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Text File | 1992-10-24 | 40.7 KB | 899 lines

Welcome to the ____ / ___) *StarShip* 5-MINUTE Weekend Newscast / (_ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ / ___) / (__ very weekend the *StarShip* on GEnie presents a new 5-MINUTE Weekend (_____) Newscast in Communications Room 10 in the Real-Time Conference Area. Featuring late-breaking stories from the Amiga community, these dynamic, scrolling newscasts cycle every 5 minutes, so you can stop by between 6PM and 3AM Eastern time on Friday, or 3PM and 3AM Eastern time on Saturday or Sunday and learn everything that happened during the preceding week. Industry news, product announcements, upgrades, rumors, special *StarShip* activities, trade show reports, GEnie usage tips, humor, recommended files to download... ... the works -- and it ONLY takes 5 minutes! Each 5-MINUTE Weekend Newscast is available on *StarShip* Menu #10 during the following week. Periodically, newscasts are combined and made available for downloading from the *StarShip Library. ____________________________________________________________ // \ || -*- IMPORTANT! -*- | || | || As long as individual stories are kept intact and credit | || is given, this material may be reproduced in ALL or PART | || on a privately owned BBS or in a user group newsletter. | || See wording for proper credit at the end of this Newscast. | \\____________________________________________________________/ || | || | ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Thanks to Denny Atkin, Editor, COMPUTE's Amiga Resource, for his generous input. Here we go!... DateLine: October 23, 1992 This 5-MINUTE Newscast presents the following stories: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 1. Rumor of Great Interest: A1200 Described by Commodore Dealer 2. Video Music Box V1.4 3. Morphus Released by Impulse, Inc. 4. Next Week's *StarShip* Amiga Conferences - Thursday's Guest: ASDG 5. Halloween *StarShip* Library Picks 6. Major OEMs Choose Seagate's ST9144 Family for Leading-Edge Computers 7. SoftWood Ships Final Copy II 8. AMOS Professional Available in U.S. *StarShip* NEWS *Flash* 1st of 8 Stories Rumor of Great Interest... A1200 Described by Commodore Dealer ______ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ (__ __) by Mark Stuart on Usenet / / / / (_/he following is a copy of information I received from Commodore NZ regarding the Amiga 1200. I am a Commodore dealer, I have never signed an NDA and they don't seem to mind me talking about it. I have a few customers who use the net and they can verify that this ain't bull. Read on... Introduction The A1200 is the most significant product Commodore has released since we introduced the Amiga 500. The A1200 is seen as the A500 of the 90's. We should view the A600 as the entry home computer and the A1200 as a power machine for all home hobbyists. Positioning The A1200 is much more powerful than the A500 or A600. It is the first keyboard integrated machine with the AA chip set and a 32 bit processor. This will permit 256 colours from a palette of 16.8 million compared to the A500 and A600's 32 colours from a palette of 4096. This new chip set also supports an enhanced HAM mode allowing near photo realistic image in all resolutions with up to 256,000 colours. The new A1200 chip set will support VGA productivity screen (640 x 480 256 colours) at refresh rates up to 72khz interlaced. Sprite sizes have been increased from 16bit to 32 and 64 bits wide. Also sprites can be displayed in screen borders and have resolutions independent of play fields. The A1200 will come with 2 megabytes of chip RAM, thus chip RAM expansion is not needed. The A1200 is a true 32 bit system, with 32 bit RAM, and ROM using the 14Mhz (2 x A500/A600) clock speed 32 bit 68E020 processor. This processor not runs at twice the speed of the A500/A600 but also has a 256 byte instruction cache. These capabilities enable the A1200 to achieve performance that is up to 5 times that of the A500/A600. The A1200 is packaged in the new style case, but will support the addition of a numeric keypad, as in the A500+. This package also supports the addition of an internal 2.5" IDE hard drive, as in the A600. The A1200 retains the PCMCIA card port for memory and I/O expansion, but also adds a 32 bit processor bus expansion port accessible via a door on the bottom of the unit. This port is similar to the A500 expansion port, but is not compatible. This port is enhanced to 32 bits and 14Mhz operation. Cards/Adapters can have access to the port allowing: - Accelerator processors - DSP Processors - SCSI Adapters - Fast RAM expansion - Bridge Cards Boards added to the expansion bus can have external cable connector access via a rear panel knock out. With the new package, AA chip set, better expansion and high speed 32 bit processor, the A1200 is a very exciting and competitive product. The new A1200's are shipped with Amiga DOS 3.0 a backward compatible extension to the industry standard 2.0 which provides full support for the new chip set enhanced graphics, and is "localised" for over 14 countries and languages. All this means is that we have without doubt the most power home computer in the world even after our competitors recent launches. With the increase in colour depth and screen resolution combined with Amiga's graphics performance, the A1200 will provide better video performance than PC386 systems. *StarShip* News Network Note ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ It is further rumored by people "in the know," that Commodore will be introducing the Amiga 1200 at COMDEX/Fall'92, a humongous trade show at which they are now registered to exhibit, scheduled for November 16 through 20, 1992 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The *StarShip* 5-MINUTE News will have reports from COMDEX the moment they are available. Stay tuned! -*- *StarShip* NEWS *Flash* 2nd of 8 Stories Video Music Box V1.4 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Now Workbench 2.0 Compatible ____ The easiest way for creative non-musicians (_ _) to compose original background music for / / Amiga multimedia and video projects. / / _/ / (____)f you are using one of the popular multimedia programs that require SMUS music sequences, Video Music Box(tm) is the only program that brings both algorithmic composition and sequencer-like editing to SMUS. So why use "canned" background music in your next multimedia project when Video Music Box V1.4 makes it easy to compose your own original background music? Start with an uncluttered easy-to-read main screen containing all the most commonly used controls, and a wide selection of pre-saved chord progressions and music pattern templates. You can generate and save basic MIDI or IFF SMUS sequences in many common musical styles without ever leaving the main screen by simply selecting a progression plus a pattern. Video Music Box even has default instruments built in so you can preview your new sequence over the Amiga's internal audio without having to find and load any instruments. [New DEMO Version, *StarShip* Library File #17248, works with AmigaDOS 2.0x] After generating a basic sequence, add an original melody or perform other custom edits to get just the right sound. Add and erase notes at the click of a mouse button. Cut, paste or perform a wide variety of basic editing functions such as transpose, quantize, adjust duration, etc. Version 1.4 also adds several new editing functions for generating classical-type variations. Each musical part is separately color coded so you can view or perform edits on any combination of all eight parts at the same time. Special tools are provided that allow you to "draw" in new notes that fit the chord progression. You can use these tools to quickly and easily to add melody, chord arpeggios, fills, or even create original counterpoint, without worrying about wrong notes. Though easy to use, Video Music Box is also powerful and flexible. You will not quickly outgrow its capabilities. An almost infinite amount of musical variety can be generated from the same patterns and chord progressions by changing instrument ranges and the percentage of randomly generated notes. These values are easily adjusted from the Generation Preferences window and can be saved so that they are loaded each time the program is started. You can also control the pitches that will be generated for each individual drum. This allows you to get the perfect drum sound when using your IFF 8SVX samples. Or set the pitches to match your MIDI drum machine and save the setup so you only have to do it once. Another benefit with Video Music Box is that you are not limited to the patterns and chord progressions provided. Create and save new patterns and chord progressions using editors provided. Build up a repertoire of new patterns by converting your SMUS and MIDI sequences to new patterns. Edit the existing chord progressions or create and save new progressions from your favorite tunes. And with Video Music Box, you can use any type of chord in a progression. Video Music Box v1.4 requires an Amiga with at least 1 Meg memory, and is now Workbench 2 compatible. A hard-drive is recommended but not required. Suggested Retail Price $109 + $6 S&H Send $5 for the Video Music Box v1.4 DEMO. (Or download this DEMO for less from the *StarShip* Library.) Video Music Box v1.4 is shipping now! Ask for it at your local Amiga dealer, or contact: __________________________________ / \ Digital Expressions Research | A DEMOnstration version with only | W6400 Firelane 8 | the save features disabled may be | Menasha, WI 54952 | downloaded in *StarShip* Library | 414/733-6863 8AM to 5PM CST | File #17248 VideoMusicBox14.LHA | \__________________________________/ -*- *StarShip* NEWS *Flash* 3rd of 8 Stories ____ Morphus Released by Impulse, Inc. (_ _) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ / / Brooklyn Park, MN -- October 1992 / / _/ / (____)mpulse is proud to bring the Amiga user another power program! Morphus is a program that is directly tied to Impulse's Imagine. Morphus is NOT a 2D image transformation program like many others that are presently on the market. Image Master from Black Belt, MorphPlus from ASDG are programs which take two IFF or other images and morph between them to create an animation. That is NOT what Morphus does. Morphus from Impulse performs various algorhithmic operations of Imagine-based objects which can then be imbedded in an existing Imagine animation script. A simple example might be the ability to morph a flat plane into a tube and then morph that tube into a torus. Morphus amends the staging file of any Imagine animation and then automatically places the new objects in the animation script. Morphus also carries a host of other effects that can be applied to objects created in Imagine, including: BEND TWIST SHEAR WATER Imagine, although a powerful program, does not have a mathematical scheme for morphing objects from one shape to another in a very precise manner. Morphus will be a welcome addition for all Amiga users who have Imagine. Combined with its power and low cost, it is a "must have" Impulse item. Morphus comes packaged in a unique four-color package with attractive graphics and is available now! Suggested retail price is only $119.00. For more information, contact your local Amiga Dealer or Impulse, Inc., at 8416 Xerxes Ave.N., Brooklyn Park, MN 55444, telephone 612/425-0557. -*- *StarShip* NEWS *Flash* 4th of 8 Stories __________________________________________________________________________ | | | *StarShip* Amiga Conferences | | ____ _ _ | | / ) __/ ) / ) | | / /) /____ (_ __)___ / /_ ____ ___ | | / // // ___) / / / )/ )/ __ )/ __) | | / (/ // (_ / / / /) // /) // ___// / | | (____/(____) (_/ (____/(____/(____)(_/ | | | | | | Except where noted, Conferences begin at 10PM Eastern Time in the Amiga | | Conference Rooms at Page 555. Amiga Programmers meet Wednesday nights | | at Pro/Am on Page 670. Amiga/GEnie HelpDesk EVERY Night at 9PM Eastern. | |__________________________________________________________________________| | Sunday | Monday | Tuesday | Humpday |Thursday | Friday | Saturday | | Help@9EDT| Help@9EDT|Help@9ED | Help@9EDT|Help@9EDT| Help@9EDT| Help@9EDT| |__________|__________|_________|__________|_________|__________|__________| | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 |29 |30 | 31 | |5-MIN News| | | | | | | | 3PM-3AM | | | AmiGames |vv-Video!|*StarShip*|5-MIN News| | -*- | DeskTop | Music |with Zach!|with Yury| News | 3PM-3AM | |10PM:Amiga|Publishing| Night | ------ | -ASDG- | |9:Hardware| | Graphics | Amiga | with |Programing|MorphPlus| 6PM-3AM | Clinic | | with Syl | Style! | Mikey! |at Pro/Am | Special | |10: Party!| |__________|__________|_________|__________|_________|__________|__________| ^^^^^^^^^ HelpDesk *EVERY* NIGHT @ 9PM Eastern Time! Got a problem? If you have questions about learning to use your Amiga, the *StarShip* or GEnie, we have answers! Stop by Conference Room 4 ANY EVENING from 9 to 10 EDT for live, on-the-spot help. -*- *StarShip* NEWS *Flash* 5th of 8 Stories ____ Halloween *StarShip* Library Picks / ___) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ / (_ *StarShip* 5-MINUTE News Network / ___) / (_ (____)verything you need to help create that extra-spooky atmosphere your Trick 'r Treaters are after is available for downloading from the *StarShip* Software Libraries. Why not let your Amiga make this a very special holiday for them? Dazzling art, stunning animations, and sounds simply made to order for haunting desktop videos have been produced and uploaded by Amiga owners just like you -- in the hopes that you'll download and put them to good use! There's also a bloody little "screen hack," spooky system icons and pointers, and even some first-rate clip art for that desktop publishing project you've been thinking about tackling. But don't delay -- the big day is just a week of so away! A spirited investigation of the Libraries .`~~~~~~'. revealed a plethora of potentially ,` ', great material for All Hallow's Eve : (0) (0) : projects. Many of these ghoulish : /\ : goodies can be combined using a `,_ _,' multimedia authoring system, or :<||||>: simply multitasked with utility \____/ programs available in the *StarShip* 0 ()======()=====() 0 Libraries as well. | / () \ / | / == () == \ / Here's the *StarShip* SysOps' | / == () == \ / Halloween Picks from our Libraries. o == () == o Some are small while others are () sizeable downloads -- but they're // \\ ALL fiendishly worth it! 0 0 A Bare Bones Presentation ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Animation ~~~~~~~~~ 17124 TRKORTRT92ANIM.LZH Uploaded by W.GRAHAM6 Size: 561920 Desc: An Imagine/Morphus animation Yes, it's BIG, but it's an absolute MUST HAVE for Amiga spooks. Bill Graham steps out front again with this smooth 3D looping HAM 200x250 animation of a slick Jack O'Lantern collapsing, flopping and springing back to life. So colorful and real you can almost reach out and touch it. 12703 HALLOWANIM.LHA Uploaded by C.LORD1 Size: 517376 Desc: Silly Halloween Anim in DPAINT IV This is a cute little animated spoof on Halloween done with DPaint IV that includes a touch of morphing. Colorful and fun - kids love it. Art ~~~ 12753 JACKOIFF.LZH Uploaded by B.HOWE Size: 14720 Desc: Jack O'Lantern pic uses DPIV cycling GREAT close-up of a Jack-O-Lantern in 352x240 64-color halfbright with VERY clever use of color cycling to alter background pics. Look close or you'll think it's an animation! Quick, nifty download. 17128 TRKORTRT92.JPG Uploaded by W.GRAHAM6 Size: 167424 Desc: An Imagine rendering Gorgeous 3D rendering a Jack O'Lantern in JPEG. Another Bill Graham winner! 768x482. Requires JPEG displaying utility to view. 12872 GREATPUMPKIN_DCTV.LZH Uploaded by D.SPEER4 Size: 96768 Desc: A picture of the greatest pumpkin DCTV owners get a real treat in this one! 5073 GRIMNIGHT.PAK Uploaded by S.PROCTOR1 Size: 70560 Desc: Here's one for Halloween, Enjoy. Spooky drawing of a gremlin, 640x400x16 colors monochrome. 17253 HALLOWEEN.LHA Uploaded by D.BAGGETT1 Size: 94208 Desc: dynamic(slicedHires)picture Impressive sliced HAM art -- View with MOSTRA. 768x482x 16 colors. 17100 WITCH.LZH Uploaded by J.WALSH10 Size: 16384 Desc: Witch and friend Saucy head and shoulder view of a blonde witch with a tiny green dragon perched on her shoulder. The words Trick or Treat are placed nicely along the top in orange. 640x400x16 colors. 17187 WITCH2.LZH Uploaded by J.WALSH10 Size: 42752 Desc: witch riding broomstick The same saucy blonde witch as file #17100 only voluptuous this time (although fully clothed), riding on her broom. 736x482 16 colors. Both WITCH.LZH and WITCH2.LZH are okay for kids. Music/Sound ~~~~~~~~~~~ 11272 GHOST.LZH Uploaded by P.WRIGHT5 Size: 52096 Desc: NoiseTrack MODule The BEST scary music around! This is a great MOD with some super Halloween effects, in standard Sound/Noise/ProTracker format. Highly recommended as foreground OR background music. 17217 HALOWEEN.LZH Uploaded by MIKE-D Size: 220288 Desc: Nifty Halloween music MOD Good background music in standard Sound/Noise/ProTracker format. 9313 SCARYORGAN.ZIP Uploaded by LOVHAUG Size: 472500 Desc: Halloween Bach Organ Great digitized sound sample that's perfect background music for a scary presentation. It's the famous Bach Organ Tocatta most people associate with the old Phantom of the Opera movie, played by a REAL Organ. Sampled in three sections with brief pauses so you can clip out and play excerpts separately. Big but worth it. Play with R.L. Stockton's SOUND program or authoring system. 9256 TOCCATANFUGUE.LZH Uploaded by C.WALWORTH Size: 26460 Desc: Bach's Toccata & Fugue in D Minor A DMCS score of Bach's famous "scarey music" done VERY nicely! SCARYORGAN.ZIP is the intro to this, only sampled from a real organ playing. Requires DMCS instruments Piano and PipeOrgan or similar. 12508 UNCHAINED_MELODY.LZH Uploaded by DEB Size: 8064 Desc: Theme song from "Ghost" Movie Definitely NOT scarey, this is a wonderful romantic change of pace. Deb's beautiful DMCS arrangement of the hit song from the past, recently re-released with the movie "Ghost." Righteous Bros. hit. System Fun ~~~~~~~~~~ 9381 BLOB.LZH Uploaded by R.HUGHES6 Size: 12600 Desc: Blood dribbles down the screen One of those funny little programmer "hacks" that makes drops of bright red blood drizzle down your monitor screen. Written in Feb 1989, it still works with AmigaDOS 2.04 (although it left my pointer red). Good for a laugh. 3100 6-MORE_POINTERS.ARC Uploaded by GRAFIX.M Size: 3780 Desc: Halloween pointers! AmigaDOS 1.3 system pointers. 9348 HALLOW_ICONS.LZH Uploaded by S.AUDET Size: 5040 Desc: Three halloween icons. AmigaDOS 1.3 icons, nice pumpkin and two suggestive witchs. DeskTop Publishing ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 17202 HALLOWEENIFF.LHA Uploaded by K.KROH Size: 82944 Desc: Halloween Art IFF by TECHNA-Graphics 15 VERY nice IFF clipart screens from a commercial designer. Included are spooky trees, pumpkins, haunted house, phoenix, jack o'lanterns, ghost, bat, etc. 17141 HALLOWEEN_GRAPHICS.LHA Uploaded by K.KROH Size: 208640 Desc: Halloween clipart by TECHNA-Graphics Same as 17202 but this time in ProDraw format. Impressive stuff. 7130 CLIPART.ZOO Uploaded by J.KRUGERIII Size: 17640 Desc: Converted Mac Clipart Several black and white illustrations in 640x400 format including a cute black cat and a witch. 4835 GHOSTFONT.ARC Uploaded by P.M.STERN Size: 2520 This is a nice, ghosty looking font. 7253 GRAPHFX4.ZOO Uploaded by H.KRUGERIII Size: 139860 Desc: Converted Mac Clipart Great collection of clipart including party kids, pumpkins, and some nice placard illustrations you can insert text into. 8 Screens. And more...! ~~~~~~~~~~~~ 13830 RUNESIGHT.LZH Uploaded by B.ROBISON Size: 153856 Desc: DEMO of an amazing Runic Fortune Telling Program 6923 TAROTMASTER.ZOO Uploaded by N.CIRASELLA Size: 175140 Desc: DEMO of beautiful Amiga Art Tarot Program. 16914 BLOODBALL.LHA Uploaded by P.TARANTINE Size: 260736 Desc: This is no ordinary football game. You choose the Monsters, you choose the sides. Fantasy Nightmare Football, on the Bloodball field! Can the strategy of the orcs beat the sheer strength and size of the other team? ........ ;::;;::;, ;::;;::;;, ;;:::;;::;;, .vnmmnv%vnmnv%,.;;;:::;;::;;, .,vnmnv%vnmnv, vnmmmnv%vnmmmnv%vnmmnv%;;;;;;;%nmmmnv%vnmmnv%vnmmnv vnmmnv%vnmmmmmnv%vnmmmmmnv%;:;%nmmmmmmnv%vnmmmnv%vnmmmnv vnmmnv%vnmmmmmnv%vnmmmmmmmmnv%vnmmmmmmmmnv%vnmmmnv%vnmmmnv vnmmnv%vnmmmmmnv%vnmmmmmmmmnv%vnmmmmmmmmmmnv%vnmmmnv%vnmmmnv vnmmnv%vnmmmmmnv%vnmm;mmmmmmnv%vnmmmmmmmm;mmnv%vnmmmnv%vnmmmnv, vnmmnv%vnmmmmmnv%vnmm;' mmmmmnv%vnmmmmmmm;' mmnv%vnmmmnv%vnmmmnv vnmmnv%vnmmmmmnv%vn;; mmmmnv%vnmmmmmm;; nv%vnmmmmnv%vnmmmnv vnmmnv%vnmmmmmmnv%v;; mmmnv%vnmmmmm;; v%vnmmmmmnv%vnmmmnv vnmmnv%vnmmmmmmnv%vnmmmmmmmmm;; mmmmmmmmmnv%vnmmmmmmnv%vnmmmnv vnmmnv%vnmmmmmmnv%vnmmmmmmmmmm;; mmmmmmmmmmnv%vnmmmmmmnv%vnmmmnv vnmmnv%vnmmmmm nv%vnmmmmmmmmmmnv;, mmmmmmmmmmmmnv%vn;mmmmmnv%vnmmmnv vnmmnv%vnmmmmm nv%vnmmmmmmmmmnv%;nmmmmmmmmmmmnv%vn; mmmmmnv%vnmmmnv `vnmmnv%vnmmmm, v%vnmmmmmmmmmmnv%vnmmmmmmmmmmnv%v; mmmmnv%vnnmmnv' vnmmnv%vnmmmm;, %vnmmmmmmmmmnv%vnmmmmmmmmmnv%;' mmmnv%vnmmmmnv vnmmnv%vnmmmm;;, nmmm;' mmmm;;' mmmnv%vnmmmmnv' `vnmmnv%vnmmmmm;;,. mmnv%v;, mmmmnv%vnmmmmnv' `vnmmnv%vnmmmmmmnv%vnmmmmmmmmnv%vnmmmmmmnv%vnmmmmmnv%vnmmmmnv' `vnmvn%vnmmmmmmnv%vnmmmmmmmnv%vnmmmmmnv%vnmmmmmnv%vnmmmnv' `vn%vnmmmmmmn%:%vnmnmmmmnv%vnmmmnv%:%vnmmnv%vnmnv' `v%vnmmmmmn%:%vnmnmmmmnv%vnmmmnv%:%vnmmv%vnmnv' `v%vnmmmmn%:%vnmnmmmnv%vnmmnv%:%vnmmv%vnmnv' `v%vmmmmn%:%vnmnmmnv%vnmnv%:%vnmmv%vnnv' ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ -*- *StarShip* NEWS *Flash* 6th of 8 Stories Major OEMs Choose Seagate's ST9144 Family for Leading-Edge Notebook Computers _ _ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ / \/ \ Scotts Valley, CA (Oct. 20) BUSINESS WIRE / \ / /\ /\ \ (_/ \/ \_)ajor OEMs leading the development in a new wave of notebook computers have selected Seagate Technology's ST9144 family of hard disc drives for use in their systems. Representing a range of the industry's most successful computer manufacturers, the OEMs include NEC, Texas Instrument and Commodore. The 2.5-inch low-profile ST9144 line, available with an embedded AT interface, has become a popular solution for notebook computers because of its leading-edge power management capabilities, high shock resistance, maximum capacity of 127 megabytes (MB) and advanced performance. NEC has selected the ST9052A, a 42MB member of the ST9144 family, as the hard drive for use in its PC-9801 ns/L40 notebook computer. The new PC-9801 ns/L40 is specially designed for the lucrative Japanese market where NEC is the leading supplier of personal computer products. NEC chose the Seagate drive because its 12.5-millimeter profile is ideal for the slim-line design of the company's 386SX-based 20MHz notebook. The PC-9801 ns/l40, part of NEC'S 98Note line of notebooks, includes a Kanji operating system and Japanese-style keyboard. Texas Instruments adopted the ST9144A for members of its TravelMate 4000 line of notebooks. TI is using the drive in its 25MHz 496-based WinSx/25 and WinDx/25 systems. A key factor in TI'S decision was the time-to-market benefit of Seagate's approach to designing and manufacturing key components used in its hard disc drives -- including integrated circuits, read/write heads, and motors. "In a competitive market such as notebook computers, time-to-market critical,: said Nassir Ahmed, TI's director of Worldwide Marketing, Portable PC Products. "We have been impressed with Seagate's in-house design and manufacture of hard drive components and the edge that it gives us in getting products quickly to the customer." The ST9144 family's advanced power management is the result of a four-phase power management system that provides overall average power consumption of less than 1 watt in most applications. According PC Labs Z-digit test for portable system battery life, the ST9144A is one of the industry's most power-efficient hard disc drives. Commodore is using the ST9052A in its Amiga 600 home entertainment computer. The 68020-based system incorporates its hardware and software into a central keyboard system that connects to a television or monitor for home entertainment and computing applications. "This widespread adoption of our ST9144 family is an affirmation that Seagate has listened to its customers, identified their needs and designed products ideally suited for their next-generation notebook computer," said Alan F. Shugart, Seagate's president and chief executive officer. The ST9144 family features a non-operating shock specification of 150Gs, an average seek time of 16 milliseconds, 150,000-hour MTBF and the ability to reliably operate in environmental extremes. With a low weight of 4.8 ounces and an unmatched acoustic performance of 33dBA maximum, the St9144 family offers the weight and acoustics specifications required for today's battery-operated computers. Seagate Technology is a leading supplier of disc storage products to original equipment manufacturers and remarketers worldwide. -*- *StarShip* Amiga *Flash* 7th of 8 Stories ____ SoftWood Ships Final Copy II / ___) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ( (__ Phoenix, AZ - October 1992 \__ \ ___) ) (____/oftWood, Inc. is now shipping Final Copy II for the Commodore Amiga. New Word Processing Features 1. Style sheets (named paragraph styles) 2. Master pages 3. Larger thesaurus - 1.4 million responses 4. Larger speller - 144,000 words 5. Mail-merge 6. Left/right pages with binding offset during printing 7. Paragraph sorting 8. Math support - add a column of numbers 9. Auto-suggest option during spelling New Page Layout Features 10. Object oriented, resolution independent, structured drawing tools o Boxes o Rounded cornered boxes o Perfect squares o Ovals o Perfect circles o Lines at any angle o Arrow-tipped lines 11. Explicit sizing and positioning of all graphics 12. Text flow around and over lines, circles and boxes 13. "Text over graphic" option on all graphic types 14. Filled boxes and line weights 15. Text obliquing (negative to positive) 16. Lock and unlock graphics 17. Color text option New User-Interface Features 18. Completely new graphical user interface with WB 2.0 look and feel o List and slider gadgets o Real-time scrolling o Movable requesters o Enhanced file requester 19. Horizontal scrolling during typing 20. Many new ARexx commands 21. Standard margin indicators 22. Header/Footer and Column page guides 23. House zoom/unzoom 24. Mouse document panning 25. Vertical ruler option 26. 125%, 150% editable page magnification 27. Command ribbon for selecting options and tools 28. Page number icon for accessing first, last, next, and previous page 29. Default typeface specification 30. User-definable custom screen colors 31. Specify number of custom screen colors Additional information on some of Final Copy II's new features: Drawing Tools Use Final Copy's drawing tools to draw boxes, ovals, squares, circles, lines, arrow-tipped lines, and rounded cornered boxes in your document. For example, you might use the box tool to draw a thin border around a paragraph of text. By using the drawing tools, you can draw simple shapes to accentuate text, create logos, separate blocks of text, etc. Each graphic drawn is treated by Final Copy II as a separate object. What this means is that once you draw something, you can reposition, resize, and even remove it as desired. Shapes such as boxes, ovals, squares, and circles can either be drawn filled with a color or left empty. Lines and borders around objects can be defined to be a color and have a thickness of 0 to 12 points. All graphic objects drawn have the same text flow capabilities as imported pictures. For example, you could draw a diagonal line and have text automatically flow to one side of it. Style Sheets Final Copy II lets you define and redefine up to 16 named styles. Within each style you can define paragraph settings, tab stops, and type attributes. When a style is applied to text, the text takes on the characteristics of any paragraph, tab, and type attributes that are defined within the style. Final Copy II gives you several predefined styles to choose from. You can use these predefined styles "as is," modify them, and add new ones of your own. Using styles is a powerful way of formatting your text. As an example, with a single style you can set the font and its size, type style, text alignment, margins, and tab stops. Style Sheets free you from the need to apply many formatting attributes individually to every paragraph. For example, if you want all section titles to be size 18 in SoftSans_Bold, centered and underlined, you can apply all of those formats in one style, rather than having to apply each format to every title. Styles also make changing formats easy -- you simply change the definition of the style and the changes are automatically applied throughout the document. Style Sheets ensure that the style of each type of paragraph remains consistent throughout your document. Master Pages A master page is a place in a Final Copy document where you define text and graphics that are to appear on each of your document's pages. There are many uses for master pages, including document titles, chapter names, special graphics, dates, page backgrounds, headers, footers, and page borders. While other programs limit you to defining repeating headers and footers that only appear at the top and bottom of pages, Final Copy II's master pages let you define repeating text and graphics that appear anywhere on your page. User Interface Many enhancements have been made to Final Copy II's user interface. All windows and requesters now have the official WB 2.0 look and feel. All scrolling is done in real-time as you move the scroll bar or hold down on the scroll arrows. While you are typing, the program will scroll horizontally to bring your typing into view whenever necessary. A command ribbon has been placed at the top of each window to provide access to paragraph settings, tab stops, drawing tools, master pages and ruler options. Ruler options now include horizontal ruler only, horizontal and vertical rulers, and no rulers at all. Margin indicators now appear in the standard imagery used throughout the industry. Magnification and reduction of a page view can be accomplished by simply clicking the mouse. Additional keyboard shortcuts have been provided for menu item selections. You can specify the Final Copy typeface of your choice to be used as a default rather than SoftSans. Mail Merge The mail-merge feature in Final Copy II is one of the most easy-to-use yet powerful facilities found in any word processor on any computer. You can use Final Copy II to create your merge data, or import the data from another program. When you are defining a merge document Final Copy II will give you a list of the data names in your data file to choose from. There is no need to type in the name of the data name to be used in a merge field. All you have to do is click the mouse on the desired name in the list. When you print the merge, you can either specify the number of rows of data wanted, or all rows. Custom Screens With Final Copy I you could only use either the Workbench screen or a preset Custom screen. Final Copy II lets you define the number of colors you want a Custom screen to have. The number of colors you may choose depends upon the type of Amiga and display mode you want. The number of colors option supports not only current Amigas, but any that may come out in the future. Of course, what good is indicating how many colors you want in a custom screen if you can't also define the colors. Final Copy II lets you define the custom screen colors the way you want them to be. Outline Fonts New features in Final Copy II let you define the color of text. Previously Final Copy could only print text in black. Now you can choose from 16 different colors each of which can be defined as you want. In addition, you can now specify a percent of slant that can be applied to any typeface. The slant can be positive or negative. The term used for this process is called obliquing. A new font engine has been implemented in Final Copy II which provides faster sizing and typing, as well as minor improvements to on-screen readability. All typefaces used in Final Copy I can be used in Final Copy II. Math Have you ever entered a column of numbers in a document and had to get out your calculator to add them together? Final Copy II's math feature will add a column of numbers quickly and conveniently. All you have to do is drag the mouse around the numbers you want to add, click the mouse where you want the total to be entered, and choose Paste from the Edit menu. Once a total is pasted into your document, you can edit it just as you do any other text. Sorting Final Copy II will quickly arrange any number of paragraphs in ascending or descending order. This feature is handy for alphabetizing lists of names used in a mail-merge. After Final Copy II sorts the paragraphs, it will redraw the screen with the paragraphs in their new order. For more information on Final Copy II, contact your Amiga Dealer or SoftWood, Inc., P.O. Box 50178, Phoenix, AZ 85076, or call 602/431-9151. -*- *StarShip* NEWS *Flash* 8th of 8 Stories ______ AMOS Professional Available in U.S. (__ __) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ / / / / (_/he Official release date for AMOS PRO is Thursday, October 15th. AMOS PROFESSIONAL Features: -750 Commands -900 Page Manual -6 Disk Package Including: -Examples Disk with 80+ Documented Programs -2 Productivity Disks -Tutorial Disk demonstrating Programming Techniques -System Disk -Accessory Disk -New Accessory Programs -Bobs, Sprites & Icon Editors -Sample Bank Editor -Resource Bank Editor -Full Arexx Support -Online Help Facility for every Command -New Advanced Editor -Fully Configurable -Multiple Windows (Edit up to 16 Programs Simultaneously) -Cut and Paste between Windows -Pull Down Menus -User Defined Macros -Interface Language -Customize Alert Boxes, Requesters, Windows, etc... -AMOS Monitor (Debugging Facility) -Trace Commands as they are Executed -Monitor Variable Values, Loop Executions, etc... -MED Music Support -DPaint & MovieSetter Compressed Animation Support -New & Improved Direct Mode -Comprehensive Commands for Serial & Parallel Ports -Devs & Libs Access for Advanced Users -Ability to Incorporate Machine Code as Procedures -Support up to 65,000 Memory Banks -Plus a whole lot more......... Dave Lazarek has agreed to do upgrades for AMOS users in America wishing to go to the new AMOS Professional. You must send the first page of your original AMOS manual, along with $64.00 ($60.00 for A Pro, $4.00 S&H) to: Dave Lazarek 516 E 11th St. Michigan City, IN 46360-3616 AMOS BBS (219)-874-0367 In return you will receive the full AMOS Professional Upgrade package, which includes all 6 disks, 6-page manual, etc. This is less expensive than $80.00 (40 UK pounds) that Europress is charging to upgrade from England. This is a service to American users that we are trying out. Hopefully you will find it helpful. Please allow 2 weeks for delivery. -*- Over a GIGABYTE of Amiga files in our Library! Catch your limit of Fred FISH Disks from the *StarFish* Library. If you are after a SINGLE PROGRAM on a Fish Disk, SEARCH for it before downloading the disk. Most are available separately! _______________________________________________________________ | | | | | Permission is hereby granted to quote ALL or PART of this | | Newscast on a privately owned BBS or in a user group news- | | letter (*) provided you include the following credit: | | | | Reprinted by Permission from the 5-MINUTE Weekend | | News Network, a *StarShip*(tm) Production on GEnie(R). | | * /\ / | |_________________________________________________ ___/ \___ _| ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ \ oo / ~ . \ \__/ / _ (*) We would like to know about it / \ if you do, and you can tell us \ /\ / *FREE* by leaving Feedback to / \/ \/ \ the SysOps on GEnie Page 555. *StarFish* Librarian The current issue of ViewPort is FREE --- Don't miss it!