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Amiga Update (2000-01-04)
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/\\ |\ /|| || / ` /\\ || A M I G A U P D A T E
/__\\ | \ / || || || ___ /__\\ || -News and Rumors-
/ \\_ | \/ ||_ _||_ \__// / \\_|| (An Occasional e-mail
WELCOME TO TOMORROW || Newsmagazine)
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AMIGA and the Amiga logo are trademarks of Amino, Inc.
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000104
T H E W O R D F R O M A M I N O A M I G A
C O S A O N T H E B U Y O U T
A M I G A W E B D I R E C T O R Y G O N E . . .
. . . A S I S " A M A Z I N G C O M P U T I N G "
E X H I B I T O R S S I G N U P F O R A M I G A 2 K
M O R E A B O U T S T . L O U I S S H O W
S T I L L M O R E O N A M I G A 2 K
A M I R C 3 . 3 R E L E A S E D
M O R P H O S P R O J E C T A N N O U N C E D
V O Y A G E R V 3 F I N A L R E L E A S E
C S & E A E U R O P E A N D I S T R I B U T O R
Editor's Thoughts and Introduction:
Wow...
So much has happened recently, it's hard to know where to start.
Allright, the bad news first. The first Amiga monthly magazine,
"Amazing Computing" is dead. It was also the last US Amiga magazine.
This is incredibly sad, especially as it just missed making it into
the new era of "Amiga by Amino", as announced in our recent special
edition. We don't know the details, and I'm not sure I want to. It
would be depressing. However, this is a real loss for North American
Amigans and the hurt will be felt for a very long time.
Also sad, and this for the entire Amiga community, not just us North
Americans, is the death of CUCUG's Amiga Web Directory. The
cornerstone of the Amiga community on the web, it also just missed the
new era. Rumor has it other sites offered to take the Web Directory
over, and were turned down. If true, that's mind numbing. We really
don't know the details here either, but we will miss them.
Now, the good news. There really is some, and it's quite good!
The Amiga Community will survive, for some time to come. The computer
has a new owner, with a plan for the future (that's almost enough to
cause shock in old time Amigans) and a genuine, deep respect and love
for the Amiga and the Community. This is a bit hard to cope with after
recent events, but it's true.
It's also true they have a rough road ahead of them. Success is by no
means guaranteed. But they'll be traveling the road with the best
computer community that ever existed. If that combination can't build
a meaningful future, then there's very little that can.
The plan will be revealed to us in the next few months, and
apparently goes well beyond desktop machines. It's going to be an
interesting new era - we'll keep you posted.
Finally, this new era seems to have room for Petro Tyschtschenko and
his work in Germany. In our opinion, while Jay Miner is the father of
the Amiga, Petro is the godfather or something similar. We're pleased
to see he's still involved. There's no one who's worked harder for the
Amiga's future over the years.
While we're at it - for you gamers, the library of Quake related
games have been released for people to port, and work is well underway
for PPC Amigas. For those who love these games, the fun is just
beginning.
Below, the first Executive Update from the Amiga web site, now under
the control of Amino Development.
We love it!
Brad Webb,
Editor
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T H E W O R D F R O M A M I N O A M I G A
January 3, 2000
YeeHaw and welcome to the year 2000;
I want to make something very clear from the beginning we have been
told, that Amiga was purchased by Gateway because of the Patents, and
that there were not even aware of the Amiga installed base, or the
people.
Gateway purchased Amiga because of Patents, we purchased Amiga
because of the People.
Without the people standing behind, developing, creating, purchasing
and continuing to believe in the Amiga there never would have been
anything for Gateway to purchase. We recognize this, and it is because
of you, and what you have continued to accomplish with Amiga that we
have purchased the company.
I want to make sure that everyone knows and understands what this all
means to you the true Amigans.
Here is what was acquired from Gateway:
1. All trademarks logos etc.
2. All existing inventory of Amiga International
3. All existing licenses.
4. License to All Amiga patents (Gateway still owns the patents, but
we are able to use them).
5. All web sites, and registered domain names.
6. The Amiga OS and all that is associated with the OS.
7. The Amiga operation as it exists today.
Specific details of the developer system, the OS partners and how one
can begin developing will be released in the next couple of weeks.
We will be making an announcement on January 8th, 2000 with one of
our partners at CES in Las Vegas, and more details will follow that
release.
Fleecy, Myself, Petro, and the rest of the team are not going to make
promises and create presentations and demos. We are going to deliver
products, services, and the rest of the world will know what you have
already known.
We will be officially changing the name of Amino Development
Corporation to the Amiga Corporation this week, and we will let
everyone know of this change shortly once it is officially completed.
I want to thank all of you for your continued support we will make
Amiga what it should have been, and more importantly what it will be.
Keeping the faith,
Bill McEwen President/CEO
Amino Development Corporation
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C O S A O N T H E B U Y O U T
COSA Reaction to Amino Purchase of Amiga Rights
January 2, 2000
Within the past few days, ownership of the Amiga rights, trademarks
and technology passed from Gateway to Amino Development. People have
asked for COSA's opinion on the sale, and for comments how this
affects the campaign to open-source the AmigaOS.
We believe the sale of Amiga to Amino is a good, positive step
forward for the Amiga community, and that the new owners of the Amiga
technology rights are the right people to steer the Amiga technology
into the new millennium.
COSA have known Fleecy Moss, co-founder of Amino, for quite some
time, and have been in e-mail discussions on a number of matters of
mutual interest, including Open Source, for quite some considerable
time. We have a good working relationship, and a mutual understanding
of what needs to be done to bring the Amiga into the new millennium.
COSA is confident, based on our discussions with Fleecy, that Amino
has the vision and direction necessary, to take the Amiga into the new
millennium. The major difference to their predecessors being that
Amino truely understands the Amiga technology, and is receptive to the
needs, ideas and inspirations of the Amiga community. (The management
of Amino are, afterall, Amigans themselves.)
We await the announcements from Amino in the weeks and months ahead
with much anticipation, and look forward to a hopefully long and
productive working relationship with them.
Congratulations, Guys!
Steve Crietzman, and the team at COSA
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A M I G A W E B D I R E C T O R Y G O N E . . .
January 1, 2000 - The Champaign- Urbana Computer Users Group (CUCUG)
announced today that it has retired its popular, award-winning Amiga
Web Directory (AWD) web site.
Citing continuing declines in the Amiga marketplace and Gateway's
failure to deliver new Amiga computer systems, CUCUG reluctantly
decided to discontinue its popular web site link directory and news
service on January 1, 2000. It was felt that while CUCUG could
continue with the AWD for several months, it was better to retire now
rather than allow the site to slowly decline with the market. CUCUG is
hopeful that the latest owners of the Amiga can turn this market
around for the developers and users who have held on throughout all
the past ownership changes and other difficulties the Amiga has faced.
For over five years, the Amiga Web Directory served as one of the
most-visited Amiga-oriented web sites on the Internet. Its carefully
cataloged listings of Amiga web sites was the most-respected
collection of its kind. Each site in the AWD's listings was reviewed
by the CUCUG webmaster to ensure quality and Amiga orientation. Site
descriptions were carefully prepared by hand, resulting in accuracy
not possible on other machine- driven sites or those which allow site
owners to write their own descriptions.
The AWD's Amiga news pages became one of the most imitated features
in the Amiga web community. Dozens of Amiga news sites were inspired
by the success of the Amiga Web Directory's hugely popular news pages.
A well-known offshoot of the Amiga Web Directory was "Agnes" the
Amiga web searching service. Agnes was also a cartoon character which
personalized the searching service. In addition to the over-2000 Amiga
sites cataloged in the Amiga Web Directory, Agnes could search the
general Internet for Amiga content, newsgroup messages, CUCUG Status
Register newsletters and other Amiga-oriented materials.
The Amiga Web Directory was one of the first member-supported Amiga
web sites. Amiga enthusiasts joined the CUCUG organization to show
their support for the efforts of the group. These memberships covered
the costs associated with running the popular web service and other
CUCUG activities. CUCUG is very grateful to its members' support which
it has received over the years. The group also acknowledges the many
Amiga-oriented companies which have given assistance.
CUCUG, which has been supporting local computer users in the
Champaign-Urbana, Illinois area since 1983 will now focus its efforts
on local user group activities.
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. . . A S I S " A M A Z I N G C O M P U T I N G "
31 December, 1999
"Amiga Update" has received confirmation from several sources that
PIM Publication's "Amazing Computing" has recently filed for
bankruptcy. "Amazing" was the first - and the last - monthly Amiga
magazine in the US and its presence will be sorely missed.
While it is certainly possible for businesses to survive a bankruptcy
and continue into the future, we have no indications that such will be
the case with "Amazing". It is ironic that as Amiga itself is in the
process of a potential rebirth, we have lost both CUCUG and "Amazing
Computing"
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E X H I B I T O R S S I G N U P F O R A M I G A 2 K
December 26, 1999
Amigan-St. Louis announces it's first group of exhibitors for "Amiga
2K". These companies are listed on the Gateway Computer Show's - Amiga
2K© web site. You can view this site by typing in the following
address on your web browser.
http://www.amiga-stl.com/show.html
These companies are just the first in many that are signing up to
exhibit at this exciting event. Please check the show pages every week
to see the latest news.
The Gateway Computer Shows are the largest and the most interesting
Amiga shows in the Americas. More products, updates, plans, ideas and
other exciting events have been released, announced and planned at
these shows than anywhere else.
Amiga 2K will be hosted at the Henry VIII Hotel, on Lindbergh Ave.,
in St. Louis, MO. U.S.A. Show dates are Saturday April 1 through
Sunday April 2, 2000.
Please check the web site for more information about the show and the
hotel. Come join Petro, myself and many other Amigans at Amiga 2K.
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M O R E A B O U T S T . L O U I S S H O W
December 31, 1999
Amigan-St. Louis is happy to announce the addition of Nova Design,
Inc. to it's growing list of exhibitors.
The ever popular Gateway Computer Shows, including the new Amiga 2K
show in St. Louis on April1 & 2, 2000, have always been very popular
with Amiga Computer fans.
This newest addition of Nova Design, Inc. and others is just one more
step in the growing list of companies that will exhibit at the largest
Amiga show in the Americas. Please see the "Show" page in the site
listed below.
In additon, you can find the "Club Table Contest" described on the
"Contest" page of the Amiga 2K site. This is an excellent chance for
an Amiga Club to showcase it's abilities, and show off the Amiga,
while possibly winning a prize for their efforts.
Please check our site at: http://www.amiga-stl.com/show.html
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S T I L L M O R E O N A M I G A 2 K
January 3, 2000
Amigan-St. Louis is pleased to announce a discount for clubs
exhibiting at the Gateway Computer Show - Amiga 2K©. The discount is
40% off of the normal price. This is a substantial discount, that is
only available to clubs, and only available when utilizing an eight
foot table. It is a limited time offer.
The pricing can be determined by looking at the price guide for eight
foot tables under the "Exhibitors" button on the show page at:
http://www.amiga-stl.com/show.html Then simply multiply 60% times that
price to determine the price a club would pay.
Example: An eight foot table space is 9' x 6' or 54 square feet. The
price per square foot is $6. So 54 x 6 = $324. That's the normal
price. Then multiply $324 x 60% to get $194.40. This is what the club
will pay for their table. Eight foot tables can be shared by two
groups if necessary. This would further reduce the cost to a club. The
cost of the table does not include any admissions to the show. All
persons in the club must purchase an admission.
All in all, this is a substantial discount. It is being given due to
the tremendous support clubs have given to the Amiga. Without the
clubs, there would be no Amiga. So to reward them and their hard
working members, we are giving this discount so they will not deplete
their club treasury to exhibit at Amiga 2K
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A M I R C 3 . 3 R E L E A S E D
991227
AmIRC was the first VaporWare application to be shown to the Amiga
world. Its author, Oliver Wagner, has worked too many late nights on
the program to count, and continues to update it to this day.
AmIRC's main strengths lie in its interface - it's one of the easiest
IRC clients to use on any platform, yet it also keeps the power users
happy with advanced ARexx scripting and its plugin API, allowing
unique new features to be added. It also features a URL grabber to
capture any URLs mentioned in any channels or query windows, a
lag-o-meter to measure your system's lag from the server, and strong
builtin flood protection including a staggered output queue to stop
you flooding yourself off the server.
For IRCing on the Amiga, AmIRC should be your number one choice.
Please remember, AmIRC is shareware. If you use it, please register
the software and help support Amiga software development.
Download AmIRC 3.3 and see why it's the best IRC client for the
Amiga. If you registered AmIRC 1.x or AmIRC 2.x, you can update to
version 3.3.
There is an AmIRC Mailing List run by VaporWare for users to discuss
the software. Please feel free to sign up for it, your question may be
answered there.
Features
o Advanced Low Level Plugin API.
o Single Window Iconification.
o Lag-o-meter shows lag from the server
o Individual window logging.
o Intuitive channel window with userlist and mode display.
o Builtin high speed DCC drivers, incl. Secure Chat.
o ARexx port includes event trapping.
o IRCNet and UnderNet extensions.
o Oper and clone announcement.
o Builtin IdentD, disables itself if needed.
o Bind sound effects, auto deiconify or ARexx to events.
o Last nick history, TAB key cycles through.
o URL grabber saves any URLs to send to your web browser.
o Supports colored text for both input (WYSIWIG) and output.
o CTCP/DCC flood protection.
o Timestamping of lines and inline clickable URLs.
http://www.vapor.com/
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M O R P H O S P R O J E C T A N N O U N C E D
Thursday, 23rd December 1999
Today we announce the availability of a new Amiga next generation
PowerPC OS project, called MorphOS, to the public.
In its current state it provides a modern memory protection
microkernel which runs a virtual amiga emulation. This microkernel
will be the base for a new OS layer.
Research for this project started in early 1998, while at the end of
1998 an early implementation was ready. In 1999, we started on the
virtual amiga emulation to make the current AmigaOS available without
requiring 68K hardware. The basic design goals behind MorphOS are
- memory protection
- resource tracking
- asynchronous message system
- low interrupt latency
- virtual memory (optional)
- distributed computing
- symmetrical multi processing (SMP)
- recursive memory management
- task/thread and clan/chief model
- clean design with an elegant API
- micro/pico kernel mixture
The developer release is planned for end of January. Minimum system
requirements are
- A4000 with CyberStorm PPC/604e and Symbios 770 SCSI
- CyberVisionPPC
- at least 32MB memory installed
- Kickstart 3.1 (Version 40.68) and Workbench 3.1 or up
Hardware requirements might change as soon as more hardware setups are
tested and implemented.
As the success of this project will also depend on your
feedback/support, we suggest that interested developers visit our
project webpage for a general MorphOS overview and information on how
to join us to help.
Feel free to enter the project webpage at
http://www.morphos.de or
http://www.morphos.ch
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V O Y A G E R V 3 F I N A L R E L E A S E
28 Dec 99
V³ 3.0 final released
Here it is: the final version of V³
Core changes since pre5:
o now remembers FORM contents on back and, erm, window resize
o HTTP/1.1 Accept-Language: support
o Support for URL-embedded password support in HTTP URLs
o Image information summary added
o New Search Central plugin
o The usual load of bugfixes and minor enhancements.
This release does not include a new VFlash plugin. It is currently
undergoing final testing, and will be released individually within the
next few days.
http://v3.vapor.com
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C S & E A E U R O P E A N D I S T R I B U T O R
CS&E to concentrate on Amiga Distribution 2000
04/01/00
I am writing to you for the good of the Amiga in the UK and beyond.
We have many great publishers and retailers and now two dedicated
magazines, but no independent distributor. I can announce to you that
CS&E will step in to independently distribute. We will reach both mail
order and high street retail from our warehouse in Birmingham which is
shared with the likes of Eidos.
All products are delivered next day across Europe with many
guarantees for both the publisher and retailer. We hope that this step
will prove to be a great benefit for the whole Amiga community and
urge everyone to come together on this issue. Retailers please let us
know your full contact details for regular updates with your fax
number and e-mail and postal address. Publishers please also get in
contact to maximise your sales. A starter pack outlining our aims is
being prepared which will be sent out to all known contacts worldwide.
UK Amiga users can already feel proud by supporting some of the most
innovative companies around, we hope that this link will prove
valuable to all and our aim is to assist this good work.
David Connolly
Kind Regards,
CS&E sales:
7 Glyme Close, Woodstock, Oxon, OX20 1LB, Great Britain
+44 (0) 1993 812685
visit our website at http://www.csande.co.uk
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Amiga Update on the net:
All back issues available at:
http://www.globaldialog.com/~amigaupdate/index.html
Stop by and check out our archive!
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Copyright 2000 by Brad Webb. Freely distributable, if not modified.
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A M I G A /\\ |\ /|| || / ` /\\ A M I G A
U P D A T E /__\\ | \ / || || || ___ /__\\ U P D A T E
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amigaupdate@globaldialog.com
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