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Amiga Update (1998-01-23)
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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 Gateway 2000, Inc.
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980123
N E W A M I G A P R O C E S S O R C H O S E N ?
N E T S C A P E F O R A M I G A ?
I C O A N O W O F F I C I A L
A I A N D " I N F O R M A T I O N C H A N N E L S "
D O O M A N D A L I V E M E D I A S O F T
N E W A A A A W A R D S S I T E , M A I L , P H O N E
F A X S O F T W A R E W I T H E X T R A S F R O M H & P
P M P R O V 5 A V A I L A B L E
K I O S K F R O M P A X T R O N
G A M A S O F T W E B S I T E M A N A G E R
P A X T R O N A S E R V I C E C E N T E R
A M I R C F R O M V A P O R W A R E
N E W A E M A I L V E R S I O N
N E W A T S C H A T Z T R U H E
T W I N I F F G R A P H I C S C O N V E R T E R
T H E A M I G A I N F O R M E R " A N N E X " !
Editor's Thoughts and Introduction:
Sigh. Sometimes it's easy to write or say something without thinking
it through, and sometimes you don't catch it even when proofreading.
In the last issue I made reference to the new AWeb-II version
featuring Java. Of course, what it features is JavaScript - something
else entirely. Fortunately, the text of the story itself did state
JavaScript. Also fortunately, the ever vigilant readers of "Amiga
Update" spotted the goof and sent e-mail quickly. I'll let them tell
you about it below, in the "E-mail to the E-ditor" section.
This does bring up an interesting point. We do know the difference
here, and I was guilty of "lazy language" and paid the price. But one
can only wonder why Sun used the Java term for such different items?
The whole Java thing can be a bit too cute anyway, especially for non-
computer professionals. True story. Some weeks ago I walked into a
store here in Watertown, wearing a Sun Java T-shirt complete with the
stylized cup of coffee logo on the front. (Heck, like any computer
person I'll take a free T-shirt when I can get it.) The clerk, trying
to start conversation in a salesman sort of way said "Now THERE'S a
man who likes his coffee" then assumed a very puzzled look in response
to my surprised look. I looked surprised because I seldom associate
coffee with Java any longer, despite the logo, and wondered for just a
moment what he meant. Ah well.
In any event, it's to AWeb's credit that they were the first, as far
as I know, to bring JavaScript to the Amiga.
On to current matters - it looks like a processor has been chosen for
the next generation of Amiga computers but what is it going to be?
Thoughts below. We made this our lead story due to its significance
for the future of the Amiga.
How would you Net surfers like Netscape on your Amiga? Some probably
would, others probably wouldn't touch it. Anyway, it's now a real
possibility.
Last issue we told you about the source code for "Doom" being put
into the public domain. We just received a press release from Alive
Mediasoft who were working on a commercial version based on the PD
code, with some Amiga enhancements of their own. The project has been
abandoned - details in the press release. Note: we publish it just as
written. We apologize in advance if anyone takes offense at a phrase
which could be interpreted as insensitive to Chinese readers. After
much thought, we didn't feel we should either edit the line or not run
the press release, so we left it. We don't believe any offense was
intended but understand others might not agree.
There are many other items for you to read this time also. Enjoy!
Brad Webb,
Editor
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N E W A M I G A P R O C E S S O R C H O S E N ?
According to information widely posted on the Internet, the German
Amiga electronic magazine "AmigaPlus" will carry an interview with
Petro Tyschtshenko in its March issue. In this interview, Petro T.
states that Amiga Incorporated has chosen the processor for the next
generation of Amiga computers. While he can't identify the chip, he
does state it is made by Motorola and follows on ideas current in the
Amiga community. That of course makes one think of the Power PC
immediately.
There is another possibility, and that's the Coldfire RISC processor.
This product is intended for embedded applications, that is, products
where there's a CPU under the hood but it's not necessarily apparent
to the customer. Coldfire might be looked at since a design goal for
Coldfire was the ability to run 68000 code on at least some of the
chips in this family of processors.
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E-MAIL TO THE E-DITOR
Here you said it has JAVA, which certainly should be big news, but
then I see this...
> New in this version (compared with AWeb 3.0b)
> * Fixed bugs:
> * FTP didn't work with INet-225.
> * Added support for JavaScript 1.1.
JavaScript? I don't know if you're aware of this, but JavaScript is
not Java! JavaScript is only a small script language. Java means a
JVM, a Java Virtual Machine that can execute Java bytecode. Completely
different things!
In Amiga terms, Javascript is roughly equivalent to ARexx. But Java
is equivalent to C++ and UAE put together. If you say AWeb-II has
Javascript, so that means it supports Java, that's like saying OS/2
has Rexx, so that means it can run Amiga software. It just don't work
that way!
--
Tony Belding
............................
AWeb II 3.1 has JavaScript, not Java. Entirely different things :)
Harv Laser | "Do you recognize the
harv@amigazone.com | Bell of Truth when you
http://www.amigazone.com | hear it ring?"
A1200/030, A2500/060, CDTV :) | - Leon Russell
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N E T S C A P E F O R A M I G A ?
22 Jan 1998
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. (January 22, 1998) -- Netscape Communications
Corporation (NASDAQ: NSCP) today announced bold plans to make the
source code for the next generation of its highly popular Netscape
Communicator client software available for free licensing on the
Internet. The company plans to post the source code beginning with the
first Netscape Communicator 5.0 developer release, expected by the end
of the first quarter of 1998. This aggressive move will enable
Netscape to harness the creative power of thousands of programmers on
the Internet by incorporating their best enhancements into future
versions of Netscape's software. This strategy is designed to
accelerate development and free distribution by Netscape of future
high-quality versions of Netscape Communicator to business customers
and individuals, further seeding the market for Netscape's enterprise
solutions and Netcenter business.
{Netscape Communicator includes the Netscape Navigator browser. Brad}
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I C O A N O W O F F I C I A L
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
The Temporary Steering Committee takes great pleasure in announcing
the official formation of the Industry Council for Open Amiga (ICOA).
The ICOA is a non-profit organization registered with the state of
South Dakota in the United States, chartered for operations worldwide.
We wish to take this opportunity to thank Amiga Incorporated for their
invaluable legal and financial assistance in making this possible and
look forward to working closely with them to bring the pleasure of
using Amiga technology to millions of consumers around the globe.
There are still some administrative matters to be completed before
the ICOA is fully in operation. We are committed to our our promise of
a fully functional ICOA as soon as possible; therefore, within the
next few days, a membership form will be available on the ICOA web
site to allow individual developers and development companies to
submit membership applications. These initial applications will be
processed and assessed by the TSC (acting as a temporary membership
committee) according to our Bylaws. No membership dues will be
required until the financial foundation of the ICOA is in place. At
that time all members will be given the option of paying their dues or
leaving the ICOA.
We feel that this method will allow potential members to join and
experience membership in the ICOA without the initial financial
commitment. Of course, until dues are assesed, work on the ICOA-net
and some services will be delayed.
We expect to begin processing membership applications by the February
1st. As soon the ICOA has 100 members, elections for the Steering
Committee will begin. The elections will be run by the Election
Working Group Manager, who will serve as the Election Officer for the
first elections. The elections will consist of a two week nomination
period, a two week campaign period for the nominees who accept their
nominations and are placed on the ballot, followed by an election
period lasting seven days. Our goal is to have a new Steering
Committee by the St Louis Amiga show.
The method for selecting the user representative is being worked on
and we hope to have our user representative in place by the time the
dev elopers representatives are elected.
Please check the ICOA web site every few days for the membership form
- http://www.netreach.net/~fleecy/icoa/
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A I A N D " I N F O R M A T I O N C H A N N E L S "
January 9th, 1998
Amiga, Inc. Announces Information Channels for Amiga Users
From: Amiga, Inc.
The Amiga community has grown stronger and more unified over the past
few months. This is in large part due to the efforts of special users
that recognize the benefits of cooperation and activism on the part of
the Amiga and its community.
One example of this hard work and determination is what created the
User Group Network. This Network, organized and maintained by the
North Alabama Society of Amiga Users (NASAU), is a tool to reach as
many users as possible. The average Amiga User does not necessarily
have the luxury of the Internet, or even a magazine subscription. User
groups have always been a place where friends meet and help each
other.
Amiga, Inc. hopes to increase the enrollment of existing Groups. The
UGN will offer up-to-date information, special pricing for hardware
and software and even contests. Enrollment in the UGN will afford
special benefits to user groups and their members.
I would like to recognize one user group in particular: The
Champaign-Urbana Computer User Group (CUCUG), the hosts of The Amiga
Web Directory. Since I have been on the Net, I have had my browser
open to the CUCUG "New Links"page as my default page to find out the
latest news and Amiga happenings. I am not alone! Because of this, we
have expanded on the idea of the User Group Network. All new
information will be released to CUCUG for immediate broadcast on the
Internet and simultaneously to the UGN for dissemination among all the
participating user groups.
Wayne Hunt will direct all information for posting to the User Group
Network. The UGN is a fabulous way for us to reach all users, whether
they are fortunate enough to be connected to the Internet or not and
we need to support this.
Kevin Hisel of CUCUG and others in the group have done an outstanding
job promoting the Amiga on the Internet! For this we want to see The
Amiga Web Directory continue to be the place for breaking news and
online information about the Amiga.
By utilizing these two, reliable channels of information, Amiga, Inc.
hopes to reach all Amiga users, world wide with the latest news and
information.
Great work everyone!
Darreck Lisle
Events Coordinator Amiga, Inc.
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D O O M A N D A L I V E M E D I A S O F T
22 Jan 1998
This is our final statement on Doom.
We have TERMINATED this project and therefor will not be having
anything else to do with Doom.
This is due to the following;
1. Comunications from ID Software threatening us with a legal action
if we pursue this project.
ID software are under the impresion that we are making an unlicensed
PORT of Doom. This is not the case and we have never made this out to
be so. But people being people rumurs spread and a 'chinese whisper'
effect occurs.
2. Our intentions were for the good of the Amiga and its loyal users.
After several months of trying to contact ID Software with regard to
obtaining a license, without success. We intended selling the Pc
Version of Doom and supplying free with it OUR version of ADOOM, along
with installer and manual.
We had several e-mails from people accusing us of ripping off the guy
who originally produced ADoom.
This is not the case as the source code was freeware and we made a
version that was CD32 controler compatible and which made ADoom run
faster on 030/040 than the version currently available on the Aminet.
(The Aminet version being supplied on the next issues of the UK Amiga
mags.)
We tried to give the Amiga public something they should have had
years ago, and we got nothing but bad vibes from both sides.
The above you can publish on your sites if you choose to do so.
I would like to thank you all for your support on this matter and we
hope we can continue our great relationship.
Stay logged on for some new Amiga Licences as we are currently
negotiating a software deal with a PC & Console publisher to port
titles direct to the Amiga. This will be subject of another press
release as soon as details are confirmed and signed.
--
Yours Sincerely
Andrew Reed
Business & Software Development Director.
ALIVE MEDIASOFT LIMITED
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N E W A A A A W A R D S S I T E , M A I L , P H O N E
Umeå, Sweden - Friday, January 16, 1998.
The AAA Awards have now got a new web site, www.aaa-awards.org, new
e-mail addresses and phone numbers. http://www.aaa-awards.org/
The new AAA Awards web site is now online at
http://www.aaa-awards.org. The new web site is intended to be updated
more frequently. Soon our web-site will be open for public voting of
the AAA Awards 1997! The web site is graciously provided by our proud
partner Arosnet, http://www.arosnet.se/.Help unite the Amiga Community
- Link to us today!
New e-mail
New addresses for AAA Awards Committee members (old ones also valid):
Martin Sahlén, Director
martin.sahlen@aaa-awards.org, director@aaa-awards.org
Tobias Ander, Co-ordinator
tobias.ander@aaa-awards.org, co-ordinator@aaa-awards.org
Mattias Wadenstein, Information Manager
mattias.wadenstein@aaa-awards.org, information@aaa-awards.org
Lars Eriksson, Finance Manager
lars.eriksson@aaa-awards.org, finance@aaa-awards.org
General issues: info@aaa-awards.org
Candidate suggestions: suggest@aaa-awards.org
Phone contacts
Open now is the AAA Awards Info & Suggestion line: +46-90-710020.You
can leave your suggestions and questions by phone! Includes current
information about the AAA Awards.New fax number: +46-90-710146.
What is AAA Awards?
AAA Awards Homepage - http://www.aaa-awards.org/
Acknowledgements
The AAA Awards is copyright © 1997 Amiga Computer Group. The AAA
Awards logo is copyright © 1997 Amiga Computer Group and Björn
Hagström. The national and international AAA Awards are copyright ©
1997 Amiga Computer Group.
AMIGA® is a registered trademark of GATEWAY2000.
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F A X S O F T W A R E W I T H E X T R A S F R O M H & P
HAAGE & PARTNER Computer
The advanced fax & answer machine & mini bbs
STFax 3.0 Professional
STFax Professional is a new commercial fax program for the Amiga
containing the sort of advanced features you would find within
commercial PC fax software. STFax has been in the shareware for the
last few months, and the brand new commercial professional version
offers even more advanced features plus voice control for voice modems
- use your Amiga as a digital answer machine, create a fax on demand
service (ideal for small businesses. Allows your customers to contact
you at any time and use fax on demand to remotely download facsimile
information about your products!) and create advanced voice control
scripts. You could even set up your own voice answering service as you
find when phoning large companies such as British Airways: press 1 on
your telephone to be put through to an operator, press 2 to.... etc.
Why not create your own mini-BBS? Point and click BBS setup allows you
to create multiple doors (with or without secure access), custom ASCII
menus and greeting messages. Allow your user to download files within
a door, upload files and even send you messages via the BBS. Ideal for
the small/home business, family or other.
Full Fax Features:
* Support for all fax/modem classes (1, 2, 2.0)
* Phonebook (store all your favourite fax and telephone numbers)
* Scheduler (store fax messages to be sent at specified times)
* Reports (quickly see when a fax was sent and received)
* Datatypes support for image conversion
* Printer driver to redirect all print-outs to a fax file (print from
Wordworth, Pagestream etc!)
* Viewer for viewing outgoing/incoming fax messages
* Fax forward (forward faxes to another machine)
Advanced Voice Features:
* Use your Amiga as an answer machine (digital messages, unlimited
storage space!)
* Advanced voice scripting - create your own voice network or fax on
demand service
* Use your modem as a telephone (make and receive calls via STFax Pro
and your modem)
* Remote access (listen to your messages from an external source.
i.e. from another country!)
* Caller-ID (see exactly who has called and left you a message)
Your Own Mini-BBS:
* One or more secure doors (access areas)
* Point and click setup
* Allow users to upload files and send messages
* Custom greetings and menus
Price: 98 DM (approx. 59 US$)
STFax is a product of Active Technologies and Simone Tellini. It is
distributed by Active Technologies and Haage & Partner (world-wide).
http://www.haage-partner.com
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P M P R O V 5 A V A I L A B L E
PMPro - The Universal Graphics Desktop Now Available
23 Jan 1998
Picture Manager professional V5 (english) released
At the Computer '97 fair in Cologne the new version 5 of the highly
awarded (see press feedback section below) Picture Manager
professional (PMPro) has been presented to the public.
The german language version already could be obtained there - now the
english version is available, too.
Maybe you don't know what the whole program is about ?
PMPro - the universal graphics desktop
PMPro is designed as a universal graphics tool for administration,
processing and conversion of bitmapped graphics and IFF animation's.
Since the graphics or animation's are displayed as miniaturised
thumbnails on the screen, the user gains a complete overview over all
graphics files on his hard disks, CD-ROMs, etc. and can directly
access these via mouse clicks and may also export these directly to
any other program like DPaint, PPaint, AdPro and so on.Integrated 24
Bit image processing functionality and intelligent image conversion
into other file formats complete the package.
The following list shows the most important features:
* Recursively scans directories and Hard Drives, Bernoulli Drives,
CD-ROMs, etc. for bitmap graphics and IFF animation's.
* Recognises more than 25 graphics file formats (IFF, GIF, JPEG,
TIFF, MAC-Pict, BMP, PCX, TARGA, PCD, IFF-DEEP, SGI, SunRaster,
YUVN and more) as well as IFF animation's (OPT5, OPT7 and Opt8). (*)
* Saves about 15 graphic file formats. Automatic conversion of
graphics in any other file format possible. (*)
* Reads graphics of Kodak Photo CDs.
* Displays up to 80 thumbnails per screen page, depending on selected
screenmode.Displaying of these thumbnails is possible in two sizes, in
greyscales or in colours.Colour mode needs AGA-Chipset or an
appropriate graphic card.
* Supports resolutions up to 1280x1024 pixel with graphic cards.
* High thumbnail-quality by dithering.
* Automatic duplication and reorganisation of image collections.
* Display-modules for AGA, ECS, Retina, Picasso II, EGS, OPAL, Merlin
and CyberGraphX.
* Displaying of all graphics also possible in a window on PMPro's
main screen.
* The use of external image viewers possible, individaully
configurable for any graphic file format.
* Freely selectable screen mode via requester.
* Playing of IFF animation's (Opt5, Opt7 and Opt8).In low memory
situations also directly from hard disk.
* Images can be exported directly to external programs like DPaint,
PPaint, ADPro, ImageFX etc.
* Various cataloguing functions; not only in tables but also in
graphics.
* Possibility to print any graphic with direct support of
TurboPrint.Size of the copy regions may be freely selected by the
user.
* Integrated 24 Bit image processing functionality, containing
functions like:
* changes in brightness and contrast
* gamma adjustment
* changing red, green and blue components
* colour reduction and dithering
* rotation and scaling
* mirroring
* convolution matrix filters
* sharpness adjustment
* edge detect effect
* blur filter
* emboss filter
* mosaic and antique effects
* conversion of graphic file formats
* and much more
* Various searching and sorting functions
* System-conforming GUI and requesters
* In some areas, menus are freely configurable
* Freely configurable toolbars (quickmenus)
* Online Help
* and much, much more...
And here are the news of V5 in brief:
* Integrated WebWizard:This powerful tool allows automatized creation
of HTML pages from a PictureManager catalog. So, now you can view
PMPro catalogs with any web browser, on any platform (MAC, Unix,
Win95, WinNT ...).
* Automatized Image Processing:When converting image collections, you
now additionally are able to let upto 5 image processing operators
automatically be applied!
* Conversion of Catalogs: PMPro5 now also includes a tool to convert
catalogs to different thumbnail sizes or color depths. This way, for
example a color catalog with 144x112 pixel can be changed into a
grayscaled catalog with 120x96 pixel size.
* GFX-Pages: The function Extras/IFF-Pages has been extended by the
function Extras/GFX-Pages.Apart from many choices for layout settings,
you now also freely can select the graphics file format in which the
overview pages will be saved.
* Catalog printing: When printing catalogs there are now many choices
for page layout, beginning from freely selectable row and column
numbers upto various text options and freely defineable bottom lines.
* Preview for Image Processing: The Image Processing functionality of
PMPro now allows a simple preview before applying the correspoding
image processing operator.
* Increased speed and more improvements / Extended Load, Save and
Image Processing Modules
* PowerPC Support: Calculation-intensive loader and image processing
routines have been redone as omptimized PowerPC code. PPC boards after
the PowerUp standard are automatically recognized.
(*) the number of supported graphics file formats of course
increased, too - we just listed the most important ones
Hardware requirements
Amiga with at least 3 MB RAM, OS 2.1 or greater, Hard
Disk.Recommended is at least 4 MB FAST RAM; when working with 24 Bit
graphics 8MB FAST memory may be necessary.
What the press had to say about Picture Manager professional V4/5
Amiga Format (1/98): Gold Award, 92 percent (V4)
Amiga Plus: Award 1996 (V4), Award 1997 (V5)
CU Amiga (1/98): over 80 percent (V4)
Amiga Informer (#10): A- rating V4)
Amiga special (2-3/98): [best rating] "sehr gut" (V5)
Where it can be obtained from
- ENGLISH version: Blittersoft
6 Drakes Mews
Crownhill Industry
Milton Keynes, MK8 OER Voice: +44-(0)1908-261466
United Kingdom Fax: +44-(0)1908-261488
Blittersoft WWW page: http://www.blittersoft.com/pmpro.htm
Blittersoft: sales@blittersoft.com
Pricing: 39.95 UKP (ask for upgrade pricing)
Dealers welcome. Ask for conditions.
GTI Grenville Trading International
Carl-Zeiss-Strasse 9
D-79761 Waldshut-Tiengen Voice: +49-(0)7741-83040
Germany Fax: +49-(0)7741-830438
GTI WWW page: http://www.grentrade.com/homeami.htm
GTI: amiga@grentrade.com
Dealers only. Ask for conditions.
- GERMAN version: IrseeSoft SPCS
Meinrad-Spieß-Platz 2
D-87660 Irsee Voice: +49-(0)8341-74327
Germany Fax: +49-(0)8341-12042
IrseeSoft WWW page: http://www.irseesoft.com
IrseeSoft: mail@irseesoft.com
Pricing: 129,- DM (you will receive an upgrade pricing offer)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
K I O S K F R O M P A X T R O N
Paxtron Announces 'Access' - The Ultimate Kiosk System
January 21, 1998
We are pleased to announce that Paxtron Corporation has been granted
exclusive distribution rights in North America under licensing from
Amiga International through Access Information Systems. Access is a
newly licensed Amiga 1200 cloned motherboard specifically designed for
kisoks and is 100% Amiga compatible.
The Access computer is a low cost Corporate Multimedia delivery
platform (kiosks, advertising displays, etc.) based on the Amiga Chip
Set and Operating System. In addition to the standard Amiga
specification, the Access has connectivity options, CD-ROM and floppy
disk drive. The design is flexible so that a range of motherboards can
be built which have 90% common parts, mount in the same case, can be
flexibly manufactured using computer controlled production equipment
and therefore allow rapid delivery of small batches at an economical
price.
The motherboard, when fitted with its mounting frame and floppy disk
drive, fits into a standard 5 1/4" drive bay. The mounting method is
extremely flexible and allows us to mount the motherboard in a wide
range of cases, even in a standard PC case (although its depth of
297mm does cause problems with some bays). The options this provides
extends from its "normal" package with a CD-ROM to a compact 8 unit
tower case for major installations.
The Access kiosk system will primarily be used for the following:
* Education/Interactive training - CD-ROM or Ethernet network
delivery.
* Public Displays - Museums, public buildings, attractions,
advertising.
* Internet access - Integrates a modem & hard disk in half height
case.
* Public kiosks - Interactive product selection and vending control.
FEATURES OF THE ACCESS KIOSK SYSTEM ARE:
* 100% Amiga compatible.
* Motherboard fits into standard 5 1/4" hard disk drive bay.
* Motorola 68EC020 14MHz or 68EC030 28MHz.
* On board 2Mb CHIP RAM, on board 2Mb or 8Mb FAST RAM.
* Base machine achieves 2.3 times faster performance than a stock
A1200.
* IDE hard disk interface.
* CD-ROM driver in FlashROM.
* Standard Amiga floppy disk drive.
* ISA expansion slot for low cost modems and Ethernet networks.
* Sound sampler with microphone input.
* Real Time Clock.
* CD-DA audio input connector and mixer.
* Non-volatile RAM for configuration information.
* Combined MPEG1 and Genlock option.
The Access system is available two different ways.
The basic unit is the motherboard and brackets and includes:
* Motorola 68EC020 processor running at 14 MHz.
* On board total 8Mb.
* IDE Hard disk interface and cable.
* CDFS in FlashROM, including support for LS120 drives.
* Standard Amiga floppy disk drive.
* Sound sampler with microphone input.
* Real Time Clock.
* 1kb Non-volatile RAM for configuration information.
* Mounting brackets for 5 1/4" slot.
* Front bezel and rear bracket.
The full Access unit includes all of the above plus an
enclosure/cabinet with a 110 volt power supply. 3 1/2" hard disk
mounting bracket is also supplied.
Other options are:
* 1.2 Gb hard drive
* 3 1/2" hard drive
* 8 Mb FASTRAM upgrade
* 16 speed CD-ROM
* 68030 upgrade
* MPEG1/Genlock
* Workbench 3.1 disk set and manual.
[Access and its operating system are under license from Amiga
International]
For full pricing information on everything Paxtron performs, visit
our website at "http://www.paxtron.com/".
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G A M A S O F T W E B S I T E M A N A G E R
GamaSoft Introduces Revolutionary Web Site Management Application
January 12, 1998
GamaSoft LLC - Detroit, MI USA
With 1998, GamaSoft's dedication to customer service and innovation
takes a quantum-leap, as we introduce Finale Development's latest
product, WebFTP.
WebFTP is a replica-based web-site management application. Its
approach to site-management employs a high-alititude comparison
system, squarely advancing past other site-management utilities.
WebFTP allows you to do all of your site administration on a local
basis. Then, when the time comes to update the content on your web
site, WebFTP selectively uploads changes using built-in FTP. You may
select the criteria to base the updates upon, including
last-date-modified. WebFTP can even remove unused content from the
remote web site!
Read what Duane A. Leinninger of Chaos Studios said about WebFTP:
"I used to waste tons of time with my web browser, telnet clients,
and FTP clients trying to keep my web clients' web-sites up-to-date.
WebFTP cut my administration time in half. I make changes to my local
version of the site, and WebFTP does the rest."
An application like WebFTP on Windows or Macintosh could easily be
priced at over $100, but the Amiga-only WebFTP is just $34.95 (SRP).
"It's really a tribute to the ingenuity that pervades the Amiga
market! I've never seen anything like WebFTP on any other platform.
The Amiga is a fantastic web-content management platform, and WebFTP
is the icing on the cake," explains Ted Wallingford of GamaSoft. "You
can manage as many sites as you want from one Amiga--all without ever
touching a telnet program or ftp client."
WebFTP is based on the acclaimed ClassAct development system, making
it fast and reliable. It requires OS 3.0 or higher, 2 MB of free RAM,
and 500 K of hard disk space.
For more information on WebFTP and Finale Development's other
fantastic products, please see GamaSoft's home page
(http://www.pantheonsys.com/gamasoft/).
To purchase WebFTP, please contact any of the following GamaSoft
dealers:
Lively Computer (La Mesa, CA)
National Amiga (London, Ontario CAN) http://www.nationalamiga.com/
Safe Harbor Computers (Waukesha, WI) http://www.sharbor.com/
Software Hut (Sharon Hill, PA) http://www.softhut.com/
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P A X T R O N A S E R V I C E C E N T E R
Paxtron Named Authorized Amiga Service Center
January 13, 1998
Paxtron Corporation is proud to announce that it has been appointed
to be a fully authorized Amiga Repair Service Center by Petro
Tyschtschenko.Paxtron is striving for fast turnaround of broken
equipment. The goal is to have products re-shipped within 24 to 48
hours from the time an item is received. The prices at Paxtron are
also very competitive and lower than those of any other non-authorized
group. As an authorized service center, Paxtron buys most of their
replacement parts and chips directly from the inventory at Amiga
International. This in turn guarantees 100% compatibility between
Paxtron parts and your products.
The two Paxtron technicians have had numerous years of experience
working with Amiga products. The technicians were trained in the
special courses that Commodore/Amiga once offered. Paxtron has
equipped their repair stations with the latest (SMT) equipment which
enables the technicians to keep up with the latest surface mount
technology, as well as expedite the repair time.
If you are tired of waiting up to six weeks for a repair and you find
that even when you get your product back it still doesn't work
properly, then Paxtron is where you need to have your repair work
done. Paxtron focuses on keeping their customers happy. If you would
like to take advantage of Paxtron's repair expertise and low costs,
the toll free number is 1-800-595-5534. Paxtron representatives are
ready to serve you Monday through Friday, 9:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m.
EST. If all you need is a little technical support, feel free to speak
directly with the technicians between 2:00 and 4:00 p.m. EST.
A sample of some of the services available from Paxtron is as
follows:
MODEL COST
C64 $35.00 flat rate
A500 $54.00 plus parts
A1200 $95.00 plus parts
A2000 $85.00 plus parts
A4000 $169.00 plus parts
A4000T $185.00 plus parts
A3000 $105.00 plus parts
A3000T $169.00 plus parts
CD32 $95.00 plus parts
CDTV $95.00 plus parts
A600 $65.00 plus parts
A3000 upgrade 16MHz to 25MHz $79.95
A2000, A3000 or A4000 keyboard $35.00 flat rate
For full pricing information on everything Paxtron performs, visit
our website at "http://www.paxtron.com/" and look under SERVICE.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
A M I R C F R O M V A P O R W A R E
Vaporware Announces AmIRC, Version 2.0 Now Available
The seventh public release of AmIRC, version 2.0, is now available!
AmIRC is a client for the IRC Internet Relay Chat protocol written by
Oliver Wagner, also the author of VoyagerNG and Microdot II. It is
*SHAREWARE*. You can register it easily with the included VaporWare
registration utility at any of our registration sites around the
world.
Although AmIRC 2.0 contains numerous more hours of work and thus is
slightly more expensive than AmIRC 1.x, there is *NO UPGRADE FEE* --
your legal AmIRC 1.x keyfile will continue to work. The free upgrade
is our "Thank you!" to all the people who already registered AmIRC
1.x, instead of using cracked versions, pirated key files or
"evaluation periods" of several months or even years. Registrations at
the AmIRC 1.x price are *no longer accepted* as of this release.
Where to download it:
FTP:
ftp.us.vapor.com, pub/amirc/
ftp.de.vapor.com, pub/amirc/
ftp.au.vapor.com, pub/amirc/
ftp.fr.vapor.com, pub/amirc/
ftp.pl.vapor.com, pub/vapor/amirc/
AmiNet, comm/tcp
amirc_20.lzx, 746842 Bytes
amirc_20.lha, 830279 Bytes
(Note that ftp.us.vapor.com has generally the best
connectivity of the listed mirror sites)
WWW:
http://www.vapor.com/
http://vapor.ukonline.co.uk/ (File mirror only)
EMail-Fileserver:
Mail to fileserv@vapor.com>, put "SEND AMIRC" in the body.
The file will be returned uuencoded.
Changes since version 1.69 (previous public release)
(NB: This is a rough guide only - a complete list of changes is
included in the archive)
* Query and channel windows can now be iconified individually to a
"tray" window. Tray window button labels turn bold when new messages
are received, white when a highlight occurs, and carry information
about the number of messages in each window.
* New low-level Plugin API. Documentation of the API is available
from www.vapor.com or Aminet, in a separate archive. An example
plugin, WallChop.AmiPlug, is included.
* Server list is now a ListTree object with subgroups for different
networks.
* Can now use MIMEPrefs to automatically view & save files received
via DCC. Activate the "Use MIMEPrefs to view?" or "Use MIMEPrefs to
save?" menu options.
* "Lag-O-Meter" (tm ;)) probes the IRC server every 30 seconds and
shows the current lag from 0-10+ in a gauge below the userlist. The
Info window also contains the three most recent measurements and the
average.
* Heavily improved logging. All channel and query windows now have an
"L" button to the right of the input gadget, which is a toggle button
to activate the logging to a user-specified directory.
* "Favorites" window added to store the names of channels you use
regularly. Click on the channel name in a window to open.
* AmIRC now uses NList.mcc (if available) for its listviews. NList is
written by Gilles Masson (masson@iut-soph.unice.fr).
* Stronger CTCP flood protection.
* DCC connections now work with Miami's SOCKS support.
* Files received via DCC are opened in shared mode during transfer,
so you can play or view them partially while the transfer is still in
progress (esspecially for all you mp3 freaks out there :-)
* DCC receives now have the options to Replace a file. Both the send
and receive windows have Cleanup buttons, to remove old closed and
failed connections.
* DCCs now show the estimated remaining time of a transfer based on
current throughput.
* Query windows now have an N button to change the nickname the
window is currently bound to.
* Background color of AmIRC's main listviews can now be configured.
* /AWAY messages are now filtered, and only shown once to avoid
screen cluttering when talking to someone who is set /AWAY.
* special "Invite" and "Oper" requesters
* Can now automatically accept DCC Send requests.
* Now sends pertinent information to query windows, such as /nick and
/QUIT messages from that user, as well as CTCP and DCC messages.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
N E W A E M A I L V E R S I O N
22 Jan 1998
AEMail Version 1.43 is now available. It can be obtained from my web
page:
//http://www.calweb.com/~jzachar/
Because of the problems that the AmiNet US site is currently having,
the archive is not available as yet on AmiNet. You will have to obtain
it from my web site. I will attempt to upload it to AmiNet as soon as
their problems are corrected.
My web page is probably the best source for the AEMail archive since
it is "up to the minute". With AmiNet, it can take some time for the
archive to be replicated to the various mirror sites.
Version 1.43 corrects a number of bugs found with Version 1.40 as
well as adding several new features. These features include:
o The ability to filter messages with any header OR the body of the
message (Registered Users Only).
o The ability to filter on the entire list of To: or cc: recipients
o The ability to include the other To: and cc: recipients when
replying to a message.
A complete list of new features, changes and the bugs corrected with
version 1.43 is given at the end of the AEMail.readme file. The readme
file is attached to this message and can also be found on my web site.
This version of AEMail provides certain features only to registered
users (those paying the shareware fee). These features (not available
to unregisterd users) are:
Enhanced speed on message displays.
Ability to use multiple signature files.
Ability to add user defined headers to a message.
Ability to shrink or expand group entries in Address Book displays.
Password protection for separate configurations.
Filtering messages on "Other Message Hdrs".
Filtering messages on the content of the message body.
For those of you that have used AEMail 1.15, you will notice that for
un-registered users, the display speed for messages will return to
what it was prior to release 1.15.
AEMail is now shareware with a registration fee of $30 (US dollars).
Read the details of this in the AEMail.Readme file or the AEMail.guide
file. A registration form is also provided with the archive.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
N E W A T S C H A T Z T R U H E
13 Jan 1998
We are delighted to inform you that a couple of brandnew Amiga CD
Games are in stock now:
Brain Damage Pinball US$ 39.00
Final Odyssey US$ 49.00
OnEscapee US$ 49.00
Street Racer US$ 27.00
Ultimate Gloom US$ 27.00
For further information please have a look at:
http://www.schatztruhe.de/contents.html
*****
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.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
T W I N I F F G R A P H I C S C O N V E R T E R
16 Jan 1998
TWinIFF: New Conversion Tool for PC AND Amiga from PerSuaSiVe
SoftWorX
From time to time Amiga newsgroups are frequented by former Amiga
users - where the number seems to increase since the invention of UAE
- as well as people who have to deal with PCs and Amigas at work and
at home, or maybe sometimes people who accidentally have been
confronted with amiga-specific data or program CD-ROMs.
A common problem of these people seems to be:
How do I get these IFF-ILBM files into common PC programs ?
Well, there ARE some solutions available in the PC sector.
But most don't follow the IFF specifications in all parts (done
differently than e.g. an Amiga programmer would do it ;-) or lack the
ability of handling uncompressed IFF graphics, 24 bit IFF-ILBMs or
HAM6/HAM8.
So I've written a small tool for the Win95/NT/Win32s characater mode
(DOS box), which allows to do all these conversions for you, resulting
in a 1, 4, 8 or 24 bit Windows Bitmap (BMP) file - HAM graphics BTW
will result in a 24 bit graphics always.
So, next time when you're going to send your rendered 24 bit
IFF-ILBMs to someone in the PC world you're able to supply the
appropriate tool to handle these, too...
As a real multi-platform "twin", the program archive also includes a
CLI version compiled for Amigas (OS 2.04 or greater), so that you can
utilize the program from any of both platforms.
That's why this SHAREWARE tool is called (T)WinIFF - you can use the
same keyfile for both platforms, then. It should be available on
Aminet as soon as it goes online again - until then, you may download
it from my homepage:
http://home.t-online.de/home/Andreas_Kleinert/TWinIFF.zip
...and don't forget to visit the homepage itself under
http://home.t-online.de/home/Andreas_Kleinert/
Maybe this tools helps a little bit to again improve data interchange
ability between these two systems - remember:
HAM8 is not "exotic", instead it's just "nearly 24 bit" :-)
--
Andreas R. Kleinert, PerSuaSiVe SoftWorx
Andreas_Kleinert@t-online.de
(Disclaimer: this PC tool of course won't affect our Amiga enthusiasm
- in fact, there are just some nice plans for powerUP (TM) on the way
:-)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
_ __ _ __ _ ____ _ _
The AMIGA /\\ |\ || |\ || || \\ /
I N F O R M E R /__\\ | \ || | \ || ||-- \\
/ \\__| \||_ | \||_ ||___ _/\\_ Section
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PRETIUM review
By Robert Pigford
Originally appearing in issue 8 of The Amiga Informer
©1997-98 by Robert Pigford and Eldritch Enterprises
Pretium, by David Orr, is a checkbook and personal finance management
program. It presents a user-interface that looks for the most part
like a familiar checkbook layout. With Pretium, one can track several
accounts simultaneously, use categories to organize income and
expenditures, print checks, generate detailed reports (viewable
on-screen or printed) and import/export Quicken files.
Pretium requires an Amiga with OS 2.04 or better, and runs from a
hard drive or a single floppy. Though not required, a printer is
strongly recommended. This review was conducted on an Amiga 3000 with
68030 CPU, Amiga OS 3.1, 2 Mb Chip RAM and 16 Mb Fast RAM. A demo of
version 1.1 is available on Aminet as biz/misc/pretium.lha. Pretium
supports three types of accounts: Checking, Savings and Credit.
Savings accounts use no check numbers, for example, and credit
accounts show black for negative balances and red for positive.
Pretium files are Account Groups. An account group is a collection of
any number of related accounts, of any type, that may be open and in
use at the same time. Multiple groups may be set up and saved,
possibly for use by different family members, or keeping personal and
home-business finance separate.
Entering records is straightforward, if keyboard-intensive; simply
activate the desired account window and enter the information into the
necessary fields. Fields are available for the date, check number,
payee, amount, category and memo for each record. The tab key quickly
moves between fields, much like a spreadsheet.
In a checking account, the option exists to automatically assign the
next sequential check number, and the payee and category fields have
wildcard capability using the familiar '#' and '?' characters.
Categories are a feature above and beyond those of a standard
checkbook. Categories are completely user-definable headings under
which transactions are grouped. Each transaction may be placed in a
single category. Running totals are maintained for each category in
the category window. Categories support one level of sub-categories
and any sub-category totals will be added into the parent category's
total.
Transferring funds between accounts (as in paying a check to a credit
card) is tedious at best. Activate the Transfer function from the
pull-down menu or hotkey and a dedicated requestor opens. Transfer
transactions are entered independently into the respective accounts
and not linked in any way.
Pretium keeps an active, running balance for every account. This is
very handy for spot-checking checkbook addition. A 'cleared' balance
is also indicated. Individual transactions are cleared by
double-clicking them, generally in comparison to a printed statement.
Simplicity of report generation is one of the program's strengths,
though that simplicity comes at the expense of control. Reports may be
viewed on screen or printed from any account, group of accounts or
category, and sorted by category within an account. Reports may
contain a single topic (account or category) or all topics.
Transactions may be sorted by cleared/uncleared, date and category.
All printouts are in a default printer font and there is no option to
print to a file.
I cannot comment on the printed manual as my review copy had none;
however, the extensive AmigaGuide help file, though not linked to the
program, was more than sufficient.
Overall, Pretium is a very capable program with enough features to
keep those of us dedicated to financial accuracy happy for years. If
you are familiar with any sort of finance-management software, you
will find the change to Pretium to be simply one of acclimation. This
one earns a solid B+ from this reviewer. Having used Phasar on the
Amiga for years, I found Pretium's clean, customizable interface very
refreshing. Pretium retails for US $54.95 and is available from select
dealers or directly from IDD Software, 204 NW 25th St., Gainesville,
FL 32607. Phone 352-373-9471, Email idd@pobox.com, URL
www.pobox.com/~idd
Rating B+
By Robert Pigford
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Amiga Update on the net: some issues available at:
http://www.sharbor.com/amiga/news/ (in html format)
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
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Copyright 1998 by Brad Webb. Freely distributable, if not modified.
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_ __ _ <>_ __ _ ||
/\\ |\ /|| || / ` /\\ || Brad Webb/AmigaUpdate
/__\\ | \ / || || || ___ /__\\ || bandr@globaldialog.com
/ \\_ | \/ ||_ _||_ \__// / \\_ ||
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