\\|// \\|// (o o) (o o) +---------oOOo-(_)-oOOo--------------------------oOOo-(_)-oOOo----------+ | | | THE MADNESS SPEAKS | | | +-----------------------------------------------------------------------+ Hi there the first part of the doc is on the reason for the delay of MiggyByte 4 and why my BBS went off line for a week. After this the usual news round up of little snippets not big enough to put in their own articles. What a hectic month November was and I hope I never have to go through a month like that again. I know your all desperate to know why I thought it was so bad so here goes. First off one day during a FidoNet import the Amiga went crazy and the Hard Drive took revenge for all the abuse I had given it. What happened was a total nightmare to most sysops. Every single file on the hard drive some how became hashed. I booted up DiskSalve and all it did was take a look at the mess the hard drive and the files were in and shrugged its shoulders (well it would have if it had any). So what this ment was EVERY file on the hard drive was lost all the BBS files 5000+ and the source code to MiggyByte and all my Uni work! Thats it I thought, I give up. For the next few days I walked round with my head held low and anyone who asked what was wrong soon wished they hadn't as I spurted out my sob story (I suppose this is a good time to say if any one mentions the word backup Ill kick their teeth in). Anyhow after a few days I started looking at the manual to Xenolink BBS software that had arrived a few days before the crash. After studying the manual I though this looks like fun, (I didn't really it looked like bloody hard work) so I decided to start up my BBS again. At this point I must say a big thank you to Aaron Thorne and Rob Dale for the help in getting the BBS back on-line so quick. So within a week the BBS was back but sadly with a rather small file base of 200+ files. But thanks to a few very kewl users the BBS has already started to grow and a big thank you to you all. Of course in the crash I lost the files etc for MiggyByte so a frantic search through my floppy collection and I found V0.98 of the MiggyByte source code. This was a relief, but the version used in the November issue was V1.09. So I had to spend a few sleepless nights hacking the code to get it back to a usable standard but sadly its still not up to the V1.09 standard. So if you find any bugs at all in this issue please let me know as it hasn't been tested at all due to the time limit. <<< Here is the news >>> < Phase 5 > Phase 5 are to make the new range of Power PC boards for the A1200/A4000 and rumour has it that registered users of the Blizzard range of turbo boards will be able to get an upgrade at a reduced price. < Amiga Technologies > Amiga Technologies have announced that there is to be an official CDROM unit for the A600/A1200 with CD32 emulation. The drive is said to be quad speed and to connect to the PCMCIA slot. Thus leaving the trap door slot free. < Sadness and NFA > Are to release their first CDROM of AGA stuff. Named 'The AGA Experience'. < Wordworth 5 > Wordworth 5 is due for release any day now and has been speeded up beyond reality or so its said. Extra features are REXX support, Fast Format, Font Effects, and true multitasking. You can even edit docs while the program is printing! But the best bit of news is the upgrade from previous versions of Wordworth is only £29.99. For more information call 01 395 270 273 < Silica > Silica go into receivership but don't panic it is a protective more as Silcia's parent company is in financial difficulties. All is expected to be sorted out soon and all orders are said to be OK and will be honoured. < Hi-Soft > Two new Squirrels rolls into town this one has the standard SCSI interface and a serial port capable of speeds of 300,000bps. So those with fast modems can now get the best out of them. The other Squirrel is an MPEG decoder/encoder. Yup thats right with this unit you can convert your own anims etc into MPEG file formats etc. < Team 17 > After all the rumours that Team 17 were to leave the Amiga they have announced they will be staying around at least a while longer. There is plans for Alien Breed 3D special edition. This version will have a full map editor but best off all it will also have a pixel rate of 1:1 eg full screen and no blockyness. But this is at a price, you will need an 030 in your A1200 to get the best from it. < Fields of Vision > Are to release a Doom style game that has full screen and 1:1 pixel rate. Its rumoured that Power computing have made a deal to sell it with their Turbo Boards. < Amos Pro > Amos Pro is to be re-released at a retail price of around £29.99 there has been no news of an upgrade to AGA but we hope to have full info next month. < World of Amiga Show > The World of Amiga Show is back! On the 6th and 7th of January at a London location Ill be there so look out for me ;) Thats all for this month. Byz. END ---