@database "ar126.guide" @Node MAIN "Amiga Report 1.26, September 24, 1993" @{" Open Magazine " link "menu"} _ ____ ___ ______ _______ _ 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 September 24, 1993 No. 1.26 /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// From STR Publishing [S]ilicon [T]imes [R]eport @endnode @node P2-1 "Where to find Amiga Report" @toc "menu" WHERE TO FIND AMIGA REPORT -------------------------- Click on the button of the system nearest you for more information. FidoNet Systems --------------- @{" OMAHA AMIGANET " link P2-1-9} ......................................Omaha, Nebraska @{" NOVA BBS " link P2-1-1} .................................Cleveland, Tennessee @{" CLOUD'S CORNER BBS " link P2-1-3} ................................Bremerton, Washington @{" BIOSMATICA BBS " link P2-1-4} .............................................Portugal @{" AMIGA JUNCTION 9 " link P2-1-5} .......................................United Kingdom @{" BITSTREAM BBS " link P2-1-6} ..................................Nelson, New Zealand @{" REALM OF TWILIGHT " link P2-1-7} ......................................Ontario, Canada @{" METNET TRIANGLE " link P2-1-8} ..........................Kingston Upon Hull, England @{" AMIGA-NIGHT-SYSTEM " link P2-1-10}.....................................Helsinki, Finland @{" RAMSES THE AMIGA FLYING " link P2-1-11}................................................France Non-FidoNet Systems ------------------- @{" IN THE MEANTIME " link P2-1-2} ...................................Yakima, Washington @{" FREELAND MAINFRAME " link P2-1-50} ..................................Olympia, Washington @{" LAHO BBS " link P2-1-51} ...................................Seinajoki, Finland @{" FALLING BBS " link P2-1-52} ...............................................Norway @{" COMMAND LINE BBS " link P2-1-53} ......................................Toronto, Canada @{" RENDEZVOUS BBS " link P2-1-54} ..........................................New Zealand @{" LEGUANS BYTE CHANNEL " link P2-1-55} ..............................................Germany @{" DEAD FISH BBS " link P2-1-56} ............................................... @{" STINGRAY DATABASE " link P2-1-57} ...............................Muelheim/Ruhr, Germany @endnode Non-AmigaGuide Users: See the end of this document for numbers to each BBS. ___________________________________________________________________________ /// 09/24/93 Amiga Report 1.26 "Your Weekly Source for Amiga Information" -------------------------- · The Editor's Desk · CPU Status Report · New Products · Dealer Directory · AR Online · AR Confidential · InterNet via Email · SHI News · A.M.I.G.A. » WOCA Reports Continue! « » Lightwave with the Toaster? « » MOD Charts! « =========================================================================== Amiga Report International Online Magazine "Your Weekly Source for Amiga Information" » FEATURING WEEKLY « Accurate UP-TO-DATE News and Information Current Events, Original Articles, Tips, Rumors, and Information Hardware · Software · Corporate · R & D · Imports =========================================================================== DELPHI · PORTAL · FIDO · INTERNET · BIX · AMIGANET =========================================================================== @node P1-1 "From the Editor's Desk" @toc "menu" /// From the Editor's Desk "Saying it like it is!" ---------------------- Another summer has come and gone. Temperatures are falling. The weather here in Omaha has been great for the past few weeks -- in the 60s and 70s, with an occaisonal jaunt into the 80s. With the arrival of Fall comes the general increase in online activity, since the cooler weather is moving people back indoors. The major online services will really be jumping here soon, and more exciting things should happen in the Amiga community. On the down side, there are rumors that Jim Dionne, President of Commodore, has resigned. Calls to Commodore attempting to verify this rumor have been met with "no comment." Hopefully, the facts will make themselves known in the near future. But on a more positive note, the CD32 will hopefully make its limited debut in the US sometime next month. I'm anxious to see one of these little jewels. I'm also eagerly awaiting the CD32-compatible CD-ROM drive that Commodore has announced for the Amiga 1200 and 4000. The CD32, if successful, should help bring Commodore back into the realm of viable alternatives to the DOS platform. And it'll be a source of some good games too! Rob @ AR @endnode ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ @node P2-2 "AR Staff" @toc "menu" The Amiga Report Staff Dedicated to serving you! ====================== Editor ====== Robert Glover Portal: Rob-G Delphi: ROB_G FidoNet: 1:285/11 AmigaNet: 40:200/10 Internet: ROB_G@Delphi.COM Associate Editor ================ Technical Department -------------------- Robert Niles Portal: RNiles Delphi: RNILES FidoNet: 1:3407/104 Internet: rniles@imtired.itm.com ________________________________________ Contributing Correspondents =========================== Keith Christopher Jason Compton Chad Freeman David C. Navas Dan Zerkle PC DIVISION ATARI DIVISION MAC DIVISION =========== ============== ============ Roger D. Stevens Ralph F. Mariano R. Albritton @endnode *************************************************************************** @node P4-1 "Delphi" @toc "menu" /// Delphi: It's Getting Better All The Time! ------------------------------------------ Amiga Report International Online Magazine is available every week in the Amiga SIG on DELPHI. Amiga Report readers are invited to join DELPHI and become a part of the friendly community of Amiga 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 AMIGAREPORT and press RETURN. DELPHI's best plan is the 20/20 plan. It gives you 20 hours each month for the low price of only $19.95! Additional hours are only $1.50 each! This covers 1200, 2400 and even 9600 connections! 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The plan, originally written by Commission staff, would require auction participants to make up-front payments in order to be qualified, and would split the available 160 megahertz of spectrum between 1.8 and 2.2 GHz into two 30 MHz blocks, a single 20 MHz block and four 10 MHz blocks. The spectrum would be used for voice, fax, data, and even paging services, in competition with existing cellular and paging operators. Since the spectrum being offered is at a much higher frequency than the existing cellular spectrum, "cell sites" would have to be closer together than in current cellular systems, but power requirements would be much lower, meaning smaller hand-sets could be used. Geographically, the commission designated 51 Metropolitan Trading Areas and 492 Basic Trading Areas, as defined by Rand McNally, rejecting a call by MCI for national licensing. The commission also ruled that existing cellular operators will be eligible for new PCN licenses, but only outside their existing service areas or areas where the cellular licensee serves less than 10 percent of the population of the proposed PCN network. A company is considered a cellular licensee if it owns 20 percent or more of a cellular system -- many systems have multiple owners. The regional Bells will be subject to the same ownership rules as other cellular operators. Companies may acquire up to 40 MHz of frequency space per service area and there are no geographic restrictions, so technically national service is possible. Voting for the plan were interim chairman James Quello, a Democrat appointed by President Nixon in 1974, and Commissioner Ervin Duggan, a Democrat appointed by President Bush in 1990. Voting against the staff plan was Commissioner Andrew Barrett, a Republican appointed by President Reagan. Barrett issued a long rebuttal, writing that "In an attempt to make everyone happy, the majority has created a consensus decision that involves a complicated labyrinth of a few large allocations and numerous small market allocations, in varying size spectrum blocks." Basically, Barrett found the final decision too complicated, creating high costs for companies in acquiring licenses. "The decision imposes impractical transaction costs in order to accomplish complicated spectrum and market aggregation schemes across over 2,000 small licenses throughout the country," he concluded. This is far from the end of the matter. The rules do not have to be finalized until next March. Between now and then, public comments are being sought, and interest groups are bound to have their say. In addition, incoming chairman Reed Hundt, a Clinton appointee, is expected to be in office soon, and will have a vote on the final plan. It's also expected that a fifth commissioner, nominally a Republican, will have been appointed by the President and confirmed before the commission votes on the final plan. Even after that vote, there is a chance for reconsideration and amendment. The Clinton Administration hopes to earn $8-10 billion for the Treasury through auctioning off the PCN spectrum. Such auctions were originally proposed by former commissioner Alfred Sikes, now an executive with Hearst Corp., during the Bush Administration, and during that administration, Congressional Democrats opposed the idea. That opposition vanished after President Clinton expressed support for the auctions. Reaction to the decision was immediate. McCaw Cellular issued a press release with praise for the plan. "The FCC's decision to issue licenses of varying size to both experienced service providers and new entrants into the market will ensure a wide variety of wireless services at competitive prices," the release stated. "I expect there will be spirited bidding for this expansion of wireless service," added Chairman Craig McCaw. McCaw recently agreed to be acquired by AT&T. ------------------------------ New Ergo Keyboard From Ergologic, Key Tronic FREMONT, CALIFORNIA -- If you type a lot and hate the idea of relearning some new keyboard that is supposed to be good for you ergonomically, Ergologic has a new idea for you. Ergologic and Key Tronic have come up with a standard QWERTY-based keyboard for IBM and compatible personal computers (PCs) that the companies claim is adjustable so each individual can get their hands in the most natural position. Since evidence indicates that the debilitating condition carpal tunnel and Desquervain's Tenosynovitis may be caused by keyboards, interest in keyboards made more closely to the design of the human hand and body is high. Approximately seventeen percent of users who use a keyboard more than two hours a day suffer from pain, numbness, and loss of finger control, and repetitive motion disorders account for more than 50 percent of all workplace injuries. Several attempts have been made by various keyboard manufacturers to solve this problem. The Ergologic keyboard looks like a standard keyboard, but the company has split the keyboard in half and the sides rotate up and in so the user can type on a standard keyboard with their hands at a more natural angle. The angle of the halves is set with a knob on the left side of the keyboard and it takes only seven seconds to make the adjustment, according to Lance Rucker, president of Ergologic. Seven seconds is the magic number, Rucker said, because if the time to make an adjustment is longer, even as little as 15 seconds, users will simply give up and use the keyboard the way it is. Integrated hand rests have also been designed to support the forearm weight and increase comfort in the neck, back, and shoulders during keyboard use. Like the other portions of the keyboard, the hand rests are also adjustable and do not interfere with the users normal movement during data input. The spacebar is a reverse activation spacebar which allows the thumb to work the same way it does when picking up something, or it can be used in the standard way. Users may also control the backspace and return keys with the thumb if they wish. Rucker, an ergonomics and Performance Logic specialist, has done extensive research into keyboard design. "It was a spin- off of design work we were doing for surgical settings. Some of our people were very concerned about the awkwardness and contortions of computer input and we decided to do something about it," Rucker said. The Ergologic Keyboard will be marketed both by Ergologic and by Key Tronic, which is the manufacturer. Retail pricing is expected to be $399 and company officials expect the units to be available in November of this year. Key Tronic will demonstrate the keyboards in both of its booths at the computer trade show Comdex in Las Vegas, Nevada, November 15-19. ------------------------------ PCMCIA III Hard Drives Arrive FELTHAM, MIDDLESEX, ENGLAND -- PPCP, the portable peripherals distributor, has announced the availability of an 85-megabyte (MB) removable PCMCIA (personal computer memory card industry association) type III hard disk. The drive, which has been imported into the UK from Calluna Technology, has two 1.8-inch format disks inside, yet comes in a unit that slips straight into a PCMCIA III card slot. John Nolan, PPCP's managing director, said that the UKP 499 unit's average seek time is 18 milliseconds and has a data transfer rate of up to 4MB a second. "The drive opens up enormous possibilities for portable PC users. It has enough capacity to carry all a user's applications as well as data, from machine to machine," he said. "As with most PCMCIA devices at the moment, availability to the market is everything and we have product available now," he added. The drive incorporates standby and sleep modes for power conservation. When active, it consumes 425 milliamps (mA) of power and 250mA when idle. PPCP is claiming a mean time between failures (MTBF) of more than 150,000 hours. Shock resistance is 300 times the force of gravity (G) when non-operational and 100G when operational. The unit measures 85.6 x 54 x 10.5 millimetres and weighs just 65 grams. ------------------------------ Spinnaker Power Album Organizes Images CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS -- Spinnaker Software Corp. (Cambridge, Mass.) has released PFS:PowerAlbum for Windows, a $59.95 program said to offer a simple way to organize, preview and access disparate clip art, scans, images and drawings for desktop publishing or other graphical applications. As clip art and scanned image collection expands, files are typically scattered across numerous directories, drive partitions and network drives. DOS's 8-character name limitation restricts descriptive file names, making it difficult to determine image contents. To catalog images, PFS:PowerAlbum for Windows generates a "thumbnail" representation and stores it in an "album" file, while leaving the image in its original directory location and file format to maintain image integrity. The album file can be further organized into categories. In addition to the image organizer, PFS:Power Album also includes 1,000 color clip art images that can augment an existing image library or provide a new user with a ready-made clip art repertoire. The software is available at computer stores and can also be had direct from the company by calling 800-826-0706 or 800-851-2917. Spinnaker Software is at 201 Broadway, Cambridge, MA 02139. ------------------------------ US Space Efforts In Multimedia SEATTLE, WASHINGTON -- Americans are fascinated with space travel. They crowd the beaches and the fields surrounding the launch and landing areas by the hundreds of thousands. Now you can follow the efforts of the American manned space flight program from the early experimental rockets and the X-15 program to the latest space shuttle missions while sitting at your computer with a multimedia software program introduced recently by Multicom Publishing Inc. Called Americans in Space, the program, for Mac or PC, allows the user to sit in their very own Mission Control and view crew photos, hear audio clips, and watch video or animation of each milestone in America's space program. Americans in Space has over sixty minutes of video clips, including the last launch of the shuttle Challenger, and more than 90 minutes of narration. There are also nearly 600 images including crew and mission photos and artists renditions of the space station Freedom. According to Multicom President Tamara Attard the software has more video than any other space-oriented title. "Americans in Space is fully narrated, making it engaging and easily used be even the younger members of the family," according to Attard. Multicom Marketing Manager Dan Norton-Middaugh told Newsbytes the company believes the consumer multimedia market is just forming, and that many purchasers of CD-ROM drive-equipped PCs have little choice in software beyond games and reference materials. "Multicom titles are designed for these people," says Norton-Middaugh. Americans in Space has a suggested retail price of $69.95. It runs on any Apple Computer Macintosh II-level machine equipped with Hypercard, a CD-ROM drive and a 13-inch or larger color monitor. Program disks for MPC-compatible systems are also included. IBM-compatible multimedia systems require Windows 3.1, a CD-ROM drive, and an SVGA monitor to run Americans in Space. ------------------------------ Nolan Bushnell Returns With OCTuS SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA -- Nolan Bushnell, the man who gave us Pong, is back again with yet- another company, called OCTuS, and at the Tele-Communications Association show announced the company's first product, a Personal Telecommunications Assistant. The product consists of Windows-based software that provides communications management, fax, answering machine and voice services functions, plus a telephone-to-PC interface to access and control the telephone system. The first release of the product is designed to work with telephone companies' central office switches providing what is called Centrex service, as well as standard phone lines and analog lines behind a business' private switch or PBX (private branch exchange). Later versions are expected to support a broader range of PBXs including digital systems. Pacific Bell said it will co-market PTA, which it called a graphical communications control center, in conjunction with its Centrex, Voice Mail, and other products. The agreement will also enable the two companies to market their products using each other's logos. Pacific Bell said the new deal is the extension of a business alliance agreement signed last April. The combined offering will be marketed as Pacific Bell's Desktop Companion. The two parties also said PTA could be the first of many product offerings from them. Further announcements and a formal product launch are expected before the end of the year. In a press statement, Bushnell said graphical interfaces and improved hardware are making computers easier to use, but telephones are getting more complicated. "The OCTuS PTA system returns control to the user. It makes even the toughest phone system as easy to use as today's best computers." The system replaces current desktop tools with a point-and-click system, including name and address books, fax access, answering machine functions, speaker-phone and feature phone features, and a speed dialer, all accessible from within any Microsoft Windows application. Icons are used to place and receive calls, transfer calls and forward them, even access voice mail, conferencing calling, and fax functions, as well as contact histories and the integrated address book. Instead of the telephone's ringing, the PTA provides a silent "pop-up message" and button bar that gives someone the chance to decide how to handle the call. In areas with Caller ID service, the system can even present information on the caller, including a contact history. Bushnell said he is working with three other regional Bells on deals similar to the one he has with Pacific Bell. The suggested list price is $599. ------------------------------ Motorola To Enter PDA Race SCHAUMBURG, ILLINOIS -- Motorola will make a wireless "personal communicator" based on the Microsoft At Work interface. The device will compete with products like the AT&T Personal Communicator and Apple Newton. A key component of the new device, whose design was not announced, will be an in-board wireless modem that can access data and exchange messages with a variety of networks. Earlier this year Motorola announced a range of wireless modems based on "PC Card" technology under the PCMCIA standard. The announcement is important for both companies, and the industry. For Motorola, the announcement puts it into direct competition with Apple, AT&T and others in the growing, but still nascent, PDA marketplace, with a unique product under its own label. For Microsoft, the deal means it will not be left behind Go's PenPoint and Apple's Newton technology in the marketplace. The new device will be produced by a unit of Motorola headed by Bob Growney, who also produced the PC Card modems. Growney said in a press statement that connections to desktop software represent a key advantage of the Motorola device. Pat Richardson, general manager of the Motorola Paging and Wireless Data Group's Subscriber Products Division, said the deal is totally non-exclusive, adding, "We will continue to align ourselves with major industry leaders, including computer and consumer electronics manufacturers, software developers, industry standards groups, and service providers. Our goal is to support major industry operating platforms, as well as all wireless networks." Earlier this year, Motorola said it would offer a wireless personal communicator based on General Magic's Magic Cap application platform, and confirmed its membership in the General Magic Alliance, along with Apple, Sony, AT&T, Philips and Matsushita. In March, it announced a license agreement on Apple's Newton technology, with plans to market a device based on it. Motorola announced its decision to sign an alliance with Microsoft in June. Motorola said it remains committed to its other agreements, with General Magic and Apple, and will announce products based on those agreements in the future. A spokesman also told Newsbytes the company is being deliberately vague about the specific design of the Microsoft-based product, saying design, shipment, and pricing announcements will all be made closer to the actual shipment date of the product. ------------------------------ Pen Computers Make It Into College Football REDWOOD SHORES, CALIFORNIA -- College football is moving to pen computing for play diagrams and game data via a new software product, "Athlepad," from Pentech of Lansing, Michigan. The highly portable pen-computers are taking over time-consuming hand drawing tasks as well as offering portable electronic forms for scouting and medical training. Currently coaches spend 10-20 hours a week drawing playing cards for practice sessions and often the cards must be redrawn in a week with small changes or even no changes, according to Pentech. However, coaches at the University of Pittsburgh, University of Michigan, Michigan State University, and the University of Wisconsin are using Athlepad's practice card drawing program for their x's and o's. This is especially attractive since coaches don't need to use a keyboard or know how to type in order to make efficient use of the program. Pentech says the formations, backfields, fronts, coverage and plays are designed using a method of pointing the pen to the proper area on the screen. The play lines are then drawn and stored for future use, and previous plays can be recalled, modified and stored as new plays. In addition, the plays can be printed on card stock with a laser printer for use during the practice sessions. The company said it also integrated the video editing system of Clearwater, Florida's Athletech Computer Systems into Athlepad for reviewing games. The coaches are using Grid Convertible pen-based computers, although representatives for CIC said the software will run on a variety of other pen-based computers as well. The football programs were developed using software from Redwood Shores, California-based CIC, which develops the PenDOS pen operating system and the accompanying Handwriter Recognition System. PenDOS makes DOS applications into pen- aware applications, handling handwriting recognition, gestures, and inking capabilities. The product supplements DOS so developers can use the same tools to create pen applications as to create DOS keyboard-based applications, added CIC. ------------------------------ Aldus To Bundle PhotoStyler In Multimedia Kit SEATTLE, WASHINGTON -- Aldus Corporation says it has teamed up with Singapore-based Creative Technology Limited to bundle PhotoStyler Special Edition with a Creative OmniCD, the Sound Blaster DigitalEdge CD, the Sound Blaster Discover CD 16, or a Sound Blaster Edutainment CD 16 multimedia upgrade kit. The kits are being distributed by Creative's US subsidiary Creative Labs Inc. The special edition versions of PhotoStyler 1.1a and the forthcoming version 2.0 offer a reduced feature set of the complete product, and are designed for use with other manufacturer's products. PhotoStyler SE includes the image retouching, color correction, filters, special effects, and image transformation tools. Greg VendenDries, sales VP at Creative Labs, says the agreement will allow Creative to broaden the firm's multimedia market. "Aldus PhotoStyler SE allows our users to obtain complete solutions for the creation and incorporation of Kodak Photo CD images, as well as giving them a more professional design tool." Kodak Photo CD technology allows computer users to have pictures they take with a camera stored on a CD disk. The images can then be viewed and manipulated by computer software such as PhotoStyler. Each multimedia upgrade kit from Creative includes a multi-session CD-ROM interface card, a CD-ROM drive with a 680MB storage capacity, one of the Sound Blaster cards, and the necessary cabling to connect the drive to an IBM-compatible personal computer. The Sound Blaster DigitalEdge CD kit gives users the ability to play 16-bit sound. Also included are several CD-based software packages, including Microsoft Works for Windows, Macromedia's Action and Authorware Star graphics presentation programs, and VoiceAssis, a speech recognition program from Creative Labs. There is also object linking and embedding software that allows the user to add speech or music to any application that supports OLE, and a text-to-speech utility called Monologue for Windows that reads and vocalizes text, numbers, and data from Windows applications. You also get The Software Toolworks 21-volume Multimedia Encyclopedia. Creative says the suggested retail price for the kit will vary depending on which Sound Blaster card is being bundled. The full version of PhotoStyler has a suggested retail price of $795. If you buy one of the multimedia kits bundled with PhotoStyler SE you can upgrade to the full version for $150. ------------------------------ Apple Media Kit: Build Mac, Windows Multimedia Apps CUPERTINO, CALIFORNIA -- Apple Computer's Personal Interactive Electronic (PIE) division has announced a software developer toolkit the company claims will allow developers to build multimedia applications that will run in both the Macintosh environment and the Microsoft Windows environment for Intel- based personal computers (PCs). Duncan Kennedy, product line manager for Apple's Digital Publishing Tools said: "Multimedia developers are frustrated with steep learning curves, poor playback performance and unpredictable results. Developers are demanding a new generation of tools that allow production teams to work together seamlessly; we are addressing this demand with the Apple Media Kit." The Apple Media Tool Kit comprises two components -- the Apple Media Tool for designers, and the Apple Media Tool Programming Environment for programmers. The Media Tool is aimed at non-programmers and offers assembly of media elements and the addition of interactive multimedia features with object-based authoring. The company says that prototypes can be generated easily using rough-draft media elements and interactivity between different media elements can be preserved, even when work-in-progress is substituted for finished content. Apple held up Los Angeles Times Media Lab director Jude Angius, who used the Apple Media Kit with a team of reporters to produce a Super Bowl multimedia presentation. Angius said: "...We met our deadline in less than four weeks. Apple showed us the product, and we saw that it would allow us to integrate all the elements quickly and easily." The second component, the Apple Media Programming Environment, is for programmers, allowing the customization and extension of projects developed using the Apple Media Tool. A new programming language is included and a new application framework, the company said. While the downside is having to learn yet another development language and paying a royalty for distribution of finished applications, Apple lists the advantages as: combining an object- oriented program language with a scripting language; allowing for portable code between Macintosh computers and PCs running Microsoft Windows; and providing access to both Macintosh and Microsoft Windows' toolboxes through a C language interface. Andy Hong, technologist at the Art Technology Group in Cambridge, Massachusetts said the learning curve for his programmers was a short one. "We were building controls and special features for an exhibit right away. The programming language is very powerful, and if you really want to enhance the program, you can also write code in C," Hong added. A runtime player must be licensed from Apple for a fee based on the application and the distribution quantity. Corporate licensing is $5,000 per year for unlimited use or 50 cents per copy. Commercial publishers must pay 2 percent of the title's average wholesale price and 3 percent of the average price for hybrid CDs. Educational licensing is free. PIE says that the Apple Media Tool is $1,195, but can be obtained for an introductory price of $995. Also, the product is bundled with Videofusion 1.5, a special effects software package valued at $649. The Apple Media Kit, which includes the Apple Media Tool, the Programming Environment and the Videofusion bundle, is $3,995. APDA, Apple's source for developer tools is handling the Apple Media Kit, and the company says prices outside the US may vary. ------------------------------ Electronic Imaging '93 - 3D Eyewear For Kubota Workstations BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS -- At Electronic Imaging '93, StereoGraphics has announced a $2 million agreement to supply Kubota-Pacific Computer with its CrystalEyes active shuttering eyewear and other 3D (three-dimensional) stereographic products. Used for virtual reality applications, flybys, and industrial purposes, the CrystalEyes eyewear is synchronized with the monitor, according to the company. The monitor alternately displays the left and right images of each stereo pair at 120 frames-per-second, resulting in a "true stereo 3D image." Kubota plans to offer the eyewear with Kubota Kenai ("keen eye") workstations, which are based on DEC's Alpha AXP processor and Kubota's scalable Denali graphics subsystem, as well as with Kubota's own Denali workstations. Silicon Graphics, another workstation vendor, has been providing the eyewear with its workstations for the past six or seven years, said Paul D. Wait, sales engineer, speaking with Newsbytes at the StereoGraphics booth. In the booth, StereoGraphics ran a demo on a Kubota workstation of a 3D flyby of Orange County. StereoGraphics has also produced a demo of Autodesk, Wait told Newsbytes. The company hopes to have applications based on StereoGraphic equipment accessible from an icon in an upcoming edition of Autodesk's 3D studio, he noted. ------------------------------ Electronic Imaging '93 - Smallest CCD Camera Module BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS -- At Electronic Imaging '93 this week, Sony introduced a product billed as the smallest CCD camera module ever made, along with an ultra-tiny color liquid crystal display (LCD) display. Both products will be used for professional broadcasting and film applications, and the CCD camera module might also be used in desktop peripherals, said Jim Trumpp, national sales manager, in an interview with Newsbytes on the show floor. Several Sony customers will be taking the camera and LCD, encased in protective enclosures, on underwater ocean filming expeditions, Trumpp told Newsbytes. Customers in this market segment include Osprey and Deep Sea Power & Light, he added. Many land-based applications are also on the way, he said. The 1.7- by 1.1- by 3.1-inch XC-MO7 monitor is designed to function as a "portable viewfinder," and is ideal for testing camera installations, he explained. The miniature monitor weighs only 4.2 ounces, requires only a 12-volt power supply, and has a total power consumption of only 2-watts. The display area is just 0.7-inch wide. The RGB (red, green, blue) pixels of the LCD are arranged in a delta pattern, which is aimed at providing exceptional picture quality compared to the fixed color pattern found in vertical stripe and mosaic pattern arrangements. According to Trumpp, the LCD is the first of its size to offer zero retention time, meaning that a shadow of a previous image is not retained by the panel. The new "subminiature" XC-777 CCD module measures less than four-inches in height and under one-inch in both height and width, making it one-third smaller than Sony's previously released XC-999 module, he told Newsbytes. The module outputs stand color video signals, either NTSC composite or Y/C, producing horizontal resolution of 470 TV lines. The use of Sony's Hyper HAD (Hole Accumulated Diode) technology has reduced light sensitivity to 4.5 lux, said Trumpp. Signal-to- noise ratio has been improved to more than 48dB. ------------------------------ Gateway 2000 Intros Pentium-Powered Local Bus PC NORTH SIOUX CITY, SOUTH DAKOTA -- Gateway 2000 has announced that it is now accepting orders for a Pentium-based PC that uses PCI local bus architecture. The unit is scheduled to ship in mid-October. The company says that the P5-60, is available in volume. Base configuration includes a 424 megabyte (MB) hard drive, 16MB of system memory, a 2MB video card, a double speed CD-ROM drive that Gateway says transfers data at the rate of 300 kilobytes (KB) per second, a 1.44MB 3.5-inch floppy disk drive, 16 KB of internal cache memory, a 15-inch non-interlaced CrystalScan color monitor, a mouse, MS-DOS, Microsoft Windows, and a choice of application software. Gateway says the P5-60 is more economical than comparably configured systems that are powered by a 66 megahertz (MHz) 486DX2 chip. The P5-60 uses a 32-bit PCI local bus that Gateway says can move data up to 15 percent faster than through existing VESA (Video Electronics STandards Association) local bus designs. If the user adds peripherals such as modems or network cards, the system BIOS (basic input/output) recognizes and automatically configures them. Gateway says peripherals running on the PCI bus run at a 33MHz clock speed, more than four times the rate used on standard ISA (Industry Standard Architecture) bus expansion slots. The unit comes in a tower style case that accommodates five external drive bays, six internal drive bays, two fans, and a 300 watt power supply. Gateway will install Microsoft Excel spreadsheet program, the CD-ROM edition of Microsoft Word and Bookshelf, MS Powerpoint presentation software, Microsoft Project project management, Microsoft Entrepreneur Pack, or Borland's Paradox/Quattro package at no charge. The user can also elect to have a second application installed, including several CD-ROM titles. Gateway says those are available at competitive pricing and include Microsoft Encarta, Microsoft Dinosaurs, Jazz: A Multimedia History, Microsoft Cinemania and the TIME Almanac 1993. ------------------------------ A BBS For Law Enforcement, Safety, Security Pros PHOENIX, ARIZONA -- Wayne Church, Director of Safety and Security at the 231- bed John C. Lincoln Hospital in Phoenix, Arizona, says it is important for security, safety and law enforcement professionals to talk to each other, so he started a free computer bulletin board service where professionals in those industries can network and share ideas and information. "The goal was to bring together the software that would make available safety, security, law enforcement, emergency disaster management, occupational health and industrial hygiene files. so the professionals in those fields would have a place to go to find the information they needed to do their job better. The goal is to provide a resource," says Church. Called "Safe'n Secure BBS," the electronic bulletin board allows users to download text and graphics files that contain information about safety, emergency and disaster planning, hazardous materials, security, hostage crisis management, and law enforcement issues. In addition to text files, pictures of missing children distributed by the National Center For Missing and Exploited Children located in Arlington, Virginia, are also on the board. Users can also upload information they want to share. The FBI recognized the importance of electronic bulletin boards in its March 1991 bulletin, calling them "a useful tool for law enforcement officials." Church says that while there are a number of general purpose computer bulletin boards across the nation, only a small percentage are for law enforcement and safety officials, and none are for security personnel except those interested in computer security issues. "What I wanted was a board that would allow security directors to swap policies and procedures, find software that would let them do their job better, and obtain demo copies of software so they could download it and try them out." Safe n' Secure uses the "Wildcat!" software program published by Bakersfield, CA-based Mustang Software Inc. "It's very easy for someone who has never been on a bulletin board to use," says Church. Users with modem-equipped PCs can call the BBS using almost any communications software program, including those that came with their modem. Safe n' Secure is also a place where users can exchange electronic mail, and Church posts bulletins announcing industry happenings and information on how to be certified as a Certified Protection Professional (CCP) by the American Society For Industrial Security or a Certified Healthcare Protection Administrator (CHPA) by the International Association of Healthcare Security and Safety. Even though the BBS has only been in operation officially since June 1993, there are already almost 700 files available for reading and/or downloading, and the board has over 100 users registered. Church verifies the professional status of each new caller by phone the following day since that status determines what areas of the board will be accessible. There is no charge to use Safe'n Secure, but Church does accept contributions towards upgrade of the computer equipment, and contributors are granted more board privileges. "It doesn't even have to be money. If someone wants to contribute a CD-ROM I'll accept that in lieu of cash," he told Newsbytes. The board hasn't acquired non-profit status yet, although that is one of Church's goals, so donations are not tax-deductible. Contributions go towards expanding the system and adding more phone lines. Church wants to add a CD-ROM drive and an eight line modem. Most of the downloadable files are formatted for IBM-compatible PCs, but there is also a section of the board devoted to Apple Computer's Macintosh users. Church is looking for a Macintosh "sysop" or system operator, a user to run that portion of the board. He compresses his files in order to save download time and disk storage space. The software needed to decompress files is available on the board, along with the program required to view graphics images such as the missing children pictures. Church has written a parking management computer program for the hospital that tracks assigned parking, registration, towing wheel locks and citations. A demo version is available for downloading at no cost except long distance charges. It is also available on a computer disk for $15. The full version sells for $289. ------------------------------ Apple Offers Free Newton OS 1.04 Update CUPERTINO, CALIFORNIA -- Apple Computer is shipping the latest version of the Newton Messagepad operating system (os), Newton System 1.04, to users without charge. The Sharp Newton-workalike called the Expertpad is also available. For Newton users without a Connection Kit or a modem, the way to update the Newton OS or ROM is to contact Apple directly via a special toll-free number and make a request. Apple is not charging for the version 1.04 update, but the company is taking credit card numbers to ensure it gets back the old Personal Computer Memory Card International Association (PCMCIA) card with the previous version of the Newton OS on it. Delivery is estimated at seven days and a pre-paid return envelop is provided for return of the old PCMCIA card. The 1.04 update offers fixes for screen problems present in the 1.03 version and Apple says it offers improved memory and power management. The Sharp Expertpad is available in some retail outlets, such as Mac Warehouse, and the main difference between the Expertpad and the Messagepad appears to be that the AC adapter is extra. Mac Warehouse told Newsbytes the Expertpad is $699 and the AC adapter is an additional $39. Some users have said they like the slimmer appearance and the built-in open and close cover of the Expertpad. However, reports are some Expertpad users could end up with the 1.03 version of the Newton OS and Apple's position is not to upgrade Expertpad users to version 1.04. The way to discover the version of the ROM or OS is to bring up "preferences" on the Expertpad or Messagepad, which also displays the version number at the bottom of the screen. The preceding stories are © 1993 NewsBytes. Reprinted with permission. @endnode __________________________________________________ @node P1-3 "The Scientist" @toc "menu" THE SCIENTIST, INC. 3501 Market Street Philadelphia, PA 19104 USA For more information, contact: EUGENE GARFIELD, Ph.D. Publisher & Editor-in-Chief Phone : (215)386-0100 Ext. 1504 Fax : (215)387-1266 E-mail: garfield@aurora.cis.upenn.edu THE SCIENTIST newspaper, now available on Internet THE SCIENTIST a biweekly newspaper for scientists and the research community, is now available electronically -- in full text and free of charge -- on the internet network via ftp, WAIS, and Gopher. Eugene Garfield, publisher of THE SCIENTIST states that electronic access to the newspaper's articles and features has been made available following a successful trial experiment on NSFnet, the electronic communications network of the National Science Foundation. Founded in 1986, THE SCIENTIST is published in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA, and is circulated internationally to researchers, administrators, and policy makers in academia, industry, and government. THE SCIENTIST is the only newspaper that exclusively covers current issues and events that impact the professional research environment--including funding legislation, new grants, employment and salary trends, career advancement opportunities, ethics and conflicts of interest, representation of women and minorities in science, and the interplay of industrial, academic, and governmental research. In addition, THE SCIENTIST reports on trends in research and features the opinions of leaders in science. THE SCIENTIST can be accessed on the InterNIC (AT&T) server by the in- structions provided below. The full text of issues from November 1992 onward are accessible. New issues are added every two weeks on alternate Mondays, coinciding with the cover date of the printed edition. Back issues are being loaded every other week, until the full seven year file is complete. INSTRUCTIONS FOLLOW.... INSTRUCTIONS FOR ACCESSING THE SCIENTIST ON AT&T SERVER via FTP ------- type: ftp ds.internic.net login or name, type: anonymous for password, type in your internet address at ftp prompt type: cd pub/the-scientist at next prompt type: dir This will list the files in THE SCIENTIST directory type : get (and the issue you wish to retrieve) To leave the server, type: quit THE SCIENTIST files are added every two weeks. File numbers will correspond to date of publication. Example: get the-scientist-921207 is: the-scientist-92(for year) 12(for month) 07(day) OR via GOPHER ---------- THE SCIENTIST is available on the InterNIC Gopher Server From your Gopher client, connect to internic.net 70 For example using a UNIX Gopher client, type: gopher internic.net_70 (NOTE: _70 = space 70. 70 is Port 70) You will be at the following menu: 1. Information about the InterNIC. 2. InterNIC Information Services (General Atomics)/ 3. InterNIC Registration Services (NSI)/ 4. InterNIC Directory and Database Services (AT&T)/ Choose: #4 - InterNIC Directory and Database Services (AT&T)/ You will be at the following menu: 1. InterNIC Directory of Directories Resource Types/ 2. Information about the InterNIC Directory and Database Services/ 3. IETF Documents/ 4. IETF Steering Group Documents/ 5. Internet Draft Documents/ 6. Internet Informational RFC Documents (FYIs)/ 7. Internet Policies and Procedures/ 8. Internet Request For Comments (RFC) Documents/ 9. Internet Society (ISOC) Documents/ 10. Internet Standard RFC Documents (STDs)/ 11. National Science Foundation Databases/ 12. Publically Accessible Databases/ 13. Publically Accessible Sources/ 14. The DS WHOIS Database 15. The Internet Resource Guide/ Choose: #12 - Publically Accessible Databases/ You will be at the following menu: 1. TRAINER-DIALOG for DIALOG Information Services/ 2. THE SCIENTIST - Newsletter/ Choose: #2 - The Scientist-Newsletter/ You will now be at THE SCIENTIST's menu where you can find help, for key-word searches, see an overview, an index or select an entire issue. OR via TELNET/WAIS Client ---------------------- type:telnet ds.internic.net at login, type: wais (lower case; no password required) at search prompt, type : db the-scientist at next search prompt, type: query_(key words to be searched) To view a file, type: view (serial number of the file retrieved) A tutorial on searching by WAIS is available on the menu. at search prompt, type: help When you are finished, at search prompt, type: quit OR via TELNET/GUEST ---------------- type: telnet ds.internic.net at login type : guest (no password required) You will be at the following menu: InterNIC Directory and Database Services Telnet Interface Main Menu 1) Help Tutorial 2) Person Lookup 3) Institution Lookup 4) Document Lookup by Name 5) Document Lookup by Keyword 6) Internet Resource Lookup 7) Exit Enter desired option (1-7) and press the key: Choose #5 at the search prompt type: db the-scientist at next search prompt type: query (key words to be searched) When you are finished type: quit OR via EMAIL --------- You can access THE SCIENTIST via AT&T mail server, which is an automatic program that delivers information by electronic mail. To request THE SCIENTIST from the mail server, send a message to: mailserv@ds.internic.net include the following lines in the body (NOT SUBJECT) of the message: file /ftp/pub/the-scientist/the-scientist-yymmdd for path, type your return email address type: end The mail server will split the document into 64k chunks by default and the requested information will be transmitted to @endnode ------------------------------ @node P1-4 "NewBytes CD-ROM" @toc "menu" NewsBytes CD-ROM shipping *** Newsbytes Volume III - Available For $24.95 09/20/93 *** MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA -- Newsbytes Volume III, all the news, reviews, and editorials that have been published on the Newsbytes News Network through July of this year, is now available for $24.95 on CD-ROM (compact disc - read only memory). The disc, which runs on both Apple Computer Macintoshes and PCs, contains the over 40,000 news stories on the world-wide computer and telecommunications industries written between May, 1983 and August, 1993 by the Newsbytes News Network staff. This rich compendium of reports, published by Wayzata Technologies, chronicles everything from the infancy of the microcomputer to today's highly diversified and complex array of technologies. Newsbytes has a staff of 19 daily reporters in the following cities: Los Angeles, San Francisco, Denver, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Atlanta, Washington, DC, Boston, Toronto, London, Tokyo, Hongkong, Sydney, New Delhi, and Moscow. Newsbytes reports 30 stories a day, or 600 a month. These are objective, first-hand new stories involving interviews with the people who make the news, and on-site trade show coverage. A Textware search engine enables the Volume III CD-ROM disc to be keyword searched for stories in which individual words or text strings appear, or Boolean searched (eg "keyword1" plus "keyword2" but not "keyword3"). This makes it an invaluable tool for researchers and libraries. According to Wendy Woods, Newsbytes' editor in chief, this is also the lowest-ever price for a Newsbytes disc. Previous discs were, according to Woods, priced in the $50 to $100 price bracket. "We want to make sure everyone has access to our reports, and that price is not a barrier. Our rich history of the computer industry is the most extensive available on CD-ROM," she said. Newsbytes, a pioneering electronic publication, has provided daily coverage of the dynamic and complex computer and telecommunications industries to online services, magazines, newspapers, newsletters, and fax and e-mail news delivery services world-wide since 1983. Newsbytes coverage has won Best Online Publication awards four times from the Computer Press Association, the largest organization of professional computer journalists world-wide. Newsbytes is an independent, privately held news organization. The disc is $24.95 plus $2.50 shipping and handling to US addresses, $4.50 shipping and handling to all other countries. Those interested in ordering the CD-ROM should send a check or money order, or their Visa or Mastercard number, with expiration date (no American Express please) to: CD-ROM Offer, Newsbytes News Network, Carriage House, 406 West Olive St., Stillwater, MN 55082 or fax to 612-430- 0441. Please include shipping address. @endnode ------------------------------ @node P1-5 "Lightrave" @toc "menu" Lightwave 3D(tm) without the Toaster? The solution is Lightrave(tm)! September, 1993. Richmond, VA - Warm and Fuzzy Logic, Inc. announced their solution for the Amiga(tm) computer which allows you to use NewTek's Lightwave 3D animation system without the Video Toaster(tm). The product is Lightrave - an all new hardware device that resides on the serial port of ANY Amiga computer and emulates the necessary Toaster functions that allow Lightwave to fully function on your Amiga! Features: HIGH SPEED EMULATION: Lightrave is a custom hardware module that emulates all of the Toaster functions needed by Lightwave 3D! TOASTER FREEDOM: Lightrave enables any Amiga to run Lightwave 3D without requiring a Video Toaster to be installed. NEW ADVANCED FEATURES: Lightrave adds a suite of professional features never before available to Lightwave 3D users. FASTER!! Lightrave will render images faster than a Toaster equipped Amiga, as no lengthy display time to the Video Toaster is required. TRUE 24 BIT DISPLAY: Rendering is no longer limited to the Toaster's composite display alone. Lightrave now allows Lightwave 3D to render directly to the most popular 24bit graphic cards. Supported cards include the GVP IV-24, Retina, Opalvision, DCTV, Firecracker, EGS Spectrum, Piccolo, Picasso, Rainbow 3, Amiga, and Amiga-AGA displays. PAL COMPATIBLE: Lightrave makes Lightwave 3D fully functional for European PAL users. FAST ANIMATIONS: Full screen preview animations previously only available on the Toaster-4000(tm) are now available to all Lightwave 3D users. The animations are stored in standard Amiga "Anim" animation formats and may be transferred and edited by other Amiga programs. Direct rendering to DCTV and OpalVision animation formats will be available shortly. NETWORKING: Lightrave is fully network compatible. From the low cost Parnet to the high end Ethernet solutions, Lightrave is the perfect solution for all Lightwave 3D "Render Farms". IMAGE PROCESSING: Render directly to GVP's ImageFX, where frames can be image processed before being saved to disk! FULLY COMPATIBLE: Works with the entire Amiga line of computers. Even the Amiga 500 and the new Amiga 1200! Requirements: o Lightwave 3D 2.0 or 3.0 required. o Compatible with all Commodore Amiga models, both NTSC and PAL. o Workbench and Kickstart 2.04 or later. o Lightwave 3D requires a minimum 512 chip RAM and 512k fast RAM. o Extended memory and hardware acceleration are reccomended. o 2 Megs of Chip RAM is recommended for direct rendering to GVP IV-24. o Lightrave registration requires a Toaster registration number. Lightrave is shipping now and carries a suggested retail price of $499. Call your dealer or distributor for availability and product information. Amiga is a trademark of Commodore Business Machines, Lightwave 3D, Video Toaster and Toaster 4000 are trademarks of NewTek Inc., ImageFX is a trademark of Great Valley Products, Inc. Michael Vunck, President Warm and Fuzzy Logic Inc. 2302 Marriot Road Richmond, VA 23229 @endnode ------------------------------ @node P1-6 "New Courier modems" @toc "menu" New Courier Modems Offer Host of New Features Including V.32 terbo, HST Cellular, V.17, Security; Products to Ship September 1, 1993 SKOKIE, Ill. -- August 23, 1993 -- U.S. Robotics, Inc. today announced a major evolution to its Courier modem line; the company will ship new Courier models beginning September 1 that include a battery of new features, most notably the 19.2 Kbps V.32 terbo protocol and U.S. Robotics' proprietary Adaptive Speed Leveling (ASL[tm]) technology, which further boosts speed to 21.6 Kbps. The new features fall into three broad categories: increased data rates, fax enhancements and high-end features. The company is offering an upgrade program for current Courier high-speed modem users, also beginning September first. U.S. Robotics Among First To Ship V.32 terbo Among the features included in the new modems is V.32 terbo, a new protocol for 19.2 Kbps data transmission developed by AT&T; Courier modems will be among the first shipping products to include V.32 terbo, which delivers a 33 percent increase in speed over the 14.4 Kbps V.32 bis standard. The move to V.32 terbo is in keeping with U.S. Robotics' philosophy of developing modems that support a variety of protocols and provide compatibility with a wide range of modems from other vendors. These products allow Courier customers to take advantage of increased data rates, while still assuring them of a clear upgrade path to the forthcoming V.fast standard. Additionally, the new modems provide Courier customers the added benefit of proprietary technology that boosts connect speed to 21.6 Kbps. Proprietary ASL Increases Speed to 21.6 Kbps; DTE Interface Rate Jumps to 115.2 Kbps The Courier V.32 terbo modems include the company's proprietary Adaptive Speed Leveling (ASL[tm]) protocol, boosting throughput to 21.6 Kbps, a 50 percent increase in speed over the current 14,400 bps V.32 bis standard. This protocol allows users who are connecting two Courier modems to take advantage of the 21.6 Kbps rate; V.42 bis data compression provides an additional increase in throughput. An increased DCE to DTE (modem-to- computer) interface rate of 115,200 bps and faster processors accommodate these higher speeds. Courier Modems Still Upgradable to V.fast (ITU-T V.34) The new Courier modems, like the current Courier high-speed models, will be field upgradable to the forthcoming V.fast standard, which will likely be named V.34. Availability will depend on ITU-T progress in finalizing the standard; however, study group approval of V.34 is expected in June, 1994. The standard will provide data rates of up to 28,800 bps. Dale Walsh, U.S. Robotics vice president, advanced development, and a member of the ITU-T committee developing the V.34 standard, points out that V.32 terbo should not be confused with the V.fast standard. "The V.32 terbo protocol is really an extension of V.32 bis," said Walsh. "In fact, when you compare the processing power necessary to run V.32 terbo and V.34, the processors in V.32 terbo modems are more like the processors used for V.32 bis -- they are certainly not capable of achieving the 28.8 Kbps throughput that will be available with V.34." U.S. Robotics' upgrade to V.34 is performed via a daughterboard swap, which takes a typical user about five minutes. Because the pending V.34 standard requires two to three times the processing power of V.32 bis, both the hardware and software must be upgraded to provide enough power and ensure that there are no hardware bottlenecks that might impede the speed of V.34. Upgrades to New Product Available for Current Courier Users Current Courier users may upgrade to the new models. Pricing will vary depending on the modem model being upgraded. The upgrade program will include both current-model Courier modems, which may be upgraded via a daughterboard swap, as well as older-model Courier modems, which may be exchanged for the new models. Courier 2400 bps modems are not included in the upgrade program. New Courier Enhancements: Fax, Data and High-End Features The full list of features that will be added to the Courier line includes: Data Rate Enhancements: * V.32 terbo Supports data rates of up to 19.2 Kbps. * Adaptive Speed Leveling (ASL*) for 21.6 Kbps throughput Exclusive to U.S. Robotics; proprietary protocol boosting connect speed to 21.6 Kbps * Increased DTE interface rate of 115.2 Kbps * HST Cellu"- etary protocol for high-speed cellular data transmission Available only in HST Dual Standard Courier models Fax Enhancements: * V.17 14,400 bps fax capabilities * EIA Class 2.0 fax capabilities Standard for fax communications; U.S. Robotics is the first to provide support for EIA 2.0 * Call selection Automatic detection of a fax or data call Feature Enhancements: * Dial-back Security * Link Security * V.25 bis Protocol for synchronous dialing The Courier modems including these features will be shipping September 1; model information and pricing follow. Courier Products and Pricing Model Name List Price Courier V.32 terbo $695 Courier V.32 terbo/PC $645 Courier V.32 terbo Fax $795 Courier V.32 terbo Fax/PC $745 Courier V.32 terbo Fax/PS/2 $745 Courier HST Dual Standard with V.32 terbo Fax $1295 Courier HST Dual Standard with V.32 terbo/PC $1245 U.S. Robotics, Inc., (NASDAQ:USRX), is a leading designer, manufacturer and marketer of data communications systems and products. Both corporate headquarters and manufacturing operations are based in Skokie, Illinois. U.S. Robotics owns and operates U.S. Robotics Ltd. in Slough, England, U.S. Robotics, s.a. in Lille, France and P.N.B., s.a. based in Suresnes, France. The company markets its products to business, industry, government agencies and original equipment manufacturers. @endnode ------------------------------ @node P5-1 "AudioScope v2.01" @toc "menu" AudioScope 2.01 available for FTP TITLE AudioScope Spectrum analyzer VERSION Version 2.01 AUTHOR Richard Horne (RHorne@cup.portal.com). Comments or questions welcome. DESCRIPTION AudioScope is a real-time audio spectrum analyzer for the Amiga. AudioScope uses a 512 point Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) to process audio data received through your audio digitizer to produce a high resolution display of audio signal amplitude vs frequency. AudioScope can be used to evaluate the frequency content of sounds of all kinds. NEW FEATURES AudioScope 2.01 is an update to the original version on Fish Disk #543. New features include support for many additional audio digitizers, better multitasking performance, compatibility with AmigaDOS 3.0 monitors and display modes, and AmigaGuide documentation. SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS AudioScope 2.01 requires AmigaDOS 2.0 or higher and an accelerated Amiga because of the high computational load. A 68020 or better microprocessor is mandatory. An audio digitizer is also required. Perfect Sound 3, Sound Magic, Sound Master, DSS 8, and many generic digitizers are supported. HOST NAME AudioScope is available via FTP at all Aminet sites, such as ftp.wustl.edu (128.252.135.4). DIRECTORY/FILE NAME AudioScope is located at systems/amiga/aminet/util/misc as AudioScope.lha DISTRIBUTABILITY AudioScope is free public domain software. @endnode ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ @node P1-7 "Online Weekly" @toc "menu" /// ONLINE WEEKLY Amiga Report Online The lines are buzzing! --------------------------------- From Portal's AmigaZone ----------------------- .../Amiga Zone/Files & Messages/Message Bases/Hardware/Composite Output 16027.3.250.2 Re: Composite Output 9/17/93 22:20 25/1429 NES-Bill > To play arcade games on a big-screen TV off an Amiga 2000, what is > the best hardware to use? I have an ancient C'Ltd(?) demodulator > that is nothing more than an Amiga video plug, housing a few discrete > components at one end of a coax, and an RCA plug on the other end. > Has modern science come up with something more sophisticated? 8-) If you want the best quality, you want a video encoder that gives you an RS-170A composite signal or a split Y/C signal like SVHS uses. Which you look for will be determined by what your TV can handle. SVHS gives a lot better looking image than regular composite. Most good encoders aren't cheap, they range from $75 or so on up... A cheap one, however, can be had in the Commodore A520 encoder. That plugs into your RGB port and gives the appropriate signals. you can't use an RGB monitor at the same time though. > On a similar vein, what is the maximum acceptable dot 'pitch' to be > considered in buying a VGA monitor to attach to a Microway Flicker > Fixer or a CBM 2320? I keep seeing how prices go up as the pitch > gets smaller. Is this relevant to an Amiga 640 x 400 max? Thanks. This can be one of those wars, of course. :-) I wouldn't recomend a dot pitch worse than 0.31mm for anything that involves text display on the screen. Coarser than that gives you fuzzy looking letters. Bill Seymour - Amiga Zone Hardware Specialist ------------------------------ .../Amiga Zone/Files & Messages/Message Bases/Hardware/Composite Output 16027.3.250.3 Re: Composite Output 9/19/93 06:17 22/1064 TOMESH > If you want the best quality, you want a video encoder that gives >you an RS-170A composite signal or a split Y/C signal like SVHS uses. >Which you look for will be determined by what your TV can handle. SVHS >gives a lot better looking image than regular composite. Most good >encoders aren't cheap, they range from $75 or so on up... Where do I look to find ads for useable 'video encoders' that are high quality, if not especially cheap, should the prize turn out worth the game? (I have a large Sony TV with Y/C signal inputs available.) Also... what do the ads mean in the IBM world for 'non-interlace' monitors vs. 'interlace' monitors, and what is the difference between VGA and SVGA monitors? I thought the frame-signal being fed into a monitor each 1/60th of a second determines whether the display is interlaced. Is all this garbage related somehow to the horizontal scan rate? ------------------------------ .../Amiga Zone/Files & Messages/Message Bases/Hardware/Composite Output 16027.3.250.4 Re: Composite Output 9/19/93 20:18 31/1871 NES-Bill > Where do I look to find ads for useable 'video encoders' that are >high quality, if not especially cheap, should the prize turn out worth the >game? (I have a large Sony TV with Y/C signal inputs available.) Well, a few years ago when I worked for CMI, I'd have said that their encoder was the best buy for the money. Now that they're out of business, a used one of theirs is the best buy for the money. :-) If you have a machine with a free video slot, I saw some of the Magni encoder/genlocks at WoCA last weekend for sale still at reasonable prices. Failing that, the Commodore A520 is still available, and fairly cheap. Though it doesn't give as good of a signal as the others. > Also... what do the ads mean in the IBM world for 'non-interlace' >monitors vs. 'interlace' monitors, and what is the difference between VGA >and SVGA monitors? I thought the frame-signal being fed into a monitor >each 1/60th of a second determines whether the display is interlaced. >Is all this garbage related somehow to the horizontal scan rate? The interlaced SVGA monitors for PCs aren't able to handle quite as good of a bandwidth as the non-interlaced. This means (for instance) that for a 1024x768 resolution, an interlaced monitor would have to display the screen in two passes, showing every other line on each pass, while a non-interlaced monitor could show the whole screen in one pass. Many of the newer monitors go one step better and display a non-interlaced screen at 72 or 75 Hz instead of the more normal 60 Hz. This reduces the flicker... The display that the monitor actually is showing is a function of the display card, not the monitor. All SVGA cards that I know of can display most of the higher resolutions in either an interlaced or non-interlaced display. Bill Seymour - Amiga Zone Hardware Specialist ------------------------------ .../Message Bases/Creativity - The Arts/Deluxe Music 2.0 now shipping! 16030.3.87.1 ..finally :) 9/21/93 15:58 32/1482 Harv Electronic Arts is FINALLY shipping Deluxe Music 2.0, the major upgrade/rewrite of Deluxe Music Construction Set which they originally relesaed back in 1986. (There has been a demo version of DM2 in our library here for the past few months). If you own any old version of DMCS, your manual cover and $57 will get you the new version. I ordered mine today. I did not, however, save my note as to what address I mailed the envelope to. However, you can dial Electronic Arts on 1-800-245-4525 as I did and follow the voice mail menus through to the "upgrades" selection to get to a human being who can give you all the appropriate information. I don't know what the retail or street prices for Deluxe Music 2.0 are.. I phoned Creative Computers' store (nearby me) this morning but they had not yet received the product in so they couldn't tell me what they were selling it for. From postings I've read on Usenet, this new upgrade offers even MORE than the demo version here has, such as the ability to make completely free-standing score files with the instruments embedded in them, plus it has a player program so the main program need not be invoked just to listen to scores you already have. Check out comp.sys.amiga.audio on Usenet for reports by folks who have already received their upgrades and what they think of it. And remember, if/when you get yours we have a veritable TON of DMCS scores in a dedicated file library here for you to download. Harv Amiga Zone Sysop ------------------------------ From FidoNet's Amiga International Echo --------------------------------------- Area: AMIGA Date: 19 Sep 93 15:33:08 From: David Godlewski (1:124/2105.0) To : All Subj: Alive! THE AMIGA IS ALIVE!!! Yes it's true. It has been for many years in case you haven't noticed. A word about "doom & gloomers": useless. Most of the time they have no idea what they are talking about. I was going through some old Amiga Worlds (1986 & 1987) and there was talk of Commodore going under way back then. When is going to end? Never probably, but we can stop subscribing to it's message. The Amiga CD32 has a bright future. Commodore will get it right this time. When it does come here to America, and when it is available from stores such as Toys (backwards)R US, I suggest buying it from there and not local dealers. WHY? The CD32 will need the support through mass market chains. Just a little history on me... My first Amiga was the 1000 (that's right.. I am among the 1st generation) next the 500, 3000, then the CDTV. I have them all still except for the CDTV. It was fun for a while, but useless to me because it was basically like the SEGA CD is now: lots of crap software and not much long term value. I was going to get a new 1200, but the CD32 sounds like a much better deal. I have enough computers to do my serious work. All I want now is great games at a good price(which the CD32 will deliver). Overall public opinion is in favor of the CD32. I think the main problem over the years is that only a select few have been graced with enough intelligence and vision to use the Amiga. Many Americans want to be told what to do and like to know exactly what something is for. The Amiga has always been described as an everything machine. Fine for us, but bad for the majority. Many people(believe it or not) do not have any creativity or individual inspiration. Now is a good time for the Amiga. The 1200 is a good home computer, the 4000 is an excellent video workstation, and the CD32 is a great games machine. Finally Commodore has made the same machine into 3 different machines so most people will now know which one to get for their own individual reasons. This may shock some people, but I like Commodore, and thank them for everthing they have done. (Come on they kept the Amiga Alive). I have never had a problem with any product from them, and to this day all of my Amiga's still work perfectly. (including my A1000) Another long one... Anybody read it? -=> DAVID GODLEWSKI <=- ------------------------------ Area: AMIGA Date: 10 Sep 93 14:28:17 From: Tim Lloyd (6:700/267.69) To : ALL Subj: CD32 I've got one !!!! :) Well Guys & Gals I have just received my CD32 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It took only one day to get from England to here in Hong Kong !! now thats what I call fast.... and who says mail order is slow :^) Well the run down.... First impression.... well I'm gob smacked :) The machine..... Contrary to other reports the build quality is fine, the lid is solid enough, and not flismy. The rest of the machine is fine... no rough edges, no bad fittings. Overall it looks really smart. The main machine itself is made in the Phillipenes whereas the joypad is made in China (I have a feeling it's made by the quickshot people, as they have a very large factory in China). The joypad is great, I used to hate the things, but this one sits in the hand really nicely. I have it connected up to my 21" TV through the S-Video output, and have the sound running through a rather large Amp :-P The games.... Well it comes with Diggers & Oscar - both are on the one disk. Diggers I haven't really tried out yet so I can't really give an opinion, although from what I have seen the graphics & sound are superb. The one I did try out was Oscar.... this is a great platform game, colourful graphics lots of music & sound effects... overall great fun to play (although I have only spent 30 minutes playing it so far). I also have Trivial Pursuit, which I bought for use with my CD Rom drive attached to my 3000T, problem is it never worked, as the Xetec software couldn't support this disk. Well I can now use it ! so if anyone is a fan of Trivial Pursuit, GET this disk... it's excellent, it's real fun to play, the questions are spoken and you get great pictures with every question (they actually look 24bit on the TV, they are so clear). Well all I can say is, I can't wait for Syndicate, Alien Breed II, Pinball Fantasies, etc, etc :^) If you can get your hands on one... then get it, you won't be disappointed. it's certainly the machine to carry the Amiga forward (in the publics eye), and get the Name more widely recognised. Tim ------------------------------ Area: AMIGA Date: 20 Sep 93 23:19:30 From: Matt Morgan (1:202/1312.0) To : All Subj: 3DO -- CD^32 MUST READ UPDATE!!! All Electronique's Boutique Stores have recieved display boxes of the Panasonic 3DO player. It will sell for $699.00, and in extremely small quantities (smaller quantities than the Sega-CD had last Christmas!) EB is having a Pre-Sale on this item. The box doesn't give away too many specs, double-speed multisession CD-ROM (Just like the CD^32) and a 32-bit RISC processor capable of 64 Million pixels per second. The Amiga CD^32 is in the newest issue of DieHard GAMEFAN and will have more coverage in the future. The magazine lists it's specifications and notes that it has been released in Europe, U.S. release unknown, European consumers very excited, Developers quickly taking action, and Jurrasic Park, Zool II, and Chaos Engine. The CD^32 is selling in quantities of 20,000+ each week in Europe. At the World of Commodore Exhibition, CBM gave an expected U.S. release date of October (Around the same time as 3DO) in limited quantities. With the CD^32's 32-bit 68020/14Mhz, 2MB Memory, 32-bit Graphics Co-processor, Double-speed multission CD-ROM for a $399.00 Retail Price, the odds are somewhat even. Developers are more interested in the CD^32 because it's a lot easier to develop for. Developing tools for the CD^32, which is an Amiga at it's heart, have gone through eight years of evolution. Commodore went to developers first and actually asked them what they wanted in this system! Many developers are lined up including, but not limited to, Acclaim, Virgin, Ocean, Gremlin, Compton's New Media, Psygnosis, Probe, Mindscape, and Millenium. Notice how Electronic Arts seems to be missing? Ha Ha Ha! Only time will tell the future! ------------------------------ Area: AMIGA Date: 21 Sep 93 7:07:06 From: Jon Peterson (1:383/300.0) To : All Subj: FFish1000th Anniversary Here is the list of donors for the third week of the FFish 1000th Anniversary thingy: Jon Peterson Matthew L. Schultz Chris Nelson Asha DeVelder Marshall Freedland Jeremy Friesner Michael Phipps Darrin & Lisa Zimmerman (Amiga Un-Sig of Southern Michigan) Eric V. Peterson (muchly appreciate the letter and news) Total donations as of 9/18/93 are $175.00. Got a ways to go folks. Please talk this up with all concerned (Amiga users) and pass the word on to your Users Groups. ******************* THE PROPOSAL*********************** For years and years, the work of Fred Fish in the organization, culling and distribution of non-commercial programs to the Amiga community has been of great benefit to us all. Programmers have been able to present their best efforts and we, of course, would have had doubtful access to some of the most innovative programs written - for any computer platform. As the vast majority of us Amiga users are aware, Fred Fish is coming up on the 1000th disk issue of this outstanding collection. This, in my humble opinion, is a milestone that should not go unnoticed. His contribution to the Amiga community certainly ranks alongside those that created this outstanding machine. As such, participants on FidoNet have proposed the Amiga community show our appreciation at the issuance of the 1000th disk by sending in donations to gather sufficient funds to purchase an A4000T (if and when available) or comparable machine when the time comes. Now is the time to get this thing going. If estimates are correct, at the present rate of publication, the 1000th disk should be out in approximately three to four months. Donations are being sent to: Concho Valley Computer Users Group FFish 1000th Fund % Jon Peterson P.O. Box 2661 San Angelo, TX 76902 Your assistance in posting this message on the BBSs you use or run would be greatly appreciated (sysops, how about a bulletin on logon?). Also request everyone pass the word at any Users Group meetings you attend. This should be a group effort on behalf of all the Amiga users throughout the world. Please donate whatever you can afford - or even better - what you honestly think FFish's work has been worth to you through the years. Thanks. @endnode ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ @node P4-5 "Amiga Report Mailing List" @toc "menu" /// Amiga Report Mailing List ------------------------- Are you tired of waiting for your local BBS or online service to get Amiga Report each week? Have you been spending more money that you want on long distance phone calls to download it from one of our Distribution Sites? If so, have we got a deal for you! If you have an internet mailing address, you can receive Amiga Report in UUENCODED form each week as soon as the issue is released. To be put on the list, send Email to Amiga-Report-Request@gnu.ai.mit.edu. Your account must be able to handle mail of any size to ensure an intact copy. For example, GEnie has a limit of about 40K per message, and most of our issues are well over that limit. Please do not send general Email to Amiga-Report-Request, only requests for subscription additions or deletions (or if you are not receiving an intact copy). All other correspondence should be directed to the editor at ROB_G@Delphi.COM. Many thanks to Bob Caron for setting this service up for us! P.S.: Please be sure to include your Email address in the text of your request message, it makes adding it to the list much easier. Thanks! ** IMPORTANT NOTICE: PLEASE be certain your host can accept mail over ** 100K! We have had a lot of bouncebacks recently from systems with a ** 100K size limit for incoming mail. If we get a bounceback with your ** address in it, it will be removed from the list immediately. @endnode ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ @node P1-8 "SHI News" @toc "menu" /// SHI News: PC-Task Virus Nonexistent ------------------------------------ September 18, 1993 To: ALL From: Michael Arends @ SHI RVC/West P.O. Box 1531 Lynnwood, WA 98046-1531 RE: PC-Task Virus -------------------------------------------------------------------- Salutations everyone, I am going to make this as short and sweet as possible, BUT yet as much to the point as I possibly can. In a earlier addition of AMIGA REPORT I stated that the SHI virus centers were receiving reports of the Emwurm Virus in certain copies of PC-Task. While this IS the case, certain things have been pointed out to me and I feel that I must clarify the subject with everyone so as NOT to further damage the reputation of Chris Hames (PC-Task Author) or his program PC-Task. Apparently the problem stems from the fact that the version of PC-Task that the Emwurm virus was reportedly found in was a CRACKED, UNAUTHORIZED version, and that the Author, Chris Hames, whom I have since talked with had NO knowledge of this and/or anything to do with it. It has also been pointed out to me that this particular version of Virus-Interceptor may have in fact erroneously found this virus anyway, and that in fact new versions of Virus-Interceptor no longer report such a virus. So the point I guess I am trying to make, is that I should have clarified (1), that a CRACKED, PIRATED version of PC-Task is what has caused this situation to occur. That (2), the author, Chris Hames has had no knowlage of the situation concerning this reported virus and PC-Task. Last but not least (3) PC-Task is a OUTSTANDING program and that everyone who is considering a PC emulator for his/her Amiga would be doing thier respective selves a disservice if they didn't try and REGISTER it. I must apologize to Chris Hames for any misunderstanding I may have caused, and I want to make sure people know that I may have been speaking AS a representative of SAFE HEX INTERNATIONAL, NOT as a representative of AMIGA REPORT. I am sorry if this has caused anyone problems, and I hope that in some small way this helps to rectify the situation. @endnode ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ @node P1-9 "WOCA Report" @toc "menu" /// 1993 World of Commodore Show Report ----------------------------------- By Dan Zerkle (zerkle@cs.ucdavis.edu) Part 3, Seminar by Axiom This is part 3 of my report from the World of Commodore Amiga show held in Pasadena, California, on September 10th, 11th, and 12th. This section details what I saw at the seminar Axiom Software (about ANIM Workshop and Wavemaker). I will continue to post sections each night until I finish. There should be at least three more sections. This section will be a bit shorter than the other sections. CORRECTIONS A whole lot of people wrote to explain to me just what "multi- session" means on a CD-ROM. Holger Lubitz (hal@caty.north.de) said that I could use his explanation. Here it is: (start quote) Multisession refers to a CD recorded in several sessions. This indeed happens only with Photo CDs. When the first few pictures are recorded to the CD (Photo-CDs are write once media), they look like a normal single-session CD, just not a very full one (since Photo CDs can take a hundred photos or so, one film fills just a quarter of them). The problem arises when you record more pictures on the same CD. Because the directory has already been written, and it is a write once media, you can't just append the new pictures to the old directory. Instead, you have to start a new session on the unused space. Thus, the firmware in the drive must be able to read fragmented directory informations, and it must also be able to read past the "end" of the CD (past the first session, that is). Older drives cannot do that, thus Photo-CD-compatible drives must have multi-session capability. Double speed is not necessary, though it helps a lot regarding access times. (end quote) Matt Simmons (zarthac@cs1.bradley.edu) had a comment about the price of the 12" laser discs: (begin quote) LaserDiscs cost about $10-20 to press, and typically cost $30-$60 (not $100). The only $100+ discs are the Criterion Collection discs, the Fox VideoCollectors Discs, and other Special Editions... (end quote) Thanks for the help, guys! AXIOM SOFTWARE These folks had a seminar Friday at 12:45. At the demonstration, they showed of their new software: ANIM Workshop and Wavemaker. ANIM Workshop is a software package to help build, edit, and otherwise manage animations. One of their folks (all I got was "Scott") used the package to put together and eight-frame animation of some spinning marbles. The package allows you to easily add and remove frames. It has a slick user interface to help with this. I noticed that it had some sophisticated tools for dealing with all the files that store the original frames of the animation. The other use of the package was for large-scale image processing. It uses AREXX to control Art Department Pro (from ASDG). With this combination, you can (for example) change the whole animation to 16-color, all in one pass. The whole thing was automatic. It was not demonstrated at the seminar, but ANIM workshop has another interesting feature. If you use it to play back your ANIM, you can tie sound effects to different frames. After that, Tony Stutterheim demonstrated WaveMaker. This is a tool to create animated flying logos for video by generating scripts for NewTek's LightWave software. Again, the user interface looked quite good. Instead of going through the complicated object and motion path design, you just select your logo, click on one of the many motion paths for your logo, select some background elements, and you're done. Well, not quite done. You have to wait for the animation to render, first. A utility to render all the frames is built in. I found the elements to be the most interesting. Elements are "all that junk in the background." WaveMaker has quite a few pre-fabricated elements, like lines and other neat stuff zipping around. You can select different speeds, densities (how many), and sizes. You can even layer several different kinds of elements on top of each other. I imagine it could get messy very easily. The motion paths for the logos to use while entering and exiting the screen are all pre-designed. You just click on an icon representing the path you want, and you're set. You can tweak some parameters here to get exactly what you want. Stutterheim showed some demonstration tapes he had generated. The logos looked very slick. The motion looked quite good, with proper accelleration to and from stopped motion. The elements buzzing around in the background looked really slick. It takes about five minutes to put together a flying logo animation with WaveMaker. If you need to do that sort of this, this package could be a real time saver. Both of these packages were beta software. The press release says that they will be ready by the fourth quarter of this year. Tomorrow: OpalVision from Centaur Development, plus whatever interviews I have time to write up. I don't have the spec sheets for OpalVision. Can someone supply the info so I can put up numbers? Otherwise, I'll just go with notes and the advertisements. ADDRESSES: Axiom Software 1668 East Cliff Road Burnsville, MN 55337-1300 Phone: 612/894-0596 Fax : 612/894-1127 ------------------------------ Part 4, Seminar by Centaur and Terra Nova Booth This is part 4 of my report from the World of Commodore Amiga show held in Pasadena, California, on September 10th, 11th, and 12th. This section details what I saw at the seminar held by Centaur Development (about Opalvision). I will continue to post sections each night until I finish. There should be at least three more sections. CENTAUR DEVELOPMENT SEMINAR Since there seemed to be so much noise about Opalvision, and because Pjotr was interested in it, I dropped by the Centaur Development seminar on Saturday. Opalvision itself is a 24-bit graphics card for Amigas with a video slot. It has been around for a few months, and people know about it, so I won't go into much detail. Basically, it offers 768 x 480 resolution (with 24 bits per pixel), enough speed for real-time double-buffered animation in 24 bits per pixel, and can work in PAL mode. It lists for $699, and is bundled with paint, animation, and presentation software. It is made by Sydney's Opal Technology and distributed in the US by Centaur Development. What makes Opalvision different from the other graphics cards out there is all the "neat stuff" you can add on to it. There are three additions, all of which give new video capabilities. The Video Processor is a board which hooks the the main board and provides digital video effects, frame grabbing, and genlocking. The Video Suite is a rack-mount module that hooks to the Video Processor. It provides five stereo sound inputs, one stereo sound output, four composite and S-Video input with two each of such outputs, a combination RGB and YUV input and matching output, plus alpha channel transparency effects. The third module is the Scan-Rate Converter/TBC, which provides scan conversion to non-interlaced 31Khz output, and also time base correcton. The demonstration at the seminar focussed mostly on the new video capabilities. This combination of devices is clearly set up to compete directly with the Video Toaster. The Centaur people demonstrated that with the added hardware, Opalvision can act as a sophisticated signal switcher, doing all the expected fancy tricks used to get one video signal off the screen and another on. You just select the effect you want from a bank of icons and have it go either automatically or by grabbing and moving an on-screen handle with a mouse. It reminded me quite a lot of the Video Toaster switching software. Some things were different though. Opalvision can do a Z-axis rotation of an incoming picture. What's that? Set a sheet of paper on the desk in front of you. Put a finger on the top left corner, and another on the bottom right. Slide one corner up, and the other down. Your paper will do a Z-axis rotation. Also, the switcher software can switch between audio channels. They fade in and out and can be tied to the video switching. Finally, Opalvision provides an editor so you can produce your own video effects for the switcher. As one picture comes on the screen to replace another, you can control the path it follows, the size, the rotation, and so forth. This is done by dragging points around in a fairly friendly user interface. The motion path is represented by a spline curve. The other parameters are represented by a line graph. After showing off the video tricks for awhile, the Centaur people demonstrated OpalPaint. It seemed like a fairly standard 24-bit paint package, but it had some tricks. It has a few image- processessing features thrown it. The neatest trick I saw was when a demonstrator at the booth took a digitized picture of a red car against a fairly complicated background, and turned it into a blue car. After this, they showed a demonstration video. It opened with some spectacularly bad acting involving two people poking fun at a few of the Toaster's shortcomings. It them moved on to a montage of demonstrations which had just been done live for us, except that these were accompanied by loud music. The demonstrators didn't mention the Opalvision's biggest advantage over the Toaster: It can handle PAL mode. All the folks in Europe and elsewhere that need to do their video in PAL have been left out in the cold by NewTek. Opalvision will be able to sell there without any real competition. The video people were all quite impressed with all of this. However, Pjotr was disappointed for one very good reason. The video add-ons won't be ready for months yet. Yep, this stuff is all still vaporware, and may not be available anytime this year. Contact the address below for more information. TERRA NOVA DEVELOPMENT Michael Todorovic and Brad Schenck of Terra Nova demonstrated their wares in a small but very attractive booth near the center of the floor. The corner of the booth was an artistically-designed tower holding a CDTV and a large monitor. Mike's sister, Natasha, demonstrated the CD-ROM game Labyrinth. This is a first-person view graphical adventure. All of the scenes are beautifully ray- traced, and displayed in HAM, as might be expected of Brad. From any position, you can look in any of four directions, and you can also examine some objects more closely. The detail is incredible. It should be, as the game includes 200 megabytes of graphics. It also contains 30 minutes of spooky music (at 25 megabytes). It seems to be one of the first games that really uses the tremendous storage of CD-ROM. The game seems to be addictive. Natasha spent all day Friday playing it. The guys inside the booth made her let other people play it the next two days. Most of the game that I saw was in an "Old West" town, but there were plenty of other areas, too. Labyrinth will be distributed by Electronic Arts, probably before Christmas. It requires an Amiga with a CD-ROM drive and at least a megabyte of chip memory. Yes, it works with CD32. Brad was selling copies of his Diner 3D object set. I have already published an announcement of this, so I won't go into detail. I saw a short animation of a scene constructed with these objects, and they looked very good. Mike demonstrated the new Magic Lantern animation software. This package creates, edits, and displays animations. It can display using the Amiga's graphics, the Retina card from Macrosystems, or the GDA card from GFXBase. It has an ARexx port for control by other programs. It can co-ordinate sound effects with the display. ADDRESSES Centaur Development P.O. Box 3959 Torrance, CA 90503 Phone: 310/787-4530 FAX : 310/222-5882 BBS : 310/787-4540 Terra Nova Development P.O. Box 2202 Ventura, CA 93002-2202 ------------------------------ Part 5, Interviews on Show Floor This is part 5 of my report from the World of Commodore Amiga show held in Pasadena, California, on September 10th, 11th, and 12th. This section details interviews I conducted at the booths on the show floor. I will continue to post sections each night or so until I finish. There should be at least two more sections. HEIFNER COMMUNICATIONS After the keynote address, I went by the booth of Heifner Communications, Inc. They were, of course, showing off their new Pegger JPEG compression software. I managed to talk with several people there. I have already posted an announcement of Pegger on the group, so I won't go to extreme detail here. Pegger wedges in to the file system to notice when a graphics file is being written. It automatically compresses the file using the JPEG standard, resulting in up to fifteen-to-one savings in disk usage. It translates the file right back when it is read. Heifner Communications is promoting it as a low-cost alternative to a large hard drive. They were also demonstrating their Toaster Cozzy 4000. This is basically a little box that sits on top of your 4000 (or, I presume, 3000), and holds one of Newtek's Video Toaster cards. While this is less essential with the introduction of the Toaster 4000 (the older Video Toaster doesn't fit properly into a 3000), it does free up a Zorro 3 slot. The main business of Heifner Communications, it turns out, is distributing television signals to local cable stations and providing technical support. They have been in the business for about twelve years. The Amiga support is apparently an outgrowth of their video work. REFLEX POINT BBS Somehow, this Pasadena bulletin board system managed to fund a booth for the show. They were very ambitiously handing out flyers to anybody who got too close. In particular, one red- haired young woman tried to give me flyers at least five times. I think she was doing it on purpose to get me to scream and run away. It almost worked. ReFLex Point is a free multi-line BBS supporting the Amiga. The flyer hints at networked electronic mail, but doesn't indicated what kind. It has areas especially dedicated to Japanese animation and to science fiction. It also has on-line chat, Amiga files to download, and on-line games. See below for dial-in lines. SYSTEMS DEVELOPMENT SERVICES I had a short chat with David Griffith of Systems Development Services. They were showing off a new educational game called "Robokeet." Robokeet is intended to teach spelling to early elementary school children. SDS intends to eventually sell it on CD-ROM for CDTV and CD32, but the version they demonstrated was running from normal magnetic disk. The game seemed to consist of two kinds of segments. In one segment, you get to try to spell words. If you do well here, you get to arm a parakeet with various weaponry and armor. The other segment is a side-scrolling arcade sequence. Your brave budgie sets out to shoot down the enemy. If you do well with the spelling, this sequence is easier. ADDRESSES Heifner Communications (no address given) Phone: 800/445-6164 314/445-6163 Fax : 314/445-0757 ReFLex Point BBS v.32bis: 818/792-3477 : 818/792-5622 2400bps: 818/792-3938 Systems Development Services, Inc. Route 4, Box 41AA Dupont Plaza, Room 2W Parkersburg, WV 26101 Phone: 304/863-6592 @endnode *************************************************************************** @node P4-2 "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 - The *entire* Fred Fish collection of freely distributable software, online. - 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. - 35 "regular" Amiga libraries with thousands of files. Hot new stuff arrives daily. - No upload/download "ratios" EVER. Download as much as you want, as often as you want, and never feel pressued doing it. - 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. - 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. Thousands 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 IS 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 and Amiga Report sent me!" [Editor's Note: Be sure to tell them that you are an Amiga user, so they can notify the AmigaZone sysops to send their Welcome Letter and other information!] 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 P1-10 "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) THE A.M.I.G.A. FALL PREVIEW Well, its fall again, and you know what that means. That's right, the summer doldrums of T.V. reruns are over, and the fall doldrums of new series have begun. And what a better place to talk about the new season than in a moronic, inane and gratuitous article? So, with further adieu, here are my picks for the best and worst shows of the season. BABY-LEN 5: Yes, that's right, yet another spin-off of Look Who's Talking hits the small screen. The twist is that Lenny can only think five words, 'Mama, Hypoglycemia, Tesseract, Kumquat, and Cyndicrawford,' but unfortunately after the first three minutes of hysterical laughter as Lenny tells his hypoglycemic mother where to put the kumquat, its all over for this show. The only reason to watch is the awesome special effects. In fact, EVERY scene is generated ENTIRELY by a network of 5,000 Amigas with Screeching Video Cement Mixers installed. Needless to say, this saved TONS of money on cast, crew, equipment, etc., while also purchasing twice as many Amigas as were sold in the United States in the past three months. For that reason alone, I give BABY-LEN 5 a whopping 5 gurus! SEE-QIX RBG: Finally, a show for all of us closet Qix fans! See-Qix RBG (the RBG stands for Really Boring Game) is 30 minutes of Qix action on the small screen! Yes, that's right, you get to watch the likes of Peter Falk, Axl Rose, and Dave Haynie playing Qix each and every week! I must say, I was thoroughly impressed by this show. A special version of Qix was programmed especially for the Amiga and Video Char-Broiler, complete with flying logos and a special 3-d board! See-Qix RBG gets a big 4.131519 gurus! ANIMORONIACS: Weiner Brothers' and Stephen Spillburg's new show is apparently supposed to be some sort of replacement for Tiny Toon Adventures. IT AIN'T GONNA HAPPEN. -3 gurus (and we want more Tiny Toons!). NHPD BLUE: The newest series from Steven Botchedup has been billed as 'pornographic' and 'the first R-Rated TV show.' It takes place in New Hampshire, one of the most BORING places in earth (New Hampshirites, please direct all comments to ROB_G@delphi.com :-), and that's why they have to put lots of sex, nudity and foul language in it. Since this reviewer really _likes_ that kind of stuff, NHPD Blue gets 4.7 gurus. FLOOSIER: That's right, the infamous Floosier Crane, that wacky cross-dressing manic-depressive from Cheerios is back with his own doomed spin-off show! Floosier's antics are typically inane, it feels like Cheerios without the bar. Be sure to pass this one up, even if you have to watch opera on PBS to do it. -10 gurus. THE JON CROQUETTE SHOW: The man from Lite Court has also landed his own series, but refreshingly, this show doesn't leech off of a previous series like some other unnamed sitcoms. Jon really shows his acting versatility in this show, playing one of those guys who work in the bathrooms at fancy restaurants. His antics with the shaving cream are particularly funny. Check it out! 3.9 gurus. "SHOT BY THE BELLHOP: THE COLLEGE YEAR": ACK! GACK! PFFT! SPPFFFFT! YUCK! PTOO! GAG! RETCH! -infinity gurus! Well, there you have it, AMIGA's picks for the best and worst shows of the season. As an indicator of how accurate our ratings are, last year's "best" picks corresponded with emmy-winning shows exactly 0% of the time, which means we're really on target, cause none of those shows people like ever win an emmy, do they? @endnode ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ @node P1-11 "The InterNet via Email" @toc "menu" /// The InterNet via Email ---------------------- by Robert Niles Are you stuck at one of those sites that only give you access to some of newsgroups and internet email?? Are you wishing there was more that you could do? Do you feel a bit "cut off" from the rest of the world? Well, ease up a bit. Having plain old email access is really not so bad, and there is a good range of things that you can do with email. FTP, Netfind, Archie to name a few, and for those of you who only have email access to the InterNet, we're going to show you how to do it. Once you looked through the latest edition of Amiga Report and spotted those files listed as FTP'able, you can, through the mail, grab those files. There are a few FTPmail servers around that let you do this. Most sites have their own server, and they will instruct you how to grab a file from their site and get it to you. But we will work with ftpmail@decwrl.dec.com. This ftpmail server will process your request, ftp to the site in which you want a file from, grab it for you, uuencode the file and send it to you via email. Look at the ftpmail server commands below (they'll be explained later): reply set reply addr, since headers are usually wrong connect [HOST [USER [PASS [ACCT]]]] defaults to gatekeeper.dec.com, anonymous ascii files grabbed are printable ascii binary files grabbed are compressed or tar or both chdir PLACE "get" and "ls" commands are relative to PLACE (only one CHDIR per ftpmail session, and it executes before any LS/DIR/GETs) compress compress binaries using Lempel-Ziv encoding compact compress binaries using Huffman encoding uuencode binary files will be mailed in uuencode format btoa binary files will be mailed in btoa format chunksize SIZE split files into SIZE-byte chunks (def: 64000) ls (or dir) PLACE short (long) directory listing index THING search for THING in ftp server's index get FILE get a file and have it mailed to you (max 10 GET's per ftpmail session) quit terminate script, ignore rest of mail message (use if you have a .signature or are a VMSMAIL user) -> the "Subject:" of your request will be contained in the "Subject:" of all of ftpmail's responses to you regarding that request. You can therefore use it to "tag" different requests if you have more than one outstanding at any given time. -> you must give a "connect" command, default host is gatekeeper.dec.com, default user is anonymous, default password is your mail address with a hyphen prepended. -> binary files will not be compressed unless 'compress' or 'compact' command is given; use this if at all possible, it helps a lot. note that many files are already compressed. if you use any of the binary-file qualifiers (compress, compact, uuencode, btoa) without setting 'binary' first, your session will abort in error. -> binary files will always be formatted into printable ASCII with "btoa" or "uuencode" (default is "btoa"). if you don't use the "binary" command, ftpmail will cheerfully try to mail you the binary data, which will absolutely, positively fail. -> all retrieved files will be split into chunks and mailed. the size of the chunk is 64000 characters unless you change it with the "chunksize" command. CompuServe users will need to set this to 49000. there is no way to set it higher than 100000, so please don't ask. -> if you ask for more than 10 files in a session, you will receive an error message and your entire request will be rejected. -> There is only ONE chdir command allowed in a FTPmail session. So if you want more than one file, and they are located in different directories, it's best to use the path with the "get" command, ie: get /systems/amiga/boing/comm/bbs/quack120.lha These commands are the commands that you type out in your message to ftpmail@decwrl.dec.com. OK, here's an example of the email message that you will be sending to ftpmail@decwrl.dec.com. (Everything after the SUBJECT line is the actual message text) -------------------------------------- TO: ftpmail@decwrl.dec.com SUBJECT: Whatever you want to put here. reply bobjoe@imtired.itm.com connect wuarchive.wustl.edu binary chdir /systems/amiga/boing/comms/term/ uuencode get term34.lha quit -------------------------------------- OK what's happening?? TO: ftpmail@decwrl.dec.com ...OK this is who the ftpmail server is. SUBJECT: Whhatever you want ...Doesn't matter what you put here. When you get your reply, this is what the subject line will say. Good to leave a note for yourself, so when it arrives, you know what this is. reply ...This is where decwrl.dec.com is going to send the uuencoded file. If no REPLY line is sent, it will send it back to the address from which the message orginated from. connect ...This is were the file you want is, where you want the ftpmail server to go get the file. binary ...if the file is compressed in ANY manner use the keyword "binary" as we did here, if the file you want is just plain ASCII text, replace this with the keyword "ascii" chdir /path/ ...CHDIR is the same as "CD" most users that utilize a SHELL or CLI should understand this...you are moving the FTPMAIL server to where the file is. uuencode ...You HAVE to uuencode the file if it is binary (which includes compressed files). If you don't the archive, file, or whatnot will not work. AT ALL!! get term34.lha ...Now you are telling it the file you want it to grab. In this case it's "term34.lha" quit ...You're done, finish up and send you the file Done, now all you have to do is wait until it sends you the file in uuencoded format. Once you have it all you have to do is uudecode it. Here's some more examples: >>examples: -> connect to gatekeeper.dec.com and get a root directory listing: connect ls quit -> connect to gatekeeper.dec.com and get the README.ftp file: connect get README.ftp quit -> connect to gatekeeper.dec.com and get the gnuemacs sources: connect binary uuencode chdir /pub/GNU get emacs-18.58.tar.Z quit -> connect to ftp.uu.net as anonymous and get a root directory list: connect ftp.uu.net binary chdir /index/master get by-name.Z quit Now admittedly, using FTPmail is slower than realtime FTP, but it gets you what you want, and it works well. I've had to use this many times before. There also >might< be certain restrictions at your email site. Check with the local administrator for details. Thanks to those at decwrl.dec.com for providing this service, and for the help file used here. Next week we will discuss how to use Netfind, and Archie via InterNet email. @endnode ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ @node P1-12 "WOCA Report" @toc "menu" /// Usenet Repost: WOCA Show Report -------------------------------- By David C. Navas (jazz@netcom.com) I know others have written about their WOCA experiences. But, I've always been hungry for more opinions as it helps me to separate opinion from fact. So here's another report. WOC Pasadena was held at the Pasadena Center this year, a nice, short, 20 minute surface street commute from my girlfriend's parent's house. I'll have to remember that next year :) At anyrate, I got to stay at the show for the better part of Sat. and Sun. For those who've never been to LA -- congratulations, I don't suggest it. Imagine your typical suburb stretching several hundred miles. Endless concrete streets and the attempts to grow small trees and shrubbery -- well, for a countryboy, it's a sick sight. To get a picture of what LA is all about, just walk the block around the Center. Quarter way around you've got a Masonic Temple and a Holiday Inn. In the back, typical California-pre-yuppie apartments -- "Cordova Park Villa" and "Park Place". Your basic two-story stretch of apartment complexes. For those of you with a silly sense of humor like myself, our favorite technical support will apparently be back in town from Oct. 12-17 for a special, one week show (yes, that would be CATS). [For those of you with a slightly blacker sense of humor, "Back to the Past" was also hosting a swap meet of sorts at the same time that C= was there. I'll avoid the obvious jibes.] I attended most of Saturday's keynote and all of Sunday's. I missed the discussion with Rusty Mills (an Animation Director for Warner Bros. in connection with Animaniacs). Kermit posted a short on this, you'll have to read his description. I did see the OpalVision and Axiom demos, the FMV discussion, and the Toaster4000/John Gross (animator for SeaQuest) talk. On Sunday I also caught SunRize's Studio 16 presentation. I just wrote Dan Zerkle some info I had about the OpalVision stuff, so you should see that show up at some point (probably he'll incorporate it with his own stuff). Keynotes/FMV Discussions [combined] On Saturday, the keynote was given by Lew Eggebrecht (V.P. of Engineering) and Jim Dionne (President of Commodore U.S.). They were answering engineering and marketing questions respectively. On Sunday, Jeff Porter (Director of Engineering) and John DiLullo (Director of Marketing) filled those roles. Jeff Porter also gave the talk about FMV, along with someone from C-Cubed (whose name I don't have, sorry). My impressions? Lew is a V.P., and as such (along with being on the road) this has put him slightly out of touch on some issues. He apparently referred to Envoy as "Savoy" on Friday, and he also misspoke this on Saturday. This probably tells you about the relative priorities of networking at the company as well. Jim and John, from all the bad things they had to say, both came across as frank and honest. Someone (Dan Zerkle?) said that the keynote address seemed to have a more hostile audience, however I didn't sense that on Saturday or Sunday. I would say there was a lot of healthy skepticism -- I've seen marketing talk about lots of campaigns before, and I know their probability of happening.... Although John mentioned "dramatic reductions in overhead", I didn't come away felling that C= is some "lean mean fighting machine" but I think they have learned a few lessons along the way. While Lew is great at telling us what we want to hear, Jeff Porter's a guy that makes the things he'd like to see actually -happen-. I'd watch him for the real cues for future C= directions. U.S. Market For the forseeable future, C= U.S. is a high-end company. The U.S. is responsible for the vast majority of A4000 sales, and C= views this as their only real market here. As Skip pointed out, the A1200 can't sell against the cheap 486 machines -- and they (C=) themselves pointed this out. [There was a lot of grumbling about giving up the "A1200" market, as if there was one here in the U.S. Although, perhaps mailorder at $400/unit there might be....] Nevertheless, giving up the U.S. home/business market (that is, the U.S. home market which is made up of professionals using their computer at home to supplement their work along with small business markets) would be suicide, so while they currently don't have the money to pursue this market aggressively, they do have a reasonable game plan. Tha plan? Sell the CD32 into the home market. To accomplish this, they have to redefine their target audience from the home/business market to the home/game market (entertainment, basically). As this has already been happening [as far as I can tell] they might have a shot at it. At an MSRP of $399, it's going to be hard to beat. Advertising? Not mainstream, not unless some billionaire forks over his estate or something. Infomercials and appearances on the Home Shopping Network are being pursued. Apparently C= France is going to have some huge advertising campain. In fact, from comments in some csa groups, that's already happening. Future? Once you have a 2Meg Amiga as your base platform, that'll give developers a huge break for developing software, and I think (though you realize most of this is my interpretation of what's going on in their heads) that the CD32 will show what it's -really- capable of only then.... Will it work? I think it'll sell CD32s, I don't think it'll help the home-Amiga Market. Technology comes down too fast from the high-end around here. The A4000 really has to come down, not the other way around. But, who knows, really. 32 C D The star of WOCA was definitely the CD32. When the excitement begins to wear off, I suspect that we'll start moaning about the quality of the very first games -- time will tell, For this thing to be initially successful, some very high quality games have to be introduced. The Sonic clone looked good, the football game also looked very professional, and the pinball game was a favorite at the CBM booths as well. Jurassic Park, for all it's low-res CDXL animations from the movie looked rather silly, actually. Perhaps a gaming dude might care to comment? Games are definitely not my thing. Apart from that, though, the box itself seemed well-designed for its purpose, and frankly, it was "cheap". I saw one kid oggling the VCD/FMV video and his question was "how much?" Which gets at the key of the issues here -- one, it has to look good (and VCD -definitely- does :)) two, it has to be affordable, and at $600 for the VCD32 (name made up, cost estimated), and only $399 for the base unit (MSRP) I think this box has a real chance to grab significant marketshare. In fact, I'd take even odds on C= being able to sell 5million in the next 12months (although I'm fairly sure they couldn't fill that demand ;)). If C= is making any significant money off of this at all, they're going to do quite well. Also, at ~$3/disk sold, they're also going to rake in money from each and every game sold -- a tactic Nintendo and Sega have used as well, although C='s seems a lot more fair (based on disks -sold- as opposed to -produced-), and a bunch cheaper. The Welcome Screen on the CD32 is quite cute -- it has a nice sound startup, and the graphics look a lot like Chicago O'Hare's underground walk-tunnel that connects two of their terminals. In the center, a "shiny" CD with a few gaudy rainbow patterns w/color cycling -- but overhead and underneath, a bunch of curvy rainbow-colored streaks that rush toward you -- grow in intensity, dim, fade to black, etc. A nice touch, I thought. Aside from the gaming aspect (which is not my area of interest or knowledge anyway), the really significant thing being shown for the CD32 was the VCD (Video CD/Karaoke) attachment. This little box (I've heard estimates of cost between about $180-$250 -- I'd side on the high-end of that, actually) will literally blow your mind when you see it. High fidelity sound and video coming realtime from a teeny audio CD player. It's astounding, and I definitely want one :) Yes, it was being shown -- they had one disk with three different titles -- a Bon Jovi music video, and two European (yes, PAL) videos -- one French, one British [I think]. The French clip was, well, bizarre :), the British clip was very good, though. Nice lightning effects along with some CGI -- which was kinda ironic, I thought.... Apparently, these were older versions (the cards have been hitting the road along with C= officials pushing this concept, more about that later), which contained a number of rendering glitches (the system seemed to lose sync pretty often), and the pause, ff, etc. functions were not working on the unit they had, though apparently all of the above is working in the labs. VCD is MPEG1 -- a 352x240x30fps compressed video standard which is interlaced and horizontally doubled before being output. The bitrate for this format is 1.15Mbps, or slightly under the 150k/sec a normal-speed drive runs. While VCD is playing, between 70 and 80 percent of the CPU is available, and the Amiga screen is genlocked over the VCD output. So it's quite possible to do some -very- interesting HAM8 effects over the VCD graphics. I hope we see stuff like that in the future. Along with MPEG1, MPEG2 also exists. This is a higher bandwidth standard operating between 4-9 Mbits/sec -- even more for HDTV. This one is for the cable companies, and Jeff Porter has been very interested in this area as it develops. Speaking of Jeff Porter, yes, he's been hob-knobing with the best of them in LA trying to drum up support for the VCD format. It helps, of course, that this is not a proprietary format -- it's been adopted by nearly every serious CD- player company on the market. All of these contacts are enabling him to help shape current markets in the US, which I see as a real positive move by C=. I hope he stays.... Another thing Jeff has been pushing is Photo CD support. He's been aggressively pursuing this for fourteen months -- we're talking wading through the US legal system, don't expect miracles. At anyrate, apparently there has been some commitment to do the Star Trek movies along with Indecent Proposal (why this movie? beats me). I'll definitely be getting ST II -- heh, heh. Unless the cost is prohibitive. And that's really the problem for this format. Although the cost of cutting a CD is 1/10th the cost of cutting a laserdisc, the actual MPEG encoding costs an arm and a leg. Laser Pacific in LA and Pacific Video Resources in SF will kindly take a D1 or Betacam source (preferable) and transfer it to MPEG for the low cost of $50-$600 (respectively) PER MINUTE! Don't try this at home, kids.... However, these costs should drop considerably when C^3 finally releases their encoding chip which is supposed to happen (finally) on Oct. 4th. Encoding boards should then only run a couple of thousand, instead of in the tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars for a high-end workstation, and the shear volume of encoding should also help bring the price down. Time will tell. So what's the quality really like? Well, the audio sounds as good as Sony's MiniDiscs (the compression used is similar in nature), and the video hovers somewhere around SVHS quality (less than laserdisc). "Sounds great, where/when can I buy one?" Hah, can't fool me, you're asking marketing questions again :) The box is already shipping to Europe. Because C= deals solely with distributors now, they only have a feel for what the distributors are buying, so the initial success is hard to determine. Until then, the official line is that they're being sold as fast as they're shipped. What that really means is that the distributors in Europe are buying them as fast as C= can make them (which is between 20-22k/week). Hopefully by October/Novemeber, we'll be able to see whether this demand continues or not. It's been reported in various newsgroups that France is making some rather large marketing moves, though the British, for all Dave Pleasance's talk, have been relatively quiet. I haven't heard news on the German (or other) fronts. Hopefully someone can fill us in on what's happening over there. As for the US, the box is supposed to ship in limited quantity starting in mid October running until January, when C= will (assuming Europe went through the roof trying to get their hands on the thing) become aggressive with the American consumer market at the January CES. Jim Dionne said that the strategy is to attempt to get the box into everyhere that the Sega CD is sold. That's -very- aggressive indeed. As for coverage, infomercials and Home Shopping Center have been considered, but there's doubt as to whether a real TV ad campain could be run due to the financial problems at Cmdre. FINANCE So what's the deal with Cmdre's financial situation anyway? Well, it sucks basically. Lots of words have been used -- "high dollar value", "collapse of the PC margin", "reduction in overhead", but it all comes down to the fact that C= is on very shaky financial grounds. As with real evolution, Cmdre is being asked to evolve or perish, CD32 is their attempt to avoid the latter in favor of the former. As others have fairly well covered these aspects, I won't go into too much detail. GIMME HIGH-END Lew still claims that the main pursuit of Cmdre engineering is producing products quickly. And I think we can safely say that its one of the larger criticisms that that's exactly what they aren't doing. While CD32 has had a fast track, the rest of engineering has screached to a halt. AAA is supposed to have been demonstrated in-house blitting images around. Bugs have been found, fixes will be proposed, and the current schedule sees completion of a second round of AAA chips by January. Assuming that the chips are then bug free (which -I- consider unlikely) systems would be available around 3rd quarter next year. I don't expect them even then -- but one can always hope. Besides AAA, there's very little other good news on the high-end front. Networking has been pretty much sold off, the DSP work has been suspended and will remain like that until January. RTG (almost certainly with the quitting of Chris Green) has hit a dead-end, they -hope- to have it in AAA machines. I wouldn't hold my breath. As for RISC, despite the blathering and rumours of way-cool RISC machines, reality is that they haven't picked a chip yet, nevermind put an OS on an actual prototype. The current favorites are HP/PA and RISC. The HP apparently has a very nice price/performance point, although MIPS is running NT -- which is still, apparently, some kind of wise choice in Lew's mind. I imagine MIPS will gain further favor with the success of the Screamer and NewTek's association with C=. However, I'm none too pleased with NT as a choice operating system. The current hope is a RISC platform in '95. I think it's wiser to expect it late in '96 if that, from a software perspective. Lew was stressing that he couldn't emphasize enough the importance of AmigaOS. However, I'm not sure he himself believes that yet, I'm not sure he grasps the software side of the Amiga yet, but at least he's done chasing the Alpha! :) Neither Alpha chips nor PowerPC chips are likely to wander into the Amiga platform anytime soon. As for the CISC world, Motorola already has plans beyond the 68060, and C= will follow Motorola's lead for now. Is it really that bleak on the high-end development? Yes, it is. Any future developments in the high-end (aka the U.S. market) are dependent on the success of the CD32. So for now, a lot of us are sitting and crossing our fingers.... @endnode ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ @node P1-13 "ModCharts" @toc "menu" /// Usenet Repost: MODCHARTS! -------------------------- By Oliver Bellmann (oliver@math.uni-muenster.de) Hello Friends! Welcome to the charts of the month SEPTEMBER 1993. Get the MODs, listen to them, put them to the places 1 to 10 and send back your vote to me. NOTE: Please do not vote for "Klisje paa klisje" anymore. This song stayed for 6 months in the top ten and has to quit the charts now. If you want it to stay, you have to say so under the section "MODs that I want to hear next month". This is the only way to keep this MOD in the charts. If enough of you want "Klisje" back, the song will appear as re-entry next month. DON'T PUT THE SONG TO THE PLACES 1 TO 10 IN YOUR VOTE. Here we go now: place last number of months percent of filesize month in the charts all votes (Bytes) 1) ( 2) 1989 - a number 3 11.63% 210.304 2) ( 5) Ethnomagic 1 11.45% 414.864 3) ( 1) Enigma 5 10.72% 187.012 4) ( 0) Space Debris new 9.81% 347.582 5) ( 0) Das Boot new 9.45% 351.546 6) ( 4) Klisje paa klisje 6 *** 7.81% 224.288 7) ( 7) I feel much better 5 7.45% 346.174 8) (10) Exterminate 2 6.54% 329.648 9) ( 7) No Limit 3 6.36% 268.222 10) ( 0) Boom! And she cums new 5.63% 284.004 The newcomers: a) Sad Song (sadsong.mod) 141.289 Bytes b) Power of American Natives (p-o-a-n.mod) 580.062 " c) Technomedley (techno.mod) 138.658 " --cut here-----cut here-----cut here-----cut here-----cut here-------- My vote for the charts of SEPTEMBER 1993: _______________________________________ (place your name, email-address or alias here for identification) 1) ________________ 2) ________________ 3) ________________ 4) ________________ 5) ________________ 6) ________________ 7) ________________ 8) ________________ 9) ________________ 10) ________________ MODs that I want to hear next month: Klisje paa klisje (yes/no) a) _________________ (please give me the path :-) ) b) _________________ c) _________________ ... That's all. And don't forget to vote as soon as possible :-) ==========NEW ADDRESS==========NEW ADDRESS==========NEW ADDRESS========== Send this vote to OLIVER@MATH.UNI-MUENSTER.DE ==========NEW ADDRESS==========NEW ADDRESS==========NEW ADDRESS========== Seeya on the boards, Oliver (a.k.a. HITMAN on IRC, #modcharts) @endnode *************************************************************************** @node P4-3 "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 14400 bps. 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 P1-14 "Textra v1.14" @toc "menu" /// Usenet Review: Textra v1.14 ---------------------------- By Keith Christopher (keithc@welchgate.welch.jhu.edu) PRODUCT NAME Textra version 1.14 BRIEF DESCRIPTION GUI-based Amiga text editor. AUTHOR/COMPANY INFORMATION Name: Mike Haas Address: 3867 La Colina Rd. El Sobrante, CA 94803 USA E-mail: mikeh@starnine.com Also author of JForth Professional and LCD Calculator. LIST PRICE The program is shareware: $25.00 (US). SPECIAL HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS HARDWARE At least 40K of free RAM. Fully hard drive installable via a install script. Worked on all CPUs. Tested on: A4000, A2500, A500 SOFTWARE None. COPY PROTECTION None. Hard drive installable. MACHINES USED FOR TESTING Amiga 4000, 6MB Fast RAM, 2MB Chip RAM, AmigaDOS 3.0. Amiga 2500, 8MB Fast RAM, 1MB Chip RAM, AmigaDOS 2.04. Amiga 500, 1MB Fast RAM, 512K Chip RAM, AmigaDOS 2.1. The A4000 is stock, the 2500 is a 68020 CBM, and the A500 has a 512K memory expansion board. REVIEW I originally did my text editing with Textra 1.12. I used it on my A2000 under 2.04 without a hitch. After selling my 2000, I waited to buy a 4000. After I purchased my 4000 I again wanted Textra. After ftp-ing and installing the 1.14 version, the first thing I noticed (and appreciated) was it was NOT crippled in any way. This is excellent because, like most of you, I hate getting a piece of shareware and finding that the one feature I wanted to test is disabled!! This makes you want to uninstall the author's programming language. But not Textra! Instead, the unregistered version has one of the most troublesome startup screens one could want to wade through to get things going. Worth the wait? After testing it out, yes! Worth the wait every time I want to edit my code. NO WAY. Calling the program from Workbench is easy enough: double click the icon. (Can't understand why it says "Textra 3.0" though.) The first thing you are greeted by is a personalized registration screen (which goes away quickly) followed by a window that identifies the disks available on your system which are placed beside a listview window to select the document to edit. After selecting a drive and a file to edit, you get a 1/2 screen window that has the look and feel of a pretty hard hitter. I was really surprised by the interface and options available. In the upper left corner it displays the column and line number. In the title bar of the window it displays the path with the filename being edited. The menus supply the basic find/cut/paste/open/save/save as options as well as some other nice features. The Windows menu lists all open files; so if you are editing several hunks of code, you can easily find the one you are looking for quickly and painlessly. The Edit menu provides the common cut/paste/find commands and houses find&replace, go to selected line number, case setting, and the edit preferences. Editing preferences gives you options like auto-indent, auto-backspace, tab length... you get the picture. Utilities menu is one sweet pick. The options are: set file protections(RWED), keyboard "keystroke command" help (e.g. Amiga X = Cut), The ARexx interface (perfect for use with your favorite compiler!), and the font preferences. The list of things you can do with this editor is huge. The documentation is well written well and one can search quickly and painlessly through it by highlighting the topic number and hitting right-amiga-F (if you are in Textra 8-)). If you want a very good text editor and manipulator with an excellent ARexx interface (50 commands), this is the one for you. I have personally used this editor for writing code and searching/editing documentation and feel it is well worth the registration fee. It worked flawlessly under 3.0 on my Amiga 4000, as Textra 1.12 worked as well on my 2000 under 2.04. It is Enforcer clean as Mike states in his documentation (I didn't get any hits). I did get a "guru" (I know he's dead in 3.0 but I miss him) error twice when loading a file but I could not replicate the errors. Textra multitasks extremely well with everything I've tried to run (i.e., SAS/C 6.3, Virus Z, TrashMan, Toolmanager 2.1, DirOpus, Xcomm, Term3.4, PowerSnap... you get the idea (these were all running at once). DOCUMENTATION Documentation is disk based. LIKES AND DISLIKES Loved that the registered package comes with very detailed documentation, and 30 ARexx scripts. The Installer allowed one to install the documentation in a separate directory. (I have all my documentation in one directory, so this was nice.) Textra can be intergrated with JForth Pro 3.x, HSPascal, Paul Kienitz's Q-Blue Offline Mail Reader, and I've used it in conjunction with SAS/C 6.3! Mike also includes his LCD calculator with the registered version. From the WhatsNew.doc file: "Programmers will find this nice: "If you double click on any of these characters... ( ) < > [ ] { } Textra will search through the file in the appropriate direction for a "balanced match" (handles nested substrings). This is great, for example, when programming C and you want to see everything that the { you're staring at encompasses. Textra will highlight everything forward to the balancing } character." I would love to see a preferences editor that would allow one to input compilation parameters and hit F1 to compile. A dictionary module would be nice, but it's a text editor not a word processor. The most needed option I can see is an Iconify. I am spoiled by the terminal emulation programs out there that do this: Terminus 2.0, Xcomm 1.0, Term3.X, and so on. This is a sweet option. COMPARISON TO OTHER SIMILAR PRODUCTS Other than a couple of very poorly written editors for the Amiga, I can only compare it to the system supplied editors. Ed is like UNIX "vi" to me. If I need a quick and painless edit this is the way to go, I would not call Textra up each time I needed to edit a single line, it was not made for this. Compared to Memacs, simply put, Use Textra ! 8-) Textra is much easier to move around in than Memacs. With the ARexx ability it is much more practical to use. If you are not familiar with Memacs, I strongly recommend you get Textra, or kludge around Memacs for a while. (While I am not knocking Memacs, I just find it hard to learn the ins and outs for new users.) BUGS I only had 2 system alerts while using Textra; however I could not replicate them no matter how often I tried. VENDOR SUPPORT I e-mailed Mike @ starnine with a question and he quickly answered it and that was that. He offers $5 (US) upgrades once you register Textra. WARRANTY No warranty is expressed or implied. (Straight from the documentation.) CONCLUSIONS If you want a very good text editor and manipulator with an excellent ARexx interface (50 commands) this is the one for you. I have personally used this editor for writing code and searching/editing documentation and feel it is well worth the registration fee. Rating: 4 stars out of 5 COPYRIGHT NOTICE This review is freely distributable. Keith Christopher Welch Medical Library Unix System Administrator @endnode *************************************************************************** @node P4-6 "BIX" @toc "menu" /// BIX - Byte Information Exchange Lots of information! ------------------------------- BIX is the premier online service for computing professionals and enthusiasts. While other online services cater to computer novices, BIX is the place for knowledgeable people to go for answers to tough questions. You're likely to find many others in similar situations who can offer advice, give technical assistance, or point you in the right direction. BIX is divided into areas called conferences, each devoted to a particular area of interest. They range from algorithms to windows, from writers to amiga. Conferences are categorized into groups, usually referred to as exchanges, so that you can browse through whatever groups interest you and see a list of the conferences it contains. These are some of the exchanges on BIX: amiga.exchange - the place for Amiga developers and enthusiasts byte - the full text of each issue of BYTE magazine; source code too e.and.l - Entertainment and Leisure; music, pets, games, more ibm.exchange - everything from OS/2 to PC clones mac.exchange - Mac news, support, software, advice professionals - consultants, engineers, financiers gather here programmers - some of the best brains in the business! wix - the Information Exchange for Windows; Windows Magazine online writers.ex - the professional and amateur writer's exchange ************FULL INTERNET ACCESS!************ BIX also features access to the Internet - you can use FTP to transfer files from sites all over the world, telnet to log on to other online services, schools, and research sites, and send Internet mail to millions of people at services like DELPHI, CompuServe, America Online, MCI Mail, and other sites and services. Services like "WHOIS" and "Finger" are also available, with more features on the way (like USENET newsgroups; our newsreader is currently being tested and should be available very soon!) There are no usage fees or special charges for Internet access - it's all part of your BIX subscription. ================================ Rates and Connect Information: ================================ BIX membership costs $13 per month, plus connect time. There are several different ways to connect: SprintNet* $3/hour evenings/weekends $9/hour weekdays Tymnet:** $3/hour evenings/weekends $9/hour weekdays (SprintNet and Tyment rates shown are for 48 contiguous US states only.) Tymnet Canada: $4/hr eves/wkends $9/hour weekdays Tymnet Hawaii: $10/hr eves/wkends $20/hour weekdays Telnet(via Internet): $1/hour, round the clock Direct dial (Boston): $2/hour, round the clock (up to 9600 bps) * SprintNet daytime hours are from 6am to 7pm, M-F, ET. ** Tymnet daytime hours are from 7am to 6pm, M-F, ET. To find your local SprintNet number, call SprintNet at (800) 877-5045, ext. 5. Internationally, call (404) 859-7700. To find a local Tymnet number, call Tymnet at (800) 937-2862. Internationally, call (703) 442-0145. ================ There is no surcharge for 9600 bps access via either telecom carrier. There is no surcharge for up to 10mb of Internet mail per month (sent and received). There will be a charge of $1 per 100,000 bytes thereafter. ================ 20/20 PLAN OPTION (for USA-48 users only): Volume users can choose the 20/20 Advantage Plan, which is $20 per month and includes the first 20 hours of access by any combination of methods from the contiguous United States. Additional use is $1.80 per hour (additional use for telnet access is $1 an hour). The 20/20 Plan's cost is in addition to the $13 monthly fee. INTERNATIONAL USERS: If you wish to connect internationally through Tymnet or SprintNet, please contact your local PTT. BIX accepts prepaid international calls, direct dial, or telnet connections. In order to make a "collect" (not prepaid) call to BIX, your account must be verified before the charges are accepted. When you complete the registration, we'll mail you a BIX Membership Agreement by regular US Mail. Whe you receive it, sign it and return it to us by mail. When we receive it here, we'll authorize your account to make reverse charged calls. If you want to access BIX right away, contact your local PTT to set up a prepaid account. You'll pay your local carrier for your calls to BIX in advance, so there's no waiting period or verfication needed. Or, connect at BIX via telnet to x25.bix.com. SprintNet international calls from most locations are $24 an hour. Tymnet international charges vary, but are generally between $20-$30 an hour. ========================= Billing Information: ========================= You can charge your monthly BIX membership fees to your Visa, Mastercard, Discover, or American Express card. You may have your company invoiced for one or more BIX memberships with a BIX Corporate Account. To do so, send by US Mail or fax a Purchase Order including a Purchase Order number, invoice address, contact person, a phone number where we can reach the contact person, and the company's fax number. Please direct it to the attention of Connie Lopes, who handles corporate accounts. Our fax number is 617-491-6642. Your corporate account will generally be set up within 24 hours. ======================== To Sign Up For BIX: ======================== Dial by modem 1-800-695-4882 or 617-491-5410 * (use 8 data bits, no parity, full duplex) Press a few carriage returns until you see the Login:(enter "bix") prompt, then type bix At the Name? prompt, type bix.amrpt * Users already on the internet can telnet to x25.bix.com instead. At the USERNAME: prompt enter bix, then bix.net at the Name? prompt. Once your account is registered, you can connect the same way, except at the Name? prompt you'll enter your BIXname and then your password. Using the above procedure will allow users in the 48 contiguous United States to take advantage of our special "5 for $5" offer. This offer lets you use up to 5 hours of evening/weekend time on BIX during the current calender month (whatever month you sign up in), for $5. Additional time is $1.80 per hour ($1 per hour for telnet). At the end of the calender month, you will be placed into our standard rate plan, at $13 monthly plus connect charges. You may also join the 20/20 Plan at this time. If you have other questions, please contact BIX Member Services at (800) 695-4775; send a fax to BIX at (617) 491-6642; or send Internet mail to info@bix.com. BIX Member Services hours are 12pm - 11pm, Monday through Friday, ET. @endnode *************************************************************************** @node P3 "Dealer Directory" @toc "menu" /// Dealer Directory Serving our readers! ---------------- Almathera Systems Ltd Challenge House 618 Mitcham Rd Croydon, Surrey CR9 3AU England VOICE: (UK) 081 683 6418 Internet: (Sales) almathera@cix.compulink.co.uk (Technical) jralph@cix.compulink.co.uk Amigability Computers P.O. Box 572 Plantsville, CT 06479 VOICE: 203-276-8175 Internet: amiga@phantm.UUCP BIX: jbasile (Send E-mail to subscribe to our mailing list) Apogee Technologies 1851 University Parkway Sarasota, FL 34243 VOICE: 813-355-6121 Portal: Apogee Internet: Apogee@cup.portal.com Armadillo Brothers 753 East 3300 South Salt Lake City, Utah VOICE: 801-484-2791 GEnie: B.GRAY CLICK! Microcomputer Applications B.V.B.A. Boomsesteenweg 468 B-2610 Wilrijk - Antwerpen Belgium - Europe VOICE: 03 / 828.18.15 FAX: 03 / 828.67.36 USENET: vanhoutv@click.augfl.be FIDO: 2:292/603.9 AmigaNet: 39:120/102.9 Computers International, Inc. 5415 Hixson Pike Chattanooga, TN 37343 VOICE: 615-843-0630 Digital Arts 122 West 6th Street Bloomington, IN 47404 VOICE: (812)330-0124 FAX: (812)330-0126 BIX: msears Finetastic Computers 721 Washington Street Norwood, MA 02062 VOICE: 617-762-4166 BBS: 617-769-3172 Fido: 1:101/322 Portal: FinetasticComputers Internet: FinetasticComputers@cup.portal.com HT Electronics 275 North Mathilda Avenue Sunnyvale, CA 94086 VOICE: 408-737-0900 FAX: 408-245-3109 Portal: HT Electronics Internet: HT Electronics@cup.portal.com MicroSearch 9000 US 59 South, Suite 330 Houston, Texas VOICE: 713-988-2818 FAX: 713-995-4994 Mr. Hardware Computers P.O. Box 148 59 Storey Ave. Central Islip, NY 11722 VOICE: 516-234-8110 FAX: 516-234-8110 A.M.U.G. BBS: 516-234-6046 MusicMart: Media Sound & Vision 71 Wellington Road London, Ontario, Canada VOICE: 519-434-4162 FAX: 519-663-8074 BBS: 519-457-2986 FIDO: 1:221/125 AmigaNet: 40:550/1 MaxNet: 90:204/1 iNET: koops@gaul.csd.uwo.ca 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 P1-15 "AR Confidential" @toc "menu" /// AR Confidential We heard it through the grapevine! --------------- - Austin, Texas WHO'S THE MOST SATISFYING? ------------- According to market researcher J.D. Power and Associates, it's Dell Computer Corp. Based on J.D. Power's 1993 Desktop Personal Computer Satisfaction Index, Dell ranked highest in customer satisfaction with an index score of 121. Compaq was second at 118 and Gateway third at 103. Some well-known names - Apple, AST, CompuAdd, Hewlett-Packard, IBM and Packard Bell - ranked below the industry average of 100. The rapid acceptance of Microsoft Windows has changed the user dyna- mics of satisfaction. In 1992, "Ease of Use" represented 45% of the end user's overall satisfaction, in 1993 "Ease of Use" had dropped to only 18%. "User Support" has displaced "Ease of Use" as the key area of differentiation among business users' overall satisfaction with their PC. - Sunnyvale, CA JAGUAR TO BE DELAYED 'TILL AFTER CHRISTMAS? ------------- Our ever vigilant observers have reported the Jaguar is now expected to ship shortly AFTER Christmas 1993. This is in direct contradiction to the plans announced detailing a drive to ship to New York City and Los Angeles in time for Christmas. While some observers where somewhat disturbed by this news others shrugged it off with the comments; "So what else is new with Atari? They're running true to form!" - Sunnyvale, CA ATARI RUMORED TO BE WORKING ON ITS VERSION OF POWER PC! ------------- The Power PC, the future of computing according some highly informed individuals in the computing community, is reported to be in Atari's future. Our "super snoop" comes out of the Sunnyvale "conclave" with information pointing toward the Power PC as being the top contender in the way to go for the future. At this time however, since the reports of the Jaguar delay, the whole "ball of wax" is up in the air. @endnode ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ @node P1-16 "Humor Department" @toc "menu" /// The Humor Department Jokes, Quotes, Insults, Shameless Plugs -------------------- @endnode @node P5-2 "Quicktools v1.0" @toc "menu" TITLE QuickTools VERSION Release 1.0 (15 Sep 93) AUTHOR Eivind Nordseth Email: eivindno@idt.unit.no Ultima Thule Software DESCRIPTION QuickTools is the tool package for the hard disk owner who is tired of writing long pathnames when changing directories and who doesn't have the time to search for files manually. QuickTools consists mainly of three small utilities and a library where the search routines are. All search routines support standard AmigaDOS wildcards. Qcd: With this you can change directory by only writing enough of the directory name to identify it. The directory can be anywhere on the harddisk. If more than one directory maches the search word a requester will pop up and you can select the directory you want to change to. If you want to change to a directory with the following path: 'Harddisk0:Work/SAS/SelfMade/QuickCD' You can write: 'Qcd Harddisk0:Work/SAS/SelfMade/QuickCD' (the hard way) Or just: 'Qcd qui' (the Qcd way) QFind: Search for files, scans through the database in just a few seconds. QPop: A commodity for file and directory searching. These programs are a must for any serious hard disk user!! Why use QuickTools instead of other similar utilities: - All search routines support wildcards and are in a seperate library. - Qcd (<2K) and QFind (1K) is quite small and can be made resident. - The database is quite compact, (37K to store 4500 filenames with directory information). - Qcd is almost as fast as the normal CD since the directory database is kept resident in memory. - QPop can pop up with a hotkey and the search result can be copied to the clipboard so that it can be pasted to the input stream by program supporting this. - All GUI's can be controlled by the keyboard. No need to move your hand to the mouse. NEW FEATURES QuickTools is an update and extension of my former QuickCD program. QuickCD is now a part of the QuickTools package. SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS Requires an Amiga with OS compatible with Workbench 2.04. A harddisk is also nice to have :-) HOST NAME QuickTools is ftp uploaded to Aminet and can be found at: ftp.wustl.edu 128.252.135.4 It should also be available at all other Aminet sites. DIRECTORY Directory: /pub/aminet/util/cli FILE NAMES Filemame : QuickToolsR1.lha PRICE QuickTools Release 1.0 is FreeWare. DISTRIBUTABILITY Copyright (C) 1993 Ultima Thule Software, All Rights Reserved. QuickTools is NOT public domain, but freely distributable. @endnode @node P2-3 "In Closing" @toc "menu" =========================================================================== Amiga Report International Online Magazine September 24, 1993 * YOUR INDEPENDENT NEWS SOURCE * No. 1.26 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 otherwise noted. Reprints must, without exception, include the name of the publication, date, issue number and the author's name. Amiga Report and/or portions therein may not be edited in any way without prior written per- mission. However, translation into a language other than English is accept- ble, provided the original meaning is not altered. Amiga Report may be dis- tributed on privately owned not-for-profit bulletin board systems (fees to cover cost of operation are acceptable), and major online services such as (but not limited to) Delphi and Portal. Distribution on public domain disks is acceptable provided proceeds are only to cover the cost of the disk (e.g. no more than $5 US). 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 pub- ication, is believed reasonably accurate. Amiga Report, its staff and con- ributors are not and cannot be held responsible for the use or misuse of information contained herein or the results obtained there from. Amiga Report is not affiliated with Commodore-Amiga, Inc., Commodore Business Machines, Ltd., or any other Amiga publication in any way. =========================================================================== Only * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * _ _ __ ___ _ * * /\\ |\\ /| || // \ /\\ * * / \\ | \\ /|| ||(< __ / \\ * * /--- \\| \X || || \\_||/--- \\ * * /______________________________\\ * * / \\ * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Makes it possible!! @endnode @node "menu" "Amiga Report Main Menu" @toc "menu" @{" 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 @{" AR Distribution Sites " link P2-1} Where to get AMIGA REPORT /// 09/24/93 Amiga Report 1.26 "Your Weekly Source for Amiga Information" -------------------------- · The Editor's Desk · CPU Status Report · New Products · Dealer Directory · AR Online · AR Confidential · InterNet via Email · SHI News · A.M.I.G.A. » WOCA Reports Continue! « » Lightwave with the Toaster? « » MOD Charts! « =========================================================================== Amiga Report International Online Magazine "Your Weekly Source for Amiga Information" » FEATURING WEEKLY « Accurate UP-TO-DATE News and Information Current Events, Original Articles, Tips, Rumors, and Information Hardware · Software · Corporate · R & D · Imports =========================================================================== @{" DELPHI " link P4-1} · @{" PORTAL " link P4-2} · @{" FIDO " link P2-1} · @{" INTERNET " link P4-5} · @{" BIX " link P4-6} =========================================================================== @endnode @node P1 "Columns and Features" @toc "menu" @{" From the Editor's Desk " link P1-1} Saying it like it is! @{" CPU Status Report " link P1-2} Computer Products Update @{" The Scientist " link P1-3} The Scientist now online via the InterNet! @{" NewsBytes CD-ROM " link P1-4} NewsBytes volume III now shipping @{" Lightrave " link P1-5} Lightwave without the Toaster?? @{" New Courier Modems " link P1-6} Featuring V.32 terbo @{" Online Weekly " link P1-7} The lines are buzzing! @{" SHI News " link P1-8} PC-Task virus nonexistent @{" WOCA Report " link P1-9} By Dan Zerkle, parts 3-5 @{" A.M.I.G.A. " link P1-10} The A.M.I.G.A. Fall Preview @{" The InterNet via Email " link P1-11} How to use FTPmail @{" WOCA Report " link P1-12} by David C. Navas @{" MOD Charts " link P1-13} The hottest hits on MODs @{" UseNet Review " link P1-14} Textra v1.14 @{" AR Confidential " link P1-15} Where's the Jaguar?? @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" @{" Delphi " link P4-1} It's getting better all the time! @{" Portal " link P4-2} A great place for Amiga users... @{" Holonet " link P4-3} Inexpensive Internet Access @{" InterNet " link P4-5} Subscribe to the AR Mailing List @{" BIX " link P4-6} For Serious Programmers and Developers @endnode @node P5 "FTP Announcements" @toc "menu" @{" AudioScope v2.01 " link P5-1} Audio spectrum analyzer @{" QuickTools v1.0 " link P5-2} 3 utilities for HD owners @endnode ----------------------------------------- @node P2-1-1 "NOVA" @toc "menu" * NOVA BBS * Official Amiga Report Distribution Site * Running Starnet BBS * Wayne Stonecipher, Sysop FidoNet 1:362/508 An Amiga Software Distribution Site (ADS) 615-472-9748 USR DS 16.8 24hrs - 7 days Cleveland, Tennessee @endnode ------------------------------------------ @node P2-1-2 "In The MeanTime" @toc "menu" * IN THE MEANTIME BBS * Official Amiga Report Distribution Site * Running AXShell * Robert Niles, Sysop rniles@imtired.itm.com FidoNet 1:3407/104 (Private - Disabled) 509-966-3828 Supra V.32bis 24hrs - 7 days Yakima, Washington ******* Notice ******* After 13 September 1993, In The MeanTime will no longer be on FidoNet, thus we will no longer be accepting File REQuests (FREQs). We WILL be still accepting calls and will have the latest edition of Amiga Report online. Downloads to first time callers are still accepted. For the west coast call @{"Cloud's Corner" link P2-1-3} to FREQ the latest edition of Amiga Report. Those who call for the latest edition of Amiga Report, and who do not with to establish an account, log in as guest with the password of "guest". At the prompt type "ARMAG" (without the quotes). @endnode ------------------------------------------ @node P2-1-3 "Cloud's Corner" @toc "menu" * 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 @endnode ------------------------------------------ @node P2-1-4 "Biosmatica" @toc "menu" * BIOSMATICA BBS * Official Amiga Report Distribution Site -- Portugal * Running Excelsior/Trapdoor/UUCP * Celso Martinho, Sysop FidoNet 2:361/9 +351-34-382320 V.32bis 24hrs - 7 days @endnode ------------------------------------------ @node P2-1-5 "Amiga Junction 9" @toc "menu" * AMIGA JUNCTION 9 * Official Amiga Report Distribution Site -- United Kingdom * Running DLG Professional * Stephen Anderson, Sysop Internet: user_name@junct9.royle.org Line 1 +44 (0)372 271000 14400 V.32bis/HST Fido 2:253/510 Line 2 +44 (0)372 278000 14400 V.32bis only Fido 2:253/520 Line 3 +44 (0)372 279000 2400 V.42bis/MNP Fido 2:253/530 Sysop Email: sysadmin@junct9.royle.org @endnode ------------------------------------------ @node P2-1-6 "BitStream BBS" @toc "menu" * BITSTREAM BBS * The BBS of the Nelson (NZ) Amiga Users Group Official Amiga Report Distribution Site * Running Xenolink 1.0 Z.3 * Glen Roberts, Sysop FidoNet 3:771/850 +64 3 5485321 Supra V.32bis 24hrs - 7 days Nelson, New Zealand @endnode ------------------------------------------- @node P2-1-7 "Realm of Twilight" @toc "menu" * REALM OF TWILIGHT BBS * Official Amiga Report Distribution Site -- Canada * Running Excelsior! BBS * Thorsten Schiller, Sysop Usenet: realm.tdkcs.waterloo.on.ca UUCP: ...!uunet.ca!tdkcs!realm FIDO: 1:221/202 Fish: 33:33/8 24hrs - 7 days 519-748-9365 (2400 baud) 519-748-9026 (v.32bis) Ontario, Canada Hardware: Amiga 3000, 105 Meg Quantum, 213 Meg Maxtor, 5 megs RAM @endnode ------------------------------------------- @node P2-1-8 "Metnet Triangle" @toc "menu" METNET TRIANGLE SYSTEM Official Amiga Report Distribution Site UK Support for Mebbsnet * Running Mebbsnet and Starnet 1.02a * Jon Witty, Sysop FIDO: 2:252/129.0 24 hrs - 7 days Line 1: 44-482-473871 16.8 DS HST Lines 2-7: 44-482-442251 2400 (6 lines) Line 8: 44-482-491744 2400 Line 9: 44-482-449028 2400 Voice helpline 44-482-491752 (anytime) Fully animated menus + normal menu sets. 500 megs HD - Usual software/messages Most doors online - Many Sigs - AMIGA AND PC SUPPORT Very active userbase and busy conference Precious days and MUD online. AMUL support site. @endnode ------------------------------------------- @node P2-1-9 "Omaha Amiganet" @toc "menu" * OMAHA AMIGANET * Official Amiga Report Distribution Site * Running DLG Professional * Andy Wasserman, Sysop 24 hrs - 7 days FidoNet: 1:285/11 AmigaNet: 40:200/10 Line 1: 402-333-5110 V.32bis Line 2: 402-691-0104 USR DS Omaha, Nebraska @endnode ------------------------------------------ @node P2-1-10 "Amiga-Night-System" @toc "menu" * AMIGA-NIGHT-SYSTEM * Official Amiga Report Distribution Site - Finland * Running DLG Professional * Janne Saarme, Sysop 24 hrs - 7 days InterNet: luumu@fenix.pp.fi FidoNet: 2:220/550.0 +358-0-675840 V.32bis Helsinki, Finland @endnode ------------------------------------------ @node P2-1-11 "Ramses Amiga Flying" @toc "menu" * RAMSES THE AMIGA FLYING * Official Amiga Report Distribution Site -- France * Running DLG Professional * Eric Delord, Sysop Philippe Brand, Co-Sysop Stephane Legrand, Co-Sysop Internet: user.name@ramses.gna.org Fidonet: 2:320/104 +33-1-60037015 USR DS 16.8 +33-1-60037713 V.32bis +33-1-60037716 1200-2400 Ramses The Amiga Flying BBS is an Amiga-dedicated BBS running DLG-Pro on a Amiga 3000, 16MB RAM, 2GB Disk space, 3 lines. We keep a dayly Aminet site mirroring, NetBSD-Amiga complete mirror site from ftp.eunet.ch (main site), Amiga Report, GNU Amiga, Ramses is the SAN/ADS/Amiganet French coordinator. @endnode ------------------------------------------ @node P2-1-50 "Freeland Mainframe" @toc "menu" * FREELAND MAINFRAME * Offical Amiga Report Distribution Site * Running DLG Progessional * John Freeland, SysOp 206-438-1670 Supra 2400zi 206-438-2273 Telebit WorldBlazer(v.32bis) 206-456-6013 Supra v.32bis 24hrs - 7 days Internet - freemf.eskimo.com Olympia, Washington @endnode ------------------------------------------ @node P2-1-51 "LAHO" @toc "menu" * LAHO BBS * Official Amiga Report Distribution Site -- Finland * Running MBBS * Juha Makinen, Sysop +358-64-414 1516, V.32/HST +358-64-414 0400, V.32/HST +358-64-414 6800, V.32/HST +358-64-423 1300, V.32 MNP Seinajoki, Finland Our machine is a 386/33 with 20MB of memory, 1GB harddisk and upcoming CD-ROM drive. The BBS software is a Norwegian origin MBBS running in a DesqView window. We have over 6000 files online (no CD-ROM yet) containing titles for PC and Amiga or both like GIF-pictures, music-modules and text-files. The upload/download ratio is a very lousy 1:100. (i.e. you upload a 20k file and may download 2MB). Messages are mainly written in Finnish, but English is widely used by Swedish-speaking and international callers. Download-access will be granted when asked. Also Amiga-areas are available for those who will need them to avoid 'wars' between PC and Amiga users. Access to sex pictures and stories are only for persons over 18 years and given when requested. Every user has an access to download filelist (LAHOFIL.ZIP), list of Finnish 24-hour BBS's (BBSLIST.ZIP or BBSLIST.LHA) and every issue of the Amiga Report Magazine (AR101.LHA-AR1??.LHA) on their first call. The system is 4.5 years old and sponsored by the local telephone company, Vaasan Laanin Puhelin Oy. SysOps: Lenni Uitti (Main SysOp) Juha Makinen (SysOp of the Amiga-areas) Tero Manninen (SysOp of the PC-areas) @endnode ------------------------------------------ @node P2-1-52 "Falling BBS" @toc "menu" * FALLING BBS * Official Amiga Report Distribution Site -- Norway * Running ABBS * Christopher Naas, Sysop +47 69 256117 V.32bis 24hrs - 7 days EMail: naasc@cnaas.adsp.sub.org @endnode ------------------------------------------ @node P2-1-53 "Command Line BBS" @toc "menu" * COMMAND LINE BBS * Official Amiga Report Distribution Site -- Canada Canada's Amiga Graphics & Animation Source * Running AmiExpress BBS * Nick Poliwko, Sysop 416-533-8321 V.32 24hrs - 7 days Toronto, Canada @endnode ------------------------------------------- @node P2-1-54 "Rendezvous BBS" @toc "menu" * RENDEZVOUS BBS * Official Amiga Report Distribution Site - New Zealand New Zealand Excelsior! BBS Support Site * Running Excelsior! Professional BBS * David Dustin, Sysop Internet: postmaster@eclipse.acme.gen.nz +64 6 3566375 Supra V.32bis 24hrs - 7 days Palmerston North, New Zealand @endnode ------------------------------------------- @node P2-1-55 "Leguans Byte Channel" @toc "menu" * LEGUANS BYTE CHANNEL * Official Amiga Report Distribution Site -- Germany * Running EazyBBS V2.11 * Andreas Geist, Sysop Usenet: andreas@lbcmbx.in-berlin.de 24 hrs - 7 days Line 1: 49-30-8110060 USR DS 16.8 Line 2: 49-30-8122442 USR DS 16.8 Login as User: "amiga", Passwd: "report" @endnode ------------------------------------------- @node P2-1-56 "Dead Fish BBS" @toc "menu" * THE DEAD FISH BBS * Official Amiga Report Distribution Site * Running Excelsior * Aaron Wald, Sysop (914) 425-6015 V.32bis Supra 24 Hrs 7 Days Internet: dfbbs.linet.org Amiganet 40:714/14.0 @endnode -------------------------------------------- @node P2-1-57 "Stingray Database BBS" @toc "menu" * STINGRAY DATABASE * Official Amiga Report Distribution Site -- Germany * Running FastCall * Bernd Mienert, Sysop EMail: sysop@sting-db.zer.sub.org.dbp.de +49 208 496807 HST-Dual 24hrs - 7 days Muelheim/Ruhr, Germany @endnode --------------------------------------------