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Amiga Update (2004-05-31)
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A M I G A | 040531 | 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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T H E L A T E S T N E W S A B O U T A M I W E S T
A M I G A W O R L D N E T L A U N C H E D
A M I G A A M P 2 . 1 2 R E L E A S E D
P E R S U A S I V E S O F T W O R X A T E N D
C O C O L I N O M O U S E I N T E R F A C E - E L B O X
H O M E B A N K G O E S F R E E W A R E
2 R I V A M P E G P L A Y E R V E R S I O N S I N M A Y
W I N U A E N E W V E R S I O N O U T , A N N O U N C E D
T H E U L T I M A T E P O N G C L O N E ! ? ! ?
Editor's Thoughts and Introduction:
The biggest news in some time is not quite upon us, so coverage won't
make it into this issue. That news, of course, is the release of the
developer version of OS 4.0. Or, is it's officially being put, the
Developer Pre-release. Whatever you call it, it's a momentous event
and should be celebrated by Amigans everywhere.
In the meantime, we do have some interesting things to share with
you. One is a rather sad note. Today Andreas R. Kleinert has announced
the end of PerSuaSiVe SoftWorX as an Amiga entity. All things must
come to an end but that doesn't take away from the loss. We wish
Andreas all the best in his other endeavors.
The remainder of our stories are more cheerful and include the
launching of a new service by the good folks at AmigaWorld.net, one of
the best Amiga sites out there. Nice to see things going well for
them.
We hope you enjoy this issue.
Brad Webb,
Editor
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E-mail to the E-ditor:
26 May, 2004
Hello!
I've been a subscriber for a few years now. Thanks for your great
information. I hope you can help me.
I've got an Amiga with a Video Toaster that I'd like to either get
running again or turn over to some worthy cause.
Is this even possible anymore? I've gotten zero response from NewTek.
I hope you can suggest something.
Thanks!
-Andrew
~~~~~~
Thought I'd run your letter for all the readers to see. You may not
be alone in your predeicament.
I guess I'm not surprised you've heard nothing from NewTek. There's
no Amiga market for them any longer, though an answer just to say that
would have been good manners. It might be possible to find software if
that's your problem by using the Internet. Plus, we ran a story in
issue 040229 (available on our website) about the code for the Toaster
being released to public domain. You might take a look at this site:
http://www.openvideotoaster.org/
They might have some information of use to you. I haven't actually
checked the site out in detail, not being a Toaster user, so can't
really speak to it. But it may be a start.
... also, check out the top story on this page:
http://www.amigaworld.net/modules/news/index.php?start=10&storytopic
=0&storynum=10
Good luck!
Regards,
Brad
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T H E L A T E S T N E W S A B O U T A M I W E S T
26 May 2004
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"BACK TO THE ROOTS" - AMIWEST 2004 THEME
****************************************************************
The AmiWest 2004 Committee has decided on a "Back to the Roots" theme
for this year's show. Just exactly what are we talking about?
"Back to the Roots" means back to the spirit of innovation that is
Amiga. In the mid-1980's, computers were mostly characterized by a
black screen with a blinking green cursor, or some other two-color
cursor variation. If you didn't know the command line, you were as
clueless as everyone else when the machine booted up.
Amiga changed all of that with color and an icon-driven interface,
just the beginning of an innovative computer that could do graphics,
sound, video and all kinds of other things computers hadn't been doing
much up til then. And multitasking meant you could do more than one
thing at a time. So we'll be seeing some of that early innovation
through expert demos and exhibits to see how that innovation operates
both then and now.
"Back to the Roots" means back to community. Our community has been
attacked, fragmented, and left for dead by many. We know that it is
alive, vibrant and recovering from its wounds. We will be having
community gatherings during AmiWest to meet and talk with one another.
"Back to the Roots" means seeing the roots of current development for
the Amiga. Amiga One hardware, Amiga OS 4, and as much software and
expansion hardware as we can gather will be at AmiWest 2004. Come and
support these intrepid developers with your attendance and purchases.
"Back to the Roots" means exhibitors that have been in the Amiga
community long-term. We'll have a dealer exhibiting who has been an
Amiga dealer since 1988. We'll have a software developer there who is
porting his classic Amiga products to OS 4 right now. We'll have a
hardware manufacturer there who is currently developing for both the
Amiga "classic" and Amiga One platforms. Come to see it and to support
them with your purchases and feedback.
"Back to the Roots" means seeing the future grow out of the healthy
roots of the past. Backwards compatibility is a major factor in all
future Amiga development so that upgrades can occur from an
already-developed software base. Future development is also dependent
upon us, Amiga users, as we purchase and use new hardware and
software. Everything we can lay our hands on will be available at
AmiWest 2004.
"Back to the Roots" means YOU, the members of the Amiga community,
being strong and supportive through your AmiWest attendance. Be sure
to buy your tickets TODAY!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
So remember,
AmiWest 2004 is rolling! The facility is reserved and the vendors are
notified! Keep watching for these releases and tell everyone that you
know - the Amiga and the Amiga community is alive and well!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
HOTEL CONTACT
July 24th and 25th, 2004
At a new location in Sacramento, CA
Inn at the Oaks
2600 Auburn Blvd.
Sacramento California 95821
Hotel direct reservations: 1-916-487-7600
www.sacc.org/amiwest
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A M I G A W O R L D N E T L A U N C H E D
23 May, 2004
AmigaworldNET The Amiga IRC Network was officially launched Today by
Amigaworld.net in association with Happybiscuit.com, GuruMeditation.se
and Polarboing.com and is built around the Amiga community to help
facilitate the communications of Amiga users and online organisations.
AmigaworldNET offers users the following services..
* NickServ, a powerful nickname manager that users can use to protect
themselves against nick stealing
* ChanServ, A powerful channel manager that helps users to administer
their channels in a totally customisable way
* MemoServ, allows sending short messages to offline users, that they
can then read when they come online later.
* BotServ, allows users to get a permanent, friendly bot on their
channels in an easy way. Each bot can be configured to monitor the
channels against floods, repetitions, caps writing, swear, and take
appropriate actions. It also can handle user-friendly commands
* HostServ, allows users to show custom vHosts (virtual hosts)
instead of their real IP address. New users will automatically receive
an [Username].Amigaworld.Net vhost upon registeration (can be turned
off)
For more information visit http://irc.amigaworld.net
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P E R S U A S I V E S O F T W O R X A T E N D
31 May, 2004
I've updated my website at http://www.ar-kleinert.de to reflect that
PerSuaSiVe SoftWorX as such will go out of business. The other URLs
have been changed so that they redirect to this one now - and will
disappear soon. Due to my current job I do not have time anymore to
keep the Amiga "business" going. There may be free software updates
and additional free plugins in the future, though.
I've uploaded the following to Aminet today:
********************************************
Short: SView5 FREE KEYFILE (1.6.2004)
Type: gfx/misc
Uploader: info@ar-kleinert.de
Author: Andreas R. Kleinert
Free keyfile for SView5 from the author.
For Aminet users, only.
Must not be distributed elsewhere.
(C) 2004 by Andreas R. Kleinert.
All rights reserved.
Short: SViewIV FREE KEYFILE (1.6.2004)
Type: gfx/misc
Uploader: info@ar-kleinert.de
Author: Andreas R. Kleinert
Free keyfile for SViewIV from the author.
For Aminet users, only.
Must not be distributed elsewhere.
(C) 2004 by Andreas R. Kleinert.
All rights reserved.
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A M I G A A M P 2 . 1 2 R E L E A S E D
20 May, 2004
AmigaAMP is a powerful realtime MPEG audio player for Amiga
computers. It is based on the amp decoding engine by Tomislav Uzelac
and can do realtime decoding on 50 MHz processors and up. AmigaAMP is
a completely free and non-commercial project. Fraunhofer IIS and
THOMSON multimedia grant a free license to use their MPEG Layer-3
audio compression technology for this kind of software.
I'm almost certain that I've forgotten to fix some of the known bugs
but I'm also certain that I've finally fixed some of them! :))
Some WSZ skin files have their images stored in a subdirectory rather
than the top level. This is now supported. Newer versions of ID3v2
tags still can't be read but at least they don't prevent AmigaAMP from
loading the classic ID3v1 tags any
more.
AHI Compatible
AmigaAMP uses the widespread AHI Audio System at device access level.
You can use it with any AHI compatible soundcard as well as with the
original Amiga audio chipset.
Current Features (v2.10)
MPEG Layer-2, Layer-3, AIFF, and WAV playback
MPEGit and MAS-PLAYER hardware accelerator support
Visualisation plugin system
GadTools based font sensitive user interface
Alternatively WinAMP compatible user interface
Workbench application (you can drop icons on its window)
AHI device-level access (uses default audio mode automatically)
PPC (PowerUP and WarpUP) support
ID3 tag editor (artist, title, albm, etc.) and ID3v2 support
Playlists and Repeat mode
Volume, panning and crossfading
Editable playlists and shuffle mode with skin support
Graphic equalizer
Shoutcast/Icecast internet radio support
Planned features
MPEG decode-to-file
http://www.amigaamp.de/
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C O C O L I N O M O U S E I N T E R F A C E - E L B O X
15 May, 2004
Elbox Computer is pleased to announce release of the COCOLINO mouse
interface. COCOLINO is a PS/2 mouse interface, with the unique
capability of supporting two scroll wheels and 3rd, 4th and 5th
buttons available in many PS/2 mice nowadays. The COCOLINO interface
simply plugs into the Amiga's mouse port.
Features:
* The COCOLINO PS/2 Mouse Interface is a microprocessor-based adapter
for attaching PS/2 mice, trackballs, glidepoints and radio-controlled
mice from the world of PC computers.
* COCOLINO works with all models of Amiga computers. It simply plugs
into the Amiga's mouse port.
* The COCOLINO PS/2 Mouse Interface is a full 'plug and play' device.
No software is required for standard use. The enclosed software
(cocolino.driver) allows using two wheels and 3rd, 4th and 5th buttons
available in many PS/2 mice and trackballs.
* The COCOLINO interface starts working simultaneous with the
computer's start so mice can be used in the early-startup-menu (unlike
the mice connected through the serial port).
* COCOLINO uses linear movement interpolation, which makes mouse
movements perfectly smooth with any screen frame rates.
The package contents:
Included in the package is the COCOLINO PS/2 Mouse interface and a
diskette containing the software (cocolino.driver) to use the two
scrollers on wheel mice and additional mouse buttons.
Pricing and availability:
The COCOLINO PS/2 Mouse interface is on sale now at the suggested
retail price of only $35.95 (VAT excl.)
To locate an authorized distributor in your area or to purchase the
product online visit the Elbox Computer website at
<www.elbox.com/buy.html>.
For bundle offers (Cocolino and scroll mice) visit the Interface
section of the Elbox Online Store.
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H O M E B A N K G O E S F R E E W A R E
10 May, 2004
The personal account manager for AmigaOS / MorphOS
«HomeBank» is the Amiga software you have always wanted to manage
your personal accounts. It is more than a simple personal finance
manager, it has various features that allows you to analyze your
finances in a detailed way.
The interface has been designed using the best combination available:
MUI, some private MUI classes and 3rd parties like BetterString,
NList, NListtree...
HomeBank is also innovative with the new ideas and features it makes
available to you. It is powerful and stable, as the result of being
programmed in optimized C.
Really, if you are looking for an easy way to do your home accounts,
then «HomeBank» should be the software you choose. Just take a little
time to try it out now, and you won't regret doing so...
HomeBank is now FreeWare. You can make a donation to support
HomeBank, contact the author for that purpose. You are also invited to
subscribe to the HomeBank mailing list.
http://maxworld.free.fr/homebank/
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2 R I V A M P E G P L A Y E R V E R S I O N S I N M A Y
30/05/2004
New in this version:
o Added Window display mode to allow playback in a window on systems
with no PIP/VLayer. Enter can be used to toggle between window and
fullscreen during playback.
o Added support for the BGRA32 colour format. PC graphics cards (like
GeForce) use this mode, so UAE users can play videos on a truecolor
screen (or in a window on a TrueColor Workbench) on those cards.
10/05/2004
New in this version:
o Major optimizations (up to 15-20% speedup!)
o Added a faster Accupak routine for PicassoIV (works without
Planarassist)
o Pointer blank in fullscreen modes, improved verbose output
RiVA is the fastest 68k Amiga MPEG Player. Click here to download the
latest demo.
The demo version has all features enabled, but movies are not played
in colour. Click here if you would like to register online.
Features:
Plays MPEG-1 video streams and system streams (streams with
video+audio)
Fast audio playback via audio.device
Retargetable audio via AHI sound system
Highly efficient AsyncIO reading
Full Picasso96 support (not emulated CyberGraphics)
CybergraphX support (including VLayer)
AGA support (with very fast c2p routines)
Fast, high-quality colour AGA modes (DHAM6 and DHAM8).
HALFHEIGHT option to increase playback speed on AGA machines
PIP support under P96 (needs PIP-capable gfxcard, like the PIV or
CV64/3D)
VLayer support under CyberGraphX
Very efficient YUV to RGB conversion routines for fast TrueColor
playback
Very fast, special HiColor playback mode to achive fastest possible
speeds in colour on gfxcards without PIP!
Custom HiColor routines for EVERY possible hicolor format. This gives
high performance on ANY GfxCard
High playback quality: RiVA uses high-precision arithmetic to provide
excellent playback quality in both grayscale and colour!
Fast, intelligent frame skipping, to be able to keep up with required
frame rate.
Written in pure 100% Assembly language, optimized pipeline cache of
the 68060!
Intelligent display mode selection! RiVA should automatically find
the best display mode on your system automatically, so you don't need
to worry about specifying screen mode IDs or other options. For
instance it will instantly use PIP or Vlayer if available or will fall
back to other alternative display options if not.
On-the-fly zooming of PIP/VLayer window
Standard features like ASL filerequester, icon tooltypes,
drag'n'drop...
Audio scaling when different framerate is specified
Surround Sound option (MONOSURROUND)
Fullsreen PIP mode (toggle with Enter key)
http://amigos.amiga.hu/cobra
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W I N U A E N E W V E R S I O N O U T , A N N O U N C E D
16 May, 2004
WinUAE, the Windows version of the Universal Amiga Emulator, has a
new version out and another on its way.
WinUAE 0.8.27 WIP (23.05.2004)
===============================
(ETA 1-2 weeks)
Bugs in 0.8.26 fixed:
- JIT-only crash when loading state file or loading new
config on the fly
- crash when loading config and directory or no config
file was selected
- ports-page uninitialized joystick/mouse radio buttons
- ignore files not having .uae-extension when scanning
configuration file directory
- GUI works now with non-96DPI fonts
- possible crash when starting emulator or inserting/ejecting
disks
- JIT compatibility problems with some games (for example
Alien Breed 3D II)
- debugger am-command
- "Priority=2!"-debug dialog
Older bugs fixed:
- centering improved
- hardfile error "tried to seek out of bounds"-message when
hardfile was too small or blocksize was set to zero
- fullscreen D3D/OpenGL-mode ALT-TAB
- fixed forever repeating "...because desktop is too small for
the specified window size.."
- saving config: always add (if missing) ".uae"-extension to
config file name
New features:
- new rtg.library, 20-30 times faster Picasso96 pixel read
- don't add contents of zip file to disk history if zip only
contains one supported disk image file
- compatibility fix for buggy programs that access non-existing
memory in CIA address space
- MIDI can be selected without serial port
WinUAE 0.8.26 (15.05.2004)
===============================
Bugs fixed:
- custom chipset emulation updates (Aunt Arctic Adventure
collision detection, Warhead music and sound effects etc..)
- very old FPU emulation bug
- bsdsocket emulation (AmiTradeCenter, CTRL-C signal check)
- interrupt level 7 freeze
- uaescsi.device MODE SENSE/SELECT translation
- Picasso96 WaitForVSync fix (Fake Electronic Lightshow" by
Ephidrena)
- Picasso96 8-bit mode palette problem (black Workbench
background color after returning from Windows desktop)
- MIDI-IN random freeze
New features:
- new GUI! [Preview]
- improved GUI pages
- systray icon and shortcut menu
- improved drop and drop support
- faster END+PAUSE warp-mode
- 68020+/JIT crash prevention
- debugger improvements
- floppy drive disk image history list
- disk swapper page for swapping quickly multi-disk games
- integrated Pro Wizard module ripper
- improved IPF (CAPS) and FDI support
and more..
http://www.winuae.net/
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T H E U L T I M A T E P O N G C L O N E ! ? ! ?
26 May, 2004
It's THE Pong clone to end them all!
Features
o Realtime stunning 3d gfx (Warp3D/MiniGL)
o 16bit stereo sound with speech (AHI)
o Versions for both 68k and WarpOS
o 1 or 2 player game
o 10 different bonuses (multiple balls, obstacles etc.)
o 100 levels
o 10 different 3d backgrounds
o Automatic savegame
o Selectable detail of gfx
o Joystick support
Requirements
o Amiga with at least 68040 (PPC is supported via WarpOS) or
compatible
o Working Warp3D installation
o Working AHI installation
o Lucyplay.library by Oliver Gantert (version 4.0 included)
The game should also run on other compatible platforms/under
emulation with right setup (MorphOS, WinUAE).
Details
For more detailed information, read the readme-file.
If you liked the game, please send some feedback or donation to get
d3GNOP+.
http://www.nic.fi/~varsa/d3gnop/index.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! Now in our 11th year.
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Copyright 2003 by Brad Webb. Freely distributable, if not modified.
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