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Amiga Update (1997-06-22)
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_ __ _ <>_ __ _ ||
/\\ |\ /|| || / ` /\\ || A M I G A U P D A T E
/__\\ | \ / || || || ___ /__\\ || -News and Rumors-
/ \\_ | \/ ||_ _||_ \__// / \\_|| (An Occasional Newsletter)
BACK FOR THE FUTURE ||
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AMIGA and the Amiga logo are trademarks of Amiga International, GmbH
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970622
E X C E R P T F R O M G A T E W A Y I N T E R V I E W
U P D A T E O N A U S T R A I L I A N S H O W
A L A D D I N 4 D A N D I M A G E F X D E A L
A M I G A " I D E A " S I T E L A U N C H E D
A M I N E T C D 1 9 I S O U T
S H A D O W W O R K S S O F T W A R E L A U N C H E D
C H E C K H T M L A V A I L A B L E
M O R E O N A M I G A J A V A
Editor's Thoughts and Introduction:
This has been a quiet month in the Amiga community. It almost seems
as if many people and companies are quietly watching the Gateway
acquisition to see what it will bring before making commitments. And
yet, there is activity, as this issue of AU shows. Besides what we've
printed here, we've picked up on other activity which has yet to
produce news to bring your way.
An "Amiga Update" reader recently informed us of an exchange of e-mail
he'd had with NewTek that foretold of a bleak future for their Amiga
products. The reader had been given to understand Lightwave 5.0 would
"never appear on the Amiga" and there would be no Amiga versions of
any NewTek products after the next revision of the Toaster software.
We put those questions to NewTek - and received no answer nor even an
acknowledgement of our note. However, we've been able to discover a
bit more anyway. It is likely true that there will be no Lightwave 5.0
on Amiga. It also seems to be true that Gateway and NewTek have been
having conversations of a very secret nature. Any conclusions at this
point would be the worst form of speculation, so we won't make any,
beyond noting that any talks at all are encouraging.
Speaking of Gateway - and aren't we all these days? - we lead off
this issue with a recent posting to the Internet. It contains
quotations from an interview with Gatway's CEO, Ted Waitt. We present
it just as it appeared in the news groups.
Following the interview is an update from Australia on their show to
be held next weekend. You still have time to book your plane tickets
and get to Oz for the fun.
Amiga graphics professionals will want to check out the press release
on Aladdin 4D and Image FX.
Programmers will find the following story worth checking out, and
Amiga users may also. We received this press release about a new type
of Amiga Web site just today.
If you're like us, you really appreciate what Aminet and the Aminet
CDs do for the Amiga community. You may own quite a few of the CDs (we
do) and now there's another one for your collection. Story below.
A new Amiga company called ShadowWorks has just been born. We have a
press release about the company, and its first product. Welcome to the
Amiga community, and best possible wishes from "Amiga Update"!
While on the subject of new products, check out CheckHTML, something
that should be handy for you Web denizens. This freeware product is
from the very talented Kai Hofmann.
Finally, we've clipped a few lines from the VaporWare home page which
should be of interest to anyone who wants to see Java on the Amiga.
Given the likely importance of Java to the future of computers in
general, that should be all of us.
As always, we hope you enjoy this issue. Let us hear from you, and
remember, please pass copies of "Amiga Update" on to your friends.
Brad Webb,
Editor
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E X C E R P T F R O M G A T E W A Y I N T E R V I E W
1997/06/17
This is a very short excerpt from the interview. It comes from Boot
magazine July 97 issue. If you have a PC, I highly recommend Boot.
Anyway, here's the excerpt:
Boot: Ok... On the topic of acquisitions, Gateway recently bought the
rights to the Amiga. What sort of response has there been to that
move?
Waitt: Well, the Amiga people want to know why we purchased the
rights. Amiga has some fantastic technology. It's extremely efficient.
And there's the tremendous enthusiasm of folks in the Amiga user
environment. The core technology is very compelling. I like the
modularization of the platform and the operating system, the
efficiency of the operating system, the pureness and cleanness of the
environment, the video technology... there are a lot of good things.
Boot: What about those valuable patents?
Waitt: The Amiga patents were the primary interest, initially, but now
we're thinking there might be a lot more there than just a set of
patents.
Boot: What will you do with the Technology?
Waitt: We're trying to develop that right now, but the promise of an
open Amiga is very interesting.
Boot: Is there an Amiga curse?
Waitt: I don't think so. Look at the people that have had it before
us.
Boot: Commodore is gone, Viscorp is dead, Escom AG...
Waitt: Yeah, but Escom was on the way out. Commodore had its own
difficulties. Viscorp was looking at a very narrow approach.
[The interview veers back into PC related stuff]
Matt Griffith
LandPhil Records
www.novia.net/~landphil
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U P D A T E O N A U S T R A I L I A N S H O W
Press Release: 19/06/97
The Australian Amiga Gathering will be held on the weekend of June the
28th and 29th. Located at the Sydney Showground in Sydney Australia,
it will be an event marking the return of Amiga.
While time is running out and the show quickly approaches the
organisers of AAG'97 are still accepting submissions from shareware
authors for the Shareware Registration Booth.
This is a unique opportunity for authors to sell direct to the
public!!!
Already products like NewYork and Voodoo from Finale Development and
other popular titles like Shapeshifter and Wildfire have joined in to
give their supporters instant access to their programs.
Contact Michael Gruber for information regarding program submissions.
And if there are any programs you would like available at the stand
then contact the authors and ask if their products will be at the
show?
The show will run from 10:00 am to 05:00 pm each day.
For further details check out the web page at
http://www.pnc.com.au/~mother/expo.html
or email the organisers at
mother@pnc.com.au
mgruber@fl.net.au
--
Michael Gruber ->/ mgruber@fl.net.au
/
Vice Pres of ->/ Western District Amiga User Group (Penrith, Oz)
/ www.pnc.com.au/~mother/amigauser.html
/
Writer for ->/ Australian Amiga Gazette, new national Oz Amiga mag
/ www.pnc.com.au/~mother/AAG.html (for details)
/
alias ->/ Also known on the IRC channels as "TwoTone"
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A L A D D I N 4 D A N D I M A G E F X D E A L
17 June, 1997
For Immediate Release
Contact: Bob Fisher
Nova Design, Inc.
1910 Byrd Ave, Suite 204
Richmond, VA 23230
Tel: 804-282-5868
Fax: 804-282-3768
Aladdin 4D 5.0, perhaps one of the most anticipated upgrades to a
consumer 3D package on the Amiga, is scheduled to ship in July! Nova
Design is currently taking advance orders for this highly anticipated
upgrade. Aladdin 4D is the Amiga's fastest 3D animation package for
and it even comes with advanced tools like volumetric gases and
particle systems!
Here's a small taste of just some of the new features we've been
working on in the past months for Aladdin 4D:
o No more dongle copy protection!
o All-new AmigaDOS 2.1/3.1 style interface! Completely configurable
interface has been redesigned to make using the Aladdin 4D modeling
and animation system easier to use than ever before!
o Supports all Amiga display modes, CyberGraphX, Toaster, DCTV and
more.
o Full support for integration with ImageFX and other packages
supporting the MAGIC buffer sharing system allows you to render images
and immediately post process them.
o Spotlights! Negative lights! Configurable photo-realistic soft
shadows!
o Two configurable lens flare systems!
o Video Toaster and Lightwave compatibility means that you can load
and save Toaster Framestore images, render directly to the Toaster
display, load Lightwave objects and composite Lightwave scenes three
dimensionally with built-in zbuffer support.
o Hierarchical, spline based, motion paths!
o ARexx support, real-time texture previews, thumbnail image
requesters, interactive help system, multiple level anti-aliasing and
more!
The upgrade price, which includes a completely new manual, is only
$99.95. You'll be getting effectively a new 3D package for less than
$100.00!
Want to own ImageFX as well? Aladdin 4D owners get an extra bonus and
can order and 'crossgrade' to ImageFX 2.6 directly from Nova Design,
Inc. for only $124.95 when ordering their Aladdin 4D upgrade.
Wait! There's more! ImageFX owners can also pre-order Aladdin 4D at
this amazing low upgrade price and get Aladdin 4D 5.0, brand new, for
only $99.95.
These offers won't be available forever. Call today and order yourself
ImageFX and Aladdin 4D 5.0 - the perfect pair!
Call 1-800-IMAGE-69, or (804) 282-1157, to order Aladdin 4D and
ImageFX on this special offer, or fax us at (804) 282-3768.
ImageFX and Aladdin 4D are trademarks of Nova Design, Inc. All other
trademarks are held by their respective owners.
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A M I G A " I D E A " S I T E L A U N C H E D
22 Jun 1997
N O A M I G A T O W A S T E
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
A new Amiga site has been created to provide a place where developers
and users can come together as one to share ideas and comments.
DESCRIPTION OF THE SITE'S PURPOSE
Problems
* A lot of commercial software houses have left the Amiga-scene and
less 'state of the art' programs are released.
* Inspired and skilled programmers have become rare 'cause a lot moved
over to other systems.
* Public Domain authors tend to have a strange habit of
're'-programming the same software tools over and over again.
Conclusion
Make sure that every programming effort provides a final product that
is useful, original, easy to use and up to date.
Solution
An online database that collects ideas, comments and wishes of the
users. The contents can be freely consulted as long as every
programmer reports what idea he's working on and how the development
progresses.
WHERE IS THE SITE
Url
http://thunderstorms.org/NATW/
Email
natw@thunderstorms.org
EXPANSION POSSIBILITIES
Anyone who wants to create an Amiga development specific site, can
contact me. I've got a fully function virtual server at their disposal
(thunderstorms.org). For further information, please contact me at
(gbevin@thunderstorms.org).
June, 22nd, 1997
No Amiga To Waste - Webmaster
Geert Bevin (gbevin@thunderstorms.org)
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A M I N E T C D 1 9 I S O U T
17 June, 1997
Suggested Retail Price DM 25.00 Subscription price DM 19,80
Ordering information:
The most convenient method of placing an order is to use our
electronic order form located at http://www.schatztruhe.de/order.html.
You can also send an E-Mail to stefano@schatztruhe.de including your
address and the products you wish to order. Please do not forget to
include your credit cards details.
----
Aminet CD 19, dated June 1997, contains more than 1 gigabyte
uncompressed) of software in thousands of archives. Since the release
of Aminet CD 18 more than 1000 MB new software has appeared. The
current edition includes the full version of Innovatronic's CanDo 2.5
aswell as the full version of AmiAtlas Pro 1.3.
Contents of Aminet 19
Directory Size Files Contents
biz 30 MB 102 Business software
comm 36 MB 231 Communications
demo 142 MB 87 Graphics & sound demo
dev 19 MB 87 Development software
disk 7 MB 33 Disk & HD tools
docs 27 MB 78 Documents
game 115 MB 251 Games
gfx 70 MB 124 Graphics software
hard 3 MB 25 Hardware related
misc 25 MB 74 Miscellaneous
mods 149 MB 447 Music modules
mus 14 MB 65 Music software
pix 239 MB 257 Pictures
text 14 MB 62 Text software
util 30 MB 283 Utilities
----
Stefan Ossowski -- Stefan Ossowskis Schatztruhe Gesellschaft für
Software mbH
Veronikastr. 33 - 45131 Essen - Germany
Phone: ++49-201-788778 Fax ++49-201-798447
EMail: stefano@schatztruhe.de
WWW: http://www.schatztruhe.de/
Visit our Web site and join our mailing-list.
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S H A D O W W O R K S S O F T W A R E L A U N C H E D
8 Jun 1997
ShadowWorks Software is a new company currently developing Amiga
software to be distributed via the shareware concept. We currently
have one software package, a system utility, with a productivity
application in development. Our goal is to provide commercial quality
software, support, and documentation in affordable shareware
applications distributed via the Internet.
Please visit our support page on the web. From our page, you can
download the latest versions of our software, browse the online
documentation, and read other Amiga related information.
http://www.frii.com/~srk/ShadowWorks/
The Amiga has had a difficult and uncertain past. We feel that the
only chance for success in the future is if both users and developers
are willing to actively support the platform. Accordingly, we have
planned several powerful applications, and we hope that you will
support us in our effort to create Amiga software.
Our current application is BarNone (see separate product
announcement).
Our next application, currently under development, is a graphics
productivity application of a type not currently supported on the
Amiga. There is no planned release date for this program yet, since it
is still early in the development phase. It will be announced on the
"News" section of our website when it is available.
We welcome any feedback on our current application, our future plans,
our WWW support page, or any other topic. We cannot be successful
without the support of the Amiga user community, so your comments are
of ultimate importance to us.
TITLE
BarNone 1.2
COMPANY
ShadowWorks Software
Email: srk@frii.com
Postal mail: ShadowWorks Software
405 Pulsar St.
Fort Collins, CO 80525 USA
Phone: Unfortunately, we cannot currently provide
telephone support.
DESCRIPTION
BarNone is a new type of system controller software for your Amiga.
It can be used to control a variety of system functions. It is
extremely configurable, and may be used as a program launcher, a
graphical public screen utility, a CPU monitor, and much more.
BarNone includes a number of features available for the first time
ever in this type of program, such as thumbnail views of other
screens, even with different palettes and formats. Our support web
page has more information on this application, as well as download
links:
http://www.frii.com/~srk/ShadowWorks/
NEW FEATURES
Version 1.2 provides a number of bug fixes and new features, including
direct support for icons files, new window features, a new serial link
monitor class, and more. See the History link in the BarNone
documentation for a complete list of changes.
SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS
Required:
- 68020+
- MUI 3.8
- OS 3.0 or later
- Hard disk with 1 Mb available
- 2 Mb Fast RAM
Recommended:
- 68040+
- Graphics Card
- 8 Mb Fast RAM
AVAILABILITY
BarNone 1.2 may be downloaded from our support page:
http://www.frii.com/~srk/ShadowWorks/
Or from Aminet directly:
ftp://ftp.wustl.edu/pub/aminet/util/wb/BarNone.lha (367060)
PRICE
BarNone has a shareware fee of $20. The unregistered version is
fully functional, and a reasonable trial period is permitted.
Registration may be performed over the Internet or via postal mail.
DISTRIBUTABILITY
BarNone is freely distributable shareware. It is Copyright 1997
ShadowWorks Software.
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C H E C K H T M L A V A I L A B L E
8 Jun 1997
TITLE
CheckHTML
VERSION
1.3
RELEASE DATE
03.06.1997
AUTHOR
Kai Hofmann (i07m@informatik.uni-bremen.de)
(http://www.informatik.uni-bremen.de/~i07m/)
DESCRIPTION
CheckHTML checks whether a HTML document is conforming with the
HTML (3.2) DTD. This will be done by using the sgmls parser from
James Clark, the HTML DTD and a small Shell script.
CheckHTML can verify HTML 3.2 and HTML 2.0 documents. Newer HTML
versions can be easily supported by placing the new DTD into the
'sgml:' directory and adding their public identifier to the 'CATALOG'
file. The upcoming XML standard could be easily supported the same
way!
NEW FEATURES
- Improved documentation
- Added some @{AMIGAGUIDE} V40 features to the documentation
- Improved installer script
- Added CountStrings
- Added SelectString
- CheckHTML now asks for (multiple) files when started without
arguments
- Added German documentation
- HTML 3.2 Final DTD
AVAILABILITY
http://www.informatik.uni-bremen.de/~i07m/amiga/CheckHTML.html
ftp://wuarchive.wustl.edu/pub/aminet/comm/www/CheckHTML.lha
And all other Aminet sites.
SEE ALSO
- Aminet:dev/lang/sgmls.lha
- The SGML Handbook, Charles F. Goldfarb
- ISO 8879 (Standard Generalized Markup Language), International
Organization for Standardization
- http://www.w3c.org
PRICE
This is Freeware!
DISTRIBUTION
SGMLUG hereby grants to any user: (1) an irrevocable royalty-free,
worldwide, non-exclusive license to use, execute, reproduce, display,
perform and distribute copies of, and to prepare derivative works
based upon these materials; and (2) the right to authorize others to
do any of the foregoing.
IMPORTANT NOTE
This package may not be included on any further Aminet CD-ROMs unless
authors contributing their software to the CD-ROM, (without mentioning
distribution "NoCD") are granted a copy of the CD completely free
of charge.
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M O R E O N A M I G A J A V A
24-May-97 JAVA On It's Way!
{From the homepage of VaporWare, publishers of VoyagerNG}
Haage and Partner have just announced their Merapi product [see issue
970509] - a JAVA VM for the Amiga computer! Even better, they have
also announced that they will be working with Oliver Wagner to bring
JAVA to Voyager-NG during Summer!
Not only does this mean that a user will be able to run JAVA applets
from their web browser it means that a user will be able to buy and
run JAVA based programs normally developed for other machines - Corel
Draw, Corel Office and even the Microsoft range (Word, Access etc) is
rumoured to be JAVA converted in the near future.
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Amiga Update on the net: some issues available at:
http://www.sharbor.com/amiga/news/ (in html format)
http://www.amigacom.com (in ASCII text)
Australian Mirror Site: http://www.comcen.com.au/~paulm/index.html
All back issues available (in ASCII text) at:
http://www.globaldialog.com/AdventureCentral/AU/index.html
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Copyright 1997 by Brad Webb. Freely distributable, if not modified.
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_ __ _ <>_ __ _ ||
/\\ |\ /|| || / ` /\\ || Brad Webb/AmigaUpdate
/__\\ | \ / || || || ___ /__\\ || bandr@globaldialog.com
/ \\_ | \/ ||_ _||_ \__// / \\_ ||
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