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Amiga Update (2003-02-28)
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A M I G A | 030228 | 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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G E N E S I S A R L S U E S A M I G A
H Y P E R I O N P A R T N E R S W I T H S C I T E C H
A M I G B G 2 0 0 3 I N S W E D E N I N M A R C H
S P O N T A N E O U S C O M B U S T I O N S A M P L E P A C K
E L B O X S P I D E R U S B 2 . 0 H I - S P E E D
F L A S H R O M F O R T H E H I G H W A Y U S B B O A R D
B A R S N P I P E S U P D A T E A N N O U N C E D
N E W P I X L O A D P R E V I E W V E R S I O N
Editor's Thoughts and Introduction:
February was another of those months we've had far too often recently
where there was not a great deal of real news in the Amiga Community.
Yet interest in the Amiga remains high - we had many new subscribers
to "Amiga Update" for instance, and we saw quite a bit of traffic on
the Internet. In addition, there was _some_ news to report and work
seems to be continuing doggedly on OS4. By this time in March we hope
OS4 will be available and the pace of life and news in the Amiga
Community will be picking up. It certainly has to happen soon ...
We ordinarily don't report on anything Beta or "preview" as there is
so much that never gets completed in these categories. However, we
included a couple of items this month which we might not have had
there been more to report. We think the stories on the ROMulus and
Pixload deal with products that you will really be able to obtain in
finished form.
We hope you enjoy this issue.
Brad Webb,
Editor
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E-mail to the E-ditor:
14 Feb 2003
I have just spent the last few days moving the 1200+ square feet (not
800 as previously thought) of Centsible's inventory to storage
facilities here in Edwardsburg, MI.
It will take some time to inventory and test the computers (and other
items), but for anyone who wishes to place orders, the website has be
changed over so I will receive the orders. I will get the computers
checked out ASAP and get the list started for all those of you who
wish to take me up on that part of the proposal.
Temporarily, I need to ask that any orders be placed either by
payment in advance (our new address is Centsible Software, PO Box 445,
Edwardsburg, MI 49112-0445) or via PayPal.com (using
wd8izh@beanstalk.net for the "Pay To:" section). This is due to the
fact that my merchant account (that allows me to accept credit cards
directly) is slow in being processed. I will send out notice when this
situation has been resolved.
Thank you all, once again, for your help.
---
Bill
Griffin
The new owner of Centsible Software
~~~~~~
The note above from Bill Griffin was sent to several people and
organizations in the Amiga Community, including "Amiga Update".
We're pleased Centsible will be able to continue as a going Amiga
concern and wish success to Bill - and to all the dedicated vendors
who struggle to survive in a very difficult Amiga market.
Brad
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G E N E S I S A R L S U E S A M I G A
4 February, 2003
{The small item which follows was taken from the excellent "Czech
Amiga News" site, with additional information pulled from the web site
that lists some of the court case information. Genesi is the firm
making the Pegasos "pseudo" Amiga and its operating system MorphOS.
Thendic is an earlier name for part of the company. Brad}
In a comment on ann.lu Bill Buck and Raquel Velasco confirmed that
Genesi SARL has taken legal action against Amiga Inc. because of
breech of contract: "MorphOS IP is 100% legal. Any concerns or
questions can be emailed to us directly. All suggestions to the
contrary are complete FUD. Neither, Amiga Inc. or any of the AmigaOS4
signatories have any legally supportable evidence to the contrary.
Having said that, Genesi has taken legal action against Amiga Inc. in
Federal Court (Washington State) for breech of contract (FACT). We are
expecting a favorable result (OPINION)." Civil Cases Filed in the
Western District of Washington
http://amiga.czex.com/history/pree.html
Case Number
C03-0003
Short Case Title
Thendic Electronics Components v. Amiga, Inc.
Judge Assigned
RSL
Nature of Suit
190 - Other Contract
Division
Seattle
Date Filed
01/02/2003
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H Y P E R I O N P A R T N E R S W I T H S C I T E C H
Chico, California -- (February 18, 2003) -- SciTech Software Inc. and
Hyperion Entertainment VOF are pleased to announce they have enterered
into a strategic partnership which will see SciTech's SNAP(tm)
technology integrated into AmigaOS 4.x which is currently under
development by Hyperion for PPC based systems.
SciTech SNAP, SciTech's leading edge graphics device support, allows
for the rapid development and deployment of embedded solutions across
multiple platforms and currently already supports well over 170
different graphics chipsets including all the latest offerings from
industry leaders ATI, nVidia and Matrox.
"We are very excited about SNAP as it offers us out of the box
support for a huge and ever growing number of graphics cards and
effectively allows us to redirect resources away from device driver
development and cut down on time to market", said Ben Hermans,
managing partner of Hyperion. "We are convinced that prospective
customers of AmigaOS 4.x will appreciate the high-performance, low
footprint graphics card technology that SciTech has developed over
many years."
"SciTech shares in the vision of the Amiga platform and is excited to
play a key roll in the further development of the original multi-media
OS." said, Andrew Bloo, Director of Marketing, SciTech Software Inc.
"By adopting SciTech SNAP Graphics as the core graphics architecture
for the Amiga OS, Amiga can now offer a level of performance and
compatibility equal to that of any mainstream OS".
SciTech and Hyperion are set to broaden their cooperation to
encompass 3D graphics support and support for other PPC based
operating systems.
About SciTech
SciTech Software, Inc. is a leading supplier of graphics utilities,
drivers, and tools for the embedded, industrial and enterprise
markets. SciTech's products include, SciTech SNAP Graphics, a fully
accelerated binary compatible graphic device driver solution, SciTech
GLDirect, an OpenGL to Direct3D driver and SciTech MGL, a professional
graphics library used to develop some of today's most popular software
programs. SciTech products support the Windows, Linux, OS/2, DOS, QNX,
and SMX operating systems. SciTech is privately held and the company's
web address is http://www.scitechsoft.com
About Hyperion Entertainment VOF
Hyperion Entertainment is a privately held Belgian-German company,
founded in March of 1999. The company specialises in 3D graphics and
the conversion of top-quality entertainment software from Windows to
niche-platforms including Amiga, Linux (x86,PPC) and MacOS (OS 9/X).
Hyperion Entertainment has undertaken contract-work in the field of 3D
graphics for companies such as Monolith (www.lith.com) and has
developed a mature, fast, small foot-print technology to bring 3D
graphics to low power digital devices such as PDA's and STB's.
Hyperion is currently working on AmigaOS 4.0, a vastly enhanced PPC
native incarnation of the groundbreaking OS introduced by Commodore in
1985.
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A M I G B G 2 0 0 3 I N S W E D E N I N M A R C H
27 February, 2003
The Lindholmen area where AmiGBG 2003 will take place on the 29th of
March between 12.00-17.00 is one of the most expansive areas in
Gothenburg.
News
New exhibitor: Eyetech Group Ltd! 2003-02-27
It´s a big pleasure and a honour for the AmiGBG user group to welcome
Alan Redhouse from Eyetech Group Ltd to the AmiGBG 2003 fair!
New exhibitor: Amitopia! 2003-02-27
The norwegian amiga magazine Amitopia, an exhibitor at AmiGBG 2002,
is now also taking part in AmiGBG 2003.
The AmiGBG user group consists of a number of people living in
Gothenburg, Sweden that have the amiga computer as a common interest.
All of us have been using this wonderful computer for many years.
After many years where the Amiga had lead a languishing life in
Sweden we decided to form the user group in November 2001. The overall
purpose with this user group is to organize fairs and gatherings to
promote the interest around the Amiga in Sweden.
Since AmiGBG was founded in 2001 we have had time to organize two
arrangements, the AmiGBG 2002 and Aone 2002 Gothenburg Fall Event.
AmiGBG 2002 was attended by approx. 450 visitors, which was a lot
more than we had hoped for. We were all pleasantly surprised
considering this was the first Swedish amiga fair since 1998. We met
visitors from all parts of Sweden, along with guests from a long way
away such as Denmark and Norway.
The fair proved what we were hoping for - that a great interest for
the Amiga and alternative operating systems still exists!
The positive feedback that we received after AmiGBG 2002 was very
encouraging indeed, it almost seemed that some of the visitors barely
couldn´t wait for the next swedish Amiga fair to take place! On the
autumn the same year we organized the Aone Gothenburg 2002 Fall Event
together with the Swedish amiga retailer GGS-Data, in cooperation with
Eyetech Ltd and two AmigaOne betatesters. Over two hundred persons
attended this event which was free of charge.
AmiGBG is a non-profit organization and we organize the AmiGBG 2003
fair aided by non-profit working functionaries that assist us in the
work around the arrangement.
Contact
Email
kjell@amigbg.com
mattias@amigbg.com
http://www.amigbg.com/
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S P O N T A N E O U S C O M B U S T I O N S A M P L E P A C K
DiscreetFX Releases Spontaneous Combustion Sample Pack® A Low Cost
Version of a New Real-Time Fire, Smoke & Explosion Effects Library.
Chicago, Illinois -- February 22, 2003 -- DiscreetFX LLC Inc.,
Real-time Broadcast Quality Visual Effects developer for the Amiga
Video Toaster Flyer and Video Toaster [2] releases a low cost version
of Spontaneous Combustion to give customers a chance to try this all
new Fire, Smoke and Explosion add-on for the Amiga Video Toaster Flyer
and Video Toaster [2]. Here at DiscreetFX we realize that in these
tough economic times every dollar of our clients money is valuable and
they want to spend it wisely only on software products they absolutely
need to enhance their video and production business. We feel strongly
that Spontaneous Combustion will make your productions more explosive
and make them sizzle so we are offering a sample pack to allow clients
to see if this new product is right for their business. At a cost of
only $9.95 including shipping and handling this is a tremendous value
and allows everyone to get a taste of what Spontaneous Combustion can
offer. For your money you get the following features.
Amiga/Video Toaster Flyer version:
Four Real-time Broadcast Quality Fire Effects from Spontaneous
Combustion.
Four animated Video Toaster Flyer clip files that can be used for
advanced Compositing.
Complete 24 bit IFF image sequences of Real-time effects included in
the sample pack.
Four Audio sequences in Flyer Audio & Amiga Audio that correspond to
the included effects.
$10 off the price of the full release version of Spontaneous
Combustion.
Even if you don't have a Video Toaster you can still use this version
with an AGA or Graphics card based Amiga.
Video Toaster [2] version
Four Video Toaster [2] Real-time Broadcast Quality Fire Effects from
Spontaneous Combustion.
Four Uncompressed Video Toaster [2] RTV files that can be used for
advanced Compositing.
Complete still image sequences of the four Real-time effects included
in the sample pack.
Four Audio sequences that correspond to the included effects.
$10 off the price of the full release version of Spontaneous
Combustion.
Please note that any customers that pre-ordered Spontaneous
Combustion at the special price of $49.95 will receive the Sample Pack
automatically in the mail. Once completed Spontaneous Combustion will
cost $129.95 so the pre-order price is only available for a limited
time. For more information please call toll-free @ 1 (800) 852-0930 or
send an e-mail to sales@discreetfx.com.
Spontaneous Combustion Sample Pack includes a 100% Money Back
Guarantee.
To order via Paypal simply send a payment for $9.95 to
sales@discreetfx.com. If you want to pay by check our snail mail
address is http://www.discreetfx.com/Contactinfo.htm.
Don't forget Shipping is FREE!
About DiscreetFX
DiscreetFX creates Real-time transitions and effects seen on over 100
television programs including Blind Date, 5th Wheel, Shipmates and
more! You can also see DiscreetFX software used on the following
networks HBO, Showtime, Discovery Channel, PBS, Fox and more!
www.discreetfx.com
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E L B O X S P I D E R U S B 2 . 0 H I - S P E E D
11 February 2000
ELBOX COMPUTER is pleased to announce that from now on, Amiga has the
possibility of using new generation USB 2.0 devices in the USB 2.0
Hi-Speed mode. This has become possible with the Spider EHCI USB
driver developed by Elbox for the MEDIATOR PCI busboard series.
When Spider USB 2.0 controller was released in September 2002, it was
supplied with the OHCI USB 1.1 driver. EHCI USB 2.0 support was
lacking but promised as soon as possible. Today Elbox made good on
that promise. The Spider EHCI USB Hi-Speed driver is now included in
the Spider CD. All registered Spider users are now receiving this new
driver as a free update.
USB 2.0 is the fastest USB standard released so far, supporting data
speeds up to 480Mbps, that is 40 times faster than USB 1.1. This makes
USB 2.0 an ideal technology for external storage devices, digital
cameras, webcams and much more.
Spider USB 2.0 card features:
· Five USB 2.0 Hi-Speed ports: four external ports and one internal
port
· Compatible with both USB 2.0 (480Mbps) and USB 1.1 (12Mbps) devices
· Compliant with EHCI, OHCI and PCI 2.2 standards
· All ports can handle Hi-Speed, Full-Speed and Low-Speed transaction
· 5-port EHCI (Enhanced Host Controller Interface) USB 2.0 controller
· Two independent OHCI (Open Host Controller Interface) USB 1.1
controllers
· Supports up to 127 downstream USB devices
· Supplies 500 mA power to each USB port
· Supports PCI-Bus Power Management Interface
· Hot Plug Capability
Don't limit yourself with a USB controller that supports only USB
1.1. Future-proof your computer with Spider USB 2.0 card--Shop Now!
http://www.elbox.com/
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F L A S H R O M F O R T H E H I G H W A Y U S B B O A R D
20 February, 2003
Michael 'E3B' Böhmer and Chris 'Platon42' Hodges are proud to
announce that the prototype of the ROMulus FlashRom extension
developed by E3B a few months ago for the HIGHWAY Zorro USB board is
properly working. ROMulus adds a FlashROM expansion to the HIGHWAY
board which can be used to add system software even before the first
boot. We wanted to verify the operation of this addon module before
announcing any details on this board.
ROMulus contains 512KB flash memory that allows the user to install
all kinds of rom modules onto the board to be available at the very
first boot.
This, of course, includes the popular Poseidon stack, making it
possible to boot directly from USB media right after the machine has
been turned on. No need to mention that other USB devices like mice
and keyboards will be available in an instant, too. These advantages
are actually not available with PCI solutions, unfortunately.
But this is not the only advantage: System upgrades available from
OS3.5/3.9, that are normally installed by SetPatch can be also stored
in the FlashRom, making an initial reboot of the machine unneccessary.
Moreover, also BlizKick modules (non-patching ones) can be used
aswell. Whole Kickstart replacements are not supported, though
(technical reasons).
More possible applications for the flash rom: password protection
modules, custom boot intros to impress your friends, XSurfIDE (to boot
from the IDE connectors of the XSurf), etc. Of special interest is the
possibility to add the new FastFileSystem as well as SCSI / IDE
drivers. By this ROMulus breaks through the actual barrier of 4 GB for
partitions which can be used directly for booting.
The BootLoader software supports crunched data, so the effective
space for modules is about 700-900KB. The decrunching process is very
fast, so you will not notice it.
Software support currently consists of a shell tool for the user to
change the flash rom contents. A GUI to easily manage the features
will be available at release time.
The ROMulus can be used in addition to the NORWAY ethernet module or
stand-alone on a HIGHWAY. The flash rom feature is also part of the
Highway II, which is in testing phase now and will go into production,
if there is enough demand.
The addon module will be priced at approx. 35 EUR, including the
necessary bus interface upgrade of the HIGHWAY USB board (excluding
shipment). Your HIGHWAY needs to be shipped in to E3B for this
upgrade. Production will start as soon as possible. E3B will announce
the availability right after the production run.
Please note that upgraded HIGHWAYs will no longer work without the
ROMulus module attached to it. However it is possible to switch off
the ROM feature at boot time without the need of opening the computer
case.
Technical data
addon module for HIGHWAY Zorro II USB controller
FlashROM size 256kB x 16 (512kB x 8)
original expansion port of HIGHWAY still available
can be operated together with NORWAY ethernet module
reprogrammable up to 10.000 times (no recycled flash chips)
Software support
compatible with AmigaOS 3.1, 3.5 und 3.9
software modules are automatically inserted by bootloader
easy reprogramming by included software
FlashROM can easily be deactivated at boot time
Included in delivery
1 * ROMulus addon module
1 * detailed English installation manual
1 * disk with driver software
Requirements
Amiga OS 3.1 or higher
Processor 68030 (25MHz) or higher
HIGHWAY with firmware upgrade (included in pricing)
Support
two years warranty on parts and work
excellent technical support team
worldwide reputation for quality and durability
online documentation and support messages
Changes can be made without further notification. All trademarks are
property of the corresponding firms.
http://www.e3b.de/usb/romulus_e.html
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B A R S N P I P E S U P D A T E A N N O U N C E D
10 February, 2003
Ver. 1.19 (10.02.2003)
bugs removed:
switching between "normal" and "list" editor. Now the top of the
event-list is real the next possible displayable event. (Bigger free
ranges in the List-Editor are only to recognize by the values, they
are NOT shown by the List-Editor.)
horizontal-scrollers now are working right in: - Timeline - window
- TempoMap - window
- MediaMadness - window
- SongConstruction - window
Stepentry works now better
external synchronization with MIDI-clocks now works better
PopUp-Menu in the editors for the mostly used edit-functions added
checkmark gadgets have a new knob (not in the "classic"-version)
"Selective Toolize" window somewhat altered in the "classic"-version
previous requester reinserted
LeadIn in Loop-Record-Mode is now working
name of the locale-file of the "classic"-version changed to:
"BarsnPipesC.catalog", because they now different. So you may use both
version, without problems with the locale. The version number of the
classic version is jumped to 1.19 to have the same number in both
versions.
http://www.alfred-j-faust.de/historyeng.html
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N E W P I X L O A D P R E V I E W V E R S I O N
20 February, 2003
DESCRIPTION :
This little "bar" allows to you load any program or script by one
click on icon
NEWS :
- All icons can be replaced by a drag and drop from Pixload-Prefs
- Drop Event icon settings : loading of program and file dropped on
icon
- Drop Event icon identification by a white triangular
- Bugs corrected
WHAT'S UP :
It is a borderless window with buttons including small IFF pictures.
Each click on button, loads a command line which loads a program. Drag
and drop is also possible anywhere on Pixload. It was made in AREXX,
RXMUI and MUI for graphic part. You can modify everything (colors,
aspect, etc...) from the Pixload contextual menu.
CONFIGURATION :
There are two parameters to configure :
- MUI (look at documentation). You can modify graphical Pixload's
part from contextual menu -> MUI settings. Prefs files
(Pixload.1.prefs and Pixload-prefs.1.prefs) are located at
SYS:prefs/env-archive/mui and RAM:Env/mui
- Pixload-Prefs (look at help bubble)
. Click on Pixload.prefs in the Prefs folder and choose :
. Pixload's displaying : horizontally by default
. Sound on/off
. Sound level (%)
. Numbers of enabled/showed icons
N.B : (all icons will be showed from Pixload-Prefs, if you choose
some icons, others will be "showed" but disabled).
- Size of icons (%)
- Name and path for each program used to read text, picture and music
module via drag and drop
- for each line :
- Icon (small IFF pictures) located in Pixload/icones folder. You can
replace them by drag & drop from pictures located in Pixload/icones
folder to Pixload-Prefs window.
Attention : This is not really icon (newicon) in Pixload/icones
folder but a real IFF pictures with their newicon. You change create
own icons with Personal Paint. Load a newicon and save it in IFF ILBM
format. This method allows you keep all colors of you icon rather than
newicon "lose" many colors.
- A Drop Event icon button which is marked by a white triangular
under icon sur l'icône. Dans ce cas, un petit triangle blanc
apparaitra en dessous de cette icône dans la barre
- Path and name of program
- Bubble help content showed if mouse pointer is over icon
- Sounds for each programs launched
- A sound test button
Graphic interface from MUI, is available from the Pixload contextual
menu.
DRAG & DROP :
Pixload reacts to icons dropped for several ways :
Drop event icon : (with a white triangular located under)
If you drop a "newicon" into a drop event icon, program linked to
this "drop event" icon will be loaded and your file A popup window
with the linked program bold name will be displayed.
By example : By example : Drag and drop a text file on Editpad icon
will load EDITPAD and your file. This "reaction" is only available if
you can type : program + arguments :
By example : under CLI, sys:tools/editpad ram:texte will work under
CLI, sys:tvpaint ram:picture will not work because TVPAINT refuses
arguments.
A non Drop event icon : (without a white triangular located under)
- If you drop a newicon into a non drop event icon,, there will be a
file type auto detection and, from your Pixload-Prefs settings,
Multiview will be loaded excepted for MP3 and 8SVX formats. A popup
window with a file type detected will be displayed in bold font.
By default, Pixload analyses some file types (thanks to Filetypes
file in S folder) but it only reacts for : GIF, JPEG, PNG, PSD, 8SVX,
IFF, ILBM, ILBM24, Rexx, Text, Mod, Mods, Modules, MP3
Attention :You must have all datatypes for each file types listed
above in Devs/datatypes and Classes. OS 3.9 is required because
Amplifier is used to read MP3 files, For very long 8SVX sound, Dsound
command is used (few CPU time).
Drag a volume icon (except floppy !)
If you drag and drop a volume anywhere on Pixload, (CD Rom, Zip,
etc), it will be ejected
http://perso.wanadoo.fr/pixel-art/pixload-3-anglais.html
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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 2003 by Brad Webb. Freely distributable, if not modified.
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