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Amiga Update (1996-11-07)
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/\\ |\ /|| || / ` /\\ || Amiga Update -News and Rumors
/__\\ | \ / || || || ___ /__\\ || (An Occasional Newsletter)
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AMIGA and the Amiga logo are trademarks of Amiga Technologies, GmbH
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961107
B O O K B A N N I N G , A M I G A S T Y L E ?
S O M E V I S C O R P N E W S
M I A M I - N O B A C K D O O R ! !
L A T E S T F R O M P H A S E 5
This issue:
First, a word on our last mailing. Some of you received copies with from
two to perhaps 30 addresses in the header. This resulted from our first use
of an Amiga mailer to send out the newsletter. We are looking for ways to
eliminate this and will be examining other Amiga e-mail packages.
Our first story today is one for the books. Literally. It seems IAM has
run into a problem in attempting to advertise some of their products. The
problem apparently stems from the title of their newest book, "Torn Shapes
of Desire: Internet Erotica". Read all about it below. Whatever the
merits of this unpleasant situation, by running the IAM message I think
we've established the position of "Amiga Update" on such matters. Don't
buy what you don't want, but you'll at least hear about it here. It should
be pointed out we only have one side of the story, and we'd be happy to run
a response from "Amazing Computing".
Still not much news from VIScorp. We have a small update from Jason
Compton which appeared a few days ago. Wasn't enough to make us send out an
issue but we thought you'd enjoy reading it.
It seems the excellent "Miami" tcp/ip stack has come in for some strange
controversy and criticism (see review in AU number 960723). The author's
response is below.
Finally, another long message from the folks at Phase 5. This one deals
with the Power Up project, which will make Power PC based accelerators
available for your current Amiga. These things sound very impressive.
Wonder if we could get a couple dozen for review at "Amiga Update"??
We hope you enjoy this issue.
Brad Webb, Editor
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I A M C L A I M S C E N S O R S H I P O F A D
Date: 6 Nov 1996 08:01:24 GMT
Organization: Intangible Assets Manufacturing
Dear Amiga Community Member:
Please help us, we've been censored! We at IAM are offering new low sale
prices on our Amiga products, but we are now even more dependent than ever
on word-of-mouth to help us sell them. For the last six months, IAM has
been running a full-page advertisement in Amazing Computing, the last
general-interest Amiga print magazine left in North America. Our ad gives
information on all of our products. As of the December, 1996 issue, when
we were to announce a new product and major discounts on other products,
Amazing Computing will no longer allow us to pay to advertise our full
product line in their magazine. Details of this story are available on our
Web site (see http://www.iam.com/amiga/amazing.html), but the most
important issue for us is that we have to get the word out about our new
low sale prices.
The Amiga community is too important to be torn apart by arguments or
grudges, or to be hampered by censorship. We still ask our North American
customers to continue supporting Amazing Computing, just as we ask them to
support all Amiga publishers. Call or write to Amazing Computing today.
Please say "I support free speech," as you subscribe or renew: Amazing
Computing, PIM Publications, P.O. Box 2140, Fall River, MA 02722-2140
1-508-678-4200, 1-800-345-3360, fax: 1-508-675-6002.
We also ask you to support IAM.
We need your help to spread the word about our products (see below).
Please tell your friends about us, try to get our products listed in your
user group newsletter, put us on your BBS, link to us on your Web page,
write positive reviews of our products, or whatever you can do. Our web
page is at http://www.iam.com. If there is anything we can do to help you
get the word out, please contact us.
We are especially in need of help reaching people who can't find out about
us on the Internet.
Thank you in advance for whatever help you can give us.
Sincerely,
Dale L. Larson
el Presidente
Intangible Assets Manufacturing
***About IAM and our Products***
The best way to get more information about IAM is through the Web:
http://www.iam.com We also have an AmigaGuide format catalog of our Amiga
products which can be FTP'd from file://ftp.iam.com/biz/iam/iam.lha, and
you can get an automatic reply with current information on our products by
emailing info@iam.com. Low sale prices valid through 31-Dec-96:
* A book on Amiga networking and telecommunications: "Connect Your Amiga!
A Guide to the Internet, LANs, BBSs and Online Services" revised second
printing (1996) US$19 + s/h, or with 8 freely redistributable disks for
only $39 + s/h
* Dave Haynie's "The Deathbed Vigil..." video, NTSC or PAL US$19 + s/h
(originally $35), or only $35 with the T-shirt below...
* The Deathbed Vigil T-Shirt, $17+s/h (size S, L, XL, XXL) includes eject
logo on the front and signatures of most Amiga engineers on the back.
* DiskSalv4 -- the commercial release of Dave's disk utilities US$30 +
only $39 + s/h
* Dave Haynie's "The Deathbed Vigil..." video, NTSC or PAL US$19 + s/h
(originally $35), or only $35 with the T-shirt below...
* The Deathbed Vigil T-Shirt, $17+s/h (size S, L, XL, XXL) includes eject
logo on the front and signatures of most Amiga engineers on the back.
* DiskSalv4 -- the commercial release of Dave's disk utilities US$30 +
s/h (upgrade from DS3 for $10 +s/h)
* MRBackup 2.5 $45+s/h (upgrade from earlier registered versions for
$10+s/h)
* SPECIAL: DiskSalv4 and MRBackup together for only $60!
* The Amiga-only peer-to-peer networking software Amiga Envoy, US$45 +
s/h (2-user)
* MegaBall4, a tres cool video game, $30 + s/h Get a Free XL MegaBalls
T-shirt when you order MB4 at the regular price, or get MegaBall4 for
only $19 + s/h!
* DICE 3.2 C Development Environment (full price $100+s/h, students and
competitive upgrades only $75 +s/h) Upgrade from DICE 3.x at
ftp://ftp.iam.com/biz/iam/dice/!
* "Torn Shapes of Desire: Internet Erotica", book, $14.95
In addition to the major new discounts, our December (and future) ads would
also have indicated that we will be at the "Gateway Computer Show -- Amiga
97" in St. Louis on March 15 & 16, 1997. (The organizer of that event,
Bob Scharp, has already indicated that he'd be happy to have us sell our
new book at that show.)
We don't accept COD orders, but do accept checks in US dollars, as well as
Visa and MC (no Amex or Discover). Our shipping and handling charges are
flat-rate: you can order up to one of each of our products for the same
charge. We ship via USPS or UPS at our option. In the US: $6 for ground,
or $9 for air. Elsewhere: $9 for ground and $15 for air.
Our Amiga products are available through Amiga dealers world wide. Small
dealers in North America can order from Software Hut. For end-users
without a local dealer, three of our larger mail-order dealers (in
alphabetical order) are: Safe Harbor (1 800 544 6599), Software Hut (1 800
932 6442), and Zipperware (206 223 1107).
info@iam.com -- bot mails you current info on our products
sales@iam.com -- to ask questions or to place an order.
Intangible Assets Manufacturing
828 Ormond Avenue
Drexel Hill, PA 19026-2604
USA
http://www.iam.com
voice: +1 610 853 4406 (orders only)
fax: +1 610 853 3733
--
Dale L. Larson Intangible Assets Manufacturing Publishers of
el Presidente http://www.iam.com Amiga stuff and of the book
dale@iam.com info@iam.com Torn Shapes of Desire: Internet Erotica
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V I S C O R P N E W S
Date: 1 Nov 1996 06:40:14 GMT
VIScorp Web Site: There does seem to be some sort of glitch in the alias
to the www.vistv.com web site. Strange as it seems, certain browsers
aren't bothered by the glitch.
Users of Aweb-II and Netscape can get on the site by simply going to
"www.vistv.com", no file designation.
For some reason, however, Lynx, IBrowse, and Explorer are having trouble
automatically accessing the "index.html" file. Until our ISP can
straighten this out, users of these browsers may have to manually add
"/index.html" to their http requests. Sorry for the inconvenience, we
don't imagine it's anything major.
VIScorp Web Site Advertising: Once we get the site back to 100%
accessibility, we'll be launching a program to allow Amiga companies to
advertise themselves on the high-profile VIScorp web site. Of course, the
current policy of providing free links on our "Amiga Sites of Interest"
page will be continued.
VIScorp-Badged Product Releases: In the interim while we await the final
completion of the Amiga deal, the Chicago staff is moving closer to having
VIScorp-branded Amiga accelerators available for direct purchase. There
are some logistical issues that remain to be worked out, but we should be
announcing their availability soon.
--
Jason Compton jcompton@xnet.com
Communications Manager - Amiga, VIScorp http://www.vistv.com/
Editor-in-Chief, Amiga Report Magazine (847) 741-0689 FAX
I know what I like. And I like what I know.
AR on Aminet - docs/mags/ar???.lha AR Mailing list - Mail me
WWW - http://www.omnipresence.com/Amiga/News/AR, www.cucug.org/ar/ar.html
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N O B A C K D O O R I N M I A M I
Some users have apparently spread the false rumor that there is some
kind of backdoor in Miami, allowing me to do evil things on your
Amiga. This is absolutely incorrect, and here is an official statement
about this:
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Miami DOES NOT contain any kind of deliberate "backdoor", i.e. a
mechanism designed to allow someone from the outside to do things on
your Amiga or to your Amiga that you do not want or intend. There has
never been any such backdoor in Miami, and, as far as I am concerned,
there never will be one.
Apparently the rumor was spread because some users on IRC noticed that
it is possible to remotely detect which protocol stack someone is using,
and, in the case of Miami, if it is legally licensed (i.e. if the
license code is valid) or not.
That much is true: it IS possible for someone on the Internet to gather
quite a lot of knowledge about your protocol stack. This has nothing
specifically to do with Miami, but is possible for ANY protocol stack.
This is because the TCP/IP protocol suite is constantly evolving, and
almost all implementations differ slightly from each other in ways
that sometimes affect some of the details of how certain packets are
formed, and are thus visible from the outside, if you know what to
look for.
Such differences include assignment of TCP sequences numbers,
assignment of ephemeral port numbers, support for some ICMP methods,
slight bugs related to data-copying and byte-ordering, the TCP retry
time pattern, initial TTL values for different packet types, parameterized
or programmable packet responses (related to routing/configuration etc.)
and many other things.
This means if a programmer has in-depth knowledge about TCP/IP, and
knows precisely how different protocol stacks differ from each other,
then it is possible to write programs that watch out for these details
and thus remotely identify different protocol stacks.
For instance, I can distinguish between AmiTCP/IP, Miami, I-Net 225,
FreeBSD, Linux, SunOS (different versions), Windows-95 and several
other stacks automatically.
Let me repeat this again: I can IDENTIFY different protocol stacks and,
for Miami, the licensing/registration status remotely (as can any other
user on the Internet who has the required knowledge about TCP/IP), but
Miami allows NOBODY to execute code on your machine, delete files,
copy files, steal files, steal license codes, crash your machine, format
your harddisk, or do any other kind of harm or damage to your machine.
The only way for someone to remotely do any damage on your machine
is if you are running a CLIENT or SERVER that either contains a backdoor,
or is buggy, or is not installed properly (e.g. an ftp-server with
improper configuration that "opens" your machine to the outside).
Miami by itself allows NOBODY to do any damage to your machine.
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
Version: 2.6.3
Charset: noconv
iQCVAwUBMoHWn+nsbFLUPdU9AQHXkAP/XOd0m0wxLS/xb+CTAr1fvP6grqE8p4kt
MD735iyOcUnHUAM0vm9o0nlEGynCBLT8lpTJlLGw1wz6hiKEmIKCWiNW8JANfKXN
1e4aQtGS5ub8hnw8ZKWo6Z3sRb/eKOMfOxEnNDEjJNZCAJtlLhwinHsK8c+IJzAG
HUsO4JfsYYM=
=Dyhp
-----END PGP SIGNATURE-----
I hope this clarifies this point once and for all. So far I consider
rumors about backdoors to be the result of misunderstandings. However
if users continue to spread such rumors after this explanation I have to
consider such statements libelous and reserve the right to take legal
action.
--
Holger Kruse kruse@nordicglobal.com
http://www.nordicglobal.com
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P H A S E 5 P O W E R U P N E W S !
PowerUp - The Next Generation
Oberursel, 10/30/1996: After some delay in the first six months of 1996
due to the unclear situation at Amiga Technologies and the break-off of
negotiations on a possible joint venture, the PowerUp project of phase 5
digital products is now really getting up steam. The start of deliveries
of the PowerUp-Alpha Developer Boards to leading software developers who
actively support the Amiga has given the green light for the birth of a new
generation of high-performance processor cards. What this means is that
Amiga will now be doing more than merely keeping step with the rising
standards of performance in the field of personal computing. Due to the
implementation of a novel dual processing technique which involves the
parallel operation of 68k and PowerPC processors in an integrated,
multi-tasking Amiga environment, this enormous boost in performance will go
hand-in hand with full compatibility. The existing software runs as usual
on the 68k side while new, optimised program versions supported by the
strength of the PowerPC processor offer vast potential for an outstanding
performance.
Power to the People!
The commercial PowerPC acceleration cards from phase 5 digital products,
which will be ready for delivery by the end of the first quarter of 1997,
are powerful, dynamic dual-processor systems in 64-bit technology. Here
the two processors installed, either a 68040 or a 68060 together with a
PowerPC processor, share the memory and the system bus as required. At the
same time a complex interrupt system ensures dynamic distribution of the
bus cycles, depending on the activity of the processors. The obligatory
option of expanding the memory to 128 M-bytes is integrated as a 64-bit
memory while full burst mode implementation for the 68k and PowerPC
processors ensures a high data transfer rate so that both processors have
rapid parallel access to the RAM. Due to this active parallel operation
the power of both processors can be used simultaneously. The tasks running
on the different processors are able to exchange data and signals via a
message system. Of course both processors can access the entire available
address space so that the PowerPC processor can write directly into the
chip memory or into graphic cards.This integration allows software
manufacturers or active programmers to easily optimise existing programs
step by step on the PowerPC.
Beginning of October 96, in the labs of phase 5: Worlds first dual
processing Amiga system with a 68060 and a PowerPC processor, here
connected to Tektronic TLS520 and Phillips PM3585 logic analysers, runs the
first Amiga-PowerPC program! Along with the powerful hardware, the PowerPC
acceleration cards will also go hand-in-hand with a versatile range of
software. The users of commercial programs will certainly be most
interested in the CyberGraphX V3 Native, in which multi-media functions for
the display of MPEG video and the new 3D implementation, CyberGL, are
realised. The exceptional power of the PowerPC processor and the optimised
design of the mighty PowerUp accelerator give reason to expect outstanding
performance in this field, elevating the product into the crme de la crme
of the modern world of personal computing.
Extensive support from software developers
Many well-known software manufacturers for the Amiga greet the concept of
phase 5 digital products as an avantgarde step which ensures the success of
the Amiga system in the future and have announced their support. This
means that Amiga users who decide in favour of the PowerUp board can
already reckon with a wide range of programs optimised for the PowerPC as
soon as the turbo cards become available. Some of the most important
software manufacturers who will be giving their support to the PowerUp
Project are (in alphabetical order):
Cloanto Software
Cloanto is planning an adaptation of the well known Personal Paint for the
next release version 7, which also will be featuring a lot of new
functions. The program is due to its modularity well prepared for a fast
and easy migraTION TO THE PowerPC. In addition Cloanto is planning to port
other programs of the actual product palette to the PPC.
Contact Cloanto under http://www.cloanto.com
Digita International
Digita International is working with phase 5 to find the best method of
porting Wordworth and other Digita applications. Digita's Managing
Director, Jeremy Rihll, commented: "phase 5 has developed some really
stunning technology that would work really well with Wordworth. After the
launch of Wordworth 6 in November, we will be turning our full attention to
looking at working with phase 5 and its products."
Contact Digita International under http://www.digita.com
GP Software
The producer of such famous applictions as Directory Opus and GPFax
supports the PowerUp program and is planning the adaption of all
applications to the high performance PowerPC processors.
Contact GP Software under http://www.livewire.com.au/gpsoft
Haage und Partner
With the introduction of the phase 5 PowerUp accelerators, StormC, an
integrated software development solution, will become available, which is
the first integrated package to support the PowerPC software development.
This powerful development tool will offer state-of-the-art options and
comfort for programmers. A demonstration of the first version is planned
for the Computer 96 show in Cologne.
Contact Haage &Partner under:
http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/Haage_Partner
Irseesoft
"We are very interested in the PowerUp project. There is a strong demand
on bringing back the Amiga to the latest hardware development state
available. Most important is the increase of computing speed. The step to
the PowerPC is the only solution we can imagine for that purpose. By
knowing about these facts, we are going to port our products, such as
Turboprint Professional and Picturemanager Professional, to the PowerPC."
Holger Kruse
Holger Kruse The author of Amiwin and Miami is going to port his products
to the PowerPC to keep up to the current level of computing.
Contact Holger Kruse under http://www.nordicglobal.com
Maxon Computer
Maxon Computer is planning the migration to the PowerPC version of the
famous raytracer and animator MaxonCinema4D with the PowerUp
project.Adaptions to the PowerUp accelerator for other current and future
applications is also planned.
Contact Maxon Computer under http://www.maxon-computer.com
Nova Design
The adaption and optimization for the PowerPC is planned for the high
performance applications ImageFX and Alladin 4D to achieve the highest
possible computing performance from the PowerUp accelerator boards. Users
of these programs can expect powerful upgrades in early 1997.
Contact Nova Design under http://www.novadesign.com
Oberland Computer
Oberland Computer states the PowerUp project as the only possible future of
the Amiga. By knowing this, the software engineers are already working to
fly their famous REFLECTIONS raytracer on the PowerPC. First results are
expected for the Computer 96 in Cologne. First test calculations show up a
new era for Amiga raytracing to come with the PowerUp accelerator boards.
Contact Oberland Computer under http://www.oberland.com
ProDAD
ProDAD is supporting the PowerUp project as Alpha Developer from the very
first days on. Andreas Huber, general manager of ProDAD: "ProDAD
appreciates the realisation of the PowerUp project and will surround this
project with own ideas and innovations. CockTel, the picture phone system,
for example will be one of the first PowerPC compatible applications with
especially the compression and decompression routines taking advantage of
the PowerPC resulting in higher transmission quality. The products
Monument V3 Professional and Adorage will also take advantage on the
increased performance capabilities of the PowerUp project by providing new
features and functions at higher speeds. Updates with PowerUp support of
the mentioned products will follow soon. The first PowerPC native
operating system onthe market will be "p-OS", which was designed to support
the PowerPC CPU from the first days of development on. With this in mind,
the PowerUp project has first priority on the development of p-OS. The CPU
performance of the PowerPC together with the lean and fast modern operating
system will surprise not only the Amiga community. Innovation, not
emulation is the wayto maximum performance and the PowerUp project as well
as the p-OS development are following this guideline. So they will support
each other to be innovative and to serve the users!"
Contact ProDAD under http://www.prodad.de
RBM Computertechnik
RBM Computertechnik RBM is planning to port their scanner software ScanQUIX
to the PowerUp accelerator boards. Also future developments are announced
to be PowerUp aware.
Info for all software developers: If your name does not show up on this
page,but you are going to officially support the PowerUp project, please
feel free to contact us.
Several of the above mentioned vendors plan to show first demos of software
supporting the PowerUp accelerators already on the Computer 96 show in
Cologne.In addition to these well-known names about 500 software developers
have registered for the phase 5 PowerUp Developer Support Programme and it
can be expected that they will develop numerous applications for the future
especially in the shareware and PD field. In addition to this, phase 5
digital products will give particular support to special projects such as
Linux porting and similar, with the result that such projects will probably
have already produced results by the time that the PowerUp accelerator
becomes available.
Show your Support!
All active Amiga users who are interested in PowerPc upgrades for their
preferred system are invited to contact the vendors of their preferred
software products and inquire for updated versions of these software
applications which are optimized for the PowerUp accelerator boards. Send
your requests or wishes by post, fax, or email to the vendors of the
software you'd like to see reaching a new performance level - even to those
vendors which are not (yet) listed here. Your strong feedback will help
the software vendors to quickly realise the products that you are waiting
for! Go ahead and show your support for a Power(PC)ful Amiga future!
Deliveries to software developers commence
When deliveries of the Beta Developer Boards start the worldwide support
from active Amiga software developers will grow. All developers registered
in the phase 5 Developer Support Programme now immediately have access to
information on the PowerUp Beta Developer Boards and are able to order
them. Delivery will commence by middle of November, according to developer
status and in the sequence that the orders come in. The Beta Developer
Boards are designed as plug-in boards for the Cyberstorm MkiI accelerators
and allow professional software development in the accustomed software
environment.
PowerUp Your Amiga!
The amazingly fast, 64-bit PowerPC accelerators which will be available
soon mean that existing Amiga systems can be upgraded to a level of
performance which is on a par with that of today's fastest personal
computers at prices which will make the hearts of convinced Amiga
enthusiasts beat faster.Switching to a PowerUp Board will become a
worthwhile investment for practically any Amiga user and one which offers
outstanding value for money.
The prices for the extremely low-cost PowerPC603e-based accelerators, which
are also in the planning, have not yet been decided. But they will also
offer attractive upgrade possibilities, particularly for Amiga 1200 users
and the owners of blizzard boards for the Amiga 1200. As the PowerUp
boards for the Amiga 1200 will make it absolutely essential to upgrade the
A1200 with a tower housing (if only for EMC reasons), phase 5 digital
products will be working closely with the manufacturers of the relevant
systems. Look out for more - you will be receiving further information on
a regular basis.
A pioneering step into the future
With the PowerUp project we will be taking an initial, pioneering step into
the future, a step so long awaited by the Amiga community. We at phase 5
digital products and our partner firms mentioned here are aware of our
commitment to continue to promote and support the outstanding concept of
the Amiga. Providing accelerator cards in a performance class which puts
the Amiga on a par with today's high-end PC's is a major step forward. An
equally important step will be the active support from software
manufacturers.More steps will follow. A 100 % Amiga-OS 3.1-compatible
operating system core has already been realised in the development
laboratories of phase 5 digital products and is currently undergoing
intensive testing. We also anticipate further important innovations in
this area - also in co-operation with major software developers and
partners who are eager to enhance the system and pursue the Amiga vision.
The final goal is to produce a full PowerPC-based operating system.
But in addition to this, here an ambitious project is assuming concrete
form.This is a project that represents major step in innovative design and
which is being consistently implemented using all the necessary resources:
We are proud to present the
Kontakt:
phase 5 digital products
In der Au 27
61440 Oberursel, Germany
Telefon: 06171/583787
Intl. Phone: +49 6171 583787
Fax: 06171/583789
Intl.Fax: +49 6171 583789
Email: mail@phase5.de oder: aproject@phase5.de
Specifications are subject to change without notice. AMIGA is a registered
trademark of the respective owners. PowerUp is a registered trademark of
phase 5 digital products. PowerPC is a registered trademark of the IBM
Corporation.
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Amiga Update on the net: some issues available in html format at:
http://www.sharbor.com
All back issues available (in ASCII text) at:
http://www.globaldialog.com/AdventureCentral/AU.html
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Copyright 1996 by Brad Webb. Freely distributable, if not modified.
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_ __ _ <>_ __ _ || Brad Webb/AmigaUpdate
/\\ |\ /|| || / ` /\\ || webb@malamute.med.ge.com
/__\\ | \ / || || || ___ /__\\ || bandr@globaldialog.com
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