The process is easy and any amount helps. Just remember the risk if the effort fails. You'll at least have the satisfaction of being involved. Watch for the candidates and vote! SPREADING THE WORD If you buy or own any Commodore stock, contact us with your address. Send a letter or e-mail (MarcR@cup.portal.com). Let everyone who might care know what's going on. Bring it up at the users' group meetings and write articles for the newsletters. Re-post this announcement. Talk about it on the electronic bulletin boards. Call talk radio stations. BEHIND THE MOVEMENT You might remember the recount of events of the 1991 shareholder meeting where shareholders warned and pleaded with Commodore to improve and market their computers. This is the same meeting where Irving Gould ordered the physical removal of a shareholder who attempted to make a motion that the meeting be adjourned and reconviened in the United States where shareholders could really attend. The current movement has grown from that Philadelphia group, and now includes Commodore shareholders, developers, dealers, and users from across the country. All you have to do is buy or own stock and contact us with your address to become a part of the movement. Please write to us at: Commodore Shareholder Movement P.O. Box 8296 Philadelphia, PA 19101 @endnode ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ @node P1-5 "Tip of the Week" @toc "menu" /// Amiga Tip of the Week --------------------- By Robert Niles InterNet info Here are a few of the larger anonymous FTP sites that carry a good amount of files for the Amiga. wuarchive.wustl.edu /systems/amiga ftp.luth.se /pub/OS/amiga nic.funet.fi /pub/amiga guitar.oit.unc.edu /pub/amiga litamiga.epfl.ch /pub/amiga There are plenty more, but this will get you on your way! @endnode ***************************************************************************** @node P4-2 "Delphi" @toc "menu" /// Delphi: It's Getting Better All The Time! ------------------------------------------ Amiga Report International Online Magazine is available every week in the Amiga Forum on DELPHI. Amiga Report readers are invited to join DELPHI and become a part of the friendly community of computer enthusiasts there. SIGNING UP WITH DELPHI ====================== Using a personal computer and modem, members worldwide access DELPHI services via a local phone call JOIN -- DELPHI -------------- Via modem, dial up DELPHI at 1-800-695-4002 then... When connected, press RETURN once or twice and.... At Password: type STREPORT and press RETURN. DELPHI's Basic Plan offers access for only $6.00 per hour, for any baud rate. The $5.95 monthly fee includes your first hour online. For more information, call: DELPHI Member Services at 1-800-544-4005 DELPHI is a service of General Videotex Corporation of Cambridge, MA. Try DELPHI for $1 an hour! For a limited time, you can become a trial member of DELPHI, and receive 5 hours of evening and weekend access during this month for only $5. If you're not satisfied, simply cancel your account before the end of the calendar month with no further obligation. If you keep your account active, you will automatically be enrolled in DELPHI's 10/4 Basic Plan, where you can use up to 4 weekend and evening hours a month for a minimum $10 monthly charge, with additional hours available at $3.96. But hurry, this special trial offer will expire soon! To take advantage of this limited offer, use your modem to dial 1-800-365-4636. Press once or twice. When you get the Password: prompt, type IP26 and press again. Then, just answer the questions and within a day or two, you'll officially be a member of DELPHI! DELPHI - It's getting better all the time! @endnode ***************************************************************************** @node P1-6 "A.M.I.G.A." @toc "menu" /// Another Moronic, Inane and Gratuitous Article --------------------------------------------- by Chad Freeman (cjfst4+@pitt.edu or cjfst4@cislabs.pitt.edu -- Internet) (cfreeman -- BIX) This week, instead of the (un)usual AMIGA, I've decided to once again slack off in my work. Since I have now slacked off on exactly half the articles which I've supposedly written, I suppose this type of column is just as normal as the other type (whatever that is). Well, anyway, in the interest of being lazy, I now present you with a short story by Oswald Crichton, little known brother of the author of Jurrasic Park, the book about money-grubbing people made into a movie for real-life money-grubbing people. Anyway, here it is. AMIGA PARK by Oswald Crichton The science of chaos is a fashinable theory which tries to describe the instability in systems. For example, if you flick a booger at the wall, it will hit a different spot each and every time, because minute variations make major changes as a system progresses. After all, when butterflies fart in North Dakota, President Clinton uses the bidet instead of toilet paper. Or something like that. Look, it doesn't really matter, because unlike in my well-known brother's opus, chaos has very little to do with the story (or everything, if you believe chaoticians). So lets get on with it. The time is the year 1999. Amigas have been extinct for 4 years, and the world has completely forgotten they existed. Irving Gould was long ago electrocuted while trying to interface his Norelco razor with his Juicemaster in parallel. The guy with the arab-sounding name, upon inheriting the empire, quickly closed the company and liquidated, and received the company's net worth of 12 cents, before tax. The wonderful Amiga computer quickly faded from the minds of even its most stalwart supporters. All except one. Sugdub Beebleflats, in 1996, began soliciting funds for his start-up corporation, Computer Amusements, Inc. (CAI). After many unsuccessful attempts, he found his funding in a group of Meditteranean investors willing to take a gamble at the company. For many years Sugdub and his employees worked in secret, and since much money had been spent, the investors wanted outside opinions as to the feasibility of the project, so Beebleflats called on certain individuals for a position paper. When Dr. Giant arrived on Isla Bibliotecha, he was astounded by its sheer beauty. The telephone lines were all fiber-optic, the transportation completely automated, and there was a hook-in every 5 feet. Oh, and the scenery was ok, too. Dr. Giant immediately turned to Beebleflats and said, 'What the hell are you doing here?' 'I have purchased all that remained of Commodore-Amiga, and I have created this wonderful park in order that the children of the world can come to enjoy it, for only a few hundred a pop!' And then Dr. Giant stepped into the first building, and he was so amazed he almost cried! There they were, hundreds of Amigas, running the coolest software ever to be seen! There were virtual reality games with HDTV graphics, and interactive moview where you actually acted and were responded to by the computer characters, and that was just the first two areas! The park was over 10 square miles large, and, acoording to Beebleflats, every inch was covered with the most technically advanced computer equipment and software on the planet. But Ian Millcone wasn't as impressed. 'Don't you see what you're doing here, Beebleflats? This technology is the most powerful thing in the world, and you're trying to contain it in one park. Computers find a way, Beebleflats, computers find a way!' 'So you're saying what? The Amigas will migrate?' 'No, just that this technology will not be contained. You brought back something none of us have heard of in years, and you expect it to be tamed. It will not happen.' 'But,' Dr. Wuwu said, stepping in, 'what about the meltdown contingency?' 'The what?' Dr. Giant said. 'I've mechanically engineered the Amigas to have poor cooling properties. If they aren't kept at a constant 68 degrees, they will meltdown and be useless!' 'Aha,' Dr Giant said, 'Now what have you to say to that?' 'Life, I mean Amiga, will find a way.' said Millcone. Just then the lights went out. Everyone scittered around, nervously finding their way to the exits. As they were about to leave, the lights came back. 'Check the tracking system!,' Beebleflats yelled to Nerdy, the computer operator. But Nerdy was gone. 'Now where the hell is he?' said Beebleflats. Nerdy walked up to the fax machine, and began faxing the blueprints for the Amiga systems to Mark Benito in Coalsack, PA. He stood there for many minutes, nervosuly feeding the machine and trying to prepare the envelope which would contain all of the wonderful programs for the Amiga. Unfortunately, just as he slipped the last sheet in, the fax machine went bezerk and began sucking his hand through the machine. No one is sure what happened to him, but he's been seen in Egypt, Australia and the Netherlands. @endnode ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ @node P1-7 "Cow Wars!" @toc "menu" /// Usenet Review: Cow Wars ------------------------ By Marcus Albers (malbers@ns.ccsn.edu) PRODUCT NAME Cow Wars, version 1.1 BRIEF DESCRIPTION A humorous artillery game. AUTHOR/COMPANY INFORMATION Name: Chris Richards Address: P.O. Box 3311 Iowa City, IA 52245 USA E-mail: crichard@umaxc.weeg.uiowa.edu LIST PRICE Free -- this program is in the public domain and available on the "Aminet" ftp sites in /pub/aminet/game/shoot. SPECIAL HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS None. The program is AGA-compatible. COPY PROTECTION None. REVIEW As a big Monty Python fan, I love a humorous game, and finally I have found one: Cow Wars. The title itself intrigued me, to begin with. My first impression was that it may be something based on the many cows of "The Far Side", but it is even better. It is Artillery gone Monty Python! The game that this is based on, called Artillery, is an old game that pits two players against each other, armed with cannons. Each player takes turns changing the angles on their respective cannons and blasting cannon balls at the other player over a mountain. Factors such as wind speed and direction and the amount of powder charge will affect the motion of the cannonball. A very addicting game. Now, it's better. Cow Wars uses the same basic rules and variables as the original game. But, instead of firing cannonballs, you are firing COWS! Strange, but true. Complete with a resounding "mooooooo" whilst they fly over the mountain towards their intended target. You have to fire and hit your opponent with three types of cows: styrofoam, glass, and (of course) real cows. The wind direction and velocity change constantly and are monitored by a small flag at the bottom of the screen. The wind affects the cow types differently: a styrofoam cow will blow around more than a glass cow in a strong wind, and a real cow is not affected as much as the other two. The cannons themselves pace back and forth on their respective sides of the mountain, making the positioning of constant shots that much more difficult. Both the maximum wind velocity and the maximum distance that the cannons should travel can be controlled by the user, or can be picked at random by the computer. The size of the mountain can be changed as well. Then there's the "fire penguin" (as if this wasn't strange enough already). He is an oversized penguin that floats back and forth above the playfield, ready to intercept any airborne Holsteins that may come his way. With a villainous laugh, he devours any cows that cross his path, making it even harder to hit your target. Is this game impossible to play, you ask? Not in the least. It is very playable, and it can be made as easy or as hard as you like. The game is set up as a two player-only game, but is a lot of fun to play by yourself. The fact that the other cannon moves around on the other side of the mountain makes it a challenge to hit even if it isn't trying to hit you as well. The program itself was written in Amos, the graphics done with DPaint III, and the sounds were taken from a disk of Macintosh sounds. DOCUMENTATION The documentation is well written and very complete. LIKES AND DISLIKES As for suggested improvements, the only one that I would suggest is a true one-player mode with a computer-controlled opponent. CONCLUSIONS I rate this game as a 9.8 out of a possible 10 points. @endnode ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ @node P1-8 "Academia Censorship" @toc "menu" /// CENSORSHIP? STR FOCUS! ----------------------- Reprinted from STReport #9.24 CENSORSHIP FIGHTS HEAT UP ON ACADEMIC NETWORKS ============================================== Excerpt From THE WALL STREET JOURNAL Monday, May 24, 1993 Page B1 INFORMATION AGE/By William M. Bulkeley Has political correctness gone on-line in academia? Battles are raging over freedom of speech in university-oriented bulletin boards, one of the few places in academia that hasn't been racked for years by this kind of strife. A mild-mannered microbiologist from Rootstown, Ohio, has stirred up a storm among on-line computer users by devising a computer program that automatically wipes out anonymous messages on Internet, the nation's largest on-line network, which is widely used by scholars. He was offended by an anonymous user who posted a joke about the last words of the Challenger space shuttle crew in a scientific discussion group. In other cases, Canadian colleges have blocked electronic discussions of sex. A California community college recently suspended a journalism professor for running a computer bulletin board on which male students wrote messages that allegedly harrassed a female. Many on-line veterans complain that such actions threaten freedom of expression. "This shows how the censors are all among us," says Larry Detweller, a recent graduate of Colorado State University, who studies free speech and "hangs around the Internet," which is often seen as a prototype for the information highway that the Clinton campaign described in last year's presidential election. Such issues are likely to increase as the highway connects more and more computers - especially if the federal government funds it. In fact, Congress has ordered a study of whether electronic bulletin boards, on-line services and public-access cable television are being used to encourage "crimes of hate." For some time now, commercial on-line services such as Prodigy have used computer programs that automatically delete messages that contain certain words. Group moderators who often guide discussions on services such as H&R Block, Inc.'s CompuServe also have the power to remove hateful messages as soon as they see them. But many volunteer-run bulletin boards decline to control what people write. Legally, they aren't required to play the censor: Board operators aren't responsible for things other people write in the wake of a court ruling that CompuServe wasn't liable for what people wrote any more than a bookseller is responsible for the contents of the books it sells. These cozy volunteer communities, the electronic equivalent of Boswell and Johnson's 18th century London coffeehouses, police themselves informally. People who are offensive or irrelevant are shouted down by "flame mail," a barrage of messages by angry users that sometimes can even overwhelm an offender's computer. Other times, the indignant wage "cancel wars" in which they send commands to cancel the foe's message from the bulletin board. On Internet, people order their computers not to accept any messages from particular senders. But a few years ago, users developed "anonymous servers" - computers connected to the network that stripped away the original sender's name before sending it on Internet. The capability was designed to encourage open discussion among victims of child abuse or AIDS and originally was used in only such groups. However, a computer in Helsinki, Finland, was designed to send anonymous messages wherever the sender wanted. Some of these messages on the "sci." section of Internet's Usenet subsystem ticked off Richard DePew, the professor of microbiology and immunology at Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine. "The anonymous servers were breaking down some of the barriers and traditions that keep the Internet useful," says Dr. DePew, whose battle was reported in the Chronicle of Higher Education, a trade weekly. After numerous on-line discussions of the anonymous-server problem, Dr. DePew wrote a program he called ARMM for "automated retroactive minimal moderator." Although the program ran on the computer he operates in Rootstown as a local node of Internet, it canceled messages from the Helsinki computer to any sci. discussion group. As soon as he activated it in April, Dr. DePew was flamed by other users, illustrating the passion with which people defend computer speech. He was called a "maddog (sic) on the loose who needs to be sedated." He was called a "rhinocerous (sic) ." He was compared to "a child-molestor (sic) who goes out and re-offends immediately upon release." He was called an "ignorant petty tyrant." Within 12 hours, he shamefacedly recalled the program, admitting he made a mistake. He says he will never do it again. In another controversy, bitter debates raged at many Canadian universities last year over three Internet discussions: "sex: bestiality," "sex: torture" and "sex: bondage." Some weeks, those discussions were dominated by legal scholars, but other weeks, they included brutal stories and pictures of screaming women. Several colleges, including Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, British Columbia, cut those discussions off their computers. In the U.S., California's Santa Rosa Junior College recently suspended tenured journalism teacher Roger Karraker while it tries to determine whether he's responsible for student messages on a school bulletin board that he operated. The board has some 200 discussion groups that are used by faculty and students. Earlier this year, at student request, Mr. Karraker started men-only and women-only conferences in which users had to promise not to reveal the contents. When one woman learned about what allegedly obscene messages that an ex-boyfriend had written about her on an all-male board, she complained to Mr. Karraker. He immediately shut down the conference and banned the students who had broken the confidentiality pact. She then complained to the college of sexual harrassment based on the messages, and Mr. Karraker was put on paid leave. James Mitchell, the college's personnel director, said the leave was "for his own protection" and isn't a punishment. He says that under California harassment laws, "we had a situation that appeared to be serious." Mr. Mitchell says that if the item had been in a student newspaper, it probably would have been protected under the First Amendment. But outside of student newspapers, speech can be challenged as harassment, he says. Even if it was written on a bathroom wall, and the janitor didn't wash it off, "we'd warn him" of the risk of harassment charges. Mr. Karraker says that as a bulletin board operator, he's protected just as booksellers are. "This isn't publishing in the sense that there's an editor who knows everything that goes in," he says. @endnode ***************************************************************************** @node P4-3 "Portal" @toc "menu" /// Portal: A Great Place For Amiga Users -------------------------------------- Portal Communications' Amiga Zone The AFFORDABLE alternative for online Amiga information ------------------------------------------------------- The Portal Online System is the home of acclaimed Amiga Zone, which was formerly on the People/Link System. Plink went out of business in May, 1991 and The Amiga Zone's staff moved to Portal the next day. The Zone has just celebrated its second anniversary on Portal. The Amiga press raves about The Amiga Zone, when compared to its competition. If you live in the San Jose, CA area, then you can dial Portal directly. If you live elsewhere, you can reach Portal through any SprintNet (formerly Telenet) indial anywhere in the USA or through Tymnet from anywhere in North America. If you have an account on another Internet-connected system, you can connect to Portal using the UNIX Telnet programs, from anywhere in the industrialized world. Delphi and BIX users can now Telnet into Portal for a flat $19.95 a month, with *unlimited* use. Some of Portal/Amiga Zone's amazing features include: - Over 1.5 GIGabytes of Amiga-specific files, online, 24 hours a day. Portal has dedicated a 2.5 GIGabyte disk drive to the Amiga Zone. We have virtually unlimited space for files and new uploads. - The *entire* Fred Fish collection of freely distributable software, online. All of it. Every disk. Well-organized so it's easy to find exactly what you're after. - Fast, Batch Zmodem file transfer protocol. Download up to 100 files at once, of any size, with one command. - Twenty Amiga vendor areas with participants like AmigaWorld, ASDG, Soft-Logik, Black Belt, Apex Publishing, Stylus, Prolific, NES, and many others including Compute's Amiga Resource with over 4 Megabytes of exclusive Compute magazine disk stuff you won't find elsewhere. - 35 "regular" Amiga libraries with thousands of files. Hot new stuff arrives daily. Since Portal has FTP connections we can get new freely-distributable software online within MINUTES of its being announced on Usenet. - No upload/download "ratios" EVER. Download as much as you want, as often as you want, and never feel pressued doing it. Start downloading files with your first session on Portal. - Live, interactive nightly chats with Amiga folks whose names you will recognize. Special conferences. Random chance prize contests. Famous Amiga folks aren't the exception on Portal, they're the norm. Instead of stumbling around in frustration you can talk to the people who design your hardware, who write your software. - Vast Message bases where you can ask questions about *anything* Amiga related and get quick replies from the experts. - Amiga Internet mailing lists for Imagine, DCTV, LightWave, HyperAmi, Director and Landscapes are fed right into the Zone message bases. Read months worth of postings. They don't scroll off, ever! No need to clutter your mailbox with them. - FREE unlimited Internet Email. Your Portal account gets you a mailbox that's connected to the world. Send letters of any length to computer users in the entire industrialized world. No limits. No extra charges. No kidding! - Portal has the Usenet. Tthousands of "newsgroups" in which you can read and post articles about virtually any subject you can possibly imagine. Usenet feeds into Portal many times each hour. There are 14 Amiga-specific Usenet newsgroups with hundreds of articles posted every day, including postings by Commodore personnel. Since Usenet is distributed worldwide, your questions and answers can be seen by literally hundreds of thousands of people the same day you post them. - Other Portal SIGs (Special Interest Groups) online for Mac, IBM, Sun, NeXT, UNIX, Science Fiction, Writers, amateur radio, and a graphics SIG with thousands of GIF files to name just a few. ALL Portal SIGs are accessible to ALL Portal customers with NO surcharges ever. - The entire UPI/Clarinet/Newsbytes news hierarchy ($4/month extra) An entire general interest newspaper and computer news magazine. - Portal featues an exciting package of Internet features: IRC, FTP, TELNET, MUDS, LIBS. Free to all Portal customers with your account. Internet Services is a menu driven version of the same kinds of utilities you can also use from your Portal UNIX shell account. - All the files you can FTP. All the chatting you can stand on the IRC. And on IRC (Internet Relay Chat) you can talk live, in real time with Amiga users in the U.K., Europe, Australia, the Far East, 24 hours a day. - 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) - And 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. How does all that sound? Probably too good to be true. Well.. it's true. Portal Signup or for more information: 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 1-408-973-8091 (modem 9600/14400) 24 hours every day or enter "C PORTAL" from any Sprintnet dial-in in the USA, or enter "portal" from any Tymnet "please log in:" prompt, USA & Canada or telnet to "portal.com" from anywhere. PORTAL'S CURRENT RATES: All prices shown are in U.S. Dollars Total Total Total Total Cost Cost Cost Cost Fee 1 hr. 5 hrs. 10 hrs.30 hrs. Startup Monthly Per Per per per per Fee Fee Hour month month month month $ $ $ $ $ $ $ Portal 19.95 19.95 2400/9600/14.4Kbps, *direct 24 hrs 0.00 19.95 19.95 19.95 19.95 2400/9600bps nonprime Sprint or Tymnet 2.50 22.95 32.45 44.95 94.95 2400/9600bps prime Sprint +% or Tymnet 5.50-10 29.95 69.95 119.95 varies 2400/9600bps non prime # PCPursuit 1.00 20.95 24.95 29.95 49.95 * plus cost of phone call if out of Portal's local dialing area Direct rates also apply to connections made to Portal using the UNIX "telnet" program from an account you may already have on an Internet-connected system. % 9600 bps Sprintnet and Tymnet available in over 300 cities areas + $10 rate prevails at smaller US Cities # PCPursuit is a service of US Sprint. Portal is a PCPursuit "Direct Access Facility" thus connection to Portal with a PCP account is simply a matter of entering C PORTAL,PCP-ID,PCP-PASSWORD at the SprintNet login prompt instead of C PORTAL. Note: Portal Direct 9600/14400 bps service is availble for both USR HST modems, and any V32/V32.bis modems. There are dozens of direct-dial high speed lines into Portal. No busy signals! SprintNet 9600bps service is V.32 modem protocol only. Tymnet 9600bps services is V.32 modem protocol only. Again, Portal does NOT surcharge high speed modem users! Portal subscribers who already have an account on an Internet-capable system elsewhere, can use that system's "telnet" program to connect to Portal for $0.00 an hour. That's right ZERO. From anywhere in the world. If you're in this category, be sure to ask the Portal reps, when you signup, how to login to Portal from your existing Internet account. Call and join today. Tell the friendly Portal Customer Service representative, "The Amiga Zone sent me!" That number again: 408-973-9111. Portal Communications accepts MasterCard, Visa, or you can pre-pay any amount by personal check or money order. The Portal Online System is a trademark of Portal Communications. @endnode ***************************************************************************** @node P1-9 "Sysop's Point of View" @toc "menu" /// A Sysop's Point of View ----------------------- By Robert Niles The hardest thing for a sysop is to make sure that the BBS does not just sit there and stagnate. If a BBS has no interaction of some kind between it's users it will unfortunately do do. Most sysops spend a considerable amount of time trying to keep the interest going. Getting new files, expanding the functions of the BBS, adding more "doors", whatever. For myself, I give Ma Bell a fair amount of money and time to go out and seeking files of interest to my users. Each and every file has to be run, tested, checked for viruses, and then finally added to the BBS for access by my users. This is imporant for various reasons. It connects the users to the outside in a "physical" way, keeping themselves and their computers up to date. Of course users upload files, but not always as much as I figure they should. Maybe because of time restraints, lower speed modems, whatever. I'm sure they have their reasons, but the hardest thing for me to deal with is when I end up calling long distance and get a file that I later find that one of my users already had. I'm sure you can see the problem with this. It was money that could have been spent on something they don't already have. It doesn't matter if the BBS is up to gather those who like hand crafts or build nuclear bombs... people like to communicate ideas. The message areas are the heart beat of any BBS. The transfer of these ideas is what brings people together. I've been on systems that talk about subjects from Electrical Engineering, to Labor and Marketing, to Home Businesses, to Origami. The function of the sysop here is to make these interesting enough to get users to chat about whatever the subject is amongst themselves. To somehow get even the bashful "lurkers" to all of a sudden want to "say" whatever is on their mind. Actually this isn't always as easy as it seems. During lulling points, the sysop has to intervene, add something interesting and get things going again. The sysop has to answer questions (no user likes a sysop who doesn't reply), and interact with the "community" in which he/she created. GAMES!! While this probably takes the least amount of time for the sysop, they are a great addition to the system. People like to get away and interact with one another playing a game of chess, or blow the previous caller out of space! These games, or "doors" often cost the sysop money...most of the time a small fee, but the more games you have, the more interesting the system becomes. Not all BBS's have games, nor are they required. Actually I've seen users at times get a little upset because they have a hard time logging on because the system was being heavily used for games. It's the sysop's call there, and what that might be depends on what he feels the function of the BBS to be. Every potential sysop has to figure out what BBS program he/she will want to run. The best way would be to call BBS's in which various programs are run, then ask around. There are plenty of sysops who have already made up their mind, and are quite willing to tell you why they chose what they did. But no matter which one you use, it must be purchased. Prices vary. Free BBS systems are rare, so understand that sysops out there have had to pay to run that BBS program. Users and future Sysops need to know and understand that every person has most likely placed alot of money in running a BBS. Other things can be added. Internet/Usenet access, Encyclopedias, online newspapers (like USA Today), FidoNet, whatever. A lot of times it's up to the Sysop's imagination and budget. Users, remember always that you are a guest of the system in which you are calling. If you don't like a particular BBS, then don't call it. If you do, give the sysop a pat on the back by leaving him/her a message stating so. This is probably the most any sysop will get as far as appreciation. Remain active on the BBS you like. Get involved with the messages. Everyone loves to get "mail," but as always you must send some to get some. If you can get an answer from some of the other users instead of the sysop, do so. The sysop is often busy, and of course will answer any question you have if he/she can, but asking another user gets more people involved, and spreads the same information to a larger audience. If you have a file that the system doesn't have, and it seems to agree with the function of the BBS then upload it. The sysop will appreciate it as well as the other users. Of course it takes time, but usually the time will be given back, and at times a bit of extra time will be allotted to you. Well that's it for this week. next week I'll talk a bit more about the things that make having a BBS enjoyable, and at times a headache. In the meantime, if you have any questions or experiences you would like to share drop me a line. @endnode ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ @node P1-10 "Motorola 68060" @toc "menu" /// The Motorla 68060 -- The Next Generation! ----------------------------------------- Official information from Motorola Brought to you by Christian von Toerne MOTOROLA SEMICONDUCTOR PRODUCT INFORMATION on the MC68060 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1 Product Brief Forth-Generation 32-Bit Microprocessor The MC 68060 is a superscalar, high-performance, 32-bit microprocessor providing a low-power mode of operation. The MC68060 is fully compatible with all previous members of the M68000 family. The MC68060 features dual on-chip caches, fully independent demand-paged memory management units (MMUs) for both instructions and data, dual integer execution pipelines, on-chip floating-point unit (FPU), and branch target cache. A high degree of instruction execution parallelism is achieved through the use of a full internal Havard architecture, multiple internal buses, independent execu- tion units, and dual instruction issue within the instruction execution controller. Power management is also a key part of the MC68060 architec- ture. The MC68060 offers a low-power mode of operation that is accessed through the LPSTOP instruction, allowing for full power-down capability. The MC68060 design is fully static so that when circuits are not in use, they do not draw power. Each unit can be disabled so that the power is used only when the unit is enabled and executing an instruction. Figure 1 illustrates a block diagram of the MC68060. +------------------------------------------+ +-+ |Integer unit | | | | +----------------------------+ | | | | |Instruction fetch controller| | | | | | +------+ +--------+ | | +----------------------------+ | | | | |Branch|<-| IA |----------->| +----------+ +----------+ | | | | | |Cache | |Generate| | | | |Intruction|->|Intruction| | | | | | | | +--------+ | | | | ATC | | Cache | | | | | | | |->|Intruct.|<-----------| +----------+ +----------+ | | | Intruct. | | | | | Fetch | | | | ^ ^ |<-| | Address | | +------+ +--------+ | | | | | | | |<-------> | | | Early | | | | +------------------+ | | | | | | Decode | | | | | Instruction | | | | | | +--------+ | | | | Cache | | | | | | | | | | | Controller | | | | | | V | | | +------------------+ | | | | | +------------------------+ | | +----------------------------+ | | | | | Instruction | | | |B| | | | Buffer | | | |U| | | +------------------------+ | | Diagram scribbled by |S| | | | | | | Christian von Toerne | | | +--------|---------|---------+ | toerne@rhein.iam.uni-bonn.de |C| | | | | |O| Data | +------------------|---------|---------+ | |N| Address | | V V | | |T|<-------> | | +--------+--------+ | | |R| | | +----------+ + Decode | Decode | | | |O| | | | Floating | +--------+--------+ | | +----------------------------+ |L| | | | Point | | EA | EA | | |<-| +------------------+ | |L| | | | Unit | |Generate|Generate| | | | | Data | | |E| | | | +------+ | +--------+--------+ | | | | Cache | | |R| | | | | EA | | | EA | EA | | | | | Controller | | | | | | | | Fetch| | | Fetch | Fetch | | | | +------------------+ | | | | | | +------+ | +--------+--------+ | | | | | |<>| | | | | | FP | | | INT | INT | | |->| V V | | | | | | | Exec | | | Execute| Execute| | | | +----------+ +----------+ | | | | | | +------+ | +--------+--------+ | | | | Data |->| Data | | | | | | +----|-----+ Instruction | | | | ATC | | Cache | | | | | | | Execution Controller | | | +----------+ +----------+ | | | | +------|------------|--------|---------+ | +----------------------------+ | | Control | V V V | ^ | |<-------> | +--------------------------------------+ | | | | | | Data available | | | | | | +--------------------------------------+ | | | | | | Write-Back | | | | | | +--------------------------------------+ | | | | +------------------------------------------+ | +-+ | Operand data bus | +--------------------------------------+ Figure 1. MC68060 Simplified Block Diagram (This document contains information on a product under develoment. Motoro- la reserves the right to change or discontinue this product without no- tice.) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 2 Complete code compatibility with the M68000 family allows the designer to draw on existing code and past experience to bring products to market quickly. There is also a broad base of established development tools, in- cluding real-time kernels, operating systems, languages, and applications, to assist in product design. The functionality provided by the MC68060 makes is the ideal choice for a range of high-performance computing appli- cations as well as many portable application that require low power and high performance. The MC68060's high level of integration results in high performance while reducing overall system power consumption. The following is a list of primary features for the MC68060: - 100% User-Mode Compatible with MC68040 - Three Times the Performance of a 25-MHz MC68040 - Superscalar Implementation of M68000 Architecture - Dual Integer Instruction Execution Improves Performance - IEEE-Compatible On-Chip FPU - Branch Target Cache Minimizes Branch Latency - Independent Instruction and Data MMUs - Dual 8-Kbyte On-Chip Caches -- Seperate Data and Instruction Caches -- Simultaneous Access - Bus Snooping - Full 32-Bit Nonmultiplexed Address and Data Bus -- 32-Bit Bus Maximizes Data Throughput -- Nonmultiplexed Bus Simplifies Design -- Four-Deep Write Buffer to Maximize Write Bandwidth -- MC68040-Compatible Bus Provides Simple Hardware Migration Path - Concurrent Operation of Integer Unit, MMUs, Caches, Bus Controller, Integer Pipelines, an FPU Provides High Performance - Power Consumption Control -- Static HCMOS Technology Reduces Power in Normal Operation -- Low-Voltage Operation at 3.3 V -- LPSTOP Provides an Idle State for Lowest Standby Current - 50 MHz and 66 MHz - Packaging -- Ceramic Pin Grid Array (PGA) -- Ceramic Quad Flat Pack (CQFP) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 3 MC68060 Signals +-------------+ Processor ---- _CDIS --> | | ---- _BR ----> Control ---- _MDIS --> | | <--- _BG ----- Bus Arbitration | | <--- _BB ----> Control Snoop | | <--- _BGR ---- Control ---- SNOOP --> | | <--- _BTT ---> | | <--- TT0 ----> | | ---- PST0 ---> <--- TT1 ----> | | ---- PST1 ---> Processor <--- TM0 ----- | | ---- PST2 ---> Status <--- TM1 ----- | | ---- PST3 ---> <--- TM2 ----- | | ---- PST4 ---> <--- TLN0 ---- | | <--- TLN1 ---- | | <--- _IPL0 --- <--- UPA0 ---- | | <--- IPL1 ---- <--- UPA1 ---- | | <--- _IPL2 --- Interrupt Transfer <--- R/_W ---- | MC68060 | ---- _IPEND -> Control Attributes <--- SIZ0 ---- | | <--- _AVEC --- <--- SIZ1 ---- | | <--- _LOCK --- | | <--- CLK ----- Clock and <--- _LOCKE -- | | <--- _CLKEN -- Control <--- _CIOUT -- | | <--- _BS0 ---- | | ---- _RSTO --> Reset <--- _BS1 ---- | | <--- _RSTI --- <--- _BS2 ---- | | <--- _BS3 ---- | | // A31 \\ Address Port | | \\ - A0 // and Control Master <--- _TS ----> | | <--- _CLA ---- Transfer <--- _TIP ---- | | Control <--- _SAS ---- | | // D31 \\ Data Port | | \\ - D0 // Slave ---- _TA ----> | | Transfer ---- _TEA ---> | | <-/- TEST ---- Test Interface Control ---- _TCI ---> | | ---- _TRA ---> | | <-/- Vcc ----- Power and | | <-/- GND ----- Ground +-------------+ Figure 2. Funtional Signal Groups INTEGER UNIT The MC68060's integer unit carries out logical and arithmetic operations. The integer unit contains an instruction fetch controller, an execution controller, and a branch target cache. The superscalar design of the MC68060 provides dual execution pipelines in the intruction execution controller, providing simultaneous execution. The superscalar operation of the integer unit can be disabled in software, turning off the second executionpipeline for debugging. Disabling the superscalar operation also lowers power consumption. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 4 INSTRUCTION FETCH CONTROLLER The intruction fetch controller contains an instruction fetch pipeline and the logic that interfaces to the branch target cache. The instruction fetch pipeline consists of four stages, providing the ability to prefetch instructions in advance of their actual use in the instruction cache con- troller. The continous fetching of instructions kepps the instruction ex- excution controller busy for the greatest possible performance. Every in- struction passes through each of the four stages before entering the in- struction execution controller. The four stages in the instruction fetch pipeline are: 1. Instruction Address Calculation -- The virtual address of the instruc- tion is determined. 2. Instruction Fetch -- The instruction is fetched from memory. 3. Early Decode -- The instruction is pre-decoded for pipeline control information. 4. Instruction Buffer -- The instruction and its pipeline control infor- mation are buffered until the integer execution pipeline is ready to process the instruction. BRANCH TARGET CACHE The branch target cache plays the major role in achieving the performance levels of the MC68060. The concept of the branch target cache is to pro- vide a mechanism that allows the instruction fetch pipeline to detect and change the instruction stream before the change of flow affects the in- struction execution controller. The branch target cache is examined for a valid branch entry after each instruction fetch address is generated in the intruction fetch pipeline. If a hit does not occur in the branch target cache, the instruction fetch pipeline continues to fetch instructions sequentially. If a hit occurs in the branch target cache, indicating a branch taken instruction, the cur- rent instruction stream is discarded and a new instruction stream is fetched starting at the location indicated by the branch target cache. INSTRUCTION EXECUTION CONTROLLER The instruction execution controller contains dual integer execution pipe- lines, interface logic to the FPU, and control logic for data written to the data cache and MMU. The superscalar design of the dual integer execu- tion pipeline provide for simultaneous instruction execution, which allows the processing more than one instruction during each machine clock cycle. The net effect of this is a software invisible pipeline capable of sus- tained execution rates of less than on machine clock cycle per instruction for the MC68060 instruction set. The instruction execution controller's control logic pulls an intruction pair from the instruction buffer every machine clock cycle, stopping only if the instruction information is not available or if an integer execution hold condition exists. The six stages in the dual integer execution pipe- lines are: 1. Instruction decode -- The instruction is fully decoded. 2. Effective address calculation -- If the instruction calls for data from memory, the location of the data is calculated. 3. Effective address fetch -- Data is fetched from the memory location. 4. Integer execution -- The data is manipulated during the execution. 5. Data available -- The result is available. 6. Write-Back -- The resulting data is written back to on-chip caches or external memory. The MC68060 if optimized for most integer instructions to execute in one machine clock cycle. If during the instruction decode stage, the instruc- tion is determined to be a floating-point instruction, it will be passed to the FPU after the effective address fetch stage. If data is to be written to either the on-chip caches or external memory after instruction ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 5 execution, the write-back stage holds the data until memory is ready to receive it. Temporarily holding data in the write-back stage adds to the overall performance of the MC68060 by not slowing down pipeline opera- tions. FLOATING-POINT UNIT Floating-point is distinguished from integer math, which deals only with whole numbers and fixed decimal point locations. The IEEE-compatible MC68060's FPU computes numeric calculations with a variable decimal point locationThe MC68060 features a built-in FPU that is MC68040 and MC68881/82 compatible. Consolidating this important function on-chip speeds up over- all processing and eliminates interfacing overhead associated with exter- nal accelerators. The MC68060's FPU operates in parallel with the integer unit. The FPU performs numeric calculations while the integer unit conti- nues integer processing. The FPU has been optimized for the most frequently used instructions and data types to provide the highest possible performance. The FPU can also be disabled in software to reduce system power consumption. FLOATING POINT EMULATION The MC68060 implements the most frequently M68000 family floating-point instructions, data-types, and data formats in hardware for the highest performance. T he remaining instructions are emulated in software with the M68060FPSP to provide complete IEEE compatibility. The MC68060FPSP pro- vides the following features: - Arithmetic and Transcendental Instructions - IEEE-Compliant Exception Handlers - Unimplemented Data Type and Data Format Handlers MEMORY MANAGEMENT UNITS The MC68060 contains independent instruction and data MMUs. Each MMU con- tains a cache memory called the address translation cache (ATC). The full addressing range of the MC68060 is 4 Gbytes (4,294,967,296 bytes). Even though most MC68060 systems implement a much smaller physical memory, by using virtual memory techniques, the system can appear to have a full 4 Gbytes of physical memory available to each user program. Each MMU fully supports demand-paged virtual-memory systems with either 4- or 8-Kbyte page sizes. Each MMU protects supervisor areas from accesses by user pro- grams and provides write-protection on a page-by-page basis. For maximum efficiency, each MMU operates in parallel with other processor activities. The MMUs can be disabled for emulator and debugging support. ADDRESS TRANSLATION The 64-entry, four-way, set-associative ATCs store recently used logical- to-physical address translation information as page descriptors for in- struction and data accesses. Each MMU initiates address translation by searching for a descriptor containing the address translation information in the ATC. If the descriptor does not reside in the ATC, the MMU performs external bus cycles through the bus controller to search the translation tables in physical memory. After being located, the page descriptor is loaded into the ATC, and the address is correctly translated for the ac- cess. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 6 INSTRUCTION AND DATA CACHES Studies have shown that typical programs spend much of their execution time in a few main routines of tight loops. Earlier members of the M68000 family took advantage of this locality-of-reference phenomenon to varying degrees. The MC68060 takes further advantage of cache technology with its two, independent, on-chip physical chaches, one for instruction and one for data. The caches reduce the processor's external bus activity and in- crease CPU throughput by lowering the effective memory access time. For a typical system designm the large caches of the MC68060 yield a hery high hit rate, providing a substantial increase in system performance. The autonomous nature of the caches allows intruction-stream fetches, data-stream fetches, and external accesses to occur simultaneously with instruction execution. For example, if the MC68060 requires both an in- struction access and an external peripheral access and if the instruction is resident in the in-chip cache, the periphal access proceeds umimpeded rather than being queued behind the instruction fetch. If a data operand is also required and it is resident in the data cache, it can be accessed without hindering either the instruction access or the external periphal access. The parallelism inherent on the MC68060 also allows multiple in- structions that do not require any external accesses to execute concur- rently while the processor is performing an external access for a previous instruction. Each MC68060 cache is 8 Kbytes, accessed by physical addresses. The data can be configured as write-through or deferred copyback on a page-basis. This choice allows for optimizing the system design for the high perfor- mance if deferred copyback is used. Cachability of data in each memory page is controlled by two bits in the page descriptor. Cachable pages can be either write-through or copyback, with no write-allocate for misses to write-through pages. The MC68060 implements a four-entry write buffer that maximizes system performance by decoupling the integer pipeline from the external system bus. When needed, the write buffer allows the pipeline to generate writes every clock cycle, even if the system bus runs at a slower speed than the processor. CACHE ORGANIZATION The instruction and data caches are each organized as 4-way set associa- tive, with 16-bite lines. Each line of data has associated with it an ad- dress tag and state information that shows the line's validity. In the data cache, the state information indicates wheter the line is invalid, valid, or dirty. CACHE COHERENCY The MC68060 has the ability to watch or snoop the external bus during ac- cesses by other bus masters, maintaining coherency between the MC68060's caches and external memory systems. External bus cycles can be flagged on the bus as snoopable or nonsnoopable. When an external cycle is marked as snopable, the bus snooper checks the caches and invalidates the matching data. Although the integer execution units and the bus snooper circuit have access to the on-chip caches, the snooper has priority over the exec- ution units. BUS CONTROLLER The bus is implemented as a nonmultiplexed, fully synchronous protocol that is clocked off the rising edge of the input clock. The bus controller operates concurrently with all other functional units of the MC68060 to maximize system throughput. The timing of the bus is fully configurable to match external memory requirements. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 7 IEEE 1149.1 TEST To aid the system diagnostics, the MC68060 includes dedicated user-access- ible test logic that is fully compliant with the IEEE 1149.1 standard for boundary scan testablility, ofter referred to as Joint Test Action Group (JTAG). POWER CONSUMPTION MANAGEMENT The MC68060 is very power efficient due to the static logic and power management designed into the basic architecture. Each stage of the integer unit pipelines and the FPU pipeline draws power only when an instruction is executing, and the cache arrays draw power only when an access is made. The FPU, secondary integer execution pipeline, branch target cache, and instruction and data caches can be disabled to reduce overall power us- age. The 3.3-V power supply reduces current consumption by 40-60% over that of microprocessors using a 5-V power supply. The MC68060 has additional methods for dynamically controlling power con- sumption during operation. Running a special LPSTOP instruction shuts down the active circuits in the processor, halting intruction execution. Power consumption in this standby mode is greatly reduced. Processing and power consumption can be resumed by resetting the processor or by generating an interrupt. The frequency of operation can be lowered to reduce current consumtion while the device is in LPSTOP mode. PHYSICAL The MC68060 will be available as 50 MHz and 66 MHz versions, with 3.3-V supply voltage, an in ceramic PGA and CQFP packaging configurations. The documents listed in the following table contain detailed information on the MC68060. These documents may be obtained from the Literature Di- stribution Centers at the addresses listed on the back page. Documentation +----------------------------+---------------+---------------------------+ | Document title | Order Number | Contents | +============================+===============+===========================+ | MC68060 User's manual | MC68060UM/AD* | Detailed information for | | | | Design | +----------------------------+---------------+---------------------------+ | M68000 Damily Programmer's | M68000PM/AD | M68000 Family Instruction | | Reference Manual | | Set | +----------------------------+---------------+---------------------------+ | The 68K source | BR729/D | Independent Vendor Listing| | | | Supporting Software and | | | | Development Tools | +----------------------------+---------------+---------------------------+ * Estimated availability is 3Q93. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 8 +------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Motorola reserves the right to make changes without furter notice to | | any products herein. Motorola makes no warranty, representation or | | guarantee regarding the suitability if its products for any particular | | purpose, nor does Motorola assume any liability arising out of the ap- | | plication or use of any product or circuit, and specially disclaims | | any and all liability, including without limitation consequential or | | incidential damages. "Typical" parameters can and do vary in different | | applications. All operating parameters, including "Typicals" must be | | validated for each customer application by customer's technical ex- | | perts. Motorola does not convey any license under its patent rights | | nor the rights of others. Motorola products are not designed, in- | | tended, or authorized for use as components in systems intended for | | surgical implant into the body, or other applications intended to sup- | | port or sustain life, or for any other application in which the fail- | | ure of the Motorola product could create a situation where personal | | injury or death may occur. Should Buyer purchase or use Motorola pro- | | ducts for any such unintended or unauthorized application, buyer shall | | indemnify and hold Motorola and its officers, employees, subsidiaries, | | affilates, and distributers harmless against all claims, costs, dam- | | ages, and expenses, and reasonable attorney fees arising out of, di- | | rectly or indirectly, any claim of personal injury or death assosiated | | with such unintended or unauthorized use, even if such claim alleges | | the Motorola was neglient regarding the design or manufacture of the | | part. Motorola and ____ are registered trademarks of Motorola, Inc. | | Motorola, Inc. is an Equal Opportunity / Affirmative Action Employer. | +------------------------------------------------------------------------+ Literature Distribution Centers: USA: Motorola Literature Distribution; P.O. Box 20912, Arizona 85036. EUROPE: Motorola LTD.; European Literature Center; 88 Tanners Drive, Blakelands, Milton Keynes, MK14 5BP, England. JAPAN: Nippon Motorola Ltd.; 4-32-1, Nishi-Gotanda, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo 141 Japan. ASIA-PACIFIC: Motorola Semiconductors H.K. Ltd.; Silicon Harbour Center, No. 2 Dai King Street, Tai Po Industrial Estate, Tai Po, N.T., Hong Kong. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Information sheets hacked in on 23rd of May, 1993 by Christian von Toerne. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- -- cut here -- cut here -- cut here -- cut here -- cut here -- cut here -- That was the COMPLETE information on the MC68060. Nothing's been changed by me nor by any other person. Please, if you spread this file, don't kill the notice that this file was written by me. It took me 3 hrs. of enormous work, because my friend's scanner wasn't able to cope with the figures and the different text sizes. Comments, spelling mistakes a.s.o. to the list or to my personal account. Much fun reading this sheet, Christian von Toerne PS: In Figure 2 (Functional signal groups), _xxx means: ___ xxx ... OK ? PPS: It may be that Figure 1 is too wide ... well I cannot help it ! @endnode ***************************************************************************** @node P4-4 "Holonet" @toc "menu" /// Holonet: Inexpensive Internet Access ------------------------------------- *** HOLONET *** HoloNet is an easy to use Internet Access BBS. HoloNet is based on custom BBS software which provides an easy to use menu driven interface. HoloNet is ideal for those looking for an easy way to use Internet services. HoloNet does not currently provide UNIX shell access. Services include: o Convenient Access A local call in 850+ cities nationwide. o Online Publications Include USA Today Decisionline, Newsbytes, Datanet Computer News, Eeeekbits, and Boardwatch Magazine. o USENET Averages over 30MB of USENET news per day. The following news readers are available: NN, TIN, and RN. o Internet E-Mail Members have an Internet E-mail address similar to: member@holonet.net o Internet Access Access to telnet, talk, finger, IRC, and FTP. (note: you must comply with the policies of any networks you use) o Single and Multi-player Games Board, card, fantasy, and puzzle games. o Support for Eudora Excellent off-line Macintosh e-mail reader. o UUCP E-mail and USENET feeds Link LAN E-mail systems and BBSes to the Internet. How to try HoloNet for FREE: Telnet: holonet.net Modem: 510-704-1058 (Berkeley, CA) at 1200, 2400, 9600, or 14400bps There are free demo numbers nationwide, for an automated response containg a list of access numbers, send e-mail to access@holonet.mailer.net How to get more information: E-mail: info@holonet.net Modem: 510-704-1058 at 1200, 2400, 9600, or 14400bps Voice: 510-704-0160 Fax: 510-704-8019 HoloNet is a service mark of Information Access Technologies, Inc. Copyright © 1992 Information Access Techologies, Inc. All Rights Reserved. @endnode ***************************************************************************** @node P1-11 "Price What???" @toc "menu" /// PRICE WHAT??? STR FOCUS! ------------------------- Reprinted from STReport #9.25 The Great GENIE or When Is a Price Increase a Not a Price Increase? by Lloyd E. Pulley, Sr. A long, long time ago, in a far off world, there was a rich and powerful land called GEIS. The ruler of GEIS was so rich that he only used his lands during the daytime throughout the week, leaving the lands virtually empty during the nights and weekends. One day a cousin of the ruler of GEIS came to him with a plan. The cousin, known as the Great GENIE, said "Why not rent me the use of your kingdom when you're not using it? I know of many people who would pay for the right to have some place to play in the evenings and weekends. This way you and I can make a few extra dinars while supplying these people with something they want." The ruler of GEIS thought that this was a good idea but warned his cousin, "Make sure that you don't rent out more space than we have. I will not spend dinars to expand my kingdom just to give your people more room." So the Great GENIE came to control a vast territory. However, much of this territory was a vast waste-land (what came to be known as the Basic areas). True, there were a few oasis' with popular settlements in this wasteland (SciFi, Religion and a few others) but most of this territory was sparsely settled and seldom visited. Most of the population and visitors to his land stayed in the civilized areas (what came to be known as the Value areas) and seldom ventured into the unsettled territories/wasteland. While the Great GENIE was a mighty man inside his own lands, he was considered a 'minor monarch' in comparison to some of the other countries that surrounded his territory. The empires of CIS, Delphi, Prodigy and others all had populations greater than his. The Great GENIE knew that population was the key to power and riches. His country had the resources (known as CPU power) to handle 2-3 times as many people as it currently held without expending much of the gold contained in his tightly held purse strings. With more population, there would be more tax money and more people to spend money in the civilized areas. With more population, the Great GENIE would be a power to be reckoned with. After long and detailed consultations with his viziers, the Great GENIE came up with a plan that would entice some of the people from the surrounding countries to his territory. He would allow them to settle into is wasteland for FREE. There they would be free to build the types of communities that they wanted. Social and conversational intercourse would spread throughout this once desolate area, making it bloom. To make the deal more enticing, the Great GENIE decided to include free access into the few oasis/settlements in this wasteland. The Great GENIE was nobody's fool. While he would allow them to settle for free, he would charge them a small monthly 'settlement' fee (aka, service charge). This settlement fee would cover the small additional expense that they cost him (remember, the Great GENIE had all of this extra resources/CPU setting idle, so his additional expenses weren't great), while adding greatly to his coffers. Not only would he make money from the settlement fees, he knew that many of these new settlers (aka, newbies) would also go into the civilized areas - thus spending money there and increasing his tax revenues. The Great GENIE decided to use part of his new settlement fees to reduce the tax-burden on his current subjects. This would keep them happy and not be too upset over the newbies getting free what they had to pay for. For several years, everyone prospered. People came and settled the previous wasteland, creating new and exciting societies. As word spread, more and more people came to settle. Prosperity was had by all. Almost everyone raved about how wise the Great GENIE was. But a dark cloud hovered on the horizon, a cloud that kept growing and coming closer, a cloud that brought cold winds and omens of bad things to come. As more and more people came to this land, more and more of the Great GENIE's resources were needed to handle them. Roads that used to be clear and fast, now became crowded and slow. People used to be able to visit other parts of the land in just seconds, now sometimes had to take many minutes to make the same trip. Even inside the civilized enclaves, the area that was still being taxed, citizens found things rapidly growing sluggish. The newbies were clogging up streets and taking up space at the restaurants and shops. Resources that were needed to keep the enclaves running smoothly had been shunted off into the wilderness in an attempt to keep that area running smoothly. It wasn't long before everyone started to blame everyone else for the problems. Some blamed the Great GENIE for not having more resources to handle things properly. They forgot that the Great GENIE was not the real ruler of this land and had no power to get more resources/CPU. Others blamed it was the newbies for not paying their way and for being system hogs. They forgot that these newbies 'settlement fees' had helped to lower their taxes - and that the newbies in many cases had created paradises out of former wastelands. While others blamed it on the old citizens for taking too much of the system resources to play games, grab files and chat, all the while forgetting that without the old citizens taxes, there would have never been the new territories. The Great GENIE decided to play Solomon. In order to restore his kingdom back to normal, he would cut taxes in half!! All of his citizens would now pay taxes, but at only half of the previous rate. Also, to help cover the additional costs of giving service to his now inflated population, the Great GENIE decided to increase the settlement costs by almost 80%. The Great GENIE knew that his new tax plan would be unpopular with some, and that some of his citizens would leave. While this saddened him, he knew it was for the best. With these citizens gone, many of his resources would be released so that he could give better service to the citizens that remained. On hearing this news, a great uproar was heard throughout the land. The citizens of the civilized territories shouted in glee. Their taxes had been lowered again!! Not only that, but those ungrateful system hogs, those newbies would now be paying 'their fair share'. However, many of the newbies did not view the new taxes with the same enthusiasm as their brethren in the civilized lands did. They felt that they had been enticed to this new land with the promise of free lands, and now that they were here that promise had been broken. They didn't see themselves as system hogs, but rather as people who had created a paradise where none existed before. Now that a paradise had been created, the creators were being asked to pay to use their creation. Some even felt that they'd been enticed to do a job and once it was done, they weren't wanted anymore - that the new tax was just a way to chase them off. What will the future hold for the Great GENIE's territories? No one knows for sure. Most of the old citizens will stay around but some will leave. Some had gotten used to visiting the new territories and find the new taxes there unacceptable - unacceptable enough that they will move to other countries instead of staying. But will enough of the newbies stay? Will there be enough to keep the quality of life in the new territories up to the current levels? Will there be enough to keep the quality of life in the new territories at an acceptable level? Or will enough newbies leave so that the new territories will gradually sink back into a wasteland - a wasteland with memories, echoes of better times and filled with ghost towns? The Great GENIE hopes for the first, will settle for the second and fears the third. Lloyd E. Pulley, Sr @endnode ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ @node P6 "Fred Fish Disks" @toc "menu" /// Fish Disks 871-880 Now Available! --------------------------------- A notice from Fred Fish Disks 871-880 are now available. Shipping to all those who have preordered disks should be complete by 17-Jun-93. Note that you can get a copy of the catalog (2 disks) of the complete library contents by sending $3 for disks, postage, and mailer to: Fred Fish Catalog Disk Requests 1835 East Belmont Drive Tempe, Arizona 85284 USA CONTENTS OF DISK 871 -------------------- ABackup A very powerful backup utility that may be used both for hard disk backup and for file archiving. Has a full Intuition interface, a "batch" mode, can save/load file selection, handle HD floppies, use any external compression program, etc... Includes both English and French versions. Version 2.43, an update from version 2.40 on disk 838. Shareware, binary only. Author: Denis Gounelle. DImpWin A GUI interface for Disk-Imploder (included) by A.J. Brouwer. DImp is one of the most efficient disk archivers available for the Amiga. It offers 7 different levels of compression, the ability to create self-extracting archives, MULTIPLE CYLINDER RANGES, ability to work with any floppy compatible device (such as RAD: & FMS disks) and it can also add a text- file to the archive that will be displayed during extraction. Via the GUI interface, DImp-Win will invoke DImp and tell it what to do. DImp-Win version 1.0, DImp version 2.27. Requires AmigaOS 2.04+. Binary only. Author: Colin Bell (DImp-Win) and A.J. Brouwer (DImp) Planetarium An astronomy program which displays and animates the planets of the solar system at specific times. Useful for quickly and easily determining the best times to view the planets, observ- ing retrograde, etc. Version 1.0, OS 1.3, 2.x, 3.0 compatible. Shareware, binary only. Author: Jim Schwartz StatRam Stat-RAM or 'SD0:' is a very fast recoverable ram drive that takes advantage of FFS under WB2 or FFS International under WB2.1 or 3. This work is based on ASDG's 'VD0:'. ASDG-RAM has been reliable for many years since it was placed in the PD. However it has always been slow because it uses OFS, or old file system. On an accelerated machines, SD0: is up to 7 times faster, and averages 5 times faster than the original VD0:. It's also 4 to 5 times faster than RRD. It survives the deepest re-boot, even the ColdReboot of rekicking a KS file. Version 1.5, binary only. Author: Richard Waspe TrashIcon A WorkBench 2.x application icon to delete files. Puts an icon at a possibly user defined position on the WorkBench screen, that deletes all files that are dragged onto it. This is version 1.4, an update to version 1.2 on disk number 839. Binary only. Author: Mark McPherson UnivConq A strategy game where two human players battle for control of the universe. The game has several variables that allow the players to vary the density of planets, the initial number of ships, and the length of play. Status information is contin- ually updated to allow the player to concentrate on strategy, not statistics. Includes digitized pictures and sound. Version 1.08. Compatible with WB 1.3 & 2.x. Binary only. Author: Randy Wing CONTENTS OF DISK 872 -------------------- Convert A units conversion utility inspired by "Units" ( by Gregory Simpson) but is easier to use and can be customized by changing the data file (conv.dat) alone and does not require recompila- tion of the program. V1.3, binary only. Author: David Whitmore. ToolManager Part 1 of a 2 part release of the very popular program by Stefan Becker. This part contains LHA archives of the binary files and graphics. Part 2 can be found on disk number 873. ToolManager is a full featured program for either WorkBench or CLI tool management. Includes the ability to add menu items to the 2.x "Tools" menu, add WorkBench icons or dock Windows. Features multi-column docks that automatically detect largest image size, ARexx, sound and Locale support. Version 2.1, an update to version 2.0 on disk number 752. Includes source, lots of graphic images, and programmers support for using the toolmanager.library. Requires 2.x for full functionality Author: Stefan Becker CONTENTS OF DISK 873 -------------------- Cross A program that creates crossword puzzles. Has a message data file to allow easy translation into almost any human language, with English and German currently supported. This is version 5.1, an update to version 4.1 on disk 537. Includes source in M2Amiga Modula-2. Author: Jurgen Weinelt FInf A very versatile directory listing utility. It can examine the contents of files and display a short type description. In addition, FInf has a whole slew of options that allow you to filter files by type, date, age, size etc., as well as recur- sive directory descending, and adjustable output formatting. So next to simply listing directories, FInf is extremely useful for creating hybrid commands that perform functions closely tuned to your specific needs. Version 1.15, binary only. Author: Peter Struijk MRIconSort MRIconSort is a nifty little tool which will alphabetically sort and align your icons and optionally create icons for files and drawers which don't have them. If you have drawers with tons of icons which are a hopeless jumble, this program is for you! Version 1.01, binary only. Author: Mark R. Rinfret ToolManager Part 2 of a 2 part release of the very popular program by Stefan Becker. This part contains an LHA archive of the source, TeX docs and programmer's support files. Part 1 can be found on disk number 872. ToolManager is a full featured program for either WorkBench or CLI tool management. Includes the ability to add menu items to the 2.x "Tools" menu, add WorkBench icons or dock Windows. Features multi-column docks that automatically detect largest image size, ARexx, sound and Locale support. Version 2.1, an update to version 2.0 on disk number 752. Includes source, lots of graphic images, and programmer's support for using the toolmanager.library. Requires 2.x for full functionality. Author: Stefan Becker CONTENTS OF DISK 874 -------------------- DFA NOT just another address utility. DFA(ddress) features email support, dialing, different types of printing addresses, full commodity support, application icon, Arexx port, font sensitive windows and can be fully directed by the keyboard. This is version 1.23, lots of enhancements and bug fixes since version 1.1 on disk number 782. Shareware, binary only. Author: Dirk Federlein TWA A commodity that remembers the last active window on any screen. If screens are shuffled, the window is automatically re-activated, when that screen is brought to front. Version 1.2, an update to version 1.0 on disk number 781. Binary only. Author: Matthias Scheler CONTENTS OF DISK 875 -------------------- ADoc A help utility for the Amiga. Features include automatic search of any work on which you clicked, ability to use Auto- Doc and AmigaGuide files, support of locale.library, an AREXX port, and more. Version 3.01, an update to version 1.21 on disk number 747. Binary only. Author: Denis Gounelle APrf A print utility with a full Intuition interface, a preview function, page selection, line numbering, multi-columns mode, customizable headers and footers, an AREXX port, an AppWindow, and more. Includes both English and French versions. Version 2.11, an update to version 1.40 on disk number 747. Binary only. Author: Denis Gounelle AZap A "new generation" binary editor, able to edit files, memory or devices like hard disks. It can open several windows at the same time, supports locale.library, and handles all OS3.0 file systems. This is version 2.04, an update to version 1.00 on disk number 759. Binary only. Author: Denis Gounelle Blanker An attempt to provide the Amiga community with a future- compatible, easily expandable screen blanker. Provides a a platform for others to write custom screen blanker modules and not have to worry about the difficulties associated with setting up a Commodities interface and dealing with concur- rency problems. Version 2.3, includes source and several sample blanker modules. Author: Michael D. Bayne KillAGA Allows you to run old, badly written, programs (mainly demos and some games) from your A1200/4000 hard disk without having to continually reboot and switch chip settings. On return from the program, the system returns to full AGA state. Version 2.0, binary only. Author: Jolyon Ralph SeekSpeed Measures the seek performance of any valid device. It works by using the system's very accurate E clock and measures the time taken for seeking and reading varying numbers of sectors under both sequential and random access. Every test is per- formed 100 times if possible, and the average reported. GUI interface, can be run form the CLI or WB, Requires OS2.04+. Version 37.12, binary only. Author: Richard Waspe CONTENTS OF DISK 876 -------------------- ArmyMiner An ultimate "XMines-type" game that integrates all of the best aspects of the previous Amiga versions of the game. Options include: Automatically mark or clean the neighbours of a square; Safe start (no explosion at first click); Safe click (gadget-like behavior for squares); Question marks (for con- figuration analysis). You can also specify your own custom board settings. The game has a very useful pause option, sound effects, high-score tables and a very nice interface. It works under OS v1.3 or 2.0, NTSC or PAL. Version 1.1, an update to version 1.0 on disk number 851. Binary only. Author: Alain Laferriere BattleStar A fun text-based adventure game. It is reminiscent of Dungeon (aka Zork) and Adventure. You start out on a space ship under attack and must get off and back to the planet. Ported from UNIX, with very little "amiga-i-zation". Runs from the CLI only. Includes source. Author: David Riggle, Amiga port by David Ingebretsen CONTENTS OF DISK 877 -------------------- Lyapunovia A mindboggingly colorful program that produces fractal pictures from a simple mathematical formula called "Lyapunov Space". Lyapunovia pictures vary from colorful candy to mean metal (or something), offering you everything you ever wanted in visual representation of mathematical abstractions. Lyapun- ovia has been tested on all Amigas from WB1.2 to 3.1. The program supports AGA graphics, floating point units, 68020+ CPUs, and 24-bit output (to 65000 x 65000 pixels!). A zoom factor of 10,000,000,000,000,000 is possible. Version 1.5, an update to V1.0 on disk 784. This is the full program, the difference between the unregistered and the registered version has been eliminated. Binary only, shareware. Author: Jesper Juul CONTENTS OF DISK 878 -------------------- bBaseIII An easy to use, versatile, yet full featured database program that will run on any Amiga. Search or sort on any field, print mailing labels, (un)delete records, mail merge, get reports in many formats, scramble files, flag records, and more. Fields are user-configurable, so bBase can be used to keep track of addresses, tape or video collections, recipe files, or anything else you can think of - one program does it all! bBaseIII is a greatly enhanced successor to bBaseII. Version 1.3, an update to version 1.1 on disk number 760. Shareware, binary only. Author: Robert Bromley DockBrushes Fifty plus 16-color dock brushes for use with ToolManager, AmiDock, or just as Icons. Author: David Voy DrChip Four utilities to make your C programming life a little easier. Included are: ccb -- A C-source code indentation beautifier; flist -- generates lists of functions from either C or C++ files; hdrtag -- ViM, Z, and emacs support tags; toproto -- converts source code to and from old K&R style to the new prototype-using style. Binary only, freeware. Author: Dr. Charles E. Campbell, Jr. Scypmon Machine-language monitor with many features. Provides you with all functions like assembler, disassemble, search, transfer, fill, trackloadings etc. Version 1.7, fixes 2 nasty bugs of version 1.6 and should now run without errors. Binary only. Author: Joerg Bublath CONTENTS OF DISK 879 -------------------- DiskTest A utility to test the integrity of floppy and hard disks, a la Norton Utilities. Version 2.10, an update to version 2.03 on disk 828. Requires AmigaDOS 2.04 or later. Public domain, includes source. Author: Maurizio Loreti. Find A pattern matching program which uses the weighted Levensthein distance algorithm. Requires OS1.04 or later. Commodity and Arexx Support. Manual in AmigaGuide format. Version 1.0, Includes source. Author: Karlheinz Klingbeil Millim A utility that generates millimetered paper with linear or logarithmic scale (both in x and in y) on a PostScript line printer (on whatever printer, with a PostScript interpreter like Post from Adrian Aylward, disk 669). Public domain, includes source in PostScript. Author: Maurizio Loreti. Watcher A little title-bar commodity which can be customized to show various information such as the free space on hard drive par- titions, free memory, system time and date etc. Font and Overscan sensitive, can jump between public screens by clicking on it's Zoom gadget. Includes WatcherPrefs, a utility that allows you to customize what Watcher displays and its general behavior. Version V37, includes source Author: Franz Hemmer CONTENTS OF DISK 880 -------------------- Oberon This is a freely distributable demo version of a powerful compiler for Oberon-2. Oberon-2 is one of the most modern object-oriented languages. This language was designed with the aim to increase the power of Modula-II and to extend it with object-oriented facilities while reducing its complexity. This implementation features a parallel incremental garbage- collector, a runtime source-level debugger, fast compilation, optimized code, language extensions to access AmigaOS, etc. Version 3.0, an update to version 1.16 on disk 380. Binary only. Author: Fridtjof Siebert SnapWindow A small utility that allows you to attach window activation/ pop window-to-front to function keys. This allows you to instantly find and activate the desired window. Also includes a sunmouse and screen blanker. Version 1.0, binary only. Author: Jason Scott Chvat @endnode ***************************************************************************** @node P4-5 "NVN" @toc "menu" /// NVN WANTS YOU! Another Network Supports Amiga! -------------- National Videotext Network (NVN) National Videotext Network (NVN) has recently added an Amiga Forum to it's growing lists of available services. The Amiga Forum is ready and waiting for you! Order an extended NVN Membership of 6 or 12 months, pay for it in advance and receive a bonus in connect time at no additional charge. Choose from two subscription plans: 6-Month Membership ------------------ Pay just $30 for a 6-month Membership and receive a usage credit that entitles you to $15 of connect-time in the Premium services of your choice. Your total savings using this plan would be over $20!* 12 Month Membership ------------------- Pay $50 for a full year's Membership and get even more free time online. We'll give you a $25 usage credit to use in your favorite Premium services or try out new ones. You could save as much as $45.* For more information about either of these plans, give us a call at 1-800-336-9096. -=* 9600 BAUD USERS *=- $6/hour non-prime time - $9/hour prime time You can join NVN one of two ways. By voice phone 1-800-336-9096 (Client Services) or via modem phone 1-800-336-9092. @endnode ***************************************************************************** @node P3 "Dealer Directory" @toc "menu" /// Dealer Directory Serving our readers! ---------------- Apogee Technologies 1851 University Parkway Sarasota, Florida 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 GEnie: B.GRAY Computers International, Inc. 5415 Hixson Pike Chattanooga, TN 37343 VOICE: 615-843-0630 Finetastic Computers 721 Washington St Norwood, MA 02062 VOICE: 617-762-4166 Portal: FinetasticComputers Internet: FinetasticComputers@cup.portal.com MicroSearch 9000 US 59 South, Suite 330 Houston, Texas VOICE: 713-988-2818 FAX: 713-995-4994 PSI Animations 17924 SW Pilkington Road Lake Oswego, OR 97035 VOICE: 503-624-8185 Internet: PSIANIM@agora.rain.com Software Plus Chicago 3100 W Peterson Avenue Chicago, Illinois VOICE: 312-338-6100 (Dealers: To have your name added, please send Email!) @endnode ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ @node P1-12 "Humor Department" @toc "menu" /// The Humor Department Jokes, Quotes, Insults, Shameless Plugs -------------------- From Mike Heinz on GEnie (M.HEINZ1), on the subject of computer phobia.... Today I had a conversation with a lady. Lady: "What do you do?" Me: "I'm a UNIX programmer." Lady: "Really? I can program, too." Me: "What kind of computer?" Lady: "Macintosh" Me: "What language?" Lady: "Word Perfect." I swear I am not making this up. I have all my buddies as witnesses. @endnode ============================================================================= @node P2-3 "CopyRight Information" @toc "menu" Amiga Report International Online Magazine June 25, 1993 * YOUR INDEPENDENT NEWS SOURCE * No. 1.14 Copyright 1993 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 STR Publications. Permission to reprint articles is hereby granted, unless other- wise noted. Reprints must, without exception, include the name of the pub- lication, date, issue number and the author's name. Amiga Report and/or por- tions therein may not be edited in any way without prior written permission. However, translation into another language is acceptable, provided 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, GEnie, and Portal. Distribution on public domain disks is acceptable provided proceeds are only to cover the cost of the disk (e.g. no more than $5 US). Distribution on for-profit magazine cover disks requires written permission from the editor or publisher. 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. This publication may be edited only by authorized Amiga Report staff. Re-editing and posting by non-Amiga Report personnel is a violation of applicable copyright law. Com- plaints should be directed to the Editor, at any of the Electronic Mail addresses listed at the beginning of the issue. ============================================================================= Only * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * _ _ __ ___ _ * * /\\ |\\ /| || // \ /\\ * * / \\ | \\ /|| ||(< __ / \\ * * /--- \\| \X || || \\_||/--- \\ * * /______________________________\\ * * / \\ * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Makes it possible!! @endnode @node menu "Amiga Report Main Menu" @toc "menu" /// 06/25/93 Amiga Report 1.14 "Your Weekly Source for Amiga Information" -------------------------- · The Editor's Desk · CPU Report · New Products · Dealer Directory · AR Online · AR Confidential · Usenet Reviews · A.M.I.G.A. · Cow Wars · Sysop's Point of View · Fish Disks · Amiga Tip of the Week · Academic Censorship · A Price What?!? · Zoomer Z-550 PDA « Commodore Shareholder Movement » « Motorola 68060 Technical Documentation » « Amiga Report Now in AmigaGuide Format! » @{" Columns and Features " link P1} News, Reviews, and More! @{" About AMIGA REPORT " link P2} Staff, Copyright information @{" Dealer Directory " link P3} Dealer Addresses and Numbers @{" Commercial Online Services " link P4} Sign-up information @{" FTP Announcements " link P5} Files available for FTP @{" Fred Fish " link P6} Description of disks #871-880 ============================================================================= Amiga Report International Online Magazine » FEATURING WEEKLY « Accurate UP-TO-DATE News and Information Current Events, Original Articles, Tips, Rumors, and Information Hardware · Software · Corporate · R & D · Imports ============================================================================= GENIE · PORTAL · DELPHI · BIX · FIDO · INTERNET · NVN ============================================================================= @endnode @node P1 "Columns and Features" @toc "menu" @{" From the Editor's Desk " link P1-1} Amiga Report in AmigaGuide format! @{" CPU Status Report " link P1-2} Chapter 11 for CompuAdd @{" Online Weekly " link P1-3} People are talking!!! @{" BootX News " link P1-3-1} BootX is back! @{" SHI Addresses " link P1-3-2} Addresses for Safe Hex International @{" CBM Shareholder Movement " link P1-4} A move to change CBM's top staff @{" Tip of the Week " link P1-5} A few InterNet FTP sites @{" A.M.I.G.A. " link P1-6} New Movie! * AMIGA PARK * Sneak Preview @{" Usenet Review - Cow Wars! " link P1-7} Can you say "MOO!"? @{" Acedemia Censorship " link P1-8} Censorship Online @{" A Sysop's Point of View " link P1-9} Second of a 3 part column @{" Motorola's 68060 " link P1-10} Technical info on the new 68060 @{" Price What?!? " link P1-11} Commentary on GEnie @{" The Humor Department " link P1-12} What language do you use? @endnode @node P2 "About Amiga Report" @toc "menu" @{" For Starters " link P2-1} Where to get AMIGA REPORT @{" AR Staff " link P2-2} The Editors, and Contributers @{" In Closing " link P2-3} Copyright information @endnode @node P4 "Commercial Online Services" @toc "menu" @{" GEnie " link P4-1} Select for information on these services @{" Delphi " link P4-2} and how to sign up. @{" Portal " link P4-3} @{" Holonet " link P4-4} @{" NVN " link P4-5} @endnode @node P5 "Files for FTP" @toc "menu" @{" ShowVIC V3.01 " link P5-1} Lets you view C64 picture files @{" UUxT V2.0 " link P5-2} UUencoder/decoder @endnode