@database "ar224.guide" @Node MAIN "Amiga Report Online Magazine #2.24 -- August 10, 1994" @{" Turn the Page " 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 "Your Weekly Source for Amiga Information." Copyright 1994 Skynet Publications All Rights Reserved // %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%//%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% %% August 10, 1994 \\// Issue No. 2.24 %% %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% @endnode @node "menu" "Amiga Report Main Menu" @toc "menu" @{" Columns and Features " link P1} News, Reviews, and More! @{" About AMIGA REPORT " link P2} Contact information and copyrights @{" Dealer Directory " link P3} Amiga Dealer Addresses and Numbers @{" Commercial Online Services " link P4} Sign-Up Information @{" FTP Announcements " link P5} New Files and Announcements @{" AR Distribution Sites " link P2-1} Where to get AMIGA REPORT ____________________________________________ // | | // %%%%%%%%//%%%%%| Amiga Report International Online Magazine |%%%%%%%//%%%%% %% \\// | Issue No. 2.24 August 10, 1994 | \\// %% %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%| "Your Weekly Source for Amiga Information" |%%%%%%%%%%%%%% |____________________________________________| The Editor's Desk Amiga News Dealer Directory Distribution BBS's Product Announcements Reader Mail Emulation Rambler AR Contest! AR Contest Solution AR Wants You! SPECIAL FEATURES An Update From Commodore UK ............................David Pleasance The Voice From Across the Pond ............................Michael Wolf About the Internet .......................................David Tiberio EGS Spectrum 6.2 Review ..................................David Tiberio graphicRECALL Review .....................................David Tiberio PhonePak Review ..........................................David Tiberio Sidewinder: Future Shock II and others ...................David Tiberio Interview: Kevin Kralian, author of Apple 2000 ...........Jason Compton Interview: Fredrik Liliegren of Digital Illusions ........Jason Compton Second Samurai Review .....................................Katie Nelson Innocent Until Caught Review .............................Jason Compton SX-1 Review ..............................................Jason Compton %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% %% @{" X-NET " link P4-6} @{" DELPHI " link P4-1} @{" PORTAL " link P4-2} @{" FIDO " link P2-1} @{" INTERNET " link P4-5} %% %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% @endnode @node P1-1 "The Editor's Desk" @toc "menu" %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% %% The Editor's Desk by @{" Jason Compton " link P8-2} %% %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% It's always something. As Commodore slides deeper and deeper into...whatever it is they're sliding into, Amiga Report's been having trouble getting out of the starting gate. This isn't making ANYBODY happy, least of all the AR staff. So, it's time to shake things up a bit. Effective next issue, I will take over the position of Editor-In-Chief of Amiga Report Magazine. Robert Niles will stay on as Assistant Editor: basically, we're pulling a switch. It's time to announce some other changes as well. A new European Editor will be named in the next issue, as will special European correspondents. Together, they will be the "point men" for AR in Europe. At the same time, it has become obvious in the past months that AR is becoming a very large undertaking. In light of this, I'm going to make a change that Robert proposed back in January. Effective after next issue, Amiga Report will go to a bi-weekly format. This is not a decision I make lightly...I've always prided AR on it's nearly 0 lead time and uniqueness for being so regularly on-time. But facing the fact that AR hasn't quite lived up to the weekly deadlines lately, combined with the realization that this is a really big job, made me decide to make the change. The AR Coverdisk will continue. No worries. I'm also going to add a feature or two. One will be a sorely needed writer's guide for potential submissions. Another will be "AR Wanted", a section where readers and staff members exchange ideas on what the magazine needs. Finally, I have a couple of messages directed at the members of the Amiga Report direct Internet mailing list. First, the new policy on magazine releases is this: If Amiga Report does not go out by the Monday following the Friday AR was scheduled to be released on, a message will be sent out by one of the editors explaining the difficulty. No further messages will be sent (not including the magazine) until a week later, if the problem still exists. This should avoid complaints while informing readers who want to know what the problem is. Second, for those of you who have directed mail to the mailing list in the past: please don't. If you have a complaint, send it to an editor and the problem WILL be taken care of. Mailing directly to the list only causes more problems. Thanks to everyone for sticking with us. Jason @endnode @node P1-14 "Letter from David Pleasance, Commodore UK" @toc "menu" %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% %% An Open Letter From Commodore UK %% %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% Over the past few months the speculation about Commodore, and in particular about the future of the Amiga, has been rife. I would like to put "the record straight" so to speak, and bring you up to date as to the latest position. Our parent company, Commodore International Limited, and its subsidiary Commodore Electronics Limited, are both in liquidation, under the jurisdiction of the Bahamian Courts (C.I.L. and C.E.L. are both registered in the Bahamas). The liquidators, Delliotte Touche, are actively seeking to sell the assets of both C.I.L. and C.E.L. There are a number of bids in place for various combinations of the assets. Colin Proudfoot and I, along with two senior executives of commodore International (but not Mehdi Ali) have made a bid, which if successful will give us the rights to manufacture, sell and market the whole range of Commodore Products, past, present and future, on a world-wide basis. We have raised the necessary finance and believe we will be successful in our to purchase this business. If we are successful, we will give priority to our core business, the UK and ensure that the loyalty that has been shown to us will be rewarded. Our budgets do include a significant level of advertising spoend, which we will use to the very best effect. The Amiga CD32, Amiga 1200, Amiga 4000 and CD 1200 will be produced and sold during the Christmas period. It is anticipated that if all goes to schedule, we will be delivering product around the first week of November, possible the second week. It is our belief that by far the majority of retailers will be out of current stock by the end of September/early October, so there will only be a short delay before new bundles arrive. Rest assured, our plans include the best packs we have ever offered. I know these are trying times for us all, but I give you my personal word that we are doing everything in our power to ensure that not only do we keep the Amiga family alive, but that we also lift the brand up to its righful place at the top of the market where it belongs. Thank you for your highly valued support, without which we would not have a business worth fighting for. Very best wishes signed David Pleasance Managing Director Sales & Marketing @endnode @node P1-15 "EGS Spectrum 6.2 Review" @toc "menu" %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% %% EGS Spectrum 6.2 Review By: @{" David Tiberio " link P8-4} %% %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% EGS Spectrum 28/24 EGS software version 6.2 2 megabytes RAM Distributed by GVP This week I received my second EGS Spectrum board. That should tell you how much I like this board. Previously we had ECS A3000's, and about a month ago we purchased a Retina board (the original Zorro II board). At the time the price had just dropped to $330, so I picked one up. When the EGS Spectrum dropped in price to about $375 I decided to buy one, and a second to replace the Retina, after I realised how powerful it was on a Zorro III machine. Please note that I cannot compare the EGS Spectrum to the Retina on a Zorro II machine such as the A2000 since I do not have one. EGS is the name of the extension to the Amiga operating system, and not the hardware itself. Developed by Viona, the software is licensed to various graphic board manufacturers. I spoke to Kermit Woodall at the Toronto World of Amiga show and he insisted that EGS can be ported to almost any graphics board in an extremely short time, and that the license fee for each board is minimal, so write or call your board manufacturer and request an EGS port! Unlike the Retina, the Spectrum appears to operate at the same speed in any resolution. In other words, dragging a window in a 24 bit screen is about as fast as dragging it in an 8 bit screen, or a 3 bit ECS screen. Scrolling is very quick and powerful, even for 24 bit images. EGS can also move large bitmaps very smoothly, such as dragging a window without bounding boxes! Some interesting features are the ability to use two monitors on one board, using the EGS display and the native Amiga display. This would allow you to have a virtual Workbench where some apps appear on one monitor and some on the other, and possibly some on both. The mouse will move from one monitor to the next. I have not tried this setup yet and am not sure exactly how it works. The board is also compatible with the EMPLANT Macintosh emulator, and was quite fast. I was not pleased with the monitor support, but it may be because I have not tinkered with the screenmodes properly. The Retina supported "millions" of colors on the EMPLANT, while I have only been able to access "256" colors using the EGS Spectrum. The Retina automatically promotes screenmodes to the highest bitplane depth supported by the OS or board, while the EGS only promotes screenmodes to predefined EGS modes that have been configured to the monitor. My IDEK DR3114 monitor has decent support, as does the CBM1950. I cannot comment on multiscan monitors which will probably access better screenmodes. EGS will not promote screenmodes like the Retina (although they include what they call an EGS screen promotor). What it instead does is create new scxreenmodes that you can use from most programs. For example, I have modes like the following on Workbench 2.04 or greater: : NTSC:High Res 16 colors : NTSC:High Res Laced 16 colors : NTSC:Super-High Res 4 colors : NTSC:Super-High Res Laced 4 colors : LEGSa:EGS 640x480 256 colors : LEGSa:EGS 800x600 256 colors : LEGSa:EGS 1024x724 256 colors : LEGSa:EGS 1280x900 256 colors : LEGSa:EGS 1600x1280 256 colors A board such as the Retina would not have the LEGSa: modes, but it will promote the NTSC: modes on an ECS machine to 256 colors instead of 16 or 4. These monitor modes are for Intuition, which is what most Amiga programs run under. EGS modes however can use up to 16,777,216 colors or 65536 colors in those same screenmodes (with some limits as screen sizes increase). If memory is a problem, screens are buffered to Fast RAM when not displayed. Since EGS can be used seperate to Intuition, there are new features available that are not provided by Commodore via the Workbench. Think of the EGS system as a new Workbench on your system which runs along with your other software at the same time, on its own screen. Three major additions are support for 24 bitplane screens as opposed to only 8 on AGA or 5 on ECS/OCS, along with automatic dithering of all imagery. If you open a 1 bitplane screen, using only black and white or monochrome, you can display dithered 24 bit images automatically on the EGS work area. Third, EGS has screenmodes that are easier to program for various chip sets and graphics boards. In other words, programs do not have to worry about whether a machine is ECS or AGA. Software generally works on boards such as the Spectrum, Piccolo, the EGS-110, IV24, etc, without modification. The EGS paint program, SpectraPaint, is a very basic paint program with some interesting features. While it has some nice effects such as edge detection, it lacks a true Amiga-style interface. Some of the drawing tools are the type you would expect to find on a cheap Macintosh paint program, such as drawing with a diagonal line. I can understand that maybe all features should be supported, but there are not one but two diagonal line gadgets in the main toolbox for drawing with, one angled left and one angled right. I can understand that someone might want to draw with a small circle or square but dedicating two gadgets to diagonal lines is ridiculous. Hopefully programs like ImageFX by Kermit Woodall will offer more powerful painting tools. EGS also includes some tools, such as a nice screenblanker and a calculator program that draws algebraic functions in 3D. I just had to mention it for those of you who are into sine waves, matrices, etc. Eh? :) EGS works with just about any Amiga program I have tried. It does not guarantee that you will however be able to access more colors or larger screen sizes, although I found it fairly good at accepting larger screen sizes. Programs like Deluxe Paint will run under ECS or AGA, while a program like PageStream can use the new screenmodes. The ECS or AGA screens will be draggable, while EGS screens currently are not. I am not going to say that the EGS Spectrum is the best board or that everyone should buy it, since I have not compared it to other boards such as the Piccolo, Picasso II, or Rainbow III. But if you have a Zorro III machine such as an A3000 or A4000, you should look into this board. For the moment, it has the best price/performance ratio of all the boards out there. If the Picasso II or Retina ZIII came down in price to under $400, then they also should be investigated. I intend to pick up a Picasso II board soon so I will hopefully be able to compare it to that popular board. The Retina gained popularity as it was the first board released, and the Picasso II is very popular due to its draggable screens, but the EGS also offers its retargetable screenmodes which will hopefully be gaining more software support in the future. The EGS software will work without a Spectrum board on most Amigas, using OCS, ECS, or AGA chipsets. Look for the EGS demo on AMINET or orion.etsu.edu. If anyone is interested in purchasing an EGS Spectrum 24 bit board with 2 megabytes of RAM, the company I work for sells them for $375, which is a fairly competitive price. For more information, call (800) 730-0082. - OTHER GRAPHICS BOARDS - Retina Retina ZIII Merlin Picasso II Piccolo (identical to EGS Spectrum) Rainbow III EGS Spectrum EGS 110 IV24 OpalVision Omnibus - SOFTWARE SUPPORT - Other than the PD software below, there are few EGS programs. The one I know of is ImageFX (please note that there may be a specific EGS version). Soft-Logik has also mentioned PageStream for the EGS, and I am currently working on a 24 bit character generator for EGS, although I intend to complete the AGA version first. - USENET REFERENCES - ftp orion.etsu.edu directory egs/ (various files) ftp ftp.luth.se, ftp.wustl.edu, ftp.etsu.edu, ... (AMINET) TVPEGS2.lha biz/demo 3.7M+TVPaint EGS demo. egsdemo.lha dev/gui 597K+EGSDemo for the Enhanced Graphics System I egs.lha dev/misc 660K+EGS window system demo, Version 4.111 egslibs.lha dev/misc 271K+EGS libraries, Version 4.111 ML-EGS.lzh gfx/anim 276K+Demo Animation for Magic Lantern 1.5 (see mfract12.lha gfx/fract 17K+Fractalgenerator for EGS with diff fractal MultiFractalsEGS.lha gfx/fract 11K+Fractalgenerator for EGS with diff fractal EGSInsel.lha gfx/misc 7K+Do render fractal islands under EGS egsdvi.lha gfx/show 33K+DVI previewer for the EGS window system EGSFlick_1.1a.lha gfx/show 139K+FLI/FLC on EGS - bugfixed for Spectrum egsprint.lha gfx/show 8K+Graphic dumping program for EGS and native egsshow.lha gfx/show 39K+GIF, JPEG and IFF viewer for the EGS windo newdrvrs.lha misc/emu 28K+New emplant drivers: Merlin/Piccolo/egs ViewTek20.lha gfx/show 265K+ViewTek v2.00 with support for several 24- ViewTEK21.lha gfx/show 425K+ViewTEK v2.1 As Edward Cayce might say, that is all for the present... @endnode @node P1-16 "graphicRECALL Multimedia Software" @toc "menu" %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% %% graphicRECALL Review By: @{" David Tiberio " link P8-4} %% %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% I recently saw a demonstration of graphicRECALL, a multimedia package by FOCUS Gbr. This package is a database and presentation system for images and animations. I know that it might not have the same features as Scala, but when you have to call specific images or anims on demand, this is the best package to use. Let's say you have customers interested in seeing your work. You have been doing animations for a few years, and have a large database of your work. You can use graphicRECALL to produce thumbnail animations (using Art Department Professional) or playback full screen images on demand. Each anim or image would be given search keys or comments, and you would ask graphicRECALL to search for matching images or anims. Then it will display all matching images and remap the palette to your desired display resolution. Another use may be to display items that your company sells to clients. For example, you might want to show off various cars that your auto dealership sells, and play a short video of the car driving around. Or maybe you want customers to be able to access your image database to find the guy who mugged them last night, or to identify missing children. graphicRECALL also controls VLAB systems, and grabs Toaster images. It also works with the AirLink infrared device controller, allowing you to control VCR's and other recording or playback devices. Audio support is also included. After speaking with some customers, I have learned that they are especially pleased with the package and the support. FOCUS Gbr will custom design the package to fit the needs of its customers, and supports various third party hardware products. The author has assured me that it has been tested on at least one graphics board, all though I will not mention its name since it is not currently designed to be displayed on non-native Amiga screens. graphicRECALL uses split multiple screens, while most graphics boards do not support multiple screens. I spoke to the author on the phone, and he mentioned that he was going to be giving a demonstration tonight at his local Amiga user group meeting. Unfortunately I was unable to attend since I had a dental appointment (my first cavity ever!), but I will call him again to ask him how it went, and maybe get some feedback from some of the others at the NYC AMUSE Amiga user group. Maybe I can convince him to donate a copy for the Amiga Report contest, and give one of our readers a chance to win another unique package, but I won't know for sure until I pick up the phone and call him. I'll clue you in on what happens, in one way or another. :) graphicRECALL retails for under $100. If you would like to find out more about graphicRECALL, contact Mark Tiramani at FOCUS Gbr, (212) 826-1240, or email mtiramani@bix.com or mtiramani@genie.geis.com. As Edward Cayce might say, that is all for the present... @endnode @node P1-17 "PhonePak Voicemail/FAX System" @toc "menu" %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% %% PhonePak Voice/FAX Review By: @{" David Tiberio " link P8-4} %% %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% If you want to have your own personal voicemail and ansering system, PhonePak from GVP is one of the best choices. This system allows your computer to answer the phone and accept FAXes, messages, and deliver listings of services. Other features include telephone extensions and multiline setups. This product has been in development for many years, and also has been available for years, but most people don't realise the power of this system. With it, you can mimic telephone systems used by many large companies. The nice part about this board is that all messages and FAXes are stored on your hard drive. Most PhonePak users will probably start leaving their computers on all the time, so that the board can answer the phone. If the computer is off, the phone works, but the PhonePak doesn't answer for you. Audio messages can be played back using DirOpus, DSS, and of course with PhonePak. I also set up a cron that runs the PhonePak line manager every few hours in case I accidentally exit the program. The most basic software setup is a simple answering machine. The message can be one of the included messages, or it can be recorded at 9600Hz with a digitizer (one is built into the card). The built in digitizer uses the phone handset as the microphone. Although 9600Hz is rather low, it does have decent clarity. In fact I have played music over it and it does sound good. A more advanced setup allows you to create mail boxes and extensions, so the caller has to press an extension to transfer to, or automatically be transferred by the system. Voice messages can be saved, along with FAXes. When viewing a FAX, an audio message will also be played if it was recorded by the FAX sender. The number of extensions is almost limitless. Each one has its own extension number and parent mail box. You could also design extension based upon employee names. I like to use my area code (516) as an extension because it helps people remember it when they call. Also, I could program it to use the initials of our employees or their first names. For example, using the initials of Bob xanth, a person would hit 29 on the phone keypad. Most words are hard to spell out using numbers, but it can be done. I have too many 0's in my office phone number, so I can't make up a sensible word. My grandmother though has a good one; her number (different area code though) spells out NAB-FOOD, which is what I usually do when I visit her. :) But of course she doesn't have a clue on how computers and codes work (apparantly like most of our contest readers... heh). :) The board can also detect a FAX machine that has called the line and receive the FAX automatically, such as from a SupraFAX modem, another PhonePak, or a standard FAX machine. The PhonePak however is paperless, using IFF files for saving or importing FAXes. It can also import ASCII text to a FAX, using the included PhonePak font (actually the font is CGTriumverate at 33 pointsize). The FAXes can optionally be redirected to a printer. Another nice feature of the board is that you can enter a DTMF code on the touch tone keypad of a phone on the system and simulate calling into the system. This is very nice for testing out how it works. PhonePak also comes with its own scripting language. Most likely users will use the ringing and transfer functions, although it can also schedule events. One thing I would like is to be able to tunr it off and run my BBS on off hours, which I expect the PhonePak can do easily just be modifying the number of rings. One lacking feature is a ZModem protocol. In our modern age of computing, it would be nice for someone with a computer to be able to call and upload a file to my computer while I am away. PhonePak also has a remote access system, using passwords. I can call from vacation and check messages, delete them, or change the answer messages that I had recorded. A small trifold card is included which I keep in my wallet. I also recently added a 1-800 toll free number, so customers can call my office, or to allow me to check on my messages remotely. Of course though you need a touch tone phone in order to do this. Amiga 3000 users will have problems if they have a REV 9 Buster. I bought 2 new REV 11 Busters, neither of which worked with my system. The board would not be detected. So I instead bought a 16 bit RAM board and transferred my static column ZIPs from the motherboard to the RAM board, enabling the PhonePak to work properly. - USENET REFERENCES - AMINET: ftp.luth.se, ftp.etsu.edu, ftp.cdrom.com, ftp.wustl.edu PhonePak_24_1.lha biz/patch 352K+GVP PhonePak Software v2.4 - Disk 1 PhonePak_24_2.lha biz/patch 639K+GVP PhonePak Software v2.4 - Disk 2 PhonePak_24_3.lha biz/patch 482K+GVP PhonePak Software v2.4 - Disk 3 As Edward Cayce might say, that is all for the present... @endnode @node P1-10 "Amiga Report Contest!" @toc "menu" %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% %% AR Contest! %% %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% Looks like we have another stumper here. After a few entries had been received, all of them came up with the same answer, which is no where near what I am looking for. But I assure you that if you figure out how to win, I will answer immediately! - THE PRIZE FOR NEXT MONTH - CONTEST BEGINS: 7-29-94 CONTEST ENDS: 8-26-94 The Amiga Report contest is still going on, and it is not too late to enter. This ongoing monthly contest allows Amiga Report readers a chance to win software by either solving a puzzle or by entering a random drawing. The prize this month is the Amiga/Toaster Reference Manual v2.221, from Area52. This is a 1,000 page help system for the Amiga and Video Toaster, covering the Workbench, AmigaDOS, Lightwave, and more ($34.95). The second prize choice is the FutureShock audio CDROM, which was produced using Amiga computers by SideWinder. There are some Sidewinder music modules on Aminet that you may want to look at for a sample of the audio CD ($12.95). Another possible prize is SubVersion, a strategy submarine hunt game by Point of View Computing. Both a Mac and IBM version is included along with the Amiga version. We have also been offered some AMINET CD-ROMs and some database software which have not arrived yet. Previously we have offered the ARexx Reference Disk by Merrill Callaway, which was awarded to a previous winner. Contact Whitestone for more information (505) 268-0678. More prizes will be announced as they become available. All monthly contests end on the morning of the first of the following month. Any entries beyond this date will be entered into the next contest. In the event that you were announced as a winner and did not receive your prize, please contact me by email. - THE MONTHLY DRAWING - To enter the random drawing, select a number from 1 to 262,144 and send it to me at one of my addresses listed below, either by the postal service or email through the Internet. Also, you may enter by solving the following puzzle. The winner of this puzzle will be decided within the same time frame as the random prize, to allow the contest information to filter through the networks, and to allow your letters and postcards to come in. - THE PUZZLE - Since people complained that the first contest was too hard, and that the second was too easy, I made one that anyone can solve with a little thought. The third problem should have been obvious... the first word was as big of a push in the right direction as you could get. Now we will try a more mathematical problem, which is very easy to solve. If you are not too familiar with matrix manipulations, just look for the right resources and you will find all the help you need (help is everywhere!). Of course, this is another one of those trick problems. There are two matrices, A and B. Each matrix will have a value applied to it, and you must determine the answer. The value is specified by x, and the answers you must provide are Ax = ?, and Bx = ?. x = (151647 - 61615) [ 7 8 9 ] [ 1 2 3 ] A = [ 4 5 6 ] B = [ 4 5 6 ] [ 1 2 3 ] [ 7 8 9 ] [ 0 0 0 ] [ 0 0 0 ] What does Ax equal, and what does Bx get you? Also provide your method of obtaining the answer. I understand that there may be cultural differences for this problem... not all math is the same (you should see how my mother does long division!). So just make a good guess ::heh heh::. With a little research, you can determine the answers. You may want to look for information on matrix multiplication. As a special bonus, the first person to successfully supply the correct answer will automatically win. If you feel that you definitely have the answer, get in touch with me with what you have learned. If you do everything correctly, I will answer to let you know :). As an additional clue, the x value has a special code in it that has to do with area. - TO ENTER - To enter, simply let your fingers do the talking and write an email and send it to dtiberio@libserv1.ic.sunysb.edu. You MUST put the word CONTEST in the subject line of the email header! Otherwise you run the risk of having your email deleted (don't ask, it is a long story!) or send a post card or letter to: Amiga Report Contest c/o David Tiberio 6 Lodge Lane East Setauket, NY 11733 Is it possible to win via snail mail? You might think that your chances of winning are better by entering in email (much faster of course), but last month's winner send in a letter that arrived the day before his winning number was drawn! In your letter or email, please provide the following: Your full name and address. Please keep in mind that many of you may have addresses that I am not accustomed to, so please include your country or any other information that I would need in case you win. An email address should also be included, if possible. You must also include a brief one sentence overview of the editorial in this issue of AMiga Report. Just to make sure you are reading it. :) You must also include the issue number. For example, if you read this in AR213, then include that in your correspondance. Also, a prize winner will be determined by a random number generator. Choose a number from 1 to 262,144. The closest winner or winners to the randomly generated number will receive the prize in the mail. Anyone who does not provide a number will have one assigned to him randomly. All prizes will be mailed within one week after I get my hands on the published version of AmigaReport. I am doing this for a few reasons. First, every winner so far has given the correct puzzle solution before I have received the editon of AmigaReport that announced it. :) Second, I don't like to go to the post office every day if I can avoid it. Third, you never know when someone's power supply might blow up (right Mr. Editor?!). - RULES AND REGULATIONS - 1. In the evnt that the editor's power supply fries, the contest for that month will have its deadline postponed to a later date, to be announced. Any contest entries for the random drawing will be added to the next month's drawing, to be held once per month near the beginning of the month. 2. All prizes are donated. I cannot be held responsible for any damage caused by a prize. For example, if you leave your prize on the stairs and your grandmother slips on it, I will not pay her medical bills. 3. We are not doing this for any profit, and cannot be held responsible if we go out of business or are otherwise financially unable to give you anything! We are actively looking for submissions from other software authors. 4. Good things come to those who read the rules and regulations! Here is a tip to help you win: every problem is a trick problem, or gives you clues that are not part of the problem itself. Read the whole entire contest entry looking for clues. And read my other articles for more clues. I give some very obvious clues :). 5. If for any circumstance you are awarded a prize but do not receive it, contact me at (516) 476-1615. I will promptly attend to any mistakes that have been made. 6. These rules are subject to change at any time without warning! 7. All entries so far have been using A, and that is why they are wrong! - THE DISCLAIMER - DISCLAIMER: This contest is being provided as a service to the Amiga community and all persons involved in running this contest cannot be held liable for anything that costs you money or lifetime pain and anguish. Rules are subject to change. All entries must be received by whenever TBA. Any entries beyond this date will be entered into the next contest, if any. - THE CHANCE YOU WILL WIN - Odds of winning are approximately 1:50 for the random drawing and 1:15 for the correct answer to the puzzle, based upon current entries. SPECIAL THANKS to SideWinder for donating the Future Shock albums for inclusion in our contest, along with Merrill Callaway for his ARexx Reference Disk! @endnode @node P1-18 "AR Contest Solution" @toc "menu" %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% %% AR Contest Solution %% %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% THIS MONTH'S WINNERS: John Tyrrell, of Nepean, Ontario! and Allen J Newton, of Albuquerque, New Mexico! THE PUZZLE: Everyone thinks that the other code problem was too easy, which it was. So this month I made it a bit tricky (and I don't want to hear any complaints that the solutions are too hard)! This is a transcript of a press conference about a military operation somewhere in the United States. Your job is to figure out which companies are involved. In the next few issues I will make the clues gradually become easier. Gore, the Vice President, made the statement. He said he would, but very quietly. The engineers are locked up on the island. They are computer experts. They are no longer incorporated, but AmigaGuide is stored there. That is why their fort is so valuable. The banner on the building reads "BRCH". The surface to air missile drowned in the sea. Squad A had to move into the area at 5:00pm, as they always do. Strategic Operations in New York handled the affair. They landed opposite their destination. There is no other way to calm the port. The rest will be printed at a later time. THE WRONG ANSWERS: We only had 2 submissions. One person suggested that Commodore USA was the company. Ha! There are 14 companies hidden in the clues. THE WINNING ANSWER: The prize winner is Allen J Newton, with 2 of 14 correct! THE BREAKDOWN: -- Gore, the Vice President, made the statement. GVP is the answer, by using the initials of Gore, the Vice President. -- He said he would, but very quietly. He said he would, softly. It was a "soft would", or SoftWood. -- The engineers are locked up on the island. Alcatraz, former island prison in the Western US. And we all know which Amiga developer does its development at "Alcatraz", from reading the first year or so of NewTek advertisements for the Video Toaster. Remember, the lights are still on at 'Traz. -- They are computer experts. They are pros when it comes to microcomputers, or MicroProse. -- They are no longer incorporated, but AmigaGuide is stored there. To be incorporated means to have limited liabilities. Some companies are known as "Inc.", "Corp.", or "Ltd.". Well, they are no longer incorporated, so they are no longer limited to liabilities, making them Unlimited. And where is AmigaGuide stored? In SYS:Utilities. This company was Utilities Unlimited. -- That is why their fort is so valuable. Which fort is the most valuable? Maybe Fort Knox, where the United States keeps all its gold (this is a US military operation according to the press release). The mystery company is US Gold. -- The banner on the building reads "BRCH". Everyone knows the relation between "IBM" and "HAL", where each letter is shifted one character. Well, "BRCH" is adjacent to "CSDI" and "AQBG". I took both and combined them, which would form "ASDG", using the first and last from one and the middle two from the other. -- The surface to air missile drowned in the sea. The SAM (surface to air missile) sunk. It was Samsung! -- Squad A had to move into the area at 5:00pm, as they always do. The squad is a group of people, in this example I said Squad A, hoping to remind people of the A-Team (with Mr. T). And they meet at 5pm, or 17:00 in "military time" or on a 24 hour clock. In other words, they are Team 17. -- Strategic Operations in New York handled the affair. S.O.N.Y. handled the affair. -- They landed opposite their destination. What is opposite their destination? Their Origin is. -- There is no other way to calm the port. This is the hardest. The "port" refers to the sea port since they were on an island surrounded by water. But a port can also be a window, such as a porthole, or a door. The other way is to calm the door instead, or calm-a-door = Commodore. -- The rest will be printed at a later time. The later time will be sometime in the future, for Future Publishing, makers of Amiga Format (I think)! THE DISCLAIMER: DISCLAIMER: This contest is being provided as a service to the Amiga community and all persons involved in running this contest cannot be held liable for anything that costs you money or lifetime pain and anguish. Rules are subject to change. All entries must be received by the posted deadline. Any entries beyond this date will be entered into the next contest, if any. THE APOLOGY: Sorry that they were so hard, and that a few issues of AmigaReport did not make it out due to computer and network failures (phone company)! But the phone company will be able to make up for it in the current contest. :) As Edward Cayce might say, that is all for the present... dtiberio@libserv1.ic.sunysb.edu @endnode @node P1-19 "About the Internet" @toc "menu" %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% %% About the Internet By: @{" David Tiberio " link P8-4} %% %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% While many of our readers are in some way connected to the Internet, there are still a large number of users who are not connected to the Internet for one reason or another. There is a world out there that you are missing! First, for most users, the Internet is free. People gain access through school systems (at colleges and universities), through the workplace, or from public access networks. Some systems have direct connections, while others use a UNIX to UNIX communications protocol. USENET has a public messaging service that is similar to a huge message base connected throughout the world. While some topics may be local to the host systems, there are thousands of topics to choose from. Some of these topics include Amiga hardware, applications, programming, emulators, and reviews. There are about 15-20 different worldwide news groups for Amiga users, with an average readership of about 50,000 people per news topic. These messages are read by students, government employees (once a NASA employee was spotted reading USENET news during a shuttle launch last year), and even Amiga developers such as Scala, DKB, Commodore, and ASDG. Another nice thing about USENET is that there is often at least one person who has the solution to your problem, and usually there are hundreds of people with the same problems and solutions. AMINET is a rather large file base, containing thousands of programs and other files specifically for the Amiga. This is done via FTP sites, which are common throughout the Internet. While the list of files on Amiga is about 750k in size, there is at least one site whose file listing is over 9 megabytes in size! That is a large file to download just to see what files are available! Some sites contain all the Fred Fish disks, while others contain hundreds of pictures, 3D objects, or audio samples. Many companies as place software updates or demos on FTP sites. For example, orion.etsu.edu has a site dedicated for EGS graphics boards, while the tricity site has every version of the EMPLANT Macintosh emulation software ever released! ARCHIE will search file sites to find matching filenames from a search pattern. Unfortunately, there may be thousands of matches, and they may search files that are on weird FTP sites. It is a powerful system, although the AMINET system itself is very organized. GOPHER is kind of like a BBS system with different informational sources online. For example, one site has hundreds of prophecies translated from Nostradamus into English. IRC is a realtime chat line, also including people from all over the world. The strange part is that some of the people on the Amiga channel are there almost all the time! The Amiga channel usually has between 20 and 50 people on it at once. Once 50 people are online, the conversations move along very quickly. Here you can meet various developers, such as former Commodore engineers, the author of ImageFX, XPK, Term, and even the Prevue Guide (used by cable companies to show TV listings on an Amiga based system). Robots such as Mama and Merbot are always online to talk to, send messages to people not online, or to get files from FTP sites. MUDS are online games, similar in concept to Dungeons and Dragons, in realtime. This allows you to play text and sometimes graphics adventures with people sitting at home thousands of miles away, all unknown to you. Other games include war games such as Risk, where players fight for land and armies. EMAIL is one of the most basic resources available. Here users can send messages around the world in under 10 minutes, passing from system to system until they arrive at their destinations. Users can also UUENCODE files and mail them to each other, or download files from FTP sites to email addresses. Users can also communicate with pay services such as GEnie, Portal, and CompuServe. Last of all, users can subscribe to email discussion lists with topics such as Lightwave 3D, AMOS, and EGS. - AMINET REFERENCES - bdgtti-2.2-guide.lha docs/misc 296K+Internet guide, version 2.2 As Edward Cayce might say, that is all for the present... @endnode @node P1-20 "Sidewinder: Future Shock II and others" @toc "menu" %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% %% Sidewinder: Future Shock II and others By: @{" David Tiberio " link P8-4} %% %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% In the past few months I had received two Future Shock II audio CD's from Sidewinder for contest prizes in the Amiga Report contest. At this time both were awarded to contest winners, but before receiving the discs I decided to download some Sidewinder music modules that were available on Aminet (ftp.wustl.edu). A player or editor is required to listen to music modules from Aminet. Although I have commented on his music in a previous article, I would like to take this time to mention a little bit more about what Sidewinder has done for his audio CD. The majority of the CD was produced using Amiga computers, in this case an Amiga 2000 with ProTracker 1.3 and MED 3.22. 15 titles are included, many of which are on Aminet in pub/amiga/mods/sidew or pub/aminet/mods/sidew: Aftershock Passion Slave Catch It Up Slicetacy Rainy December Tribal to Space Reflects Tales From the Rave Back 2 A Time Anastasia Transport Future Shock II Control NXL CIO Ari - San On the back of the CD is a credit to the Commodore Amiga, and a listing of the hardware and software used by Sidewinder. The cover has a ray traced or modeled image, with a very nice stone texture. And last of all, the inside cover is hand autographed, although he may or may not be signing all of the CD's. I particularly liked the HouseBeetles song... it sounds like something you would hear in a beach movie. Rainy December and Rainy September are also very good, and although Old Smoke isn't exactly a popular music style among today's youths, it still was put together very nicely. The Future Shock II audio CD's are $12.95, a very good price for a part of the Amiga's history. - USENET REFERENCES - AMINET - ftp.luth.se, ftp.wustl.edu, ftp.etsu.edu, ... EaglePlayer101.lha mus/play 499K+ModPlayer comp. w/ DeliTracker EdPlyr21.lha mus/play 215K+A cool player for MODs and MEDs med321.lha mus/edit 327K+Version 3.21 of MED (music editor) ProTrackerV1.3B.lzh mus/edit 73K+ProTracker1.3 Works under 2.04! AfterShock.lha mods/sidew 258K+by SideWinder...((TECHNO))Hi-Fi MegaMOD Alacazabra.lha mods/sidew 278K+PT MOD/SideWinder...=TRANCE=FUSSION ArisanCrossroad.lha mods/sidew 204K+MOD by SideWinder,SUPERB LISTENING Beatwave.lha mods/sidew 260K+MOD by SideWinder...Latin/Dance(CLUB) Beyond_Dreams.lha mods/sidew 240K+by SideWinder/InfoCorner..Hi-Fi Synth CamelDance.lha mods/sidew 191K+MOD/SideWinder...Crazy ((TECHNO)) :) ClimbTheWalls.lha mods/sidew 72K+MOD/SideWinder.. Bounce/Jazz House Creamx-treme.lha mods/sidew 304K+MOD/SideWinder...ACID((TEKKNO))16bt CrystalTrails.lha mods/sidew 70K+SideWinder - CyberHouse fusion Elemental.lha mods/sidew 264K+MOD/SideWInder..SUper Hi-Fi MegaMOD Final-Destiny.lha mods/sidew 241K+MOD by SideWinder..FUllFOrce MegaMOD Gengis.lha mods/sidew 253K+MOD/SideWinder...HARDCORE <> GetFrazy.lha mods/sidew 211K+MOD/SideWinder...YES MEGA-Remix! GoldenTemple.lha mods/sidew 49K+MOD/SideWinder..Oriental KArateStyle HouseBeatles.lha mods/sidew 73K+MOD/SideWinder... Beatles Classic! IslandOfSpice.lha mods/sidew 291K+MOD by SideWinder,SUPERB LISTENING JamKitIntro.lha mods/sidew 60K+MOD/SideWinder..Funky/Pop/Jazz/Intro Jasmine.lha mods/sidew 274K+MOD by SideWinder,SUPERB LISTENING JungleToTheCore.lha mods/sidew 209K+MOD/SideWinder...Jungle<> HIFI Millennium.lha mods/sidew 200K+MOD by SideWinder,SUPERB LISTENING NewBeginning.lha mods/sidew 91K+MOD by SideWinder... Dance/Ancients OldSmoke.lha mods/sidew 31K+MOD/SideWinder..Polka/Chicago Style! OrbitalFlower.lha mods/sidew 246K+MOD by SideWinder,SUPERB LISTENING Pulse8-1994.lha mods/sidew 308K+MOD by SideWinder,SUPERB LISTENING RadioRevolution.lha mods/sidew 159K+MOD/SideWinder..A Salute/Mix to Rock RainyDecember.lha mods/sidew 184K+MOD by SideWinder,SUPERB LISTENING RainySeptember.lha mods/sidew 181K+MOD by SideWinder,SUPERB LISTENING Spanish-Armada.lha mods/sidew 214K+MOD SideWinder/InfoCorner..Spanish RAVE Starsails.lha mods/sidew 37K+SideWinder - Cinema/new age style TribalJustice.lha mods/sidew 300K+MOD by SideWinder..((TECHNO)) EPIC I TribalToSea.lha mods/sidew 242K+MOD/SideWinder..Journey EPIC VOL III TribalToSpace.lha mods/sidew 288K+MOD by SideWinder,SUPERB LISTENING TribeOfMan.lha mods/sidew 275K+by SideWinder..((TECHNO)) SYnth Journey TribeOfMen.lha mods/sidew 274K+MOD by SideWinder,SUPERB LISTENING As Edward Cayce might say, that is all for the present... @endnode @node P4-1 "Delphi" @toc "menu" %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% %% Delphi Internet Services -- Your Connection to the World! %% %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% Amiga Report International Online Magazine and the Amiga Report Coverdisk 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 Username: type JOINDELPHI and press RETURN, At Password: type AMIGAUSER and press RETURN. For more information, call DELPHI Member Services at 1-800-695-4005 SPECIAL FEATURES ---------------- Complete Internet connection -- Telnet, FTP, IRC, Gopher, E-Mail and more! (Internet option is $3/month extra) SIGs for all types of computers -- Amiga, IBM, Macintosh, Atari, etc. An active Amiga SIG hosting conferances, Usenet, Latest wares, and FTP Gopher coming soon Large file databases! SIGs for hobbies, video games, graphics, and more! Business and world news, stock reports, etc. Grolier's Electronic Encyclopedia! DELPHI - It's getting better all the time! @endnode %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% %% The Amiga Report Staff %% %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% @node P8-1 "Editor" @toc "menu" %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% %% EDITOR %% %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% Robert Niles Portal: RNiles FidoNet: 1:3407/103 Internet: rniles@hebron.connected.com Fax: 509-248-5645 US Mail: P.O. Box 8041 Yakima, Wa 98908 @endnode @node P8-2 "Assistant Editor" @toc "menu" %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% %% ASSISTANT EDITOR %% %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% Jason Compton Internet: jcompton@bbs.xnet.com FAX: 708-741-0689 @endnode @node P8-3 "European Editor" @toc "menu" %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% %% EUROPEAN EDITOR %% %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% @endnode @node P8-4 "Contributing Editor" @toc "menu" %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% %% CONTIBUTING EDITOR %% %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% David Tiberio Internet: dtiberio@libserv1.ic.sunysb.edu @endnode @node P4-5 "Amiga Report Mailing List" @toc "menu" %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% %% Amiga Report Maillist List, the WWW, and Aminet %% %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% AR Mailing List ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 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 listserv@bbs.xnet.com and in the body of the message put: ADD armag ie: ADD rniles@goofy.com armag Your account must be able to handle mail of any size to ensure an intact copy. For example, many systems have a 100K limit on incoming messages. Joining the Amiga Report Coverdisk list is just as easy, but REQUIRES that your mail site be able to handle messages in excess of 600k. Place the following in the body of a message to listserv@bbs.xnet.com: ADD ardisk ie: ADD rniles@goofy.com ardisk Many thanks to X-Net Information Systems for setting this service up for us! ** IMPORTANT NOTICE: PLEASE be certain your host can accept mail over ** 100K! We have had a lot of bouncebacks recently from systems with a ** 100K size limit for incoming mail. If we get a bounceback with your ** address in it, it will be removed from the list. Thanks! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ World Wide Web ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ AR can also be read with Mosaic (in either AmigaGuide or html form). Reading AmigaReport with Mosaic removes the necessity to download it. It can also be read using programs found in UNIX sites such as LYNX. Simply tell Mosaic to open the following URL: http://www.cs.cmu.edu:8001/Web/People/mjw/Computer/Amiga/AR/MainPage.html Mosaic for the Amiga can be found on Aminet in directory comm/net, or (using anonymous ftp) on max.physics.sunysb.edu Mosaic for X, Macintosh(tm) and Microsoft Windows(tm) can be found on ftp.ncsa.uiuc.edu ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Aminet ~~~~~~ To get Amiga Report from Aminet, simply FTP to any Aminet site, CD to docs/mags. All the back issues are located there as well. (ftp.cdrom.com or ftp.wustl.edu are two sites) @endnode @node P1-2 "Amiga News" @toc "menu" %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% %% Amiga News %% %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% Commodore US has set up two new phone numbers: 610-666-2595 and 610-666-2728. However, the person I talked to hung up on me after I asked her two questions. I haven't called back yet for an explanation. Commodore UK's chiefs, Colin Proudfoot and David Pleasance, have sent a widespread message. While they do not claim to have ownership of Commodore, the body of the message makes it very clear that they intend to try VERY hard to acquire it. All official channels are still silent on an owner. Product announcements and news from Utilities Unlimited, taken from a message from Jim Drew, CEO. ------------------------------------------------------------------- I have not had chance to work on much actually. I met with IBM in Las Vegas a few weeks ago to discuss the PowerPC emulation, and I meet with Apple on the 9th of August to discuss the same (Apple just made an announcement of this). I have spent too much time with big corporations besides IBM and Apple (wanting to be exclusive distributors for our products). So, we are still working on finishing the 486DX emulation. It is going through a complete overhaul as we have found a way to make the emulation use less CPU time with equiv speed results we are getting now. We have finalized 'The EDGE', our video board. It is 64 bit wide Cirrus Alpine graphics processor interfaced to a Zorro III slot. There are some really nice features of this board... it is 100% backwards compatible, meaning that we will be able to emulate the Picasso, Piccolo, and EGS Spectrum video boards (run their software). Also, since the Alpine chip supports real video modes, the 8, 16, and 32 bit MAC video modes are DIRECT... 640x480x32 realtime animation... 80 megapixels per second. Retail price is tenatively set at $299 with 0K RAM (uses 72 pin SIMMs.. up to 16 megs... 4 required). I just finished a new empser.device that supports hardware handshaking and baud rates up to 921.6K baud (can you say networking), and I am trying to finish up the empscsi.device. I have hired an Amiga programmer, who is also a IBM specialist. His name is Mark Wignall and he was on the Techtronic's Phaser series printer design team (firmware and such). He will be writing the majority of our PC utilities included with the 486DX emulations. I plan on hiring several more Amiga programmers as we have quite a few things planned for the fall, and I fear that my role as a programmer will slowly fade away into the business end (rats!). Oh, another goodie that I have finalized is called 'MEDIA'. This lets you use any type of floppy drive guts (including 2.88mb drives) with your Amiga... Zorro II/III board. Lets you read/write/duplicate any disk format... no exceptions (yes, including 800K MAC disks). No price set yet..but I would imagine around $149. @endnode @node P1-3 "Reader Mail" @toc "menu" %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% %% Reader Mail %% %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% From: magnus.thelander@jetset.ct.se (Magnus Thelander) To: jcompton@bbs.xnet.com Subject: The Amiga in Europe by Celso Martinho. Celso didn't mention Sweden. In Sweden we have Stefan Boberg, author of LhA and member of Team 17. We also have Digital Illusions, who are responsible for the Pinball dreams, fantasies etc. Unfortunately, C= Sweden was closed down some time ago along with C= Norway and C= Denmark. They were replaced by C= Scandinavia situated in Denmark of all places. Sweden is the largest Scandivanian country, so it would be logical to have the office here. but since when had logic meant anything to C= ;-)? Reply: True. Incidentally, we have a review with the general manager of Digital Illusions in this week's issue. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Luke Koops Subject: Re: the saga... [In response to mailing list updates on the status of AR] Not to be rude or anything, but I DON'T CARE! If most people are blasting you with messages regarding where the magazine is, I am sorry. But do you need to provide play-by-play updates? -Greg From: Ryan Scott Subject: Re: the saga... agreed. just want to see it in my mailbox or not in my mailbox. Reply: Because of this, I've come up with a limited-update policy. Sorry to have upset anyone. @endnode @node P1-4 "compt.sys.amiga" @toc "menu" %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% %% compt.sys.amiga by @{" Jason Compton " link P8-2} %% %% Take a vacation... jcompton@bbs.xnet.com %% %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% I just got back from a vacation in Snowmass, Colorado, where I learned that it really can get up to 95 at 8,800 feet elevation and the takeout food is lousy. Unfortunately, nothing momentous happened while I was away...I was hoping the Commodore situation would be resolved (kind of like the old "watched teapot" not boiling...) Lots and lots of rumors, centralized around "Samsung won the bidding!" and "Commodore UK won the bidding!" No official word, though, and that's what I'm going to rely on. Duncan Fraser at Commodore Canada West had the same idea. He even took a week off. When he came back, there was nothing new. It's worth mentioning at this point that, so far as I can discern in the US and so far as Duncan can discern in Canada, North America's distributors are out of Amigas. (BMD, CEI and another Canadian one he mentioned top the list) For this reason, Commodore Canada West will be closing, likely within the week. The employees are tentatively joining TVI, which shares the office with C= Canada West. I secured a couple of interviews for this week's issue. They're both with great guys, but unfortunately with great guys who are no longer going to develop for the Amiga. Grrrrrrr... Will anyone please send me a transcript of Amiga User International's tirade on me? I sent them a letter months ago and they've apparently decided to rip it to shreds publicly... That's it for this week. Check out our other features. @endnode @node P1-5 "The Voice From Across the Pond" @toc "menu" %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% %% The Voice From Across the Pond By Michael Wolf %% %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% First of all a big 'hello there' to all readers of Amiga Report. This is my first article and I hope that you like it. I plan to review all interesting new releases from Europe, mainly from Germany. Some products will be available in the U.S. and some won't be. This time I will give you a summary of three Motion JPEG boards from Germany, as well as some info on the first '060 board and some personal, subjective and biased ;^) comments. All the information in this article is taken from various ads and articles I read, plus from a couple phone calls that I made. The only boards that I've seen in action were the VideoCruncher and the DSP PAR. The stats given may not be 100% correct, but they ought to be close ;-) Let's start off with the Motion JPEG boards. At the moment there are two boards available, the VLab Motion by MacroSystem (many of you know the VLab framegrabber) and the VideoCruncher by Ingenieurbuero Helfrich (makers of the Piccolo graphics board). A third board, the Snapshot Motion by Videotechnik Diezemann, is due to be released in November at this year's WOC in Cologne. These boards are aimed at the semi-professional / industrial video market, unlike NewTek's Flyer which is supposed to offer a better image quality (at a price). Let me make a short excursion to look at the video market in Europe from my point of view. Broadcast qualtiy is a prime issue if you want your production to be on TV. No serious video studio would rely on non-linear systems for production (may be for preview purposes, but not for the 'final cut'). The industrial market is quite small but growing (Yes, and I want to grow with it ;-). The Toaster revolution never happened here (no PAL Toaster, sigh !), and there is no product on the market that offers the same bang for the buck. The closest thing is the Fast Video Machine for PC's and Mac's, and it is priced well above $5000. Last year when I visited the states I was quite suprised of the large Toaster user base, all of them used professionally. Well, enough drivel, back to the review... So, what do I needs these boards for ? Well, conventional video editing is quite costly. You have to invest thousands of dollars to set up a decent video studio. Video cutting also stresses the video decks, and the only person who is glad about that is the guy from the service shop when he gives you the bill. If you want to add spectacular effects you have to rely on a video switcher such as the toaster, but amazing effects (such as 3D twirls of live video) aren't possible then either. If you want to record you precious 3D animations as well then you will need a single frame capable video recorder, increasing your investement again. In come the M-JPEG boards. If you tried to grab your video directly to your computer, you would have to be able to store around 30MB every second. Only high end machines (such as the more expensive Silicon Graphics computers), can handle that much. The solution is to compress every single image in real time. JPEG is a common compression standard for images, but it has one drawback, it is lossy. Right now lots of chip sets appear that allow for JPEG compression in real time (i.e. full frame video in 25 (NTSC 30) frames per second). The more you compress the image, the more information you loose. You are free on the other hand to decide how much you want to compress. Note that if you decompress an image, process it and compress it again you will loose some quality, not unlike the quality loss when going through copying generations in conventional video. To achieve S-VHS (or HI8) quality you will have to use a compression ratio of around 1:15 (i.e. 30 MB/sec ends up as 2 MB/sec). Most boards can range the compression ratio from 1:2 to 1:100. The VLab Motion and the VideoCruncher are both based on the LSI JPEG chip set, as used on the DSP PAR board. The Snapshot Motion will be based on chips by Thoran. All three boards use standard Amiga hard disk partitions for storage of the M-JPEG data, the Snapshot Motion will feature an on-board SCSI host adapter as well. Hard disk speed and storage capacity are prime requisites for these board to work efficiently, a sustained read/write performance of 1 - 2 MB/sec and 500 MB of storage are the recommended minimum. High speed DMA SCSI host adapters such as the Fastlane Z3 and the DKB 4091 are perfectly suited for this task. Data throughput is a major issue. The VLab Motion is a Zorro II board, the VideoCruncher a Zorro II/III board (autosensing) and the Snapshot Motion is designed as a Zorro III board. I have my doubts to whether the Zorro II design of the VLab Motion will suffice for high quality M-JPEG streams, Zorro III is definetely an advantage. Video: All boards obviously allow real time grabbing of video. While both the VLab Motion and the Snapshot Motion grab at full 768x576 pixels (PAL) the VideoCruncher only processes videos at 468x352 pixels (why is a mystery to me, it is based on the same chip set as the VLab Motion). All boards capture a YUV 4:2:2 signal ( one colour sample for every luminance sample), the Snapshot Motion can grab anything from 4:4:4 to 4:1:1, the VideoCruncher can grab 4:1:1 as well. Audio: All three boards allow 16 bit audio to be recorded. The VLab Motion requires the Toccata audio board, VideoCruncher relies on the Sunrise AD-516 and the Snapshot Motion will have an audio option on board. All audio boards can sample from 5.5 to 48Khz. The Toccata also supports hardware based audio compression (from 16 to 8 bit with a small loss in quality). The AD-516 can play back up to 8 tracks, the Snapshot Motion will be able to play back 4 and the Toccata plays back 2 tracks of audio. The software: MacroSystem includes MovieShop. It supports all basic functions such as grabbing, cutting and pasting, but no time line editing. MovieShop has an ARexx port. ADPro savers and loaders are included. You cannt sync video and audio using timecode, MacroSystem plans to release MovieShop Pro soon, which, amongst other things, includes a special fx generator. The VideoCruncher also features no more than a simple editing program, cut&paste and im-/export functions are common to all boards. Here again you can optionally get Diva Pro, a full editing program that is more intuitive to use. The Snapshot Motion will included editing software by ProDAD, creators of ClariSSA, Adorage and the new Monument Video Titler. It will work as a one monitor solution. Editing is accomplished using a PIP representation of the video. Again, their editing software can be upgraded to a more advanced version (see below). Special features: All boards have some special features on board. The VLab Motion includes a Genlock / Bluebox. It syncs with an external video source and allows you to mix the M-JPEG file and the external video using chroma / luminance keying. It also includes a scaler chip to scale the video when playing back. The VideoCruncher is equiped with 2 MB dualported VideoRAM, which allows you to use it as a frame buffer as well. It does double buffering and supports an 8 bit overlay. VideoCruncher PIP in conjunction with a Piccolo board allows you to play back videos in a window on a Piccolo screen. The VideoCruncher also allows you to use the JPEG chips as coprocessors to de-/encode JPEG images. The VideoCruncher works well inc conjunction with the PeggyPlus board by the same company. The software included with the PeggyPlus allows you to directly convert a M-JPEG video stream to MPEG. The Snapshot Motion also features a scaler chip, that can be used while playing back video. You can even control the scaler during playback, i.e. allowing you to use it as a magnifying glass, stretch your video or add those trendy cinemascope bars. The scaler chip interpolates the pixels, so you will always get a smooth image. It is heavily used by the editing software. Also on board is a Genlock / Bluebox, allowing you to layer live video, M-JPEG video and Amiga images. Plus the audio board ( 2 track recording, 4 track playback) and the SCSI host adapter. My opinion: ----------- Do you really want to know ? Well, all boards serve their purpose. The VLab Motion, while suffering from the slow Zorro II , is certainly the best board for video at this price range. I imagine it competing quite well against the DSP PAR for example. This board is the only option for doing video work on an A2000. You ought to have your SCSI host adaptor on an accelerator board though, as not to slow down the Zorro II bus too much. If you plan to create MPEG streams then the VideoCruncher is a must. The direct port to the Peggy Plus board, and the easy M-JPEG -> MPEG conversion process make these boards an ideal combination. I can't recommend it for producing video work, mainly because of the poor resolution. You could use it for proofing your video cut or animation. The Snapshot Motion is my clear favourite. Then again, it is only vapourware so far. It has all the features you would want for that price on board, and the used M-JPEG chip set is supposed to be superior to the LSI solution. Let's wait and see what happens until November. Let me add two short notes, on concerning M-JPEG boards, the other concerning new Amiga boards in general. I read a review in a recent issue of a german computer magazine, concerning PC M-JPEG boards in the same price range as the three mentioned here. I will just say on thing: they do max. 384x288 @25fps. Now concerning the Amiga. We all know that CBM is virtually dead, and nobody knows what's going to happen to the Amiga. The hardware manufacturers are hesitant to develop Zorro III boards, because the base of machines is very small and this might not change in the near future. Videotechnik Diezemann is optimistic, they want to put the Snapshot Motion on the market. Rumour has it that other companies (Helfrich and their 64 bit gfx board) will wait and see before the continue putting money into Amiga developement. This makes MacroSystem's decision for a Zorro II board (larger user base) understandable. Technical data: board VLab Motion VideoCruncher Snapshot Motion manufacturer MS MacroSystem Ingenieurbuero Videotechnik, Computer GMBH Helfrich D. Diezemann adress Friedrich-Ebert Am Wollelager 8 Eichenweg 7a -Strasse 85 37281 Wanfried 58454 Witten 27749 Delmenhorst Germany Germany Fon: ++49-2302-80391 ++49-4221-120077 ++49-5655-1773 Fax: -884 -79 -74 Video ----- max. Res. (PAL) 768x576 @25fps 468x352 @25fps 768x576 @25fps YUV samples 4:2:2 4:2:2, 4:1:1 4:4:4 - 4:1:1 inputs Y/C, FBAS 2 Y/C, 2 FBAS Y/C, FBAS outputs Y/C, FBAS Y/C, FBAS Y/C, FBAS video standards PAL/NTSC PAL/NTSC PAL/NTSC genlock Yes - Yes bluebox/keying Yes - Yes picture controls (i.e. brightness) Yes Yes Yes hardware scaler chip Yes ?? Yes, interpolating Audio ----- sampling rates ** 5,5 kHz - 48 kHz, 16 bit ** on board No, Toccata No, AD-516 Yes play back tracks 2 8 ('030) 4 Misc ---- storage standard SCSI standard SCSI standard SCSI, SCSI on board Zorro Type II II/III III chip set by LSI LSI Thoran on board RAM 640 Kb buffer max. 2MB VRAM ??? availability Now Now November (?) Optional features ----------------- Component Piccolo PIP Component Transcoder Transcoder (RGB & YUV) (1) PeggyPlus MPEG (RGB & YUV) (1) encoding 2/3D special FX board. (1) Timecode control (1) (1) these extensions are planned. Prices (2) ---------- base price 1250.- 1440.- 1562.- (3) 1561.- (4) options Toccata audio AD-516 audio 375.- 1875.- Component Peggy transcoder (MPEG player board) RGB: 375.- 450.- YUV: 625.- Peggy Plus (audio support) 496.- (2) in US $, based on $ 1.00 = 1.60 DM (3) expected price, may vary. (4) VideoCruncher PIP, requires Piccolo board) Part II ------- Here are some short infos on various new developements: AS&S (makers of the Blizzard accelerators and the Fastlane Z3) are shipping the first '060 board for the Amiga. The Cyberstorm is a modular board designed for the A4000 (support for the A3000 and A4000T is planned). It is available as an '040 (40 Mhz, ~35 MIPS) or '060 (50 Mhz, ~90 MIPS) board. RAM can be expanded on board to a maximum of 128 MB using standard 32bit SIMMS. Two expansion boards are in developement. One will feature a fast second level cache for the processor board. The I/O board expands the system with a Fast-SCSI II interface (same as the Fastlane), ethernet and a high speed serial board. Prices: Cyberstorm '060/50 $1812 Cyberstorm '040/40 $1250 Cyberstorm '040/0 $ 687 (no CPU, for A4000/040 owners) second level cache board n/a I/O board n/a --- ProDAD (ClariSSA, Adorage) announce the Monument Titler, a video titler based on the SSA anim format that wors with real time effects. Features include timeline editing, continous scrolling, improved anti-aliasing, texures and attributes for the included outline fonts. ProDAD is also working on a video editing program, Video Media concept. It is modular and can be expanden with other products such as ClariSSA or SCALA. It features timeline editing, supports various video protocols and controls components such as audio mixers. I assume that a scaled down version will be shipped with the Snapshot Motion. Price: Monument Titler $156 Video Media concept $625 (internal), $812 (external), $2187 (professional) Whew, I'm done for the day. Feel free to ask any questions. Read 'ya next time and have a good one. @endnode @node P1-6 "Interview with Fredrik Liliegren" @toc "menu" %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% %% AR Interview: Fredrik Liliegren from Digital Illusions %% %% Interviewer: Jason Compton %% %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% > What projects have you done on the Amiga? We have so far only completed two Amiga games, namely: Pinball Dreams (Released March 1992) and Pinball Fantasies (Original Version released Oktober 1992). We also made the AGA and CD32 versions of Fantasies (Both released September 1993). We also co-developed the PC version of Pinball Fantasies. All other versions of these two games has NOTHING to do with DI part from being based on our original products. > Given the limbolike trance the Amiga is in right now, what do you see your > company doing in the future? Sad to say with the current status of Commodore I do not see our selves commiting to another Amiga project after completing Benefactor and Pinball Illusions. The reason is very very simple, It takes us 1 year to develop a game and in a years time the Amiga market is not going to be able ti support us finacially i.e. we would loose money doing an Amiga game. Another reason is that within a years time there is going to be 2-3 machies available on the market that technically is 100-200 times as powerfull for games as the A1200 and CD32. And due to the fact that we are visionaries and want to do the best possible jobb, the current Amiga hardware can not compete. > What's YOUR vision of the perfect Amiga solution? [the best answer, the best > new owners of the technology] 1. Somebody with a lot of cash needs to buy commodore. Currently there is talk of a the UK commodore buying the US parent. This would most likely see the death of the Amiga within 1 year as these people do not have the money to found new developement, they only have one core market (The UK) and they currently have no machines! It would take them 2-3 months to get new machines to the UK and that would at the current time mean they would loose the X-mas market which would make them bancrypt within 6 months. 2. If somebody like Samsung buys commodore, I believe they would be best of dropping the CD32 because they will not sell a single machine outside the UK when the new japanses machines from SEGA, SONY and NINTENDO arrives. 3. They should have 3 base machines on the market: 1) The A1200 but with 4 MB of Fast ram added on the mother board And 80 MB Hardisk as standard. Price £300 2) An A1200 like the one above but with built in CD-ROM drive. Price £450 3) The A4000/040 with SCSI and CD-ROM drive. Price £1500 4. They should make sure that the AAA chipset gets done and on that chipset build three machines like the ones above but with AAA in them but the A1200 one having an 68030 and the A4000 on an 68060! > Shifting attention to your new projects at hand, Pinball Illusions and > Benefactor- it's easy to deduce that Pinball Illusions is very likely an > offshoot of the wildly successful Pinball Dreams and Pinball Fantasies. What > are pinball enthusiasts in for this time? What we want to do with the Pinball Illusions is to finally put in all the features that we have had to leave out before for diffrent reasons such as processor power, time our machine capabilities. This time we have 4 color dor matrix displays (like the real thing), A score system much like all the latest REAL tables on the market, with loads of MODES and special bits. We have diffrent display modes, we have animated features on the tables, and most of all we have MULTIBALL!! (we have had 15 balls on screen running in a frame on the A4000/040, you want get more then two in the A1200/CD32 verison though). We also feel this time that the table designs are much better and have many more features on them so that it will take you longer to score everything and also it will be even harder to get scores which are hard to beat! > As for Benefactor- I admit that it's a fairly new name to me. Care to fill me > in on just what it is? Benefactor is a cross between Flashback, Lemmings and loadrunner, which s turned out to be nothing like those games at all. It is a PUZZLE game palyed in a Platform enviorment. You are the hero that on each level have to free the merry men that are trapped arounf the level, these are two kinds the colored ones that are abel to haelp you by accessing inreachable areas or build things for you etc etc. The other kinf is the evil kind that will destroy everything in its way and walk into any deat trap, these needs to be moved to a coloring machine so that they can get coloured and help you out. Once all the Merry men is at the exit in a colored form you may exit. > How does Digital Illusions go about tacking projects like Pinball Illusions or > Benefactor? How much of the work is done in house, who has what > responsibilities, etc.? Currently we are 8 people (3 programmers, 3 graphics artists, 1 music guy and me as a manager, designer etc) Each game gets 1 programmer and 1 graphics artisst assigned and then the music guy and me helps out on all projects. Currently we are dveloping: PINBALL ILLUSIONS on the A1200 and CD32 Code: Andreas Axelsson GFX: Markus Nyström BENEFACTOR on MEGA-CD (Amiga version is finished): Code: Thomas Andersson GFX: Patrik Bergdahl HARDCORE on MEGA-CD and MEGADRIVE: Code: Bo-Staffan Lankinen GFX: Joakim Wejdemar All music by: Olof Gustafsson And additional design on all games by me: Fredrik Liliegren We usally start out with a vague idea of what we want to do, then we make a small preview showing the basics of the game, this demo is then showed to the most interesting publishers. If any of them gets interested we will sign a contract, get some money, miss all deadlines with 6-10 months and then end up seeing our game pirated to death within 2 days of release. And that piracy is another reason for dropping the AMIGA, if we solf as many units of our games as there are people out there enjoying our efforts we would only be working on the AMIGA!!! @endnode @node P1-7 "Interview with Kevin Kralian" @toc "menu" %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% %% AR Interview: Kevin Kralian, Apple 2000 Author %% %% Interviewer: Jason Compton %% %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% So, why do an emulator? What made it more fulfilling than a game or a utility? Originally, I wrote "Apple 2000" as a for-fun project, to start applying my new skills in 68000 assembly (which I was learning). I chose the Apple emulator for varied reasons- I grew up with and loved my apple, I missed many of the games it had, and there weren't any other useable emulators out there. Since I knew the Apple hardware and 6502 intimately, and after writing a couple bare-bone preliminary versions of the emulator in C, I knew I could do this, I knew I could do well, and I knew I could do it right. I chose to do this instead of a game because I really couldn't think of a game worth writing (for my skill level at the time). I don't think the world wanted a 203'rd version of "Mines". Anyways, if I was to sit down and port all my old favorite games for the amiga, I'd be working nonstop for the next 10 years trying to get them done. Instead, with Apple 2000, I suddenly have some 10,000 programs available, including all my favorites that I missed for so long. What could be better? Apple 2000 has another version coming, right? What are we going to see? HOW are we going to see it (still freely redistributable?) WHEN will we see it? Yes! Version 1.2 is currently under construction. Some of the new features completed so far are: selectable speed regulation (Yeah!), support for a true analog joystick and Atari Paddles, overhaul of the video-subsystem so AGA / Mode-Promotion / Screen-Grabbers work fine, lowercase text display, optional two-disk drive emulation, notifications of changed disk data, replacement of TitleBar with "Status Msg" at the bottom of the screen, a couple bug fixes, optimized disk image-decompression/loading (under 2 seconds), and of course its faster (but don't expect much more). It will be distributed (as usual) as Freeware. I expect it will be released around mid-August. Unless, of course, one of several interested companies buys this emulation technology from me (hahaha, inside joke :). Are any more emulators forthcoming? You've mentioned doing a 64 emulator "the right way" before. I don't expect you'll be seeing me release much more for the amiga- I begin full time work as a game programmer in a couple weeks. Understand that Apple 2000 was developed in my spare time while I was a student, and now I will be working on computers all day at work. I don't think I'm going to come home from working on computers all day to work on my computer all night. No thanks- Theres lots of other things I plan on doing with that time. Doing a C64 emulator "the right way" was -heavily- requested! However, I ultimately decided against pursuing it. Several reasons: Use of unimplented 6502 instructions (and inconsistent descriptions of them), undocumented hardware operations, the common use of Raster Line interrupts to change the display (a mess to handle), my lack of carnal knowledge of the C64, and the fact that a couple "useable" C64 emulators already exist. In the end I decided I was not willing to make the huge time investment that would be required to do it right. And if I can't do it right, I won't do it at all. What was actually next on the drawing board was the Atari 1200/VCS console emulation. The big reasons I wanted to do this were because the 6502 emulation engine is already done, most of us "grew up" with the Atari, and there are no Atari VCS emulators in existance (that I know of). I've collected lots of notes and manuals on the Atari, as well as sample cartridges and dissassembled example code. I've even outlined most of the emulation. However, soon after releasing Apple 2000, I was being contacted by several companies and job opportunities were opening up. I knew I had very little time before I would be working, so my efforts are focused on completely finishing up Apple 2000 (which is what I'm doing now). However, I still want to see Apple 2000 maintained and improved in the future. If I am unable to do it, I'll make sure somebody else can. I'm planning on "passing the torch" and giving my source code to a few competant programmers who can continue to do good with it, and perhaps utilize the 6502 engine in other emulators. You've been talking for a long time about leaving the Amiga. Why? What are you going to do next? Is Apple 2000 the last thing you'll do on the Amiga? I never talked about "leaving the amiga", but more about the "amiga leaving us". I could see the Commodore was going nowhere with the Amiga, and as we all know the worst has happened. The future of the amiga is still uncertain, but looking dimmer everyday. I personally don't expect the amiga line will be revived- because no large company will spend millions to bail out an old machine when new generation machines are coming on the market (its senseless). Any interested company could spend a fourth of that amount to develop a brand new machine anyways (AAA is probably the only thing anybody is interested in). But in the off chance that the next generation amiga's ever see the light of day, I'll keep my eye on it. If not, though, one has to know when it's time to move on and move forward. I still know people who swear by and use their Apple's and Atari's exclusively. And they complain how there is no support, no software, etc. Even if you don't move forward, technology still does. I'm keeping my eye on the PowerPC machines that should be rolling out soon. No- Not the Apple version. I want a computer, not just a Macintosh! I think the perfect system would be a PowerPC with the AAA chipset. Then I'd have the stability of a mainstream machine, plus all the great things that made the amiga so wonderful. Of course, who knows if the PowerPC will succeed om the marketplace anyways. But yeah, I expect Apple 2000 will be the first and last serious thing I do on the amiga. At least I've been able to leave my mark and contribute something. But I got to move on from writing free emulators to earning a living. It was bound to happen sooner or later... ;-) What was the motivation that kept Apple 2000 alive, amidst all of the hard work and controversy? Witnessing and realizing the progress of my work was very rewarding. It's "my baby" that I've nurtured along for sooo long, pouring many late night sessions into. As I continually refined my emulator and it's routines, and added more and more features, I watched this program rise from the murky pool of useless emulators, to become one of the best Apple II emulators available on any platform. It went from something I just showed to my friends to something that I felt would be beneficial to the entire amiga community. The overwhelming public response has continued to motivate me to maintain it. What's this about landing a "dream job"? Well, after releasing Apple2000, I got contacted regarding several job opportunities. The one that interested me most though was for a large game software house. I was contacted by one of their Senior Programmers, who, like myself, wrote a 6502 emulator and was a FireFighter too. Impressed by what he saw, he extended an invitation and got the ball rolling within the company to hire me. When I was flown out, I was very impressed by what I saw- The work, the environment, the other people who work there. It really is my "dream job". I accepted the position they offered me and I begin work mid-august. Good things do happen to good people. :-) Who is your programming role-model? Jeff Minter, the man behind LlamaTron! It's one of the best games that exist (and its shareware!). It has everything that an arcade game should: Noise, Color, movement, speed, playability, challenge, etc. And it's great to see such talent move up in the world (with his recent version of "Tempest 2000" for the Atari Jaguar). Actually, everything that Minter has written has been extremely good, and I intend to follow in his footsteps. @endnode @node P1-8 "The A64 Package V3.0" @toc "menu" %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% %% Emulation Rambler by @{" Jason Compton " link P8-2} %% %% The A64 Package V3.0 jcompton@bbs.xnet.com %% %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% By now, you're probably wondering what I was getting at last week about speeding up the A64's emulation. It's really the feature that makes the A64 stand apart and scores big points for it. Save Map -------- This is how it all begins: the Save Map feature, which allows you to do just that: dump off the emulation's memory map for the program being run. This essentially is a "freeze" file, just like cartridges like the Action Replay and Final Cartridge III sported for the 64, except that the map files can only be loaded by A64 in the "load map" menu. However, there is something else you can do with a map: convert it! Converting ---------- The problem with most emulators is that the program has to spend a certain amount of time converting code from one processor to another, before it can even think about doing anything with the instruction being emulated. This slows things down. So, what happens when you convert the code to the code of the machine you're emulating on? You speed it up. A lot. That's what Convert does. A lot. It starts with the map file. You use the Convert program to analyze it. Convert will break down the file into 16 blocks of 4k apiece and look at it to decide if it's made of enough code to make converting it worthwhile. It tags them and then the fun begins. First, you can remove any loops the program can find that are just there to waste time. Sometimes this speeds up programs, sometimes it does nothing noticable, and other times it can cause problems. But you're prompted at each one. Then Convert works its magic and generates a code file. This file will be several times larger than the 64 program, but hey, this is fun, right? Now load the code file with the "Load Code" option. Usually, one of two things will be apparent. 1. The program will be much, much faster. 2. The program just won't work. I've seen both happen with a bunch of different programs. It's a per-case situation. One program in particular that this works on is GEOS...good thing, too, because of the 68000 requirement to use it (GEOS). It's not a simple process, but is well-documented. Other Goodies ------------- A64 comes with a monitor that can be entered at any time (even during emulation, although it of course freezes the program being run). It's not the best monitor in the world, but it's not bad. Graphics displays are a very configurable area. If a program is not showing up correctly, A64 can attempt to show it to you in various ways, updating the screen directly or at intervals, with adjustable delays and methods of interpreting raster interrupts. This means that, with patience, a lot of programs can look picture-perfect. You'd still better keep a real 64 around for demos, though. A64 can emulate a RAM Expansion unit. This isn't highly useful for most programs, but GEOS eats it up and runs much faster because of it. Hopefully, the REU usage would counteract the 68000 slowness on a 68000-GEOS machine... A64 has been criticized for not supporting .t64 and .d64 image formats. When I mentioned this to Cliff Dugan, he said he wasn't familiar with the formats. Sound! ------ Hey, I almost forgot! The emulation of the SID chip on A64 is amazing! It's not perfect, but it's often very close (and is yet another highly configurable option). Compared to V2.0, where sound was iffy at best, this is a welcome change. I'd play SID tunes proudly on it. More A64? --------- Dugan told me that A64 would probably see one more commercial version. My hope is that it will be the one that supports demo-quality graphics. Everything else will probably fall into place from there. Analysis -------- If you liked A64 V2.0, you'll LOVE V3.0. If you didn't like 2.0, you'll still like 3.0. The program is a very good C-64 emulator. However, it's not nearly a 100% solution to running 64 software. If the access to 64 software is worth your time and money, so is this program. That should do it. Actually, it's very possible I'll remember to talk about something in future issues, or finally run GEOS and comment on the results. Until then, of course, keep the emulators warm. Even if someone thinks that means you have a personal problem. @endnode @node P1-9 "Second Samurai Review" @toc "menu" %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% %% Second Half of a Second Samurai By: Katie Nelson %% %% From Psygnosis knelson@bbs.xnet.com %% %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% I know I said that the second half of the Second Samurai review would be out much sooner, but unfortunately, preparing for the next school year and such has interfered. Well, here it is, with no more excuses. Well, in the first half of the review, I commented on the okay sound to the less-than-okay graphics. I forgot to mention that there is an AGA version available, which I have not yet seen, so the graphics may very well be improved in that version. This second half of the review centers on the style of play of Second Samurai. Perhaps the greatest feature is the ability to switch between an array of weapon types -- the traditional samurai sword, bombs of various sorts, and daggers. Each has its own range, and therefore each is appropriate at different times. This lends at least a small element of strategy, which seems to be lacking in many (most) platformers. Unfortunately, the method to switch weapons involves the keyboard, and therefore may be distracting to those who have enough problems coordinating a joystick. I've found that the best solution is to sit back on the couch and control the keyboard by foot. :) I have noticed (through many many many deaths...) that this game is intended for those with better reflexes and greater landing precision than I. (Though I managed to muddle through it eventually... thank God for passwords!) Perhaps my greatest pet peeve would be the narrow collapsible floors, where if you stand on them for too long, you plummet to your death with no chance for redemption. It seems like even the SLIGHTEST pause causes you to fall to your doom, but it could be that I was just getting too tense. For those who like that nerve-wracking sort of thing or who are more talented than I am, it shouldn't be a problem, and will add to the enjoyment. The "bosses" (because every platform must have them) in this game could use a bit of improvement for a hypothetical Third Samurai. Their movements are very very very repetitive. Not only repetitive for each boss, but (almost) all of them seem to share the same general movements: "Bounce either the entire body or just the arms back and forth across the screen." After a while, it gets easy for even me to dodge being crushed. About the last boss... He's rather demented. Although he looks (and at first acts) surprisingly a lot like a large plant that you'll see earlier in the game, he is far far far more disgusting. This part of the game isn't something you'd want to show a psychiatrist. First off, in a Monty Python-esque vein, you end up removing the arms of the great beast, leaving squirts of blood emenating from his stumps for a short time. This is followed by fighting off the raw maggots he ate for lunch, and punching out some eyeballs. Not to say I didn't find it amusing, though. So who would like it? Fans of Shinobi. Those that must have every platform. And those who don't care too much about graphics (at least in the ECS version), who just want good gameplay. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ TIPS: Some of the most troublesome enemies shoot white and blue balls of lightning at you. Your own weapons don't seem to help, so you have to fight ... well ... lightning with lightning. The brown flying blowfish-looking things are filled with water, and seem to only be around where there's a fire in your way. Watch for the propeller-looking contraptions. Mechanical flight is better than none at all. @endnode @node P1-11 "The SX-1 CD32 expansion from Paravision" @toc "menu" %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% %% The SX-1 CD32 expansion from Paravision by @{" Jason Compton " link P8-2} %% %% jcompton@bbs.xnet.com %% %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% The SX-1 is, as established last week, an expansion box with a lot of options. One of these is the promise of turning the CD32 back into what it came from: an Amiga 1200. Let's see just how close it comes. Getting Started --------------- Well, let's see...that shimmering CD on the screen IS a welcome change from the old 2.x disk animation, and quite a departure from the 1.x Kickstart hand. Now, on the CD32, this screen implies that you're supposed to put a CD in. With the SX-1, we know better...we know we've got a real live Amiga to work with now. Ok, so now it's time to load Workbench. Whoops. There's a slight problem here. Neither Commodore nor Paravision include any sort of Workbench with the CD32 or SX-1, respectively. You could always use your disks from another machine, but if my licensing knowledge is up to par, you'd techincally be breaking the law. You could go out and buy the disks separately, but there's a much better alternative. Two, in fact. Lock 'n Load from NorthWest Public Domain and (so I'm told) CDPD III from Almathera both have bootable Workbench 3.0 on the disc. While it's not the fastest route in the world, it works and boots the machine... and from there, you can always copy the files to your SX-1's hard drive, if applicable. All right. Problem one down. Next! Getting Around -------------- Well, life isn't perfect...nobody bothered bundling a mouse with any of this, either. Get one. (Lock 'n Load has a program to allow minimal mouse emulation with a joystick or joypad, but for serious use you NEED a mouse, as the program doesn't support the right mouse button.) You've got an Amiga 1200 at your fingertips now, with a couple of differences. 1. You can't plug in anything PCMCIA or 1200-local-slot. Most people would say that the missing PCMCIA is no big loss, but developers are on the verge of coming out with 16-bit sound and Ethernet PCMCIA cards. There's also always the fabled Emplant PCMCIA, but it hasn't materialized. As for the local slot: well, you've got the single SIMM slot offered by those trapdoor expanders, but you don't have FPU or CPU upgrade capability. Major downside, but Paravision told me they couldn't get an 030 to work. 2. You have a built-in CD-ROM filesystem, but unfortunately your CD32 will reset if you lift the lid...unless you pick up a little gem called NoReset from the Weird Science CD-ROM (also available on the next Amiga Report Coverdisk). This will enable you to slap in whatever CD-ROM you'd like and access it from Workbench without screwing around with buying a filesystem or getting the PD/shareware offerings to work correctly. 3. You can theoretically display your work on 4 different screens without any sort of splitters (providing you have RGB, composite, RF and S-Video monitors all lying conveniently near the CD32) 4. You have a detached keyboard. (not to mention a detached floppy drive, if applicable). Ok, so it's not the most outstandingly elegant design in the world. But it works, and everything will think you've got a 1200 under the hood. RAM Effects ----------- The Fast RAM option is a great one. It speeds up the CD32 by the same amount a 1200 is accelerated (approx. 2.2 times a stock 1200), as you would expect. This is great for Workbench operation. However, despite the fact that this is 1994, some games for the CD32 will NOT work with Fast RAM. Among these are Pirates Gold and Chaos Engine. Some games will show a significant speed-up. Microcosm, Liberation, and Gunship 2000 fall here. Others are virtually, if not totally, unaffected. Pinball Fantasies and Total Carnage are a couple. There ARE ways around the Fast RAM...you can re-familiarize yourself with Degrader and use it. The only other alternative is to alter the memory jumper inside the CD32 (#3). Mike Pinson tells me that as long as you don't SOLDER it on, a switch is fine to install without voiding the warranty. (I've just been changing the jumper as I need to). Hard Drive and Power -------------------- Actually, consider this a review within a review. Micro R+D, until they get their specially-made CD32 power supplies, are altering 200 watt internal supplies to work with the CD32. 200 watts is MORE than enough to handle ANYTHING you could throw at the CD32. At the same time, the power supply has some brightly colored power connectors hanging off of it: two floppy, two of the hard drive variety. This is almost enough to make me say that this power supply is a more viable solution than the upcoming special 50W one, which presumably will not have these connectors. Considering how expensive 2.5 inch drives are (Paravision is asking $120 for the 40 meg drive they sent me on 30-day terms), and considering how expensive external hard drive cases are (close to $100 in most cases), a power supply with a hard drive connector like this would mean that someone using an external IDE or a SCSI+ needs only to have some sort of box to mount their hard drive in, and nothing more. Sounds like a project that can be completed in 2 hours with standard household items (provided you securely mount the drive, of course) to me. I've mentioned this to the Micro R+D staff, as the 50W supply will likely not have any drive connectors at all. The drive more than sufficiently powers a 2.5 inch HD, which works fine with the CD32. It's worth noting that it's a big project to get the drive installed in the SX-1's case, as a LOT of screws need to be removed and the SX-1 board needs to come out of the housing. Such is life. Final comments -------------- The SX-1 delivers what it said it would deliver back in April. I remember my initial excitement when I read the flyer that came with the CD32. It's really, for all practical purposes and barring a missing couple of slots, a 1200 with a CD-ROM. This opens a vast world and now I can finally view pictures in AGA (the Retina Z-III still would have been nice to keep, though.) Of course, the SX-1 is delivering what it said it would deliver months later and at increased cost, but there's not much that can be done. I strongly recommend this product as a viable, usable, and practical upgrade for the CD32. With my other hand, though, I charge developers to challenge the SX-1 with a lower-cost, FPU/CPU upgradable product. And I will sit back and enjoy the benefits to the customer. Paravision, Inc. (SX-1) Phone: 214-644-0043/800-588-0043 500 East Arapho, Suite 104 Fax: 214-644-7913 Richardson, TX 75081 USA Micro R+D (Power Supplies) Phone: 800-527-8797/308-745-1243 P.O. Box 130 721 'O' St. Loup City, NE 68853 USA NorthWest Public Domain (Lock 'n Load) Phone: 206-351-9502 P.O. Box 1617 Auburn, WA 98071-1617 USA Almathera (CDPD III) Listed in the AR Dealer Directory. @endnode @node P1-12 "Innocent Until Caught review" @toc "menu" %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% %% Innocent Until Caught review By: Jason Compton %% %% From Psygnosis jcompton@bbs.xnet.com %% %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% I told you I'd get back to reviewing this game, it just took an extra week. Now: On to playing it! If you get past IUC's control system, you'll want to walk around and interact with the various people and objects around you. The task of the game is clear: pay off the tax bill you owe, or die. So you need to raise some money. Almost immediately, if you talk to the right people, opportunities spring up and you find yourself smack in the middle of some puzzles to solve. The puzzles themselves are, in general, straightforward enough and often just require enough patience to try using EVERY object on the one you're trying to manipulate. It also helps to pay attention to what other characters tell you to do, and to the fact that Jack is an excellent thief. The action is interspersed from time to time with cut scenes or snide comments from Jack (upon passing a house of ill repute, he ALWAYS says something), which can break up the incessant running around. My personal favorite pastime is bothering the prostitute outside of the first bar in the game...the dialogue is hilarious. While all of this is going on, you'll be playing the game and noticing something...the music gets really old really quick, and in-game sound effects aren't exactly prolific. The graphics, for being an ECS game, aren't bad, but some rooms require you to pick up an object 4 square pixels in size that is only on the screen about 1/3 of the time. Not exactly easy by any stretch. I haven't finished IUC yet, but I'm going to try. It's definitely worth playing, as the plot is refreshing and so is the character interaction. The game rewards persistence by opening up borders more and more, which is a feature that should bring even frustrated adventurers (like myself) crawling back, wondering if the answer is in a room they missed somehow... For a good storyline and plot, Innocent Until Caught is a must-have. If you have a difficult time dealing with poor interfaces, though, you'll go out of your mind within an hour of playing. @endnode @node P1-13 "AR Wants YOU!" @toc "menu" %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% %% AR Wants YOU! %% %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% A lot of people say they'd write for Amiga Report, if only they had a topic. Well, here are some things we need: Detailed instructions for readers on how to go about UUDecoding (and how to obtain the UUDecoders). This information would appear in every issue. PD/Shareware software updates and information Terminal software information Humor! Reviews, reviews, reviews. If you've got it and like, love, dislike, or hate it, tell the other readers about it! Donations in the form of software or hardware or books or whatever you'd like, to be given away as prizes for contests. AR is the magazine it is because of readers who contribute. Help keep the trend going... @endnode @node P5-1 "Amiga E 3.0a" @toc "menu" TITLE Amiga E VERSION 3.0a (update to v2.1b). AUTHOR Wouter van Oortmerssen (Wouter@alf.let.uva.nl). DESCRIPTION E is a powerful and flexible object oriented / procedural / unpure functional higher programming language, mainly influenced by languages such as C++, Ada, Lisp etc., and Amiga E a very fast compiler for it, with features such as speed of >20000 lines/minute on a 7 Mhz amiga, inline assembler and linker integrated into compiler, large set of integrated functions, great module concept with v39 includes as modules, flexible type-system, quoted expressions, immediate and typed lists, low-level and object polymorphism, exception handling, inheritance, data-hiding, methods, multiple return values, default arguments, register allocation, fast memory management, unification, LISP-Cells, and much much more... HOST NAME Any Aminet mirror, for example ftp.luth.se (130.240.18.2). DIRECTORY /pub/aminet/dev/e FILE NAME amigae30a.lha (716777 bytes) DISTRIBUTABILITY This _distribution_ is Freeware. It contains only a limited compiler, a registered compiler is available separately. @endnode @node P5-2 "Trashmaster 1.7" @toc "menu" TITLE Trashmaster17.lha VERSION 1.7 AUTHOR Aric R Caley. Email: dances@qedbbs.com DESCRIPTION Workbench 2.x AppIcon to "drag-and-drop" delete files. Deletes any files and/or directories (and the files in them) who's icon(s) are dropped into the Trashmaster AppIcon. Files can be deleted interactively, with confirmation on each file (delete, all, abort, and skip). Disks will be formatted. Unlike other similar programs (the ones I have seen, anyway), Trashmaster keeps Workbench "in sync". "Fake" icons generated dynamically by Workbench (via the "Show >> All Files" menu option) will be removed from the display. Any open directory windows are closed when that directory is deleted. NEW FEATURES Localized strings. Swedish, Polish, German, Dutch and Norwegian and Italian catalogs. Documentation in English; other languages forthcoming (probably in a separate archive). In certain instances, icon flickering has been eliminated or reduced. Options can be specified from the command line in addition to the Tooltypes. It's a commodity now (no big deal though). Under 3.0 you can pop up the Workbench info requester to change the Tooltypes. SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS Requires 2.04 and above of Workbench. V2.1 required for localization. HOST NAME wuarchive.wustl.edu (128.252.135.4) (and all aminet mirrors) DIRECTORY aminet/os20/wb FILE NAMES Trashmaster17.lha Trashmaster17.readme PRICE Shareware ($10), or other physical or monetary donations. DISTRIBUTABILITY Freely distributable but Copyright (c) 1994 by Aric R Caley. Donations welcome, however. @endnode @node P5-3 "Duniho and Duniho 3.40" @toc "menu" TITLE The Duniho and Duniho Life Pattern Indicator VERSION 3.40 AUTHOR Fergus Duniho E-mail: fdnh@troi.cc.rochester.edu DESCRIPTION The DDLI is a personality indicator measures for four different sets of preferences that result in a total of sixteen different psychological types. These four sets of preferences are How we orient our lives: Extraversion vs. Introversion How we prefer to gather information: Sensing vs. iNtuition How we prefer to make decisions: Thinking vs. Feeling Which sort of lifestyle we prefer: Judging vs. Perceiving These 16 types correspond to the psychological types that Carl Jung described in _Psychological Types_. They also corresond to the 16 Myers-Briggs types measured by the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. The DDLI asks you a series of multiple choice questions and calculates its results from your answers. It asks you to rank each of your answers on a scale from 1 to 7. It also asks you questions on other sets of preferences that are supposed to match various combinations of the above four sets. This is so it provides a check on itself, as it can be fallible. The DDLI comes with extensive support material. Included are full length descriptions of each one of the 16 types, the "Personality Type Summary" by Jon Noring, and my own description of the Life Pattern personality model. NEW FEATURES Using the data I have collected from people, I have changed (and hopefully improved) the questions. I think the DDLI will be somewhat more reliable now. When you quit the DDLI with option 6, it will give you the opportunity to save your answers before you quit. Added to the text that the DDLI displays. The DDLI now writes extra text to the raw scores file, and it can read raw scores files with extra text at the beginning. The DDLI now has you indicate your type by selecting a number instead of by writing it in. The raw scores file takes up fewer lines, so that it is easier to send across the Fidonet. SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS None HOST NAME The Aminet: ftp.wustl.edu and mirrors. DIRECTORY /pub/aminet/misc/misc/ FILE NAME ddli340.lha PRICE Free DISTRIBUTABILITY Freeware. Copyright 1994 Fergus Duniho. FIDONET AVAILABILITY FileWorks BBS Node 1 (716) 377-0719 Node 2 (716) 377-3695 Fidonet 1:2613/278 @endnode @node P5-4 "FGP2 2.02a" @toc "menu" TITLE FGP2 VERSION 2.02a AUTHOR Simon Austin (austins@sol2.uel.ac.uk) DESCRIPTION At the start of this Formula One season Autosport magazine started running a Fantasy Grand Prix competition. FGP2 is a program which allows you to avoid at the tedious working out how many places your driver gained on his grid position and just how many points did Rubens Barrichello score by coming third. FGP2 has a simple command line and takes most of its input in the form of human-readable ascii files which can be created on any text editor. FGP2 comes with all the current driver/team data files required and can handle up to 50 different teams. Example files are also included for the files you have to create yourself. UPDATE As of the German Grand Prix, Autosport introduced Fantasy Grand Prix II. This involved a small change to the scoring for chassis and engines. Release 2.02a of FGP uses these updated rules and the new drivers/teams as detailed in Autosport. SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS None. HOST NAME Any aminet site e.g. ftp.luth.se (130.240.16.3) DIRECTORY /pub/aminet/game/misc FILE NAMES fgp202a.lha 19474 bytes fgp202a.readme 1819 bytes PRICE free, gratis, nada, nuthin', nowt. DISTRIBUTABILITY Freely distributable. Program Copyright 1994 Simon Austin. @endnode @node P5-5 "CatMake V1.18" @toc "menu" TITLE CatMake V1.18 AUTHOR Rodja Adolph (ronnie@aworld.aworld.de) Snail Mail until August '94 : Rodja Adolph Goethestr. 7 40699 Erkrath / Germany P.O. box until AND after August '94 : Rodja Adolph-Wunderlich Postfach 105536 40046 Duesseldorf / Germany Phone/Voice(/FAX/Data) : +49-210-4449859 ONLY until 1st of August DESCRIPTION The "other" way to catalogize your picture-libraries by creating new images containing smaller representations (thumbnails) of a number of source images e.g. for use in BBS's or for raytracer's texture-libs.An ARexx script without fancy GUI,but with features that will allow you to fit all your needs.Very flexible and configurable if you really want it to.If not,then CatMake will suit you as well as it has meaningful default settings. For the advanced user CatMake allows you to write and incoporate personal ARexx-Scripts and to control almost anything of what it can do. Prefs are stored in an editable ASCII-File with lots of settings that can only be edited there (as you wont really want to set them up every time you use CatMake...Give it a try ;-) NEW FEATURES Many new features compared to V1.0 ! So many that it isnt possible to mention them here without writing a new docfile. Highlights include : - "Hooks" to implement external ARexx-Code at various execution points - optional headerstrings to entitle your catalogs - optional "ProccedOnError" will replace corrupt images with a special text-thumbnail showing a string (e.g. "Corrupted!") and leaving the filename to check the error after catalogizing - size and picturedepth may now be rendered under the filename (useful for catalogs with small thumbnails / long filenames) - custom order in addition to alphabetical sorting - Possibilty to call CatMake with argument line and thus running CatMake without ANY requester (except error-requesters) which allows you to fully automate catalogizing e.g. the bulletins of your Picture-BBS after any upload or so... - Wildcarding for in/excluding groups of files...Like *.info files from CD-ROMs... - (semi/full) Automatical recognition of LhAed and PowerPacked files with autodecrunching (LhA = first file) SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS - AmigaDOS 2.0+ - Art Department Professional 2.2+ (better : 2.30 or later) - ARexx HOST Aminet FTP sites (ftp.wustl.edu, ftp.luth.se, etc) DIRECTORY pub/aminet/gfx/misc FILENAME CatMake118.lha PRICE ShareWare, $10 reg. fee. (5$ cheaper than 'the other one' ;-) DISTRIBUTION Freely redistributable as long as archive is intact. All rights reserved. Not to be re-sold, except for duplication/disk costs ($4 max), or with written permission by the author. @endnode @node P5-6 "MultiVol Mirror V1.0" @toc "menu" TITLE MultiVol Mirror VERSION 1.0 DESCRIPTION MultiVol(TM) Mirror makes a copy of or "mirrors" a file to one or more volumes as the file is being written the master volume. Any "file" that can be opened for writing can be mirrored, including the console/shell (input is also mirrored). Normally, you would map one master volume (e.g., a disk) to one mirror volume (or directory on the same volume). The full path to a real file is constructed on the mirrored volume(s), as well as file comments and protection. All you need to do is set up the mapping of master volume to mirror volume -- you can use MVM's drag and drop graphical user interface to do this -- and use MVM: before the name of the file to mirror (or in a file requester). It's that easy. Using MultiVol Mirror (MVM), you can: * partially recover from accidentally overwriting a file (getting back an earlier version) * completely recover from deleting a master file and disk failures, to the extent MVM was used * automatically backup any file every time the file is written * transparently record shell or console input and output * safely use RAM as a fast disk With RAM specified as the master volume and your hard drive or diskette as the mirrored volume, you can edit a file in RAM, benefitting from fast loads of the file. When you save it, it is placed both in RAM and on the hard drive/diskette automatically. * view the contents of any file as it is being written * map more than one master volume to more than one mirror volume SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS * AmigaDOS/Kickstart(TM) 2.04 or higher PRICE MultiVol Mirror 1.0 and online hypertext documentation: $45. INTRODUCTORY OFFER (until Nov. 1, 1994): $30. All prices are in U.S. currency. Shipping/handling is $3.00 in the U.S., $5.00 elsewhere. WA state residents add 8.2% sales tax. Terms are checks or money orders drawn on a U.S. bank and made out to AugmenTek. Sorry, no credit cards. COMPANY AugmenTek 3606 S. 180th St. C-22 SeaTac, WA 98188-4339 USA Contact: Stephen Rondeau Phone: 206-246-6077 email: augmentek@acm.org DISTRIBUTABILITY This is a commercial product, and is not re-distributable. TRADEMARKS MultiVol is a trademark of AugmenTek. @endnode @node P5-7 "Physics Laboratory in Mechanics" @toc "menu" TITLE Physics Laboratory in Mechanics VERSION 94-07-01 (Version number is the date of the release) COMPANY Opportunity With Learning (O.W.L. Software) 460 Summer Avenue Reading, MA 01867-3819 E-mail: owl@davinci.reading.ma.us Phone: 617-944-1745 BBS: 617-942-7216 AUTHOR Lori Vinciguerra (President) e-mail: owl@davinci.reading.ma.us DESCRIPTION Physics Laboratory in Mechanics is a multimedia program which uses an experimental approach to teach high school level mechanics. Seven topic areas cover the concepts of Kinematics, Newtonian Dynamics, Statics, Universal Gravitation, Work & Energy, Impulse & Momentum, and Rotational Motion. Each topic area has beginner, intermediate, and advanced level experiments for a total of 21 different experiments. A laboratory notebook describes each experiment and allows the user to simulate the experiment with the computer. The experiment can also be performed by using everyday objects found around the home. Physics Laboratory in Mechanics allows multiple users to retain data in computerized notebooks. It also includes history segments explaining how the physical concepts were discovered, a math reference section, a units reference section, and a program to allow you to convert units to the MKS system of measurement. A hall of fame with pictures of notable scientists will include an entry for the user upon completion of the entire set of experiments. SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS Requires AmigaDOS 2.0 or greater, 2 MB of RAM, and a hard disk drive with approximately 4 MB of free space. PRICE $59.95 U.S. (Add $3.50 for shipping within the U.S.) Can be ordered directly from Opportunity With Learning at the above address. DISTRIBUTABILITY Copyright, Opportunity With Learning, 1992-1994 @endnode @node P5-8 "Australian Amiga Shareware Center" AUSTRALIAN AMIGA SHAREWARE CENTER Sydney, Australia. Continental Drift BBS in Sydney, Australia would like to announce the establishment of the Australian Amiga Shareware Centre. The Centre has been set up to allow shareware users the ease of registration in their local currency, AND to promote the use, continued development and encouragement to register shareware products. We have negotiated with the following authors to act as local sites for their programs: Stefan Stuntz (MagicalUserInterface), stuntz@informatik.tu-muenchen.de Pauli Paporkka (D.A.S. ModPlayer), paporkka@freenet.hut.fi Martin Huttenloher (MagicWB), xen@magic.in-ulm.de Chad Randall (Iconian), crandall@garnet.msen.com Mike Nelson (HyperANSI, RIPGraf), m.nelson34@genie.geis.com Morten Eriksen (PicCon), mortene@stud.unit.no Boris Jakubaschk (MTool II), boris@alice.tynet.sub.org Felix Jeske (BackUP, Solit), fjeske@bbs.xnet.com Dan Wong (Visual Arts), danwong@foul.cuug.ab.ca Klaas Hermanns (File-X), dalton@cocuni.GUN.de **Feel free to email the authors direct to confirm our 'Site' status** As Registration Sites for the above programs, we are able to accept registrations and distribute 'registered' versions, just as if you had mailed the author directly BUT this is faster, cheaper, and easier (you don't have to do any currency exchange for one). We pass on your registration fees to the authors in bulk, thus saving on bank fees and mail charges. ARE YOU AN AUTHOR? We are constantly on the look-out for further programs to offer. If you are the author of a shareware program, that you would like Australian distribution and registration for, then let us know! HOW TO CONTACT US UUCP: swreg@drift.apana.org.au FIDO: 3:714/911 Mail: Continental Drift BBS I want more info! PO BOX 259 Newport NSW 2106 Australia BBS-PHONE: +612-949-4256 @endnode @node P5-9 "AGWriter V1.02" @toc "menu" TITLE AmigaGuide Writer (AGWriter, AGW .... :-) VERSION 1.02 AUTHOR David McPaul dlmcpaul@capcon.apana.org.au D.L McPaul C/- P.O Box 2830 Canberra City ACT Australia 2601 DESCRIPTION This program is capable of taking text files produced using any text editor and with very little effort produce an AmigaGuide File. AGW has the following features : » Allows Creation of AmigaGuide Files simply and easily » Reads/Writes AmigaGuide files » Converts AmigaGuide files to Text » Simple GUI interface » Create/Delete/Modify LINK/ALINK/RX/RXS/SYSTEM commands » Modify Node information » Modify File information NEW FEATURES The following are modifications that have been made for V1.02 New : Added TITLE command Added NEXT command Added PREV command Allow setting of TOC/NEXT/PREV via Node Requester Added T/N/P buttons in main screen for checking TOC/NEXT/PREV Node Name changes are propagated to TOC/NEXT/PREV/Links to that Node Can now set Wordwrap and Line Offsets If file modified now queries exit More documentation written FilePaths are now remembered. Sped up load routine (a lot :-) SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS OS Version 2.0 or above HOST NAME AmiNet wuarchive.wustl.edu DIRECTORY /pub/aminet/Text/Hyper FILENAMES AGWriter102.lha AGWriter102.readme PRICE Shareware fee of $A15.00 DISTRIBUTABILITY AGWriter is ShareWare. Please distribute non registered versions only @endnode @node P5-10 "DVI & DVILW" @toc "menu" TITLE DVI & DVILW RELEASE 3.63 AUTHORS Ingo Eichenseher - Ieichens@Appl-Math.TU-Muenchen.DE Gerhard Wilhelms - Wilhelms@Uni-Augsburg.DE Markus Zahn - Zahn@Uni-Augsburg.DE SHORT Previewer / Printer Driver / PostScript Driver for TeX DESCRIPTION DVI is a TeX previewer with integrated printer drivers. Supported printers are HP PCL compatible printers ( HP Laser- / Deskjets etc. ), NEC P6 compatible printers ( NEC P6, EPSON LQ, etc. ) FX-80 compatible printers ( Epson FX-80, Star LC-10, etc. ) and Canon BJ-300 compatible printers. DVILW is a PostScript converter for dvi files. Both programs support o virtual fonts o 2D und 3D graphics based on \special commands. The driver sourcecodes are included. There are existing implementations for Amiga computers, Atari ST computers, Apollo workstations, workstations with X11/Motif and IBM PC compatibles. NEW FEATURES o ScreenMode requester. o Some bugs fixed. o Keyboard interaction while running CallMF (in case of errors). SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS AmigaOS Release 2.04 (V37+) or higher. Best: 2MB Memory or more, ECS Agnus. ARexx for automatic font generation, C= Installer for automatic installation and AmigaGuide to read the online documentation. HOST NAME wuarchive.wustl.edu (128.252.135.4) [AmiNet] ftp.rz.Uni-Augsburg.DE (137.250.113.20) [Uni Augsburg] ftp.dante.de (129.206.100.192) [Dante] DIRECTORY /pub/aminet/text/tex [AmiNet] /pub/amiga/tex/uniaug_driver [Uni Augsburg] /pub/tex/dviware/dvi-augsburg/amiga [Dante] FILENAME dvi363.lha PRICE Your fee is to report all occuring errors to the authors! DISTRIBUTABILITY (C) Ingo Eichenseher, Gerhard Wilhelms, Markus Zahn DVI & DVILW must not be included in a commercial public domain distribution without the written permission of the authors. @endnode @node P5-11 "Fleet v1.0" @toc "menu" TITLE Fleet VERSION 1.0 AUTHORS John S. Wells Doug Stastny DESCRIPTION Fleet is a tactical starship combat strategy (war) game played on a hex map with excellent graphics and sound. Game play revolves around manuvere and resource allocation. Fleet supports: - Multiple weapons types including seeking energy weapons, direct fire weapons and missiles, all with different effects. - Ship classes ranging from escorts to battleships. - Firing arcs - Terrain - Sheilds / Armor - Scenarios with victory conditions - Campaigns - Scenario and Ship Construction utilities REQUIRMENTS No special requirements. Fleet runs on all Amigas with at least 1 meg of ram. Amiga DOS version 2.0 or higher required. HOST All AMINET mirrors i.e. ftp.wustl.edu or on GEnie DIRECTORY On AMINET: game/think On GEnie: Starship Amiga RT software libraries Page 555;3 FILENAME FLEETV1.LHA PRICE $10 U.S. for the registered shareware release. DISTRIBUTION The public domain verison available on AMINET/GEnie is freely distributable. For $10 U.S. you will recieve the ship construction and scenario generation utilities. @endnode @node P5-12 "Meeting Pearls 1" @toc "menu" TITLE Meeting Pearls Vol. I AUTHOR Angela Schmidt Klosterweg 28/I501 76131 Karlsruhe Germany Angela@rz.uni-karlsruhe.de and many others DESCRIPTION Meeting Pearls Vol I is a new CD for the Amiga, which is available at a price of 19.80 DM (about $13 US). Below follows a small list of some of the CD's contents: - About 150 Fractals with about 256 colors each in very high resolution - Many Pictures of our German Amiga Meeting, with some texts about each picture, describing which persons you can see. - NetBSD for the Amiga, in archived form, but with a lots of very useful installation descriptions. - PasTeX, completely installed, additionally with fonts for Fax and 600 dpi printers. - Amok disks 98 to 106 - Many, many installed programs, ready to click and run! - More than 40 MB of files from various CDs - DaggeX - ready to run - About 6 MB HTML pages - Many games, animations, sounds, ... The CD has an installation script which allows you to choose your favourite ASCII reader and your favorite universal picture viewer. People with graphics boards can of course enter the viewer for their graphics card and view the pictures in high resolution in the many colors available to them. Some CDROM filesystems (at least the Commodore CDFileSystem) have problems if you choose a reader or viewer program which is contained on the CD. In such a case, you can choose any reader or viewer program from your harddisk and everything should work fine. The installation script also allows you to copy some directories from CD to your harddisk. Since the plain ISO filesystem cannot save Amiga protection flags or Amiga comments you can copy any directory with our installer script from CD to your harddisk. The included script will recover those flags and comments after it successfully copied the specified directory tree. Of course, this will slow down the copy process, but having original Amiga protection flags on your harddisk should be worth it. i.e. All those pure flags and script flags can be recovered. This is probably the first Amiga CD with such a mechanism. SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS Meeting Pearls Vol. I runs on any Amiga with a working CDROM drive, but if you still have Kickstart 1.2 or Kickstart 1.3, you will have some problems and a lot of programs contained on the CD won't run on your system. We did our best trying to maintain compatibility but we do recommend at least OS 2.04 or greater. We also recommend additional ram if you wish to view all those nice pictures on the CD. But many other things will still work with 512 KB or so. A graphics board also is very useful, but not required. PRICE Suggested retrail price: 19.80 DM (about US $ 13) Shipping outside Germany costs from 15 to 30 DM at GTI and from 8 to 25 DM at Stefan Ossowski Shipping inside Germany costs from 6 to 10 DM at GTI and from 4 to 8 DM at Stefan Ossowski AVAILABLITY Shipping already started! Available at: GTI GmbH Zimmerm|hlenweg 73 D-61440 Oberursel Germany phone +49 6171 85934 +49 6171 85935 fax +49 6171 8302 phone for dealers only: +49 6171 85937 accepted cards: American Express, Diners Club, Euro Card, Visa, MasterCard Stefan Ossowski's Schatztruhe Gesellschaft f|r Software mbH Veronikastra_e 33 D-44131 Essen Germany phone +49 201 788778 fax +49 201 798447 DISTRIBUTABILITY You may make as many copies for private use and may also give them to your friends. But you must not reproduce the CD and then sell it without the written licence of the author. OTHER The CDs low price was made possible by the creaters of this CD (me and some other people who are crazy enough to spend a lot of time and effort to make a cheap Amiga CD) who worked for free and did not request any money for the creation of this CD. If you buy such a CD, you only pay the people who mastered the CD as well as the dealers. You neither pay the authors of the programs nor the creators of this CD. Thus we, the creators of this CD, ask for a small donation from everybody who likes the compilation of the CD. Nobody is forced to give any extra money. Meeting Pearls Vol. I is the first CD under the new concept of the sharecompilation. If you want to get more information about this concept, you may get an information text from walhalla.ira.uka.de (129.13.59.52), file /sharecompilation/info.txt, which tells you more about the sharecompilation concept. @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. 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. 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: 408-973-9111 (voice) 9a.m.-5p.m. Mon-Fri, Pacific Time 408-725-0561 (modem 3/12/2400) 24 hours every day 408-973-8091 (modem 9600/14400) 24 hours every day or enter "C PORTAL" from any Sprintnet dial-in in the USA, or telnet to "portal.com" from anywhere. 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 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. 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 P3 "Dealer Directory" @toc "menu" %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% %% Dealer Directory %% %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% Almathera Systems Ltd Southerton House Boundary Business Court 92-94 Church Road Mitcham, Surrey CR4 3TD England VOICE: (UK) 081 687 0040 FAX: (UK) 081 687 0490 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 Internet: B.GRAY@genie.geis.com Atlantis Kobetek Inc. 1496 Lower Water St. Halifax, NS, Canada, B3J 1R9 Phone: (902)-422-6556 Fax: (902)-423-9339 BBS: (902)-492-1544 Internet: aperusse@fox.nstn.ns.ca Brian Fowler Computers Ltd 11 North St Exeter Devon EX4 3QS United Kingdom Voice: (0392) 499 755 Fax: (0392) 423 480 Internet: brian_fowler@cix.compulink.co.uk CLICK! Amiga Specialists N.V. 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 Comspec Communications Inc Serving your computing needs since 1976 74 Wingold Ave Toronto, Ontario Canada M6B 1P5 Computer Centre: (416) 785-8348 Service, Corporate & Educational Sales: (416) 785-3553 Fax: 416-785-3668 Internet: bryanf@comcorp.comspec.com bryanf@accesspt.north.net Computers International, Inc. 5415 Hixson Pike Chattanooga, TN 37343 VOICE: 615-843-0630 DataKompaniet ANS Pb 3187 Munkvoll N-7002 Trondheim Norway - Europe VOICE/FAX: 72 555 149 Internet: torrunes@idt.unit.no 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 Industrial Video, Inc. 1601 North Ridge Rd. Lorain, OH 44055 VOICE: 800-362-6150 216-233-4000 Internet: af741@cleveland.freenet.edu Contact: John Gray 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: 519-645-2144 FIDO: 1:2401/200 AmigaNet: 40:550/1 MaxNet: 90:204/1 InterNet: 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 Wonder Computers Inc. 1315 Richmond Rd. Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K2B 8J7 Voice: 613-596-2542 Fax: 613-596-9349 BBS: 613-829-0909 CYNOSTIC Office O1, Little Heath Industrial Estate, Old Church Road, Coventry. CV6 7NB UNITED KINGDOM Tel: +44 (0)203 681687 Fax: +44 (0)203 638508 David Cassidy email: bsupa@csv.warwick.ac.uk DataService Oy P.O. Box 50 Kuurinniityntie 30 02771 ESPOO Findland, Europe Voice: +358 (9) 400 438 301 Fax: +358 (9) 0505 0037 PROTONIC INC. Amiga RuleZ! 4-3-11 Shinbashi Yanagi Bldg 4F Minato-ku,Tokyo 105 Japan Tel:+81 (0)3 5402-7425 Fax:+81 (0)3 5402-7427 and of course the BEST Amiga BBS in Japan BBS:Grey Matter BBS +81 (0)3 5709-1907 (8N1 V32bis 24H ) Email: nighty@gmatter.twics.com Amiga Video Solutions 1568 Randolph Avenue St. Paul, MN 55105 Voice: 612-698-1175 BBS: 612-698-1918 Fax: 612-224-3823 Net: wohno001@maroon.tc.umn.edu Magic Page 3043 Luther Street Winston-Salem, NC 27127 910-785-3695 voice/fax Spiff@cup.portal.com Keizer Tech 3881 River Rd N Keizer, OR 97303 USA Voice: 393-5472 Computer Link Your Amiga/PC connection. 6573 middlebelt Garden City MI 48135 USA 313-522-6005 Voice 313-522-3119 Fax clink@m-net.arbornet.org (Dealers: To have your name added, please send Email!) @endnode @node P4-6 "X-NET" @toc "menu" %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% %% X-Net Information Systems %% %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% --==> Public Internet Connectivity Today <==-- - LIVE Internet - Over 6,000 Newsgroups - Telnet/FTP - Worldwide E-Mail - Gopher/Archie - Internet Relay Chat (IRC) - SLIP/PPP - NCSA Mosaic A system dedicated to the Amiga, IBM and Unix user. System Admins ------------- Naperville : (708) 983-6435 V.32bis Brian Vargyas NEW Hoffman Estates : (708) 882-1101 V.32bis Brian Clark Voice / Fax : (708) 983-6064 Arthur Zards Internet : net.xnet.com @endnode @node P2-3 "In Closing" @toc "menu" %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% %% _ _ __ ___ _ %% %% /\\ |\\ /| || // \ /\\ %% %% / \\ | \\ /|| ||(< __ / \\ %% %% /--- \\| \/ || || \\_||/--- \\ %% %% /______________________________\\ %% %% / \\ %% %% Amiga Report International Online Magazine %% %% August 10, 1994 ~ Issue No. 2.24 %% %% Copyright 1994 SkyNet Publications %% %% All Rights Reserved %% %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% Views, Opinions and Articles presented herein are not necessarily those of the editors and staff of Amiga Report International Online Magazine or of 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. All items quoted in whole or in part are done so under the Fair Use Provision of the Copy- right Laws of the United States Penal Code. Any Electronic Mail sent to the editors may be reprinted, in whole or in part, without any previous permission of the author, unless said electronic mail specifically requests not to be reprinted. %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% @endnode @node P1 "Columns and Features" @toc "menu" @{" From the Editor's Desk " link P1-1} Saying it like it is! @{" Amiga News " link P1-2} News and Announcements @{" A Letter from C= UK " link P1-14} Pleasance updates the masses @{" Reader Mail " link P1-3} The lines buzz hotly...at us! @{" compt.sys.amiga " link P1-4} Compton comes back from vacation @{" Across the Pond... " link P1-5} Michael Wolf reviews JPEG Motion boards @{" About the Internet " link P1-19} Tiberio explains quite a bit @{"Interview: Mr. Liliegren" link P1-6} Frederik Liliegren of Digital Illusions @{" Interview: Mr. Kralian " link P1-7} Kevin Kralian, author of Apple 2000 @{" Emulation Rambler " link P1-8} A64 Package V3.0, part 2 @{" EGS Spectrum 6.2 " link P1-15} Tiberio checks out a 24-bitter @{" graphicRECALL " link P1-16} A review of a multimedia package @{" PhonePak " link P1-17} A voicemail/FAX setup for the Amiga @{" Second Samurai " link P1-9} Second Samurai review, part 2 @{" Sidewinder " link P1-20} A look at Sidewinder's musical works @{" AR Contest " link P1-10} Can't win if you don't play. @{" AR Contest Solution " link P1-18} The solution to last month's puzzler @{" SX-1 Review " link P1-11} The CD32 expansion from Paravision @{" Innocent Until Caught " link P1-12} IUC Review, part 2 @{" AR Wants You! " link P1-13} Suggestions for budding writers... @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 @{" In Closing " link P2-3} Copyright Information @endnode @node P2-2 "The Editors" Feel free to contact any of the editors! @{" Robert Niles " link P8-1} The Editor-in-chief @{" Jason Compton " link P8-2} The Assistant Editor @{" David Tiberio " link P8-4} Contributing Editor @endnode @node P4 "Commercial Online Services" @toc "menu" @{" Delphi " link P4-1} Getting better all the time! @{" Portal " link P4-2} A great place for Amiga users... @{" InterNet " link P4-5} Subscribe to the AR Mailing List @{" X-NET " link P4-6} An Internet site for everyone! @endnode @node P5 "Files Available for FTP" @toc "menu" @{" Amiga E 3.0a " link P5-1} E programming language @{" Trashmaster 1.7 " link P5-2} WB deletion utility @{" DDLI 3.40 " link P5-3} Duniho and Duniho Life Pattern 3.40 @{" FPG2 2.02a " link P5-4} Fantasy Grand Prix program @{" CatMake 1.18 " link P5-5} Picture cataloguing program @{" MultiVol Mirror 1.0 " link P5-6} Mirroring-copy utility @{" Physics Laboratory " link P5-7} HS Physics educational system @{" Australian Amiga SW Reg" link P5-8} Universal shareware registration @{" AGWriter 1.02 " link P5-9} AmigaGuide authoring utility @{" DVI & DVILW " link P5-10} TeX previewer/printer driver @{" Fleet 1.0 " link P5-11} Space strategic war game @{" Meeting Pearls 1 " link P5-12} A "sharecompilation" CD-ROM ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The most downloaded files from wustl.edu during the week until 24-Jul-94 Most popular file on top. File Dir Size Description ------------------- --- ---- ----------- term-4.0-030.lha comm/term 407K+Term 4.0 Distribution term-4.0-Extras.lha comm/term 200K+Term 4.0 Distribution term-4.0-Doc.lha comm/term 168K+Term 4.0 Distribution term-4.0-Libs.lha comm/term 129K+Term 4.0 Distribution term-4.0-Roadmap.txt comm/term 23K+Term 4.0 Distribution term-4.0-Main.lha comm/term 408K+Term 4.0 Distribution term-4.0-Locale.lha comm/term 37K+Term 4.0 Distribution MagicWB20d.lha biz/demo 263K+The definitive WB-Enhancer! term-4.0-PS.lha comm/term 204K+Term 4.0 Distribution term-4.0-DVI.lha comm/term 167K+Term 4.0 Distribution @endnode ----------------------------------------- @node P2-1-1 "NOVA" @toc "menu" * NOVA BBS * Official Amiga Report Distribution Site Support BBS of The Chattanooga Amiga Users Group * Running MEBBSNet BBS * Wayne Stonecipher, Sysop AmigaNet 40:210/10.0 40:210/1.0 40:210/0.0 FidoNet 1:362/508.0 An Amiga Software Distribution Site (ADS) 615-472-9748 USR DS 16.8 24hrs - 7 days Cleveland, Tennessee All AR back issues are kept online. All new users receive access to the AR on the first call. Any AR issue may be file requested with proper name. To obtain the current issue you may FReq Proper name, AR.LHA or simply AR @endnode ------------------------------------------ @node P2-1-2 "In The MeanTime" @toc "menu" *** System down temporarily -- Don't call except for FAX *** * IN THE MEANTIME BBS * Official Amiga Report Distribution Site * Running AXShell * Robert Niles, Sysop rniles@imtired.itm.com 509-248-5645 Supra V.32bis 24hrs - 7 days Yakima, Washington ******* Notice ******* Those who call for the latest edition of Amiga Report, and who do not with to establish an account, at the first login: prompt type "bbs", at the second login: prompt type "guest". Once in type "ARMAG" (without the quotes) at any prompt. @endnode ------------------------------------------ @node P2-1-3 "PIONEERS BBS" @toc "menu" * PIONEERS BBS * ** A PREMIER GENEALOGY BBS ** ** WEST COAST - Amiga Virus Busters Support BBS ** ** CD32 REVIEW Support BBS ** AND NOW Official Amiga Report Distribution Site * Running EXCELSIOR! BBS * Michael & Marthe Arends, Sysops FidoNet: 1:343/54.0 206-775-7983 Supra 14.4k v32.bis 24hrs - 7 days EDMONDS, Washington New users can call and get ANY copy of Amiga Report. Just call using the Name "Long Distance" and the password "Longdistance"(without the quotes of course). Users using this account will have full access to ALL past and present issues of AMIGA REPORT starting with the premier issue. The latest issue of Amiga Report can be Freq'ed (FileREQusted) from here as "AR.LHA", Freq's are valid at ANY time. @endnode ------------------------------------------ @node P2-1-4 "CIUA BBS" @toc "menu" * CIUA BBS* Official Amiga Report Distribution Site -- Portugal * Running Excelsior/Trapdoor/AmigaUUCP/AmiTCP * Celso Martinho, Sysop FidoNet 2:361/9 Internet: denise.ci.ua.pt +351-34-382080/382081 (V32bis soon V34) 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 Sysop Email: sysadmin@junct9.demon.co.uk Line 1 +44 (0)372 271000 14400 V.32bis/HST FidoNet 2:440/20 Line 2 +44 (0)372 278000 14400 V.32bis only FidoNet 2:440/21 Line 3 +44 (0)372 279000 2400 V.42bis/MNP Voice: +44 (0)956 348405 (24hrs) Direct Sysop Voice Line Internet: user_name@junct9.royle.org Special Interest Areas: - Bjork / Sugarcubes Fan Club - Research of Lucid Dreaming @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: 1:221/302 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.fipnet.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 P2-1-12 "Gateway BBS" @toc "menu" * THE GATEWAY BBS * Official Amiga Report Distribution Site * Running Excelsior! BBS * Stace Cunningham, Sysop Dan Butler, CoSysop 24 hrs - 7 days InterNet: stace@tecnet1.jcte.jcs.mil FidoNet: 1:3604/60.0 601-374-2697 Hayes Optina 28.8 V.FC Biloxi, Mississippi @endnode ------------------------------------------ @node P2-1-13 "EMERALD KEEP BBS" @toc "menu" * Emerald Keep BBS * Official Amiga Report Distribation Site * Running DLG Professional * Michael mac Nessa, Sysop 24 hrs - 7 days FidoNet: 1:2250/2 AmigaNet: 40:206/1 618-394-0065 USR 16.8k DS Fairview Heights, IL @endnode ------------------------------------------ @node P2-1-14 "Amiga BBS" @toc "menu" * Amiga BBS * Official Amiga Report Distribution Site * Running Excelsior! BBS * Alejandro Kurczyn, Sysop FidoNet 4:975/7 First Amiga BBS in Mexico (5) 887-3080 9600 V32,MNP Estado de Mexico, Mexico @endnode ------------------------------------------ @node P2-1-15 "The Stygian Abyss" @toc "menu" * THE STYGIAN ABYSS BBS * 312-384-0616 14.4 USR Courier HST 312-384-6250 14.4 Supra V.32 bis (FREQ line) 312-384-0716 2400 USR Courier FIDONet-1:115/384.0 CLink-911:6200/2.0 NWNet-206:310/0.0--206:310/1.0 PhantomNet Central States Cooridinator-11:2115/0.0--11:2115/1.0 FaithNet Central States Cooridinator-700:6000/0.0--700:6000/1.0 AMINet Chicagoland HUB-559:2/5.0 Chicago, Illinois Over 4 GIGS of files I Over 3700 MODS I Over 120 On-Line Games Tons of digitized sounds I Over 15,000 GIFS Supporting: Amiga I IBM I Macintosh I C=64/128 SIR SAMMY-SysOp Enter.......If you dare!! @endnode ------------------------------------------ @node P2-1-16 "Amiga Do PC BBS" @toc "menu" * AMIGA DO PC BBS * Official Amiga Report Distribuition Site - Brazil * Running Excelsior! v 1.18 * +55-192-33-2260 Weekdays: 19-07 (-3 GMT) Weekends: 24 hours Fidonet: 4:801/44 RBT: 12:1212/1 Virinet: 70:101/17 Internet: fimoraes@dcc.unicamp.br Francisco Moraes, sysop Campinas, SP Freq AREPORT for the newest issue avaiable. @endnode ------------------------------------------ @node P2-1-17 "Comm-Link BBS" @toc "menu" * COMM-LINK BBS * Official Amiga Report Distribution Site * Running Excelsior Pro * 604-945-6192 USR DS 16.8 24 hrs - 7 days Fido: 1:153/210.0 AmigaNet 40:800/9100.0 InterSports: 102:540/305.0 PussNet: 169:1000/305.0 InterNet: steve_hooper@comm.tfbbs.wimsey.com Steve Hooper, Sysop Port Coquitlam, B.C. Canada @endnode ------------------------------------------ @node P2-1-18 "Phantom's Lair" @toc "menu" * PHANTOM'S LAIR * Official Amiga Report Distribution Site * Running CNET 3.0 * FidoNet: 1:115/469.0 Phantom Net Cooridinator: 11:1115/0.0-11:1115/1.0 708-469-9510 708-469-9520 CD ROMS, Over 15511 Files Online @ 2586 meg Peter Gawron, Sysop Glendale Heights, Illinois @endnode @node P2-1-19 "Tierra-Miga BBS" @toc "menu" Tierra-Miga BBS Software: CNet Gib Gilbertson 24 hours - 7 days FidoNet: 1:202/638.0 AmigaNet: 40:406/3.0 Internet: torment.cts.com Line #1: 619.292.0754 V32.bis City: San Diego, CA. @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 * Lenni Uitti, SysOp Juha Mkinen, SysOp (Amiga-areas) Tero Manninen, SysOp (PC-areas) +358-64-414 1516, V.32bis/HST +358-64-414 0400, V.32bis/HST +358-64-414 6800, V.32/HST +358-64-423 1300, V.32bis Seinjoki, Finland Our host machine is a 386/33 with 20MB of memory, 1GB harddisk and a CD-ROM drive running in a Novell network. The BBS software is a Norwegian origin MBBS running in a DesqView windows. We have now (26th March 1994) over 10000 files online (mostly for the Commodore Amiga line of the personal computers.) Every user has an access to download filelist (LAHOFIL.ZIP), list of the Finnish 24-hour BBS's (BBSLIST.ZIP or BBSLIST.LHA) and every issue of the Amiga Report Magazine (AR101.LHA-AR???.LHA) even on their first call. The system has been running since 1989 and is sponsored by the local telephone company, Vaasan Lnin Puhelin Oy. BTW, LAHO stands for "LAtomeren Hyrylaiva Oy" = "Barnsea Steamship Co." Welcome on board! @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 P2-1-55 "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 "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 -------------------------------------------- @node P2-1-57 "T.B.P. Video Slate" @toc "menu" _________________________________ / / /_ /\ * T.B.P. VIDEO SLATE * / / //// / Official Amiga Report / / AR Coverdisk / / / CoverDisk Distribution Site / / / / / An Amiga dedicated BBS for All / / / / / * Running Skyline 1.3.2 * / / / / / Mark E Davidson, Sysop / /__________________________/ / / 24 hrs - 7 days / _______________________ / / 201-586-3623 USR 14.4 HST / / ___ / / / / Rockaway, New Jersey / / / / / / / / / / /__/ / / / / Full Skypix menus + normal and /______/_______________/______/__/ / ansi menu sets. \______\________________\______\_\/ Download on the first call. Hardware: Amiga 500 Tower custom at 14 MHz, 350 Meg maxtor, 125 Meg SCSI Maxtor, 345 Meg IDE Maxtor, 2 Double Speed CD rom, 9 meg RAM @endnode -------------------------------------------- @node P2-1-58 "Amiga Central" @toc "menu" * AMIGA CENTRAL! * Official Amiga Report Distribution Site CNet Amiga Support Site * Running CNet Amiga BBS * Carl Tashian, Sysop Internet mail: root@amicent.raider.net 615-383-9679 1200-14.4Kbps V.32bis 24 hours - 7 days Nashville, Tennessee Hardware: Amiga 3000 Tower 68030+882@25MHz, 105 meg Quantum, 225 meg Seagate, Zoom 14.4k modem @endnode -------------------------------------------- @node P2-1-21 "Continental Drift" @toc "menu" *================================================================== ==* /\ C O N T I N E N T A L D R I F T B B S / \ (+61) 2 949 4256 / \______ Murray Chaffer * Andre Lackmann * Dale Cohen / / \ / / \ Amiga * IBM * Macintosh / / \ : : : :\ \ /\ \ : : :800Mb+ Online - USENET News - Internet Mail :\ \ / \ \ : : Local Mail - FIDOnet Mail - Shareware Regos : :\ \/ \ \ : :Online Games - Aminet, FISH, Euro CD-ROMs : :\ / /: : : : :\ / /: : :Amiga Report * CD-32 View * Frontier Consoles \ / / * Computer underground Digest * \ /\ / \ / \ / **Online shareware registrations** \/ \/ Files daily from Aminet * ADS/SAN *================================================================== ==* @endnode @node P2-1-22 "Amiga Online Bs Heemstede" @toc "menu" Amiga Online Bs Heemstede * HeadQuarters of Online Products * Official Amiga Report Distribution Site -- The Netherlands * Running Xenolink 1.90 * Your SysOp is Michiel Willems 24 hours a day - 7 days a week Fidonet : 2:280/464.0 DAN Host HQ : 55:100/1.0 Amynet Host : 39:151/1.0 NLA : 14:102/203.0 BOSnet Hub : 99:999/2.0 e-mail SysOp : michiel@aobh.wlink.nl Line 1 +31-23-282002 14400 v32bis Supra Line 2 +31-23-470739 14400 v32bis Supra Heemstede, The Netherlands, Europe, The Earth Very nice menu's 660 Megs HD online - ALOT of software ALOT of messages - VERY fast BBS program Point support - Lot's of doors online Just freq AR of AR.LHA for the latest issue available The system is running on an Amiga 2000 with a HARMS-Prof-3000 030 turboboard at 29Mhz and a copro at 50Mhz, 7MB RAM, 660 Meg HD space and soon 1 Gigabyte HD space. Every issue from Amiga Report Magazine online as far as the first issue. @endnode @node P2-1-60 "Guru Meditation" @toc "menu" * GURU MEDITATION * Official Amiga Report Distribution Site -- Spain * Running Remote Access * Javier Frias, SysOp +34-1-383-1317 V.32bis 24 hours - 7days Spain @endnode @node P2-1-20 "Moonlight Sonata DLG" @toc "menu" M O O N L I G H T S O N A T A D L G * Amiga Report Official Distribution Site * * DAS ModPlayer Support * 2 Nodes *FREE PUBLIC* Amiga BBS MIDI-tunes, MIDI-utils, Modules, Amiga-files Messages, Door-games, MUD... Also patches for several synths! (About 100MB of ProTracker Modules!) Node #1 - +358-18-161763 - ZyXEL V32b 19200 Node #2 - +358-18-161862 - HST DS V32 14400 Fidonet: 2:221/112.0 Keyboards: Erno Tuomainen Amiga3000 25MHz - 1.3Gigs HD BBS Software: Dialog Pro BB/OS @endnode @node P2-1-61 "LINKSystem LINK-CH1" @toc "menu" LINKSystem LINK-CH1 Official Amiga Report Distribution Site - Switzerland in local newsgroup link-ch1.ml.amiga-report Mails and News from/to UseNet contact: rleemann@link-ch1.aworld.de +41 61 3215643 V32bis/Zyx16800 +41 61 3832007 ISDN X75/V110 +41 61 3832008 ISDN X75/V110 @endnode @node P2-1-62 "Doom of Darkness" @toc "menu" * Doom of Darkness * * Home of AmBoS * Official Amiga Report Distribution Site -- Germany Marc Doerre (Marc_Doerre), Sysop (BBS-Owner/AmBoS-Support) Bernd Petersen (TGM), Sysop (Amiga-Software-Support) Gerhard Luehning (Klaro), Co-Sysop (Aminet-Support) Kai Szymanski (Kai), Co-Sysop (AR-Support/AmBoS-Support) Usenet: user_name@doom.ping.de Line 1 +49 (0)4223 8355 19200 V.42bis/Zyx Line 2 +49 (0)4223 3256 16800 V.42bis/Zyx Line 3 +49 (0)4223 3313 16800 V.42bis/Zyx Sysop Email: marc_doerre@doom.ping.de AR-Infoservice : kai@doom.ping.de @endnode @node P2-1-63 "RedEye BBS" @toc "menu" REDEYE BBS * Running EXCELSIOR/UUCP/AFAX * "Official Amiga Report Distribution Site Germany/Europe" Sysop: Thorsten Meyer Internet: sysop@redeye.greenie.muc.de Line 1: +49-89-5460535 (V.32b, Zyxel EG +) Line 2: +49-89-5460071 (USR Courier V32b terbo) 24hrs - 7 days Munich, Germany Areas for Amiga, PCs, Lotus Notes Group, Amiga Report, Game Byte, Graphic Stuff, 3D-Exchange, 3D-tools, 3D-objects, McAffee, GUS, PAS, DOOM, WINDOWS-NT, OS/2 Online CD, Online Games, USENET, INTERNET, FIDO ECHOS, Developer @endnode @node P2-1-64 "Virtual Palace BBS" @toc "menu" * Virtual Palace BBS * * Official Amiga Report Distribution Site * * Official Amiga Report Disk Distribution Site * 916-343-7420 300-14400 Baud V.42bis AmiExpress 2.40 700 Mbytes P.O. Box 5518 Chico, California 95927 Tibor G. Balogh (Tibor), Sysop Sysop Email: tibor@ecst.csuchico.edu Leland Whitlock (Leland), Co-Sysop @endnode @node P2-1 "Where to find Amiga Report" @toc "menu" %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% %% Where to find Amiga Report %% %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% Click on the button of the BBS nearest you for information on that system. FidoNet Systems --------------- FREQ the filename "AR.LHA" for the most current issue of Amiga Report! @{" OMAHA AMIGANET " link P2-1-9} ..................................Omaha, Nebraska @{" NOVA " link P2-1-1} .............................Cleveland, Tennessee @{" PIONEER'S BBS " link P2-1-3} ..............................Edmonds, Washington @{" CIUA 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 @{" GATEWAY BBS " link P2-1-12} ..............................Biloxi, Mississippi @{" EMERALD KEEP BBS " link P2-1-13} .........................................Illinois @{" AMIGA BBS " link P2-1-14} .........................Estado de Mexico, Mexico @{" THE STYGIAN ABYSS " link P2-1-15} ................................Chicago, Illinois @{" AMIGA DO PC BSS " link P2-1-16} .................................Campinas, Brazil @{" COMM-LINK BBS " link P2-1-17} .......................Port Coquitlam, BC, Canada @{" PHANTOM'S LAIR " link P2-1-18} .......................Glendale Heights, Illinois @{" Tierra-Miga BBS " link P2-1-19} .....................................SanDeigo, Ca @{" MOONLIGHT SONATA DLG " link P2-1-20} ..........................................Finland @{" CONTINENTAL DRIFT " link P2-1-21} ................................Sydney, Australia @{" Amiga Online Bs H'stede " link P2-1-22} ..................................The Netherlands Non-FidoNet Systems ------------------- @{" IN THE MEANTIME " link P2-1-2} ...............................Yakima, Washington @{" FREELAND MAINFRAME " link P2-1-50} ..............................Olympia, Washington @{" LAHO " link P2-1-51} ...............................Seinajoki, Finland @{" FALLING " link P2-1-52} ...........................................Norway @{" COMMAND LINE " link P2-1-53} ..................................Toronto, Canada @{" LEGUANS BYTE CHANNEL " link P2-1-55} ..........................................Germany @{" STINGRAY DATABASE " link P2-1-56} ...........................Muelheim/Ruhr, Germany @{" T.B.P. VIDEO SLATE " link P2-1-57} .............................Rockaway, New Jersey @{" AMIGA CENTRAL " link P2-1-58} .............................Nashville, Tennessee @{" GURU MEDITATION " link P2-1-60} ............................................Spain @{" LINKSystem LINK-CH1 " link P2-1-61} ...............................Basel, Switzerland @{" DOOM OF DARKNESS " link P2-1-62} ..................................Bremen, Germany @{" REDEYE BBS " link P2-1-63} ..................................Munich, Germany @{" Virtual Palace BBS " link P2-1-64} ........................................Chico, Ca @endnode