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StarShip 5 MINUTE Weekend Newscast (1993 09 17)
Welcome to the
____
/ ___) *StarShip* 5-MINUTE Weekend Newscast
/ (_ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
/ ___)
/ (__ very weekend the *StarShip* on GEnie presents a new 5-MINUTE Weekend
(_____) Newscast in Communications Room 10 in the Real-Time Conference Area.
Featuring late-breaking stories from the Amiga community, these dynamic,
scrolling newscasts cycle every 5 minutes, so you can stop by between 6PM and
3AM Eastern time on Friday, or 3PM and 3AM Eastern time on Saturday or Sunday
and learn everything that happened during the preceding week. Industry news,
product announcements, upgrades, rumors, special *StarShip* activities, trade
show reports, GEnie usage tips, humor, recommended files to download...
... the works -- and it ONLY takes 5 minutes!
Each 5-MINUTE Weekend Newscast is available on *StarShip* Menu #10 during the
following week. Periodically, newscasts are combined and made available for
downloading from the *StarShip* Library.
____________________________________________________________
// \
|| -*- IMPORTANT! -*- |
|| |
|| As long as individual stories are kept intact and credit |
|| is given, this material may be reproduced in ALL or PART |
|| on a privately owned BBS or in a user group newsletter. |
|| See wording for proper credit at the end of this Newscast. |
\\____________________________________________________________/
|| |
|| |
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Special thanks to...
Denny Atkin, Journalist Extraordinaire
Tim Walsh, AmigaWorld Senior Editor
For generous assistance to the *StarShip* News!
Here we go!...
DateLine: September 17, 1993
This 5-MINUTE Newscast presents the following stories:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1. Commodore's President Jim Dionne Resigns
2. Amiga World: US CD32 Intro, 4000 Tower Demonstrated
3. ImageFX/CineMorph Commodore Show Highlights
4. Next Week's *StarShip* Amiga Conferences
5. U.S. Cybernetics Announces WARP SYSTEM for Amiga
6. TorqueWare for the Amiga, Version 1.0
7. Nerveware Presents RIFFGRABBER
8. Humans versus Computers on December 8th
9. Fighter Duel Pro 2 from Jaeger Software
*StarShip* NEWS *Flash*
1st of 9 Stories
Commodore's President Jim Dionne Resigns
______ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
(__ __) *StarShip* News Network -- September 17, 1993
/ /
/ /
(_/he *StarShip* News Network has received unconfirmed reports that Jim
Dionne, President and General Manager of Commodore Business Machines, is in
the process of leaving the company, and that the successor to what some
people refer to as "the revolving presidency" has already been selected.
Spokespersons contacted at Commodore's West Chester headquarters today
refused comment, and Dionne himself was not available. It is reported that
the announcement of Dionne's decision to leave the company was made at the
Commodore dealer meeting held at the World of Commodore Show in Pasadena last
weekend.
Dionne, who has been with Commodore for at least 13 years, began working for
the U.S. operation in Pennsylvania. As long ago as 1984 he was serving as
Vice President of Marketing there, at which time he moved north to ultimately
become General Manager of Commodore's Canadian Subsidiary. In late 1990 or
early 1991, he moved back to the U.S. to head up North America operations.
Having passed the 18-month boundary many of his predecessors failed to cross,
Dionne has held his current position for almost three years. He is the fifth
person to hold the title of Commodore's President during the past eight
years.
Stay tuned to the *StarShip* News Network for further coverage. An indepth
interview with Dionne at the World of Commodore Show is published in the
September issue of ViewPort, the *StarShip* online magazine.
-*-
*StarShip* NEWS *Flash*
2nd of 9 Stories
Amiga World: US CD32 Intro, 4000 Tower Demonstrated
____ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
/ ___) Newsbytes, Pasadena, CA -- September 13, 1993
/ /
/ (__
(_____)ommodore has announced its new answer to home entertainment with the
CD32, a television-based game system for under $400 that includes a double
speed compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM) drive, and will also play audio
and Kodak Photo CDs.
The unit, which looks more like a CD player than a computer, is built with
the capability to add a special video compression- decompression (CODEC)
board and Commodore says it will be able to play the video CDs planned by
Philips and Paramount.
The CD32 has already been announced in Europe and Commodore says it has put
all its resources into the development of the units for retail distribution
both in the US and abroad. Company officials hope the CD32 will make
consumers take another look at its computer systems as well, since the CD32
is based on the same Advanced Graphics Architecture (AGA) chipset as is in
the Amiga 4000 desktop computer.
Based on the 68EC020 microprocessor chip, company officials said that the
unit boasts built-in cache and performance in the four million instructions
per second (MIPS) range. The CD32 offers the Amiga Disk Operating System
(ADOS) but officials said Commodore has gone to great pains to be sure the
operating system is available when needed, but stays out of the way of
programmers.
While the same high hopes had been expressed at the introduction of
Commodore's CDTV company officials said they now realize CDTV was too
expensive and there weren't enough software titles available for it to spur
consumer demand. Company president Jim Dione said he hopes CD32 will become
the next Commodore 64, the home entertainment system that literally sold
millions of units back in the 1980's.
Commodore officials boast that the CD32 can display 256,000 colors, which is
one color for each pixel dot on the average television screen. Two controller
ports are available and controllers may be "daisy chained" off those ports.
An 11-button controller is provided with the unit. The CD32 does not have an
infrared controller or infrared controller interface although company
officials said they left themselves the option of adding it in the design of
the unit.
However, distribution quantities of the CD32 are limited at best. Commodore
officials said they're shooting for the Winter Consumer Electronics Show
(CES) where they plan to make a big push for the CD32. Over 50 titles are in
development for the CD32 which are expected to be available for the holiday
season.
Other CD formats that will work with the CD32 include: audio CDs, CD+G,
Karaoke (Video CD) using the planned MPEG addition, and CDTV titles if they
are written to the correct specifications. Not all CDTV titles will work in
the CD32, company officials added.
Representatives from C-Cube Microsystems, developers of the Motion Picture
Experts Group (MPEG) 1 single chip decoder, were on hand as Commodore is
using the C-Cube decoder chip in its MPEG addition for the CD32. To add the
MPEG capability, CD32 users will need to use a screwdriver to take off the
back plate of the unit, insert the MPEG card, and put on a new backplate
supplied with the MPEG card. The MPEG addition is expected to cost consumers
about $250.
Commodore also announced the Amiga 4000 Tower unit, which was on display at
the show. The 4000 Tower should be in production in the next two months, with
availability at the end of the third quarter, Commodore representatives said.
Most of the production capability is being eaten up by the CD32, which
company officials claim is being produced at the rate of 20,000 a week in
Commodore's Philippines facility.
Jim Sachs, known for his expertise in game development for the Amiga
platform, came up with a demo that offered a look at the graphics
capabilities of the CD32. While the demo was impressive, the actual games
shown for the unit look very much like games for Nintendo systems. However,
video was played on the unit and Commodore said that the CD32 could play back
video without the MPEG decoder, just with not as much video.
Other tidbits of interest from company officials are: there could be no
extended graphics array (EGA) upgrade for the Amiga 3000 computer, and an
upgrade path for Amiga 2000 and 3000 users may be available once the 4000
Tower moves into production quantities.
Copyright Newsbytes 1993. Reprinted by permission
-*-
*StarShip* NEWS *Flash*
3rd of 9 Stories
____ ImageFX/CineMorph Commodore Show Highlights
/ ___) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
/ (_ by Kermit Woodall, Nova Design -- September 14, 1993
/ ___)
/ /
(_/or everyone who missed the World of Commodore/Amiga Show at Pasedena last
weekend, here are a few of the highlights that related to our products
ImageFX and CineMorph.
On Saturday Rusty Mills, an Animation Director at Warner Bros, described the
use of the Amiga and ImageFX at Warner Bros. for use in the new animated
series "Animanics" to an overflow crowd in the auditorium. He also ran, later
at the GVP seminar stage, a hysterically funny segment from Animaniacs
called, "Hooked on a Ceiling." Hooked on a Ceiling continued to run
throughout Saturday and Sunday to crowded aisles.
The, ah, rather controversial product Lightrave came out and included support
for ImageFX amongst support for many display cards.
MacrosystemUS, makers of the Retina display card, were showing an early
version of their exciting new product for video professionals. The product,
known as MultiLayer, is a multiple layer compositing tool allowing WYSIWYG
control through multiple Workbench windows over 100 layers of digital images
over a visible timeline. There is absolutely nothing like this on any
platform, except the Amiga now, and it requires ImageFX to perform it's
amazing compositing work!
At least two major vendors of 24bit imaging products tentatively committed to
adding MAGIC (a system that allows applications to share images - the archive
for it is here online GEnie) image sharing support to their product line.
This will be a major boon for Amiga imaging professionals!
On Sunday GVP and Nova Design gave a presentation on morphing that packed the
auditorium again. Many tips and tricks for achieving production level morphs
in short periods of time were demonstrated.
A few more vendors are also promising ImageFX-only supporting software
packages for some VERY interesting applications. I look forward to being able
to talk more about these soon!
We really enjoyed ourselves and look forward to the next WOCA show!
Contact Kermit Woodall, Nova Design, Inc., at *StarShip* Bulletin Board
Category 21, Topic 2.
-*-
*StarShip* NEWS *Flash*
4th of 9 Stories
__________________________________________________________________________
| |
| *StarShip* Amiga Conferences |
| |
| ____ _ _ |
| / ___) __/ ) / ) |
| ( (__ ___ ____(_ __)_ _ _ / /__ ___ ___ |
| \__ \ / __)/ _ )/ // __)/ \/ \ / __ )/ __)/ __) |
| ___) )/ __)/ (/ // // __)/ \/ (_/ // __)/ / |
| (____/(___)/ ___/(_/(___)(_/\__/\_)____/(___)(_/ |
| / / |
| (_/ |
| |
| Except where noted, Conferences begin at 10PM Eastern Time in the Amiga |
| Conference Rooms at Page 555;2. Amiga Programmers meet Wednesday nights |
| at Pro/Am on Page 670. TWO HelpDesks EVERY Night: 9PM Eastern & Pacific |
|__________________________________________________________________________|
| Sunday | Monday | Tuesday |Wednesday| Thursday | Friday | Saturday |
| Surprise | Telecomm | Music | AmiGames|Multimedia| Graphics | Party! |
|__________|__________|_________|_________|__________|__________|__________|
| 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 |
|5-MIN News| | | | |5-MIN News|5-MIN News|
| 3PM-3AM | | |AmiGames!|Multimedia| 6PM-3AM | 3PM-3AM |
| -*- | | Music! | with | with | -*- | -*- |
| Surprise | Telecomm |MIDI,MODs| Peteroo | Yury & | Graphics | Party |
| Night! | Night! | & More! | & Zach! | Guests | w/ Syl! | Night! |
|__________|__________|_________|_________|__________|__________|__________|
TWO HelpDesks EVERY Night! 9PM Eastern AND 9PM Pacific!
Bring your Amiga/GEnie problems for on-the-spot assistance!
-*-
*StarShip* NEWS *Flash*
5th of 9 Stories
U.S. Cybernetics Announces WARP SYSTEM for Amiga
_ _
/ ) / ) Pasadena, CA -- September 10, 1993
/ / / /
/ (_/ /
(_____/.S. Cybernetics, Inc. is pleased to announce the world's fastest and
most advanced computing environment for personal computers. The WARP SYSTEM
is based on high-performance parallel RISC processors and brings
super-computing levels of power to the Commodore Amiga series.
The WARP System, in its simplest form, is a highly flexible, TRANSPUTER based
multi-purpose Peripheral Processing system. The system is a full-blown RISC
based accelerator with unrestricted expansion options in terms of power
(MIPS/MFLOPS) and user memory space. The system operates in REAL Parallel
Processing mode, this means on-chip multi-tasking and direct chip-to-chip
multi-processing networks. The WARP System utilizes the Inmos transputer
processors (the T805, and the brand new T9000). Unlike other RISC based
processors, (e.g. MIPS R4400 and DEC Alpha) the Inmos transputer chips have
been designed for direct chip-to-chip communications without the need for
expensive and slow glue logic or shared memory space, resulting in the most
effecient hardware configuration possible in terms of raw processing speeds
and system expansion.
The WARP System provides unlimited horsepower and response time to support
today's advanced software applications that do not seem to ever have enough
processing power. The system is ideally suited to speed up ray tracing and
graphics processing applications, but can be applied to almost anything due
to the seamless interface between the Amiga and transputer sides. This means
that not only a ray tracer's rendering will benefit, but also all parts of
the program, such as the modelling user interface.
The WARP System consists of a 'baseboard' which contains a single processor
and slots for two additional processors. More importantly, it has a high-
speed processor bus network connector that allows connection of multiple
external boxes with many processors.
There are two baseboard versions that make up the WARP System:
The Level 1 board is the entry level system and carries a 30 Mhz Inmos T805
(30 MIPS/4.3 MFLOPS) control processor.
The Level 2 board is a professional level board and will carry a 200 MIPS/50
MFLOPS T9000 processor.
Both boards fit in any Amiga with Zorro II or III slots.
Each board can accept up to 2 additional processors on board. Multiple base
boards can be installed in an Amiga and they will act as a single enviroment.
The network connector on baseboards also allows connection to external boxes
with as many processors as you like. It allows multiple Amigas to connect to
each other, and/or to external boxes.
The network bus allows each processor to act either individually or as a
team-player. The bus also has support for future non-processor based modules,
such as SCSI-II controllers, DSP modules, display modules, etc.
The WARP OS automatically detects all processors connected to network and
provides full user control in determining how the individual processing power
is utilized. (1 processor per task, multiple processors per task, entire
network for a task, etc.)
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| EXAMPLE CONFIGURATIONS OF THE WARP SYSTEM |
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| WARP | Base | With 1 | With 2 | External Box Configurations |
| board | Board | Module | Modules | 10 Modules | 20 Modules | 40Modules |
+--------+--------+---------+---------+------------+------------+-----------+
|Level 1 | 30/4.3 | 60/8.6 | 90/12.9 | 300/43 | 600/86 | 1200/172 |
|Level 2 | 200/50 | 400/100 | 600/150 | 2000/500 | 4000/1000 |8000/2000 |
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| All numbers are in MIPS/MFLOPS |
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------+
Developers:
The WARP Development System is a based on a Parallel C compiler Toolset for
the Amiga, which allows user software to be developed to run directly on the
WARP System. This is be available for delivery now to any developers
interested in porting their software over to the WARP System. Our software
technical support team is ready to assist developers in any way possible. In
our experience, porting an application written in C is fast and painless. (4
to 8 weeks at most)
Where and How:
The WARP System was on display at U.S. Cybernetics' exhibit at the World of
Commodore show in Pasadena, California, September 10th to 12th. U.S.
Cybernetics will be announcing the list of Amiga applications currently being
ported to run on the WARP System soon. Prices for the WARP System series of
products will be released next week.
The WARP System will be available at your local dealer early 1994! Join the
revolution in computer POWER!
-*-
*StarShip* NEWS *Flash*
6th of 9 Stories
TorqueWare for the Amiga, Version 1.0
______ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
(__ __) SeaTac, WA -- September 16, 1993
/ /
/ /
(_/orqueWare(TM) for the Amiga from AugmenTek is a programming tool that allows
your program to:
* Run faster by using multiple processors,
* Share data among multiple processors,
* Access data by partial content, and
* Be source-code portable to other TorqueWare-supported computers.
TorqueWare can be thought of as a compiler extension that allows you to
distribute computation and data within one processor or among a network of
processors. By itself it does not, say, accelerate rendering or create
software agents for you, but it provides the means by which rendering can be
accelerated (tests show an almost linear speedup with raytracing code) and
software agents can be developed and coordinated. As in a compiler, there is
no good demonstration of its capabilities, since its utility depends on the
creativity of the programmer. There are, however, two good books that provide
some insight on how to program in parallel and possible uses of this
programming model ('Mirror Worlds' by Gelernter).
This programming tool is a simple but powerful way to build distributed
programs, and is based on the Linda(R) programming model. It provides the
means to coordinate multiple processes and access a global data space from
one or more processors. A run-time system and six C function calls allow
adding data to and removing/reading data from that global data space, and
executing functions either remotely or locally. To change from running
locally, where one develops and tests on one processor with multitasked
processes, to running on a network of processors is simple and involves no
recompilation or linking (if all processors are the same).
TorqueWare for the Amiga interoperates with other TorqueWare products
available from Torque Systems, Inc. Their products run on Apple Macintosh
computers, Silicon Graphics workstations, and other computers, and are
accessible using just the Base Development System and Ethernet hardware.
The Base Development System consists of the C preprocessor, standalone local
link libraries, local and network support tools, example programs, a
graphical user interface (to setup and start execution), and online
documentation (including a tutorial). These local tools allow development of
parallelized applications using multitasking on one CPU.
Creating a networked application for an all-Amiga (or mixed) network involves
purchasing the General TCP/IP Networking add-on product for each additional
CPU and setting some switches -- no coding change is generally required. The
networked application will run faster than the local if there is a good deal
more computation than communication. Some applications are simply more
feasible to model and maintain in a distributed fashion rather than in a
sequential one; speed may not be the only reason to distribute your
application across a network.
Special Requirements
* AmigaDOS/Kickstart(TM) 2.04 or higher
* Approximately 275KB RAM plus 85KB per local process, additional
* 2.5 MB disk space (with everything installed)
* SAS/C(R) compiler
* General TCP/IP Networking add-on:
- Networking hardware
- About 150KB RAM, plus 85KB per remote process
- 500KB disk space (with everything installed)
Price
Base Development System : $100.
General TCP/IP Network add-on, per Amiga CPU: $150.
Special offer available until October 31, 1993:
General TCP/IP Network, one Amiga CPU: $95.
two Amiga CPUs: $180.
3 or more Amiga CPUs: $80./CPU
Note that one General TCP/IP Network license with the Base Development System
is sufficient to connect two Amigas, two Network licenses connects three
Amigas, and so on. The Base Development System is required.
All prices are in U.S. currency.
Shipping/handling is $4.00 in the U.S., $8.00 elsewhere. WA state residents
add 8.2% sales tax. Terms are checks or money orders drawn on a U.S. bank
(sorry, no credit cards). Send to:
AugmenTek
3606 South 180th Street, C22
SeaTac, WA 98188
Or contact Stephen Rondeau, Tel 206-246-6077, Internet Email sbr@halcyon.com
Distribution of executable code using TorqueWare requires a license.
Credits
This product includes software developed by the University of California,
Berkeley and its contributors.
TorqueWare is a trademark of Torque Systems, Inc. Amiga is a registered
trademark of Commodore-Amiga, Inc. AmigaDOS and KickStart are trademarks of
Commodore-Amiga, Inc. Linda is a registered trademark of Scientific Computing
Associates
-*-
*StarShip* Amiga *Flash*
7th of 9 Stories
Nerveware Presents RIFFGRABBER
_ _ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
/ \ / ) New York, NY -- September 15, 1993
/ \/ /
/ /\ /
(_/ \_/erveware presents RIFFGRABBER: real-time MIDI input to Deluxe Music
2.0 RIFFGRABBER captures the Amiga musician live!
The new version of Deluxe Music is a welcome arrival, however it still does
not allow for real-time input from a MIDI instrument.
Enter RIFFGRABBER...
RIFFGRABBER captures your live MIDI performance, transcribes it, and hands it
over to Deluxe Music. Play a composition or improvise a solo; RIFFGRABBER
will notate your performance and send it automatically to Deluxe Music 2.0
via ARexx! (No ARexx programming required).
RIFFGRABBER is logically divided into three components: CREATE, PERFORM, and
EXPORT...
CREATE
You have the choice of importing an existing Deluxe Music score directly into
RIFFGRABBER via ARexx, so that you can play along with it later. Import the
whole score, or specify a range of measures.
Or start from scratch: Create any number of blank measures, each with its
own time signature if you wish!
PERFORM
Here's where you play your MIDI instrument live into RIFFGRABBER. If you
imported a section of a Deluxe Music score into RIFFGRABBER, you'll hear that
accompaniment as you record a new part.
Or, if you started with a custom batch of empty measures, record your
performance along with RIFFGRABBER's metronome which clearly accents the
"one" of each measure.
EXPORT
RIFFGRABBER transcribes your performance, and exports the results directly to
Deluxe Music 2.0 (which multitasks with RIFFGRABBER), or to a SMUS file! No
matter what style you play in, RIFFGRABBER can be customized to fit your
performance. It recognizes sixteenth notes, thirty-second notes, quarter and
eighth note triplets, quintuplets, sextuplets, and septuplets. RIFFGRABBER
analyses your performance and exports an accurately notated version to
Deluxe Music or SMUS.
Converting a human performance to standard musical durations is called
"quantization." Unfortunately, the vast majority of music software does a
rather awful job of quantizing: either producing a confused jumble of tied
thirty-second notes, or over-simplifying the rhythm of your performance.
RIFFGRABBER solves these problems by allowing you to customize its quantizer
to suit you. If your performance feels more like a Bach fugue, you can
activate sixteenths and thirty-seconds (for those trills and ornaments), and
shut down triplets, quintuplets, sextuplets, and septuplets. On the other
hand, if your solos are more of the Frank Zappa variety, you'll want to make
use of RIFFGRABBER's full range!
RIFFGRABBER is an essential tool for all Amiga musicians who need to
transcribe live musical performance.
To order RIFFGRABBER, send $49.95 plus $2 shipping to:
Didkovsky/Nerveware 118 East 93rd Street, Apt 9C New York, NY 1O128 Tel (212)
369-1733 Fax (212) 996-4214
RIFFGRABBER ships October 15, 1993.
SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS:
MIDI interface, MIDI instrument such as MIDI keyboard or MIDI guitar, Amiga
with minimum 1 meg ram, Workbench 1.3 or higher. Since you can create a
performance from scratch with RIFFGRABBER and export it to SMUS, Deluxe Music
2.0 is not strictly necessary, although it is a highly recommended companion
to RIFFGRABBER.
Also by Nerveware: Copyist Companion, which translates Deluxe Music
Construction Set v1.0 scores to The Copyist. (Copyist Companion does NOT
translate the new file format used by Deluxe Music 2.0.)
For more information, leave a message on the *StarShip* Bulletin Board in
Category 9, Topic 21.
-*-
*StarShip* NEWS *Flash*
8th of 9 Stories
Humans versus Computers on December 8th
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
International Quest for Thinking Computer Moves
from Cambridge to National Unversity for 1993
____
(_ _) San Diego, CA -- September 8, 1993
/ /
_/ /
(____)n the very near future, many believe that human beings will be joined
by an equally intelligent species -- computers so smart that they can truly
think, converse and perhaps even feel.
To expedite the search for this new species, the National University
Technology Center (NUTEC) will host the third annual Loebner Prize
Competition on Dec. 8. As in the past two years, it will be administered by
the Cambridge Center for Behavioral Studies, an advanced studies institute in
Cambridge, Mass.
The Loebner Prize pits humans against computers in what the Wall Street
Journal described in 1991 as "a groundbreaking battle." The first two
competitions drew national and international media coverage and were held in
Massachusetts.
In the events, human judges converse at computer terminals and attempt to
determine which terminals are controlled by fellow humans and which by
computers. In the 1993 competition, conversation will be restricted to
certain topics.
"Surprisingly, at the end of 1991 and 1992 Loebner competitions, some of the
computers fooled some of the judges into thinking they were people," said Dr.
Robert Epstein, chair of the NU psychology department and facilitator of all
three contests.
The author of the winning software of this year's competion will receive
$2,000 and a bronze metal. Eventually, Epstein said the Cambridge Center will
conduct an open-ended contest in which the topics of conversation will be
unrestricted. A $100,000 prize will be awarded to the winner.
The event, originally scheduled for September in Cambridge was moved to
National after a July fire razed the Cambridge institute.
Applications to vie for this year's Loebner Prize should be sent to Dr.
Epstein at National University's Department of Psychology in San Diego and
must be received by Nov. 1.
The competition is named after benefactor Dr. Hugh G. Loebner of New York
City and was inspired by computer pioneer Alan Turing, who in 1950 proposed a
test like the Loebner Prize as a way to answer the question: Can computer's
think?
The Loebner Prize Committee, chaired by distinguished philosopher Daniel C.
Dennett of Tufts University, oversees event planning. Transcripts of
conversations generated during the first two competitions are available at
the Cambridge center.
The Loebner competition marks the first major event scheduled for the
fledgling NUTEC, which seeks to empower adults by helping them to become
capable users of commonly used information technologies and providing them
with the opportunity to explore the advantages of new technologies. NUTEC
will also provide spaces for display and demonstration of the latest
information technologies.
With an enrollment of 7,000, NU is a statewide institution specializing in
the adult learner and offers graduate and undergraduate degrees, including
business administraion, education, the arts and sciences.
For more information contact National University, University Relations, 4025
Camino del Rio South, Suite 240, San Diego, CA 92108, telephone 619/563-7282,
fax 619/563-7445.
-*-
*StarShip* NEWS *Flash*
9th of 9 Stories
____ Fighter Duel Pro 2 from Jaeger Software
/ ___) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
/ (_ Rockville, MD -- September 12, 1993
/ ___)
/ /
(_/IGHTER DUEL PRO 2 OBJECTIVE: To make a fighter pilot out of you. There's a
training regimen for novices, and computer-controlled aircraft with a range
of skill levels against which to develop tactics. When you're ready, lock
horns with a human opponent to see how you measure up.
All the features of the best selling Fighter Duel Pro plus...
NEW FEATURES OF FIGHTER DUEL PRO 2
-ECS and AGA compatible
-The first AGA 640 x 400 Hires NON-interlaced flight simulator.
-Enchanced AGA performance for the non-interlaced, 640x400 video mode on
Amiga 1200 and 4000 models. Up to 35% better frame rate.
-The super planes, including the German ME262 jet, the rocket-powered
Komet,the TA152H version of the FW190, the ME110, the Japanese KI-84,
the Russian Yak-3, the American F2G Corsair and P61 Black Widow, and
arguably the best fighter of WWII, the British Mark XIV Spitfire. Nine
new aircraft, 25 individually modelled and flight tested aircraft in all..
-A redesigned gunnery system that accurately plots bullet trajectories and
includes a sophisticated lead-computing gunsight.
-A "chat" mode that allows in-flight communication in two-player modes,
plus the ability to send preset comments with a single keystroke.
-Instant View keys for use in all modes with the ability to lock the view,
including the rear view.
-Keyboard equivalents for all aircraft functions.
-Automatically detects and takes advantage of advanced processors and
larger memory systems.
-Fly against a 4 aircraft formation, with markedly improved aggressiveness
and tracking abilities, and change the foe aircraft type without a reboot.
-Aircraft are now individually colored.
-New one-player modes including a tourney start against a foe, and a
wingman mode where you fly wing with one foe and battle two others.
-A stationary gunnery mode where you man an anti-aircraft machine gun while
computer controlled aircraft attack you..
-With a two-player hookup it is now possible to battle computer-controlled
foes, either as a ME110 or P61 pilot and gunner, or lead and wing
formation.
-A shaded sky distinguished by smoothness and color accuracy..
-War emergency power control.
-Auto coordinated rudder option.
-Additional types of aircraft damage, plus unlimited ammo option.
-Redesigned startup user interface using point and click selections and an
entirely new two-player hookup system.
All new features work on both original chipset and AGA Amigas.
Plus many subtle and not so subtle enchancements and refinements too numerous
to list.
EXPECTED SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS:
-All Amiga models.
-Kickstart 1.3 or higher.
-2mb of RAM required. 2 mb of chip ram or 512k of chip and 2mb of fastram.
Runs on stock 1200s. Increased performance and added features with more
ram and or advanced processors.
-AGA mode requires an Amiga 1200 or 4000 with a monitor capable of
displaying DBLNTSC or DBLPAL NOFLICKER screen modes.
-Joystick, digital or analog.
-Keyboard
-Mouse or trackball
-Analog rudder pedals optional
All specifications are subject to change or enchancment.
When FDPro 2 is ready (which is expected to be in the Fall of 1993), upgrade
notices will be to registered owners. Make sure to send in your registration
card now.
Jaeger Software, Inc.
7800 White Cliff Terrace
Rockville, MD 20855
(301)948-6862
You can also get further information and details from Jaeger Software by
leaving a message in *StarShip* Bulletin Board Category 24, Topic 7.
-*-
Waaaay Over a GIGABYTE of Amiga files in our Library!
Catch your limit of Fred FISH Disks from the *StarFish* Library.
If you are after a SINGLE PROGRAM on a Fish Disk, SEARCH for it
before downloading the disk. Most are available separately!
_______________________________________________________________
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