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Amiga Update (2001-03-24)
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A M I G A |#010324 | U P D A T E
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"SO THE WORLD MAY KNOW"
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AMIGA and the Amiga logo are trademarks of Amiga, Inc.
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A R E Q U E S T F R O M A M I G A
A M I G A P R O F E S S I O N A L S A S S O C I A T I O N
A M I G A L E G E N D S A T S T . L O U I S
C H A N G E S T O F R E E A M I G A J O B S
J U N O U S U R P S Y O U R C O M P U T E R
S C H A T Z T R U H E G M B H T O G T I G M B H
N A T I O N A L A M I G A I S A L I V E . . .
. . . B U T W O N D E R I S G O N E
A S I M W A R E T O I O M E G A
P A U L N O L A N O N L I N E S T O R E
E L B O X O N M E D I A T O R
G R E X I N F O R M A T I O N
A U T O P D F F O R A M I G A
D I G I B O O S T E R P R O A D D O N C D
F O R M A L D I H Y D 2 . 2 I S A N N O U N C E D
N E W V E R S I O N P E R F E C T P A I N T
Y A C A S - M A T H P R O G R A M A V A I L A B L E
Editor's Thoughts and Introduction:
We're almost to the Amiga 2001 show in Saint Louis, USA, and all the
news that has been hinted at. It's hard to believe it could contain as
much earth shattering news as we'd all like, but we do expect some
significant announcements there. We hope a number of our readers can
join us at the show for whatever news will be revealed.
If you do make it to the show, please be sure to say "hi" if you get
the chance. We'll be there through the entire show, and hope to have a
chance to talk to many of you.
In the meantime, there's lots of news in the Amiga community to bring
you with this issue. There seem to be changes everywhere, especially
in the software arena, and some interesting changes on the marketing
side of the community as well. This includes saying good-bye to yet
another long-time Amiga supporter.
THENDIC "SMARTBOY" THE ONE ... ?
There has been a lot of talk on the Net lately about a German
manufacturer bringing out a PDA which uses Amiga DE. Looks like that
company may be Thendic. Here's part of a Thendic press release that
has shown up recently on some sites:
"With the launch of SmartBoy Thendic will realise a quantum leap. The
b2b version is launched today, a consumer version will be ready for
distribution at the end of 2001. This product will be marketed under
the label of Amiga DE. Thendic secured the rights for this name
recently."
Thendic`s other product CashBoy will be marketed aggressively in
2001. The CashBoy so far used in Spain, Netherlands, Austria, Turkey,
Brazil and Argentina will be distributed in Asia and USA"
If this proves to be true, we'll be among those first in line to
purchase one - but only if (brace yourselves for this) it can
synchronize data with a (it really hurts to say this) Windows PC. Why
on earth would we want that? Because, truth be told, a PDA is of very
limited use to most people unless you can use it as an extension of
your business desk top computer. If it can't do that, it won't survive
long.
I suppose there may be a future for one that can link to Linux
computers or "Star Office", but it's not as likely at the present
time.
Look at it this way - if it can sync with Windows machines, it
becomes one way to get Windows users to use something Amiga and maybe
learn about a better way to do computing. And if it can link to
Windows, then it can be made to link to your Amiga DE or Amiga Classic
desktop also, just as has been done with Palm Pilots.
LINK TO SUPPORT ST. LOUIS SHOW
There's still some time to help promote the Amiga 2001 show in Saint
Louis if you have a web page and haven't already gotten "into the
act". This promises to be a show with very important annoucements for
the Amiga community, as we mentioned above .
If you have an Amiga web page, you can help support the show, and
keep it growing. Clicking on the following link will download an
archive containing a jpeg and sample html code which you can add to
your page. These will establish a link to the show's web site, and
allow Amigans to easily get information on the show. You can see them
in action on the "Amiga Update" links page. Use this URL to download
the archive:
http://www.globaldialog.com/~amigaupdate/stl.lha
Please consider adding this link to your web page, as a contribution
to the Amiga Community.
Those of you involved with other key Amiga shows, please let us know
if you'd like "Amiga Update" to help you distribute similar archives
of links for your shows. We're here to support the Community.
Brad Webb,
Editor
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E-mail to the E-ditor:
12 March, 2001
I was wondering if any of your readers might have a copy of the
colorgadget.library that came with MathVision? I own a legitimate copy
of the program but I deleted the library by mistake & have no backup.
I've tried on more than one occasion to contact the owners of the
MathVision website (www.olympus.net/personal/7seas/7seas.html), but
they never respond to my e-mails. I will happily supply my serial
number to anyone, proving that I own the program (if necessary).
Thanx in advance,
Jim
~~~~~~
If anyone knows where Jim could get a legal copy of
colorgatdget.library, please contact us and we'll put him in touch
with you.
Thanks,
Brad
======
21 Feb 2001
Hi Brad!
ADUG is a regional User Group, acting as an umbrella organisation and
is open to all members of the Amiga community who reside in Australia
or New Zealand (Australasia)
- hence the name Amiga Downunder
I am Secretary of ADUG, and one of three Australian members of the
Amiga Advisory Council (AAC), and I have long admired your site as a
no-nonsense provider of Amiga news. Consequently, I would like to
direct my ADUG Members to your site for news of, and about, the Amiga
via a link on ADUG's News page (if that's alright by you), but I noted
your comment recently that as there is a paucity of such news, you may
not be publishing your newsletter so often.
I hope this will not always be so, as I do believe that Bill and his
team are on the right track (both in their push with the Amiga DE and
their continued support of the Classic) and I certainly look forward
to your coverage of the St Louis Amiga Show at the end of March.
The purpose of this email is to ask whether you could put something
about ADUG on Amiga Update which will direct people who live in
Australia and New Zealand to our site.
Something like "For more detailed information about the Amiga and the
Amiga community in Australia and New Zealand, check ut Amiga Downunder
UG Inc, the regional User Group for those living `downunder." ...
... using "Amiga Downunder UG Inc" as the link to
http://www.amigadownunder.org?
Check us out. We'd be very grateful :))
Best wishes
__
Basil Flinter
Secretary
<== ADUG - bringing the Australasian Amiga community together ==>
- the Amiga User Group for All Australasians -
~~~~~~
Basil,
Thanks for writing - it's always a pleasure to hear from you, and
others who keep Amiga user groups running around the world for that
matter. I thought I'd run part of your letter, as you put your case in
the best words possible and your enthusiasm for the group clearly
shows.
Readers who live in that part of the planet and who haven't checked
out ADUG owe it to themselves to do so. Help keep this great group
functioning and a strong part of the community.
We've added an ADUG link to our "Amiga Update" archive site links
page, so those who stop by can find a quick way there.
Brad
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A R E Q U E S T F R O M A M I G A
30 Dec 2000
{Didn't see this until just recently. Those in non-English speaking
nations, please forward to any local Amiga clubs you can. Thanks!
Brad}
If you are a member of an Amiga user group, please go to the
following link to sign your group up.
http://www.amigadev.net/index.php?sid=&subpage=usergroups
Also, can some of you please pass this post to non-English speaking
Amiga newsgroups, web sites, and publications as well?
Sincerely,
--
Gary Peake
Director - Developer Relations and Support
Amiga Inc.
http://www.amigadev.net
http://www.amiga.com
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A M I G A P R O F E S S I O N A L S A S S O C I A T I O N
26 February, 2001
In just a few days the Amiga 2001 show will begin in St. Louis. It
will also herald the formation of the Amiga Professionals Association
(APA) - a group formed to serve ALL Amiga professionals; developers,
resellers, publishers and more.
The first meeting of the APA will be hosted by Kermit Woodall and
will be Friday evening. The meeting is open to all current
professionals in the Amiga market. Topics discussed will include
mutual cooperation, the Amiga market and the Amiga itself! Other
topics are welcome as well.
There are no admission fees for the meeting of course, and all
developers are strongly urged to be sure they attend. You won't want
to miss this meeting!
Full information on the Amiga 2001 show follows.
Kermit Woodall
Two day admission (Sat. & Sun.)............... $17 ($20 at door)
One day admission (Sat. or Sun.).............. $12 ($15 at door)
Banquet-Petro ROAST & Bill McEwen speaks...... $35 (advance only)
Class tickets sold at show.
Friday is the Developers Conference - Tickets at door.
Please mail your check or money order, in U.S. funds, for tickets to
Amiga2001 and the banquet Saturday evening to this address:
Amigan-St. Louis
c/o Amiga2001
P.O. Box 672
Bridgeton, MO 63044
U.S.A.
For hotel reservations, call the Sheraton West Port - Chalet Hotel at
191 West Port Plaza Drive, in St. Louis, MO. at: 314-878-1500. You
must call between 8 am - 10:30 pm CST Monday thru Friday. Ask for the
reservation desk and tell them that you are going to Amiga2001 so that
you get your discount. If you call at any other hours or on weekends,
you will not be able to get ahold of the hotels reservation desk and
the people answering will not know about the Amiga2001 show. So please
call between 8 am - 10:30 pm CST, Monday - Friday.
The web page http://www.amiga-stl.com is updated, and the prize page
is up. More will be added later, so stay tuned.
Best Regards,
Bob Scharp
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A M I G A L E G E N D S A T S T . L O U I S
24 Mar 2001
Amigans,
Yes, it's true. Not only is Dave Haynie attending the Amiga2001 show,
but now we learn that Leo Schwab another Amiga legend is also
attending Amiga2001.
Leo Schwab and Dave Haynie are both legends in the Amiga community.
Let's all make them feel welcome.
If you haven't made up you mind about attending Amiga2001, the
largest Amiga computer show in the Americas, now is the time to do so.
Don't miss this chance to meet some of the finest people in the
computer industry... Amigans.
Best Regards,
Bob
Best Regards,
Bob Scharp,
bscharp@icon-stl.net
Amigan-St. Louis
P.O. Box 672
Bridgeton, MO 63044
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C H A N G E S T O F R E E A M I G A J O B S
Köln/Erkrath, Germany, 02-Mar-2001 - In April 2000 the team of
amiga-news.de and AMIGAplus founded "Free Amiga Jobs", the free online
employment agency for the Amiga market, filling over fifty jobs in all
fields since its birth and making new Amiga projects possible.
On March 1st, 2001, we changed the strucure of Free Amiga Jobs.
Employers may now feed their jobs into the new, powerful databank
directly, while employees may search for an appropriate job offer
filling out several search criterias. Furthermore, this online job
agency is of course still free of charges for both employers and
employees.
"Free Amiga Jobs" is located in the World Wide Web at
"http://www.amiga-news.de/cgi-bin/jobs-db.pl", but may also be
navigated to from the websites "http://www.amigaos.de" or
"http://www.amiga-news.de".
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J U N O U S U R P S Y O U R C O M P U T E R
Opinion
By Brad Webb
The huge ISP company Juno has recently changed their Terms of Service
to include conditions that should cause most computer users to think
several times before signing up with them. Here's an excerpt from the
actual terms of their agreement:
2.5. You expressly permit and authorize Juno to
(i) download to your computer one or more pieces of software (the
"Computational Software") designed to perform computations, which may
be unrelated to the operation of the Service, on behalf of Juno (or on
behalf of such third parties as may be authorized by Juno, subject to
the Privacy Statement),
(ii) run the Computational Software on your computer to perform and
store the results of such computations, and
(iii) upload such results to Juno's central computers during a
subsequent connection, whether initiated by you in the course of using
the Service or by the Computational Software as further described
below ... you agree not to take any action to disable or interfere
with the operation of ... any component of the Computational Software.
You agree that, as between you and Juno, you shall be responsible for
any costs or expenses resulting from the continuous operation of your
computer, including without limitation any associated charges for
electricity, and that you shall have sole responsibility for any
maintenance or technical issues that might result from such continuous
operation.
You agree that, as between you and Juno, Juno shall have sole rights
to the results of any computations performed by the Computational
Software, including without limitation any revenues or intellectual
property generated directly or indirectly as a result of such
computations, without further compensation to you. ...[Y]ou expressly
permit and authorize Juno to initiate a telephone connection from your
computer to Juno's central computers using a dial-in telephone number
you have previously selected for accessing the Service ... you agree
that, as between you and Juno, you shall be responsible for any costs
and expenses (including without limitation any applicable telephone
charges) resulting from the foregoing ... You agree that you will not
attempt to reverse engineer any such software, data, or other
materials or transfer or disclose any such software, data, or other
materials, or the results of any such computations, to any third
party.
You acknowledge that your compliance with the requirements of this
Section 2.5 may be considered by Juno to be an inseparable part of the
Service, and that any interference with the operation of the
Computational Software (including, but not limited to, any failure to
leave your computer turned on at all times) may result in termination
or limitation of your use of the Service.
All these words boil can be summarized in a few disturbing points.
First, you allow Juno to use your computer for whatever it wishes,
whenever it wishes to use it. You are not allowed to discover what
Juno is doing with your computer. You have to leave your computer
powered up and accessible at all times in case Juno wants to use it.
You pay to have the results of their use sent to them by e-mail. If
anything happens to your computer along the way, that's no concern of
theirs and you can do nothing about it.
The only good we can find in this at "Amiga Update" is to assume
there may be a laugh or two at Juno's expense the first time they try
to run anything on an Amiga. We bet they have no idea what one is, and
if we're lucky maybe they don't even allow Amigas to connect. Even if
they do, we don't think we'd be interested in taking the risk.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
S C H A T Z T R U H E G M B H T O G T I G M B H
Waldshut-Tiengen/Essen, 26th February 2001
GTI Grenville Trading International GmbH has been active as
distributor for Amiga software since 1987 and supplies a worldwide
network of dealers. Stefan Ossowski's Schatztruhe Gesellschaft für
Software mbH has been one of the leading publishers of Amiga
productivity software for over than 13 years. The two companies have
co-operated closely and successfully since 1994 and have contributed
to the lasting establishment of the CD-Rom medium within the Amiga
software market.
With effect from 1st March 2001, both companies have agreed to
intensify their co-operation further, with GTI Gmbh taking over the
operating business of Schatztruhe GmbH. All publishing activities of
Schatzruhe will be re-located to Waldshut-Tiengen and continued in
undiminished scale as a business division of GTI GmbH.
The change will be handled as simply as possible for customers,
suppliers, and other business partners of Schatztruhe GmbH, only
contact information being changed to the following as from the 1st
March 2001 :
Schatztruhe
GTI Grenville Trading International GmbH
Weihergasse 5
79761 Waldshut-Tiengen
Germany
Telephon:
Telephon: +49-(0)700 - 70 60 50 40
Telefax : +49-(0)201 - 426 00 00
Internet:
amiga@schatztruhe.de (General Enquiries & Orders)
support@schatztruhe.de (Technical Support)
http://www.schatztruhe.de/
Schatztruhe will continue to publish high-quality Amiga software at
attractive prices. A number of new products are already in preparation
for 2001.
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N A T I O N A L A M I G A I S A L I V E . . .
28 February, 2001
National Amiga has not gone bankrupt, has not been bought out by a PC
chain, and has not been abducted by aliens. There have been rumours
floating around for quite some time that National Amiga had bitten the
dust as far as Amiga retail was concerned. Simply not true! The
website has had intermittent connectivity due to a combination of site
upgrades, hardware shuffles, and problems with the broadband internet
provider. The latest incarnation of the website should be up shortly
at www.nationalamiga.com... at the present time it is sub-beta and
still very much under development, but the contact information on the
page is still the same. You see "Archtech Computers" on the banner...
Arch Computer Technology has been the parent company of National Amiga
for many, many years. Similarly, they've been doing multiplatform
retail and service for a very long time. That hasn't changed!
----------------------------------------------------------------------
. . . B U T W O N D E R I S G O N E
Press Release - February 23, 2001
Magma Communications steps in to provide Internet access and email to
clients of Wonder.ca
Ottawa, Ontario, February 23, 2001 - Magma Communications Ltd. today
announced that it has agreed to provide Internet access and hosting
services to the customer base of Wonder.ca - an Internet division of
Wonder Computers. Wonder Computers ceased business operations
yesterday. {Wonder Computers had been a long-time Amiga supplier.
Brad}
The arrangement will ensure that Wonder.ca's 750 customers continue
to receive Internet services. Magma has agreed to honor Wonder.ca's
existing client arrangements.
"Magma is a recognized leader in the Ottawa and Canadian Internet
communities," said AJ. Byers, Magma's Chief Operating Officer. "Magma
felt a responsibility to step in and help make sure that people
weren't left without their Internet and email access."
"Within an hour of learning Wonder was going to cease operations,
Magma had determined that it would act to ensure that Wonder.ca's
customers would have continued access to the Internet and email
through Magma," stated Mr. Byers.
Wonder.ca clients are encouraged to call Magma's customer service
group at (613) 228-3565 to re-activate their accounts. Magma's
technical staff is working around the clock with various Internet
organizations to ensure that there is minimal disruption to
Wonder.ca's clients.
Magma Communications is Ottawa's leading full-service Internet
Company and employs over 140 people. Founded in 1995, Magma is a
privately owned firm that specializes in providing reliable, High
Speed Internet service throughout Ontario and Quebec. Services include
residential and corporate Internet access, custom web solutions, and a
full range of website and server hosting services. Visit: www.magma.ca
for more details or contact AJ Byers at (613) 228-3565.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
A S I M W A R E T O I O M E G A
ROY, Utah, March 1, 2001 - Iomega Corporation (NYSE: IOM), a global
leader in data management solutions, today announced that it has
acquired the software product line of Asimware Innovations Inc., a
Canadian developer of CD-RW software technology, as an investment in
Iomega's rapidly growing software solutions business.
"We're pleased to announce this acquisition, which builds additional
core competencies in software needed for the next stage of growth at
Iomega," said Bruce Albertson, president and chief executive officer,
Iomega Corporation. "This acquisition is expected to make tangible
contributions to our software and CD-RW product lines this year."
Under the agreement, the Asimware software engineering team will
immediately join Iomega's software division. In the fourth quarter of
2001, Iomega expects to introduce full-featured optical drive software
which includes a unique "skins" technology that enables users to
customize the look and feel of their software.
"Iomega's strategy is to build a broad software business that
supports our existing hardware platforms and generates new stand-alone
retail software products," said Germaine Ward, senior vice president,
software and e-business, Iomega Corporation. "The addition of Asimware
technology and programming expertise fits perfectly into that
strategy. By combining our software competencies, our aim is to create
distinct competitive advantages in our already successful CD-RW
product line as well as contribute new products to our newly developed
portfolio of software products for sale."
Iomega expects to offer new software using Asimware technology in
future CD-RW software bundles that will be available in the retail
channel. Iomega's current CD-RW software bundles include Roxio, Inc.'s
Easy CD CreatorTM and DirectCDTM software for Windows® PCs, and
ToastTM software for Macintosh® computers.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
P A U L N O L A N O N L I N E S T O R E
San Diego, CA.-March 20, 2001- Paul Nolan Software Inc. is pleased to
announce the launch of the Photogenics eStore,
http://photogenics.beyond.com, and the official launch of Photogenics
5.0 for the Amiga, and for the first time, Linux and Windows.
Photogenics 5.0 is now available for immediate purchase and download
via Beyond.com's electronic software delivery technology.
"Our top priority is to provide our customers with an outstanding
online purchasing experience, which means making it easier for them to
find, buy and receive our products," said Paul Nolan, CEO of Paul
Nolan Software. "Beyond.com's expertise in e-commerce, merchandising,
marketing, and customer service made them the right choice to build
and manage our online store."
For those unfamiliar with the product, Photogenics is an exciting new
graphics package, delivering unprecedented levels of creativity,
freedom, and flexibility. For a full list of features, please visit
the links below.
For existing users of Photogenics 4.x, a free upgrade to the Amiga
version of 5.0 is available for download. Customers wishing to
cross-grade from the Amiga version of Photogenics to the Linux or
Windows version may do so at a discounted price for a limited time by
following the links below:
Amiga to Windows cross-grade:
http://photogenics.beyond.com/AF78328-xgrade/Product/
0,1057,3-22-SN107521,00.
html
Amiga to Linux cross-grade
http://photogenics.beyond.com/AF78328-xgrade/Product/
0,1057,3-22-BD70329,00.html
Additional Links:
Photogenics eStore: http://photogenics.beyond.com
Paul Nolan Software Inc.: http://www.PaulNolan.com
Beyond.com: http://www.beyond.com
----------------------------------------------------------------------
E L B O X O N M E D I A T O R
16 March, 2001
After six months of continuous distribution of Mediator PCI it must
be admitted that Mediator PCI has appeared to be a real hit
on Amiga market. Huge and still increasing number of Mediator users
have an opportunity to appreciate how significantly the
possibilities of the computer have grown due to introduction
of PCI standard cards to Amiga.
Our next step, which is about to take place, is to allow Mediator's
users to extend the computer with the new excellent turbo card
fitted to Mediator PCI busboard - SharkPPC G3/G4.
Those who fail to accept this marvellous product with respect
that should undoubtedly be given concerning its design, try
to underestimate its unquestionable worth by spreading not
true rumour about Mediator. In order to make this situation
clear we feel obliged to answer to this rumour.
Rumour: If your jumper is set on 8MB and you have 'vertical lines'
trashing on the screen, you may have a buggy board.
No, it is not the true.
The fact of appearing 'vertical lines' on the screen is definitely
not the result of any fault of Mediator's board.
The presence of 'vertical line' is the result of the hardware
protection, which was installed in Mediator's busboards.
In order to avoid 'vertical lines' it is enough to set the
'memory window' jumper to 4 MB according to Mediator User's Manual.
The hardware protection was designed to enable the sell
of commercial software for Mediator's busboard secured by
the hardware key, which was supposed to be available together
with that software.
After the negotiations on WOA 2000 we have changed our plans
as far as the distribution of the graphic drivers with full
hardware acceleration implemented is concerned.
As a result of this decision the protection had been removed
from the Mediators that are being sold after the 13th
December 2000.
We do not plan to offer the upgrade of the MACH chip in which
the protection is placed, as in the forthcoming days we are going
to release the software for the Mediator which enables the reaching
of full busboard's performance independently of the 'memory window'
jumper's setting.
Joanna Mildner
ELBOX COMPUTER, Press Department
ELBOX COMPUTER
http://www.elbox.com
Krakow, 16 March 2001
----------------------------------------------------------------------
G R E X I N F O R M A T I O N
18 March, 2001
The G-REX PCI board by DCE offers 5 PCI slots that are PCI 2.1
compatible. This allows supported standard PCI graphic cards to be
use. The picture to the left is the mid-stage prototype, the release
version will have 5 PCI-2.1 compliant slots available. A quick
overview:
o Extremely fast PCI-Bridge-Design
o Linear memory without bank-switching
o Programmable via developer API using the pci library in flash-rom
o Multi-monitor support with up to 4 graphics cards
o Power connectors for both AT and ATX
o DMA support for fast networking- und USB-card support
http://www.vgr.com/grex/
----------------------------------------------------------------------
A U T O P D F F O R A M I G A
{The following item was spotted on the Czech Amiga News site recently.
http://www.realdreams.cz/AMIGA/index.html Brad}
23 March, 2001
A statement from Martina Kramer: "Macintosh has a program called
Distiller. This program converts postscript files in a certain source
directory to PDF files in an output directory. We (Amiga) have
Ghostscript to create PDF files. AutoPDF uses Ghostscript to convert
postscript files into PDF files. The nice thing about AutoPDF is that
it will monitor a given directory untill files (or just one) are
copied into it, then it will convert the file to a PDF file placing it
(and the original file) into a given destination directory. Just run
AutoPDF in the background and it will convert any postscript file
placed in the source directory automatically. However, since creating
a PDF file with Ghostscript eats up most of your processor time,
conversion will only start after 'activating' the AutoPDF window.
The program has been uploaded to Aminet, but if you want to try it
NOW... Hope it is as helpfull for you as it is for us..."
----------------------------------------------------------------------
D I G I B O O S T E R P R O A D D O N C D
3 March, 2001
Today we are releasing the Digi Booster Pro Add On CD-ROM. The CD is
a collection of high quality samples, modules and programs for Amiga
computers. It was designed for everyone busy with making any kind of
music. Digi Booster Pro is the main program for use with this
collection. It can edit and play all the samples, modles, mp3's found
on this CD. {This short item didn't give information on obtaining the
CD. Contact Amiga dealers for more information. Brad}
----------------------------------------------------------------------
F O R M A L D I H Y D 2 . 2 I S A N N O U N C E D
10 March, 2001
FormAldiHyd is a driver intended for the Aldi/Medion/Tevion MD 9310
graphic tablet and WacomIV compatible tablets. I bought a MD 9310 in
summer 2000, but have been too lazy to write a driver until November
2000. German speaking people are proposed to spell the name of this
software as "From-Aldi-Hütt'" ;)
This program has been out some time now and has proven to be stable.
It works with:
- AipTek HyperPen 6000 (maybe other boards aswell, still unconfirmed).
- Aldi/Medion MD 9310 and Aldi/Tevion LT 9310.
- Wacom IV compatible (PenPartner etc.) (experimental)
- Sumagraphics compatible boards (unconfirmed).
Starting with V2.2 it finally works with MFC and IOBlix serial ports!
This is probably the only tablet driver that correctly works with all
known (MUI) applications and at the same time has full pressure
support.
Some portions of the code have been ported from the xf86HyperPen.c
source by Roland Jansen <roland@lut.rwth-aachen.de> and Christian
Herzog <daduke@dataway.ch>, who has taken over development of
xf86HyperPen.c.
The experimental WacomIV support has been ported from the xf86Wacom.c
source by Frederic Lepied <Fredric.Lepied@sugix.frmug.org>.
Short list of features:
- Comes both as CLI-only/WB (no GUI) and MUI version.
- Works with Tevion MD 9310 and AipTek HyperPen 6000. Probably works
with other boards aswell (SummaGraphics compatible?).
- Can be run either in 9600 or 19200 baud mode.
- Supports pressure, which can be scaled to your requirements (e.g.
with ArtEffect).
- Versatile support of the functions keys at top of the tablet.
- Can play sounds on button presses to make clicks audible.
- Supports a threshold value for the left mouse button.
- Middle and right mouse button can be swapped for stylus.
- Mouse and Stylus can use different active areas.
- Mouse can be used in relative mode. A mode for left handed people
is also available.
- Automatic detection of stylus and mouse.
- Tablet orientation can be changed by swapping x and y coordinates.
- Lots of different resolution can be chosen (up to 3048 LPI!).
- Fully compatible with MUI applications.
- Even works with low level software that reads the input events
directly (Cinema4D, MagicMenu, etc.)
Usage
~~~~~
There are two different programs for you to choose:
FormAldiHyd - tablet driver with MUI interface (interactive) Formalin
- CLI only/Workbench version (argument/ToolTypes driven)
Pressure support ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Now this is a sad story. I've done everything the AutoDocs say, but
neither TVPaint, XIPaint nor Photogenics 2 seem to support the
Intuition NEWTABLET messages and therefore readout the pressure value.
ArtEffect however, supports it in various ways (try out 'Tablet:
Intuos' or 'Accupoint').
Please send me an email if you use this program. Thanks to those who
have done so already.
Future
~~~~~~
Here's a list of stuff that is planned for the next releases:
- Gamma corrected pressure instead of linear scaling?
- Adding some functionality to the middle mouse button.
- Try out if old OS 2.x TABLET messages might help for other
applications pressure support.
- tablet.library emulation for DPaint pressure support? If anyone has
docs on this library, please send them it!
Contact address
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Any mail, comments or donations welcome:
Chris Hodges Account: 359 68 63
Kennedystr. 8 BLZ : 700 530 70
D-82178 Puchheim Bank : Sparkasse Fürstenfeldbruck
Germany
Tel.: +49-89/8005856 WWW: http://www.platon42.de/
Email: hodges@in.tum.de IRC: platon42 on EfNet
----------------------------------------------------------------------
N E W V E R S I O N P E R F E C T P A I N T
What's New ? V2.5 - March 2001
Add AppIcon
- Drop one file, Pfpaint will ask you if you want to load the file as
a picture, brush or anim.
- Drop several files, and PfPaint will create an anim.
Improve Undo:
- Entirely Rewritten
- add a Real Redo
- Add Prefs
little bug corrected with 'Adjust levels'
Last Jpeg.library is used.
bug fix with effectbrush and picasso96
Improve Edit mask: 'Pick color' now have tolerance.
New Arrex Commands
pp_GetCurrentFrame
pp_GetCurrentBuffer
pp_GetCurrentBrush
pp_FindEmptyBuffer
pp_FindEmptyBrush
pp_SetBuffer
pp_ClearCurrentBuffer
pp_AnimGui
You can have ten buffers, each buffer can have a picture or an anim,
with different depth.
Improve Scaling anim picture, and scaling anim window
Improve animation storage: RAM or HD (you can also select a path for
the storage.)
http://gothic.fr.free.fr/amiga/new.html
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Y A C A S - M A T H P R O G R A M A V A I L A B L E
22 March, 2001
Math program like MatLab, v1.0.45 -MorphOS- Author: Fr3dY
(fr3dy@retemail.es) Uploader: Fr3dY (fr3dy@retemail.es) Type:
misc/math Yacas (Yet Another Computer Algebra System) is a small and
highly flexible general-purpose computer algebra language. The syntax
uses a infix-operator grammar parser. The distribution contains a
small library of mathematical functions, but its real strength is in
the language in which you can easily write your own symbolic
manipulation algorithms. Fr3dY
http://www.morphos.de/meanmachine/files/Fr3dY/yacas-mos1045.readme
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Amiga Update on the net:
All back issues available at:
http://www.globaldialog.com/~amigaupdate/index.html
Stop by and check out our archive!
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Copyright 2001 by Brad Webb. Freely distributable, if not modified.
======================================================================
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