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Amiga Update (1998-08-31)
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_ __ _ <>_ __ _ ||
/\\ |\ /|| || / ` /\\ || A M I G A U P D A T E
/__\\ | \ / || || || ___ /__\\ || -News and Rumors-
/ \\_ | \/ ||_ _||_ \__// / \\_|| (An Occasional Newsletter)
KEEP THE MOMENTUM GOING ||
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AMIGA and the Amiga logo are trademarks of Gateway, Inc.
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980831
T H E L A T E S T F R O M J E F F S C H I N D L E R
A I ' S B I L L M C E W E N A D D R E S S E S R U M O R S
A M I G A I N C ' S H A R D W A R E G U R U L E A V E S
C U A M I G A M A G A Z I N E E N D S P U B L I C A T I O N
F R A N C E ' S A M I G A N E W S F O L D S
V U L C A N D R O P S T W O E F F O R T S
B E F O R E Y O U B E C O M E T O O D E P R E S S E D . . .
W H A T H A P P E N E D T O P I O S
A M I C O N U P D A T E
A M I G A F E S T 9 8 U P C O M I N G I N A U S T R A L I A
C U C U G R A F F L E S A 4 0 0 0 A N D T O A S T E R !
M I A M I ' S A U T H O R O N P I R A C Y
E L E C T R O N I C T E A C H E R 5 . 0 C D R E L E A S E D
I M A G E F X 3 . 2 U P G R A D E R E L E A S E D
C H I L D R E N ' S S O F T W A R E R E L E A S E D
S T U D I O P R O F E S S I O N A L V 2 . 2 I S O U T
P F S 2 R E P L A C E S A F S
S I X T H S E N S E I N V E S T I G A T I O N S O N C D
S A V E O N F U S I O N / P C X I N A B U N D L E
R A N D O M I Z E T O H A N D L E I C P R O D U C T S
A N N O U N C E N E W S R O G U P G R A D E
T H E A M I G A I N F O R M E R A N N E X S E C T I O N !
Editor's Thoughts and Introduction:
This issue is a classic "good news, bad news" piece. There are
stories on two magazines dying and a couple of development teams
giving up. It all sounds pretty bad. Before you bury your Amiga in the
back yard, though, check out a few of the other stories. Read the lead
story by Amiga Incorporated's head man Jeff Schindler, and the rumor
dispelling news from AI's Bill McEwen. That's more communication from
Amiga Inc. than we've seen in a long time. Plus, there are new things
to see on their web-site also.
The material from Amiga Inc. offers hope for the future, but what
about now? Well, before you decide the Amiga magazine marketplace is
dead, read the article by Michael Carrillo. It'll give you a
different view on what's happening with the British publications at
least, and the British Amiga developers also.
Americans know we've got two magazines here we can rely on, both
"Amiga Informer", which continues to grow, and "Amazing Computing",
which has been with us from the very beginning and shows no signs of
vanishing.
One problem that worries us much more than business decisions by
publishing companies, and gets more serious as the market shrinks, is
piracy - more bluntly, theft. That can hurt a small market and small
companies horribly. Read the item below from Holger Kruse for a
current example, one that should make any Amigan using the Internet
very concerned.
On the good news side, besides the balancing look at the UK by Mr.
Carrillo, we have several announcements of new software and upgrades
to older software to whet your appetites. There's enough news, most of
it positive, that this is one of the largest issues we've had for some
time.
Times are tough for many Amiga companies, we've said that before. But
the end of the world isn't here. Not yet, anyway.
Brad
----------------------------------------------------------------------
E-mail to the E-ditor
=====================
17 Aug 1998
Hi there,
I noticed in the Amiga Informer Annex section, the review of Tiger's
Bane lists the old web site address. The new web site is located at:
http://www.LongbowDigitalArts.com/
Also Tiger's Bane can be downloaded directly from Aminet, as
"game/shoot/TigersBane.lha".
I'd appreciate it if you could post this info in your next
newsletter, and perhaps also forward this to the appropriate person at
the Amiga Informer.
Thanks!
-- Seumas McNally - longbow@sympatico.ca - Longbow Digital Arts
-- http://www.LongbowDigitalArts.com/
------
Thanks for sending us the updated site name. We've passed the
information on to the "Amiga Informer" as well.
Brad
----------------------------------------------------------------------
T H E L A T E S T F R O M J E F F S C H I N D L E R
August 25, 1998
It's been a very long and hot summer here at Amiga, Inc.
headquarters. We have been busy and working steadily to secure Amiga's
future. While we have missed the announced target date for our OS
partner, we have continued to negotiate, execute contracts, and work
on our plans for the next generation Amiga.
I can promise you that we have been working very hard. We are even
more excited about the future than ever before, but we are determined
to do it right and this takes time.
One evening at home I was reminded how important doing things right
is. One of my family's favorite things to do in the evenings is to
watch a movie or play interactive adventure games. We all headed out
to the nearest store to make a selection. With our wallet in our hand,
we all stood in front of an array of games. We selected the Titanic
adventure. I proudly explained to our children that the Amiga was used
in part of the production of the movie Titanic. We all agreed that
this would be a great game looked forward to seeing what "adventure"
awaited us at home. And an "adventure" it was!!
We all gathered in our home theatre room, in front of the Destination
PC/TV, and proceeded to install the game. My wife and our four
children were excited to play and the "adventure" began.
We loaded the game...and it CRASHED! Then we noticed a yellow insert,
titled WARNING with a long list of instructions. It had us turn off
features that would degrade the video and audio quality and slow the
CD ROM performance. We carefully followed each step (under great
protest I would like to add). You see, we have a loaded system, with
all the latest technology, and believe me I want to use every bit!!
Slowly one by one, our kids left the room. Each of them saying..."let
me know when you get it running, Dad". Our 7 year old son James was
the only one who sat by earnestly waiting for the Titanic adventure to
come alive. What he ended up seeing was ... black screens with a white
hourglass and his Dad getting ready to throw the wireless keyboard
through the 32 inch monitor!! After two hours of shutting the machine
down and re-booting our adventure was over (before it started). With
anger and disappointment, we put the game back into it's box, to
return to the store. The only thing that kept going through my mind
was "it shouldn't be this way". Just like the Titanic, no matter how
massive, nothing is unsinkable!
It really "sunk" in....why the Amiga is different and why it's so
important for us to reach our vision for the future Amiga and get it
right. Thanks for your continued support and patience, you make Amiga
what it is. Remember, its "adventures" like this that keep Amiga in
our hearts.
Jeff Schindler
General Manager
Amiga Inc.
1998 Amiga, Inc., used with permission
----------------------------------------------------------------------
A I ' S B I L L M C E W E N A D D R E S S E S R U M O R S
August 26,1998
Rumor Control from Bill McEwen, Head of Marketing
Greetings:
I want to thank all of you who have contacted me in the last couple
of days about some new rumors that are spreading through our
community. As I have mentioned before if you have any questions please
do not hesitate in contacting any of us listed at the end of this
message.
Here are the rumors that are circulating this week:
1. The new Amiga will be based on the Intel Merced chip.
WRONG! I want to make this perfectly clear. The next generation of
Amiga machines that run OS 5.0 will typically be media-processor
based. The last time I checked Intel didn't have one of these.
2. Fleecy and I are dating.
I will answer this one later.
3. The BeOS is the OS partner, and they are what everyone should
develop to.
WRONG! Please do not jump at every rumor. As mentioned before, Be is
ONE of the OS partners that we are considering. There are at least 6
others that are on the list. We have narrowed the contenders, and we
hope to have all of this wrapped up soon.
4. Amiga has no plans for the high end of the platform, and will not
have any support for NewTek.
WRONG! Keys to our success are the ability of the next generation
Amiga architecture to be scaleable and work well as a home computer
and the high end with the Toaster and Flyer.
5. Amiga does not care about the QuickPak situation, and does not
care about the 4000 shortage.
WRONG! We are doing all that we can in helping this process come to a
close. The legal problems are between QuickPak and Hembach. These
legal problems started before Gateway ever purchased Amiga. We hope
and pray that this can be resolved quickly also.
6. Jeff and I are dating.
WRONG! It would make Fleecy jealous.
7. OS 3.5 is back and in development.
We are currently evaluating the market needs for an OS upgrade before
OS 5.0 ships. No decision has been made. As soon as we have all of our
information gathered, we will make the final decision and let everyone
know.
8. Amiga Classic is only for those machines compatible with OS 4.0.
WRONG! The Amiga Classic line is for the applications and hardware
that currently run OS 3.1. If it runs 3.1 then it is in the Classic
series.
9. The new Amiga architecture will not be compatible with the current
Amiga applications.
We plan to have hardware and software compatibility for the developer
platform and software emulation for OS 5.0.
I hope that this helps in dispelling some of the rumors. I am sure
that there are more, and once I receive a rumor from more than a few
people, we will get the answers up as quickly as possible. Thank you
again, and I look forward to seeing many of you in Columbus, and then
Cologne.
Keeping the faith,
Bill McEwen Head of Marketing,
Amiga, Inc.
© 1998 Amiga, Inc., used with permission
----------------------------------------------------------------------
A M I G A I N C ' S H A R D W A R E G U R U L E A V E S
15 August, '98
Gary Peake
Team *AMIGA* Worldwide - Coordinator
ICOA/TSC - Press Officer
Joe Torre has left Amiga Inc to persue other options. Being a
hardware man and working for a company doing a software development
project (AmigaNG OS) left a lot of valuable talent wasted.
He will be missed by all.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
C U A M I G A M A G A Z I N E E N D S P U B L I C A T I O N
13 August, 1998
It is with great regret that I have to inform you that the October
1998 issue of CU Amiga will be the last ever published. CU Amiga
Magazine recently dipped into a state of unprofitability, from which
it looked unlikely to emerge. The decision to close the magazine was
taken by EMAP in light of the magazine's overall financial performance
and the lack of prospects for any immediate or short term recovery.
It is ironic that CU Amiga should close as the world's best selling
Amiga magazine, but recently its financial returns have started to
outweigh its overheads. While it has been customary for costs to be
cut in order to stave off the closure of magazines, it was decided
that CU Amiga would be laid to rest without suffering the indignities
of having half its pages removed and the remaineder printed on toilet
paper in black and white. Neither will it be sold off to another
company to be published on a shoe string and run into the ground.
The CU Amiga editorial team were obviously very sorry to hear the
news and would like to pass on their sincere thanks to everyone who
has helped make CU Amiga such a success and so much fun to work on
over its many years of existence.
Tony Horgan
Editor, CU Amiga Magazine
{From the CU Web-site Q&A session:}
Q: So is it time to pack the Amiga away for good?
A: No! Keep on keeping on and we'll see you soon in happier times. We
have been a point of contact for the Amiga community, but we are not
the Amiga, just a magazine about it. New products will go on being
available, and your old ones will work just as well without CU Amiga
in the newsagents.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
F R A N C E ' S A M I G A N E W S F O L D S
NewTekniques TekTicker (Used with permission)
17 August, 1998
For the second time in less than a week, another large Amiga magazine
has been closed down. This time the magazine is the France based
AmigaNews, a well respected publication that has served France,
Belgium, Switzerland, and Quebec for over a decade.
"AmigaNews would have closed down a year ago if it wasn't for the
support of our writers, who spent long hours testing programs and
products and writing articles for little or no payment," editor Bruce
Lepper tells NewTekniques. "They are great people and it has been an
honor to work with them." On Friday, the NewTekniques Daily TekTicker
announced the closure of the largest Amiga publication, CU Amiga. The
closure of these two publications, lack of Amiga 4000 computers, and
recent departure of Joe Torre from Amiga, Inc. (for reasons yet
unknown) is spelling out one of the most disastrous months in the
Amiga history.
Even with all the bad news, Lepper sends words of encouragement to
the community. "I believe Gateway is on the right track and they have
done what they could to help AmigaNews continue," he says. "I would
encourage developers to stay with Amiga, Inc. and ICOA, because Amiga
developers are the key to the success of the new generation and to its
resemblance to the Amiga of today.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
V U L C A N D R O P S T W O E F F O R T S
18 Aug 1998 02:23:09 +0100
Paul Carrington
Two Large Magazines fold and still there is more Bad News for August!
Surely Not?
Vulcans, D.S.P. Development Team responsible for the Amiga CDRom
title 'Almagica Scions of a Forgotten World' have decided to cease all
development of the title due to the economic realities of the Amigas
constantly eroding user base.
Vulcans, Black Flag Development Team responsible for the Amiga CDRom
title 'Caveman Species' have decided to cease development of the Amiga
version due to the economic realities of the Amigas constantly eroding
user base.
Live as Long as you can & Prosper!
Paul Carrington BA(Hons)
Vulcan Software Limited
----------------------------------------------------------------------
B E F O R E Y O U B E C O M E T O O D E P R E S S E D . . .
{Note - this article is from a UK perspective and so will be of most
interest to our British readers, but it should provide some ballance
for Amigans anywhere in the world. Brad}
By Michael Carrillo
Fellow Amigans.
Foreword
Before you read this I would like to state that the information
contained within this posting is as accurately truthful as possible
and I consider my sources to be honest and true.
In short, unless later stated different, the information that follows
is as near accurate as it's humanly possible.
Whilst the news of the closure of CU-Amiga has hit some of us badly,
all is not doom and gloom - the news is actually very positive.
*****************************
CU-AMIGA.
Whilst CU-Amiga was actually the biggest selling Amiga magazine, (60%
market share) it wasn't the most profitable. (more on that soon)
Basically in the recent months CU-Amiga dipped slightly below
profitability twice and EMAP publishing decided to pull the plug
rather than to try to see if it could turn it's fortunes around.
Also the fact that CU-Amiga's Advertising rates were 1/3 cheaper than
Amiga Format, probably didn't help.
Bear in mind that Emap is mainly a women's magazine publisher it only
has approx five computing titles, CU-Amiga, playstation Internet
magazine amongst others. With computing titles making up a small
amount of the companies output, it could be argued that perhaps they
are looking to get out of the computing market altogether and that
CU-Amiga may be the first of the 'casualties' - although this is mere
speculation on my part.
The CU-Amiga staff, are now sadly without employment (nowhere in Emap
for them to go.) I hope someone else picks them up - They are amigans
through and through.
Please bear in mind that Emap is in business like any other publisher
and may have decided that they have to show the shareholders that they
were determined to not waste any of their money on a floundering
title.
*****************************
AMIGA FORMAT
The second biggest selling Amiga title of the two with only 40% of
the market. Published by Future Publishing whom publish 16 other
computer magazines.
Amiga Format is Trading in PROFIT!!! Of the 16 computing titles that
Future publish Amiga Format is well above several of them in
profitability.
The Management of Amiga Format have assured Amiga Format that they
have got the go ahead for another year of publishing. They are also
quite confident that they will be able to extend this.
Hopefully to see in the New Amiga and beyond.
As a result of CU-Amigas closure, there has been an increase of
Advertising revenue at Amiga Format and this will lead to the INCREASE
of pages in the magazine. (From about 108 now, to 124 or 130 pages)
These will be made up from a mixture of extra advertising and extra
features/articles.
*******************************
I have also taken the liberty this afternoon of speaking to the key
Amiga Players in the UK from developers, publishers and retailers
here's what they said.
(Note it makes very positive reading)
Active Technologies
"Yes, we are continuing on the Amiga and are also developing new
software to be unveiled at Colgne'98"
Alive Mediasoft:
"We are staying. Alive mediasoft is EXPANDING we are taking people on
and we will be the LAST People standing on the Amiga if Necessary. We
are committed to the Amiga 100%"
Blittersoft
"Business as usual - we will carry on supporting the Amiga"
Chroma
"Yes, we will continue supporting the Amiga for the time being"
Epic Marketing
"We are staying with the Amiga Platform, We are increasing our
Advertising in Amiga Format and will be producing more advertising
flyers."
Eyetech
"Absolutely continuing to support the Amiga - No question."
Fore-Matt Home computing:
"We will continue supporting the Amiga and very much so. we are
increasing our advertising revenue on the Amiga and we are committed
to the Amiga 100%"
Power Computing
"We will continue to support the Amiga, it remains the most
profitable platform in our product range making up 70% of our income.
We have also recently increased our advertising budget as well"
White Knight Technologies
"No change for us we remain committed to the Amiga Platform but we
will be increasing our direct mailings to our customers and also
increase our DTV business"
Weird Science
"Debating" (but I think they will stay)
Wizard Developments.
"No change - business as usual"
*****************************************
There you have it, take this and publish it anywhere were you think
it will be useful.
Tell people the Amiga is not dead, all the people I have spoken were
very positive about the Amiga's future.
Many Skeptics will say that retailers and developers would convey a
positive message so as to not deter potential customers.
However they forget that most of these retailers and developers are
Amigans and they are going to stick with the Amiga through thick and
thin
An Excellent Magazine has gone but it's not the Amiga's fault. After
all if Amiga Format (with less circulation) can be profitable then you
have to look at the way the advertising rates were being charged at
CU-Amiga.
Also many Amigans have complained about the difficulty in obtaining
the Magazine in certain parts of the uk/rest of the World. (something
which can at best be discribed as patchy)
We are now left with one Truly international Amiga Magazine, Amiga
Format, Please get behind them and Support them all the way!
- Take out a subscription - Today!
Regards, Mikey C
Member: Team AMIGA.
Amiga Yellow Pages - http://web.ukonline.co.uk/michael.carrillo
& M.I.B.
Protecting The Amiga user from the Scum of The PC universe.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
W H A T H A P P E N E D T O P I O S
{We found this brief interview with Met@Box's Dave Haynie on the net.}
> just wondering, what happened to company called Pios, when there is
> no web site. Is pios now know as metabox?
Basically. At the shareholders' meeting on August 19, the
shareholders voted to change the name from PIOS Computer, AG to
Met@box Infonet, AG. The primary reason for this was beyond our
control -- the trademark lawyer PIOS retained in Germany failed to
discover that another company had applied for the PIOS trademark,
roughly two week before we filed.
> And why so change after so much long time spent on Pios One
> development.
Again, it's beyond our control.
> Is Pios One computer project cancelled?
No. However, we are not large enough to do everything at once. Since
the beginning of the PIOS One project, we've been, in some way or
another, either chasing or being chased by the MacOS. PIOS' main
income has been PowerMac "clones" (using Motorola and UMAX
motherboard, and first others', then our own CPU modules). This market
is, soon enough, coming to a permanent end, as there are roughly
25,000 UMAX motherboards left, they're the last ones in the business
of making these, the only with a license, and they are not continuing
in the Power Mac market.
Because of this, and Apple's former decision not to license, we're
caught without a large market product. The PIOS One, with MacOS, could
have had a broad enough appeal to very likely follow up and even
expand on our MacOS business. Without it, we have BeOS and Liunx --
both fine operating systems, but not necessarily large enough markets,
today, to carry us on this single product.
Meanwhile, we negotiated exclusive rights to a unique
data-over-television broadcast system, working in conjunction with the
German telecom group that funded the original research on this. They
approached us about building a low-cost player, ironically very
similar in concept to the PowerAmiga machine we had envisioned while
working for Amiga Technologies.
This is now the Met@box, and it's the product our investors are the
most excited about, thus the number one priority. The
machine-formerly-known-as-PIOS-One is not cancelled, but won't get
additional work until the Met@box work is done, hopefully early this
fall (at least on the hardware side). I have been assured by the
highest level management that there's still interest in completing the
PIOS One. While this additional and unforseen delay is unfortunate for
all the fans of the work we're trying to do with the high-end systems,
obviously building a new system to our ruin serves no one.
> Will be Pios/Metabox interested in AmigaOS NG?
Quite. The Met@box currently runs Liunx, but something like AmigaOS
NG would probably have been a much better choice, had that been an
option. We also looked at using the BeOS here, but Be, Inc. clearly
doesn't understand the licensing differences between a $500 set-top
computer and a $1500 desktop. We couldn't affored BeOS here, and quite
frankly, the networking support in Liunx, more critical than you might
think for the way it handles its unique networking tricks, is more
mature under Liunx anyway.
Most of us are Amiga fans from long ago, still, and we're certainly
interested in the directions that AmigaOS NG will take. Given the
flexibility of the PIOS One architecture, it's quite possible that we
could support any and all CPU/MMC/etc. magic they're planning for the
Amiga NG reference platform. This could give us the first system on
the market, if we get the details in time. Obviously, it has to stand
as a sound business decision.
And as much as I'm sad to delay the One again, I'm also glad to see
the company working to stay alive. After years of stupid management
decisions at Commodore, I'm certainly more than prepared to make the
right decisions, even if they're not the easiest ones for me
personally.
--
Dave Haynie | V.P. Technology, PIOS Computer | http://www.metabox.de
Be Dev #2024 | NB851 Powered! | Amiga 2000, 3000, 4000, PIOS One
----------------------------------------------------------------------
A M I C O N U P D A T E
August 15th, 1998
AmiCON is proud to announce the formation of several key partnerships
for the 1998 Midwest Amiga Expo with Pantheon Systems, the User Group
Network (UGN), the ICOA, and the Champaign-Urbana Computer Users Group
(Amiga Web Directory). In conjunction with Pantheon Systems, the Expo
will have World Wide Web access direct from the show floor via
specialized Amiga kiosk machines. Four stations will be positioned
around the show floor with on-line access to the WWW during the entire
duration of the event. The UGN will be providing live IRC and webcam
services during the event, and the ICOA has agreed to supervise the
seminars and classes offered at this years show. The Champaign-Urbana
Computer Users Group will be holding a raffle during the Expo for an
Amiga 4000 Video Toaster system. Tickets will be sold during both days
of the show floor with the drawing taking place on Sunday. CUCUG
members attending our show will receive a discount price of $5.00 for
single day admission and $8.00 for a two day pass. Members must
present their CUCUG membership ID at the door in order to receive the
discount prices.
Also, in conjunction with Pantheon Systems, the Midwest Amiga
Exposition web site has been completely redesigned. The new layout and
easier navigation will allow the Amiga community to get the
information they need about the event. Potential exhibitors can
register on-line to reserve space, and schedule a class or seminar.
The complete seminar schedule allowing on-line signup for classes will
be posted shortly.
AmiCON has increased show floor for the 1998 Midwest Amiga Expo to
8,500 square feet, almost triple that of last years event! Rental
space will not last forever, so please make your reservations soon!
Expansion was necessary in order to better serve the Amiga community
with as many Amiga vendors under on roof as possible.
In following with the tradition of bringing the Amiga community
closer together, the Amiga Central Ohio Network is offering a 20%
discount to user groups on space rental for exhibiting at the 98 MAE.
As in years past, the 98 MAE was formed specifically with the
financial considerations of Amiga user groups in mind. This is an
excellent opportunity for user groups to make extra income and enjoy
the atmosphere of one of the best Amiga events around at an
inexpensive rate! Don't miss out on your chance to help the local
Amiga organizations grow and expand!
Along with the most prominent Amiga companies and seminars, the 98
Midwest Amiga Expo also offers special events for attendees such as
the Special Interest Group Gatherings (SIGGs). The SIGGs will take
place on Saturday night, after the show floor closes, at one of the
premier hot spots in Columbus, Jillians, right across the street from
the show. The SIGGs will consist of groups like Graphics, Internet and
others headed by industry leaders who will meet to discuss the latest
topics among good food, drinks, and fantastic atmosphere. Take
advantage of this opportunity to discuss the latest trends, rumors,
and developments in the Amiga community. Signups for the SIGGs will be
available during the day at the Expo.
The 1998 Midwest Amiga Exposition is being held at the world-class
Hyatt Regency hotel at The Greater Columbus Convention Center, on
October 2nd, 3rd, and 4th. Tickets for the event are $8.00 for a
single day pass and $12.00 for a two day pass. Attendees are
encouraged to take advantage of the special rate available from the
Hyatt Regency during their stay on Columbus. Simply call the Hyatt at
(800)233-1234 or (614)463-1234 or visit their web site. You may also
reserve your room on-line at their Online Rates and Reservations site.
You must mention that you are attending the 1998 Midwest Amiga
Exposition to receive their special discount rate.
Please visit the Midwest Amiga Exposition web site for further
information. Contact Dave Pearce - dpearce@amicon.org or Ronn Black -
rblack@amicon.org for any additional information, special requests or
discounted ticket rates for members of user groups and other
non-profit Amiga organizations.
Exhibitors may call (614)751-0232 for information or special
requests.
We look forward to a successful and exciting event!
Sincerely,
David Pearce, dpearce@amicon.org
Ronn Black, rblack@amicon.org
MAE Coordinators
The Amiga Central Ohio Network
P.O. Box 18311
Columbus Ohio 43218
----------------------------------------------------------------------
A M I G A F E S T 9 8 U P C O M I N G I N A U S T R A L I A
17 Aug 1998
Announcing the coming "AmigaFest98" expo to be held in Melbourne
Australia on the 24th and 25th of October this year at Albert Park.
With an expected attendance of over 2000 Amiga users to the show over
the two days we know "AmigaFest 98" will be a great event.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
C U C U G R A F F L E S A 4 0 0 0 A N D T O A S T E R !
15 Aug 98
The Champaign-Urbana Computer Users Group (a not-for-profit
corporation) is raffling off an Amiga 4000, Video Toaster 4000, and
LightWave3D! Proceeds from the raffle directly benefit CUCUG and its
fundraising efforts.
The Amiga is a pre-owned stock A4000/040 desktop unit with sixteen
Megs of Fast RAM, two Megs of chip RAM, 340-Meg IDE hard drive, GVP
4008 SCSI controller, two additional cooling fans, and a 3X SCSI
CD-ROM drive. The Video Toaster 4000 and LightWave3D are brand-new,
still-in-the-shrinkwrap items.
The A4000 system has been fully inspected and is in great shape.
Monitor not included. This high-performance Amiga computer could be
yours for as little as US$10.00!
Raffle tickets are just US$10.00 each. Details about buying tickets
may be obtained from the CUCUG web site at:
http://www.cucug.org/amiga/raffle.html
Buy as many as you can to increase your chances of being the raffle
winner! You need not be present to win.
CUCUG will be attending AmiCON's 3rd annual Midwest Amiga Exposition,
held in Columbus, Ohio on October 2nd, 3rd and 4th, 1998. Tickets will
be available for purchase via the CUCUG representatives on-hand at the
show. We will be drawing for the winner on October 4th, approximately
1 hour prior to the show's close.
Confirmation of ticket orders will be made via e-mail. There will be
information within the confirmation e-mail on where to mail the amount
due on ticket purchases.
Don't delay--reserve your tickets right now!
For complete rules see the CUCUG web site.
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M I A M I ' S A U T H O R O N P I R A C Y
{What follows was excerpted from a note Holger Kruse posted to a
pirate in the Amiga newsgroups. This should be sobering reading for
anyone who uses an Amiga. Brad.}
Funny thing... Just today I was wondering (again) whether it makes
sense to expand, hire a programmer or two, and release Amiga
software, or whether I should scale Amiga development down, and move
to other more lucrative areas. One planned Amiga project (ppp-dial-in
module for Miami Deluxe) has already been put on indefinite hold
because of excessive piracy. Morons like you make such strategic
decisions really easy...
Miami 3.2 and Miami Deluxe 1.0 will be released soon. After that
I don't know. The more widely pirated versions of Miami and Miami
Deluxe are spread and used the less likely it is that there will be
a Miami 4.0, a Miami Deluxe 2.0 or PPC versions. Chances are slim
already unless piracy decreases very significantly very soon.
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E L E C T R O N I C T E A C H E R 5 . 0 C D R E L E A S E D
26 August 1998
W.F.M.H. is proud to announce the forthcoming all-new release of its
multimedia language tutor, Electronic Teacher. Version 5 is expected
to be released on September 01, 1998.
Electronic Teacher is a foreign language tutor, covering all aspects
of learning the English language -- vocabulary, idioms, grammar
structures, spelling, and even *pronunciation*! Using Electronic
Teacher is a pleasant and entertaining experience, yet quite
effective.
The key to learning with Electronic Teacher is that YOU control the
direction of your learning experience -- grammar excercises,
vocabulary excercises, and lessons are available from the program's
main menu. When you're ready to guage your progress, simply select the
appropriate progress test in the same manner. The online grammar help
is constructed in the same way to provide a consistent structure to
your learning environment.
Electronic Teacher is high quality multimedia software for the Amiga
line of computers. Its major features are:
Over 200 exercises
Multilanguage, expandable exercises and user interface
Almost 3 hours of high quality (16 bit / 44KHz) audio tracks
1000 illustrations (in both 16 and 256 colour formats)
native speakers' sampled speech
context-sensitive grammar help
works on any Amiga equipped with OS2.0 or better
minimal hardware requirements
fully follows Amiga Style Guide
fully configurable
supports graphic cards (via CyberGrapX or Picasso96)
supports sound cards (via AHI system)
For more information, screenshots and more, please visit Electronic
Teachers' home pages at: http://amiga.com.pl/eteacher/
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I M A G E F X 3 . 2 U P G R A D E R E L E A S E D
20 Aug 1998
Nova Design, Inc., producers of the award winning ImageFX package and
the highly received Aladdin 4D package, are proud to announce the
exciting version 3.2 upgrade to ImageFX! ImageFX has been the required
graphics application for all Amiga owners and has been a part of Video
Toaster/Flyer owner's toolkits for years. Combining painting, image
file format conversion, image processing, and special effects, ImageFX
is the undisputed leader in graphics manipulation on the Amiga.
When ImageFX 3.0 was released, it brought the first implementation of
real image layers compositing technology to the Amiga. This came with
a vastly enhanced user interface, larger previews, multiple image
windows, faster redraws, and child menus. Photoshop file format import
and exporting was added and the ability to work directly with
color-mapped (CMAP) images! ImageFX, true to its name, also added new
effects such as Pagecurler, plasma Clouds, particle pixel Scatter,
image Splash, and the amazing FXForge for creating hundreds of new
effects.
Highlights of the new ImageFX
The newest release of ImageFX is version 3.2. This release has
virtually eliminated any reported problems experienced by users in
previous releases and has added many new features as well.
The new features include support for more BMP and JPEG image file
subformats, support for images saved from the Brilliance paint
program, and minor updates to the IMP batch processor for ImageFX.
Many new Arexx commands have been added as well, a new control has
been added to the Layer Manager, and for owners of pressure sensitive
drawing tablets ImageFX now supports pressure in the airbrush painting
tool. Major work was also done to enhance the operation of ImageFX's
region masks as well!
Support for older Hewlett Packard SCSI Scanjet models was added along
with many overall enhancements to this module, which include better
previews. The Epson scanner module has been improved, but development
of support for the Epson Perfection 600 model was dropped when Epson
discontinued this model.
Ordering the Upgrade
The best news of all is that owners of ImageFX 3.0 through 3.1c can
download a free patch to upgrade to ImageFX 3.2 from the Nova Design,
Inc. FTP site at
ftp://ftp.novadesign.com/pub/imagefx/Official_Upgrades at any time.
The patch is also available on diskettes for $10 plus shipping. ($5 in
the continental US, $10 elsewhere)
Upgrades from the older ImageFX 2.0 through 2.6 releases is only
$79.95 plus shipping. Versions of ImageFX prior to 2.0 can be upgraded
for only $124.95 plus shipping.
You can order via 1-800-IMAGE-69 in the US and Canada or call (804)
282-1157 elsewhere. Orders can also be faxed to (804) 282-3768 or
mailed to the Nova Design, Inc., 1910 Byrd Avenue, Suite 204,
Richmond, VA 23230 USA, Attention: Upgrades
ImageFX is also available new, worldwide, through your local Amiga
dealer or via mail order at a suggested retail price of $349.95 US.
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C H I L D R E N ' S S O F T W A R E R E L E A S E D
Alive Kids - Adiboo is Latest Release From Alive Mediasoft
How many of you out there have kids? How many of you are frustrated
at the lack of childrens software available on the Amiga? Well don't
despare we have the answer.
Alive kids - Adiboo is a state-of-the-art piece of childrens
software. Join Adiboo in his magical wonderland where you can read,
count draw, invent, play and explore! Meet his crazy friends where
your kids will learn lots and have hours of fun.
Adiboo comes on 2 CDs. The first CD is for 4-7 year olds. It features
10 great discovery activities to learn through play.
These include:
Puzzles - put the jigsaw together to hear a song! Flower Garden -
water and care for your flowers and watch them grow! Painting Game -
extremely easy to use paint package to draw, colour and print your
pictures! Cartoon Creation - create your very own cartoon with ready
made scenery & characters! Portrait Game - test your memory and
re-create a face by picking out a certain nose, eyes etc..! Kitchen -
Make cakes with the ingrediants in the game or print the receipe and
make it for real! And much much more...
The 2nd CD is for 6-7 year olds. This features "I can read" and "I
can count" "I can read" has 15 varied activities to develop memory,
understanding, reading and writing skills. "I can count" has 15
activities in 3 difficulty levels to develop numeration, counting and
ordering skills.
Adiboo has a specially designed interface to make it as easy as
possible for children to use it un aided. For example, in the drawing
package, you only need click the mouse once and it will draw
continuosly until you press it again. This is essential for small
hands so they don't have to keep the button pressed whilst drawing. A
full tutorial is provided at the start of each game courstesy of your
friend - Adiboo. He talks you through each game in detail and
describes what every icon is for. There is also a friendly worm to
help you out if you get stuck.
Adiboo has been developed with full teachers support so you can feel
safe in the knowledge that your child is being taught according to the
national curriculum.
Alive Kids Adiboo comes packaged in a big gift box containing both
CD's, full colour manual and a free activity book and colouring
crayons.
This is a complete conversion of the Macintosh version onto the
Amiga. Minimum specification required is Amiga '040 or PPC, 8mb,
Hard-drive and CDrom.
Adiboo runs in 256 colour in a 640 x 480 screen. We recommend that
you use a gfx card but it`s not essential.
Alive kids software will revolutionise childrens software on the
Amiga. Never again will the Amiga be left behind by other platforms -
we've had the capabilities for years and now we have the software.
Adiboo is fully upgradable by way of future upgrades and add-ons.
No price has been confirmed as yet.
More details about Adiboo and other releases can be found in our 16
page Autumn/Winter adition catalogue. This is going out to over 4000
readers in the next few weeks. If you aren't on our mailing list and
would like to receive your free catalogue with the full 14 game review
section then send us your snail-mail address today - don't miss out!
Alive Mediasoft Ltd
PO Box 940
Nottingham
NG17 7FA
Tel/Fax: 01623 467 579
Email: StevenAlive@innotts.co.uk
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S T U D I O P R O F E S S I O N A L V 2 . 2 I S O U T
27 August, 1998
Use Studio v2 to get the most out of your printer. Studio includes
powerful Amiga Workbench drivers for use with your application.
Additional software allows printing of images directly from disk in
8-Bit or 24-Bit precision. Studio is directly supported by various
printer manufacturers and always includes drivers for their latest
printers.
Studio v2 introduces the first professional Color Management System
(CMS) on the Amiga ensuring that printer colors match your screen
colors or any other type of source. The system can easily be
calibrated using a scanner. Many printer calibration files are already
included.
The included printing application allows printing of image formats
like IFF ILBM, TIFF, PNG, JPEG, OS 3 Datatypes, and many more. Images
are printed from disk without the need for much memory.
More than 54 of the latest dither methods are supported. Studio
printer software provides you with many image enhancement functions on
a mouse click: blur, sharpen, automatic contrast anhancement, mirror,
invert, and many more.
Features:
o Includes powerful Workbench printer drivers for DeskJets,
LaserJets, all PCL compatible with up to 1200dpi, Canon Bubble Jets,
Epson Stylus/Photo and most 24-pin printers
o Full control of your printer's features
o Setup software for the latest LaserJet, Epson, Canon and Panasonic
printers.
o Prints with up to 8-bit or 24-bit precision, calculations are made
in up to 96-bit
o 54 of the latest dither methods are supported
o Offers the first Color Management System (CMS) on the Amiga,
ensuring that the colors printed match the colors on your screen
o Easy greyscale or color calibration of the software using a scanner
o External output modules for Canon BJC, Epson, Deskjet, IFF ILBM and
others
o ARexx support
o Plus much, much more...
Visit our web-site to view a list of supported printers!
http://www.schatztruhe.de/files/printers.txt/
System requirements:
o Any Amiga with Workbench 2.04, 3.0, 3.1 or higher
o Minimum of 1,5 MB memory
o CDROM
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P F S 2 R E P L A C E S A F S
27 August, 1998
Great Effects Development proudly presents the new Ami-FileSafe...
it's called PROFESSIONAL FILESYSTEM 2 ! After the failing support and
all the complaints about former AFS distributor Fourth Level
Developments, the author, Michiel Pelt, reclaimed copyright and has
republished PFS2 under the label of GREat Effects Development.
PFS2: the BEST filesystem for your Amiga Improvements over
Ami-FileSafe:
o special price for registered AFS users.
o 68000, 68020, 68040 and 68060 versions.
o Build-in interface for live optimiser. There is no optimiser yet,
but this interface makes it possible to optimise the disk without
taking it off-line. When the disk is accessed during optimisation,
PFS2 will stop the optimiser, which can continue afterwards. A dormant
optimiser can even be automatically notified when the system is idle,
making optimisation completely transparent. improved testing
procedures making PFS2 more stable and reliable than ever before.
o enhanced documentation including programming docs (disk structure
and special packets).
o new versions of all supplied tools (bug-fixes mostly), pfsls,
diskvalid etc. full support plus disk repair service.
o fully Ami-FileSafe compatible.
o early problem detection mechanism. The early problem detection
mechanism detects problems with your disk before it is too late,
ensuring optimal protection of your data.
o extended disk structure to make disk-repair easier.
o Comes on CD.
o FREE Bonus: the awardwinning game Kang Fu, now with extra levels!
Plus all that Ami-FileSafe already had
o superior performance. Up-to 500% improvement over FFS.
o disk are always valid. No more 'validation disk'!
o reliability
o concurrent access without performance loss. PFS2 handles
simultaneous accesses very well!
o easy file-recovery with the delete directory. Getting a deleted
file back never was so easy.
o automatically truncated logfiles. Get rid of those ever growing
logfiles.
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S I X T H S E N S E I N V E S T I G A T I O N S O N C D
24 August, '98
Epic Marketing http://www.epicmarketing.ltd.net has pleasure in
announcing that the English version of Sixth Sense Investigations is
now available on CD.
Although it's been a long time coming, Sixth Sense Investigations is
now available on CD, and we feel it has been worth the wait. The CD
version has loads of speech, this makes interaction with the
characters more life like and funny. To celebrate the launch we are
running a net competition. Closing date is 2nd of September. All you
have to do is go to our web site and follow the links to the Sixth
Sense Investigation page then answer the following question.
How many pictures from the game are shown on the page?
To add some fun, can you remember when we first started advertising
Sixth Sense in the English magazines?. (don't worry you will not be
judged on this question)
The first 5 correct answered pulled from the hat will win a copy of
Sixth Sense Investigations on CD.
Email your answers to islona@dialin.net and title it Sixth
Competition.
Features...
Very long (30 locations to explore).
Many animations to enrich the game.
Interesting and complex enigmas.
Works 100% on any AGA Amiga.
Multiple load/save game features.
256 colours; 50 frames/second screen refresh for super smooth action.
Fast and comfortable user interface.
LucasArts game style.
Zoom of main character.
Multi- language version.
20 music tracks; sound effects.
Full character speech on CD Version.
25 funny characters to interact with.
Suitable for Amiga CD or Floppy
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S A V E O N F U S I O N / P C X I N A B U N D L E
August 27th, 1998 - Blittersoft have announced today that for a
limited period through until the end of September Amiga users will be
able to buy both full versions of Fusion Macintosh emulator and PCx PC
emulator software for the low price of 19.95 UKP plus shipping.
Shipping of this bundle pack will be 3.00 UKP.
The pending PPC modules of both these excellent emulators will
require the full 68K based package, so now is a great chance to own
these versions at a heavily reduced price.
Blittersoft can be contacted on +44 (0)1908 261466, or faxed on +44
(0)1908 261488.
Blittersoft also accept secure online orders on the newly designed
Web site :
http://209.27.18.123/ (Linked from http://www.blittersoft.com/)
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R A N D O M I Z E T O H A N D L E I C P R O D U C T S
August, 25, 1998
Toronto, Canada
Randomize is pleased to announce distribution of Individual
Computer's products as well as the posting of Individual Computers
first complete website at http://www.jschoenfeld.com/. Individual
Computers is the manufacture of such innovative products as the the
Catweasel PC Floppy Drive controller, the Buddha Multi IDE Controller,
the 4 way IDE adapter IDE-Fix'97, and two soon to be released
products, Atlantis, and external audio module, and KickFlash, an
eraseable Rom Switcher. Product information can be found at
http://www.randomize.com/indcomp.html or at
http://www.jschoenfeld.com/
We are celebrating this announcement by providing a great deal on the
Catweasel and a PC Floppy Drive Combo at $124.95 CDN, $82.95 US.
Randomize is also pleased to be providing the monitor solution for
most Amiga systems. The MultiVision ScanDoubler and Flicker Fixer is
an external unit connecting to the Amiga's 23 pin video connector. The
ScanDoubler simple takes the Amiga's 15Khz signal and doubles it so
that it is viewable on a standard PC VGA/SVGA monitor at 31Khz. The
Flicker Fixer version provides this same functionality but also
removes flicker from interlaced screens providing a rock solid
represenation of all interlaced modes. Both units simply pass through
all screen modes above 15Khz. Further infomation can be found at
http://www.randomize.com/multivision.html.
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A N N O U N C E N E W S R O G U P G R A D E
29 Aug 1998
ShadowWorks Software announces the Version 1.1 update to NewsRog,
which provides a number of bug fixes and new features. NewsRog is
the most powerful Usenet software available for the Amiga, providing
features that few other newsreaders on any platform can match.
For a full list of features and example screenshots, see the NewsRog
preview page at:
http://www.frii.com/~srk/ShadowWorks/Preview/NR.html
The 1.1 update is free to registered users and may be downloaded
from the "Updates" section of the above web page.
PRICING AND AVAILABILITY
NewsRog is priced at (US) $35 plus shipping and handling. Orders
may be placed by telephone by calling:
(US) 1-303-659-4028
Or online via major credit cards from either of the following pages:
http://www.questarproductions.com/NRorder.html (unsecure)
https://www.dimensional.com/questar/NRorder.html (secure)
Free NewsRog updates may be downloaded from the Preview web page.
REQUIREMENTS
NewsRog requires:
o MUI 3.8 or later
o 8 Mb RAM & 8 Mb HD (more recommended)
o AmiTCP, Miami, or other compatible networking software
o A 68020 or faster CPU (68040+ recommended)
Only the Amiga version is available at this time.
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I N F O R M E R /__\\ | \ || | \ || ||-- \\
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OloFight is a new AGA beat-em-up game coming from Italian programming
team The Real Ologram and is scheduled to be released this summer.
Judging from the one level 2-player demo they provided, it may very
well prove to be the most advanced fighting game ever produced on the
Amiga. If they incorporate only half the features promised for the
final version there will simply be no competition.
Here are some of the claims of the finished version: over 3,000
colors on screen at once; 10 different fighters with more than 400
frames of animation each; 10 special moves for each fighter; realistic
collision detection, meaning a more accurate hit causes more damage;
100% rendered graphics; one-on-one Internet play; and, a slew of other
features to numerous to list here. Another fascinating point is the
games requirements. Apparently it will be released on floppy and will
run on any AGA Amiga even a totally unexpanded A1200.
I only tested the demo, so from here on out I'll focus the demo only
and not speculate on the finished game. After unarchiving the
olofight.lha file to a directory of my choice, it was ready to run and
required no special installation or setup. Lets just hope the finished
version installs so effortlessly.
Every aspect of the graphics in this demo are stunning and the
background animation of a moon in orbit around a planet is superior to
any I've seen before. OloFight has smooth scrolling, excellent
gameplay, and good quality music and sound effects. The only negative
thing I can say about this demo is that you can't play against the
computer, but beat-em-ups are always more fun against a friend anyway.
This is quite simply one jewel of a demo and I can't wait for the
complete game. OloFight demo was tested on an 3.0 OS A1200 060 with 50
Mb of RAM. Visit the Olofight webpage at www.ologram.com to download
the demo or screenshots, contact the team, or get pre-ordering
information.
Preview Rating A.
By Jerimy Lee Campbell
© 1998 Jerimy Campbell and Eldritch Enterprises
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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
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Copyright 1998 by Brad Webb. Freely distributable, if not modified.
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U P D A T E /__\\ | \ / || || || ___ /__\\ U P D A T E
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amigaupdate@globaldialog.com
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