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Amiga Update (2005-04-30)
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A M I G A | 050430 | 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 M I W E S T S H A R E S A D A T E . . .
. . . W I T H T H E A M I G B G S H O W ! C O O L !
A M I G A A N Y W H E R E S D K V E R . 1 . 5
N E W S T E K M A G A Z I N E I S S U E # 1 I S O U T
P A G E S T R E A M O S 4 . 0 W O R K R E S T A R T
N E W S F R O M G O L D E D T E A M
S C U M M - Y S O F T W A R E C A N B E G O O D
O N Y X S O F T A N N I V E R S A R Y A C T I V I T Y
April has been a relatively quiet month, Amiga-wise. However, there
are items in the planning that promise interesting times ahead. Some
of these are the subject of stories in this issue. Amiwest is nearly
upon us. In a show of global Amiga Community solidarity, AmiGBG will
be happening at the same time. There's a new magazine for users of
NewTek products, just starting publication. And the team at
Grasshopper has resumed work on a version of Pagestream for OS4,
certainly good news for the future.
We have information for you on all these items and more. We hope you
enjoy reading about them in this issue.
I have of other thoughts to end this introduction with this month.
There has been a lot of interest and discussion among our readers
about the founding of AmiWest since the lamented death of John
Zackarias. You'll note the story below lists him as co-founder, and
that he's being honored during this year's show. We think that's an
excellent idea and wish we could attend to add our own feelings of
loss to those which will be expressed there. One thing we're certain
of though. John would have wanted everyone to have a great time at
AmiWest, and make it an upbeat event. I think also he'd have enjoyed
the coupling of the date for AmigGBG with AmiWest and the thought of a
World Wide Amiga Day. Cool idea, that!
Brad Webb,
Editor
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A M I W E S T S H A R E S A D A T E . . .
10 April 2005
Announcing AmiWest 2005!
AmiWest 2005 is rolling! While many others have come and gone,
AmiWest is still rolling and in its eighth year. The AmiWest committee
is proud to announce we are again hosting this year's show in
Sacramento, California, at the Clarion Hotel Cal Expo, a member of the
Choice Hotel group. Amazingly, the rates are THE SAME AS LAST YEAR and
the hotel management much more accomodating, according to our SACC
Vice President for AmiWest 2005 operations. The dates are July 23rd
and 24th, 2005.
This year's theme is "AMIGA at 20: Past, Present and Future." Our
venue is our original AmiWest location with the remodel now completed.
AmiWest is in it's eighth year and is the only Amiga show produced on
the West Coast of the United States. The show has proved very popular
for Amiga enthusiasts in the Western United States as well as
attracting attenders and exhibitors world-wide.
We are also honoring our recently deceased past president, life
member of SACC and AmiWest co-founder, John Zacharias. Photos of John
will be on display along with other information and AEmail, his fine
email program for the Amiga platform.
Space is available for rent to companies, clubs, organizations, and
individuals producing Amiga related products and services as well as
exhibiting items of interest to Amigans.
We want to thank Amiga Inc. for posting this notice on their website:
"23-Jul-2005 - AmiWest 2005
AmiWest, now in its eighth year, is sponsored by the Sacramento Amiga
Computer Club. We are celebrating 20 years of the Amiga and honoring
our recently deceased past president and life member, AmiWest
co-founder John Zacharias. We will be presenting Amiga past, present
and future. Visit our website and get on the mailing list (plain text
only) for further details and breaking news as it happens. AmiWest
2005 is rolling!"
If you know of any vendors/suppliers/anything AMIGA-related that you
think belongs at this show, let us know and we will contact them.
Alternatively, point them to our webpage at www.sacc.org/amiwest.
This weekend event will again showcase the progress that IS the Amiga
Community. That Amiga community is poised for the future and still
healthy. We welcome all who will attend in peace and understanding.
AmiWest 2005 will be at the
Clarion Hotel Cal Expo
2600 Auburn Blvd.
Sacramento California 95821
Reservations Phone 1-800-424-6423 toll-free (local 1-916-487-7600)
and by snail-mail at the above address.
Please watch our website at www.sacc.org/amiwest for continuing news
and information regarding AmiWest 2005. We are on target for another
improved show! See you there!
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. . . W I T H T H E A M I G B G S H O W ! C O O L !
27 April, 2005
Finally! We're happy to announce that AmiGBG 2005 will take place on
the 23rd of July at Lindholmen Science Park in Gothenburg, Sweden.
This year we've almost trippled our staff, so can count on a memorable
event. Celebrating the 20th Anniversary together with AmiWest we want
this day to become a World Wide Amiga Day. We'll get back to you with
more details later on.
See you there!
We've already got a bunch of surprises lined up. The list of
exhibitors is constantlly growing, and we promise you - this year will
be special. Gothenburg is spectacular this time of year, if you have
the opportunity we really encurage you to take a few extra days and
spend them in this beautiful city.
More information will be avalible on www.amigbg.com in the coming
weeks.
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A M I G A A N Y W H E R E S D K V E R . 1 . 5
April 12, 2005 - San Francisco, CA ? Amiga, Inc. today announces the
launch of the new AmigaAnywhere? SDK (software development kit)
version 1.5, providing increased performance, time to market and
revenue opportunity for Amiga's global developer community. The new
SDK combines both new features requested by existing developers,
customers and users, and new services and technologies designed to
extract the maximum potential from the next generation of digital
devices.
Furthering Amiga's unique capabilities in creating a true write-once
run-anywhere cross-platform solution, this SDK introduces a raft of
new multimedia technologies, such as dynamic scaling services, the
LinX matrix transformation service, the PRISM descriptive UI engine, a
high performance Sprite/animation solution and a comprehensive bitmap
font engine.
Enhanced Tools Simplify Developer Efforts
In addition to multimedia enhancements, new features demanded by the
growing mobile market have been added, including an abstract, device
independent state persistence service, content extension to support
level packs and feature enhancements, and an inverted list database
for more complex data requirements.
Our unique solution now allows compelling content to be deployed, not
only across a wide and growing set of digital devices, but also in new
ways. Whether as a player, a host transparent application, a download,
pre-bundle or on a variety of physical media, the product of developer
hard work will be pushed into more and more markets, greatly
increasing the return on development.
Developers will also benefit by the bundling of Omniscience's Adept
Integrated Development Environment (IDE) with the SDK, providing a
rich development experience and simplifying developer efforts to
create a more sophisticated caliber of applications. Further,
incorporating a vastly improved help and documentation system not only
documents the Amiga Anywhere solution but also provides examples,
tutorials, demo and API autodocs. The system has been designed to
answer questions quickly and effectively at all levels - novice,
hobbyist or professional.
"AmigaAnywhere? continues to connect developers, device
manufacturers, carriers and end users in the development and
deployment of intensively rich applications and services," said Fleecy
Moss, Vice President, Technology for Amiga. "The release of our 1.5
kit illustrates our commitment to continuous technical innovation in
terms of producing a more sophisticated product, while simplifying and
expediting developer efforts based on important feedback we receive
from our network community and market."
The AmigaAnywhere? SDK version 1.5 is available now. Developers
interested in developing for the platform may contact Amiga's
developer support at http://www.amiga.com/developer/interested.php and
complete the online application.
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N E W S T E K M A G A Z I N E I S S U E # 1 I S O U T
22 April, 2005
Do you miss Video Toaster User, Newtekniques and or NewtekPro?
Now you no longer have to!
NewsTek Issue # 1 is already available*
1. What is NewsTek <http://discreetfx.com/NewsTek.html>?
Answer: NewsTek is a Digital LifeStyle Magazine/Zine that focuses on
Newtek products, the digital lifestyle and just a dash of
Amiga/MorphOS.
2. When can I subscribe to NewsTek?
Answer: Issue #1 is already available and subscriptions start at just
$12 per year.
3. When is NewsTek published?
Answer: NewsTek is published 4 times per year.
4. What is NewsTek's primary focus?
Answer: The primary focus of the magazine/zine is Newtek products
like VT[4], TriCaster & LightWave 3D.
5. Why does NewsTek only have 10% Amiga/MorphOS coverage.
Answer: One of the goals of NewsTek is to attract former Amiga owners
and or curious computer users that might be slightly interested in the
current Amiga/MorphOS offerings but don't have a deep enough interest
to get a pure Amiga mag. If NewsTek sparks their interest and they
hunger for more they can subscribe to Total Amiga.
6. What is Digital Lifestyle?
Answer: NewsTek will always have 20%-30% digital lifestyle coverage.
The reason for this is to attract new readership so they can be
exposed to Newtek products and a dash of Amiga/MorphOS. Digital
lifestyle can be iPod, digital photo software, Macintosh, exciting new
tech breakthroughs and or anything else we feel like writing about.
7. Why does NewsTek include humor at no extra charge?
Answer: Many computer mags are boring and some software can be a
sleeper, but the computer industry has enough personality's and
bizarre news that it can also be damn funny.
8. What is on the optional bonus DVD-ROM?
Answer: Animated backgrounds, previews of upcoming DiscreetFX
products, DVE (Digital Video Effects) and much much more.
9. Is it true that product reviews of software from DiscreetFX always
get super high marks?
Answer: But of course!
10. Will this loooong FAQ ever be over?
Answer: It is, for now.
__________________
Bill P Founder/CEO
DiscreetFX
http://www.discreetfx.com
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P A G E S T R E A M O S 4 . 0 W O R K R E S T A R T
29 April, 2005
{Taken from the Pagestream website. Brad}
New in PageStream 5.0!!
o Alpha Blending for Text and Objects
o Picture Transparency
o Text Widow and Orphan Control
o Definable Printer Marks
o More Shortcuts
o Path Reverse, Flatten and Smooth
o Hanging Bullets, DropCaps and
Number
o New Duplicate Objects Method
o Print to Bitmap Picture
o and more!
New in PageStream 5.0 Pro!!
o Place PDF Objects
o Export Objects as Bitmap
o Automatically Adjust Text Width
for Justification
o Gradient/Radial Blend Masks for
Pictures/EPS/PDF/Drawings
o Path Math:
Union/Add/Unique/Subtract
o and more!
The Windows and Linux versions are now available! The final phase of
the Amiga 68k and MorphOS beta testing will begin this week! Due to
internal problems, the Mac OSX version will come shortly later but
those patient customers will be receive 5.0 instead of 4.1 at no
additional charge. The AmigaOS4 version has been restarted now that an
AmigaOne has arrived from Hyperion!!
We are continually updating our products and a number of features
have already been added to PageStream 5.0 in response to feedback from
our customers! Feedback from our users will continue to mold this
version so don't be afraid to make suggestions!
PageStream is a full-featured desktop publishing program. It is
suitable for all levels of publishing, from simple newsletters to
color advertisements to technical books. With PageStream you can
create letters, colorful schoolwork, presentations, business cards and
any other type of document. Tens of thousands of people have been
using PageStream for years to realize their dreams, from rubber stamps
to airline livery!
Deron Kazmaier was one of the first to develop a desktop publishing
program. The first version of PageStream, known at the time as
Publishing Partner, was released in 1986 for Atari ST computers and
has been continously updated and improved since! Personal Publishing
magazine was one of the first to review it and called it a "knockout
program" and we are confident you will agree PageStream is better
today.
As further proof that PageStream has been, and will always be, the
DTP program to beat, a quick look at Quark Xpress 5.0's top 20 wish
list includes 11 items already implemented in PageStream4.1, and
PageStream4.1 has 8 of the top 10!
Contents
Includes CD with full installation and online help in HTML format.
Pricing
At any price PageStream is a bargain, but PageStream's new low
pricing is a steal. Retail price is a fraction of the other DTP
applications at only $99, and the PageStream5.0 Professional package
is only $149. But don't let our low prices fool you into thinking
PageStream is low-end! PageStream4.1 customers can upgrade to 5.0 for
only $40, PageStream4.1 Professional customers can upgrade to 5.0
Professional for only $40, and upgrade multiple copies for even less.
Customers of prior versions of PageStream (4.0, 3.x, 2.x and 1.x) can
upgrade for just $75. Other discounts exist. Check out our order page
for more details on pricing.
Users who complete our new usage and feature survey will be directed
to a limited-time discount order page after completing the survey.
Even if you already own the latest version of PageStream we ask that
you still fill it out. Thanks!
System Requirements
PageStream5.0 for Amiga68k will require at least a 68020 processor
with AmigaOS 3.0 or later. It will also requires at least 30MB of hard
drive space and 16mb of memory available to PageStream. We recommend a
68040 or better, 24mb of memory, and a non-interlaced display.
Development is nearly complete and betas are available to all who
purchase it before the final version is made available.
PageStream5.0 for AmigaPPC will work on any PPC system that OS4 will
run on. It also requires at least 25MB of hard drive space and 20mb of
memory available to PageStream. Development is nearly complete and
betas are available to all who purchase it before the final version is
made available.
http://www.grasshopperllc.com/
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N E W S F R O M G O L D E D T E A M
25 April, 2005
GoldED's C/C++ components have been updated for the OS4 SDK, giving
AmigaOS4 developers a comfortable, integrated development environment.
Features include syntax highlighting for the OS4 API, compiler
integration with gcc and vbcc, a dialog to set compiler options with
mouse clicks, makefile generation, context-sensitive help for the OS4
API, clickable compiler errors, quick access to the SDK's autodoc
documentation and more. The OS4 SDK is included, courtesy of Hyperion
Entertainment VOF http://www.hyperion-entertainment.biz/, giving all
developers the opportunity to cross-compile their software for OS4
with vbcc.
Screenshot:
os4sdk.png http://projects.dietmar-eilert.net/images/os4sdk.jpg
(courtesy of Matthew Kille; this is a customized configuration)
Download:
The complete C/C++ package and the required servicepack SP26 for the
editor (also released today) can be downloaded here: Files page
http://projects.dietmar-eilert.net/golded/files.htm
23 April, 2005
Webworld
The Webworld package has been updated. Webworld is the HTML editing
package for GoldED. Use it to create and check HTML documents. It
provides HTML syntax highlighting, tag wizards, character set
conversion, bookmarks etc. For this release, the old (Gadtools-based)
user interface has been retired.
Screenshot http://projects.dietmar-eilert.net/images/screenshot5.png
GoldED Servicepack SP25
This is an important maintenance update for OS4 users (users of other
platforms do not need to apply this service pack unless they want to
upgrade Webworld, too).
Download (log-in required)
http://projects.dietmar-eilert.net/golded/login.htm
Quick links:
GoldED Forum
http://projects.dietmar-eilert.net/forum/index.php
Buy GoldED
http://projects.dietmar-eilert.net/shop/onlineshop.htm
Frequently asked questions
http://projects.dietmar-eilert.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=20
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S C U M M - Y S O F T W A R E C A N B E G O O D
3 April, 2005
ScummVM for AmigaOS 4 was recently updated to version 0.7.1.
Download link
http://www.os4depot.net/?function=showfile&file=game/adventure/
scummvmos4.lha
"What is ScummVM?
ScummVM is a 'virtual machine' for several classic graphical
point-and-click adventure games. It is designed to run: Adventure
Soft's Simon the Sorcerer 1 and 2; Revolution's Beneath A Steel Sky,
Broken Sword 1 and Broken Sword 2; Flight of the Amazon Queen; and
games based on LucasArts' SCUMM (Script Creation Utility for Maniac
Mansion) system. SCUMM is used for many games, including Monkey
Island, Day of the Tentacle, Sam and Max and more. Compatibility with
supported games is continually improving, so check back often."
See ScummVM http://www.scummvm.org/ for more information.
Have fun!
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O N Y X S O F T A N N I V E R S A R Y A C T I V I T Y
4 April, 2005
OnyxSoft http://www.onyxsoft.se/ celebrates its 10 year anniversary
in Amiga software development and releases two new programs and six
updates!
New programs
Annotate v2.1 - (OS4) The old trustworthy text editor from 1993 by
Doug Bakewell has been taken over by OnyxSoft. It has been ported to
OS4 and has been given a bunch of new features and a couple of bugs
fixed, but this is only the beginning.
UTF-8 v1.0 - (68k) This program makes it possible to type and write
UTF-8 anywhere.
Updated programs
MPlayer-GUI v1.31 (OS4) A GUI for the OS4-version of MPlayer. Added
a nice image and icon by Toaks. Fixed the memory leak, added some
-vo/ao modes and made a list.
MultiRen v1.62 - (68k) Powerful file renamer and file comment editor
and more. Minor update. Fixed a crash on exit on Classic.
AllKeys v1.1 - (OS4,MOS) Hotkey tool able to handle unnamend keys
such as multimedia-keys. Added a few options and a MorphOS version.
DECH v1.46 - (68k) Deniil's E-Compiler Handler has got some minor
enhancements to make it easier to switch between different compiler
definitions/commandlines.
DRemind v1.68 - (68k) The reminder program DRemind has got a small
update and a crash fixed when run under OS4.
TheMPegEncGUI v2.5 - (68k) Completely reworked the way the default
parameters are handled! Added a bunch of settings for Lame and fixed a
couple of bugs. This version was released as a beta a few month ago
but I got no bug reports so I guess it's stable.
Enjoy!
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Amiga Update on the net:
All back issues available at:
http://www.globaldialog.com/~bandr/AU/index.html
Stop by and check out our archive! Now in our 11th publication year.
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Copyright 2005 by Brad Webb. Freely distributable, if not modified.
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