@database "ar220.guide" @Node MAIN "Amiga Report Online Magazine #2.20 -- June 17, 1994" @{" Turn the Page " link "menu"} _ ____ ___ ______ _______ _ d# ####b g#00 `N##0" _agN#0P0N# d# d## jN## j##F J## _dN0" " d## .#]## _P ##L jN##F ### g#0" .#]## dE_j## # 0## jF ##F j##F j##' ______ dE_j## .0"""N## d" ##L0 ##F 0## 0## "9##F" .0"""5## .dF' ]## jF ##0 ##F ##F `##k d## .dF' j## .g#_ _j##___g#__ ]N _j##L_ _d##L_ `#Nh___g#N' .g#_ _j##__ """"" """"""""""" " """""" """""" """"""" """"" """""" ###### ###### ###### ###### ###### ######## TM ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## #### ## ## ## #### ## ## ## #### ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ### ###### ## ###### ## ### ## International Online Magazine "Your Weekly Source for Amiga Information." Copyright 1994 Skynet Publications All Rights Reserved // %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%//%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% %% June 17, 1994 \\// Issue No. 2.20 %% %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% @endnode @node "menu" "Amiga Report Main Menu" @toc "menu" @{" Columns and Features " link P1} News, Reviews, and More! @{" About AMIGA REPORT " link P2} Staff, Copyright information @{" Dealer Directory " link P3} Amiga Dealer Addresses and Numbers @{" Commercial Online Services " link P4} Sign-Up Information @{" FTP Announcements " link P5} New Files Available for FTP @{" AR Distribution Sites " link P2-1} Where to get AMIGA REPORT ____________________________________________ // | | // %%%%%%%%//%%%%%| Amiga Report International Online Magazine |%%%%%%%//%%%%% %% \\// | Issue No. 2.20 June 17, 1994 | \\// %% %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%| "Your Weekly Source for Amiga Information" |%%%%%%%%%%%%%% |____________________________________________| The Editor's Desk Dealer Directory Distribution BBS's SPECIAL FEATURES AR Contest!! .............................................David Tiberio Amiga Abuse .................................................Hans Guijt Video Capturing .....................................Douglas Nakakihara CoverDisk Contents .......................................Jason Compton %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% %% @{" DELPHI " link P4-1} @{" PORTAL " link P4-2} @{" FIDO " link P2-1} @{" INTERNET " link P4-5} %% %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% @endnode @node P1-1 "The Editor's Desk" @toc "menu" %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% %% The Editor's Desk by @{" Robert Niles " link P8-1} %% %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% I'm off to vacate!!!! So next week I am going on Vacation! Jason Compton will be compiling AR221 so that there is no interuption in your friendly AR service :) Not much in the news this week. Harv Laser of Portal's Amiga Zone reports that Tim Walsh of Amiga World is rushing off to the Bahamas to get the latest scoop on the liquidation of C=. It looks like there is no settlement on who is going to purchase C='s technology. Several companies have laid in their bids and the Bahaman court has told C= to accept the highest bidder. It looks like we have quite a bit more waiting to do before any *news* comes out of the Commodore world, but something is going to happen!! In other news, there's not much of it this week. Either it is going right past me, or everyone is waiting for the "final word" Hopefully next week we can bring you more. Just in case you're wondering, Samsung is still in the picture, as are others.... *sigh* Well I'm off to get my feet in the sand...the last few months have been real hectic...when problems amount, they always seem to come in leaps and bounds, so this is a much awaited break to just get away for a bit. Hope to see you all July 1st!!!! @endnode @node P4-1 "Delphi" @toc "menu" %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% %% Delphi Internet Services -- Your Connection to the World! %% %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% Amiga Report International Online Magazine is available every week in the Amiga SIG on DELPHI. Amiga Report readers are invited to join DELPHI and become a part of the friendly community of Amiga enthusiasts there. SIGNING UP WITH DELPHI ====================== Using a personal computer and modem, members worldwide access DELPHI services via a local phone call JOIN -- DELPHI -------------- Via modem, dial up DELPHI at 1-800-695-4002 then... When connected, press RETURN once or twice and.... At Username: type JOINDELPHI and press RETURN, At Password: type AMIGAREPORT and press RETURN. DELPHI's best plan is the 20/20 plan. It gives you 20 hours each month for the low price of only $19.95! Additional hours are only $1.50 each! This covers 1200, 2400 and even 9600 connections! For more information, and details on other plans, call DELPHI Member Services at 1-800-695-4005 SPECIAL FEATURES ---------------- Complete Internet connection -- Telnet, FTP, IRC, Gopher, E-Mail and more! (Internet option is $3/month extra) SIGs for all types of computers -- Amiga, IBM, Macintosh, Atari, etc. Large file databases! SIGs for hobbies, video games, graphics, and more! Business and world news, stock reports, etc. Grolier's Electronic Encyclopedia! DELPHI - It's getting better all the time! @endnode %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% %% The Amiga Report Staff %% %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% @node P8-1 "Editor" @toc "menu" %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% %% EDITOR %% %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% Robert Niles Portal: RNiles FidoNet: 1:3407/103 Internet: rniles@hebron.connected.com Fax: 509-248-5645 US Mail: P.O. Box 8041 Yakima, Wa 98908 @endnode @node P8-2 "Emulation Editor" @toc "menu" %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% %% EMULATION EDITOR %% %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% Jason Compton Internet: jcompton@bbs.xnet.com FAX: 708-741-0689 @endnode @node P8-3 "European Editor" @toc "menu" %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% %% EUROPEAN EDITOR %% %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% Jesper Juul Internet: norjj@stud.hum.aau.dk @endnode @node P8-4 "Contributing Editor" @toc "menu" %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% %% CONTIBUTING EDITOR %% %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% David Tiberio Internet: dtiberio@libserv1.ic.sunysb.edu @endnode @node P4-5 "Amiga Report Mailing List" @toc "menu" %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% %% Amiga Report Maillist List, the WWW, and Aminet %% %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% AR Mailing List ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ No Official Amiga Report Distribution Site in your local calling area? Are you tired of waiting for your local BBS or online service to get Amiga Report each week? If so, have we got a deal for you! If you have an internet mailing address, you can receive Amiga Report in UUENCODED form each week as soon as the issue is released. To be put on the list, send Email to rniles@hebron.connected.com. Your account must be able to handle mail of any size to ensure an intact copy. For example, many systems have a 100K limit on incoming messages. Many thanks to PORTAL Communications for setting this service up for us! P.S.: Please be sure to include your Email address in the text of your request message, it makes adding it to the list much easier. Thanks! ** IMPORTANT NOTICE: PLEASE be certain your host can accept mail over ** 100K! We have had a lot of bouncebacks recently from systems with a ** 100K size limit for incoming mail. If we get a bounceback with your ** address in it, it will be removed from the list. Thanks! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ World Wide Web ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ AR can also be read with Mosaic (in either AmigaGuide or html form). Reading AmigaReport with Mosaic removes the necessity to download it. It can also be read using programs found in UNIX sites such as LYNX. Simply tell Mosaic to open the following URL: http://www.cs.cmu.edu:8001/Web/People/mjw/Computer/Amiga/AR/MainPage.html Mosaic for the Amiga can be found on Aminet in directory comm/net, or (using anonymous ftp) on max.physics.sunysb.edu Mosaic for X, Macintosh(tm) and Microsoft Windows(tm) can be found on ftp.ncsa.uiuc.edu ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Aminet ~~~~~~ To get Amiga Report from Aminet, simply FTP to any Aminet site, CD to docs/mags. All the back issues are located there as well. (ftp.cdrom.com or ftp.wustl.edu are two sites) @endnode %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% %% Amiga News %% %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% %% Reader Mail %% %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% @node P1-2 "compt.sys.amiga" @toc "menu" %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% %% compt.sys.amiga by @{" Jason Compton " link P8-2} %% %% OS 3.1 For the Masses! jcompton@bbs.xnet.com %% %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% Big news for all jealous ECS users and all 4000 users who want more OS power! 3.1 is now available to (almost) ANY Amiga user! Almost? Well, it's not available for 1200 users. The reason why remains uncertain. I know of three distributors so far: In the US, contact Expert Services at 606-371-9690. In the UK, contact Blittersoft on 0908 220196. In Germany, contact Village Tronic. I don't know their number. The Expert Services prices work like this: $100 for the 500/2000 version $150 for the 3000/4000 version My reaction was "Wow." That's awfully expensive, considering my 2.1 upgrade was stickered at $75. It IS the full package, manuals, ROMs, and disks. Unfortunately, I can't get a package from Expert Services (without spending the money which I can't do right now) so I can't tell you if it's actually worth it or not. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - It's going to be something of a disappointing Consumer Electronics Show for me...I decided to go primarily to see Commodore. Well, that's just not going to happen anymore. So then I figured I'd look for some Amiga developers. That's not really going to happen, either...there are a couple of companies that will be there that do or have done games on the Amiga, but they'll very likely be demoing things for other systems... So, my only remaining hope to have a good time is to wander around and try to find interesting things. Oh, yeah, and not to let myself get trapped into anti-Amiga humor. The press releases I've been getting are great. One touted the glory of the "Gunvertor", a universal remote built into the grip of a pistol. All for $70. Wow. Another came from 3DO, but I was cooking on the grill that day, and you know, things happen... A few others have been interesting: Canon's Video Printer (the full info packet will be coming to me, since I can't go to the demo), GTE's new CD line (actually, it looked like the same old educational software story), but I haven't signed on to any seminars yet. I think I'm just afraid I'll miss something else while I'm at one. So that means I'll be wandering around a lot on Thursday and Saturday. Anybody else going to be there? I'd like to meet a few readers... I managed to get some more news from Paravision: their 800 number is 800-588-0043, and they're trying to sell off their inventory of 1200 expansion boards. They won't do any more production runs unless someone picks up the Amiga and runs with it. As of my call Wednesday, the SX-1 review copies were held up because they didn't have cases. "Reviewers don't care," I told him, and he said he would send mine out that night or Thursday. (He being Robert Maynard, CEO/President) I've also been talking with US Cybernetics about their new Warp System transputer line. Apparently, they'll set me up with a one-week review in the near future. That does it for this week. Hopefully someone will start building Amigas again soon... @endnode @node P1-3 "GREAT STORIES OF AMIGA ABUSE" @toc "menu" %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% %% GREAT STORIES OF AMIGA ABUSE by Hans Guijt %% %% GUIJT@stpc.wi.LeidenUniv.nl %% %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% GREAT STORIES OF AMIGA ABUSE -- amazing recovery! -- A few weeks ago I asked for stories about amiga's that battled on despite terrible abuse. My thanks to all the people that answered, even the ones with the somewhat unlikely stories! I hope I got the right names over the right stories, my apologies if I got it wrong. A short summary of abuse that *didn't* lead to machine fatality: LIQUIDS poured over computer: * OBJECTS dropped on computer: * Black Cherry yoghurt * Computer owner Beer (twice) * HUGE speaker (twice) Red wine * Monitor Rain (twice) * Cat piss * Milk * Tea (twice) * OTHER stuff done to computer: Hot chocolate * Shampoo * Lightning strike (twice) Mello Yello * Dropped Lighter fluid (burning) * Coke * Right, now let's have the full stories. Over to you guys: David James Brockley writes: >Black Cherry yoghurt over the keyboard of an A500 whilst powered up. >Didn`t do any damage, didn`t even make the keyboard go sticky after I >cleaned it out. >Pint of beer over an A1200. Politely crashed the program that was running >with an 'Overflow error'. Now look me in the eye and say the Ami doesn`t >have a sense of humor! David Higginsons story is about a C64: >Managed to get a glass of red wine through the innards of my 64. Never >even flinched :). From Kimmo Veijalainen comes another C64 story: >A friend of mine accidentally poured half a bottle of beer on the C64's >keyboard while the machine was running. No problem, he tilted the machine >and the beer came out from one corner. No reboot, no nothing, it worked >OK and is still functional :-) mentat@localhost doesn't care about computer casings, it seems: >You want tragic but heart warming tales of Amiga abuse? My 500 has been >drowned, set alight, dropped down stairs, and used as a workbench whilst >soldering, and the only thing wrong with it is the case is ruined. (I >dropped a brazing torch on it, and the case went up in flames.) >(Sadly, the mouse died after only 4 months, but that's a minor >problem...) A few stories that happened in my own neighbourhood: >A friend of mine left his Amiga under an open window. While he was gone, >it started to rain... After returning, he switched on the computer, but it >didn't work. He turned it off again, and lifted it off the shelf, causing >all the water inside to flow out. >Of course, a wet computer is a bad idea. My friend therefore put it on the >heater to dry... It works to this day, flawless. >Another friend used to take his a500 with him in his backpack. One day he >fell, and landed on his back (on the amiga!). It, too, is still in >excellent working order. From David Pryce comes an unlikely story of abuse and recovery: >Well, I was throwing my A500 around a field like a frizbee when it landed >on a land mine. It got blown up into the jet engine of a Boeing 747 and >the fragmented pieces that came out the back just happened to land back >into place, fixing themselves into an A500, which now runs three times >faster than it ever did before. Are you sure it happened this way, David? >No, it didn't. I'm lying again. Quick, doc, get my pills... Here you go... ;-) David Hoppers machine survived an earthquake (as did David, apparently!): >The Quake of '89, I was in Palo Alto. I had a 40 pound stereo speaker >fall off the wall and directly onto my A500, a four-foot fall. It was >powered on, and just kept going. >I've got a divot out of my Return key to show for it. Phill Coxon had a problem with his cat: >A friend of mine came over to check out my new kitten. He happily chased >the kitten around the house for half an hour. What he didn't realise was >that at some point the cat had stopped playing and started getting very >scared... >Ended up with the cat cowering on a shelf in the study with complete loss >of bladder control... right above the computer. :) >Nothing that a good motherboard rinse, scrub with the toothbrush and a >decent dry-out didn't fix. Joel Edward Swans *computer* is fine... >I had a 1084 monitor fall two feet off the shelf and on to a USRobotics >dual standard Courier HST. The top grating was bashed in and broken. >I turned it on and it still runs fine. >Unfortunately the monitor tumbled farther to the floor and broke the tube >:-(. Kimmo Veijalainen is back with an unlikely story: >Once my A500 absorbed a lightning bolt :-) and the disk currently in df0: >got an unrecoverable read/write error. Nothing else happened. One would expect the machine to be a smoking mess... How did the lightning bolt get close enough to your a500 anyway? Another lightning strike comes from William Silvey: >Well, Ok... lemme think... Right, my A500 took a lightning hit and all it >did was kill the 3rd party modem connected... then one day last spring I >saw that my A1200 was thirsty, so I gave it a drink of milk. The 500 >ticks on at a friend's house, the 1200 sits before me now, unscathed >[well, I did clean it out] Clemens Zauner has another flood story: >My friend and me we are developing a 24Bit Image proc. and while doing >this we're drinking lots of tea. I'm using an A500 & an A4000. Yes, one >evening I went to fill my cup with hot tea, the full can slipped off my >hands - nearly 1 liter of _very_ hot tea flooded my A500 (powered on, >as usual). >It survived ! - need some drying, but it' still working _now_. Pascal Eeftinck tells about a machine that DIDN'T survive: >I and a couple of friends went to a copy-party somewhere here in Holland. >At a certain time the police invaded in search of some titus-game. One guy >grabbed his 500, ran away and tripped over a chair. One of these friends >still has his escape-key ... >(Oh, and I poored some coke over one of my previous Amiga's too, cleaned >it out, never had problems with it.) Alex Amsel says: >My Amiga 500 was rained on (dried it with a hair drier), dropped several >times, had some strange tea poured over it while on ( I turned it off >quick!), and it all still works ok. It was one of the 1st A500`s and the >only thing wrong is the disc drive, but it has been crap from the start >but i never bothered changing it. prall968@Armstrong.EDU keeps strange company: >I have a 3 1/2 foot iguana named Chewbacca (chewie for short..) >Chewie was crawling across my warm monitor when the tip of his tail got >into the cooling fan on my external drive bay.. He thrashed for a few >minutes emptying a 2 litre bottle of Mello Yello on my 1000's keyboard >and into my 500.... >Both work fine.. I just opened up the 500, and paper toweled it dry... Arno Eigenwillig beats his guitar... ? >My favourite one: Acoustic guitar beaten up with an old (rev. 3) A500. >Guitar severely damaged, on the Amiga side only a misadjusted >battery-backed clock. (Newer A500s have been noticed to be less reliable, >erm, stable.) David Carson has a strange friend: >A friend of mine used to call chat BBSes with his C64. When the chat got >boring, he'd sometimes squirt lighter fluid on the computer and set it >alight. So the casing above the keys was all burnt and melted. Never any >problems. So he took the casing off and squirted the lighter fluid in on >the circuit board and lit it. Still worked perfectly. So he switched it >off, randomly wired bits of the circuit board up to other bits, and then >switched on. >This time it died. :-) Are you surprised? Why didn't he just turn the machine off when he got bored? Gilles Bourdin tells: >I poured some hot chocolate on my keyboard while the computer was on. >Nothing actually happened. I switched off the Amiga, unplugged the >keyboard, took it apart and went to the bathroom where I washed the board >and the keypad with a little bit of shampoo. Then I dried everything with >a hairdryer and put it back the way it was. >Worked fine ! Bruce Baltzer writes: >A friend was having a party in his room in res and one of his HUGE speakers >vibrated off the shelf above his A500... CRASH! Turned a key or two to >mush, but they still worked! Another friend's A2000 keyboard swung down >and smashed his knee, causing a couple of keys to pop off (it was quite a >swing... :) ). Even after mangling the holes with crazy glue, we still >managed to get all but one working again. or was it two, 'cause he got >crazy glue in the mechanism? Oh, well, kept tickin'! Gregg Giles then gets the final word, included here for reasons of humor... >Summary: we're just kidding - we really like nukes >>Well, I was just wondering if it's really smart to let the Amiga fall >>into the hands of a company that might be turned into a missile factory >>over-night... :) On the other hand, it might be cool to receive nukes >>equipped with high-powered custom co-processors supporting a >>multi-tasking guidance system. They would surely be a lot smarter and >>efficient than the common single-CPU missiles produced elsewhere, huh? :) > Then it really could be called the "Omega"; what better name for a >MIRV nuclear missile than that? > Damn the legations! Proliferation must be resumed if the Omega is to >survive. Imagine the marketing phrases Samsung could use: > "Only weenies use megahertz - we've got megatons!" > "The engineers of Samsung have an innovative new way to make the > phosphors in your computer monitors glow..." > "You'll never have to worry about compatibility issues again. Just > threaten your neighbors with this baby, and you can write your > own damn standards." > "Intel may have sold 70,000,000 CPUs in the last ten years, but we > can resolve that annoying problem with just one of ours." >Gee, imagine that. The machine wouldn't have the be tested by the FCC >anymore - it'd have to be controlled by the DOE. :) @endnode @node P1-4 " @toc "menu" %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% %% The Retina ZIII 24-bit Video Board by Jason Compton %% %% jcompton@bbs.xnet.com %% %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% Here begins a monumental review in that it is the first non-emulation hardware I've ever reviewed, and it's the first 24-bit video board I've ever reviewed. That in mind, I'll jump right in, with the first thing any Retina user will encounter... The Packaging! ----------------- At first, I thought NoahJi's had accidentally sent me another Toccata (note: I have dropped the Toccata review because of time restraints). They've got the EXACT SAME PACKAGE DESIGN, right down to the fonts on the box and the lightray-design behind the pictures of the boards at the exact same angle. MacroSystem does not go all out when it comes to putting a box together. To their credit, there is a little English on the box. Not much, though. To its credit, it is effective enough packaging that does the job of getting the product to you. Sliding the recyclable cardboard box out of the jacket with the design and opening it up, reveals the next two important pieces... The Included Software! ------------------------ Two disks come with the Retina ZIII: one is the rather necessary Retina software (in my case, V2.2), the other is the 24-bit paint program VDPaint. The Retina software installs using the Commodore-supplied program and is easy enough to work with. The paint program is a bit less friendly to install (not really any included hints) but still not a huge project. The paint program has an 000 and 030 version, as though someone who is buying a 24-bit video board that cost hundreds of dollars wouldn't be interested in an accelerator. At any rate, once the software is installed, you might want to know how to use it, right? You bet you would. The Manual! ----------- I could have used a lot of words to describe the manual, but I think the best is: bad. "Bad" gets right to the point. It comes as a bound 42-page booklet, which is at least half as big as it should be. 24-bit video, Workbench emulation and screen retargeting are not simple topics, and the manual does not do a good job of it. I called Eric Kloor of NoahJi's on it, and he summed up the problem: The really nice English manual is copyrighted by MacroSystem US. Apparently, this is not a cooperative situation and so here we are, with a manual that seems to have come from the original MacroSystem edition. At any rate, the parts up through the installation are fine: it's tough to screw up putting a Zorro card in a slot, and there are no special requirements for heat or anything of the sort. It's when you get to section 4, about first using the card and setting up the Workbench screen emulation that the problems hit. Problems? --------- Well, yeah. Not too bad, actually, after some initial fine-tuning with the Workbench prefs. See, the Retina software relies partially on good old Screenmode-for resolution height and width. My primary problem comes when I follow the instructions and make the Screenmode sizes match the size I have selected for Workbench in the software (wait, I'll get to the software next time). The screen does not update anything near correctly-it's not even the right size or colors. Gadgets aren't where they're supposed to be. Needless to say, it's not good and I get mad when it happens, but I have Screenmode set to 760x470, and Retina thinks this is 800x480, and it looks great, so I won't complain. Another problem, not entirely the Retina's fault, is the refusal of some programs to take advantage of a higher-resolution screen than a standard Amiga can comfortably handle. With others, like Final Copy II and Terminus, some trickery is required to get over programs' preconceptions, like not being able to extend more than 25 lines on screen in Terminus unless Console is set to Laced, even if it's a 1024x768 screen. FCII requires that you set the Workbench to the resolution you like, then start with "Same as Workbench." Not serious. There are some other basic rules, too: 1. Anything that takes over the Amiga you may as well forget about, since you need to run the RetinaEMU program to retarget video, and PHYSICAL pass-through on the Retina is an extra-cost option as a part of an add-on board. Of course, you're free to disconnect the video from the Retina when you're going to use these programs. 2. Screen blankers and some screen hacks (BusyPointer) don't work. Same for mouse blankers, but Retina allows a high-res pointer so you can at least make it small. Retina's software DOES come with a screen blanker if you're that reluctant to hit your monitor's power switch. Personally, I think screen blankers should have gone out of style when one-piece, one-power-switch Macs went out of style, but some look nice, at least. That'll do it for this week. Next week I'll tell you how it actually PERFORMS in day-to-day use. Until then, keep the JPEGs warm. @endnode @node P1-5 " @toc "menu" %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% %% Video Capture by Douglas J. Nakakihara %% %% dnakakihara@bix.com %% %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% /******************************************************************** NOTICE: This is the originally submitted text for an article that appeared in the September 6, 1993 issue (#113) of MICROTIMES magazine. (There are some slight edited differences between the published version and this one.) This article is freely-distributable as long as it remains unchanged and this notice and the copyright remain included. This article may not be re-published in any magazine, newsletter, or similar media, including those electronically distributed, without obtaining prior approval from the author. This provision does *not* apply to USENET or BBSs. Specific permission has been granted to Amiga Report. Copyright(C)1993 Douglas J. Nakakihara. The author can be reached thru Internet at dnakakihara@bix.com. MICROTIMES is published by BAM Media, Inc. 3470 Buskirk Ave. Pleasant Hill, CA 94523 (510)934-3700 MICROTIMES is available free at various distribution points (usually computer stores) throughout California. The Northern edition is over 300 pages, while the Southern edition is a little less than 200 pages. This is a multi-platform magazine, which includes Amiga coverage. About 200,000 copies are distributed each month. SUBSCRIPTIONS (13 issues): US: 3rd Class $32 (allow 3-4 weeks for delivery), 1st Class $60 (allow 1-2 weeks for delivery). MEXICO & CANADA: Surface Mail $50 (allow 4 weeks for delivery). Air Mail $70 (allow 1 week for delivery). OVERSEAS: Surface Mail $50 (Allow 6-10 weeks for delivery). Air Mail $165 (Allow 1 week for delivery). SAMPLE ISSUES: $4 ($6 for overseas) to cover postage. BACK ISSUES: $6. Although, efforts have been made to ensure the above information is correct, there is no guarantee and prices are subject to change without prior notice. /******************************************************************** 30fps Video Capture and Non-linear Digital Editing By Douglas J. Nakakihara There are a lot of people who believe that capturing moving video on a desktop PC is a fairly easy thing to do. Just install a video capturing board in your PC, connect the thing to your video source, and click the record button. Just like a VCR, right? Well, not quite. The problem lies in data transfer rates. Depending on file format, a single full-frame of video is at least one-half megabyte in size. So one second of video is about 15MB of data. A PC normally can't transfer that much data to a hard drive that quickly. Saving the data to RAM is an alternative, but cost prohibitive for anything more than a few seconds. To compensate, most boards capture less than a full-frame of video. Until some sort of hardware compression like JPEG becomes affordable, for the average desktop videographer, capturing full-frame video at 30fps may seem to be just a dream. The VLab Well Toto, we're not in Kansas anymore. MacroSystemUS's VLab card for the Commodore Amiga can do 30fps full-frame video capture. Perhaps even more astonishing is that fact that you can even use a cheap consumer grade VCR as your video source. Have I piqued your interest yet? VLab accomplishes this amazing feat using their innovative Interleaved Frame Recording (IFR) technique. Basically the VLab captures frames as fast as your Amiga can do it. By making multiple passes at the video source, VLab automatically captures more and more frames. For example, on the first pass it might capture frames 1, 16, 31,... The second time around, it might pick up frames 2, 17, 32,... As you can see, ultimately, all 30 frames for each second can be captured! In this example, it would take 15 passes to capture all of the frames. Obviously, this will only work for video on tape or laserdisc. (Be kinda hard to rewind live video!) The secret to IFR is the selection of a Keyframe, which provides VLab with a point of reference on your video source. Once the Keyframe has been identified, VLab only needs to know how many seconds after the Keyframe it should wait before capturing frames. When VLab is capturing frames, it knows based on time which frames it needs to capture-- accuracy to a thirtieth of a second is child's play for a computer. A Keyframe seems to occur whenever there is an abrupt change in the video signal, like when the camera cuts to a different location or to a close up of an actor. The IFR process basically works like this. First you put your VCR in play mode and click on VLab's Find Keyframe button. VLab will let you know when a Keyframe is found, which must precede the start of your scene. (If it isn't simply start a little farther back on the tape and try again.) As soon as your scene comes up, click on the Start Scene button. Now all you need to do is click the Start button, rewind the tape past the Keyframe, and play the tape again. Each time VLab finishes a pass of capturing frames, you must rewind and play the tape again. The total number of captured frames is selectable by the user. If you're capturing at 30fps, just multiply the length of your scene in seconds by 30. To improve capturing speed and decrease storage requirements, you can reduce the capture resolution or capture in black- and-white. When doing IFR, make sure you disable your screen saver as it may throw VLab's timing off and cause the wrong frames to be captured. Look Ma, No Hands There are also provisions for automating the rewinding process. I highly recommend a terrific product called AirLink by Geodesic Designs. This is an inexpensive infrared (IR) universal remote control for the Amiga. Example ARexx scripts to control AirLink are already included with the VLab software. AirLink can automatically rewind your tape past the Keyframe and then put your VCR back into the play mode, at the end of each IFR pass! Essentially, once you've set up the IFR parameters, you can click a button and walk away. AirLink will also work with camcorders, laserdiscs, etc., as long as they can be controlled with an IR remote. Storage Requirements You're going to need a large hard disk to store all of the frames you capture. Although IFR initially saves frames in a compact YUV format, at 30fps, the storage requirements can really add up. I am hoping that a provision to convert the captured images to a smaller file format after each IFR pass, thus reducing overall storage requirements, will be added in the future. For the average user, 30fps may be overkill. The storage requirements alone may discourage its use. A more manageable frame rate is 15fps. Obviously, motion will not be as smooth as it is at 30fps, but it's not annoying. Other Features In addition to IFR, VLab will also capture a sequence of frames at up to 6fps. This is sort of like making a single IFR pass at a video source. However, the sequence-capture has a little more control over what is captured. A nice feature is that you have the option of using a resolution of one-half, a third, or a quarter of the screen. This can significantly reduce storage requirements. Obviously, VLab won't even break a sweat capturing a single frame of video. Individual frames can be saved in any Amiga format including 24-bit IFF and AGA. VLab has loads of other features including extensive ARexx support. You can also monitor the incoming video source in greyscale in a movable window. Video played fairly smoothly in this window on my A3000. You can't see much detail, so depending on your needs you might want to use a signal splitter and watch the video source on a separate monitor. Real time color, contrast, luminance, and gamma controls as well as luminance, chromanance, and noise filters. VLab fits into any Zorro II/III slot and does not require the video slot. The VLab Y/C version includes two RCA video inputs plus a Y/C connector for Hi-8 and SVHS video sources. Inputs are software selectable. An external version is available for the A500, A600, and A1200. Now What Do I Do? Applications for the VLab are only limited by your imagination. For example, most desktop video users are limited to morphing--the current "hot" video effect--one static image to another. With VLab you can now generate the images needed for moving morphs (i.e., the source and target images are moving). Examples of moving morphs can be seen in the movie Terminator 2 and Michael Jackson's Black or White music video. For the 3D rendering people, how about the ability to wrap moving video onto your objects! Computer-aided presentations could include video segments without the need for VCRs or laserdiscs. Vlab could provide source images for rotoscoping (painting on frames by hand). A non- linear digital editing system could also be designed around VLab. Bottom line: the ability to affordably capture video at 30fps is going to open whole new worlds to desktop video. The VLab-Retina Team When the VLab is teamed with MacroSystemUS's Retina display card, VLab's features are enhanced. The video source can be monitored on a Retina display in 16-bit color. There is a noticeable delay in the display update, but it does give you a better idea of what will ultimately be captured. Also, Retina comes with a program called Makerace that will compile the captured images with sound into an animation playable on the Retina. With a VGA video encoder, it should be a fairly simple operation to get the Retina output to videotape. On my Amiga 3000, I was able to play a 320 x 200 animation with sound using a 16-bit display at about 15fps. For even faster playback, read on! A Match Made in Heaven MovieMaker ($895 list) from Interactive Video Systems is a non- linear digital video and audio editing system that comes with its own 16-bit stereo sound card. MovieMaker provides a way to arrange and play VLab-captured frames full-screen at 30fps, with 16-bit sound to boot! MovieMaker works very nicely in an Amiga 3000 and should work better in an Amiga 4000, if it has a Zorro III SCSI controller (currently a rare species). MovieMaker operates best with certain hard drive models so IVS also offers it bundled with an approved hard drive. Using VLab's IFR, I captured several seconds of video. I also digitized the audio using AES, the audio software that comes with MovieMaker. Then using ADPro, I converted the captured YUV images to DCTV format. Incidentally, ASDG's product ProControl, a front-end for ADPro, made this a very easy task and saved me the trouble of writing my own ARexx script. Next I imported the DCTV files into the MovieMaker hard disk partition. (MovieMaker requires its own partition.) It took a couple of tries to get the audio synced properly, but the resulting playback was incredible! Using MovieMaker's wordprocessor-like editing functions, I was able to manipulate my captured video in nearly unlimited fashion. Max Headroom stutter effects were easy as pie to do. This VLab-MovieMaker- DCTV setup seems like a natural for doing MTV-style music videos. Although MovieMaker's output is not broadcast-quality, it is more than adequate for home and industrial use. MovieMaker would also be valuable in a professional pre-production environment. Quick rendered 3-D animations could be edited and tested with an audio track before being rendered in broadcast-quality form. Also, storyboarding would be a breeze with MovieMaker using either static or animated sequences. MovieMaker needs about 100MB per minute of playback. I would estimate that for serious work, you'll need at least a 1GB hard drive. Remember, the original source files have to also exist before they are transferred to the MovieMaker partition. Fortunately, 1GB drives have becoming somewhat affordable lately. Note that MovieMaker does not require you to dedicate the entire drive, it only needs a partition. That's A Wrap At current street prices, a VLab-AirLink-MovieMaker-DCTV package will cost you around $1,500. If you need a hard drive, you'll have to add that into the cost too. This may sound expensive, but I am not aware of anything on any computer platform that will match the performance and flexibility of this set up--at least in this price range. AirLink I just couldn't end this article without mentioning a little bit more about AirLink. By itself, this is an awesome device. It acts as a programmable universal IR remote. All you do is draw a picture of your remote using any paint program (you only need to include the functions you will use). Then you point your remote at the AirLink device, which plugs into the joystick port, and record the IR signals one at a time. Each recorded signal can be associated with any button in your picture. The AirLink's IR LED can be triggered by your mouse, ARexx, user- defined hot keys, serial and parallel port data, and MIDI events. With AirLink, all IR-remote-controlled devices, like laserdiscs, TVs, VCRs, Stereos, CD players, etc. can be at your beckoned call. You will no longer be limited to controlling only those devices that have serial port access. AirLink is perfect for multimedia presentations. You can even trigger other events beside IR, including sending data out the MIDI, serial and parallel ports, executing ARexx commands, emulating keystrokes and mouse clicks, and executing programs. It is also possible to add eight additional IR LEDs using an adapter connected to the parallel port! An upcoming version of the software will allow you to open an AirLink control window on any public screen. With this, you can control your VCR and be doing VLab operations, all from the same screen! VLab Y/C $599.95 VLab $499.95 VLab External $549.95 MacroSystemUS 17019 Smugglers Cove Mt. Clemens, MI 48038 (313)263-0095 AirLink Geodesic Designs P.O. Box 956068 Duluth, GA 30136 (404)822-0566 MovieMaker Interactive Video Systems 14804 Beach Blvd. La Mirada, CA 90638 (714)228-2040 @endnode @node P1-6 "Contents of the AR Coverdisk #1" @toc "menu" %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% %% Contents of the AR Coverdisk #1 %% %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% This is the tentative table of contents for the Sunday release of the first-ever Amiga Report Coverdisk. To get on the list, send mail to listserv@bbs.xnet.com and command ADD yournetaddress@yourlocation ardisk That's all you need to do. Delphi will carry the disk, along with about 6 other BBSes. Of course, from there it is freely re-distributable. The list: Feature item: Apple 2000 v1.1 Yak 1.59 AR-lite TinyClock 2.0 CycleToMenu 2.1 CLIanywhere Artwork: Deliverance (note: Yak 1.59's appearance is questionable for this issue. I have been asked not to release 1.58, but since 1.59 may not be ready, it may have to wait two weeks. "AR-lite" means it will not include the non-English documentation) Be warned that the ARDisk archive will be rather large in UUencoded form (like, oh, 600k). If demand is high, I will work on splits. Let me know (jcompton@bbs.xnet.com) what you think. See you on the disk... @endnode %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% %% European Outlook by @{" Jesper Juul " link P8-3} %% %% norjj@stud.hum.aau.dk %% %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% @node P1-7 "AR Contest" @toc "menu" %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% %% AR Contest by @{" David Tiberio " link P8-4} %% %% Enter and Win! dtiberio@libserv1.ic.sunysb.edu %% %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% - THE PRIZE FOR NEXT MONTH - The Amiga Report contest is still going on, and it is not too late to enter. This ongoing monthly contest allows Amiga Report readers a chance to win software by either solving a puzzle or by entering a random drawing. The prize this month is the Amiga/Toaster Reference Manual v2.221, from Area52. This is a 1,000 page help system for the Amiga and Video Toaster, covering the Workbench, AmigaDOS, Lightwave, and more ($34.95). The second prize choice is the FutureShock audio CDROM, which was produced using Amiga computers by SideWinder. There are some Sidewinder music modules on Aminet that you may want to look at for a sample of the audio CD ($12.95). Previously we have offered the ARexx Reference Disk by Merrill Callaway, which was awarded to a previous winner. Contact Whitestone for more information (505) 268-0678. All monthly contests end on the morning of the first of the following month. Any entries beyond this date will be entered into the next contest. - THE MONTHLY DRAWING - To enter the random drawing, select a number from 1 to 262,144 and send it to me at one of my addresses listed below, either by the postal service or email through the Internet. Also, you may enter by solving the following puzzle. The winner of this puzzle will be decided within the same time frame as the random prize, to allow the contest information to filter through the networks, and to allow your letters and postcards to come in. The winner for June 1994 will be published next week. - THE PUZZLE - Everyone thinks that the other code problem was too easy, which it was. So this month I made it a bit tricky (and I don't want to hear any complaints that the solutions are too hard)! This is a transcript of a press conference about a military operation somewhere in the United States. Your job is to figure out which companies are involved. In the next few issues I will make the clues gradually become easier. Gore, the Vice President, made the statement. He said he would, but very quietly. The engineers are locked up on the island. They are computer experts. They are no longer incorporated, but AmigaGuide is stored there. That is why their fort is so valuable. The banner on the building reads "BRCH". The surface to air missile drowned in the sea. Squad A had to move into the area at 5:00pm, as they always do. Strategic Operations in New York handled the affair. They landed opposite their destination. There is no other way to calm the port. The rest will be printed at a later time. - TO ENTER - To enter, simply let your fingers do the talking and write an email and send it to dtiberio@libserv1.ic.sunysb.edu. You MUST put the word CONTEST in the subject line of the email header! Otherwise you run the risk of having your email deleted (don't ask, it is a long story!) or send a post card or letter to: Amiga Report Contest c/o David Tiberio 6 Lodge Lane East Setauket, NY 11733 Is it possible to win via snail mail? You might think that your chances of winning are better by entering in email (much faster of course), but last month's winner send in a letter that arrived the day before his winning number was drawn! In your letter or email, please provide the following: Your full name and address. Please keep in mind that many of you may have addresses that I am not accustomed to, so please include your country or any other information that I would need in case you win. An email address should also be included, if possible. You must also include a brief one sentence overview of the editorial in this issue of AMiga Report. Just to make sure you are reading it. :) You must also include the issue number. For example, if you read this in AR213, then include that in your correspondance. Also, a prize winner will be determined by a random number generator. Choose a number from 1 to 262,144. The closest winner or winners to the randomly generated number will receive the prize in the mail. Anyone who does not provide a number will have one assigned to him randomly. All prizes will be mailed within one week after I get my hands on the published version of AmigaReport. I am doing this for a few reasons. First, every winner so far has given the correct puzzle solution before I have received the editon of AmigaReport that announced it. :) Second, I don't like to go to the post office every day if I can avoid it. Third, you never know when someone's power supply might blow up (right Mr. Editor?!). - RULES AND REGULATIONS - 1. In the evnt that the editor's power supply fries, the contest for that month will have its deadline postponed to a later date, to be announced. Any contest entries for the random drawing will be added to the next month's drawing, to be held once per month near the beginning of the month. 2. All prizes are donated. I cannot be held responsible for any damage caused by a prize. For example, if you leave your prize on the stairs and your grandmother slips on it, I will not pay her medical bills. 3. We are not doing this for any profit, and cannot be held responsible if we go out of business or are otherwise financially unable to give you anything! We are actively looking for submissions from other software authors. 4. Good things come to those who read the rules and regulations! Here is a tip to help you win: every problem is a trick problem, or gives you clues that are not part of the problem itself. Read the whole entire contest entry looking for clues. And read my other articles for more clues. I give some very obvious clues :). 5. If for any circumstance you are awarded a prize but do not receive as a service to the Amiga community and all persons involved in running this contest cannot be held liable for anything that costs you money or lifetime pain and anguish. Rules are subject to change. All entries must be received by whenever TBA. Any entries beyond this date will be entered into the next contest, if any. - THE CHANCE YOU WILL WIN - Odds of winning are approximately 1:50 for the random drawing and 1:15 for the correct answer to the puzzle, based upon current entries. SPECIAL THANKS to SideWinder for donating the Future Shock albums for inclusion in our contest, along with Merrill Callaway for his ARexx Reference Disk! dtiberio@libserv1.ic.sunysb.edu @endnode @node P4-2 "Portal" @toc "menu" %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% %% Portal: A Great Place For Amiga Users %% %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% Portal Communications' Amiga Zone The AFFORDABLE alternative for online Amiga information ------------------------------------------------------- The Portal Online System is the home of acclaimed Amiga Zone, which was formerly on the People/Link System. Plink went out of business in May, 1991 and The Amiga Zone's staff moved to Portal the next day. The Zone has just celebrated its second anniversary on Portal. The Amiga press raves about The Amiga Zone, when compared to its competition. If you live in the San Jose, CA area, then you can dial Portal directly. If you live elsewhere, you can reach Portal through any SprintNet (formerly Telenet) indial anywhere in the USA. If you have an account on another Internet-connected system, you can connect to Portal using the UNIX Telnet programs, from anywhere in the industrialized world. Delphi and BIX users can now Telnet into Portal for a flat $19.95 a month, with *unlimited* use. Some of Portal/Amiga Zone's amazing features include: Over 1.5 GIGabytes of Amiga-specific files The *entire* Fred Fish collection of freely distributable software, online. Fast, Batch Zmodem file transfer protocol. Download up to 100 files at once, of any size, with one command. Twenty Amiga vendor areas with participants like AmigaWorld, ASDG, Soft-Logik, Black Belt, Apex Publishing, Stylus, Prolific, NES. 35 "regular" Amiga libraries with thousands of files. Hot new stuff arrives daily. No upload/download "ratios" EVER. Download as much as you want, as often as you want, and never feel pressued doing it. Live, interactive nightly chats with Amiga folks whose names you will recognize. Special conferences. Random chance prize contests. Famous Amiga folks aren't the exception on Portal, they're the norm. Vast Message bases where you can ask questions about *anything* Amiga related and get quick replies from the experts. Amiga Internet mailing lists for Imagine, DCTV, LightWave, HyperAmi, Director and Landscapes are fed right into the Zone message bases. Read months worth of postings. They don't scroll off, ever! No need to clutter your mailbox with them. FREE unlimited Internet Email. Your Portal account gets you a mailbox that's connected to the world. Send letters of any length to computer users in the entire industrialized world. No limits. No extra charges. No kidding! Portal has the Usenet. Thousands of "newsgroups" in which you can read and post articles about virtually any subject you can possibly imagine. Other Portal SIGs (Special Interest Groups) online for Mac, IBM, Sun, NeXT, UNIX, Science Fiction, Writers, amateur radio, and a graphics SIG with thousands of GIF files to name just a few. ALL Portal SIGs are accessible to ALL Portal customers with NO surcharges ever. The entire UPI/Clarinet/Newsbytes news hierarchy ($4/month extra) An entire general interest newspaper and computer news magazine. Portal featues an exciting package of Internet features: IRC, FTP, TELNET, MUDS, LIBS. Free to all Portal customers with your account. Internet Services is a menu driven version of the same kinds of utilities you can also use from your Portal UNIX shell account. All the files you can FTP. All the chatting you can stand on the IRC. And on IRC (Internet Relay Chat) you can talk live, in real time with Amiga users in the U.K., Europe, Australia, the Far East, 24 hours a day. Our exclusive PortalX by Steve Tibbett, the graphical "front end" for Portal which will let you automatically click'n'download your waiting email, messages, Usenet groups and binary files! Reply to mail and messages offline using your favorite editor and your replies are sent automatically the next time you log into Portal. (PortalX requires Workbench 2.04 or higher) And Portal does NOT stick it to high speed modem users. Whether you log in at 1200 or 2400 or 9600 or 14.4K you pay the same low price. How does all that sound? Probably too good to be true. Well, it IS true. Portal Signup or for more information: 408-973-9111 (voice) 9a.m.-5p.m. Mon-Fri, Pacific Time 408-725-0561 (modem 3/12/2400) 24 hours every day 408-973-8091 (modem 9600/14400) 24 hours every day or enter "C PORTAL" from any Sprintnet dial-in in the USA, or telnet to "portal.com" from anywhere. PORTAL'S CURRENT RATES: All prices shown are in U.S. Dollars Total Total Total Total Cost Cost Cost Cost Fee 1 hr. 5 hrs. 10 hrs.30 hrs. Startup Monthly Per Per per per per Fee Fee Hour month month month month $ $ $ $ $ $ $ Portal 19.95 19.95 2400/9600/14.4Kbps, *direct 24 hrs 0.00 19.95 19.95 19.95 19.95 2400/9600bps nonprime Sprint 2.50 22.95 32.45 44.95 94.95 2400/9600bps prime Sprint +% 5.50-10 29.95 69.95 119.95 varies 2400/9600bps non prime # PCPursuit 1.00 20.95 24.95 29.95 49.95 * plus cost of phone call if out of Portal's local dialing area Direct rates also apply to connections made to Portal using the UNIX "telnet" program from an account you may already have on an Internet-connected system. % 9600 bps Sprintnet in over 300 cities areas + $10 rate prevails at smaller US Cities # PCPursuit is a service of US Sprint. Portal is a PCPursuit "Direct Access Facility" thus connection to Portal with a PCP account is simply a matter of entering C PORTAL,PCP-ID,PCP-PASSWORD at the SprintNet login prompt instead of C PORTAL. Note: Portal Direct 9600/14400 bps service is availble for both USR HST modems, and any V32/V32.bis modems. There are dozens of direct-dial high speed lines into Portal. No busy signals! SprintNet 9600bps service is V.32 modem protocol only. Again, Portal does NOT surcharge high speed modem users! Portal subscribers who already have an account on an Internet-capable system elsewhere, can use that system's "telnet" program to connect to Portal for $0.00 an hour. That's right ZERO. From anywhere in the world. If you're in this category, be sure to ask the Portal reps, when you signup, how to login to Portal from your existing Internet account. Call and join today. Tell the friendly Portal Customer Service representative, "The Amiga Zone and Amiga Report sent me!" [Editor's Note: Be sure to tell them that you are an Amiga user, so they can notify the AmigaZone sysops to send their Welcome Letter and other information!] That number again: 408-973-9111. Portal Communications accepts MasterCard, Visa, or you can pre-pay any amount by personal check or money order. The Portal Online System is a trademark of Portal Communications. @endnode @node P3 "Dealer Directory" @toc "menu" %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% %% Dealer Directory %% %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% Almathera Systems Ltd Southerton House Boundary Business Court 92-94 Church Road Mitcham, Surrey CR4 3TD England VOICE: (UK) 081 687 0040 FAX: (UK) 081 687 0490 Internet: (Sales) almathera@cix.compulink.co.uk (Technical) jralph@cix.compulink.co.uk Amigability Computers P.O. Box 572 Plantsville, CT 06479 VOICE: 203-276-8175 Internet: amiga@phantm.UUCP BIX: jbasile (Send E-mail to subscribe to our mailing list) Apogee Technologies 1851 University Parkway Sarasota, FL 34243 VOICE: 813-355-6121 Portal: Apogee Internet: Apogee@cup.portal.com Armadillo Brothers 753 East 3300 South Salt Lake City, Utah VOICE: 801-484-2791 Internet: B.GRAY@genie.geis.com Atlantis Kobetek Inc. 1496 Lower Water St. Halifax, NS, Canada, B3J 1R9 Phone: (902)-422-6556 Fax: (902)-423-9339 BBS: (902)-492-1544 Internet: aperusse@fox.nstn.ns.ca Brian Fowler Computers Ltd 11 North St Exeter Devon EX4 3QS United Kingdom Voice: (0392) 499 755 Fax: (0392) 423 480 Internet: brian_fowler@cix.compulink.co.uk CLICK! Amiga Specialists N.V. Boomsesteenweg 468 B-2610 Wilrijk - Antwerpen Belgium - Europe VOICE: 03 / 828.18.15 FAX: 03 / 828.67.36 USENET: vanhoutv@click.augfl.be FIDO: 2:292/603.9 AmigaNet: 39:120/102.9 Comspec Communications Inc Serving your computing needs since 1976 74 Wingold Ave Toronto, Ontario Canada M6B 1P5 Computer Centre: (416) 785-8348 Service, Corporate & Educational Sales: (416) 785-3553 Fax: 416-785-3668 Internet: bryanf@comcorp.comspec.com bryanf@accesspt.north.net Computers International, Inc. 5415 Hixson Pike Chattanooga, TN 37343 VOICE: 615-843-0630 DataKompaniet ANS Pb 3187 Munkvoll N-7002 Trondheim Norway - Europe VOICE/FAX: 72 555 149 Internet: torrunes@idt.unit.no Digital Arts 122 West 6th Street Bloomington, IN 47404 VOICE: (812)330-0124 FAX: (812)330-0126 BIX: msears Finetastic Computers 721 Washington Street Norwood, MA 02062 VOICE: 617-762-4166 BBS: 617-769-3172 Fido: 1:101/322 Portal: FinetasticComputers Internet: FinetasticComputers@cup.portal.com HT Electronics 275 North Mathilda Avenue Sunnyvale, CA 94086 VOICE: 408-737-0900 FAX: 408-245-3109 Portal: HT Electronics Internet: HT Electronics@cup.portal.com Industrial Video, Inc. 1601 North Ridge Rd. Lorain, OH 44055 VOICE: 800-362-6150 216-233-4000 Internet: af741@cleveland.freenet.edu Contact: John Gray MicroSearch 9000 US 59 South, Suite 330 Houston, Texas VOICE: 713-988-2818 FAX: 713-995-4994 Mr. Hardware Computers P.O. Box 148 59 Storey Ave. Central Islip, NY 11722 VOICE: 516-234-8110 FAX: 516-234-8110 A.M.U.G. BBS: 516-234-6046 MusicMart: Media Sound & Vision 71 Wellington Road London, Ontario, Canada VOICE: 519-434-4162 FAX: 519-663-8074 BBS: 519-457-2986 FIDO: 1:221/125 AmigaNet: 40:550/1 MaxNet: 90:204/1 iNET: koops@gaul.csd.uwo.ca PSI Animations 17924 SW Pilkington Road Lake Oswego, OR 97035 VOICE: 503-624-8185 Internet: PSIANIM@agora.rain.com Software Plus Chicago 3100 W Peterson Avenue Chicago, Illinois VOICE: 312-338-6100 Wonder Computers Inc. 1315 Richmond Rd. Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K2B 8J7 Voice: 613-596-2542 Fax: 613-596-9349 BBS: 613-829-0909 CYNOSTIC Office O1, Little Heath Industrial Estate, Old Church Road, Coventry. CV6 7NB UNITED KINGDOM Tel: +44 (0)203 681687 Fax: +44 (0)203 638508 David Cassidy email: bsupa@csv.warwick.ac.uk DataService Oy P.O. Box 50 Kuurinniityntie 30 02771 ESPOO Findland, Europe Voice: +358 (9) 400 438 301 Fax: +358 (9) 0505 0037 PROTONIC INC. Amiga RuleZ! 4-3-11 Shinbashi Yanagi Bldg 4F Minato-ku,Tokyo 105 Japan Tel:+81 (0)3 5402-7425 Fax:+81 (0)3 5402-7427 and of course the BEST Amiga BBS in Japan BBS:Grey Matter BBS +81 (0)3 5709-1907 (8N1 V32bis 24H ) Email: nighty@gmatter.twics.com Amiga Video Solutions 1568 Randolph Avenue St. Paul, MN 55105 Voice: 612-698-1175 BBS: 612-698-1918 Fax: 612-224-3823 Net: wohno001@maroon.tc.umn.edu Magic Page 3043 Luther Street Winston-Salem, NC 27127 910-785-3695 voice/fax Spiff@cup.portal.com Keizer Tech 3881 River Rd N Keizer, OR 97303 USA Voice: 393-5472 (Dealers: To have your name added, please send Email!) @endnode @node P4-6 "BIX" @toc "menu" /// BIX - Byte Information Exchange Lots of information! ------------------------------- BIX is the premier online service for computing professionals and enthusiasts. While other online services cater to computer novices, BIX is the place for knowledgeable people to go for answers to tough questions. You're likely to find many others in similar situations who can offer advice, give technical assistance, or point you in the right direction. *** FULL INTERNET ACCESS! *** BIX features access to the Internet - you can use FTP to transfer files from sites all over the world, telnet to log on to other online services, schools, and research sites, and send Internet mail to millions of people at services like DELPHI, CompuServe, America Online, MCI Mail, and other sites and services. Services like "WHOIS" and "Finger" are also available, with more features on the way (like USENET newsgroups; our newsreader is currently being tested and should be available very soon!) There are no usage fees or special charges for Internet access - it's all part of your BIX subscription. ============================== Rates and Connect Information: ============================== BIX membership costs $13 per month, plus connect time. There are several different ways to connect: SprintNet* $3/hour evenings/weekends $9/hour weekdays Tymnet:** $3/hour evenings/weekends $9/hour weekdays (SprintNet and Tyment rates shown are for 48 contiguous US states only.) Tymnet Canada: $4/hr eves/wkends $9/hour weekdays Tymnet Hawaii: $10/hr eves/wkends $20/hour weekdays Telnet(via Internet): $1/hour, round the clock Direct dial (Boston): $2/hour, round the clock (up to 9600 bps) * SprintNet daytime hours are from 6am to 7pm, M-F, ET. ** Tymnet daytime hours are from 7am to 6pm, M-F, ET. 20/20 PLAN OPTION (for USA-48 users only): Volume users can choose the 20/20 Advantage Plan, which is $20 per month and includes the first 20 hours of access by any combination of methods from the contiguous United States. Additional use is $1.80 per hour (additional use for telnet access is $1 an hour). The 20/20 Plan's cost is in addition to the $13 monthly fee. INTERNATIONAL USERS: If you wish to connect internationally through Tymnet or SprintNet, please contact your local PTT. BIX accepts prepaid international calls, direct dial, or telnet connections. In order to make a "collect" (not prepaid) call to BIX, your account must be verified before the charges are accepted. When you complete the registration, we'll mail you a BIX Membership Agreement by regular US Mail. Whe you receive it, sign it and return it to us by mail. When we receive it here, we'll authorize your account to make reverse charged calls. If you want to access BIX right away, contact your local PTT to set up a prepaid account. You'll pay your local carrier for your calls to BIX in advance, so there's no waiting period or verfication needed. Or, connect at BIX via telnet to x25.bix.com. SprintNet international calls from most locations are $24 an hour. Tymnet international charges vary, but are generally between $20-$30 an hour. ==================== Billing Information: ==================== You can charge your monthly BIX membership fees to your Visa, Mastercard, Discover, or American Express card. You may have your company invoiced for one or more BIX memberships with a BIX Corporate Account. =================== To Sign Up For BIX: =================== Dial by modem 1-800-695-4882 or 617-491-5410 * (use 8 data bits, no parity, full duplex) Press a few carriage returns until you see the Login:(enter "bix") prompt, then type bix At the Name? prompt, type bix.amrpt * Users already on the internet can telnet to x25.bix.com instead. At the USERNAME: prompt enter bix, then bix.net at the Name? prompt. Once your account is registered, you can connect the same way, except at the Name? prompt you'll enter your BIXname and then your password. Using the above procedure will allow users in the 48 contiguous United States to take advantage of our special "5 for $5" offer. This offer lets you use up to 5 hours of evening/weekend time on BIX during the current calender month (whatever month you sign up in), for $5. Additional time is $1.80 per hour ($1 per hour for telnet). At the end of the calender month, you will be placed into our standard rate plan, at $13 monthly plus connect charges. You may also join the 20/20 Plan at this time. If you have other questions, please contact BIX Member Services at (800) 695-4775; send a fax to BIX at (617) 491-6642; or send Internet mail to info@bix.com. BIX Member Services hours are 12pm - 11pm, Monday through Friday, ET. @endnode @node P5-1 "Oberon-A release 1" @toc "menu" TITLE Oberon-A VERSION Release 1 AUTHOR Frank Copeland -- oberon@wossname.apana.org.au DESCRIPTION Oberon-A is a freely-distributable Oberon-2 compiler. Oberon-2 is a modern object-oriented language designed by Niklaus Wirth, the creator of Pascal and Modula-2, and Hanspeter Mvssenbvck. Oberon-A is an implementation of the language for the Amiga computer, ported from a compiler written by Niklaus Wirth. The archive contains the compiler, a pre-link utility, a linker (BLink) and a programmer's environment. A complete interface to the Amiga operating system (version 2.04) and a collection of library modules in source code form is provided. Documentation is in AmigaGuide and plain ASCII formats. The full source code for the compiler and utilities is available in a seperate archive. Release 1 is a preliminary release with a limited module library and requires testing. FEATURES - The compiler directly generates MC68000 machine code in standard AmigaDOS format object files. - Both ALink and BLink can be used to link object modules and support for other linkers will be progressively added. - A garbage collector for memory (with some limitations) is built in to the run-time support code. - Language extensions include: - Escaped characters in strings (big deal :-)); - Support for BCPL and C pointers. - Inline calls to Amiga system libraries; - Vararg parameters to pass tag lists to Amiga library calls (next update). - The compiler is currently CLI-only, but a programmer's environment utility provides Workbench access. - Interactive and batch compilation is supported. SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS Oberon-A requires 1MB of memory and a hard disk is strongly recommended. A text editor is required and must be obtained seperately. HOST NAME Oberon-A has been uploaded to AmiNet. It is available from ftp.wustl.edu, archie.au and other AmiNet sites. DIRECTORY ftp.wustl.edu:/pub/aminet/dev/obero archie.au:/pub/micros/amiga/aminet/dev/obero FILE NAMES Oberon-A_1.x.lha Oberon-A_1.x_src.lha x is the update number, currently 2. PRICE Kind words to the author :-) DISTRIBUTABILITY Freeware, distributed under the GNU General Public License and the GNU Library General Public License. @endnode @node P5-2 "Pretty Good Privacy (PGP) v2.3a p3" @toc "menu" TITLE Pretty Good Privacy (PGP) VERSION Version 2.3a patchlevel 3 AUTHOR Original version written by Colin Plumb and various contributors Amiga port and enhancements by Peter Simons DESCRIPTION Pretty Good Privacy (PGP), from Phil's Pretty Good Software, is a high security cryptographic software application for MSDOS, Unix, VAX/VMS, Amiga and other computers. PGP allows people to exchange files or messages with privacy, authentication, and convenience. Privacy means that only those intended to receive a message can read it. Authentication means that messages that appear to be from a particular person can only have originated from that person. Convenience means that privacy and authentication are provided without the hassles of managing keys associated with conventional cryptographic software. No secure channels are needed to exchange keys between users, which makes PGP much easier to use. This is because PGP is based on a powerful new technology called "public key" cryptography. And PGP performs the public-key functions faster than most other software implementations. PGP is public key cryptography for the masses. Please take note that the archive contains a readme file, with checksums for ALL files in the distribution and is signed with my key! Please be careful, if this file is missing or rigged! CHANGES This version includes many changes compared to the original 2.3a release: - modified PGP to recognize local (SET vs. SETENV) shell variables, too. (Only available under OS 2.04 or later!) - the executable is now pure and may be made resident - converted the documentation to AmigaGuide-format. - added an Installer script (Thanks to Jacob Ellis!!) - Whenever PGP needs user input, it will check whether the current standard input is interactive. This will avoid infinite loops and crashes when started with "PGP -f ) - I modified PGP to display the last 32 bit of the internal key ID, like PGP 2.6 does. This reduces the chance of ID-collision. - PGP 2.3a.3 can read and write encrypted texts or signatures in PGP 2.6's packet format. NOTES A mailing list concerning PGPAmiga has been created on peti.GUN.de. To subscribe, send e-mail to listserv@peti.GUN.de with "ADD your_address PGPAmiga" in the message body. You may add "HELP" in the next line to receive a command overview of ListSERV. SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS none LEGALITY This version of PGP is perfectly legal anywhere besides the United States of America and Canada. US citizens will have to wait until the Amiga version of PGP 2.6 is finished. An announcement will be made here, too. HOST NAME Any Aminet host, i.e. ftp.uni-kl.de (131.246.9.95). DIRECTORY /pub/aminet/util/crypt/ FILE NAMES PGPAmi23a_3.lha PGPAmi23a3_src.lha DISTRIBUTABILITY GNU General Public License @endnode @node P5-3 "CycleToMenu v2.1" @toc "menu" TITLE CycleToMenu - turns cycle gadgets into popup menus VERSION 2.1 (6.6.94) AUTHOR Federico Giannici DESCRIPTION CycleToMenu is a commodity that turns the standard cycle gadgets into popup menus or "expanding" gadgets. This way, selecting the desired option is easier and faster. The look and behaviour of the popup menus are highly configurable by a font&resolution-sensitive configuration window. CycleToMenu works under AmigaOS 2.0 but takes advantage of some features of AmigaOS 3.x. The archive contains the documentation and localization files in five languages: English, Italian, German, Dutch and French. NEW FEATURES - Using an overlay for the configuration window and other rarely used functions. Even if the program is slightly longer, normally it uses 11Kb of memory less than the previous version! - Added the "Centre on current item:" option. It also allows to obtain a more MUI-like look. - Fixed a bug in the GT_PostFilterIMsg() function's patch. It solves also a problem with the "Overscan" gadget of the screenmode-requester of the reqtools.library. - Added the French language support. - Added an optional MagicWB-style icon. SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS AmigaOS 2.0. AmigaOS 2.1 is required for the localization. HOST NAME Available via anonymous FTP from Aminet, for example ftp.luth.se (130.240.18.2). DIRECTORY /pub/aminet/util/cdity FILENAME CycleToMenu-21.lha (53593 bytes) PRICE Free. DISTRIBUTABILITY The archive is freely distributable as long as the archive remains intact and only a nominal fee is charged for its distribution. This program is CardWare: if you like it, send a postcard of your country to the author. @endnode @node P2-3 "In Closing" @toc "menu" %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% %% _ _ __ ___ _ %% %% /\\ |\\ /| || // \ /\\ %% %% / \\ | \\ /|| ||(< __ / \\ %% %% /--- \\| \/ || || \\_||/--- \\ %% %% /______________________________\\ %% %% / \\ %% %% Amiga Report International Online Magazine %% %% June 17, 1994 ~ Issue No. 2.20 %% %% Copyright 1994 SkyNet Publications %% %% All Rights Reserved %% %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% Views, Opinions and Articles presented herein are not necessarily those of the editors and staff of Amiga Report International Online Magazine or of STR Publications. Permission to reprint articles is hereby granted, unless otherwise noted. Reprints must, without exception, include the name of the publication, date, issue number and the author's name. Amiga Report and/or portions therein may not be edited in any way without prior written per- mission. However, translation into a language other than English is accept- ble, provided the original meaning is not altered. Amiga Report may be dis- tributed on privately owned not-for-profit bulletin board systems (fees to cover cost of operation are acceptable), and major online services such as (but not limited to) Delphi and Portal. Distribution on public domain disks is acceptable provided proceeds are only to cover the cost of the disk (e.g. no more than $5 US). Distribution on for-profit magazine cover disks requires written permission from the editor or publisher. Amiga Report is a not-for-profit publication. Amiga Report, at the time of pub- ication, is believed reasonably accurate. Amiga Report, its staff and con- ributors are not and cannot be held responsible for the use or misuse of information contained herein or the results obtained there from. Amiga Report is not affiliated with Commodore-Amiga, Inc., Commodore Business Machines, Ltd., or any other Amiga publication in any way. All items quoted in whole or in part are done so under the Fair Use Provision of the Copy- right Laws of the United States Penal Code. Any Electronic Mail sent to the editors may be reprinted, in whole or in part, without any previous permission of the author, unless said electronic mail specifically requests not to be reprinted. %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% @endnode @node P1 "Columns and Features" @toc "menu" @{" From the Editor's Desk " link P1-1} Saying it like it is! @{" compt.sys.amiga " link P1-2} OS3.1 for the Masses! @{" Amiga Abuse " link P1-3} ...and recoveries @{" Retina Review " link P1-4} Part 1 @{" Video Capturing " link P1-5} Realistic framegrabbing @{" AR CoverDisk " link P1-6} Content of the first Ar Coverdisk! @{" AR Contest " link P1-7} Enter and win!! @endnode @node P2 "About Amiga Report" @toc "menu" @{" For Starters " link P2-1} Where to get AMIGA REPORT @{" AR Staff " link P2-2} The Editors @{" In Closing " link P2-3} Copyright Information @endnode @node P2-2 "The Editors" Feel free to contact any of the editors! @{" Robert Niles " link P8-1} The Editor-in-chief @{" Jason Compton " link P8-2} The Emulation Editor @{" Jesper Juul " link P8-3} The European Editor @{" David Tiberio " link P8-4} Contributing Editor @endnode @node P4 "Commercial Online Services" @toc "menu" @{" Delphi " link P4-1} Getting better all the time! @{" Portal " link P4-2} A great place for Amiga users... @{" InterNet " link P4-5} Subscribe to the AR Mailing List @{" BIX " link P4-6} For Serious Programmers and Developers @endnode @node P5 "Files Available for FTP" @toc "menu" @{" Oberon-A release 1 " link P5-1} Oberon 2 compiler @{" PGP v2.3a p3 " link P5-2} Encryption system for the Amiga @{" CycleToMenu v2.1 " link P5-3} Turns cycle gadgets to menus ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The most downloaded files from wustl.edu during the week until 12-Jun-94 Most popular file on top. File Dir Size Description ------------------- --- ---- ----------- mfs.lha disk/misc 11K+Merges DF0: and PC0: in a single device ar218.lha docs/mags 51K+Amiga Report 2.18, 3-Jun-94 Harlequin.lzh demo/euro 85K+The definitive texture mapping gfx demo. ShowAmiga.lha demo/euro 78K+An Information System about Amiga by C= Ge jpegAGA10.lha gfx/show 253K+highest quality JPEG viewer (for AGA) anetfaq.lzh docs/help 77K+Amiga Networking FAQ sysihack.lha util/wb 4K+Get rid of squished looking windows V0.2 GPFP_1.0.lha comm/misc 10K+Small control util for GPFax SpaceTaxi.lha game/misc 202K+like the C64er game, 1-3 Players anb105.lha docs/mags 70K+Amiga Newsbits #1.05 - 01-Jun-94 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ @endnode ----------------------------------------- @node P2-1-1 "NOVA" @toc "menu" * NOVA BBS * Official Amiga Report Distribution Site Support BBS of The Chattanooga Amiga Users Group * Running MEBBSNet BBS * Wayne Stonecipher, Sysop AmigaNet 40:210/10.0 40:210/1.0 40:210/0.0 FidoNet 1:362/508.0 An Amiga Software Distribution Site (ADS) 615-472-9748 USR DS 16.8 24hrs - 7 days Cleveland, Tennessee All AR back issues are kept online. All new users receive access to the AR on the first call. Any AR issue may be file requested with proper name. To obtain the current issue you may FReq Proper name, AR.LHA or simply AR @endnode ------------------------------------------ @node P2-1-2 "In The MeanTime" @toc "menu" *** System down temporarily -- Don't call except for FAX *** * IN THE MEANTIME BBS * Official Amiga Report Distribution Site * Running AXShell * Robert Niles, Sysop rniles@imtired.itm.com 509-248-5645 Supra V.32bis 24hrs - 7 days Yakima, Washington ******* Notice ******* Those who call for the latest edition of Amiga Report, and who do not with to establish an account, at the first login: prompt type "bbs", at the second login: prompt type "guest". Once in type "ARMAG" (without the quotes) at any prompt. @endnode ------------------------------------------ @node P2-1-3 "PIONEERS BBS" @toc "menu" * PIONEERS BBS * ** A PREMIER GENEALOGY BBS ** ** WEST COAST - Amiga Virus Busters Support BBS ** ** CD32 REVIEW Support BBS ** AND NOW Official Amiga Report Distribution Site * Running EXCELSIOR! BBS * Michael & Marthe Arends, Sysops FidoNet: 1:343/54.0 206-775-7983 Supra 14.4k v32.bis 24hrs - 7 days EDMONDS, Washington New users can call and get ANY copy of Amiga Report. Just call using the Name "Long Distance" and the password "Longdistance"(without the quotes of course). Users using this account will have full access to ALL past and present issues of AMIGA REPORT starting with the premier issue. The latest issue of Amiga Report can be Freq'ed (FileREQusted) from here as "AR.LHA", Freq's are valid at ANY time. @endnode ------------------------------------------ @node P2-1-4 "Biosmatica" @toc "menu" * BIOSMATICA BBS * Official Amiga Report Distribution Site -- Portugal * Running Excelsior/Trapdoor/UUCP * Celso Martinho, Sysop FidoNet 2:361/9 +351-34-382320 V.32bis 24hrs - 7 days @endnode ------------------------------------------ @node P2-1-5 "Amiga Junction 9" @toc "menu" * AMIGA JUNCTION 9 * Official Amiga Report Distribution Site -- United Kingdom * Running DLG Professional * Stephen Anderson, Sysop Sysop Email: sysadmin@junct9.royle.org Line 1 +44 (0)372 271000 14400 V.32bis/HST FidoNet 2:440/20 Line 2 +44 (0)372 278000 14400 V.32bis only FidoNet 2:440/21 Line 3 +44 (0)372 279000 2400 V.42bis/MNP Voice: +44 (0)956 348405 (24hrs) Direct Sysop Voice Line Internet: user_name@junct9.royle.org Special Interest Areas: - Bjork / Sugarcubes Fan Club - Research of Lucid Dreaming @endnode ------------------------------------------ @node P2-1-6 "BitStream BBS" @toc "menu" * BITSTREAM BBS * The BBS of the Nelson (NZ) Amiga Users Group Official Amiga Report Distribution Site * Running Xenolink 1.0 Z.3 * Glen Roberts, Sysop FidoNet 3:771/850 +64 3 5485321 Supra V.32bis 24hrs - 7 days Nelson, New Zealand @endnode ------------------------------------------- @node P2-1-7 "Realm of Twilight" @toc "menu" * REALM OF TWILIGHT BBS * Official Amiga Report Distribution Site -- Canada * Running Excelsior! BBS * Thorsten Schiller, Sysop Usenet: realm.tdkcs.waterloo.on.ca UUCP: ...!uunet.ca!tdkcs!realm FIDO: 1:221/302 Fish: 33:33/8 24hrs - 7 days 519-748-9365 (2400 baud) 519-748-9026 (v.32bis) Ontario, Canada Hardware: Amiga 3000, 105 Meg Quantum, 213 Meg Maxtor, 5 megs RAM @endnode ------------------------------------------- @node P2-1-8 "Metnet Triangle" @toc "menu" METNET TRIANGLE SYSTEM Official Amiga Report Distribution Site UK Support for Mebbsnet * Running Mebbsnet and Starnet 1.02a * Jon Witty, Sysop FIDO: 2:252/129.0 24 hrs - 7 days Line 1: 44-482-473871 16.8 DS HST Lines 2-7: 44-482-442251 2400 (6 lines) Line 8: 44-482-491744 2400 Line 9: 44-482-449028 2400 Voice helpline 44-482-491752 (anytime) Fully animated menus + normal menu sets. 500 megs HD - Usual software/messages Most doors online - Many Sigs - AMIGA AND PC SUPPORT Very active userbase and busy conference Precious days and MUD online. AMUL support site. @endnode ------------------------------------------- @node P2-1-9 "Omaha Amiganet" @toc "menu" * OMAHA AMIGANET * Official Amiga Report Distribution Site * Running DLG Professional * Andy Wasserman, Sysop 24 hrs - 7 days FidoNet: 1:285/11 AmigaNet: 40:200/10 Line 1: 402-333-5110 V.32bis Line 2: 402-691-0104 USR DS Omaha, Nebraska @endnode ------------------------------------------ @node P2-1-10 "Amiga-Night-System" @toc "menu" * AMIGA-NIGHT-SYSTEM * Official Amiga Report Distribution Site - Finland * Running DLG Professional * Janne Saarme, Sysop 24 hrs - 7 days InterNet: luumu@fenix.fipnet.fi FidoNet: 2:220/550.0 +358-0-675840 V.32bis Helsinki, Finland @endnode ------------------------------------------ @node P2-1-11 "Ramses Amiga Flying" @toc "menu" * RAMSES THE AMIGA FLYING * Official Amiga Report Distribution Site -- France * Running DLG Professional * Eric Delord, Sysop Philippe Brand, Co-Sysop Stephane Legrand, Co-Sysop Internet: user.name@ramses.gna.org Fidonet: 2:320/104 +33-1-60037015 USR DS 16.8 +33-1-60037713 V.32bis +33-1-60037716 1200-2400 Ramses The Amiga Flying BBS is an Amiga-dedicated BBS running DLG-Pro on a Amiga 3000, 16MB RAM, 2GB Disk space, 3 lines. We keep a dayly Aminet site mirroring, NetBSD-Amiga complete mirror site from ftp.eunet.ch (main site), Amiga Report, GNU Amiga, Ramses is the SAN/ADS/Amiganet French coordinator. @endnode ------------------------------------------ @node P2-1-12 "Gateway BBS" @toc "menu" * THE GATEWAY BBS * Official Amiga Report Distribution Site * Running Excelsior! BBS * Stace Cunningham, Sysop Dan Butler, CoSysop 24 hrs - 7 days InterNet: stace@tecnet1.jcte.jcs.mil FidoNet: 1:3604/60.0 601-374-2697 Hayes Optina 28.8 V.FC Biloxi, Mississippi @endnode ------------------------------------------ @node P2-1-13 "EMERALD KEEP BBS" @toc "menu" * Emerald Keep BBS * Official Amiga Report Distribation Site * Running DLG Professional * Michael mac Nessa, Sysop 24 hrs - 7 days FidoNet: 1:2250/2 AmigaNet: 40:206/1 618-394-0065 USR 16.8k DS Fairview Heights, IL @endnode ------------------------------------------ @node P2-1-14 "Amiga BBS" @toc "menu" * Amiga BBS * Official Amiga Report Distribution Site * Running Excelsior! BBS * Alejandro Kurczyn, Sysop FidoNet 4:975/7 First Amiga BBS in Mexico (5) 887-3080 9600 V32,MNP Estado de Mexico, Mexico @endnode ------------------------------------------ @node P2-1-15 "The Stygian Abyss" @toc "menu" * THE STYGIAN ABYSS BBS * 312-384-0616 14.4 USR Courier HST 312-384-6250 14.4 Supra V.32 bis (FREQ line) 312-384-0716 2400 USR Courier FIDONet-1:115/384.0 CLink-911:6200/2.0 NWNet-206:310/0.0--206:310/1.0 PhantomNet Central States Cooridinator-11:2115/0.0--11:2115/1.0 FaithNet Central States Cooridinator-700:6000/0.0--700:6000/1.0 AMINet Chicagoland HUB-559:2/5.0 Chicago, Illinois Over 4 GIGS of files I Over 3700 MODS I Over 120 On-Line Games Tons of digitized sounds I Over 15,000 GIFS Supporting: Amiga I IBM I Macintosh I C=64/128 SIR SAMMY-SysOp Enter.......If you dare!! @endnode ------------------------------------------ @node P2-1-16 "Amiga Do PC BBS" @toc "menu" * AMIGA DO PC BBS * Official Amiga Report Distribuition Site - Brazil * Running Excelsior! v 1.18 * +55-192-33-2260 Weekdays: 19-07 (-3 GMT) Weekends: 24 hours Fidonet: 4:801/44 RBT: 12:1212/1 Virinet: 70:101/17 Internet: fimoraes@dcc.unicamp.br Francisco Moraes, sysop Campinas, SP Freq AREPORT for the newest issue avaiable. @endnode ------------------------------------------ @node P2-1-17 "Comm-Link BBS" @toc "menu" * COMM-LINK BBS * Official Amiga Report Distribution Site * Running Excelsior Pro * 604-945-6192 USR DS 16.8 24 hrs - 7 days Fido: 1:153/210.0 AmigaNet 40:800/9100.0 InterSports: 102:540/305.0 PussNet: 169:1000/305.0 InterNet: steve_hooper@comm.tfbbs.wimsey.com Steve Hooper, Sysop Port Coquitlam, B.C. Canada @endnode ------------------------------------------ @node P2-1-18 "Phantom's Lair" @toc "menu" * PHANTOM'S LAIR * Official Amiga Report Distribution Site * Running CNET 3.0 * FidoNet: 1:115/469.0 Phantom Net Cooridinator: 11:1115/0.0-11:1115/1.0 708-469-9510 708-469-9520 CD ROMS, Over 15511 Files Online @ 2586 meg Peter Gawron, Sysop Glendale Heights, Illinois @endnode @node P2-1-19 "Tierra-Miga BBS" @toc "menu" Tierra-Miga BBS Software: CNet Gib Gilbertson 24 hours - 7 days FidoNet: 1:202/638.0 AmigaNet: 40:406/3.0 Internet: torment.cts.com Line #1: 619.292.0754 V32.bis City: San Diego, CA. @endnode ------------------------------------------ @node P2-1-50 "Freeland Mainframe" @toc "menu" * FREELAND MAINFRAME * Offical Amiga Report Distribution Site * Running DLG Progessional * John Freeland, SysOp 206-438-1670 Supra 2400zi 206-438-2273 Telebit WorldBlazer(v.32bis) 206-456-6013 Supra v.32bis 24hrs - 7 days Internet - freemf.eskimo.com Olympia, Washington @endnode ------------------------------------------ @node P2-1-51 "LAHO" @toc "menu" * LAHO BBS * Official Amiga Report Distribution Site -- Finland * Running MBBS * Lenni Uitti, SysOp Juha Mkinen, SysOp (Amiga-areas) Tero Manninen, SysOp (PC-areas) +358-64-414 1516, V.32bis/HST +358-64-414 0400, V.32bis/HST +358-64-414 6800, V.32/HST +358-64-423 1300, V.32bis Sein joki, Finland Our host machine is a 386/33 with 20MB of memory, 1GB harddisk and a CD-ROM drive running in a Novell network. The BBS software is a Norwegian origin MBBS running in a DesqView windows. We have now (26th March 1994) over 10000 files online (mostly for the Commodore Amiga line of the personal computers.) Every user has an access to download filelist (LAHOFIL.ZIP), list of the Finnish 24-hour BBS's (BBSLIST.ZIP or BBSLIST.LHA) and every issue of the Amiga Report Magazine (AR101.LHA-AR???.LHA) even on their first call. The system has been running since 1989 and is sponsored by the local telephone company, Vaasan L nin Puhelin Oy. BTW, LAHO stands for "LAtomeren H yrylaiva Oy" = "Barnsea Steamship Co." Welcome on board! @endnode ------------------------------------------ @node P2-1-52 "Falling BBS" @toc "menu" * FALLING BBS * Official Amiga Report Distribution Site -- Norway * Running ABBS * Christopher Naas, Sysop +47 69 256117 V.32bis 24hrs - 7 days EMail: naasc@cnaas.adsp.sub.org @endnode ------------------------------------------ @node P2-1-53 "Command Line BBS" @toc "menu" * COMMAND LINE BBS * Official Amiga Report Distribution Site -- Canada Canada's Amiga Graphics & Animation Source * Running AmiExpress BBS * Nick Poliwko, Sysop 416-533-8321 V.32 24hrs - 7 days Toronto, Canada @endnode ------------------------------------------- @node P2-1-55 "Leguans Byte Channel" @toc "menu" * LEGUANS BYTE CHANNEL * Official Amiga Report Distribution Site -- Germany * Running EazyBBS V2.11 * Andreas Geist, Sysop Usenet: andreas@lbcmbx.in-berlin.de 24 hrs - 7 days Line 1: 49-30-8110060 USR DS 16.8 Line 2: 49-30-8122442 USR DS 16.8 Login as User: "amiga", Passwd: "report" @endnode ------------------------------------------- @node P2-1-56 "Stingray Database BBS" @toc "menu" * STINGRAY DATABASE * Official Amiga Report Distribution Site -- Germany * Running FastCall * Bernd Mienert, Sysop EMail: sysop@sting-db.zer.sub.org.dbp.de +49 208 496807 HST-Dual 24hrs - 7 days Muelheim/Ruhr, Germany @endnode -------------------------------------------- @node P2-1-57 "T.B.P. Video Slate" @toc "menu" * T.B.P. VIDEO SLATE * Official Amiga Report Distribution Site An Amiga dedicated BBS for All * Running Skyline 1.3.2 * Mark E Davidson, Sysop 24 hrs - 7 days 201-586-3623 USR 14.4 HST Rockaway, New Jersey Full Skypix menus + normal and ansi menu sets. Instant Access to all. Download on the first call. Hardware: Amiga 500 Tower custom at 14 MHz, 350 Meg maxtor, 125 Meg SCSI Maxtor, 125 Meg IDE Maxtor, Double Speed CD rom, 9 meg RAM @endnode -------------------------------------------- @node P2-1-58 "Amiga Central" @toc "menu" * AMIGA CENTRAL! * Official Amiga Report Distribution Site CNet Amiga Support Site * Running CNet Amiga BBS * Carl Tashian, Sysop Internet mail: root@amicent.raider.net 615-383-9679 1200-14.4Kbps V.32bis 24 hours - 7 days Nashville, Tennessee Hardware: Amiga 3000 Tower 68030+882@25MHz, 105 meg Quantum, 225 meg Seagate, Zoom 14.4k modem @endnode -------------------------------------------- @node P2-1-21 "Continental Drift" @toc "menu" +---------------------------------------------------------------+ /\ / \____ C O N T I N E N T A L D R I F T B B S / / \ ::/ / \:::: Official Amiga Report Distribution Site ::\ \ /\ \::: Running *DLG Pro* BB/OS Software :::\ \/ \ \:: Supporting the Amiga 100% Only! ::::\ / /:: \ / / Sysops: Murray Chaffer & Andre Lackmann \ /\ / FIDO: 3:714/911 PH: +612 949 4256 \/ \/ (Sydney, Aust.) +---------------------------------------------------------------+ @endnode @node P2-1-22 "Amiga Online Bs Heemstede" @toc "menu" Amiga Online Bs Heemstede * HeadQuarters of Online Products * Official Amiga Report Distribution Site -- The Netherlands * Running Xenolink 1.90 * Your SysOp is Michiel Willems 24 hours a day - 7 days a week Fidonet : 2:280/464.0 DAN Host HQ : 55:100/1.0 Amynet Host : 39:151/1.0 NLA : 14:102/203.0 BOSnet Hub : 99:999/2.0 e-mail SysOp : michiel@aobh.wlink.nl Line 1 +31-23-282002 14400 v32bis Supra Line 2 +31-23-470739 14400 v32bis Supra Heemstede, The Netherlands, Europe, The Earth Very nice menu's 660 Megs HD online - ALOT of software ALOT of messages - VERY fast BBS program Point support - Lot's of doors online Just freq AR of AR.LHA for the latest issue available The system is running on an Amiga 2000 with a HARMS-Prof-3000 030 turboboard at 29Mhz and a copro at 50Mhz, 7MB RAM, 660 Meg HD space and soon 1 Gigabyte HD space. Every issue from Amiga Report Magazine online as far as the first issue. @endnode @node P2-1-60 "Guru Meditation" @toc "menu" * GURU MEDITATION * Official Amiga Report Distribution Site -- Spain * Running Remote Access * Javier Frias, SysOp +34-1-383-1317 V.32bis 24 hours - 7days Spain @endnode @node P2-1-20 "Moonlight Sonata DLG" @toc "menu" M O O N L I G H T S O N A T A D L G * Amiga Report Official Distribution Site * * DAS ModPlayer Support * 2 Nodes *FREE PUBLIC* Amiga BBS MIDI-tunes, MIDI-utils, Modules, Amiga-files Messages, Door-games, MUD... Also patches for several synths! (About 100MB of ProTracker Modules!) Node #1 - +358-18-161763 - ZyXEL V32b 19200 Node #2 - +358-18-161862 - HST DS V32 14400 Fidonet: 2:221/112.0 Keyboards: Erno Tuomainen Amiga3000 25MHz - 1.3Gigs HD BBS Software: Dialog Pro BB/OS @endnode @node P2-1-61 "LINKSystem LINK-CH1" @toc "menu" LINKSystem LINK-CH1 Official Amiga Report Distribution Site - Switzerland in local newsgroup link-ch1.ml.amiga-report Mails and News from/to UseNet contact: rleemann@link-ch1.aworld.de +41 61 3215643 V32bis/Zyx16800 +41 61 3832007 ISDN X75/V110 +41 61 3832008 ISDN X75/V110 @endnode @node P2-1-62 "Doom of Darkness" @toc "menu" * Doom of Darkness * * Home of AmBoS * Official Amiga Report Distribution Site -- Germany Marc Doerre (Marc_Doerre), Sysop (BBS-Owner/AmBoS-Support) Bernd Petersen (TGM), Sysop (Amiga-Software-Support) Gerhard Luehning (Klaro), Co-Sysop (Aminet-Support) Kai Szymanski (Kai), Co-Sysop (AR-Support/AmBoS-Support) Usenet: user_name@doom.platinum.werries.de Line 1 +49 (0)4223 8355 19200 V.42bis/Zyx Line 2 +49 (0)4223 3256 16800 V.42bis/Zyx Line 3 +49 (0)4223 3313 16800 V.42bis/Zyx Sysop Email: marc_doerre@doom.platinum.werries.de @endnode @node P2-1-63 "RedEye BBS" @toc "menu" REDEYE BBS * Running EXCELSIOR/UUCP/AFAX * "Official Amiga Report Distribution Site Germany/Europe" Sysop: Thorsten Meyer Internet: sysop@redeye.greenie.muc.de Line 1: +49-89-5460535 (V.32b, Zyxel EG +) Line 2: +49-89-5460071 (USR Courier V32b terbo) 24hrs - 7 days Munich, Germany Areas for Amiga, PCs, Lotus Notes Group, Amiga Report, Game Byte, Graphic Stuff, 3D-Exchange, 3D-tools, 3D-objects, McAffee, GUS, PAS, DOOM, WINDOWS-NT, OS/2 Online CD, Online Games, USENET, INTERNET, FIDO ECHOS, Developer @endnode @node P2-1-64 "Virtual Palace BBS" @toc "menu" * Virtual Palace BBS * * Official Amiga Report Distribution Site * 916-343-7420 300-14400 Baud V.42bis AmiExpress 2.40 700 Mbytes P.O. Box 5518 Chico, California 95927 Tibor G. Balogh (Tibor), Sysop Sysop Email: tibor@ecst.csuchico.edu Leland Whitlock (Leland), Co-Sysop @endnode @node P2-1 "Where to find Amiga Report" @toc "menu" %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% %% Where to find Amiga Report %% %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% Click on the button of the BBS nearest you for information on that system. FidoNet Systems --------------- FREQ the filename "AR.LHA" for the most current issue of Amiga Report! @{" OMAHA AMIGANET " link P2-1-9} ..................................Omaha, Nebraska @{" NOVA " link P2-1-1} .............................Cleveland, Tennessee @{" PIONEER'S BBS " link P2-1-3} ..............................Edmonds, Washington @{" BIOSMATICA " link P2-1-4} .........................................Portugal @{" AMIGA JUNCTION 9 " link P2-1-5} ...................................United Kingdom @{" BITSTREAM BBS " link P2-1-6} ..............................Nelson, New Zealand @{" REALM OF TWILIGHT " link P2-1-7} ..................................Ontario, Canada @{" METNET TRIANGLE " link P2-1-8} ......................Kingston Upon Hull, England @{" AMIGA-NIGHT-SYSTEM " link P2-1-10} ................................Helsinki, Finland @{" RAMSES THE AMIGA FLYING " link P2-1-11} ...........................................France @{" GATEWAY BBS " link P2-1-12} ..............................Biloxi, Mississippi @{" EMERALD KEEP BBS " link P2-1-13} .........................................Illinois @{" AMIGA BBS " link P2-1-14} .........................Estado de Mexico, Mexico @{" THE STYGIAN ABYSS " link P2-1-15} ................................Chicago, Illinois @{" AMIGA DO PC BSS " link P2-1-16} .................................Campinas, Brazil @{" COMM-LINK BBS " link P2-1-17} .......................Port Coquitlam, BC, Canada @{" PHANTOM'S LAIR " link P2-1-18} .......................Glendale Heights, Illinois @{" Tierra-Miga BBS " link P2-1-19} .....................................SanDeigo, Ca @{" MOONLIGHT SONATA DLG " link P2-1-20} ..........................................Finland @{" CONTINENTAL DRIFT " link P2-1-21} ................................Sydney, Australia @{" AMIGA ONLINE " link P2-1-22} ..................................The Netherlands Non-FidoNet Systems ------------------- @{" IN THE MEANTIME " link P2-1-2} ...............................Yakima, Washington @{" FREELAND MAINFRAME " link P2-1-50} ..............................Olympia, Washington @{" LAHO " link P2-1-51} ...............................Seinajoki, Finland @{" FALLING " link P2-1-52} ...........................................Norway @{" COMMAND LINE " link P2-1-53} ..................................Toronto, Canada @{" LEGUANS BYTE CHANNEL " link P2-1-55} ..........................................Germany @{" STINGRAY DATABASE " link P2-1-56} ...........................Muelheim/Ruhr, Germany @{" T.B.P. VIDEO SLATE " link P2-1-57} .............................Rockaway, New Jersey @{" AMIGA CENTRAL " link P2-1-58} .............................Nashville, Tennessee @{" GURU MEDITATION " link P2-1-60} ............................................Spain @{" LINKSystem LINK-CH1 " link P2-1-61} ...............................Basel, Switzerland @{" DOOM OF DARKNESS " link P2-1-62} ..................................Bremen, Germany @{" REDEYE BBS " link P2-1-63} ..................................Munich, Germany @{" Virtual Palace BBS " link P2-1-64} ........................................Chico, Ca @endnode