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Amiga Update (1998-07-31)
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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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980731
Q U I K P A K S U I T - T H E F U L L S T O R Y
N E W C O M P A T I B L E F R O M R A N D O M I Z E
A M I G A E N E R G Y M A G A Z I N E P R O M O S
L I G H T R O M 6 , R E X E C U T E
A M I G A H E L P A N D N E W S I R C C H A N N E L
N E T W O R K C A R D A N N O U N C E D
N E W N E W S R E A D E R R E L E A S E D
H A A G E & P A R T N E R A R E M O V I N G
I N F O M E D I A 9 8 I N B E L G I U M
S W E D I S H S O U R C E F O R T H I N G S A M I G A N
V O T E F O R T O P 1 0 0 G A M E S
U S E R G R O U P D I S C O U N T S
I C O A E L E C T I O N R E S U L T S
Editor's Thoughts and Introduction:
Last issue we carried a short item describing a story in
"NewTekniques" magazine. The story dealt with the problems caused by a
lawsuit against Amiga manufacturer QuikPak. When he read our article,
Joe Tracy, author of the story, quickly gave us permission to run the
entire piece. We are very appreciative of this kind offer, and begin
this issue with it.
We have a number of other things to bring you up to date on; a new
Amiga compatible, a show upcoming in Belgium, important results of the
election to the ICOA steering committee and more.
A WORD TO AMIGA, INC
We were very pleased when Amiga, Inc. launched it's new web page.
Well designed, it provided a welcome home for the newer Amiga
subsidiary of Gateway. Well, it hasn't exactly lived up to
expectations. In fact, it's become a bit of an embarrassment. The
latest item on the news page is dated May 28 - that's not news any
longer, folks. The "Quote of the week" is so old it should be written
in Middle English.
Many a company has launched a web page, then forgotten about keeping
it up to date. The problem with that is it tends to undermine
credibility, and none of us need you to do that. If you're not going
to work with it, then abandon the sections that by their very nature
require consistent attention. Maybe you could get the people who do
Amiga International's page to keep yours up to date too.
Enough of the negative. Read the stories that follow for some
positive news.
Brad Webb,
Editor
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Q U I K P A K S U I T - T H E F U L L S T O R Y
NewTekniques Magazine Special Report
© Copyright, 1998 Advanstar Communications
Used with permission
QuikPak Lawsuit Limits Production!
Amiga4000 Shortage Leads to Major Concerns
by Joe Tracy
(July 3, 1998) A lawsuit against QuikPak has apparently greatly
reduced the company's capability to produce Amiga4000 computers,
hindering the ability of many Amiga dealers to deliver systems. Dr.
Bernhard Hembach, the German court's ESCOM bankruptcy trustee,
reportedly filed the lawsuit in the U.S., with a large stock of
Amiga4000 computer parts allegedly being at the core of the dispute.
According to Dave Ziembicki, the chief executive officer of QuikPak,
who has filed a countersuit, the dispute with Hembach has been going
on for a couple of years. "We didn't want to be embroiled in this
mess," says Ziembicki. Due to the litigation, Ziembicki was not
allowed to provide further details surrounding the lawsuit, but was
able to confirm that the ongoing lawsuit has affected QuikPak's
ability to produce Amiga4000 computers. QuikPak, which once employed
more than 20 people, is now down to only one. Dealers are feeling the
effects.
EFFECT ON DEALERS
According to Dan Sorensen, owner of Clackamas Computers in Oregon,
there was hope for improved business when NewTek announced its new
Video Toaster Flyer pricing. One of the announced bundles included an
Amiga4000 with the Video Toaster Flyer at an incredible price. Since
the announcement, Sorensen has had nearly a dozen people express
interest, but only one system has been delivered for him to sell.
"All of the excitement from the new price announcement at NAB died
when there were no products to sell," says Sorensen. "I'm in business
trying to sell Video Toaster Flyer systems and when I can't do that I
can't make any money."
OUT OF STOCK
Petro Tyschtschenko, the managing director of Amiga International,
confirmed to NewTekniques that there is an Amiga4000 shortage
overseas. "We don't have anymore stock," says Tyschtschenko. "I sold
my last 500 units in Europe."
A swift resolution to the lawsuit between QuikPak and Hembach could
restart the production of Amiga4000 computers. However, the two sides
have not been able to come to settlement terms.
"We would like to continue doing this [producing computers]," says
Ziembicki. "We can't find financing to arrive at a settlement and do
this."
IMPORTANCE OF SETTLEMENT
Yet an immediate settlement would be in the interest of both parties,
according to Jeff Schindler, General Manager of Amiga, Inc. Schindler
says that if the dispute goes on too long, the inventory will be worth
nothing and everyone loses. While Gateway and Amiga, Inc. have no
control over the dispute, "we have a real desire to make sure this
gets resolved," says Schindler.
Schindler also says that Amiga, Inc. is dedicated to seeing the
"Amiga Classic" line continue. "Our hope is somehow that the entire
1200 and 4000 architecture is available through this period until we
get to our 5.0 release," he says. Schindler is referring to a new 5.0
operating system that will be released within the next couple of years
after a 4.0 operating system upgrade this November. Amiga, Inc.
recently reconfirmed its commitment to the Amiga market and future of
the platform through a new Amiga super system that will debut with the
5.0 operating system.
"The next generation will come in November and we will have an O/S
4.0 this year," says Tyschtschenko. "Next year we'll have a new
computer with new chipsets and everything. I think we have a good
product and bright future."
For people dependent on Amiga4000 computers now, however, that is of
little consolation.
"My business has taken a serious downturn in 1998," says Sorensen.
"People will no longer consider Amiga if there are hints that it is
drying up and going away. You are taking skeptical people and scaring
them away from the Amiga platform."
Jim Davis, owner of DVS Direct, another authorized Amiga dealer adds,
"If this issue isn't resolved in a timely manner, we're going to lose
the opportunity to sell and promote these systems."
REPERCUSSIONS
Mark Stross is the executive behind Playable Television and has been
an Amiga supporter for years. At the recent NAB 1998, Stross unveiled
the final beta version of the highly acclaimed Playable Television
system that takes interactive uses for the Amiga computer to the next
level.
With mass-marketing of Playable Television just weeks away, not being
able to get a hold of Amiga4000 motherboards could interfere with the
public premiere of Playable Television, which many multi-million
dollar companies have shown an interest in. While Stross loves the
Amiga platform, he has formulated a backup plan, if necessary.
"Playable Television has always had an IBM plan on the table for two
years now," says Stross. Within 90 days, Stross could port Playable
Television over to the PC, bypassing the Amiga technology altogether.
But Stross doesn't want to do that and hopes that all the sides
involved in the legal dispute can sit around a table and discuss the
problems as a team, in order to reach a swift solution.
"I would have an emergency meeting that would get all the key players
together for an immediate meeting, sponsored by Gateway," says
Stross. "We need a forum right now."
HISTORY
On March 27, 1997, Gateway acquired the rights to the Amiga
technology. The announcement had come as a surprise because many
people had expected QuikPak to be named the new owner prior to Gateway
entering the bidding. In an open letter to the Amiga community in
early 1997, Ziembicki reaffirmed QuikPak's commitment to the Amiga.
In part, the letter states, "Back when Amiga Technologies was owned
by Escom, QuikPak was selected to manufacture the complete A4000T and
components for the A1200. During the collapse of Escom and the
subsequent negotiations with VisCorp, QuikPak continued manufacturing
and servicing Amiga computers. Throughout this time of uncertainty,
QuikPak continued to support the platform, placing ads in the North
American publication Amazing Computing, forging alliances with Amiga
developers and supporters, and developing new products of our own.
Recently, at AmigaFest in Toronto, we unveiled two new computers and
we have been shipping the 060 accelerator for the A4000T. We believe
this product development clearly demonstrates our commitment to the
Amiga."
The dispute between QuikPak and Hembach apparently goes back even
further than the letter. Past press articles even hinted at a
dispute.
"Apparently there is a dispute that exists between QuikPak and the
liquidator, Dr. Hembach, that may require litigation," said Fabian
Jimenez, chairman of the National Capital Amiga Users Group, in a Web
article titled "The Amiga's Future Takes Shape" that was published on
July 28, 1997.
While details of the dispute are carefully guarded, the center of the
lawsuit appears to be Amiga stock that QuikPak was provided with by
ESCOM years ago, in order to produce Amiga computers, which QuikPak
had consistently done until now. Even though QuikPak has a licensing
agreement with Amiga, Inc. the litigation has brought production to a
halt. Otherwise, "We'd be shipping computers immediately," says
Ziembicki.
NEWTEK
The timing of the hindered production couldn't have been worse for
NewTek, which recently announced strategic Toaster/Flyer prices at NAB
1998 and saw a big jump in Video Toaster and Flyer sales. According
to sources within NewTek, the company had secured a verbal guarantee
that Amiga4000 units would be available before making the
announcement.
Even though the litigation hindered NewTek's initial ability to
deliver systems to dealers, a back-up plan has saved NewTek. Sources
within NewTek state that they do have enough units to fulfill orders
even though delays are reaching over 30 days in delivery. Apparently
NewTek does not have any plans to stop offering the bundle that
includes the Amiga4000 system and dealers, like Sorensen, should soon
be back in business.
THE SOLUTION
While Amiga, Inc. has no control over the litigation between Hembach
and QuikPak, it does own the technology and, according to The Amiga
Informer magazine, announced that it "has an approved budget and a
green light to carry out their plans. All the political and budgetary
roadblocks are gone."
According to Schindler, Amiga, Inc. will stay involved for the rest
of the Amiga Classic line, which represents "everything we have today
the Amiga technology now." And while Amiga, Inc. isn't taking sides
in the dispute, Schindler does state that it is "trying to help the
two sides come to an agreement."
For the sake of the Amiga community, hopefully an agreement will come
soon.
Joe Tracy is editor in chief of NewTekniques magazine. Special thanks
to Fletcher Haug, editor of The Amiga Informer, who also contributed
to this report.
This article is © Copyright 1998 by Advanstar Communications. No
portion of this article may be reprinted.
http://www.newtekniques.com
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N E W C O M P A T I B L E F R O M R A N D O M I Z E
Randomize, Inc. Announces New 060/50 Amiga System
Toronto, Canada - July 25th, 1998
Can Amigas be powerful, flexible and affordable? Genesis says yes ...
and the answer is in the ALPHA!
Giving you what you always wanted in an Amiga .. speed, True Colour
Graphics and PC Monitor compatibility just to name a few!
Featuring:
* AmigaOS 3.1 with preemptive multitasking
* Motorola 68060 50 Mhz
* 32 MB RAM optionally expandable to 128 MB
* 24-bit Retargetable 2MB Graphics Board provides 800x600 in 24-Bit
* 4.3 GB IDE harddisk
* 32x IDE CD-Rom
* High Density Floppy Disk Drive - PC format and Mac (with Optional
CrossMac)
* Compatible with any Standard PC-type Multisync Montior
* Windows95 Keyboard Compatible - 104 Windows95 Keyboard Included
* AGA Graphics System included on board
* Video and Genlock capable
* 4-Channel Stereo Sound standard, each 8 Bit DMA
* 250 Watt Power Supply
* Personal Paint 7.1 CD - Full Version - To get you working quickly!
* Full Documentation For AmigaOS 3.1, and hardware
Interfaces:
* 1 x serial RS-232c (modem),
* 1 x parallel (printer),
* 1 x external floppy drive,
* 2 x mouse/joystick,
* 1 x 23 pin video RGB (monitor) output from AGA Chipset,
* 1 x 15 pin video RGB (monitor) output from 24-Bit Graphics Board,
* 1 x video composite (TV, video recorder),
* 1 x RF modulator (TV antenna),
* 2 x stereo audio
System Price - $2549.95 CDN, $1759.95 US
Optional Fast SCSI Controler
- Add to System Price $134.95 CDN, $94.95 US
PPC 603e 240Mhz and Pre-Installed Mac Emulation available as options.
For more information, visit our website at
http://www.randomize.com/genalpha.html.
Genesis, a division of
Randomize, Inc.
R.R. #2 Tottenham
Ontario Canada L0G 1W0
Orders: 1 888 RANDOMIZE (1 888 726-3664)
Technical: (905) 939-8371
Fax: (905) 939-8745
Sales e-mail: sales@randomize.com
Support e-mail: support@randomize.com
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A M I G A E N E R G Y M A G A Z I N E P R O M O S
AMIGA ENERGY PRESS RELEASE
After its successful launch in May of this year, Amiga Energy, the
new UK published Amiga fanzine from
[http://www.infinitefrontiers.mcmail.com/] Infinite Frontiers, is
pleased to announce a number of new developments that have taken place
recently with the magazine.
Free Gifts
Thanks to the generosity of Amiga International, we have been able to
offer free gifts with the first two issues of Amiga Energy. Issue 1,
released in May 1998 (back issues are still available), shipped with a
free "powered by Amiga" sticker. Following that up, we have a limited
supply of the new Amiga Boing Ball stickers that were to be seen at
the World Of Amiga Show and we are making these available to the first
200 people who place an order for Issue 2 of the magazine which is due
for release at the end of July.
User Group Discounts
Following the example set by Amiga International in providing support
for Amiga user groups everywhere, Amiga Energy is now available to any
interested user group at a discount rate for bulk purchases of 10
copies or more. The generous discounts (with free postage and packing)
allow user groups to either pass the discount on to their members, or
to sell the magazines at the standard cover price, raising valuable
funds for the user groups. For more information and a price breakdown,
see the ordering section on our web site.
Subscription Offer
Infinite Frontiers, publishers of Amiga Energy, don't just produce
Amiga Energy. We have been involved in producing fan magazines for
almost 10 years, the most well known being the Star Trek Amiga disk
magazine The Final Frontier. This has also been available in a paper
format (retitled The Final Frontier Phase II) for just over a year in
a similar style to Amiga Energy and as a special offer to introduce
new subscribers to our our work, we are offering a free copy of the
latest issue of The Final Frontier Phase II released 15th July 1998
(worth £1.75 including postage) to anyone taking out a 6 issue
subscription with coverdisks, between now and the end of August 1998.
The free fanzine will be sent out with the first issue of your
subscription, which you can start at ANY issue of the magazine, so if
you've never tried Amiga Energy, you could start your subscription
with Issue 1, get six issues, and still qualify for the free fanzine.
Don't forget to mention this offer when you write! For information on
the subscription rates, and the address where to send payment, see the
Infinite Frontiers web site.
Overseas Orders
Although Infinite Frontiers is a non-profit making UK organisation,
we can accept orders for our magazines from outside the UK. While we
would prefer not to, we can accept UK cash for any orders and we can
now accept International Money Orders in US Dollars for 6-issue
subscriptions.Finally, for those of you in the US or Canada, or who
can get US currency easily, we can accept US$ cash payments for single
issues (we can only accept cash hoping that enough orders come in for
us to afford the exchange rates allowing us to charge just $5 per
issue). Naturally, cash is sent at your own risk, but at least many of
you can now order our magazines who could not a while ago. For details
on all the overseas rates, see the web site.
Online Adverts
As part of our continued commitment to offering a better service to
our readers, as part of our web site we are now running an extensive
free online advertising service. Any Amiga owner can advertise
anything that they want to sell, or advertise for products that they
are looking to buy.A selection of adverts are currently online, with
more being added on a regular basis. In addition, the site offers a
selection of areas featuring non-Amiga related adverts for
Sci-Fi/Fantasy enthusiasts, console owners, and much more.
Issue 2 Release Date
Issue 2 of Amiga Energy is due for release at the end of July with a
full report on the 1998 World of Amiga Show, reviews of Quake, Genetic
Species, Sixth Sense Investigations and much more. The 48-page
magazine will once again ship in two versions - one with and one
without a coverdisk, packed with assorted Amiga software. Details of
some of the contents can be found on our web site.
For more information on any of the above, visit our web site at:-
http:/www.infinitefrontiers.mcmail.com
or e-mail us at:-
infinite.frontiers@mcmail.com
Simon Plumbe and Sven Harvey - Editors, Amiga Energy Colin Gunn -
Producer, Amiga Energy
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L I G H T R O M 6 , R E X E C U T E
The all new Light Rom 6 is now in stock.
LIGHT ROM 6 is a 4 CD set and is the latest in the Light Rom series
of Compact Discs for Lightwave users on the Amiga, PC and Mac. This
series of CDs for Lightwave have been providing high quality scenes
and objects for Lightwave users for many years. Each of the scenes and
objects featured can be rendered directly from the compact disc as all
of the textures and surfaces have been included.
Light Rom 6 contains: The 1st CD is an all new Lightwave collection
of objects & scene files.The 2nd CD is Dean Scott's "ABomb-ROM", a
Lightwave scene file of an atomic bomb exploding that uses over 550
megs of image maps. The 3rd CD is a collection of PuppetMaster
Lightwave files, imagemaps, seemless textures & demos of PolyTrans,
NuGraf & World Construction Set version 3. The 4th CD is "Desktop
Video Collection" with over 550 Desktop Video Images.
Light Rom 6 Four CD Set is £29.99.
We also have the other CDs in the Light Rom Series.
Light Rom 5 £29.99
Light Rom 4 £19.99
Light Rom Gold £14.99
Another New Release available now is
Rexecute
REXECUTE is a fully featured Arexx compiler for the Amiga. Rexecute
is provided on floppy disk and comes with a Hard Drive installer and
full documentation on the disk. With little or no programming
experience it possible to create executables from Arexx scripts and
with the on-line help system Rexecute is a very easy program to use.
Rexecute is £19.99
For more information or ordering please email
sales@weirdscience.co.uk
Regards
David J. Law
for and on behalf of
Weird Science Ltd.
email: david@weirdscience.co.uk
www: [http://www.weirdscience.co.uk] http://www.weirdscience.co.uk
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A M I G A H E L P A N D N E W S I R C C H A N N E L
On friday 98.07.31 the Official Amiga Help and News IRC Channel will
be launched in channel #Team*AMiGA on beyondirc.net (Serverlist below)
The Amiga Community Liason Group (ACLG made up of representatives of
the JMS/TA/ICOA/UGN/Ainc) is proud to present the (Ainc) Official
Amiga Help Channel.
The Amiga Help Team is formed to provide software/hardware and
developer support of ANY nature for Amigans worldwide.
The channel will also be used for online conferencing with topics
ranging from OASYS to the open Amiga system. These conferences will be
announced seperately.
I'm proud to announce that people like: fleecy moss, Dave Haynie, Joe
Torre, Dr.Peter Kittel, Ben Hutchings, Gary Peake, Sam Stickland, Don
Cox, Stephane Desrosiers, Carl Sassenrath, Mario Saittim,Flemming
Steffensen amongst others has offered the channel support.
And I'm sure many more of the prominent Amiga personalities will join
the Helpers Crew.
If any of you feel capable of helping in some manner, please offer
your assistance to Steinar Pedersen (team organiser), email:
steipede@online.no or Mario Saitti ([X_MaN]) (team organiser
advisor)email: saittim@cytanet.com.cy
This is phase 1 of the Amiga Help Team project. Phase 2, which is to
follow very soon, will offer Web based/BBS support. And phase 3 which
is in negotiation now will cover non online support.
Beyondirc.net servers:
babylon.beyondirc.net
irc.snowhill.com
beachin.beyondirc.net
europe.beyondirc.net
irc.dragonlance.com
irc.bloodlust.org
irc.subnation.net
nexus.beyondirc.net
nut.beyondirc.net
sweden.beyondirc.net
port 6667
And the channel: #Team*AMiGA
Steinar Pedersen (IRC Nick Rocambole)
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N E T W O R K C A R D A N N O U N C E D
29 Jul 1998
In about 2 months the new redesign of the Ariadne Ethernet card for
amiga ZorroII-Bus will be released. The price is cut down to about
200,-DM. There won`t be a parallel port like in the old Ariadne1 but
all other features will still be there.
Tech.Spec:
10mbit
TP/BNC
Flashromable (boot over net!)
There will also be a software that makes access to PCs easy.
Any more questions?
Direct them to amigasupport@village.de
Preorder is possible at sales@village.de
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N E W N E W S R E A D E R R E L E A S E D
30 Jul 1998
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
ShadowWorks Software is proud to announce the availability of NewsRog
1.0. 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
PRICING AND AVAILABILITY
NewsRog 1.0 is priced at (US) $35 plus shipping and handling. Orders
may be placed starting on July 29th, 1998. 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)
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.
Some of the features of NewsRog:
On & Off Line Reading
NewsRog supports both on and offline reading and posting. Entire
groups, selected threads, or selected articles may be batch downloaded
for later reading offline. Posts may be composed offline and batch
posted later.
Asynchronous Design
You can start browsing articles even before the headers are finished
loading. You can read articles in one group while batch downloading
another group for later offline reading.
Multiple Servers
You can get some groups from a different news server than other
groups.
Article Prefetching
Article prefetching can load the next few articles in a thread while
you read the first, to make subsequent article available instantly.
CyberGfx Support
Full support for inline 16 and 24 bit truecolor images on supporting
CyberGfx (or other compatible emulation) screen modes.
Easy Browsing
"Single key" group reading, thread smart. Browse mode pages down in
an article until reaching the bottom, then fetches the next article in
the current thread. At the end of the thread, the first article in the
next thread is fetched, and so on. Read news without touching the
mouse.
Clipboard Support
Copy list entries or article text to the clipboard..
Dynamic Searching
Search results are updated instantly after each keystroke! You can
search through article bodies or any header field of almost any list
in the program: newsgroups, article headers, etc...
Custom Article Display
Plug-ins are available to fully control how articles are displayed,
including different fonts and colors. A few of the many features are:
Smart colorization of quoted text, trimming unnecessarily large blocks
of quoted text, hiding signature blocks, colorization of header
fields, trimming of large empty regions in an article, clickable URL's
and email address (interfaces with most web browsers and email
software), ROT13, inline display of binary images, multipart MIME
documents, making *bold text* into bold text, and more. Toggle between
hidden and displayed text, or control interfaces for things such as
uuencoded data imbedded in articles.
Custom Views
Newsgroup subsetting and user defined views. Create a selection
filter to toggle between the "FS:" or the "WTB:" posts in a
marketplace group with a mouseclick. Create another to show all
articles in any thread that you have posted to, and yet another to
show all responses posted to your favorite authors' articles.
Powerful Killing
Kill threads now, and in the future! If you don't wish to read a
thread, you can have NewsRog kill all future posts to that thread
automatically so you don't have to re-kill the thread every time new
articles are posted to it. Automatic expiration of unused kill
entries.
Threading
Fully indented threading capability. Among the fastest threading of
any newsreader, on any platform. Handles changed subjects within a
single thread.
Custom Article Selection
Incredibly powerful article selection and kill capabilities. Most
newsreaders limit you to performing pattern matches on header fields,
but not NewsRog. You can, for example, define a filter that matches
any article that is a followup to an article posted by particular
author, for example. Few (if any!) other newsreaders on any platform
provide as much kill/select filter power as does NewsRog.
Plug-Ins
Plug-in artchitecture to support future display, selection, and kill
capabilities. Includes over 25 different plug ins.
Sorting
Sorting articles, groups, etc. by any criteria.
Timezone Support
Full understanding of posting dates normalized by time zone.
Something posted at 1:00 PM MST shows up after something posted at
2:00 PM EST. Daylight savings time support.
List Customization
Full control over which columns are displayed in lists, along with
their order.
Caching
Local caching of headers so they don't have to be re-read from the
network later.
Rapid Group Startup
Near instantaneous startup of most groups. No more long waits for
headers to load. Even for new groups that have not previously been
read, you can usually start reading within a few seconds, rather than
many minutes with some other newsreaders.
Abortable Ntworking IO
Opened a huge group or started to read a 5000 line post by mistake?
Just cancel it and keep going.
Stateless Performance
Read some articles, take your machine offline, come back online
later, maybe change to a different news server, and keep reading as if
nothing happened.
Network Statistics Windows
Track average connection speeds, # of succeeded and failed
connections to various news servers, etc. Automatically retry
connections if they fail. TCP connection timeouts.
High Performance
Extremely high performance custom string handling for killing
articles based on header fields.
Text Reflow
Smart, proportional font aware text reflow filter. Handles various
quoting styles to avoid wrapping quote line prefixes. Can fix "bad"
rewraping done by other news software - for example, Some quoted text
lines are wrapped badly by other software, but NewsRog can fix them
before displaying the article text.
Incremental Display
The first part of an article is displayed even while the rest loads,
so you can start reading before waiting for an entire 800 line article
to load over your modem.
Multimedia Support
User definable multimedia types and actions.
MIME Support
Support for multipart and even nested multipart MIME articles,
base64, quoted-printable, and uuencoded inline data, lauching
multimedia commands based on inline data type, and more.
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H A A G E & P A R T N E R A R E M O V I N G
29 Jul 1998
Glashuetten, 22. Juli 98: We are on the way to move to a new and
bigger location. It will be in Glashuetten, near the headquarter of
Amiga Intl. in Langen.
From Monday, 27th July 98 on you can contact us at the new location.
HAAGE&PARTNER Computer GmbH
Schlossborner Weg 7
61479 Glashuetten
Germany
Phone +49 - 6174 - 96 61 00
Fax +49 - 6174 - 96 61 01
Web www.haage-partner.com
e-mail info@haage-partner.com
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I N F O M E D I A 9 8 I N B E L G I U M
27 Jul 1998
We have the honour of informing you about INFOMEDIA '98, the biggest
computershow in Belgium. The next edition will be a fact on Saterday
3rd and Sunday 4th October 1998 in Antwerp, Belgium. Last year the
fair had about 20,000 visitors, but the main part was PC related. This
will be different next time: now there will be 2 halls; *one for PC
(organised by Dipro) and one (or more!!!) for Amiga (organised by
us)*. It's the intention to fill a whole hall (yes, a whole one!!!)
with Amiga.
A whole space of 6,000 Square Metres will be used for standholders,
computerclubs, info kiosks, seminary room, cybercafé, bar, ...
Amiga International, Inc. and Stephen Jones (Siamese Bridge Amiga)
have already promised that they will be present at our fair. All the
standholders from WOA 98 (London) have already shown interest in this
fair! We have contacted about 800 Amiga shops and companies worldwide
to join us! There will be held live IRC conference (probably with
web-cams). Like last year there will be *big advertising campaigns*:
on the radio, on internet, on the roads, in magazines papers, etc. Ten
thousands of people will be reached by mail! But we and Dipro will
start a *second publicity campaign, especially for the Amiga*: on
internet (websites, IRC, newsgroups, Aminet files, ...), on radio, in
magazines, papers, etc. We will send special info flyers about the
Amiga gathering on the show to more than 15,000 Amiga Users from
Belgium, The Netherlands and Luxemburg and we will acquaint hundreds
with this news by e-mail. We have also printed seperate big colour
posters for the Amiga! Amiga users groups and shops will be asked to
help with this event and we also plan to contact Amiga users from
other European countries!!! Of course we have experience in organising
Amiga Shows, so we have some very good ideas stored in mind:))
I have also included a floor plan and some pictures of the show last
year too! For hotel information it's best to take a look at:
http://www.hotels-belgium.com/antwerp/hotels.htm
Extra information about this international computershow website:
http://titan.glo.be/waasland/infomedia98
e-mail: waasland@glo.be
If you are interested in this huge computer/Amiga event give us a
reply ASAP. You can help the Amiga world in the BeNeLux (Belgium-The
Netherlands-Luxembourg) and even in the whole Europe by attending this
computershow, a computershow with a very big accent on the Amiga!
Amiga Greetings,
Tony Mees
coordinator and organiser Amiga Hall
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S W E D I S H S O U R C E F O R T H I N G S A M I G A N
Umeå, Sweden. Monday July 20, 1998.Swedish Amiga user group Amiga
Computer Group, famous for the AAA Awards project, hereby launch their
new ACG Shop at http://shop.amiga-cg.se/! Now you can get high-quality
Amiga merchandise and at the same time support ACG!
All orders 800 crowns and above receive FREE shipping & handling!
Available primarily to residents in Scandinavia, the following products are
offered:
Audio CD "Back for the Future" 65:-
Poster "Back for the Future" 49:-
Cloth badge "Amiga" + Boing 30:-
Sticker "Amiga" 3:-
Sticker "Powered by Amiga" 3:-
Adhesive Boing ball 10:-
Pin "Amiga" 20:-
Lighter "Amiga" 10:-
Pen "Amiga" + Boing ball 12:-
Mouse mat "Amiga" 39:-
T-shirt "Amiga Computer Group" 120:-
T-shirt "AAA Awards" 90:-
All prices in Swedish crowns. Shipping & handling costs additional.
Order now at: http://shop.amiga-cg.se/ or +46-(0)90-2 4 8 16 (24 hrs)!
For ordering information in English and orders outside Sweden: please
e-mail martin.sahlen@amiga-cg.se>.
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V O T E F O R T O P 1 0 0 G A M E S
31 Jul 1998
The AR100 - The Top 100 Amiga Games of All Time
After the success of last year's AR100, we're repeating our major
survey, aiming to determine the best Amiga games of the past 12 years.
The Amiga Report 100 is a reference for gamesplayers past and present,
and is repeated every year to reflect the constantly changing Amiga
games market.
What we want you to do is let us know your own personal "top ten"
games - the ten titles you've enjoyed playing more than any others on
your Amiga. You can vote for any Amiga game - public domain, shareware
or commercial. There's no discrimination between game genres - at the
end of the day, number 1 in the AR100 will the be game which YOU have
voted the best Amiga game ever.
Check out last years results:
http://www.cucug.org/ar/ar509/feature01.html
HOW TO VOTE
Voting is easy. We allow you to vote in two different ways ...
By E-Mail: send your vote to KenD@dhp.com. Include your full name,
e-mail address, and your top ten favorite games of all time.
On the web: Point that browser at http://www.dhp.com/~kend and fill
in the form.
Of course, there are rules. We only allow one vote per reader, so
please don't send 15 e-mails voting for the same games. If we suspect
that anyone has voted more than once, all their votes will be
disregarded. Please give the full name of the game - a vote for
"Tetris" doesn't tell us much; tell us which version. Also, please
don't vote for a "series" of games - pick your favorite. All votes
must be in by 31st August 1998, and to keep things consistant, you can
only vote on games released on or before 30th June 1998. The results
will be announced in the first September issue of Amiga Report. Above
all else, the editors' discision is final.
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U S E R G R O U P D I S C O U N T S
26 July 1998
Turtle Lightning/Vulcan America Announces User Group Discounts
** For Immediate Release **
Hello all,
TLAS~Vulcan America is currently offering a 10 % Discount on all
Amiga Software listed on our website. This offer is good for members
of All User Groups till the end of September. We have the largest
selection of Games for Amiga in North America. To receive this
discount simply order from our website and include your groups name in
any unused blank on the orderform. ( ?? Group Member ) and we will
deduct the 10 % from the cost of the software and e-mail you back the
total for your order. We have recently reduced many prices on the site
so this will make for a nice savings.
Regards,
Terry L. Fike f/TLAS~Vulcan America
site: HTTP://www.pantheonsys.com/tlas
e-mail: Turtleguy@Apex2000.net
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I C O A E L E C T I O N R E S U L T S
20 July 1998
ICOA Steering Committee Election Results
Nova Design placed first for a Commercial Seat with a total of 90
votes. Nova Design will hold there seat for a period of 12 months from
24 July 1998 to 24 July 1999.
Phase 5 has placed second for a Commercial Seat with a total of 60
votes. Phase 5 will hold their seat for a period of 6 months from 24
July 1998 to 24 January 1999
Olaf Barthel has placed first for the only Individual Seat with a
total of 33 votes. Olaf will hold his seat for a period of 9 months
from 24 July 1998 to April 24 1999.
Ultima Thule has placed first for the Open Seat with a total of 15
votes. Ultima Thule will hold their seat for a period of 15 months
from 24 July 1998 to 24 October 1999.
Harv Laser has won the User Rep Seat and will hold this seat for a
period of 12 months from 24 July 1998 to 24 July 1999.
Along with Harv Laser who won the seat for the User Representative
and a representative from Amiga Incorporated, these are the new
members of the ICOA Steering Committee:
Nova Design (Kermit Woodall)
Phase 5 (Wolf Dietrich)
Olaf Barthel
Ultima Thule (Petter Nilsen)
Harv Laser
Amiga Inc. (Yet to be named)
This election is very important to the ICOA and Amiga Developers. The
new members of the ICOA Steering Committe will be forging the future
for our developmental stages leading up to and beyond the AmigaNG. We
wish you every success!
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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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