The January 18th meeting will be one of CUCUG's split SIG meetings. The Mac SIG will be setting up a member's brand new machine. The Amiga and C64/128 SIGs are going to take a looser approach to things. Come and see what they have up their sleeves.
If you recently renewed and your name is not listed above, let us know so we can update our list.
On Tue, 9 Jan 1996, Angelo Koutsos wrote:
I have to regretfully resign from the librarian position because I have to maintain a job this semester for financial reasons.
Sorry to hear about this, Angelo! But I'm really happy that you did what you did last year! Thanks to you, we were able to continue with the library and the disks you produced were of the same high quality that the C64 library is famous for.
I've passed a copy of your message on to all board members and hopefully we can get someone to take the 8-bit stock off your hands soon.
Thanks a lot and good luck to you. Please keep in touch!
Intel has admitted that a bug in the software used to measure Pentium chip performance caused the company to overstate the speed of its 100-MHz and faster chips.
Intel officials say the bug turned up in software the company uses to generate industry benchmark tests. The glitch caused the company to overstate Pentium chip speeds by 10 percent in comparison with other chips.
The flaw was discovered last week by Intel competitor Motorola (http://www.motorola.com/). Despite charges by some critics that the inflated figures were deliberate, Intel is calling the error an "oversight."
A debugged version of the testing software will be available for downloading at the Intel Web site (http://www.intel.com/) within ten days, according to company officials.
Top 3DO Company shareholder Electronic Arts has filed to sell 150,000 shares of the video-game-player company. The move supports 3DO's announcement last month that Electronic Arts would begin selling its 18 percent stake because the companies are heading in a competitive direction.
Microsoft chair Bill Gates has filed to sell 1,765 3DO shares as well. A spokesperson for Gates would not comment on why the executive had opted to sell.
When 3DO went public at 15 points in May 1993, it took the stock only six months to reach 46 1/4. But sales of 3DO players never took off as expected, and the stock started to slide. The company's stock was at 10 1/4 in early afternoon trading today.
The company confirmed Thursday (1/11/96) that four top executives (three in marketing) are leaving. A fifth reportedly will soon leave.
On Wednesday (1/10/96), Apple Computer officials released a preliminary review of first-quarter financial results that shows a quarterly operating loss of $68 million, or 55 cents a share. The computer maker said it would be reorganize. Industry analysts predict Apple will lay off between 1,000 and 3,000 of its 14,600 employees in the restructuring.
"I think the targets will be everything and everyone but especially the ranks of... management," said John Rossi, an analyst with Robertson, Stephens & Co. in San Francisco.
The departures continue a management exodus from Apple, which has been plagued by price cuts and high costs. Four key executives left last year, including top marketer Dan Eilers, who was left without a role when Apple decentralized its marketing and sales operations.
The latest departures stem from that reorganization, said Apple spokesperson Pam Miracle.
Among those leaving are Don Strickland, Apple's vice president of business and government sales, Keith Fox, vice president of the home division, and Jim Groff, vice president of education marketing. Also leaving is Barbara Krause, vice president of corporate communications, who will start her own public relations company.
The four will leave over the next few months, Miracle said. She would not confirm published reports that a fifth executive - Peter Friedman, vice president and general manager of Apple's Internet sources - also was quitting.
The company disclosed the loss after financial trading ended on Wednesday (1/10/96). Apple actually rose 75 cents a share Thursday, closing at $35 on the Nasdaq Stock Market.
Analysts said investors had been prepared for more bad news. The company's stock has fallen from $50 a share in June.
The company last month warned of a possible loss for the quarter ended Dec. 29. Still, some analysts were surprised by the extent of the loss and especially the steep drop in Apple's profit margin. Although unit shipments were up 12 percent for the quarter that ended December 29, 1995, and revenues increased 11 percent, gross margins plunged to 15 percent, down from an already anemic 20.7 percent in the previous quarter and 28.7 percent a year ago.
Net sales for the quarter were also below Apple's internal projections. In response to the disappointing results, company officials said they would restructure the business. Final results for the quarter will be released on January 17.
Apple, the nation's No. 2 computer company, has slashed its prices to gain market share from industry-dominating personal computers using Intel Corp. chips and Microsoft Corp. software.
News of the impending loss stirred up new rumors of a possible sale or takeover of the company.
At the Macworld Expo in San Francisco, users and third-party vendors selling Apple-related wares took the news calmly. "It's not the first time and it won't be the last," said Tony Dolphi, marketing director for Vendor Perspective, a maker of Macintosh video systems. "We're used to this bad news - just like we're used to the Windows world laughing at us. If someone takes over, they still have to make Macintoshes."
The company's financial results don't mean much to the average Macintosh user, noted Neil McManus, an analyst with Digital Media, an industry newsletter published by Softbank. "A typical Mac user doesn't feel the loss because it's all very abstract to them," said McManus. "They're focused on what they need for day-to-day life. I don't sense an impact on Mac users as long as the platform survives. The question is, will all these troubles for Apple eventually spell trouble for the platform?"
Not surprisingly, news of the loss provided new grist for the industry rumor mill. According to sources, Apple could even become the target of a hostile takeover bid. The hot rumor at the show says Sony is after Apple, according to one Macworld attendee.
"These rumors have been going around for years. Why would we buy Apple when we're entering the PC market in the fall of '96 with an Intel-based machine?" said a Sony spokesperson at Macworld.
Microsoft layoffs imminent
Microsoft has also announced plans to lay off some of its 18,000 employees on January 10, but sources say the cuts will be minor. "The layoffs at Microsoft are just a tactical short-term adjustment," said Michael Goulde, an analyst with Patricia Seybold Group, a Boston market research and consulting firm.
Reports say that sales of Windows 95 were lower than expected and that the layoff will not be significant. "They have been staffing up because they anticipated that they would need a lot of support for Windows 95," said Goulde. "Maybe they didn't find they needed as many people as they staffed up for," he added.
Apple has distributed early prototype versions of the next-generation Mac Operating System, best known by its code name, Copland, to several dozen key developers so they can begin developing software for the forthcoming System 8. Macworld has obtained an early copy, as shown in the accompanying screen image.
The release is welcome news since Copland has been delayed from mid-1996 to early 1997. Copland was first shown in Spring 1995 under tight Apple control (see "The New Mac OS Unveiled." Macworld, July 1995), and developers were supposed to get their first prototypes in September. The actual prototype release occurred in November. Apples chief of development, David Nagel, recently told the Reuters news service that "our internal schedule still calls for late '96 or very early '97 - like really a couple weeks into 1997." However, Nagel said at the Macworld Expo in August that Copland at that time was just two days late from the then-planned june 1996 release date. In the meantime, if you just gotta have the spiffy Copland interface, download the $10 Aaron utility from Macworld Online - the extension provides much of Copland's look and feel now (we used it in the OpenDoc screen image below).
Apple has also released a developers' kit for OpenDoc, its technology for letting miniprograms, called components, work together and with the Mac OS, similar to how plug-ins work in Adobe Photoshop and QuarkXPress. When an OpenDoc document is open, OpenDoc will load the correct component into RAM as needed and unload it when done, based on what type of object is selected. Open Doc 1.0 for users should be released by March as an extension to System 7.5. It will be an integral part of Copland.
The Taiwanese PC-motherboard manufacturer Umax has obtained a license to the Mac OS. Umax's license initially restricts it to Simplified Chinese and international English languages, and Umax will focus its sales efforts to Taiwan and China, where Apple has done poorly. Under the license, Umax will later be able to sell Mac clones anywhere in the world.
Umax's first systems will be released by April and will likely be relabeled Power Computing NuBus and PCI systems, but the company plans to introduce new systems in mid 1996 based on the PowerPC Platform, the joint IBM/Apple/Motorola system formerly known as CHRP. The three partners announced in mid-November that the PowerPC Platform specification is now finalized, after a year's effort. Apple has said that it plans to port System 7.5 to the PowerPC Platform by summer 1996.
SAN FRANCISCO--Power Computing today unveiled at the Macworld Expo its new PowerCurve line of Mac-compatible personal computers. Based on the PowerPC 601 chip, the new systems are aimed at home users and small business customers. The systems use the 120-MHz version of the PowerPC microprocessor developed by Apple, IBM, and Motorola. Pricing for the new systems will range from $1,899 to about $5,000, officials said.
The entry-level PowerCurve 601/120 will come with 8MB of RAM, an 840MB hard drive, and a software bundle that includes Claris Works, Quicken, and SoftWindows 2.0.
To entice prospective customers, Power Computing will offer customized versions of the PowerCurve systems. "Apple has never had a build-to-order option, and we think this option will keep the market going," said Jon Fitch, vice president of engineering for Power Computing.
In the face of dwindling market share, Apple and Power are struggling to woo new users to the Macintosh platform. But it might be too little, too late. "People don't even want to buy Apple computers anymore, so why would they buy clones?" commented James Yarrow, an IS manager with the Orange County Register. "People are nervous about Apple, and I don't think they're going to survive."
Later this month, Power will offer the PowerCurve PCs bundled with Microsoft Office. "We are the first Mac OS vendor to offer the best application for office environments," said Stephen Kahng, president and CEO of Power.
Microsoft officials emphasized the company's continuing interest in the Macintosh market. "Macintosh is good business for us. You wouldn't see Bill Gates make an investment in Macintoshes unless there was money to be made," said Dave Meltzer, director of business applications for Microsoft.
The fifth patch to Apple's Open Transport networking architecture, which ships with System 7.5.2, is now available. You can download version 1.08 from http://www.support.apple.com/.
Against the backdrop of Macworld this week, Apple Computer is expected to roll out a new set of Internet development tools. The tools will let Macintosh users capture text and images and more easily create documents with Net links, sources said.
Also on the Net front, Apple is expected to show off a new version of its eWorld online service. The new version is likely to rely more on the Web and less on its proprietary platform.
For Macintosh developers, the Cupertino, California, company is expected to show off an early version of its Copland operating system. Copland is a completely object-oriented operating system aimed at allowing programs to run on disparate PC machines. Microsoft is currently at work on Cairo, an object-oriented version of the Windows operating system due next year.
Macworld runs from January 9 to January 13.
SAN FRANCISCO - Apple Computer is relying on the Internet to keep the company going, said James Buckley, president of Apple Americas, in his keynote speech here today.
The influence of Macintosh platforms on the Web is pervasive, said Buckley. Up to 20 percent of all Web servers are Mac-based because they're easier to set up and cheaper to maintain than their Unix counterparts, he added. "Macintosh users make up 40 percent of people accessing the Web. The Internet is a destiny-changing event for Apple and the Macintosh community," said Buckley.
To make Net access easier for Macintosh users, the company plans to provide a set of online browsing tools known as Cyberdog. "Cyberdog shows why the Net and Macintosh are made for each other," said Buckley. The goal is to make using the Net as easy as desktop publishing. "It [Cyberdog] integrates Internet capabilities into the Mac operating system and makes using the Internet in the '90s as easy as we made desktop publishing in the '80s."
But its Internet strategy isn't the only high card Apple is holding, said Buckley. The company is also betting heavily on Copland, an object-oriented operating system due out this year. "Copland was designed to provide you with powerful new ways to work, learn, create, and play," he noted.
The operating system is due out next year and is still in an early alpha state. But next year may be too late, said one analyst. "If they're waiting on Copland, they're really in trouble. That's like Custer waiting for help to arrive three days after the fight has started," said Rob Enderle, an analyst with Giga, a market research company in San Jose, California.
To stay competitive, he said, the company needs a fix quickly. "They're going to lose additional resources in cutbacks that will delay Copland even further," Enderle added.
The object-oriented nature of Copland will make Macintosh systems more customizable for users, said Vita Salvaggio, group product manager for Apple. Under Copland, users will be able to choose from among six different interface styles. "The metaphor and the way the Mac is used will be the same, but the appearance is different," said Salvaggio.
Apple is apparently not the only company currently working on a simpler, more customizable version of the PC. According to a report in the January 8 issue of Electronic Engineering Times, Microsoft has already trademarked the name "Simply Interactive PC," and is working on a set of open specifications that would make it easier to build interactive functions into x86 PCs.
In a bid to stay ahead of Microsoft's Internet Explorer browser, Netscape Communications has announced that in two weeks it will release a new version of Netscape Navigator 2.0, which will be priced at $49.
The new version will feature email that lets users include hyperlinks in messages, and it will provide enhanced user identification security, according to Netscape officials.
The new frames feature displays several different pages from a Web site on a single screen.
Technology from Sun Microsystems, Macromedia, Adobe Systems, Apple Computer, and Progressive Networks have also been added to the browser.
and other pertinent addresses
Corporate Offices/Sales - West Coast: 1600 E. St. Andrew Pl. P.O. Box 25125 Santa Ana, CA 92799-5125 (714) 566-1000 Sales - East Coast: 1759 Wehrle Dr. Williamsville, NY 14221 (716) 633-3600 Branch 40: 1087 Johnson Dr., Bldg. 3 Buffalo Grove, IL 60089 (708) 537-0414ToC
A new program has been developed that could put voting action online. Called eVote, the program lets users pose questions and vote via email.
eVote uses a database that works with a mailing list program called Majordomo, which allows anyone on the list to send a message to everyone else on the list.
The creator of eVote, Marilyn Davis, hopes the program will eventually replace representative government with a method that allows citizens to decide issues for themselves. Says Davis, "I'm building a facility for global democracy."
Although eVote is not likely to be too popular with politicians, Davis is offering her program free for the first year and for $80 thereafter. Copies are available by contacting Davis via her email address at eVote@netcom.com.
ALPHA - Software undergoes alpha testing as a first step in getting user feedback. Alpha is Latin for "doesn't work."
BETA - Software undergoes beta testing shortly before it's released. Beta is Latin for "still doesn't work."
DVD is an optical disc storage technology that can put away almost 9GB of digital data on a single disc. The new discs look like compact discs but can hold 133 minutes per side of video information or the equivalent of eight CDs of music (audio information).
A single DVD player can potentially play different discs containing movies, music and computer data - including current CDs and CD-ROMs.
The December 8th agreement brought an end to a bitter battle to standardize DVD technology. Japanese and foreign electronics, computer and movie companies had divided into two camps - on led by Toshiba and the other led by Sony and Philips Electronics NV of the Netherlands.
Both touted versions of the technology that were incompatible with the other, a situation that risked a repeat of the battle fought in the 1980s between VHS and Beta video formats and turning away consumers who have shown a decided preference for single formats for products like videocassette recorders and compact disc players.
On January 5, 1996 at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, both Sony and Toshiba unveiled new home entertainment systems using Digital Video Disc (DVD) multimedia storage technology. Aimed at hard-core home theater addicts, the two new DVD players from Toshiba are designed for use with large-screen or projection TVs. Players are expected to go on sale in the United States in the fall of 1996, with makers aiming at a price of about $500. The companies are betting consumers will like the idea of movies on a CD, and plan music and computer versions of the technology, as well.
Iomega's ZIP Drive and SyQuest's EZ135 probably aren't the answer to every storage need you have, but for a quick fix, they're a dream come true. Iomega and SyQuest have driven down the cost of removable mass-storage drives to around $200 for about 100MB of data capacity, giving you limitless storage at your fingertips for around $20 per 100MB cartridge.We'll give you a close look at the two companies' products and tell you how well, or how poorly, they work.
You use a removable drive the same way you use a floppy: put the cartridge in the drive, copy or write information to or from it, then take it out. Neither the EZ135 nor the ZIP cartridges offer quite the shirt-pocket or purse convenience of a floppy disk, but in their slim carrying cases they're not far behind. The current breed of removable drives boasts smooth installation and convenience and provides decent capacity for the price of both the drive and cartridges.
After installing and testing both the Iomega ZIP Drive and the SyQuest EZ135 drive, we found that the simplicity of setting up and using the Iomega ZIP Drive--coupled with its light weight and slim form--make it the best choice for the road. The SyQuest EZ135 is somewhat bulkier and just slightly more difficult to operate.
We would rather sacrifice the extra 35MB of storage capacity you get with the SyQuest EZ135 for the convenience and superior design of the Iomega ZIP Drive. The ZIP's weight is just about half that of the EZ135, and the ZIP is more compact for travel. Best of all, it costs less. The ZIP Drive has a familiar feel: a typical power connector, a cartridge that resembles a thick floppy disk, and a floppylike eject button.
A ZIP cartridge is about 4 inches square - a little larger than a floppy disk and about twice as thick. Each cartridge is list-priced at $19.95 and comes with its own protective jewel case. A ZIP cartridge holds 100MB of data (or 25MB, for a few bucks less).
The SCSI version of the ZIP Drive includes a SCSI cable with 25-pin connectors at both ends. This makes it well suited for use with Macs and with PCs that have a SCSI host adapter with a 25-pin external connector. No cable is included for any other type of connection.
The ZIP Drive's performance was not spectacular. While it is faster at opening large files than the SyQuest EZ, the ZIP is significantly slower at writing large files and at reading and writing small files.
Installing your ZIP drive
Installing a SCSI ZIP unit is a snap. First, attach the SCSI cable and power supply. Then set SCSI termination and SCSI ID (limited to addresses 5 or 6 ) with the toggle switches on the back of the unit. If the ZIP Drive is your only external SCSI device or is last in a chain of such devices, set SCSI termination on to activate the built-in termination circuits; otherwise, set termination off. Then run the Windows-based setup program from the floppy disk provided. The SCSI host adapter must have an Advanced SCSI Programming Interface (ASPI) host manager device driver installed before you run the setup program. Nearly all SCSI host adapters sold today are equipped with ASPI software.
The parallel-port version of the ZIP Drive is equally easy to get up and running. Connect the drive to the parallel port on your computer, plug in the ZIP's power supply, and reattach your printer cable to the second port on the drive. Then run the setup utility, which adds an ASPI host manager driver for parallel port SCSI to config.sys.
Iomega Particulars
List price: external SCSI and external parallel versions $199.95;
ZIP cartridges $19.95 each, or $49.95 for three;
ZIP software for OS/2 $19.95; ZIP Zoom SCSI host adapter $59.95;
additional copies of ZIP tools $39.95;
universal power supply (110/220V) $39.95;
U.S. power supply $19.95;
minicase $14.95;
organizer to carry six cartridges $9.95
Iomega Corp.: 800/697-8833, 801/778-3000
http://www.iomega.com/
The external SCSI version, which is not nearly as svelte as its ZIP competitor, carries a street price of $239. The internally mounted IDE version is $199. Single EZ135 cartridges cost $19.95. Each cartridge comes with its own padded plastic carrying case.
The external EZ135 drive weighs about 2 pounds; its power supply weighs 1.6 pounds. SyQuest packages the SCSI version with a SCSI terminator and a SCSI cable that has a 25-pin connector on one end and a 50-pin connector on the other. The cable is suitable for use with a Mac or an IBM-compatible SCSI adapter with a 25-pin external port. The SCSI drive has two 50-pin Centronics-style SCSI connectors on back, and a dial for the SCSI device ID. It is not backward-compatible with SyQuest's earlier and very popular 44MB or 88MB cartridges.
In our tests, the SyQuest drives performed much faster than the ZIP Drives, except in opening large files.
Installing your SyQuest EZ drive
Setting up the SCSI version of the EZ135 is straightforward: just connect a SCSI cable between your SCSI adapter and the EZ135 drive, dial a unique SCSI device ID, plug in the power supply transformer, and attach the SCSI terminator to the second SCSI port on the back of the drive.
If you are installing the IDE model in a computer equipped with an IDE interface, you must set a jumper on the underside of the EZ135 drive to indicate whether it is a master or slave unit. Installing an internal EZ135 drive is then a matter of attaching it to an internal DC power connector and to an included EIDE ribbon cable. Finally, you should provide electronic grounding for the drive by attaching its grounding wire to the computer case, and then mount the drive inside the case with the screws provided.
A DOS program controls EZ135 software installation, which adds a device driver to your config.sys file and then launches a Windows program to install the SyQuest utility software. Windows and DOS programs for the EZ135 include a cartridge formatter, a cartridge copier, a backup program, drive lock and unlock programs, and diagnostic tools.
With Windows 95, you currently must remove the SyQuest SCSI device driver from config.sys, and you cannot use any of the SyQuest utility software. However, other programs can access the EZ135 via its normally assigned drive letter. SyQuest expects to release Windows 95 versions of its software before the end of the year [1995]. If you use either Windows 3.1 or Windows 95 and have an IDE version of the EZ135, make sure that the statement "RemovableIDE=TRUE" appears in the [386Enh] section of the Windows system. ini file.
SyQuest Particulars
List price: EZ135 internal EIDE drive $199;
external SCSI drive $239;
EZ135 cartridge $19.95;
U.S. power supply $19.95;
international power supply $39.95;
carrying case $29.95;
PowerBook adapter $25.95;
Parallel port adapter $139.95;
16-bit SCSI adapter kit $119.95;
50-pin-to-50-pin Centronics-style SCSI cable $19.95;
50-pin Centronics-to-mini-SCSI cable $20.95;
Active terminator $25.95
SyQuest Technology, Inc.: 800/245-2278, 510/226-4000
http://www.syquest.com/
[Source: c|net central (http://www.cnet.com/). Ben Myers is a hardware and software reviewer based in Harvard, Massachusetts.]
I dumped my ZIP drive (returned it to Best Buy) already. It was just too slow for me... especially in light of what I replaced it with.
I was browsing the Elek-Tek stores in Chicago during my business trip this week and found they had the new Syquest EZ135s in stock. The reasons I switched:
Only real down side, is that since it uses real hard media, the eject system is a little more complicated (push a button and then flip a lever instead of simply pushing a button).
However, the thing is BAD FAST (also has local cache). Next, I plug it into the Amiga and check it out. I'm seriously considering using it as a multiboot device! I loaded up my EZ on the A3000 last night and found out that it blew the doors off my internal Quantum PRO52S! It's raw transfer rate was nearly double the Quantum's at about 25% of the CPU overhead, and in real world operational tests, it was noticeably faster. It works great with the Amiga SCSI layers and boots real fast. It's plenty fast for the A3000.
I think I've found my new Amiga drive.
Next, cross-platform compatibility: It also works great with MessyDOS and Winslow. In fact, all my fave games (big disk hogs) will move over to the EZ and I'll happily play directly from it.
Also, I just updated to the latest CrossDOS, so file transfer from the Internet will be fast with this thing. Just save it on my PC and then walk it over to the Amiga and copy it in. Neeeeto.
Well Best Buy didn't let me down. Not only did I get my Zip drive for $180, but got it 48 hours after I had them order it. Best Buy just went up a few points on Jimbo's Happy Hacker's Buyers Poll. ;)
Initial impressions: Kewl! Fast enough for probably all of the needs I wanted it for. MPEG movies can be just slightly jerky reading off them but no biggy there. For practical use, it's fast enough for anything I do at the moment. :)
I still wish the disks had larger storage space though, but I can't have everything when working with these things called budgets. ;)
There has been a lot of writing and reviews of Iomega Corporation's ZIP removable media data drive in the PC and Mac magazines, but finding information on using this device with the Amiga has been largely a matter of asking on IRC, experimentation and button pushing. This article is a result of my efforts and experimentations, and hopefully will make it easier for others who wish to make use of this versatile storage device.
WHAT IS IT:
The ZIP drive is a removable media, high capacity file access storage device. For all practical purposes you can call it a removable disk hard drive although technically it is not traditional hard drive technology. Physically the drive is slightly wider than the slim-line Amiga external floppies, about the same width as the old 1010 external floppy but not as tall. The disks themselves are about 1/2 wider than a standard 3.5 floppy and approximately twice as thick. The ZIP drive comes in 2 versions, either set up for SCSI connection or parallel port connection. You can't (to my knowledge) use the parallel port version of the ZIP drive on the Amiga, however the SCSI version works quite well if your Amiga is equipped with a SCSI interface.
WILL THE ZIP DRIVE WORK ON THE AMIGA:
For those who are still unsure - yes the SCSI ZIP will work! Even Iomega slips a quick reference to the Amiga in the instructions, giving a clue as to how to proceed by mentioning low-level formatting the disk that comes with the ZIP unit (which has PC and Mac software tools). And that is pretty much what you have to do, but they don't give any details on HOW to do this.
SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS:
You don't need any special software for installing the ZIP on your Amiga if you have OS 2.0 or higher. All you need is the HDToolBox program that is included in AmigaOS, or use the hard drive preparation software for your SCSI controller if it's a third party unit. Third party SCSI hard disk preparation software should also let you use the ZIP with OS 1.3 as well. You WILL need a SCSI controller hooked to your Amiga, but a hard drive is not required. The ZIP can act as a hard drive if, for some reason, you have a SCSI controller but no hard disk. So a SCSI controller (with 25 pin connector or the correct adaptor) and either HDToolBox or third party hard drive preparation software is all you need.
GETTING STARTED:
When you buy the ZIP drive it comes with one ZIP disk that contains Mac and Windows software tools. If you never intend to use your drive on either of those machines, you can just reformat that disk. Otherwise you may want to consider saving that disk and buying extra ZIP disks (they are sold in both PC and Mac preformatted format, doesn't matter which you buy since you will be reformatting them anyway) to reformat into Amiga format. You'll probably want additional disks anyway.
CONNECTING UP:
Physically connecting the drive is easy. Either use the early boot menus on your Amiga (or some other program that polls the SCSI controller and reports back the device numbers for devices currently connected to the SCSI controller), and set the ZIP drive to either device 5 or 6 with it's built in DIP switches. If you have both a SCSI device 5 and SCSI device 6 on your system already, you will need to change your configuration around to free up 5 or 6 for the ZIP drive since it only offers those 2 device numbers as options. You'll also need to enable or disable the termination on the ZIP drive. If you have some external SCSI devices, make sure that only the last device in the chain is terminated. The ZIP documentation discusses termination fairly clearly. Just make sure only the last device is terminated and you should be fine. If the ZIP is your only external SCSI device then make sure the termination is enabled. Hook up the external power supply and power up the drive and Amiga. Boot normally and make sure nothing is acting improper. If it is you probably need to check your device numbers and terminations.
FORMATTING THE DISK:
You'll need to do this for every ZIP disk you plan to use with the Amiga. It's exactly the same process as setting up a new hard drive from scratch, just repeat for each ZIP disk. You can reformat the disk that came with the ZIP drive or buy additional blank ZIP disks to use.
Load up HDToolBox (or other hard drive preparation software). I won't try to give step by step instructions for every possible hard drive preparation program available because they are all different. I use a GVP controller and used the GVP FaaastPrep software to set up my ZIP disks but the steps are basically the same. You need to read and save the drive configuration (sectors, cylinders, low and high cylinder, etc), low level format the disk, create a partition, write an RDB and then do an AmigaDOS format. I recommend making the ZIP disks one partition but if you decide to make your zip disks multiple partitions, make sure you make them all IDENTICAL otherwise you'll have to reboot the machine for every disk change. Keep in mind that the Amiga reads the disk layout and partition information either from a dosdriver file, the RDB of the disk itself or a mountlist entry and mounts the device, you can't change parameters for a mounted drive. Keeping all your disks identical in partitioning will let you change without rebooting since the mount information will be valid for all of them.
USING THE DRIVE:
The ZIP drive, once formatted, works just like a hard drive or, more accurately, a very fast 95 meg floppy. So using the drive is just like using any other disk on the Amiga. There are a few things to watch out for though:
Despite difficulty in obtaining the ZIP drive (demand for these things is very high and after getting mine I can understand why), I would definitely recommend it for anyone who needs more storage space and/or a backup device. Having file system access makes it much more convenient than tape for retrieving specific files. The ZIP is fast enough to use like a hard drive, you can install complete software packages on it and run them from the ZIP, or store your large data files on it. The disks are inexpensive (around $20.00 United States currency) and you can use as many as you need. For archiving and backing up, it's much better than using diskettes.
It may seem like installing one of these drives on the Amiga sounds complex, but in reality it is no harder than installing a standard hard drive. If you are familiar with how to do that, then the ZIP will present no challenge at all. It took me less than 5 minutes from the time I opened the box to have the unit physically hooked up and start formatting. Formatting takes a little time. If Iomega sold preformatted Amiga disks for the ZIP drive, installing it would be easier than either the PC or Mac installation. The machine I tested the ZIP drive on was an Amiga 2000 with a GVP Impact II SCSI controller and OS 3.1
John Keen: Need help with downloading. I have a cardinal 2400 modem. either NComm, or JRCOMM software. I have a A600 with 2 megs of chip ram. I have looked at the accompanying software instructions, but am clueless, since I have never done any downloading in this or any previous life. Well, hope some dauntless and good hearted Amiganaut will help out.
Kevin Hisel: Well, the basic steps are:
Kevin Hisel: [When asked how the Macintosh should handle .LZH files from the BBS.] No. Macs don't use .LZH files. And to work with HQXes, they need to be put under some sort of hex and I'm not sure how all that works. I think it has to do with voodoo or something. ;-)
Kevin Hopkins: I believe they use BINHEX 4.0 to unarchive these files, or Stuffit Expander might take care of them.
Also, Mac people do need to use .LZH if they use the NEWZ command. This will require a Mac version of LHARC and an off-line reader.
Kevin Hisel: They should use r;d to download new messages. This sends them as ASCII.
System 7.5 is Readied As Backup to Copland
Faced with likely delays in finishing the next-generation Macintosh Operating System, code-named Copland, Apple is hedging its bets by porting System 7.5 to the new system platform, the Common Hardware Reference Platform (CHRP), being jointly developed with IBM. CHRP systems will be able to run Mac OS, OS/2, IBM's AIX variant of Unix, and Microsoft's Windows NT. Apple originally spoke only of having Copland as the Mac OS version planned for CHRP, but the company has designed its CHRP system to work with Copland and System 7.5 and is porting System 7.5 to the new platform at the same time it is porting Copland, according to Jim Gable, Apple's licensing director for CHRP. Although System 7.5 for CHRP has been in the works at Apple since CHRP was agreed to in November 1994, even IBM was unaware of this parallel work. Gable says that System 7.5 for CHRP may be ready by mid 1996. That would enable Apple to meet its goal of having the Mac OS available for use on CHRP systems by the end of 1996 - even if Copland is delayed.
While David Nagel, Apple vice president, says the Copland development effort for the current Macintosh architecture is only two days behind schedule, engineers and officials at several other Mac companies say that Copland is several months behind. The first CHRP systems should be available for other operating systems in mid to late 1996 from companies such as IBM and Motorola.
Limited Copland for 680X0
Apple also decided not to make Copland run on 680X0 Macs, with or without PowerPC upgrade cards. The new OS will run only on systems from Apple, Radius, Power Computing, and DayStar that have a PowerPC on the motherboard, according to Vito Salvaggio, Apple's group product marketing manager for Copland. Users of 680X0 systems will be offered a user interface replacement that provides most of the interface enhancements being planned for Copland, such as multiple modes (for beginners and advanced users), active assistants that help automate tasks, and a customizable desktop. The interface will also include updated networking software to maintain compatibility with PowerPC-based Macs running Copland. (PowerPC upgrades will not be compatible with Copland because the OS will require certain controllers found only on Power Mac and clone motherboards, Salvaggio says.
While Apple has never committed to porting Copland to 680X0 Macs, earlier this year officials said a 680X0 port of Copland was likely six or so months after the Power Mac version was completed. However, the 680X0 does not have the processing power needed to support Copland's core architectural improvements, such as preemptive multitasking, and Apple engineers decided to port just the interface and basic interoperability components to 680X0. With Apple releasing its last 680X0 Macs this year, Mac buyers will have about a year to switch to Power Macs if they want the full advantages of Copland.
[Source: MacWorld, November 1995, pp. 41-42.]
More than any previous PowerBooks, Apple's most recent high-end model has been plagued with a host of troubles. First, Apple replaced the lithium-ion (Lilon) batteries it had begun to ship with 5300-series PowerBooks (see News, December 1995) because two of the Sony-made batteries had caught fire. Now, ironically, Sony's Lilon battery-producing plant in Koriyama, Japan, has itself been destroyed by fire. The Koriyama facility produced 3 million Lilon batteries a month (about three-quarters of the world's supply), and Sony's second Lilon plant, in Tochigi, Japan, won't be operational until the spring. Thus, even if Sony figures out what went wrong with the Lilon batteries, no new ones will be available until at least mid-year. So Apple will have no choice but to continue shipping 5300-series PowerBooks with nickel-metal-hydride (NIMH) batteries, which it began doing when it resumed PowerBook shipments.
CIRCUITRY WOES
The replacement batteries work fine, buy many of the PowerBooks don't. A half-dozen design and manufacturing flaws have emerged, including some power and circuitry problems. For example, the power supply does not produce enough current to run many combinations of expansion-bay and PC Card accessories at the same time; the control circuitry for reducing power consumption when the PowerBook is in Sleep mode, itself goes to sleep before completing its job. As a result, a fully charged PowerBook can sleep for only four days instead of the usual eight to ten days. Another,less serious flaw: the computer may lock up after you press the reset button and the power-on key; you can fix it by pressing reset and power-on again. Not everyone will experience all these annoyances, but for those with severe problems, Apple will provide a replacement motherboard that fixes the flaws. Apple has been making changes in the production line, so there is no easy way to determine what problems a specific unit might have without testing.
All current third-party fax programs are incompatible with the 5300; only Apple's Telecom version 2.3 works, and only if you fiddle with the installation. Apple failed to include PC Card support in the U.S. version of Apple Telecom, so you need to download two disk images from Apple's online software-distribution sites (the main one is http://www.apple.com) Apple Telecom 2.3 disk 2 of 2 and Apple Telecom/PC Card Modem 2.3 (which is disk 1 of 2, although not labeled that way). Don't use Apple Telecom 2.3 disk 1 of 2, which installs GeoPort software (which won't work on a 5300).
NEW POWERBOOKS TO DEBUT
But even with all these quirks,the 5300-series PowerBooks are still expected to sell a million and a half units, three times as many as the 500-series models. According to unofficial sources, two more 5300 models will appear this year to keep the momentum going - one with a faster CPU and probably a separate cache (memory storing recent CPU instructions that works faster than standard RAM), and the other with a deeper palm rest to accommodate a CD-ROM drive in a larger expansion bay (which will also accept standard expansion-bay accessories). And finally, expect to see a lower-cost PowerBook series, code-named Epic, which will differ from the 5300-series by using, for example, a differently shaped battery.
[Source: MacWorld, February 1996, pp. 47-48.]
The 1200+ is basically a 1200 with built-in SIMM sockets for more RAM, and another expansion port, I believe, intentioned for a CD-ROM. This is inconsistent with the release of the Q-Drive, a quad speed CD-32 compatible PCMCIA add-on for the 1200, so I interpret this CD-ROM expansion slot as either being an additional PCMCIA, or an IDE external connector. I'm not sure.
The core processor of the 1200+ is "undecided," but will be either a 68030, of no less than 40MHz, or a ColdFire processor, my guess would be a 25MHz or greater 5301.
Since few people probably know what a ColdFire processor is, and I do know something, I'll jabber about it. It is a RISC chip developed by Motorola, older and unrelated to the PowerPC. It has fairly good specs, the most important of which, for our purposes, is that it is backwards compatible to the 68000 instruction set.
In layman's terms, this means a ColdFire could run AmigaDOS without porting, but programs could be written to take advantage of the RISC instruction set.
This chip would make a nice addition, but not a permanent solution, of course, since the PowerPC 604 and 620 smoke the ColdFire pretty good. But, the ColdFire has development life left in it; the 680X0 line is extinct.
I think that the top of the line ColdFire can only match a 68060 if running native RISC code. The ColdFire has not been used in a personal computer, so information on its specifications / benchmarks are not known to me.
It is a lot better than a 68020.
[Source: Amiga Friends Users Group newsletter, Dec. 1995. AFUG's address is P.O. Box 4186, Huntington Beach, CA 92605-4186.]
How do you get to the information, since it's on the Internet, and you don't know how to set up your Amiga for the Internet? A Catch 22. Many club members have shell (text-only) Internet access through places such as [Prairienet or the UI]. Those types of accounts don't require complicated setup, and by using the Lynx program provided by the service provider, you can get to the following World Wide Web page. It'll be text only and won't have the fancy layout and graphics, but it's enough to get to the information. [CUCUG Editor's Note: Not a problem since the information on this site is text only anyway.]
That given, here's the WWW address:
For everyone: I'm moving along on my Internet guide for the Amiga at:
http://www.cris.com/~Kainaw/tcp/index.shtml
AmiTCP, InetUtils, Amosaic (with mailto: command) and more is covered.
[Source: The Commo-Hawk Commodore Users Group newsletter, "The File" January, 1996. CHCUG's address is P.O. Box 2724, Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52406-2724.]
After installing the new release, I tested some of my MUI programs. I've written about 100 of them and use some of them every day. They seemed to work fine, and actually appeared to run a bit faster. Then I made a big mistake: I deleted the old MUI from my hard drive.
I am a registered user of MUI. I got my keyfile last year. It allows me to set the appearance of any MUI app and save the settings. I have several dozen MUI apps, and most of them have custom settings saved in ENV-ARCHIVE.
After installing the new MUI, I immediately noticed that my settings were wiped. Darn! I figured I'd just have to set them again. It might take me a few hours, but the new MUI should be worth the effort. I called up the MUI-Prefs program and got a BIG SURPRISE. The screen I got began, "Hello Colin THompson! Your old keyfile has expired..."
My keyfile had expired? Huh? I don't remember being told about a time limit on my keyfile. Neither was I warned in the docs that my keyfile would not work with the new MUI. Annoyed? You bet! How often must I re-register MUI? It took two weeks to get my keyfile the last time.
I am seriously considering NOT registering. I would have appreciated a warning that my keyfile was kaput, and my settings would vanish like a Commodore promise.
OK, I suppose I should relate some of the details of the new MUI. If you are a programmer, MUI3 offers a wealth of new gadgets to play with. The internal architecture has been modified to spread the work out to include several new libraries. About 60K of new libraries are now needed.
If you are not a programmer, MUI3 will not appear any different. Only when new programs written to take advantage of the MUI3 features, will you see a difference. I have not seen any MUI3 programs released yet.
http://www.crl.com/~wbow/colin/sdaug.html
I've found the Computer Link to be a neat place to find web addresses. Of course, none of the addresses are Amiga-related, but they are interesting and usually provide more links to other sites. I'll change the addresses each month. I added a link to CUCUG's site. If you have any suggestions, send me some email.
AMIGA GRAPHICS/LightWave/3D
From Amiga Computing, #6, page 91
http://tomahawk.welch.jhu.edu/ = Lightwave/Toaster http://www.cs.mcgill.ca/~desm/ = Pentagrafx Productions http://users.aol.com/dscott5663/simagic.htm = Dean Scott Home Page http://chelsea.ios.com:80/~oaomedia = One and Only Media http://bei.moscow.com/ = Blevins Enterprises Vertisketch http://www.desktopimages.com/desktop/ = Desktop Images http://www.newtek.com/ = Newtek, Inc. http://www.worley.com/ = Worley Labs http://www.3dsite.com/3dsite/ = 3DSite http://www.portal.com/~corsa/ = The Rendering Plant (LW demo)Christmas places to visit
http://www.logicnet.com/melanie.mccluskey/index.htm = Christmas Stories http://www.webb.com/grinch = Christmas http://www.stoli.com:80/notes/index.html = Christmas Cards http://north.pole.org = North Pole http://www.christmas.com = Santa's Domain http://www.cyberspace.com/santa = Santa's Workshop http://www.kriskringle.com = Kris Kringle http://www.redshift.com/~erickson = Advent Calendar http://www.christmas.com/apps/daystil = Christmas Countdown http://christmas.com/sleighstats.html = Santa's Cyber-sleigh http://www.sonic.net/~billk = Born on Christmas http://204.217.171.20/auth/kisstmas.html = Christmas KissODDS AND ENDS
http://www.fedworld.gov = FedWorld locator http://www.whitehouse.gov = Bill and Hillery's place http://thomas.loc.gov = Current Federal Legislation http://www.vill.edu/fed-agency/fedwebloc.html = locate fed agencies http://www.loc.gov/global/globalhp.html = Library of Congress http://www.census.gov = Census Bureau http://www.artsednet.getty.edu = Art teachers K-12 http://ustc.org/ = TechCorps http://warpig.cati.csufresno.edu/paintball/paintball.html = WarPig Paintball http://pwr.com/atlas/default.html = Atlas Pen and Pencil Co. http://www.bni-net.com/finney/ = Finney Advertising Specialties http://www.starweb.net/nevins/index.html = Nevins Marketing Group http://www.christdesert.org/pax.html = Benedctine Monastery http://www.sony.com = Sony Home Page (games, etc) http://hyperarchive.lcs.mit.edu/HyperArchive.html = INFO-MAC HyperArchive ROOTThe world's best Amiga web site
http://www.cucug.org/ = Champaign-Urbana Commodore User GroupThe San Diego Amiga User Group serves the Amiga users of the San Diego Area. Monthly meetings are held at Lively's Computer in La Mesa, on the first Tuesday. Call 619-695-2181 for directions to the store.
SDAUG has been operating continuously for eleven years. Dues are $20 per year. Membership is open to all. The group publishes a monthly newsletter, The NotePad.
Our Membership Chairman is Tim Roy, 619-739-8061.
Our Mail Coordinator is Jerry Keegan. Jerry handles newsletter trades. If your Amiga group would like to trade newsletters, contact Jerry at gkeega@cts.com.
If you find a neat-o site you'd like to share with the group, email the site's address to Colin Thompson at colin@connectnet.com.
[Source: The San Diego Amiga Users Group newsletter, "The NotePad," Dec. 95 and Jan. 96 and SDAUG's Web Page. SDAUG's address is P.O. Box 81801, San Diego, CA 92138-1801.]
Dave Haynie: They're doing the right thing. I think that standardized PowerPC systems (CHRP) are the only real option these days against Intel based PClones. The main reason is not technical, but market-driven - when you make 50 million machines a year, rather than one million or less, you tap vast economies of scale. The only reason Intel's able to keep up in CPU speed is that they have tons of money to pour into CPU research, 0.35um fabs, etc.
So that's why I said "pick PowerPC" long ago. Hopefully they'll get things going quickly and efficiently, but there's a ton of work ahead of them. At least AT's giving it a shot; they certainly could have made a profit just selling off the bones of Commodore.
PCI, on the other hand, I had picked back in 1992, when it was first announced. That was somewhat technically inspired, at the time I was designing a "modular interconnect bus" for building new systems with an architecture much more flexible than we used in the A3000/A4000. One point of this was that I needed a high speed, low pincount bus to go between chips, and a way to make add-in cards pretty much as cheap to make as things built-in to the motherboard. My bus did this, but then PCI came along, and it was designed for exactly the same thing. And backed by Intel, which made it a shoe-in as an industry standard.
It was decent then, but the PCI SIG really improved it for PCI 2.X. For example, the idea of supporting multiple PCI buses in various hierarchies is a great one. It lets you use PCI for building multi-chip add-in cards as well as motherboards.
And, if you want a marketing reason, everyone is using PCI. Apple dropped NuBus for it, the PC clones dropped VL-Bus for it, Sun's dropping S-Bus for it, DEC's dropping Turbochannel for it. With that kind of support, there is simply no question, even if the thing sucks. And PCI doesn't suck.
[Source: Northwest Amiga Group, Inc.'s "Northwest Amiga Journal" December, 1995. NAG's address is Galleria Suite 553, 921 SW Morrison, Portland, OR 97205-2723.]
The Annual Meeting of CUCUG was held on December 21, 1995. This year-end meeting is a joint gathering of all CUCUG members to conduct official business and socialize. The event began with the now traditional introduction of officers. That being done, President Jim Huls was in such a hurry to leave office that he moved the Officer Elections to the first order of business. Election Chairman Kevin Hisel conducted the proceedings. First, Kevin announced the candidates that had been nominated so far:
President: Richard Rollins Vice President: Emil Cobb Secretary: Kevin Hopkins Treasurer: Mark Landman Corporate Agent: Jim Lewis Kevin moved the floor be opened for further nominations. After a profound silence, Jim Lewis moved the nominations be closed; Harold Ravlin seconded. Kevin then asked that the slate be accepted by acclamation. This was done. Kevin closed the with a reminder for everyone to renew their memberships for 1996.
President Huls then led the Question and Answer session.
President Jim Huls presented the Annual Treasurer's Report. Financially, CUCUG is very strong.
Jim Lewis reviewed our year. With the Amiga revived, the club attaining an Internet address, the growth of our web site, etc. All in all, it was a pretty good year.
Mark Bellon outlined the plans he and Richard Rollins have been working on to conduct a seminar sometime in early 1996. The working title is "So you went ahead and bought a Mac anyway."
The floor was then passed to Chief Librarian Kevin Hisel who presented one new Amiga disk for this month.
CUCUGAMI #152: Piles 'O' Tiles (a Shanghai clone), Zaxxon (cries could be heard from the audience, "It's Zaxxon!!), and Bounce (a bouncy game that comes with an editor to customize its play. Kevin remarked that it also exits cleanly - a big plus in his book).
Mac Librarian Mark Bellon began his presentation by noting that the Mac Library is now up to 45 disks. This evening he was demonstrating #17 and #18.
CUCUGMAC #17: File Buddy (a powerful file manipulator - one feature of particular interest is its ability to clean up files no longer in use), Floor Tiles (how to be a stone mason), and Space Joust (a variant of the game Joust).
CUCUGMAC #18: Globe, Rotator, SimBush (a program that creates a simulated George Bush campaign speech from voice samples of the former President), Slick Willy (in compliance with equal time, a game poking fun at Mr. Clinton), and Shrink Wrap (a program that will work with disk images from your hard drive, not just floppies, thus a great speed increase).
The meeting was then adjourned into our annual year-end social.
The December meeting of the CUCUG executive board actually took place on Tuesday, January 2, 1996, at 7PM, at Kevin Hisel's house (address and phone number, both in the book). Due to horrible weather conditions attendance was way down. Present at the meeting were Richard Rollins, Mark Bellon, Emil Cobb, Kevin Hopkins, Kevin Hisel, and Anderson Yau.
Richard Rollins: The Mac SIG will be doing a make-over of SIG member Richard Hall's machine. As neither Jim Lewis is here to speak for the Amiga SIG and no one has yet volunteered to chair the C64/128 SIG, Richard did not know what those groups would be doing.
Richard wished to express his gratitude to Emil Cobb for running as his Vice President. The tradition continues.
Richard said he is looking for the club to evolve in an interesting way this coming year.
Richard elicited a response that the club's Power Mac will be purchased and on hand for the next meeting.
Richard and Mark Bellon aired their plans for a Macintosh seminar tentatively scheduled for February. The seminar will be held on a Saturday and run from 10am until 4pm. There will be a $20 fee for attending. Those coming will receive 3 or 4 disks and printed material. A sandwich lunch will be provided. The agenda would most likely be some talking, a hands-on session, followed by a question and answer session. Topics covered would be General Use (such as backing up a hard drive), using Claris Works, and general telecommunications - getting on the net. Attendees would be given a $5 rebate on the cost of the seminar if they choose to join CUCUG. The seminar's title will be "So You Went Ahead and Got a Mac Anyway."
Kevin Hisel questioned the initial thought of holding the seminar at the Electrician's Hall ("To far out of the way for casual users.") The suggestion of using a more centrally located meeting room, such as the lecture hall at the Champaign Public Library, was put forward.
Kevin Hopkins asked what was expected from the club's Treasury as far as "up front" cost. These appear to be costs for a packet of handouts, blank diskette expense, and room rent.
Mark Bellon: Mark reported that the Macintosh Library is now contains 45 disks and he has material for 5 more. Mark is looking for a burst of new material in January ("all that free time during the holidays for programming").
Mark wanted to remind everyone of his $20 "refresh" service. He'll update your club disks with the newest versions of those programs for the flat fee of $20.
Mark is also toying with the idea of releasing the Mac Library on a ZIP disk. You can get the entire 50 disk Mac collection on one ZIP disk (disk included) for $69.95 - or however much fits on a ZIP. This will make Mark's refresh service a simple matter of rewriting the entire disk in one shot.
Mark is currently offering a 30 floppy disk for $75 package price.
Mark reported that the Mac Library is expecting a big expense this month as he has depleted his blank disk supply and will have to restock soon.
On other matters, Mark reported that MacOS 7.5.3 is expected this month.
Mark was also quite pleased to report that the local Fox affiliate has put Babylon 5 back on at 9pm on Sunday.
Emil Cobb: Emil presented new possible badge designs (done in MacPaint).
As Sergeant at Arms, he reported that 29 members attended the main meeting.
Kevin Hopkins (KH2): Kevin presented the exchange newsletters and handed out the mail as usual.
Kevin then made a suggestion that the club invest in one of those magnetic style signs with a large CUCUG logo on it to put on the steel door of the meeting hall in order to clearly mark where our meetings are being held. This idea met with general agreement that we should do something to show people where we are. Richard Rollins said he would investigate getting one of these signs. Emil Cobb said he had a sandwich board style sign that could be converted to CUCUG use that could be place out by the street in front of the union hall to more clear point out our location to new people trying to find us.
Kevin then spoke to KH1 with regards to some changes in the Index file he was considering in his portion of the web page. KH1 made the suggestion that perhaps a link to the Index page should be place in each online newsletter.
Kevin reported that we had 12 membership renewals last month and our membership currently numbers 32 as of now.
Kevin made a request of all board members (and members too) to please provide any email addresses they might have for members. Kevin is adding members' email addresses to our roster list.
Kevin Hisel (KH1): Kevin reported disk sales to be brisk. BBS usage is down.
As Webmaster, Kevin informed us he is making improvements to the web pages twice daily.
Kevin reported that total Library sales were down for the year; up slightly for the Mac.
Anderson Yau: Anderson had nothing to report.
We've obtained an refurbished Apple PowerMac 6116. It has 8MB of RAM and we added another 8 meg for a total of 16MB of RAM. It also came with a CD drive, keyboard and some installed software. We obtained a Super fast High Performance cache from the L-2 Corporation at cost. Many thanks to the L-2 Corp. for their kind assistance for a user group. By the way, I believe they produce the best cache for the Mac of any manufacturer. I own one myself. We were also able to obtain a 14 inch Apple monitor for only $199.99. This is a major savings as the monitor sells for $349.95 in the mail order houses. All in all, we now have a great system. Many thanks to Mark Bellon for obtaining this system and bringing it in right on budget!!!
On the advice of CUCUG's corporation agent, Jim Lewis, we will be considering the following technical changes to the CUCUG bylaws to be voted on at the January meeting. These changes are designed to allow us to technically comply with IRS regulations which will ease our attaining status as a non-taxable social club.
ARTICLE 2-PURPOSE
OLD: The object of CUCUG is to promote the use and knowledge of computer products through the sharing of common experience. CUCUG is against all forms of piracy and will actively discourage such practices.
PROPOSED: The object of CUCUG is to promote the use and knowledge of computers and computer products for personal fulfillment, recreation and pleasure through a non-profit organization. CUCUG is against all forms of software piracy and will actively discourage any such practices.
ARTICLE 12-DISSOLUTION
OLD: In the event of dissolution of CUCUG, remaining assets after the satisfaction of all obligations of the corporation shall be distributed for purposes within the scope of Internal Revenue Service Code 501(c)(3), or amendments thereof.
PROPOSED: In the event of the dissolution of CUCUG, Inc. remaining assets after satisfaction of all obligations of the Corporation shall be distributed within the scope of IRS Code 501(c)(7) organizations.
OLD: nothing
PROPOSED: Effective this postmark date ( / / ), CUCUG, Inc. hereby agrees to abide by the record keeping requirements and the gross-receipts test of IRS Code 501(c)(7).
Meetings are held the third Thursday of each month at 7 p.m. at the IBEW Local 601 Union Hall (352-1741), located at 2901 Research Road in the Interstate Research Park in northwest Champaign. To get there, go north on Mattis over I-74 and turn right at the second stop light, onto Interstate Drive. Then take the first "real" left at Research Road. The Electrician's Hall is the third building on your left. There's a big flag pole right out front and it's directly across the street from one of Hobbico's signs. You should park and enter the building in the back.
ASCII text files of all recent Status Register newsletters are available for downloading on our BBS or our WWW site. Other user group newsletter editors may leave a comment to the BBS Sysop to request free access. To initiate a newsletter exchange, just send us your newsletter. As a matter of CUCUG policy, a newsletter exchange partner will be dropped after three months of no contact.
This newsletter was prepared with PageStream 2.22 on an Amiga 3000 25/100 and output to an HP Laserjet IIP plus. Pagestream was donated to CUCUG by Soft-Logik Publishing Corporation.
For further information, please attend the next meeting as our guest, or contact one of our officers (all at area code 217):
President: Richard Rollins 469-2616 rrollins@cucug.org Vice-President: Emil Cobb 398-0149 e-cobb@uiuc.edu Secretary/Editor: Kevin Hopkins 356-5026 kh2@uiuc.edu Treasurer: Mark Landman 398-2910 mlandman@prairienet.org Corporate Agent: Jim Lewis 359-1342 jlewis@cucug.org Librarian/Sysop: Kevin Hisel 352-1002 khisel@cucug.org C64/128 SIG: Craig Kummerow 784-5919 cwkummer@prairienet.org Macintosh SIG: Richard Rollins 469-2616 rrollins@cucug.org
Call our Starship CUCUG BBS at (217) 356-8056, always online, up to 28,800 baud, supporting all CBM and Macintosh computers. Email us at
cucug@cucug.orgor surf our home page at
To get on the net free, call Prairienet at (217) 255-9000. Login as "visitor".