The December 19th meeting is our official "Annual Meeting" in which officers for next year are elected and a formal Financial report is given. It is also a laid back Social/Swap Meet kind of gathering. So come and give a vote, get informed, have some good conversation and swap a few items if the mood strikes you. It's a great way to ring out the old year.
A process known as "mirroring" makes a nearly identical copy of a Web site available to users closer to their own connection on the Internet. This usually results in more reliable connects and faster response, according to CUCUG webmaster, Kevin Hisel.
CompuLink spokesman George Kourkoutas said, "The mirroring of the CUCUG web pages will offer fast and reliable connection to the 20,000 Greek/Hellenic Amiga users for complete Amiga information."
According to Hisel, other mirrors are currently located in Australia, Italy, Poland and the United Kingdom. The primary CUCUG site is maintained at Champaign, Illinois in the United States.
CUCUG maintains the award-winning Amiga Web Directory and Agnes, an advanced Amiga WWW search utility. Both have become very popular with Amiga users throughout the world.
The address for the new CUCUG mirror site in Greece is: http://www.compulink.gr/mirrors/cucug/amiga.html
CUCUG's main site can be found at: http://www.cucug.org/
Compton wrote in the Amiga newsgroup, comp.sys.amiga.misc, "I'd just like everyone to know that as of December 16, 1996, I will no longer be employed by VIScorp in any fashion. I'll do the best I can to handle VIScorp inquiries until then, and will be posting a VIScorp press release which should answer a number of questions that to date have not been addressed to everyone's satisfaction.
"Future VIScorp inquiries should be directed to David Rosen at drosen@ix.netcom.com."
When asked why he had decided to leave, Compton told CUCUG, "It just wasn't the right place for me right now. I had some concerns over the amount of coordination that was taking place between the company and myself, but I will miss many of the fine people I had the opportunity to work with."
As for his future plans, Compton says that he is going to take it easy for a little while but that he hopes to contribute professionally to Amiga community again soon. He also plans to continue to publish his well-known Amiga online magazine, Amiga Report, perhaps on a more regular basis now that he'll have more time available.
"This has been a learning experience. After being known as somewhat of a rabble-rouser, I now have a better appreciation for the inner workings of how decisions are made and that it's not always as simple as it appears," Compton told CUCUG.
VIScorp stock finished down 1/16th of a point at 2.
Chicago, Nov. 21 (Bloomberg) - Visual Information Services Corp. said competitors are challenging its $40 million bid to acquire Amiga Technologies GmbH from bankrupt personal computer maker Escom AG of Germany.
Chicago-based VIScorp, which has developed a set-top box based on Amiga technology that allows users to access the Internet via telephone or television, said it doesn't know exactly how many challengers it faces. That information is held by Bernhard Hembach, Escom's bankruptcy trustee, who was not immediately available for comment.
In July, VIScorp claimed it already had an agreement with Hembach that had been "sealed" and "delivered."
Today, the company conceded that wasn't the case.
"The fact that Escom was in bankruptcy mad things a little more complicated," said Hugh Jenks, VIScorp's chief operating officer, "as did our lack of understanding of German law."
Jenks said VIScorp still believes it is the front runner to acquire Bensheim, German-based Amiga, and that a final decision will be made "in weeks rather than months."
The company signed a licensing agreement with Amiga(Technologies) in January, and VIScorp hopes the technology will give it an advantage in the race to develop the first interactive television set-top box for the consumer market.
If VIScorp fails to acquire Amiga, it is not clear whether VIScorp will have the legal right to hold on to the license, Jenks said. Losing those rights could damage a "significant" portion of VIScorp's business, Jenks said, but he considers it unlikely because it would not be in a new owner's interest to cut off licensing revenue.
VIScorp's box, which the company expects to introduce by the end of the year, connects to a television and a telephone line and enables consumers to receive fax and phone calls, play video games, rent movies, receive electronic mail and access online services, including The Internet, using a TV remote control.
VIScorp's shares rose 1/8 to 3 5/8 in mid-afternoon trading of 31,500 shares.
Escom declared bankruptcy July 15 after it was unable to reach an agreement with its bank about financing a reorganization.
Note: This is a copyright article from BLOOMBERG Business News. It is being reprinted here with their kind permission.
Chicago, Nov. 27 (Bloomberg) - Visual Information Services Corp.'s contract to acquire the assets of Germany's Amiga Technologies GmbH from bankrupt personal computer maker Escom AG was canceled after Viscorp failed to pay the agreed $20 million, a lawyer for Escom's bankruptcy trustee said.
"They didn't pay the money they were supposed to pay and as a result the contract was canceled in early October," said David Robinson, the lawyer.
The Chicago-based interactive television development company was banking on Amiga's technology to give it an edge in the race to develop the first interactive set-top box for consumers.
Without the technology, a "significant" portion of 6-year-old Viscorp's business could be damaged, the company's chief operating officer, Hugh Jenks, said last week.
Right now, Viscorp has access to Amiga's operating system through a licensing agreement signed in January. If it fails to acquire Amiga's assets, that license will be canceled, Robinson said.
That would put further pressure on Viscorp, which is already struggling. In an Oct. 29 filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Viscorp conceded that it, "cannot currently generate sufficient revenues and cash flow from operations to meet its business obligations."
Viscorp Chairman Jerome Greenberg declined to say how much money the company needs or how urgently.
"We have funding in process but I can't tell you any more than that," he said.
Greenberg said that the contract for Amiga "expired" because Viscorp did not believe the assets justified the price.
Meanwhile, Hembach has re-opened bidding for Amiga with "several" un-named companies and expects to sign with one of them within a few weeks, Robinson said.
Last week, Jenks, without revealing that the original contract had fallen apart, said Viscorp was still a front-runner in the negotiations.
Robinson said Viscorp is not the leading candidate, though it's not necessarily out of running.
"If they came in here tomorrow with a check in the right amount they'd be in the running," he said.
Viscorp maintains that even if it doesn't acquire Amiga's assets, the new owners would probably re-license the technology to Viscorp.
The company hopes to introduce its ED box by the end of the year. The box connects to a television and telephone line and enables consumers to receive fax and phone calls, play video games, rent movies, receive electronic mail and access online services, including the Internet, using a TV remote control.
Viscorp had originally offered $40 million to acquire the whole of Amiga. When Escom declared bankruptcy July 15, Viscorp agreed to pay $20 million for certain key assets instead.
Viscorp's shares fell * to 2 7/8.
[ Toni Clarke in the Chicago newsroom (312) 322-7298 / krm ]
Amiga Atlanta has assembled a 2+ hour long videotape of the evening's events and speakers. It's humorous, educational and uplifting. Every computer user - not just Amiga users - would enjoy watching this video. It is a great Christmas gift for anyone with a VCR. But, it is a MUST have videotape for any Amiga owner.
The tape is professionally produced, using professional equipment (including Amiga computers and Video Toasters), by AAi members that work in the Atlanta broadcast television community. VHS copies of"X-10: Amiga Atlanta's 10th Anniversary Banquet Celebration" are now available for purchase in both NTSC and PAL formats, with discounts available for other Amiga usergroups that would like to arrange a group purchase for their members.
Pricing and ordering details are available by contacting: Lamar Morgan, AAi President, at lamar@mindspring.com or for more information, see the Amiga Atlanta Web Site:
http://www.mindspring.com/~amigaatl/
Send check, money order, or eurocheck-equivalent in US funds along with details of the item(s) you wish to order to:
Amiga Atlanta Inc.
ATTN: Promotions Dept.
PO Box 49103
Atlanta, GA 30359-1103
Five major record companies have granted Tunes.com permission to post samples of their songs on the Web. The record companies include Warner, PolyGram, EMI-Capitol, and MCA. Tunes.com said it initially will post 200,000 samples by mid-1997 as part of its plans to sell recorded music over the Internet.
Progressive Networks, Inc. has announced that RealAudio Player and Player Plus 3.0 have shipped. You can download RealAudio 3.0 from their Web site: http://www.realaudio.com.
RealAudio 3.0 supports broadcast-quality audio, including stereo at 28.8 Kbps and near-CD quality audio at ISDN. Platform support includes Microsoft Windows 95 and 3.1, Macintosh PowerPC and 68040, and many flavors of UNIX.
In addition, you can give friends and family the gift of Internet audio with their full-featured RealAudio Player Plus. Order online, and they'll ship it in a special gift box to the person of your choice.
For more information on RealAudio e-mail updates, visit http://www.realaudio.com/mailinglist/index.html.
10. Marc Andreessen, Netscape: his own not-quite-evil empire.
9. Louis Rosetto, "Wired": a low-interest loan.
8. Trip Hawkins, 3DO: Nintendo 64.
7. Kim Polese, Marimba: subscriptions to every magazine whose
cover she graced in 1996.
6. Larry Ellison, Oracle: Redmond.
5. Al Gore, U.S. government: An AOL account. And a clue.
4. Andy Grove, Intel: Prozac for his paranoia.
3. Phil Zimmermann, PGP: Get Out of Jail Free card.
2. Steve Case, AOL: $19.95 from everyone in the world.
1. Bill Gates, Microsoft: peace on earth and good will toward Microsoft.
I am disappointed. A year after Microsoft's "start Me Up" hullabaloo marketing campaign for Windows 95, the software hasn't gotten any better.
A year after the Rolling Stones sold their tune to Microsoft, many PC owners still haven't made the switch to Windows 95.
In fact, if it weren't for the sales of new PCs, which come with Windows 95 already installed, you'd be tempted to considered the launch of Windows 95 a flop, or worse.
One measure of Windows 95's uncompelling nature is this: some PCs (especially notebook PCs, where RAM and disc are at more of a premium than on desktop PCs) come with a choice of Windows 95 or Windows for Workgroups 3.11.
Not exactly a ringing endorsement by hardware manufacturers or their potential customers.
The reason for this is simple: Windows 95 is nowhere near the cool piece of work we thought it would be or that we were led to believe it would be. Isn't gonzo marketing wonderful?
The fact is, while Windows 95 provides a truly superior Graphical User Interface to Windows 3.1, it still falls far behind the benchmark GUI - the MacOS Finder.
This is particularly galling, given all the troubles that Apple has had during the last year - including its inability to get its next generation MacOS out the door (or anywhere near it). You'd think with Apple repeatedly shooting itself in the foot that Microsoft could surpass the Finder with an update to Windows 95.
But no. We've had none of the expected bug-fix or feature addition releases. In fact, we are told we won't see any real improvement until Windows 97 ships next year.
Of course, we are invited to make the switch to yet another Microsoft OS: Windows NT 4.0 for Workstations. For a mere $199.
Last year, just before Windows 95 came shooting out, I told you that the only reason Microsoft was pushing Windows 95 was to get its users off the 16-bit standard of Windows 3.1 and on the path to the 32-bit Windows NT - and all of its memory and performance improvements. And to get loyal Windows 3.1 users accustomed to a new interface that eventually would be grafted ont Windows NT.
Here we are a year later, and that's exactly what's happening.
Microsoft couldn't yank us all the way from 16-bit DOS/Windows 3.1 to no-DOS bit 32-bit Windows NT, so it's doing it in stages. First we got Windows 95. That's still full of 16-bit code and still based on DOS, although it's organized around the more modern 32-bit theme. Next summer, we'll get Windows 97, which should be a true 32-bit operating system with the current Windows 95 GUI, and that will give us even more reason to go all the way to NT.
What this all means for Windows users is that we're going to have to wait until Windows 97 before we see the deficiencies in Windows 95 addressed. We're going to have to wait until then for Plug-N-Play to be made to work reliably. We're going to have to wait until then for problems with Exchange and its built-in fax and email clients to be fixed. We're going to have to wait until then for new built-in functionality to be added, like a personal Web server, and much better Internet tools (including, I hope, building in Microsoft's excellent Internet Explorer browser). We're going to have to wait these and many other improvements, because that's the way the marketing machine works at Microsoft.
See why I,m disappointed?
Chicago Sun-Times computer columnist Don Crabb writes Sunday, Monday and Thursday. He can be reached on the Sun-Times' home page at www.suntimes.com. Or write to him at University of Chicago, Computer Science Department, 1100 East 58th St., Chicago, IL 60637. This column appeared in the August 26th, 1996 edition.
[Source: The September, 1996 newsletter of the McHenry County Computer Club. MCCC's address is Rich Yorick, 220 Indian Trail, Lake in the Hills, IL 60102 - URL: http://www.elknet.net/kmagin ]
And don't forget the PPC620:
Estimated performance:133 MHz
* SPECint92 225 * SPECfp92 300
And this is just at 133Mhz with 0.5-micron static CMOS technology. Just think what this baby will do at 300 Mhz and 0.35-micron CMOS technology (Already applied to 603e & 604e).
Odd H. Sandvik (oddhs@sn.no) -+% Team AMIGA %+-
[Source: comp.sys.amiga.hardware 10 Jun 1996 ]
After months of negotiations between Apple and Be, it now appears unlikely that Apple will buy the Be OS and use it as the platform for Mac OS 8, according to sources close to Apple. Instead, Apple is evaluating technologies from several sources -- within Apple, at Be, and at other companies -- for adoption into Mac OS 8.
Be and Power Computing have done a strong job of marketing the Be OS as a savior for the Mac OS, since it has many of the core services that Apple promised for Copland (the code name for Mac OS 8) -- services like preemptive multitasking, protected memory, and symmetrical multiprocessing (SMP). But the Be OS also lacks many of the services that Mac owners take for granted, such as QuickTime, file sharing, PostScript, and the ability to run Mac programs.
The same sources say that Apple also has figured out a new strategy for Mac OS 8, one that the company hopes will deliver more to Mac customers than was originally promised for Copland, yet deliver it in the next year or so.
The New Mac OS 8
The new strategy calls for Mac OS 8 to have three basic components: the microkernel that provides the basic file-management, networking, and computational services; the modern application programming interfaces (APIs) and services expected in Copland and its original follow-on, Gershwin; and the System 7 APIs that ensure compatibility with today's programs. Examples of APIs include QuickTime, QuickDraw 3D, Open Transport, and OpenDoc; they form a middle layer in the operating system between the core services like file management and screen display on one level and the applications on the other.
Apple's new plan lets Mac OS 8 run most of today's programs, including system extensions (which the original Copland did not support). The Mac compatibility options being explored at Be for the Be OS are to create the equivalent of a SoftWindows or Macintosh Application Environment -- a separate workspace that runs Mac applications isolated from Be applications. Apple's approach won't erect such a wall. Instead, System 7 programs will use System 7 APIs, while Mac OS 8 programs will use Mac OS 8 APIs -- similar to the way PowerPC and 680X0 applications coexist on the Power Macs.
This differs from the original Copland approach to compatibility, which tried to graft modern OS services onto today's System 7 APIs so that all programs -- today's and tomorrow's -- could use the same APIs. That grafting effort compromised both compatibility and the effective use of modern OS services.
Under Apple's new plan, system extensions would run, but only System 7 programs could use them. Mac OS programs would not use extensions. Thus, if you ran a program like Aaron, which changes the Mac's interface, only older programs would have the Aaron interface.
This scheme lets Mac OS 8 programs be separate tasks in the OS, with their own protected memory. Even the original Copland didn't go that far -- the Gershwin OS was planned to offer memory protection for each program.
For users, the difference between Mac OS 8 and System 7 programs would be largely invisible. The programs would simply use the APIs they needed, and not be affected by the other ones. Thus a System 7 program would use the DayStar multiprocessing API to take advantage of multiple CPUs, while a Mac OS 8 program would use the new SMP API. This lets Apple focus on using advanced technology for Mac OS 8 programs without needing to lard the Mac OS 8 APIs with features for System 7 programs. Having essentially two OSs in one will likely make the System Folder significantly bigger, but that's a small price to pay.
Where Apple Stands
The microkernel is mostly done, and of course the System 7 APIs are done. That leaves the modern OS components, plus the glue needed to have the modern OS and System 7 OS coexist in Mac OS 8.
Obviously, developing all the new technologies will take some time, since Apple can't use most of the Copland APIs so far developed because they have a lot of System 7 compatibility code and design compromises that would need to be removed. The company hopes to use some of its Copland engineering work, as well as other technologies developed within Apple, but sources close to Apple say the company is also shopping around for needed technologies, looking to buy technologies that are further along than Apple's internal efforts.
These sources say that Apple won't be getting all the technologies from one company -- making a Be OS purchase unlikely. To figure out whether it should develop OS components internally or buy and adapt them from outside firms, Apple is evaluating many technologies, although our sources would not specify which. An example that these sources use to explain Apple's approach is the Java Virtual Machine, an API that Sun has already written. It would make more sense for Apple to buy Sun's Java API and add the necessary services to make it work on the Mac than to create the API from scratch and add those services.
Apple still has no estimated arrival time for Mac OS 8, although late 1997 or early 1998 seems increasingly likely, given this new approach. Adopting external technology -- even if it's more fully developed than what is available within Apple -- can generate unexpected pitfalls or roadblocks, which makes it hard to estimate a ship date even after Apple decides how much of the technology will be developed internally versus externally. Those decisions should be made over the next few months.
[Source: Macworld Online Daily News (11.27.96). http://stage.macworld.com/daily/daily.829.html ]
Japanese personal computer venture Akia plans to market a Macintosh clone computer as early as November in cooperation with IBM.
IBM Japan said today that IBM agreed at the end of August to sub-license a Mac operating system to Akia for the PC.
Since Akia does not have its own production facility, the Mac clone will be manufactured by PC peripherals maker Memorex Telex Japan.
Akia is the first firm to which IBM has sub-licensed its rights on the Mac OS, the IBM Japan spokesman said.
IBM will supply all microprocessors used in Akia's new PC, the spokesman added.
Akia also plans as early as next spring to sell a new PC based on the Common Hardware Reference Platform (CHRP), which can be installed with both Apple's Mac OS and Microsoft's operating system, Windows NT.
Akia expects to post sales of 25 billion yen in its 1996-97 business year ending on June 30. Of the total, 30 percent is predicted to be from the new PC, the Akia spokesman said.
A dialog informs me that the disk is full, then shows the directory. However, the directories are incomplete. SyQuest informed me that PC Exchange has trouble reading DOS formatted cartridges with over 200 MB of data. Is this correct?
DISCUSSION: Yes, PC Exchange has trouble working with large DOS volumes. When PC Exchange runs out of memory it will display a truncated list of files. This limit varies depending on the number of files on the volume. A smaller number of large files will be displayed properly and a larger number of small files will be truncated.
This should be fixed in a future version of PC Exchange.
DISCUSSION: Even if you do not have a language kit installed, you should leave the WorldScript Power Adapter extension in your Extensions folder. There is a misconception that this extension is only used with language kits. However, the WorldScript Power Adapter extension is used with both Roman and non-Roman languages.
The WorldScript Power Adapter extension is poorly named; it is more closely related to the Macintosh Script Manager. It contains native PowerPC implementations of many of the general script utilities, including routines used by Roman programs, not just non-Roman. These routines include anything that has to do with laying out and drawing text in QuickDraw. When the WorldScript Power Adapter extension is not installed on a Power Macintosh computer, the routines are emulated, so you are not getting the maximum performance from your computer.
Reinstalling the WorldScript Power Adapter
If you have removed the WorldScript Power Adapter extension and want to reinstall it, you need to reinstall the entire Mac OS System 7.5.x software. The Custom Install option does not allow you to install just the WorldScript Power Adapter. The WorldScript 1.1 Updater software posted on Apple's software update sites, updates the WorldScript I and WorldScript II extensions, but it does not install the WorldScript Power Adapter.
[Source: Information Alley (11-25-96)]
I've tried performing a clean system install. Stated the SE/30 with only Apple extensions with the addition of Mode 32. I have also tried starting with no SCSI devices, rebuilt the desktop, reset PRAM, start with all extensions off. Is there a known issue I do not know about?
DISCUSSION: The first 680x0-based version of Cyberdog is 1.1 which also requires OpenDoc 1.1. OpenDoc 1.1 requires 32-bit ROMs in the computer. Therefore the OpenDoc 1.1 installer does not work on Macintosh II, IIx, IIcx, and SE/30 computers. Specifically, the OpenDoc 1.1 installer fails with this error, "Illegal instruction, Co-processor not installed."
Engineering is aware of this issue. There is no time frame for a solution, and there are no workarounds.
[Source: Information Alley (11-07-96)]
DISCUSSION: SoftWindows '95 needs to be upgraded to version 1.0.2 or later in order to recognize ATAPI interface CD-ROM drives (like the CD-ROM drive in the PowerBook 1400 series computers). A patch to version 1.0.2 can be found on the Insignia Solutions' ftp site: ftp.insignia.com.
This article provides information about a non-Apple product. Apple Computer, Inc. is not responsible for its content. Please contact the vendor, Insignia, for additional information.
The Tech Info Library article titled "Locating Vendor Information" can help you search for a particular vendor's address and phone number.
[Source: Information Alley (11-14-96)]
Name: PowerPC Interrupt Extension
Version: 1.0
Released: October 31, 1996
Description: This system extension may improve reliability and performance
on Power Macintosh computers, PowerPC-based Performa computers, Mac
OS-compatible computers, and on desktop computers upgraded with a PowerPC
upgrade card. This extension requires System 7.5.5.
The enclosed file is a self-extracting archive. To use, download and
double-click the downloaded file (this decompresses it). Path to this software:
Apple SW Updates
US
Macintosh
System
Other System
PowerPC Interrupt Extension
PowerPC Interrupt Extension.sea
Compuserve: GO APLSUP -. Other System Software Library (9)
[Source: Information Alley (11-07-96)]The goal of the "Information Alley" is to help Apple computer users get full use of their Apple computers, peripherals, and software. You are welcome to distribute the "Information Alley" to anyone.
This message was sent to recipients of the infoalley mailing list, maintained at infoalley@whoville.austin.apple.com. The purpose of this mailing list is to send to all subscribers a copy of the text version of the Information Alley, Apple's technical support journal.
Please direct any questions or comments to: alley@apple.com. (Please understand that over 100 messages per day get sent to this address, so please be patient if you are waiting for a reply).
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The Internet (gopher): info.hed.apple.com -- Path: Home Gopher Server -> Computer Information -> Apple Tech Info Library
World Wide Web: http://til.info.apple.com or http://www.info.apple.com/info.alley
Here's a little tidbit I thought you might find useful for the newsletter. As you can see it's off the MACPCI mailing list I subscribe to.
x-sender: noah@mail.apple.com Mime-Version: 1.0 Date: Wed, 4 Dec 1996 10:07:17 -0800 Reply-To: Noah Price <noah@APPLE.COM> Sender: Macintosh PCI Discussion List <MACPCI-L@MITVMA.MIT.EDU> From: Noah Price <noah@APPLE.COM> Subject: Re: Memory interleaving in a 7500/100 To: Multiple recipients of list MACPCI-L <MACPCI-L@MITVMA.MIT.EDU>Pat Hines, fastpat@SURF.COM wrote:
There is some speculation that as CPU speeds increase, 60ns DIMM's will be required. I have not seen the clock speed at which that might occur. Maybe 300 mhz, maybe faster, anyone know?
Noah Price, noah@apple.com replies:
Increasing CPU speed alone will not require faster memory. As long as the bus speed stays at or below the 50 MHz spec, DRAM will be fine at 70 ns. If you increase the bus speed above 50 MHz somehow, faster DRAM might help. Since Apple won't run the bus over the 50 MHz spec, you won't have that problem with "official" cards. If you "clock chip" or use third party cards which push the bus speed higher than 50 MHz you may find things more reliable with faster DRAM.
Noah
\ Noah Price \ Apple Computer, Inc. \ Work: noah@apple.comToC
\ \ Power Macintosh Hardware \ Play: noah@pobox.com
I just tried the Amiga mountlist entry from the article this evening and it failed on my system. Again, the culprit is the "SectorsPerBlock" keyword... Do you have a mountlist that'll work on a stock WB2.1 Amiga for a ZIP disk?
Garry Stasiuk (garrys@pacifier.com):
I'll take a look around, and see what I can come up with...
Okay try this one...I found it on the net, person used it for a gvpcontoller, change the device name and give it a try..
ZIP: Device = gvpscsi.device FileSystem = L:FastFileSystem Unit = 5 Flags = 0 Surfaces = 2 BlocksPerTrack = 32 Reserved = 2 Interleave = 0 LowCyl = 2 HighCyl = 3071 Buffers = 32 GlobVec = -1 BufMemType = 1 Mask = 0xfffffffe MaxTransfer = 0x7fffffff Mount = 1 DosType = 0x444f5301 StackSize = 4000 #
Kevin Hopkins (kh2@uiuc.edu):
Another question: if I have the PZ0C running and then want to run an Amiga disk in the ZIP, do I just eject the disk, run DISKCHANGE, MOUNT ZIP0:, pop a disk in, and then format it for the Amiga? My ZIP disks are already formatted for the IBM, so how do you clear the computer so you get a "Not a DOS disk" so you can format it for the Amiga?
Garry Stasiuk (garrys@pacifier.com):
The proper procedure is
1. Eject the disk...
2. Insert new disk...
3. Then "run" Diskchange PZ0C
On your Workbench you should see a disk icon that says ZIP0:NDos ... This happens if you have the ZIP0 mountlist in your Devs/Dosdrivers drawer.
4. Click on that icon once, and use your Workbench Menu Format program. (It is under menu item Icon/Format)
5. Use Quick Format Only, but first toggle FastFileSystem on. The Quick format will rewrite the pertinent info like new name, etc., to the ZIP disk.
Kevin Hopkins (kh2@uiuc.edu):
> Insert new disk...
It was at this point that I thought it would recognize the MSDOS format on the new disk.
Garry Stasiuk (garrys@pacifier.com):
Not until you run the DISKCHANGE program.
I think what happens here is that DISKCHANGE points the Amiga to look at the bitmap of the new disk. I have noticed that if I invoke a DIR command of an ejected disk, I can still get a partial listing of its contents and the "please insert the "NotToil" disk....;}
Kevin Hopkins (kh2@uiuc.edu):
> On your Workbench you should see a disk icon that says
> ZIP0:NDos
>
> This happens if you have the ZIP0 mountlist in your
> Devs/Dosdrivers drawer.
Can you have both a PZ0C mountlist and the ZIP0 mountlist in Devs/DOSdrivers for the same SCSI address (5)? Somehow, I thought you were only allowed one per device. Is that incorrect? Could I also have a Mac one set up for unit 5 as well?
Garry Stasiuk (garrys@pacifier.com):
Aha! Now I see the confusion... We'll start with the last question first. Yes you can have a mountlist for each OS, at unit 5. What happens is AmigaDOS can only recognize one of the disks. As a result if your Amiga doesn't recognize a disk it will put up a PZ0C:NDOS or a MHD0:NDOS icon (or a ZIP0:NDOS icon for that matter). Which means your Workbench will get a little cluttered...
If you don't want that clutter put the mountlists in storage/dosdrivers and the mountlist will only activate when you issue the MOUNT PZ0C command, etc...
Kevin... here is another ZIP0 mountlist...
device = scsi.device
unit = 5
flags = 0x0
surfaces = 1
blocksize = 512
blockspertrack = 68
reserved = 2
interleaved = 0
lowcyl = 2
highcyl = 2890
buffers = 30
bufmemtype = 0
dostype =0x444f5303
maxtransfer = 16777215
mask = 0x7ffffffe
globvec = 0
#
Kevin Hopkins (kh2@uiuc.edu):
Kevin, I'm attempting to get a workable mountlist (for Devs/DOSDrivers) to mount a ZIP disk to be formatted with the Amiga FastFileSystem. I could do the Rigid Disk Block thing using HDToolBox but I'd prefer a mountlist. In your article from our May 1996 newsletter you said "If you don't want to always keep a disk in the drive, you can use a mountlist to explicitly mount the drive after you boot." Would you happen to have such a creature? If so, could a beg a copy off of you? Thanks mucho.
Kevin Hisel (khisel@cucug.org):
Here's one that was generated from an actual, formatted disk. I have not used it in a while...
/* This MountList was automatically created by 'MountInfo' */
/* MountInfo v1.0 is public domain as long as you don't make */
/* financial profit of it. Bug reports and suggestions are */
/* welcome. Contact me at: */
/* Andreas Hofbauer; Kurfuerstenplatz 7; D 8000 Muenchen 40. */
Unit = 5
Device = scsi.device
Flags = 0
Surfaces = 1
BlocksPerTrack = 68
Reserved = 2
Interleave = 0
LowCyl = 2
HighCyl = 2890
Buffers = 30
BufMemType = 0
MaxTransfer = 0xffffff
Mask = 0x7ffffffe
DosType = 0x444f5303
#
Kevin Hopkins (kh2@uiuc.edu):
In the CrossDOS mountlist entry in your May article, where did you get your HighCyl value (196607)?
Kevin Hisel (khisel@cucug.org):
I do not recall specifically. It is included in a number of mountlist examples which are floating around, though.
Here's at least a few places where PC ZIP mountlists can be found:
http://www.cucug.org/ar/ar323_Sections/feature3.HTML
http://rainbow.rmii.com/~bobm/Zip.html
(in the FAQ section)
Kevin Hopkins (kh2@uiuc.edu):
Garry, my Amiga Librarian gave me one that works. The only differences that I can see from the second one you sent me are that FLAGS are somewhat different. MAXTRANSFER is way different. The one below contains no entry for BLOCKSIZE or GLOBAVEC. Funny, both use DOSTYPE ...03. Wonder what that is? My books show OFS as 00 and FFS as 01.
One other item of note is that you can't boot from a ZIP that uses a simple mountlist entry. When I hold both mouse buttons down on boot up, I get the Options screen, but SCSI device 5 is not given as an option. My Bernoulli, which was formatted with a RDB, is given as an option, but the ZIP and the CDROM (both use mountlist entries) are not.
Gentlemen, I have an Amiga 3000 with WB2.1 and am able to use PC formatted disks in my drives - high density floppy and ZIP. My question is - does your commercial version of CrossDOS allow the use of long filenames, unlike the 8 point 3 a user gets with your code worked into the Amiga Workbench? I use a Macintosh as well and use DOS formatted disks as the common medium between the Amiga and the Mac. Having the filenames truncated when I pass disks back and forth between the Amiga and Mac is a pain. I'm the newsletter editor for CUCUG and I could really use long filenames. Any help you can extend to me in my quest will be appreciated.
Len of Consultron Tech Support at consultron@consultron.plymouth.mi.us:
CrossDOS 6 Pro does not support Win95 long filenames. We are working on it.
Mark, I've been using PC formatted ZIP disks in order to facilitate the transferring of data between my Amiga and the Mac. I recently ran into trouble when I tried copying a folder from the Mac to a ZIP disk. First I tried creating a new folder on the ZIP disk. The system wouldn't let me change the name from Untitled Folder and when I accidently opened it, it contained all of the things that were actually in the root directory of the ZIP disk. When I tried copying a folder from the Mac's hard drive to the ZIP, the system seemed to throw away that folder and placed its contents into the root directory. The folder I was copying had other folders in it and they transferred as folders but were now off of the root directory of the ZIP rather than inside the folder they were originally in. Is there something happening here that I should be aware of? Does PC Exchange not handle folders within folders? It handles long file names, but is there something going on with directory trees?
I suppose the solution is to reformat my disks to Macintosh format, but I'm curious as to what is happening here.
Is there a newer version of PC Exchange that fixes this?
Mark Bellon (mbellon@scylla.urbana.mcd.mot.com):
I've never tried using a PC ZIP so I have no information with which to help you. I strongly suspect that the long file names are not handle properly since the PC stuff isn't '95 compatible - it's 3.1.
I believe you have the latest version except for a minor tweek.
More fuel...
There are at least 3 different MOUNT commands...
An encapsulating thought. At a recent NAG meeting I was approached by a member (Jere Marrs, the ARexx guy) and was asked to sum up the ZIP process...
We came up with an Occams Razor approach...
Because the Amiga is so flexible, it is very easy to make any issue much more complex than it needs to be... Our discourse on the ZIP for example. So, If you want to remain compatible with the IBM or MAC crowd the rule is... Always do as little as possible, ie., if you don't have to change something...DON'T!
as a result...
1.) Leave the ZIP Disk as an IBM Disk, or MAC Disk if you want
other platform compatibility, ie.) DO NOTHING to the Disk.
2.) NEVER low level format a ZIP Disk. Always use the QUICK
FORMAT command. Especially if you someday want to convert
the disk back to an IBM or MAC disk.
3.) Get the Commercial Version of Cross Dos, CrossMAC and ZIP
Tools.
4.) If you don't care about compatibility with other Amigas or IBM's
or MACS then go a head make your RDB disks... But remember
somewhere down the road you WILL get a new SCSI Controller,
and there are no guarantees that it will read your current low level
formatted RDB ZIP Disks!!!
This mount list should work on any Amiga running 2.xx or up...
device = Nexus.device
unit = 5
flags = 0x0
surfaces = 1
blocksize = 512
blockspertrack = 68
reserved = 2
interleaved = 0
lowcyl = 2
highcyl = 2890
buffers = 30
bufmemtype = 0
dostype =0x444f5303
maxtransfer = 16777215
mask = 0x7ffffffe
globvec = 0
Enjoy your Amiga and your ZIP Drive!
Garry, I found the culprit to my difficulties with your mountlist entries for the ZIP disk. It is the MOUNT command itself. In attempting to get a Macintosh mountlist to work, I examined the AmiCDFS archive (amicdfs236.lha). In it is a new SetPatch command and a new Mount command [(c) Copyright 1990-1995, Escom AG]. Being the cautious type, I used NewZap to check the version numbers of these commands before I replaced my Commodore versions. My Mount command was version 38.21 (23.7.92). The one in the AmiCDFS archive is version 40.4 (27.9.93). I also examined the keywords recognized by both MOUNT commands. Buried in the new Mount was SECTORSPERTRACK=BLOCKSPERTRACK, SECTORSIZE=BLOCKSIZE, and SECTORSPERBLOCK. The last one is the only real difference. All the other Keywords were the same. Once I had installed the files for AmiCDFS, the Mac Mountlist worked fine. I haven't gone back to check the others but I suspect they'll work too.
The only remaining problem now is that the Mac ZIP disk appears to be write protected to the AmigaOS. I can read but I can't write to the Mac ZIP.
A year ago, Christian Bauer set the Amiga world on it's ear when he released a complete software-only emulation of a Macintosh IIci. The emulation was good, very good. It quickly rose to "Cult" status among the fast growing cadre of SS users.
As usual, I jumped on the SS bandwagon with a passion. I really enjoyed learning a new platform. For my birthday, one of my friends gave me Claris Works for the Mac. I had hopes of being able to produce the NotePad with Claris each month. It's a lot better than ProPage:)
Alas, that did not come to pass. My little 1200, although accelerated, was not equipped with enough memory to run the typical Mac applications software. For all other purposes, 8MB of fast ram is plenty, and those 16MB chips were going for $450 at the time.
The other reason I did not take the Mac seriously was it ran slowly when I used a screen with more than 2 colors. Remember - the 1200 does not have slots for a CyberGFX card. SS sat on my drive, pretty much unused. I installed each new upgrade, but did little with it.
Until last month.
RAM prices dropped down to something affordable, so I bought a 16MB SIMM for $102 from the Chip Merchant. That was the turning point for me. Now I use the Mac all the time. The slow graphics refresh is a thing of the past. There are several new external video drivers that squeeze more bandwidth from the chip ram. Now I run SS on a 16 color screen for everything. I can actually run a 256 color screen, but it's just a tad too slow with NetScape.
With the new chip in place, I can give SS 13MB to use. That made all the difference in the world. I have installed SYS 7.5.3 and am quickly learning the fine points of NetScape, QuickTime, RealAudio and other modern marvels that have been denied to me in the past because I have an Amiga.
I see all these new things on the TV, and read about them in the paper, but until I installed that chip, I had no chance to actually experience them. The Amiga remains a hacker's machine, and I love it just for that reason. I am a hacker at heart, but I really wanted to see a QuickTime movie before I died!
NetScape is something to behold. There is a lot to learn, but it is fun to try my hand at something different. I still don't know exactly what an extension is, but it no longer scares me...
I also learned that System 7.1 is really the "1.3" of the Mac world. Now that I have 7.5 installed, the world has opened up for me. I even devoted another disk drive for the "Mac".
I am a perverse person. Just to prove a point, I installed the Unix Amiga Emulator - Mac Version - on ShapeShifter. It worked and there is a screen shot in Amiga Alley to prove it. I recommend you get some more memory while the price is right.
http://www.znet.com/~colin/hardware.html
[Source: The San Diego Amiga Users Group newsletter, "The NotePad" September, 1996. SDAUG's address is P.O. Box 81801, San Diego, CA 92138-1801.]
I've had a month to test my new 68040 Apollo accelerator. My 1200 is now as strong as it will ever become and I am quite pleased with the card. While it may seem stupid to spend nearly $500 on my old computer, it was that or spend five times that on a PowerMac. I think I made the right decision - for me.
It's important to note that the card actually fits into the case easily. The processor is a full 68040 with a functioning MMU and a built-in 68882 math co-processor. I chose the 40Mhz clock speed because it was the fastest available and I an a speed freak. The CPU has a fan mounted on it to cool the beast. The fan sounds like it is on it's last legs, and I expect to have to replace it any day now.
Performance? Ye gads! It's everything I hoped for and more. I upgraded from a 40Mhz 68EC030. The 040 runs everything about three times faster, and I can now run programs that require an MMU. ProPage4.0 is now actually fast enough to use. Personal Paint processes the special effects about five times faster. MPEGs that used to play at 6 frames per second now play at 35 FPS. QT Movies that used to be slow, now play at full speed and I can play several at once. Browsers browse faster. I can run IB on a custom 8 bit screen without difficulty.
When I generate MPEGS, the process takes only a third the time. In general, all my Amiga apps run three or four times quicker. The exception is emulators. They run a lot quicker. These programs always take over the Amiga completely and tax it's resources to the hilt. Now there are more resources to tax. MagiC64 now runs C64 programs at full speed, and the screen display runs without skipping raster lines.
This leads me to the main reason I bought the card. ShapeShifter. I'm using my "Mac" as much as my Amiga nowadays. With the Mac I can try state of the art software years before it becomes available on the Amiga. I know how this sounds. It sounds like sedition, but without factory support, we Amigans have been getting the short end of the stick. I have not defected, but I am getting damn tired of hearing about how wonderful NetScape3 is. Now I actually run NS3 on my computer. It IS wonderful, and I didn't have to buy a clone or a Mac to use it.
But I digress here. The Apollo accelerator runs SS much faster. Much. In real terms, I can now run an 8 bit desktop routinely. The Mac does a great job of dithering 24 bit imagery down to 8 bits. Processing power is tripled, or better. I tried POV (a ray tracer) with good results. This was my first foray into ray tracing. I now have a better appreciation for the artists who produce these beautiful images.
QT movies play at full speed, and in glorious colors, with stereo sound. I had a great time playing several QTs at once. I could never do that with my old 030.
The kicker is that NetScape has released a new beta that does not require an MMU. It will run under ShapeShifter, and allows you to experience Java, QTVR, VRML and other modern wonders, in the privacy of your own home, on your Amiga 1200. If you tried the first version of NS3 and found it bombed, go to the home page of NS and click on the FTP sites. Pick a site and download the new 3.01b1 beta. It will work, and it will make you giggle. Frames are fun! A word of caution is in order here. Nothing is free. You will have to give SS at least 13MB of free memory in order to run NS, and if that wasn't bad enough, MacZilla requires another 2MB on top of that. What I'm saying here is that there is a 32MB SIMM in my future. At least the prices of SIMMs are still falling.
And that brings me back to the only thing I found "wrong" with the Apollo card. I could have ordered a $100 SCSI host adaptor for the card, or instead of that, I could have added a second SIMM socket. You can't have both. I opted for the SIMM socket. It was provided at no charge, but I had to solder it in myself. The soldering was child's play, only taking me 20 minutes. You can add up to 64MB per socket.
I tried my spare 4MB SIMM, and the 16MB SIMM together. Here's where I make a long story short. I could not get a second SIMM to work. The system would not boot from the Startup-Sequence. Setpatch crashed. Wierd, I know. If I boot with early startup, the system sees all 20MB, but I can't get access to the IDE bus. Very wierd. I have not resolved this. I have no explaination. The card works as advertised in every other regard. I may be cursed. Help?
Oh, were you looking for the technical comparison of this accelerator? You know - 29.86 MIPS, 7.35 MFLOPS and stuff like that? I'll let Jason Compton handle it. See the last two Amiga Reports for his in depth report on the 040/40. He rated it the third fastest accelerator for the 1200, after the Apollo 1260/50 and the Blizzard 1260/50. I like the card because of it's speed, and it required no additional software to use. The price was $461 plus $28 duty. I got it from DataKompaniet in Trondeim, Norway. This will tide me over until I get my first PowerAmiga next year. In the meantime, I'm as happy as VIScorp will let me be.
[Please visit my home page. I've begun to assemble the world's largest SS reference page. If you can find any links I've missed, please email me at colin@znet.com - http://www.znet.com/~colin/hardware.html ]
[Source: The San Diego Amiga Users Group newsletter, "The NotePad" November, 1996. SDAUG's address is P.O. Box 81801, San Diego, CA 92138-1801.]
For those visionaries who scrapped their 68030s in favor of an 040 or 060, your wisdom has been rewarded. A smart Finn, by the name of Aki Laukkanen, has written a freeware External Video Driver for ShapeShifter. The EVD is called TurboEVD. It works with 040/060 processors on AGA computers. It displays the Desktop in 2, 4, 16, and 256 colors. This is simply the fastest EVD available. It's about 25% faster than Savage060. It is so fast - "How fast is it, Colin?" - that I now run ShapeShifter in 8-bit mode for everyday use. Netscape3 is now faster than IBrowse on an 8-bit custom screen. This is incredible - and I use a Multiscan screenmode which is the slowest of them all. Aki is working on a 16-bit version now. You can download TurboEVD from misc/emu/ on Aminet or from my new ShapeShifter page in Amiga Alley.
[Source: The San Diego Amiga Users Group newsletter, "The NotePad" December, 1996. SDAUG's address is P.O. Box 81801, San Diego, CA 92138-1801.]
[Editor's Note: I contacted Colin and asked him if there was anything else he'd like to add to these three stories relating to ShapeShifter? He wrote back: ]
Yes, mention that both the TurboEVD and Savage drivers have been updated since my articles were published. My comments, evaluations and screenshots of the drivers can be found on my ShapeShifter page:
http://www.znet.com/~colin/text/amigatosh.html
The November 21st meeting began with the traditional introduction of club officers (so you know who can help you if you need it). President Rollins then attempted to open the floor to our Question and Answer Session, but as no one had anything initially, he turned the floor over to Kevin Hisel to discuss the procedure for the election of club officers which will take place at the December meeting.
CUCUGMAC #40:
Monitor Adjustment Screen (a very simple, but incredibly useful program), Star Patrol (a PowerPC version only, Star Trek-explorer-simulation type game), Compact Pro (a archiver in the vein of Stuffit and Stuffit Expander), MacCompress 3.2 (more of the archiving same), Desktop Strip (a Control Strip replacement), and Tweener (has just a FEW options; very powerful utility for the moving and manipulation of icons on your Desktop).
CUCUGMAC #41:
Mac Brick Out (a Break Out game clone), Pajatso (the national game of Finland, a Pachinco type game), and Apollo 1.22 (a tremendous file access program to replace Apple Menu Items; Mark did a SIG meeting on Apollo in May).
Before the break, Richard stated that he'd brought in copies of Mac Addict, Mac Format, and the latest Tidbits for anyone who'd like to look at them. Ed Serbe mentioned that CUCUG had been mentioned in Amiga Computing and Amiga Format magazines.
The topic of the Macintosh Special Interest Group this evening was the Macintosh Web Directory. This web directory to Macintosh resources on the Internet is CUCUG's twin to the Amiga Web Directory. The Macintosh sibling is webmastered by Jim Huls, former CUCUG President.
For the SIG meeting, Jim brought in his own computer, a PowerMac 7500/100, armed with the tools he used to create the Directory and those he now uses to maintain and update it. Somewhat apologetically Jim said that two jobs and school restricts the time he can commit to the Directory. But, he said with a rye smile, he wanted to show us "the pain and misery I go through."
The first thing he addressed was how he gets online. He said he used to use FreePPP to dial in to CUCUG.ORG, but he has switched to Open Transport PPP (version 1.0), which is PowerPC native. Jim said the performance gain was worth the change, although Open Transport is still a little buggy. Some other recommendations Jim made were the web sites MacInTouch and Mac Central and the web browser Netscape 3.0.
Speaking to the creation of the Macintosh Web Directory, Jim said he looked at what Kevin Hisel had done on the Amiga Web Directory and he took that approach for the Mac. Jim revealed that both Directories are running on a 486 with Linux as the Operating System. There is about 30MB of material on CUCUG.ORG. Jim showed some of the stats on the sites usage. He also mentioned that the mirror sites get about 30% as many hits as our main site. In some of the attendant discussion about which browsers are being used most to view our site, Mark Bellon and Richard Rollins recommended using Cyberdog. They both said it was better now than when first released.
Turning to his tools, Jim said first on his list was BBedit, the commercial version. He used to use its multifile search to see if he had an address when he was working on updating or adding new sites. He has now used KeyQuencer to automate the job. KeyQuencer is a very useful Control Panel, which pretty much tells you how to run it itself.
For the coding of the web pages, Jim called upon HTML Resource v1.1 from Info Mac to learn about the tags and what they did. The HTML Vocabulary file also helped with the coding. He said he also downloaded other people's pages and looked at how they did things. He showed an HTML source document so everyone could see what one looked like.
One of the things he likes about BBedit is that it highlights certain tags in different colors, which makes finding things and editing them much easier. It's also a text editor with an FTP client in it.
Jim said Netscape, BBedit, and Fetch are the three programs he uses the most in creating and maintaining the Macintosh Web Directory. He also uses PowerMenu.
Jim said he is in love with the Macintosh's Drag and Drop. He gets graphics for the Macintosh Web Directory simply by just gathering them. You can grab them, Drag and Drop them on the Desktop. Jim showed how easy this process by using the CU-Online logo as an example.
Jim then set about the task of updating some dates, a typical task he has to perform. As he worked, Jim commented that webmastering could be a full-time job. He said the hardest part of his work on the MWD is coming up with the descriptions for new sites. Some of them just aren't that clear cut as to their content. Continuing to work, Jim utilized TypeIt, a program he uses for shortcutting the entry of email addresses and filling in dates. He also uses KeyQuencer, a program that allows you to program the F-keys to enter HTML tags (or anything else you'd like them to).
Jim had a little trouble with text getting overwritten. He suspected BBedit 4.0.2 since it had just been released. He said, "The life of a webmaster isn't the most exciting." After much laboring, Jim got the problem corrected and finished with a flourish: "That is how a new site is added."
Another task a webmaster has to perform is checking to see that the sites he has listed in his links are still active. Jim uses a program called Big Brother 1.0 (programmed by the guy who does Decor) which automatically goes out and checks to see that the links in the Macintosh Web Directory's are still there. This facilitates weeding out dead links. However, Jim has discovered one problem with Big Brother: you can't put it in the background or it'll go away. You can't be about other business while it is working.
Jim concluded his talk by mentioning another utility he uses called Web Watcher which checks to see when a page was last updated. He find this useful to check up on which sites he want to keep and those he lets lapse as they become out dated.
All in all, most of the Macintosh SIG members were impressed by the amount of work that is being done by "that man behind the curtain." Thanks Jim for you presentation and all the hard work you've put into the Macintosh Web Directory.
The November meeting of the CUCUG executive board took place on Tuesday, November 26, 1996, at 7PM, at Kevin Hisel's house (address and phone number, both in the book). Present at the meeting were Richard Rollins, Jim Huls, Mark Landman, Kevin Hopkins, Jon Sago, Kevin Hisel, and Emil Cobb.
Richard Rollins: Richard began by personally thanking Jim Huls for doing his presentation on the Mac Web Directory at the Mac SIG this month. He noted that next month's meeting will be a social and the usual culprits will do their usual things to make that happen.
Turning to more general matters, Richard reported that Power Computing will soon be shipping MacOS and BeOS with their clone machines. He said the deal has been signed and should be in effect by the end of January.
Concerning Mac membership generated through CU-Online, Richard reported that we have ten more memberships in the reimbursement pipeline with CU-Online.
As a final note and testimonial, Richard reported that Open Transport 1.1.1 "is as solid as a rock."
Jim Huls: In his usual self deprecating manor, Jim said "The meeting last week was boring for some, but fun."
Noting that the demands on his personal time have grown considerably, Jim said, "If anyone wants to take over the Mac Web Directory, I'll be glad to assist them." He said someone with more time could put the effort into the project that he is unable to. He said the potential is there for a great web site, but it currently pales in comparison to Mr. Hisel's Amiga Web Directory. "If no one wants to do it, I'll be happy to continue doing it, but it could be better."
Jim reported that he'd run across a 120 MHz 604 card for the PowerMac 7500 for $99. For details, contact Jim.
Mark Landman: Mark gave his report on the club's Treasury. He noted that we had 8 reups at the meeting; a list will be forthcoming for those that need it.
Mark noted that we haven't paid the room rent for next year yet. There was a discussion about this. There is a possibility that we may move the meetings back to the Bresnan Center. With the loss of Fred Cline and Jim Lewis' storage facility next door, the reasons for staying at the Union Hall are less compelling. When we moved from the Bresnan Center, we did not have the Mac SIG and the room divider at Bresnan is looking very appealing. So is the lobby, in which those that want to chat can use and be away from the main meetings as they progress. Finally, the digital phone system at the Bresnan Center, which once posed such a problem, can be accommodated now with relatively inexpensive adapters. Nothing was decided, but Richard Rollins will explore our options and report back at a later date.
There was a serious discussion on what to do about our equipment storage problem and ways to combat it.
Kevin Hopkins: Kevin distributed the mail to the appropriate officers and presented the exchange newsletters for those that desired to look at them. He made particular note of the Northwest Amiga Group newsletter in which he thought Board members might find more than vague similarities to some of CUCUG's past activities.
Kevin informed the Board that the club's Macintosh (Performa 6116CD) is becoming very flaky. It has become progressively worse at booting up and prone to random crashes. Either a software or hardware problem may soon have to be dealt with.
Kevin reported that, as evinced by the "Welcome New Members" section in the last newsletter, CUCUG has experienced a deluge of new members, recruited from the Amiga Web Directory. This has presented a tremendous strain on our one man newsletter staff, both in maintaining the various lists associated with the membership and in the physical work of printing, folding, labeling, stamping, and mailing all the additional newsletters. Up until this time Kevin has also been fronting the production costs of the newsletter, but he requested a petty cash allotment be set up so he could use club funds instead of his own. A $200 fund was granted similar to the one that the software library has been using for years. As the money is depleted it will be replenished.
Jon Sago: Jon stated categorically he didn't have anything to say.
Kevin Hisel: Kevin said that he had posted a message on the BBS informing it's users of our intention to retire the Starship as of January 1. He got no responses, so it looks as though it's time for our old friend to say goodbye.
Turning to the Library, Kevin reported that there were no disk sales at the last meeting, either Mac or Amiga.
On web business, Kevin informed us that we had received our first paid advertisement on the Amiga Web Directory from IAM.
Kevin said he was very pleased with how well the 1997 Membership Drive has been going. There was a discussion of how many members we will actually gain from the number that have filled out the online form. President Rollins asked how these new members will be incorporated into our annual raffle. They can't physically attend the event, but they should somehow be given the opportunity to participate. After some discussion, it was decided that this is a matter that needs further contemplation. Kevin concluded his Web report with a general overview of some of the things he has planned for the Directory.
Kevin then reported that we have a group of people in Indianapolis, spearheaded by our own expatriate Mike Latinovich, that want to become a CUCUG chapter. After much discussion it was decided that as an official "Chapter" this would be unwieldy. We would have no control or oversight of activities that would be conducted in our name. If, however, these folks would like to join. They would receive the usual benefits of CUCUG membership and they could gather unofficially on their own. We would have no problem with that.
Dealing with some old business, Kevin said he would regrettably be telling Wolf Dietrich of Phase 5 that no one in CUCUG had expressed interest in managing their PowerUp Software contest.
Kevin also discussed the present status of his Gateway Computer Show negotiations. The show will be occurring on March 15 and 16.
Speculation about VIScorp, fueled by its stock activity (down) and news of high profile defections, was the next topic of discussion.
Looking ahead to next years Spring Computer Fair, Kevin stated the we need someone to be in charge of a Macintosh products company database for our mailing list. Kevin said he could start the person off. The job is very simple to do, requiring about an hour a month. But, it is an hour a month he doesn't have and he'd like to delegate the job. Emil Cobb volunteered.
Returning to the topic of the AWD, Kevin reported that we will be getting another International mirror site soon, in Greece.
Emil Cobb: Emil reported a head count of 32 at the last meeting, although he believes a few more people came in after his official count.
Richard Rollins: Richard closed the meeting with the reminder that Jim Lewis is going to sell his business very soon and we need a place to store our big monitor, speakers, and other equipment. There was a discussion of what to do about that and also about alternatives to the monitor in order to reduce the space required by the equipment.
Meetings are held the third Thursday of each month at 7 p.m. at the IBEW Local 601 Union Hall (352-1741), located at 2901 Research Road in the Interstate Research Park in northwest Champaign. To get there, go north on Mattis over I-74 and turn right at the second stop light, onto Interstate Drive. Then take the first "real" left at Research Road. The Electrician's Hall is the third building on your left. There's a big flag pole right out front and it's directly across the street from one of Hobbico's signs. You should park and enter the building in the back.
ASCII text files of all recent Status Register newsletters are available for downloading on our BBS or our WWW site. Other user group newsletter editors may leave a comment to the BBS Sysop to request free access. To initiate a newsletter exchange, just send us your newsletter. As a matter of CUCUG policy, a newsletter exchange partner will be dropped after three months of no contact.
This newsletter was prepared with PageStream 2.22 on an Amiga 3000 25/100 and output to an HP Laserjet IIP plus. Pagestream was donated to CUCUG by Soft-Logik Publishing Corporation.
For further information, please attend the next meeting as our guest, or contact one of our officers (all at area code 217):
President: Richard Rollins 469-2616 rrollins@cucug.org Vice-President: Emil Cobb 398-0149 e-cobb@uiuc.edu Secretary/Editor: Kevin Hopkins 356-5026 kh2@uiuc.edu Treasurer: Mark Landman 398-2910 mlandman@prairienet.org Corporate Agent: Jim Lewis 359-1342 jlewis@cucug.org Board Advisor: Jim Huls 892-8730 jhuls@net66.com Librarian/Sysop: Kevin Hisel 352-1002 khisel@cucug.org Mac Librarian: Mark Bellon 355-6021 mbellon@urbana.mcd.mot.com
Call our Starship CUCUG BBS at (217) 356-8056, always online, up to 28,800 baud, supporting all CBM and Macintosh computers. Email us at
or surf our home page at
To get on the net free, call Prairienet at (217) 255-9000. Login as "visitor". Once you're on, just type "go cucug" for a good place to start.