
               _      ____       ___   ______       _______          _
              d#      ####b     g#00   `N##0"    _agN#0P0N#         d#
             d##       jN##    j##F     J##    _dN0"      "        d##
           .#]##      _P ##L  jN##F     ###   g#0"               .#]##
          dE_j##      #  0## jF ##F    j##F  j##'    ______     dE_j##
        .0"""N##     d"   ##L0  ##F    0##   0##     "9##F"   .0"""5##
      .dF'   ]##    jF    ##0   ##F    ##F   `##k     d##   .dF'   j##
    .g#_    _j##___g#__   ]N  _j##L_ _d##L_   `#Nh___g#N' .g#_    _j##__
   """""    """""""""""    "  """""" """"""      """"""" """""    """"""

            *---== STReport International Online Magazine ==---*
                   """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
                              * AMIGA EDITION *
                    "The Original Amiga Online Magazine"
                                    from
                               STR Publishing
                               """"""""""""""
                         [S]ilicon [T]imes [R]eport


 April 9, 1993                                                     No. 1.04
 ==========================================================================

                  -----------------------------------------
                             * THE BOUNTY BBS *
                          Home of  STR Publications
                         * RUNNING  TURBOBOARD BBS *
                  904-786-4176  USR DS 16.8  24hrs - 7 days
                  -----------------------------------------
                                * NOVA BBS *
                         Amiga Report Headquarters
                          * RUNNING STARNET BBS *
                             FidoNet  1:362/508
                  615-472-9748  USR DS 16.8  24hrs - 7 days
                  -----------------------------------------

 ____________________________________________________________________________


 > 04/09/93 STR-Amiga 1.04  "The Original * Independent * Online Magazine!"
   """""""""""""""""""""""
     - The Editor's Desk     - CPU Report         - New Products
     - Rendered Reality      - STR Confidential   - Amiga Tip of the Week
     - Dealer Directory      - STR Online         - XFH Review
     - Meet Denny Atkin      - WoC Conference     - Color Hand Scanner

                        -* Amiga 5000 Confirmed??? *-
                  -* Desktop Video on a Shoestring Budget *-
                             -* PageStream 3.0 *-

 ============================================================================
                  Amiga Report International Online Magazine
                            From STR Publications
                         [S]ilicon [T]imes [R]eport
                 The Original * Independent * Online Magazine
                            -* FEATURING WEEKLY *-
                  "Accurate UP-TO-DATE News and Information"
       Current Events, Original Articles, Tips, Rumors, and Information
               Hardware ~ Software ~ Corporate ~ R & D ~ Imports
 ============================================================================
             GENIE ~ DELPHI ~ NVN ~ BIX ~ PORTAL ~ FIDO ~ INTERNET
 ============================================================================


                       :HOW TO GET YOUR OWN GENIE ACCOUNT:
                        _________________________________

        Set your communications software to Half Duplex (or Local Echo)
                         Call: (with modem) 800-638-8369.
                  Upon connection type HHH (RETURN after that).
                             Wait for the U#= prompt.

                    Type: XTX99587,CPUREPT then, hit RETURN.

  GEnie costs only $4.95 a month for unlimited evening and weekend access to
  more  than  100  services  including electronic mail, online encyclopedia,
  shopping, news, entertainment, single-player  games,  and  bulletin boards
  on leisure and professional subjects.  With many other services, including
  the biggest collection of files to download and the best online games, for
  only $6 per hour.

  MONEY BACK  GUARANTEE!   Any time during your first month of membership if
  you are not completely satisfied, just ask for your $4.95 back.


           GEnie Information copyright (C) 1991 by General Electric
            Information Services/GEnie, reprinted with permission


 ****************************************************************************


 > From the Editor's Desk                  "Saying it like it is!"
   """"""""""""""""""""""


 Another show has come and gone.  The World of Commodore show in New York
 this past weekend was a definite success.  Commodore and many third party
 vendors showed some neat new products, that are either available now, or
 will be available in the near future.

 Due to prior committments, we were unable to attend the show or prepare a
 report about it.  I was considering reprinting a report from GEnie's
 5-minute news, or their ViewPort online magazine, but I decided to simply
 refer our readers to those two publications for more show info, as this
 week's issue is already rather large.  That's the April 2nd issue of the
 GEnie 5-Minute News, or the April issue of ViewPort.  They can be found
 on GEnie, or on various FTP sites and public BBS's.

 On another note, I'm worried.  A good friend of mine that has been into
 Atari computers as long as I had been (before my switch) has just about
 decided to abandon them as well, since the Falcon is still nowhere to be
 seen in the USA.  The problem is that he said he's actually starting to
 LIKE Windows.  As in Microsoft's Windows for the PC.  Ack!  I've been
 trying to get him to give the Amiga a close look ever since I made the
 switch, and he said he would.  But, he says that the PC is the most power
 for the money.  Unfortunately, he's right.  The 4000/030 is the only
 machine he'll consider, and with street prices of $1800 and up, it makes
 a 486/33 system for $1400 look awfully good.  I'm trying to convince him
 that if nothing else, the Amiga's superior multitasking OS is worth the
 extra money.  But then he points out that support isn't that easy to
 come by.

 Commodore is going a great job in terms of getting new machines out the
 door, and software manufacturers are releasing some really cool software.
 But... where can you buy it???  Dealers are still few and far between.
 So far, only two dealers have asked to be included in our Dealer
 Directory.  I know there are more than that.  But even in a major city
 like Orlando, Florida, where my friend lives, there is no Amiga dealer.
 The Yellow Pages list one, but he says they don't answer their phone.

 The closest dealer to me is 120 miles away in Houston, Texas.  Before I
 moved out here, the closest dealer was also 120 miles away in Atlanta.
 Software, Etc. said that they would carry the Amiga 1200, but they were
 apparently way down on Commodore's list for receiving stock.

 Commodore MUST get the machines into more stores.  They must recruit new
 dealers, and most of all, they must ADVERTISE.  The general public knows
 little or nothing about the Amiga.  When Joe Blow decides to buy a
 computer, he buys a PC.  Or if he has any sense at all, he buys a Mac.
 Where does he go to buy one of these computers?  Almost anywhere.  SAM's
 Club, Wal Mart, Sears, Best Buy, Target, all of the mass merchandisers
 are carrying clones and the Mac Performa line.

 Don't get me wrong.  I'm not bashing Commodore.  I'm still very pleased
 with my A1200, and wouldn't trade it for anything (except perhaps for
 an A4000!).  But if others are to experience the wonder of being an
 Amiga owner, they must know the machine exists.

 We have two special treats this week -- the transcripts from two GEnie
 Realtime Conferences (RTC's).  One is a 'live' report from the World of
 Commodore show and the other is the Meet Denny Atkin conference.  Both
 are quite good and provide for some really entertaining reading.  Enjoy!

            Rob @ Amiga Report International Online Magazine



 """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""


  Amiga Report's Staff                       DEDICATED TO SERVING YOU!
  """"""""""""""""""""

                                     Editor
                                     ------
                                  Robert Glover


          Technical Editor       Graphics Editor        Contributing Editor
          ----------------       ---------------        -------------------
           Micah Thompson         Mike Troxell              Tom Mulcahy
 GEnie:       BOOMER.T             M.TROXELL1
 FidoNet:                          1:362/508.5              1:260/322
 Delphi:                                                    16BITTER
 Bix:                                                       HELMET


                           Contributing Correspondents
                           ---------------------------
                                Jeffrey Blanchard
                                  Michael Heinz



            PC DIVISION          ATARI DIVISION           MAC DIVISION
            -----------          --------------           ------------
            Roger D. Stevens     Ralph F. Mariano         R. Albritton


                                IMPORTANT NOTICE
                                """"""""""""""""
          Please, submit letters to the editor, articles, reviews, etc...
                                  via E-Mail to:

                    Delphi........................ ROB_G
                    GEnie......................... ROB-G
                    Internet.......................ROB_G@Delphi.COM


 """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

 > CPU STATUS REPORT                 LATE BREAKING INDUSTRY-WIDE NEWS
   =================


 SOFTLOGIK ANNOUNCES PAGESTREAM 3.0

 Every few years a program comes along that changes the way people use a
 computer. PageMaker for the Macintosh and Publishing Partner for the Atari
 ST were introduced in 1986 and were the first desktop publishing programs.
 Publishing Partner grew into PageStream, and quickly became the
 best-selling desktop publisher for Amiga computers. AmigaWorld gave it
 their coveted Expert's Choice award and proclaimed that PageStream is the
 best. AmigaUser International named it the heavyweight champion and Amazing
 Amiga called it a jewel of a program. But underneath the years of
 improvements, it was still the Publishing Partner that Personal Publishing
 magazine called a knockout program back in 1986.

 The way you think about publishing has just changed again. We're proud to
 announce PageStream 3.0. This is not just an upgrade, but a completely new
 program.

 PageStream 3: it will change the way you think about publishing.


 PARTIAL PAGESTREAM 3.0 FEATURE LIST

 x  feature present
 o  feature present/limited implementation
 NB unlimited means limited only by memory
 +  more formats may be added before release
 ?  could not be confirmed

 INTERFACE                          PAGESTREAM  QUARKXPRESS PROPAGE

 Maximum number of open documents    unlimited   7           1
 Max number of document views        unlimited   1           1
 Reveal/Hide document views          x
 Moveable document view windows      x           x
 Save program defaults               x           x
 Load program defaults               x           x
 Pasteboard/bleed area               x           x           x
    User-specified pasteboard size   x           x           o
 Toolbox                             x           x           o
    set position                     x           x
    set tool size                    x
    set toolbox orientation          x
 Edit Toolbox                        x           x           o
 Number of palettes/panels           6           6           0
 Measurement system options          11          7           3
 Set ruler zero point and offset     x           x           o
 User-specified view magnification   x           x           o
 Number of view magnifications       13          6           5
 View magnification zoom             x           x           x
 Show/Hide invisible characters      x           x
 Undo levels                         unlimited   1           1
 Online help                         x           x
    context sensitive                x           o
    cross-referenced ("hyper") help  x

 DOCUMENT CONSTRUCTION              PAGESTREAM  QUARKXPRESS PROPAGE

 Number of pre-defined page sizes    9           5           6
 Maximum page size (in inches)       2330"x2330" 48"x48"     48"x48"
 Different page sizes in a document  x                       x
 Change page size at any time        x           x           x
 Maximum document size (in pages)    unlimited   2000        9999
 Single and double sided documents   x           x           x
 Page spreads                        x           o
 Maximum number of master pages      unlimited   127         0
 Hide master page objects            x
 Visual page arrangement             x           x           x
 Divide documents into sections      x           o
 Divide sections into chapters       x
 Automatic page numbering            x           o           o
 Link and unlink columns             x           x           o

 WORD PROCESSING                    PAGESTREAM  QUARKXPRESS PROPAGE

 Cut, copy and paste text            x           x           x
    standard keyboard shortcuts      x           x
 Multiple Style sheets               x           o           o
 Load and save style sheets          x           x           x
 Find and replace text/attributes    x           x           o
 Find and replace style sheets       x
 Spelling checker                    x           x           o
 Import/Export formats               7/7+        9/6         9/0
    auto conversion of quotes        x           x
    auto conversion of commas        x           x
    auto conversion of dashes        x           x
 Maximum number of tabs              unlimited   20          16
    number of alignment options      4           4           1
    place numerically or manually    x           x           o
    right indent tab                 x           x
 User-definable tab leaders          x           x
 List all articles used              x           x

 TYPOGRAPHY                         PAGESTREAM  QUARKXPRESS PROPAGE

 Number of outline font systems      3           2           1
 Font sizes                          1-50,000    2-720       2-720
    increments                       0.01 pts    0.001 pts   0.125 pts
    horizontally scale text          x           x
 Align text vertically               x           x
 Indents and outdents                x           x           x
 Auto/Manual hyphenation             x           x           o
    hyphenation controls             x           x           x
 Auto/Manual kerning                 x           x           o
    edit kerning pairs               x           x           x
 Auto/Manual tracking                x           x           o
 Absolute and relative leading       x           x           x
    increments                       0.01 pts    0.001 pts   0.01 pts
 Frameless text                      x
    convert frameless <-> framed     x
 Convert shapes to text columns      x
 Apply color and fill styles to text x           o           o
 Automatic drop caps                 x           x           o
 Automatic bulleted paragraphs       x

 GRAPHICS                           PAGESTREAM  QUARKXPRESS PROPAGE

 Import Bitmapped Pictures           x           x           x
    number of formats                6+          8?          5
    set frequency, angle and pattern x           x
    contrast and posting control     x           x
    bitmap fencing for text flow     x           x
    display bitmaps in color         x           x           x
    externally linked bitmaps        x           x           x
 Import Structured Drawings          x           x           x
    number of formats                5+          4           2
    dissolve into paths and shapes   x
 Import EPS Illustrations            x           x           x
    interpretable EPS formats        2+          0           3
    show bitmap preview TIFF/PICT    x           x           o
 Make pages into EPS files           x           x           x
 List graphics in a document         x           x           x

 COLORS                             PAGESTREAM  QUARKXPRESS PROPAGE

 Number of color models              6           6           2
 24 bit color support                x           x           x
 Create process and spot colors      x           x           x
 Color Tints                         x           x
   shade increments                 0.01%       0.1%
 UCR/GCR                             x           x           x
 Set screen angle and frequency      x           x           x

 TRAPPING                           PAGESTREAM  QUARKXPRESS PROPAGE

 Automatic trapping                  x           x
 User-definable trapping             x           x
 Chokes & Spreads                    x           x
 Knockouts & Overprints              x           x
 Set trapping for each plate         x           x

 DRAWING AND OBJECT EDITING         PAGESTREAM  QUARKXPRESS PROPAGE

 Drawing tools                       x           x           x
    basic shapes                     x           x           x
    freehand                         x
    pen/draw tool                    x
 Select multiple objects             x           x           x
    add/remove from selection        x           x
    select behind                    x           x
 Bring/Send to Front, Back           x           x
 Bring/Send Forward, Backward        x           x
 Cut, copy and paste                 x           x           x
 Move and nudge objects              x           x
 Step and repeat duplication         x           x
 Rotate and skew objects             x           x           o
    rotation increments              0.001°      0.001°      1°
 Group/Ungroup objects               x           x           o
 Lock/Unlock objects                 x           x           o
 Distribute objects                  x           x
 Set color/line/fill of objects      x           o           o
    Bitmap fills                     x                       x
    Gradient fills                   x           o
    Object fills                     x
 Text runaround objects              x           x           o
 Extend objects across page spreads  x           x

 PAGE LAYOUT                        PAGESTREAM  QUARKXPRESS PROPAGE

 Margin and column guides            x           x
 Object guides                       x           x
    snap-to-guides, snap distance    x           x
 Grid                                x           x           x
    snap-to-grid                     x           x           x

 PRINTING                           PAGESTREAM  QUARKXPRESS PROPAGE

 Current page, range, even/odd       x           x           o
 Printer spreads                     x
 Print CMYK/mechanical separations   x           x           o
 Plate control                       x           x
 Tiling, thumbnails, crop/reg        x           x           x
 Print PostScript to disk            x           x           x
 Render to bitmapped picture         x
 Custom Printer Drivers              x                       x
    PostScript                       x                       x
    Hewlett-Packard inkjet/laser     x
    Epson compatibles                x
 Plotter support                     x
 PPD support                         x           x

 ENVIRONMENT                        PAGESTREAM  QUARKXPRESS PROPAGE

 Open program architecture           x           x
    (for adding extensions)
 Text (article) editor               x                       x
 Picture (bitmap) editor             x                       o
 HotLinks compatible                 x           x
 ARexx (scripting) compatible        x                       o
 ARexx (scripting) record            x
 AGA compatible                      x           n/a         o
 Workbench screen compatible         x           n/a         x
 Public screen compatible            x           n/a
    create public screens            x           n/a
 Custom screen compatible            x           n/a         x
 Follows interface style guidelines  x           x
 Price                               $299.95     $895        $299.95


 Price and features subject to change before release.


 HARDWARE REQUIREMENTS

 Amiga computer, hard drive, 2MB of memory (512K chip), and AmigaDOS 1.3
 or higher.

 If you are a registered owner of a Soft-Logik product, you will be
 notified of the release of PageStream 3.0 (expected in late summer 93).

 You can order now by Visa or MasterCard and you will not be billed until
 shipment of your copy.

 Retail price:                                          $299.95
 Upgrade from PageStream 2.x and HotLinks Editions 1.x: $ 95.00
 Upgrade from PageStream 2.x:                           $125.00
 Upgrade from PageStream 1.x:                           $150.00
 Competitive Upgrade (from any desktop publisher):      $175.00

 You must be registered to upgrade from PageStream, and must provide proof
 of ownership for a competitive upgrade.

 If you have purchased PageStream 2.2 on or after March 15, 1993, you are
 entitled to a free upgrade.

 Sales: 1-800-829-8608
 Or:    1-314-894-8608
 Fax:   1-314-894-3280

 SHIPPING/HANDLING
 $5 in USA/Canada
 $15 for other countries

 CALL FOR A FREE BROCHURE

 PageStream is a registered trademark of Soft-Logik Publishing Corp.
 XPress is a registered trademark of Quark, Inc.
 Professional Page is a registered trademark of Gold Disk, Inc.


              __________________________________________________



 MIGRAPH COLORBURST COLOR HAND SCANNER

 At last, a color hand scanner for Amiga Systems that's fast and accurate
 and affordable. With the Migraph ColorBurst(tm) you can now produce crisp,
 clear, vivid color images for all your video and multimedia projects, on-
 screen presentations, and desktop publications. And have a lot of fun
 doing it.

 Speedy scanning.  Great detail.

 The ColorBurst's large scanning window -- more than fourinches wide --
 provides fast, single-pass scanning. Six scannng resolutions from 50 to
 400 dots per inch (dpi) let you scan images at the resolution best suited
 to your chosen output device.

 And five scanning modes give you the flexibility to work with color,
 grayscale and black-&-white images, all with one scanner.

 So you can produce exactly the image you need for the output option of
 your choice: on-screen display, laser and Linotronic printouts, or slides.

 Non-nonsense software.

 The Migraph ColorBurst comes with easy-to-use imaging software for
 accurate, efficient scanning. It picks up 262,144 brilliant colors in a
 single pass (or 4,096 colors if you're working on a lower-memory system).

 The same software lets you quickly and easily save your image in a variety
 of standard file formats, ready for direct export to video, graphics, and
 desktop publishing applications.

 So you can export images for use with the Toaster, for enhancement in a
 program like Deluxe Paint, or for printing in publishing programs like
 PageStream and Professional Page.

   ______________________________________________________________________
  /                                                                      \
 |         Migraph ColorBurst:  A Scanning Mode for Every Need            |
 |------------------------------------------------------------------------|
 |                         Super Color   Color   Gray-scale   Monochrome  |
 |                                                                        |
 | Output options            262,144     4,096    64 levels   Black and   |
 |                            colors     colors    of grey     White      |
 |                                                                        |
 | Bits per pixel             18-bit     12-bit    6-bit       1-bit      |
 |                                                                        |
 | Resolution settings       50, 100,   50, 100,  100, 200    100, 200,   |
 |  (dpi)                   150, 200   150, 200   300, 400    300, 400    |
  \______________________________________________________________________/

 A Three-in-One Scanning Solution

 Versatility is the ColorBurst's specialty. If the image you're after is
 smaller than a full page -- whether it's a photo, ilustration, drawing, or
 cartoon (or business card, postcard, Christmas card, or photo identity
 card) -- you can scan it with the Migraph ColorBurst.

 It's a color scanner when you need eye-catching color graphics. A gray-
 scale scanner when you need full-size, true-64-level grayscale images for
 hassle-free, high-resolution printouts. And it's a monochrome scanner when
 you need crisp, clear scans of line art or text for OCR processing.

 With the Migraph ColorBurst, capturing high-resolution color (and gray-
 scale and monochrome) images has never been easier. Or more fun.

 Features

 Speed:  Fast, single-pass scanning

 Size:  Half-page scanning window - 4.13 inches wide

 Adjustable Resolution:  Six settings from 50 to 400 dpi

 Five Scanning Modes: Super color, color, grayscale, dithered halftone
    (color), and line art (monochrome)

 Sensitive Color Scanning:  Scan and save 262,144 vibrant colors (or 4,096
    colors on low-memory systems)

 Grayscale Scanning:  True 64-level grayscale scans at 40 dpi

 Monochrome Scanning:  Scan line art for graphics projects or text for OCR
    processing

 Scan-and-Save Utility:  Quick, accurate scanning and easy saving for
    direct export

 Versatile File Formats:  Save scans in a variety of standard file formats

 Compact Design:  Comes comlete with parallel interface and cable for easy
    installation

 System Requirements:  For Amiga systems (except the 1000 model) with 2MB
    of memory. Note that 4MB of memory and a hard disk are recommended.

 For more information about the Migraph ColorBurst scanner, contact Migraph,
 Inc., 32700 Pacific Highway South, #14, Federal Way, WA 98003, telephone
 206/838-4677 or toll free 800/223-3729 (10 to 4 Pacific time).



              __________________________________________________



 TOASTER-FX FRAMESTORE OPERATORS FOR GVP'S IMAGE-FX SOFTWARE

 The ToasterFX framestore load, saver and render modules, and GVP's ImageFX
 software are a complete paint and image processing package for NewTek's
 Video Toaster.

 Replacing ToasterPaint, GVP's ImageFX offers complete 24 bit painting
 tools with an 8 bit alpha channel, airbrush tools, color balancing, com-
 position controls, special effects filters (oil paint, ripple, disperse,
 distort...), morphing and more.

 The ToasterFX LOAD module allows DIRECT loading of framestore files into
 ImageFX as 24 bit images. View the ENTIRE image on screen while painting,
 or choose any zoom level for detail work.

 The ToasterFX SAVE module saves any image loader or created in ImageFX
 directly to NewTek's framestore format.

 Convert Video Toaster framestores DIRECTLY to and from Amiga IFF24, JPEG,
 Targa, TIFF, GIF, Alias formats and more.

 The RENDER module can directly display to the Video Toaster's framebuffers
 without leaving the ImageFX interface. (choose between DV1 or DV2).

 ToasterFX competely integrates the operation of ImageFX with the Video
 Toaster, allowing direct access from the Toaster's switcher screen.

 ToasterFX also includes stand-alone utilities for:

  o  Converting Framestores to IFF24 images
  o  Converting IFF24 images to Framestores
  o  Displaying any Amiga screen directly to a Toaster framebuffer

 ToasterFX requires GVP's ImageFX for painting and image processing
 functions.  Painting and image processing can be acomplished on any Amiga
 computer.  NewTek's Video Toaster is required only for direct displaying
 of framestores to the Toaster's framebuffers.

 ToasterFX is available at your Video Toaster and Amiga Dealer, or directly
 from: Byrd's Eye Software, 9001 Northgate Blvd, #135, Austin, TX 78758
 (512) 835-4811

 Video Toaster and ToasterPaint are registered trademarks of NewTek, Inc.,
 ImageFX is a trademark of Great Valley Products, Inc.


              __________________________________________________



 GVP ANNOUNECS DSS8+ SOUND SAMPLER

 The sucessor to our popular DSS8 sampler, this 8-bit digital sound
 sampling hardware interface is the quietest, most professional and
 attractive yet made. Assembled of high-impact, non-yellowing clear
 polycardonate, this is the sound sampler to own for the Amiga! It includes
 multifaceted software for sampling, editing, song composition, and play-
 back of monophonic and stereo sound samples as well as the popular .MOD
 song files.

 Connects directly to the parallel port on ALL Amiga systems (A1000
 requires an adaptor) and is secured with two non-removable thumbscrews.
 Since this sampler's hardware performs channel selection during stereo
 sampling, the Amiga's processor is far less taxed than with other designs.
 This is very important to unaccellerated Amiga owners.

 These long-shafted knurled thumbscrews are part of a new, hi-tech design
 for DSS8+. The tapered neck and rounded corners along with a slim,
 crystal-clear case desgin provide for an attractive and secure interface
 to the host Amiga.

 The user can select from either monaural or stereo input via the two RCA
 line-level jacks or connect a microphone to the microphone jack for voice
 or mixed sampling. The addition of the mic jack precludes the use of
 clumsy adaptors or constant changes of connections at the back of the
 Amiga.

 A new utility is now provided with point-and-click configurability,
 allowing the user to "pop-up" a control panel in front of virtually any
 screen or program. It provides slider controls for left and right input
 levels, frequency filter setting and even sampler reference level settings
 for use on multiple Amigas with top-flight results. The utility is pro-
 vided with multi-lingual support (English, French and German) as well as
 configurability through a choice of hot-keys. Users will be able to access
 and adjust the custom features of this new hardware for use with other
 software sampling programs. A second utility is also provided offering an
 ARexx port for the sample hardware. Programmers will now be able to
 directly control the hardware without need for the DSS software program.

 One of the most significant advantages of this new design is its out-
 standing quality of reproductin and its lack of interference or "noise."
 The user is able to adjust input levels through 256 steps for both the
 right and left channels independently to provide optimum response for
 either very loud or very quiet source material. The option is even
 provided for "Auto Gain" whereby the software "listens" to the incoming
 audio material and sets itself to the best level. In addition to input
 level controls and sampler reference levels, there is an integrated
 filter, programmable through 128 steps, to enhance the quality of your
 sampled source material. This filter also has an "Auto" function to allow
 it to correctly set a filter level in conjunction with the sample rate
 selected. The graphical interface design makes this a producive piece of
 software for the novice as well as the seasoned veteran.

 The DSS8+ retails for $99.95 and requires 1 megabyte of memory. It will
 create the quietest, cleanest audio samples yet seen from an 8-bit sampler
 in the Amiga market, making it the ideal tool of any multimedia specialist
 or audio enthusiast.

 For more information, contact Great Valley Products, 600 Clark Avenue,
 King of Prussia, PA 29406, telephone 215/337-8770, fax 215/337-9922.


              __________________________________________________



 TITLE

                            "On The Ball"
               Calendar/Addressbook/To-Do List/NotePad
                                V1.0

 COMPANY

               Pure Logic Software
               789 Butterfly Road
               Quincy, CA  95971

 DESCRIPTION


       On The Ball gracefully binds four powerful applications in a
                   symmetrical multiwindow environment.

 Calendar:
     * Instantly scroll through appointments from 1800 A.D. through the
         year 30,000 from any view with up to 100 appointments per day.
     * View and print adjustable appointment schedules from eye-catching:
         week-at-a-glance, month-at-a-glance, or year-at-a-glance
         graphical views.
     * 9 Powerful repeat modes automatically re-schedule appointments:
                Selected day(s) of week, Bi-weekly,     Monthly, or Yearly,
                Repeat on second Tuesday of each month, (example)  ...and more.
     * Each repeat mode can be set to repeat a certain number of times
         or forever.
     * Reminds you of your appointments -- up to 4 days in advance.
     * Snooze bar can be clicked on to automatically re-remind
         you again later.
     * Can search forward and backward through all appointments.
     * Entire program iconifies to a functional, resizable calendar icon.
     * Tells the number of days between two dates.

 Addressbook:
     * Sorts and searches by any field.
     * Mailing Labels: Print or copy to the clipboard all or selected
         records.  Choose from many built-in generic label
         configurations or design your own layout.
     * Attatch notes to records to associate as much personal or
         professional information as you like to each record.
     * Dialer/Auto-redialer can automatically bring up your contact's
         note and append a new time-date stamp to help you automate
         transcripts of your contacts.

 To-Do List:
     * Prioritizes things you need to get done with optional due dates.
     * Print your daily agenda or a comprehensive to-do list.
     * Search To-Do List.

 NotePad:
     * Jot down and organize stand-alone notes.
     * Load/Save feature makes NotePad a powerful and handy text editor.
     * Easily attatches notes to individual Calendar, ToDo List, and
         Addressbook entries.
     * Have as many notes open at one time as you like.
     * Fast smooth-scrolling, resizable notes have many standard editing
         features such as search and replace and cut-and-paste to the
         clipboard.
     * All notes are automatically time-date stamped.
     * Find all notes containing certain keywords.

 Configurable:
     * Create your own "Tags" (ie. "Personal", "Birthdays", "Urgent",
         "Project X", etc.) to help you classify and prioritize
         information so you can focus on specfic categories of entries
         in all applications.
     * Extensive Arexx support with sample routines provided on disk and
         in manual.
     * On-line Preferences.
     * Can open under  on the Workbench or on its own screen.
     * Can import Nag.files.
     * Auto-timed save feature.

 Compatible:
     * For all Amigas: 500 through 4000,  WorkBench 1.3-3.x compatible.
     * Automatically takes advantage of many WB2.0+ features, if
         available. (ie. prints compugraphic fonts, font requester, etc.)
     * Multi-Lingual interface modules and interface for:
                English, German, French, Swedish, Italian, Spanish, & Dutch.
     * Regristration price: $40.

 ANONYMOUS FTP SITES

     FILE: OnTheBall.lha

     wuarchive.wustl.edu       /systems/amiga/incoming/demos/commercial
     amiga.physik.unizh.ch     /pub/aminet/biz/demo

     The demo will also be available on PD collections and BBS's.

 DISTRIBUTABILITY

      The demo of On The Ball is a freely redistributable program under
 the condition that all accompanying files are included.  Users are
 granted a limited 30 day license for the purpose of evaluation only.
 After that time, you must send the $40 registration fee to:

              Pure Logic Software
              789 Butterfly Rd.
              Quincy, CA  95971  USA

     Registered users will receive the latest commercial version of the
 program, a professionally printed manual, and access to future upgrades
 at a negligible price.

 Questions and comments can also be emailed to:
 Jason Freund/President, jfreund@relleno.engr.ucdavis.edu


              __________________________________________________



 TITLE

    Aglet Modula-2 AmigaDOS V2.04 Interface

 VERSION

    1.0-040693

 COMPANY / AUTHOR

    Thomas Breeden
    Aglet Software
    Box 3314
    Charlottesville, VA 22903

    804-973-7058

    email : CompuServe 75210,2424
            Internet   75210.2424@compuserve.com

 DESCRIPTION

    The Aglet Modula-2 V2.04 Interface consists of over one hundred modules
    providing the Benchmark (TM) Modula-2 programmer with a calling
    interface to all of the Amiga system resident library functions
    distributed with AmigaDOS v2.04, as well as definitions of all
    system record structures and flags.

         Note: This product has no connection with Avant-Garde software or
               Leon Frenkel, the author of the Benchmark product.

    These M2 interface DEFINITION MODULEs follow closely the C language
    "includes" interface of ".h" file distributed by CATS.

    The supplied modules replace the Amiga-specific modules delivered
    (for AmigaDOS v1.2) with the original Benchmark compiler. Compatibility
    is maintained with the rest of the Benchmark system, with the exception
    of the "Simplified Amiga Library" add-on.

    Source for all the DEFINITION and IMPLEMENTATION modules of the interface
    is also included.

    Also included is a program, DoIFace, which can be used to create a
    similar interface for Benchmark programs to additional Amiga resident
    libraries.

 SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS

    v2.04 AmigaDOS
    Benchmark Modula-2 Compiler

 PRICE

    The package is available from me for US$ 35.00. Shipping is included
    to destinations in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. For other
    destinations, please add an additional US$ 3.00.

    Residents of Virginia must add an additional 4.5% state sales tax
    ($1.58).

    Please make your check or money order out to Thomas M. Breeden.

 DISTRIBUTABILITY

    Each distribution is copyrighted and licensed for a single computer.
    Commodore copyrighted commentary material is distributed under an
    "Includes Distribution License" from CATS.

 README

    A number of Test/Example programs are included, showing the usage of
    many of the new features of AmigaDOS 2.04, such as public screens,
    file notification, gadtools, asl, etc. (Otherwise, no specific
    documentation on using AmigaDOS v2.04 is included.)

    Two additional examples of interfacing to Amiga Resident Libraries
    are included: 1) the AmigaGuide library from Commodore 2) the ISAM
    library from RedShift Software.



 """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""


 > ONLINE WEEKLY STReport Online             People...  Are Talking!
   =============================



 On GEnie:
 --------

 From Jim Meyer (JIM.MEYER) about Brilliance...

 ">When will Brilliance be released?"

 "Well, if I stop posting answers on the board, I can finish the Tutorial
 section of the manual... ;-)

 "By the way, the animation features of Brilliance will push the envelope a
 bit further than that program from the San Mateo gang does.  If you read
 the ViewPort preview, you know about unlimited buffers.  (Limited by
 memory, actually.)  One of the neater applications is compositing.  Since
 you can store 8 animbrushes in the brush wells, and you can have different
 animations in different buffers, the ability to merge animations, the
 dynamically variable transparency, and the superb motion controls suggest
 some tantalizing possibilities.

 "I haven't explored all the possibilities yet, but I keep conceiving
 further and further out ideas for the tutorial, and the neat thing is that
 they're all possible!"


 From Justin Husted (R.HUSTED)...

 "Hey!  A 17" Screen sucks!  I want a 24' monitor!  I WANT 25,000 x 25,000 x
 24bit display with 60fps raytraced fractal modified airbrushed display on
 11,000 monitors at once!  I want a Dec Alpha for every PIXEL ON THE SCREEN!
 YEAH!  I want 17,000 terabytes of Ram in the cache ALONE!  I want a
 permanent storage device capable of storing 10,000,000,000,000 universes
 in 11 dimensions on each track with a -5ms access time!  Yes, the device
 must know what the computer wants before it asks for it!  I want my
 computer to be sentient and capable of running simulations of the universe
 that are more complex than the real thing at infinite speed!  I want a
 full virtual reality cybernetic interface that knows what I want and does
 it... YEAH and all for - $20 - yes THEY have to pay ME to take it off
 their hands...

 "Aren't these type of posts fun?  I want a computer capable of getting to
 'I think therefore I am' before it's memory banks are hooked up!

 "Ok, who can top that?  I know it's a pretty lame start and everyone will
 be easily able to dream up a more demanding wish list but hey, we gotta be
 realistic here.  It'll cost at least $19.95...  ;)"



 """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

 > Amiga Tip of the Week
   =====================
   By Micah Thompson


 Here is a very small tip that most people probably already know...
 Or do they?

 Most people are somewhat familar with the AmigaDOS Shell, and have no
 problem opening a Shell and executing basic commands.  Most commands, like
 LIST for instance, execute on a file template with several wildcards
 available.  If you want to see only icon (.info) files, you issue
 "LIST #?.info".  But what if you want to see all files EXCEPT a certain
 type?

 AmigaDOS has a little surprise in store for you.  Anytime you preface a
 file template with the Tilde ( ~ ) character, it means everything EXCEPT
 that template.

 For instance, let's say you want to get a listing of all files in a
 certain directory EXCEPT the .info files.  Here is the command:

 LIST ~(#?.info)

 That tells AmigaDOS to show all files except files ending in ".info"

 Here is my WBStartup listing raw, using a plain "LIST" command:

 Arq.info                    2056 ----rw-d Wednesday 21:02:03
 Virus_Checker              26228 ----rwed 14-Feb-93 14:13:36
 Virus_Checker.info           516 ----rw-d Wednesday 21:02:02
 QuickGrab                  10548 ----rwed 01-Dec-92 00:57:08
 QuickGrab.info              2215 ----rw-d Wednesday 21:02:02
 CycleToMenu                 4716 ----rwed 31-Oct-92 11:59:40
 CycleToMenu.info             519 ----rw-d Wednesday 21:02:03
 ClickToFront.info           2146 ----rw-d Wednesday 21:02:03
 CrossDOS                    6304 ----rwed 17-Oct-92 02:40:15
 Exchange.info               2113 ----rw-d Wednesday 21:02:02
 AssignWedge                 2632 ----rwed 27-Jun-92 20:05:06
 FKey.info                    639 ----rw-d Wednesday 21:02:03
 MFR                        42740 ----rwed 17-Oct-92 02:40:21
 ToolManager                25236 ----rwed 17-Oct-92 02:40:24
 ClickToFront                2888 ----rwed 17-Oct-92 02:40:14
 CrossDOS.info               2156 ----rw-d Wednesday 21:02:03
 Exchange                    4660 ----rwed 17-Oct-92 02:40:15
 FKey                        7004 ----rwed 17-Oct-92 02:40:17
 MFR.info                    1504 ----rw-d Wednesday 21:02:02
 ToolManager.info            1211 ----rw-d Wednesday 21:02:03
 NoClick2.0                   188 ----rwed 10-Nov-91 03:08:34
 NoClick2.0.info              484 ----rw-d Wednesday 21:02:02
 AssignWedge.info             496 ----rw-d Wednesday 21:02:02
 Arq                        22520 ----rwed 14-Oct-92 17:56:32
 MouseShift                  1548 ----rwed 17-Oct-92 02:27:18
 MouseShift.info              502 ----rw-d Wednesday 21:02:03
 AutoCentre                   728 ----rwed 17-Oct-92 02:27:13
 AutoCentre.info             2056 ----rw-d Wednesday 21:02:02
 CpuBlit                     4640 ----rwed 17-Oct-92 02:27:15
 CpuBlit.info                2129 ----rw-d Wednesday 21:02:03
 NewShellCX                  2520 ----rwed 17-Oct-92 02:27:19
 NewShellCX.info              574 ----rw-d Wednesday 21:02:03


 That's very hard to look at with all the .info files cluttering up the
 picture. Here it is using the "LIST ~(#?.info)" command:

 Virus_Checker              26228 ----rwed 14-Feb-93 14:13:36
 QuickGrab                  10548 ----rwed 01-Dec-92 00:57:08
 CycleToMenu                 4716 ----rwed 31-Oct-92 11:59:40
 CrossDOS                    6304 ----rwed 17-Oct-92 02:40:15
 AssignWedge                 2632 ----rwed 27-Jun-92 20:05:06
 MFR                        42740 ----rwed 17-Oct-92 02:40:21
 ToolManager                25236 ----rwed 17-Oct-92 02:40:24
 ClickToFront                2888 ----rwed 17-Oct-92 02:40:14
 Exchange                    4660 ----rwed 17-Oct-92 02:40:15
 FKey                        7004 ----rwed 17-Oct-92 02:40:17
 NoClick2.0                   188 ----rwed 10-Nov-91 03:08:34
 Arq                        22520 ----rwed 14-Oct-92 17:56:32
 MouseShift                  1548 ----rwed 17-Oct-92 02:27:18
 AutoCentre                   728 ----rwed 17-Oct-92 02:27:13
 CpuBlit                     4640 ----rwed 17-Oct-92 02:27:15
 NewShellCX                  2520 ----rwed 17-Oct-92 02:27:19


 Isn't that much easier to read?  The uses for this seem endless!  Of
 course, this works with all commands that accept file templates, and can
 be used for a variety of things.  Want to delete all the files in your
 "Text" drawer except ones ending in .txt?  Simple:  DELETE ~(#?.txt)

 Be careful with the DELETE command and wildcards!  It's best to test the
 template with the DIR or LIST command first to be sure you are deleting
 what you want.

 Happy Amiga'ing!



 """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""


 > XFH -- Xpk File System Handler STR Review
   =========================================
   By Jeffrey Blanchard

 XFH, with the XPK system, is well on its way to being the final solution
 to runtime use of compressed files.  It works on WB 1.2-3.0 and provides
 transparent access to files crunched with PowerPacker, Imploder, or any
 other compressor type as long as the proper library is available.  And, it
 offers auto-compression that packs new files on the fly.

 XFH is mounted as a device handler and assigned to any existing directory.
 This results in a new volume being added to the WorkBench.  Then any file
 in the underlying directory, whether packed or not, will be accessed
 through the XFH volume AS IF it were not packed at all.  XFH unpacks the
 entire file and holds it in RAM as long as it is being accessed.  This
 means, of course, that file size is limited by available memory.

 With autocompress on, new files written to the XFH volume will be
 compressed with the chosen packmode. Compression ratio and speed vary
 with file type and the packer chosen. Program, data, and text files can
 crunch up to 60% while images, because most are already compressed
 somewhat, usually yield less than 20% savings. LHarc, ZIP, ZOO, and other
 compressed files may actually end up larger if repacked; however, some
 packers will check and keep only the smaller file.

 The currently available compressors are:

 HUFFv0.62--a dynamic Huffman cruncher/decruncher
            by M.Zimmermann
 NUKEv1.00--an LZ77 variant with hyperfast decompression
            by Urban Dominik Mueller
 BLZWv1.00--Bryan's turbo-charged LZW compressor
            by Bryan Ford
 CBR0v1.00--CmpByteRun0 algorithm compressor
            by Bilbo the first of Hypenosis
 IMPLv0.18--Turbo Implode with dynamic compression modes
            by Peter Struijk
 FEALv1.00--Fast Encryption ALgorithm
            by Christian von Roques
 IDEAv1.00--ABP's Intl. Data Encryption Algorithm for XPK
            by André Beck

 xQuery, a utility that comes with XPK, shows speed/compression ratio for
 all of the compressors.  Enter xQuery at the CLI prompt.


                          Installation Guide

               --XFH v1.12 with XPK distribution 2.4--

 1. Double-click the install icons--The first one you come to and the
    one in the XFH drawer  (this puts things we don't need in RAM: but
    we're going to reboot)

 2. Move everything (except the text files) that're in the Shell
    drawer to your C dir.--6 files: xdir, xLoadSeg, xPack, xpk,
    xQuery, and xType.

 3. In the XPK/XFH/devs drawer you'll find the Mountlist.  Add it to
    your own mountlist.--delete the text at the beginning of this.

 4. Add these lines to user-startup:

 ASSIGN XFH1: <anyVOLUME:anyDIR>    <--let's assume Work:Lazarus
 MOUNT XH1:

 -NOTE the ASSIGNed name and the MOUNTed name are different XFH1: XH1:

 5. you should be able to find the file  S:xfh/.xfhrc_1 (in your S dir)
    edit it to read:

 ROOTDIR=Work:Lazarus        <---MUST be same as ASSIGNed in step 4.
 VOLUMENAME=Nukem            <---any name you like
 AUTOCOMPRESS=yes            <---or no, your choice
 PACKMODE=NUKE               <---the default packer
 STEPDOWN=yes                <---or no, your choice
 XPKPRIORITY=-1              <---why not

 6. Reboot.

 Now you should have a disk icon named Nukem: In it you should see the
 files and drawers of the directory you assigned XFH1: to back in step 4.
 Everything you access through Nukem: should appear and act as if
 unpacked.  Everything you write to Nukem: will be NUKEd as soon as the
 file is closed.  All files written to this Volume will be packed using
 the PACKMODE you put in the S/.xfhrc file, IF you also chose
 AUTOCOMPRESS=yes.

 But what of Lazarus?  The directory you assigned XFH1: to.  All files
 written to the volume 'Nukem:' will be here along with any written to
 Work:Lazarus. If you access it directly, the files will appear as they
 actually are on disk, packed or not, and the packed files will not run if
 accessed from this drawer--use the Volume Nukem: to run them.  If you
 write files directly to this drawer XFH will NOT try to compress them.

 Finally, drag and drop icons or move files into the Volume, Nukem:
 However, DO NOT move them from the underlying directory, Lazarus, into
 Nukem:  Move them somewhere else first, or, if you have WB 2.0 or better,
 you can use xDrop.

 In the drawer XPK/workbench is the file xDrop.

 Read the doc for it.      ---->   click it.

 Set the TOOLTYPES for it. ---->   double-click it.

 Press Alt-Shift-P to check things out.

 Select files from the <Work:Lazarus> drawer and drag them to the xdrop
 AppIcon.

 xDir, a utility that comes with XPK will show file information.

 At the CLI prompt enter xDir Work:Lazarus    ----->or wherever.

   WARNING -- Do not compress:

    Any file that XFH needs to operate.
    Any file opened before XFH is working.


                        XFH v.1.34

 The upgrade improves speed with the use of xScan, gives the user easy
 options control using WB 2.0x-3.0x features and AREXX, allows writing to
 packed files, and fixes bugs. This version can be easily installed as a
 Commodity and gives instruction for installing it to a whole partition.
 It comes with C source code but XPK is NOT included although it is still
 required. And XFH is STILL freeware!


 Note 1:

 XPK distribution 2.4 is one of the most dynamic file compression packages
 available on any platform. It includes packers and encryptors and several
 utilities, and the xpk system that creates a working environment to allow
 each utility to work with all of the pack/encrypt modes. Also included is
 a developers guide for programmers.

 XPK contributors:

 U Dominik Mueller   XPK concept, xpkmaster.library, NUKE, RLEN, NONE, ENCO
 Bryan Ford          XPK concept, xpkmaster.library, BLZW
 Peter Struijk       Imploder, IMPL
 Nico Francois       PowerPacker
 Martin A. Blatter   xDrop
 Christian Schneider XPK concept, xLoadSeg
 Christian Weber     iff.library adaptation, ShowIFF, MoviePro
 Markus Wild         GCC interface & examples
 Hartmut Goebel      Oberon interface & examples
 Kristian Nielsen    XFH
 Nicola Salmoria     XFH
 Matthias Scheler    XFH

 *This list is likely incomplete.



 ****************************************************************************

                               IMPORTANT NOTICE!
                               =================

 Amiga Report International Online Magazine is available every  week  in the
 Amiga Forum on DELPHI.  Amiga Report readers are invited to join DELPHI and
 become a part of the friendly community of computer enthusiasts there.


                             SIGNING UP WITH DELPHI
                             ======================
          Using a personal computer and modem, members worldwide access
                     DELPHI services via a local phone call

                                JOIN -- DELPHI
                                --------------

                  Via modem, dial up DELPHI at 1-800-695-4002
                                     then...
                  When connected, press RETURN once or twice
                                     and....
                  At Password: type STREPORT and press RETURN.

    DELPHI's Basic Plan offers  access for  only $6.00  per hour,  for any
    baud rate.  The $5.95 monthly fee includes your first hour online.

    For more information, call: DELPHI Member Services at 1-800-544-4005

    DELPHI is a service of General Videotex Corporation of Cambridge, MA.

                          Try DELPHI for $1 an hour!

      For  a  limited  time,  you  can  become a trial member of DELPHI, and
  receive 5 hours of evening and weekend access  during this  month for only
  $5.  If you're not satisfied, simply cancel your account before the end of
  the calendar month with no further obligation.   If you  keep your account
  active, you  will automatically  be enrolled  in DELPHI's 10/4 Basic Plan,
  where you can use up to 4 weekend and evening hours a month for  a minimum
  $10 monthly  charge, with additional hours available at $3.96.  But hurry,
  this special  trial offer  will expire  soon!   To take  advantage of this
  limited offer,  use your  modem to  dial 1-800-365-4636.  Press <RET> once
  or twice.  When you get the Password:  prompt, type  IP26 and  press <RET>
  again.   Then, just  answer the  questions and within a day or two, you'll
  officially be a member of DELPHI!

                  DELPHI- It's getting better all the time!


 ****************************************************************************


 > Rendered Reality                     "I render, therefore I am."
   ================
   By Mike Troxell



 So far this year we've had AGA graphics with the release of the 1200/4000,
 upgrades to major graphics software such as MorphPlus, ImageMaster,
 DPaintIV-AGA, OpalVision 2.0 and many others, with updates promised in the
 near future for LightWave and Imagine.  Brilliance should be shipping
 soon and from what I've heard, Real 3-D 2.0 could show up at any time.
 Add to this Commodores announcement of the 4000/030, the working MPEG
 board C= showed at the WOC show and their announcement of work on the AAA
 chipset. All in all its been a *very* good year for graphics.

 One of the most exciting developments on the horizon is the MPEG board
 I mentioned. Commodore had a working MPEG board at the WOC. They were
 showing a 2.3 Gigabyte Bon Jovi music video that had been compressed down
 to 51 Megs with the MPEG board. That's a 43:1 compression ratio! (Can you
 say "full motion video playback from a Hard Drive," boys and girls?) The
 board Commodore was showing was a working prototype, but I heard they
 want to get this one out as soon as possible. Full motion video will
 probably play a very important role in future Amigas.


 ANIMATION FORMATS

 Anim-5 has been the accepted video compression standard for some time.
 When a program that supports Anim-5 saves the animation it doesn't
 really save each frame. What Anim-5 does is save the first frame and
 the difference between each additional frame. Since only changes from
 one frame to the next are saved, the animation will take up a lot
 less storage space than if each complete frame had been saved.

 Unfortunately (or fortunatly) the size of pictures and animations have
 drastically increased over the last few years.  People just can't get
 the playback speed they need from Anim-5 anymore.

 Enter Anim-7.  If you have the latest version of ViewTek, then you've
 probably noticed the Anim-7 conversion program with it.  Anim-7 seems
 to be taking over as the new standard for animation compression and
 playback.  I've heard a lot of talk, both pros and cons, on the
 graphics echos about Anim-7.  Some people are converting Anim-5
 animations that played at 12-13 frames per second and are getting
 playback rates of 25-28 fps with Anim-7.  Other people say they
 can't see any speed increase at all.  The difference seems to be which
 machine is used.  Although people are still arguing about this, it looks
 like the speed difference is caused by 16-bit chip RAM in some Amigas
 (500's, 2000's, 2500's).  If companies like Impulse and other graphics
 software companies start building support for Anim-7 into their programs,
 we could start seeing animations playing at speeds close to what C=
 claims for the 4000.

 (Editor's Note:  Micah and I have achieved 60 fps playback rates on his
 A4000, so the lack of Fast RAM in Mike's A1200 might have something to do
 with it.)



 """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""


 > World of Commodore GEnie Realtime Conference
   ============================================

 This is a capture of the *StarShip* World of Commodore Show Conference
 held on Saturday, April 3, 1993, with *Reporters in New York City!  For
 more information about that show, see the *StarShip* 5-MINUTE Weekend News
 from April 2, and the forthcoming April issue of the *StarShip*'s online
 magazine, ViewPort.


 <[Peg] P.HERRINGTON> We have a couple of *Reporters with us who have been
 diligently covering the show, namely BLUE-KNIGHT (Yury German) and W.LEE18
 (Bill Lee)...

 <[Peg] P.HERRINGTON> Just to bring YOU news of what's going on there....

 <[Peg] P.HERRINGTON> I'm going to put the room into LISTEN ONLY mode so we
 can take questions and hear the answers from Bill and Yury...

 <[Peg] P.HERRINGTON> Say hello, *Reporters!

 <BLUE-KNIGHT> Hello All!!!

 <[Peg] P.HERRINGTON> Earth to Bill... come in, Bill!

 <[Bill] W.LEE18> hello!!! from the other computer

 <[Peg] P.HERRINGTON> Yury or Bill...

 <[Peg] P.HERRINGTON> Have you anything to say before I line up the firing
 squad? :)

 <[Peg] P.HERRINGTON> If you have a question, please type   /RAISE

 <[Bill] W.LEE18> They DID have an prototype MPEG card

 <[Bill] W.LEE18> playing FULLMOTION 30fps video from a 4000/030 w/ IDE
 drive

 <[Peg] P.HERRINGTON> Okay... first question tonight is from Tex... go for
 it!

 <BLUE-KNIGHT> Well, the show was not huge and did not have many developers
 but C= really suprised everyone with their announcements!!!

 <[Stu] R.TEXADA> OK! what abvout the HIGH-end chips?

 <[Stu] R.TEXADA> ok, done.

 <[Bill] W.LEE18> There was no "OFFICIAL" mention of releasing the 24bit
 chips

 <BLUE-KNIGHT> I am sorry I have a very noisy node... If it gets worst I
 might have to relog on... but Bill will be here through the other line

 <[Stu] R.TEXADA> so? what's the skinny?

 <BLUE-KNIGHT> skinny????? what are we talking about???

 <[Stu] R.TEXADA> the Specs. Last time they told us all anout it. 1000*1000
 screens etc.

 <[Peg] P.HERRINGTON> <[Stu] R.TEXADA> OK! what abvout the HIGH-end chips?

 <BLUE-KNIGHT> OK there was no official release of all the specs but Lou
 Eggebrecht mentioned alot of things about development.

 <[Stu] R.TEXADA> such as...?

 <BLUE-KNIGHT> The thing that was mentioned is that they are going to go to
 two chipsets instead of one as before.

 <BLUE-KNIGHT> The chipsets are going to be divided in low end and heigh
 end

 <[Stu] R.TEXADA> nothing deeper than that?

 <BLUE-KNIGHT> The new chips is the 2 custom desing with 1 gate array (do
 not mind spelling I am trying to type wizard speed)

 <[Bill] W.LEE18> Stu,they didn't commit to any specific answers beyond
 that.

 <BLUE-KNIGHT> The gate array is going to be addressed to applications!

 <[SideWinder] C.GIESEKE> Hi ....My question to you is this....What is the
 future of Amiga Sound?

 <BLUE-KNIGHT> The rate is going to be 72Hz which is about 8 x as fast as
 ECS
 chips. More in Viewport!

 <BLUE-KNIGHT> Well DSP chipset was mentioned and it would support CD
 quality audio with future chips be added on to be able to go past CD audio

 <[SideWinder] C.GIESEKE> Would 16bit be out also for the 1200?

 <BLUE-KNIGHT> It is basically in second prototype right now being on the
 Zoro 3 slot, and the 16 bit audio could be supported throught he extra
 Gate Array chipset AA chipset in the futrue but nothing final at this time

 <W.SHADOWEN> ANY NEWS ON AGA FOR THE A3000 OR CBM CD-DRIVES FOR THE A3000?
 Upgraded CDTV ?

 <[Stu] R.TEXADA> what was that about Gate arrays?

 <[Eggolopolis] JIM.MEYER> (Tech note... Gate Array chips are fully
 programmable and add much flexibility)

 <BLUE-KNIGHT> They said they were going to target each machines to certain
 application

 <D.DUSSIAS> Anything about upgrading the AGA machines *A1200/A4000*?  As
 in new motherboards for the New(er) AGA?

 <[Peg] P.HERRINGTON> Anything more on that, Yury?

 <BLUE-KNIGHT> CD drives mentioned and basically is that commodore is going
 to use drives to support all 32 bit machines

 <[Bill] W.LEE18> I do know that certain revs of 4000 MB will require
 replacement to ad the DSP and SCSI II options due to a defective BUSTER
 design

 <BLUE-KNIGHT> It will support PHOTO-CD (or at least plans are to suport it
 if the negotiations work out)

 <BLUE-KNIGHT> Also it will have file support for multisection access for
 PhotoCd support

 <[Bill] W.LEE18> ICD also showed a model of ttheir new 1200 accelerator
 that would use a 50mhz 030 and fpu

 <BLUE-KNIGHT> it will also have INTERNAL file structure support fot the
 File system and will be faster because it will have that.

 <BLUE-KNIGHT> It was said it will be 99% CDTV compatible as long as specs
 were followed.

 <[Peg] P.HERRINGTON> Next question is from Shadowen...

 <W.SHADOWEN> Any upgrade news about A3000 to A4000 or AGA

 <BLUE-KNIGHT> W.Shadowen I just answered that.... the only way is through
 mother board swap and C= said it was not a cost effective solution

 <W.SHADOWEN> Thanks.

 <D.DUSSIAS> So, is it worth getting a 1200, and then a '030 board, or wait
 till '94?

 <[Bill] W.LEE18> Well,the 1200 is certainly a very useful graphics
 machine...

 <[Bill] W.LEE18> But if you plan to get it only to add a fast cpu
 immediately, it's better to just get a 4000/30

 <[Bill] W.LEE18> It would be about the same price

 <D.DUSSIAS> But, if the New(er) chips require a new mother board...

 <D.DUSSIAS> seems you'd be stuck?

 <[Bill] W.LEE18> There was no indication that there would be a motherboard
 swap avail to get the new chipset, so if you want a machiune to use now
 then a 1200 or 4000 is a good choice

 <[Peg] P.HERRINGTON> Kevin, you're up.

 <[Deviled] K.FERLAZZO> What were the new announcements from CBM, Bill? 
 Yury mentioned they were amazing.  :)

 <BLUE-KNIGHT> Well alot of them are described in the 5 minute news write
 now.

 <BLUE-KNIGHT> Basically the 4000T (a prototype), A MPEG board (early
 prototype) and plans for the future were talked about

 <BLUE-KNIGHT> Also new monitors which the correction will run in 800x600
 but not in interlace mode

 <[Deviled] K.FERLAZZO> Any specifics, or did they give us the broad
 picture for where CBM is going now?

 <BLUE-KNIGHT> No plenty of specifications... alot of them on DSP boards
 and what they will possible contain but nothing as to exact specs was
 commited on!

 <BLUE-KNIGHT> The new Chipset but also it was specs... but nothing
 promised

 <[Deviled] K.FERLAZZO> Okay.  I'm done then.  Thanks guys!  :)

 <[SouLCatcheR] C.PRESCOTT2> I have 2 questions: What is the scoup on the
 A4000 TOWER and what is the future of the SPEAK: or the Amiga Voice?

 <BLUE-KNIGHT> Ok both have interesting answers....

 <BLUE-KNIGHT> The 4000T has alot of specs.... and is in the news now. The
 biggest specs are same as 4000 but also 2 video slots and a great design
 of the machine (ergonomic design)

 <BLUE-KNIGHT> Also SCSI-2 and IDE controlers. No specs on hard drives that
 are going to come with it

 <BLUE-KNIGHT> On the sound issue!!!!!

 <BLUE-KNIGHT> Get your reading glases out!!!!!

 <BLUE-KNIGHT> With DSP chipset C= is talking to outside AMIGA DEVELOPMENT
 community on adding speach recognition to the DSP board or the motherboard
 itself... Nothing finalized

 <[Peg] P.HERRINGTON> Did they say ANYTHING about getting the old speech
 guy back, Yury? Anything at all?

 <BLUE-KNIGHT> In other words... they are actually willing to pay $$$$ to
 Mac developers to transfer great software to the amiga! Although not
 talking directly to APPLE but developers on the MAC

 <[Peg] P.HERRINGTON> Follow up question on that, SoulCatcher?

 <BLUE-KNIGHT> Well that has not been talked about at all... the problem
 there is not with speech but with Multilanguage support!

 <[SouLCatcheR] C.PRESCOTT2> Also are there any rumors or info about 4meg
 floppies possibly being used in the future?

 <[Peg] P.HERRINGTON> Folks, we'll go ahead with SoulCatcher's, but please
 limit any follow up questions to the topic or something closely related. :)

 <[SouLCatcheR] C.PRESCOTT2> About the speech issued: so they are NOT going
 to scrap support for synthsized speech then?

 <BLUE-KNIGHT> No no mention of heigher floppies but only floppies with
 TRUE hardware support for the 1.44 1.76 MB disks read writes.... The ones
 that are supplied now are sort of hacked to the Amiga by changing speeds
 of the drives (because the chipset can not handle this)

 <BLUE-KNIGHT> NO in fact they are going to add support for voice
 recognition!

 <[Peg] P.HERRINGTON> Okay, thanks.

 <W.DAVIS15> Was any thing said about upgrading AGA to the Super_AGA (or
 whatever they call it) I'm thinking of the 4000 not the 1200 here. ga.

 <BLUE-KNIGHT> Well Lew (same guy as before) said that a moderboard upgrade
 is very possible (nothing commited though) the new chipset is termed as AA
 chipset!

 <BLUE-KNIGHT> W.Davis just one thing to add!!!

 <BLUE-KNIGHT> Get the 4000 you will not regret it!!!

 <[AmiAlad Mike] M.HOLDA> Any word on price and/or ETA of the 4000T?  Is
 the AGA Display Enhancer as cool as it sounds?

 <BLUE-KNIGHT> Mike: Uncertain and Yes

 <BLUE-KNIGHT> Let me go further into it!!!!

 <[Peg] P.HERRINGTON> Hehehehe.

 <BLUE-KNIGHT> The 4000T is only a show as a concept prototype item...
 although it was fully working and the sign on it said. RELEASE DATE
 PENDING FCC APPROVAL so take it at face value!

 <BLUE-KNIGHT> Display enhancer is going to be a very high end product with
 price to match

 <BLUE-KNIGHT> It will have VRAM on the board

 <BLUE-KNIGHT> So far uncertain on size of the ram 2.5 to 3 megs of it

 <BLUE-KNIGHT> It will support mode promotion to 72HZ mode from any screen
 via Hardware.

 <BLUE-KNIGHT> It will also have something very neat as that you can define
 big sizes for screens and then promote them to the 72 hz rates so it is
 definitely a nice product

 <BLUE-KNIGHT> More things on it In Viewport!!!

 <[AmiAlad Mike] M.HOLDA> I assume those very big sizes would be 256
 colors?

 <BLUE-KNIGHT> No the big sizes are true 24 bit as far as we know!

 <[AmiAlad Mike] M.HOLDA> Cool, that's all I've got.

 <[Stu] R.TEXADA> Ok. What are commodore's plans in terms of: 1. Future
 amiga a.graphics b.sound 2. CPU boards 3. Ad campaigns? Oh and about that
 AGA display enhancer: does that mean that you could have a 1000 by 1000
 72Hz WB screen w/256 colors or what? Also.. the AGA 256 color modes are
 RATHER slow. anything on speedups? Wow 24bit!

 <BLUE-KNIGHT> Ok Hold on a second I am going to have to answer it on point
 to point basis... since I can not capture the whole thing so ask 1 at a
 time!!!!!

 <[Peg] P.HERRINGTON>  ::laughing::  Think you got enough questions in
 there, Stu? :)

 <[Stu] R.TEXADA> haha. Ok: future graphics:

 <[Stu] R.TEXADA> what's in the pipeline?

 <BLUE-KNIGHT> Future graphics is the AA or AAA chipset as names vary
 between anounced and developers.

 <BLUE-KNIGHT> The specs on the things mentioned will bein viewport but let
 me talk quickly about low and high end

 <BLUE-KNIGHT> Lower chipset 8 times as fast as ECS

 <BLUE-KNIGHT> And 72 HZ

 <BLUE-KNIGHT> Will support 800x600 at 72 hz in 24 bit.

 <[Stu] R.TEXADA> non-int.?

 <BLUE-KNIGHT> Support up to 16 meg of ram and can define it as you which
 chip or Fast so thats a big improvement.

 <BLUE-KNIGHT> Support will be either 16 to 32 bit.. .notfhing finalized!

 <[Stu] R.TEXADA> ok sound:

 <BLUE-KNIGHT> Bill is typing in the High chipset now.... so hold on a
 second for that. High end chipset is going to cost $$$ since Aimed at
 professionals

 <[Bill] W.LEE18> High end chipset will be 4 custom chips that support "on
 demand" DMA, ASYNC clock. They will also 10-20 times faster than ECS chips
 and support multiple blittrs

 <[Peg] P.HERRINGTON> Whoa! :)

 <[Stu] R.TEXADA> ok sound:

 <BLUE-KNIGHT> Size is 1000 x 1000 at 72 hz and will both have 16 to 32
 blit colors. Also some other things that you can read about in ViewPort
 since its too much to go into now!

 <BLUE-KNIGHT> Products should be ready for production by mid to end 94

 <[Stu] R.TEXADA> ok how bout that sound?

 <BLUE-KNIGHT> Sound is going to be suported on the new chipsets and the
 talk is about on high end chipset of 16 bit audio with sampling rates of
 100 KHZ

 <BLUE-KNIGHT> Low end was mentioned as just 16 bit

 <[Peg] P.HERRINGTON> I'd settle for 16-bit low end any day!

 <[Peg] P.HERRINGTON> Thanks, Stu. Next up is...

 <[SideWinder] C.GIESEKE> How'bout this...IS C= GOing to FINNALY Sell Amiga
 in BIG Retail Outlets..And actually have REAL Cool Demos instead of
 Workbench or (oy) Blank screens??

 <BLUE-KNIGHT> Well that is left for the ViewPort! There is some
 controversy there and I would rather have it in ViewPort :-)

 <[SideWinder] C.GIESEKE> Has production of A600s stoped?

 <BLUE-KNIGHT> No the 600 is still the lowest end machine and going to
 remain as such with no new news being given.

 <[Dave] D.KRISTIANSE> Any SPECULATION as to whether or not C= will release
 an AGA machine between 1200 & 4000/30 ?

 <BLUE-KNIGHT> Yes they said that they were going to try to fit the slots
 in with the 4000 33 mhz with an 030 in it which was announced rescently

 <[Dave] D.KRISTIANSE> Nothing else?

 <BLUE-KNIGHT> Oh I guess I can say that the biggest seller of the show was
 the OPAL vision board

 <[Ryan] R.DOBSON2> Are there any plans for C= to release CDTV with AGA?

 <BLUE-KNIGHT> And Denny Atkin's book of course. All of the books were sold
 out today at the show

 <BLUE-KNIGHT> Ryan nothing was mentioned.... CDTV with DCTV enhancer was
 shown

 <BLUE-KNIGHT> As for the 4000 Lew said that to reallly be of use it needs
 full motion video

 <[Ryan] R.DOBSON2> Okay, what about marketing for CDTV?

 <[Peg] P.HERRINGTON> Great news, that.  Which reminds me:  Tuesday night
 this week (4/6) Denny will be here in conference and he'll give away an
 AUTOGRAPHED copy of his book!

 <BLUE-KNIGHT> Ryan I am going to leave marketing alone since that was the
 coverage of another reporter and will be in the magazine (ViewPort) he was
 the one at the lecture.

 <BLUE-KNIGHT> At the lecture about marketing at least!

 <[Peg] P.HERRINGTON> Marketing is awfully complex to talk about here,
 gang.

 <R.KANEMARU> 1) did commodore talk about an update to 3.0dos?

 <R.KANEMARU> 2) what about a release of a 1/2 height hd floppy for the
 4000?

 <BLUE-KNIGHT> Well they are currently working on newer DOS versions at all
 time in fact talk about RTG support was mentioned with Lew saying that
 there was going to be RTG standard in future release (which release is
 unknown)

 <BLUE-KNIGHT> Nothing about 1/2 height hard drive floppy!

 <R.KANEMARU> what about the new monitors?  are they better than the 1960 I
 have with my 4000?

 <R.KANEMARU> nono, a high density floppy for the 4000

 <[Peg] P.HERRINGTON> Folks, TWO question limit, please. In fairness to
 those who have been waiting for a turn.

 <[Bill] W.LEE18> It was basically a redesigned 1960 that included built in
 speaker

 <BLUE-KNIGHT> And lower prices on that as well!

 <BLUE-KNIGHT> lower prices on the new monitors!

 <J.MARTINEAU2> I came in late, and tihis may already have been asked, but
 did anyone mention AGA support for the 3000s?

 <BLUE-KNIGHT> Nope... No support from C= on the upgrade to 3000's. The
 only way is chip replacboard replacement and not cost effective.

 <BLUE-KNIGHT> Alot of the things that are going to be released for the
 4000 is going to be able to work on the 30000 minus AGA support

 <J.MARTINEAU2> So it's time to sell :-) thanks

 <[Bill] W.LEE18> One 3rd party  developer did say that they were
 "considering" development of an AGA upgrade device however

 <[Crickets] S.LUTNES> Any word from CATS about the expected AppBuilder
 type application that will make developing and porting applications easier?

 <BLUE-KNIGHT> Well nothing in terms of something like Can Do

 <BLUE-KNIGHT> Is that what you ment... or for graphics applications??

 <[Crickets] S.LUTNES> I believe CATS was developing an interface builder
 program.

 <[Bill] W.LEE18> Nothing mentioned publicly at the show about that
 Crickets

 <W.DAVIS15> just got my q erased wait

 <W.DAVIS15> did you say that there was going to be

 <W.DAVIS15> a A4000 / 030 @ 33MHz? a full 030?

 <BLUE-KNIGHT> No, not that... Which is not a full 030 withough the MMU
 chips

 <BLUE-KNIGHT> Although sockets are provided for additions to it.

 <W.DAVIS15> but it will be a 33MHz CPU?

 <[Peg] P.HERRINGTON> Dean can answer to that question...

 <[Am-Egg-a] DEANF> OK, The 030 based a4000 is at dealers now...

 <BLUE-KNIGHT> Unknown the speed all that was mentioned was that it was
 going to be EC030

 <[Am-Egg-a] DEANF> it is the EC 030 which is no MMU, and there is NO math
 chip...

 <[Am-Egg-a] DEANF> ...there is a socket for the math chip, but it costs
 extra...

 <[Am-Egg-a] DEANF> ...you cannot replace the EC 030 with a standard 030
 because it is surface mounted...]

 <[Bill] W.LEE18> It is a socketed CPU on the card from what I'm told so
 upgrade is possible

 <[Bill] W.LEE18> to a full MMU chip that is

 <[Am-Egg-a] DEANF> street price here in Atlanta is $1895, that's with 4
 meg ram and 120 meg IDE Seacrate hd

 <[Am-Egg-a] DEANF> Mail order price will prolly be $100 or so cheaper

 <[Peg] P.HERRINGTON> Okay... thanks, Dean. :)

 <[pussywillow] L.DRIVER> Not sure if this is the right place to ask
 this...but I have heard rumors about a dos 4.0 and a A5000 <just got my
 A4000>...second Q is about the lines on my 1960 got the new updated
 DOS...but isn't there some files that I have to delete to fix this all
 the way?

 <BLUE-KNIGHT> OK.... for the first question... no 4.0 and 5000 not
 mentioned.

 <BLUE-KNIGHT> Second question is that there is a whole topic devoted to
 monitor drivers in the BBS where that was talked about. I think also last
 issue of Viewport had the AGA article in there

 <[pussywillow] L.DRIVER> will have to fine that article...never heard of
 ViewPort before

 <BLUE-KNIGHT> Its too hard to explain here... but the topic there will
 help you get that provlem solved

 <BLUE-KNIGHT> Well Its our online magazine... Peg and Jim might be able to
 fill in on it....

 <[Peg] P.HERRINGTON> ViewPort is the *StarShip* Monthly online magazine!
 shame on you. ;-)

 <BLUE-KNIGHT> JIM would you mind a little blurb???

 <[Peg] P.HERRINGTON> The current issue is FREE on page 555. :)

 <[pussywillow] L.DRIVER> <head down> well I am new to gene...

 <BLUE-KNIGHT> The old issues are in the libraries!

 <BLUE-KNIGHT> Welcome aboard!!!!

 <[weekendcrew] J.ALMASOL2> did you happen to see the new ASDG demo tape,
 and what did you think of it?

 <BLUE-KNIGHT> We had great pizza and italian!!!! Just to make you jelous!

 <[weekendcrew] J.ALMASOL2> also, any train sets in sight?  (sorry,
 couldn't resist :-)

 <BLUE-KNIGHT> Nope No demo tape... which booth was it shown in???

 <[weekendcrew] J.ALMASOL2> micropace

 <BLUE-KNIGHT> No train sets they are in hiding in the wearhouse!

 <CHRIS.P> With the new emerging video animation standards coming out,
 animation seems to be playing a key role in hot news nowadays...
 (question's coming :)

 <BLUE-KNIGHT> Oh That tape... yes Micropace we have seen it its nice but
 since you are GOING to have an online Conference about it... we can talk
 about it then! :-)

 <CHRIS.P> How USEABLE was the MPEG hardware they displayed, how well did
 it run, and what allowances for sound did it have?

 <BLUE-KNIGHT> All ready for them.... there was alot great news about
 that!!!!!!!

 <BLUE-KNIGHT> The MPEG hardware was shown playing a 2+ gig file which wa
 compressed to 51 megs (43;1) Compression in realtime 24 bit.

 <CHRIS.P> (I have another quick question afterwards, if ya don't mind)

 <BLUE-KNIGHT> This is the early prototype board and there was no sound
 functioning yet..

 <CHRIS.P> But sound support is forthcoming?

 <BLUE-KNIGHT> It will however support CD quality sound.

 <BLUE-KNIGHT> Also Commodore is very eager about the MPEG and they are
 going to release both players, boards and authoring software!

 <CHRIS.P> My other questions concerns Emplant: how is it? Is Sybil
 necessary in an A4000?

 <[Peg] P.HERRINGTON> Wait a minute.. they were showing a Bon Jovi video
 WITHOUT sound??

 <BLUE-KNIGHT> In fact they are in negotiations with C-QUBED (I think thats
 the spelling)

 <BLUE-KNIGHT> A MAC Multimedia company with excellent software to port it
 to Amiga! With good results in negotiations so far

 <CHRIS.P> Any rough price on the MPEG hardware?

 <[Bill] W.LEE18> No pricing on MPEG yet

 <BLUE-KNIGHT> Nope its early prototype with all the software going to be
 combined into it before released.

 <BLUE-KNIGHT> Bill is going to answer.... the EMPLANT question!

 <[Bill] W.LEE18> Emplant actually DOES work quite well...

 <[Bill] W.LEE18>  it does NOT requiere SYBLE except to WRITE  800k
 disks...

 <R.KANEMARU> is there any way to make my 4000 go faster?  A 1200 with a
 GVP go faster now

 <[Bill] W.LEE18> It works between the speedd of a CI and FX MAc

 <[Bill] W.LEE18> However screen refresh is still pretty slow in 254 colour
 mode

 <[Peg] P.HERRINGTON> Okay, that's all the questions I have stacked up,
 gang.

 <[Peg] P.HERRINGTON> I'll put the room into talk mode now... thanks for
 coming tonight, and thank you Yury and Bill for all the great info!

 <[Peg] P.HERRINGTON> Talk away!

 <[Sidewinder] C.GIESEKE> OY!!

 <[Am-Egg-a] DEANF> A follow up on Emplant...did they show PC emulation or
 just Mac?

 <BOB.ELLER> Actually, you can add an external High density floppy to any
 Amiga with 2.0 or higher

 <R.KANEMARU> I can't went broke getting a 4000!

 <G.GILBERTSON> Was there a price and a release date on the 4091?

 <BLUE-KNIGHT> Just MAC emulation... and good one at that

 <W.DAVIS15> Chrispy -- i have a HDfloppy in my A3000 and emplant is fine
 without SYBIL

 <CHRIS.P> Really, WD? Great.

 <[Bill] W.LEE18> No release date (firm) on the 4091 but it will not be the
 WIDE version as stated earlier...

 <[Bill] W.LEE18>  the one we saw was a handbuilt prototype with some chips
 marked 3090 on them too

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 """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""


 > Desktop Video on a Shoe String Budget -- STR Special Series
   ===========================================================
   By Michael Heinz
   (mheinz@ssw.com)


             Part One:   Introduction and Basic VCR Recording


 If you're anything like me, you're pretty curious about desktop video.
 You probably read every article you can find on the subject, and dream of
 owning your own Video Toaster.  But there's a problem with both of those
 articles and with the Toaster -- they assume you're making videos for a
 living.  The articles talk about setting up a "basic" system for "only"
 fifteen hundred dollars, and you can't get even a used Toaster for less
 less than two grand.

 Well, I don't want to do video for a living -- I have a job, thank you.
 And I >don't< have $2000 laying around waiting for me to spend it.  (If
 you do, you can stop reading now.)

 What I want to do is play with video and learn the concepts -- maybe make
 a few home movies and add some titles, maybe do a little animation, maybe
 maybe a little digitization.  Preferably for free (or at least "cheap").
 That's what this series is about.  I'm going to take you step by step
 through a desk top video flea market.  I won't talk about the Video
 Toaster or OpalVision or the IV24.  I >will< talk about starting with
 nothing but your Amiga, a TV and a VCR.


 GETTING STARTED

 The newer home Amiga models (the 600 and 1200) have built in composite
 video output.  (I don't know if the 4000 does, I've never actually seen
 one.) The 3000, 2000 and 500 also have composite output, but only in black
 and white.

 What's composite output, you ask?  Conveniently enough it's the same video
 signal accepted by most VCR's and TV's.  Look on the back of your VCR for
 a pair (or three) RCA type jack labeled "IN" or "AUX" or something
 similar.  One of those jacks will be for video input. The other (two) will
 be for audio.  (If you don't have a VCR, see the end of the article for
 tips on what to look for when buying one. Face it, if you don't own a VCR,
 you can't record video tapes.)

 I can hear the gears spinning in your brain. You're thinking "you mean I
 can record my Amiga's sound and display to video tape?"  Yes. Those of you
 with older machines are also thinking, "but I can only record in black and
 white?"  Well, yes and no.  For this first lesson, stick with black and
 white. Later, however, you can do like I did and post a message on a local
 BBS asking if anyone wants to sell an "A520 Encoder".  This unit was
 designed to let Amiga 500 owners use their home TV as computer monitor,
 and it works beautifully with VCR's.  I picked one up for $25, and I've
 heard of people giving them away for free.

 Think about what you can do with this set up.  You could record tutorials
 on how to use your favorite software, and sell them to members of your
 user group.  You could use your favorite "paint" program to generate
 titles for the shows you tape off TV.  No more guessing which episode is
 which.  You could use your favorite animation program and create the next
 Roger Rabbit!  You could make tapes of your favorite Amiga demos and play
 them in the VCR's at the local Radio Shack. The possibilities are endless.
 Anything that you can show on your Amiga's monitor or play on its speakers
 can be recorded to video tape.

 So, let's hook up the video (we'll talk about sound in another article).
 You've found the video input to your VCR, and you already know where to
 find your Amiga's composite output jack. (Hint:  It's on the back.)  The
 next step is to find a cable to hook between them.  If all you want to do
 is play, you might get away with a good quality speaker cable, but I don't
 recommend it.  Unfortunately, video signals are very sensitive and degrade
 easily.  The longer the cable, the worse the connectors, the worse the
 picture at the other end.  If you do decide you want to record things for
 others to watch, I strongly recommend you pop ten bucks for a good coaxial
 cable.  Look for them in your video/electronics store.  One brand name is
 "Monster Cable," but there are others. Look for gold connectors, and a
 nice >thick< cable.  The thicker, the more shielding, the better the
 picture will look on your TV.

 Now you're ready for the first test.  You've got the cable.  Plug one end
 into the composite output of your Amiga, and the other end into the input
 of your VCR.  Now you turn on your TV so you can watch what's coming out
 of the VCR, you turn on the VCR, you switch your workbench to interlace
 mode and you're off!  Everything that's on your monitor is also on your
 TV! Except...

 First thing's first.  You want to know why your workbench has to
 be in interlace mode.  "Who want's to look at flicker?" you ask.  Well,
 your VCR does.  The whole reason the Amiga >has< an interlace mode is
 that TV and VCR signals are interlaced.  You don't notice it because the
 picture is constantly changing, you usually watch it from about 5 feet
 away, and besides, when was the last time you saw a TV show that had a
 lot of lines only 1 pixel thick and lines of text only a 1/4 inch tall?

 Second thing, you're probably noticing that the TV display is
 fuzzy, and the colors are bleeding all over the place.  These problems
 are also built into the video signal.  The fact is, normal TV's are
 fairly low resolution devices.  When working with video you're usually
 talking about 320x400 resolution -- plus overscan, and PAL, if you live
 in Europe.  You can try 640x400 resolution, but most TV's will blur the
 extra pixels together.  In addition, TV's can't handle the bright colors
 that computer monitors can.  When video taping, the colors can never be
 brighter than 75% of maximum.  On the "standard" Amiga that means never
 picking a color brighter than 12 on the 0-15 color scale.  On the newer
 machines, it means not picking colors brighter than 192 on the 0-255
 scale.  These limitations on color and resolution are >not< as bad as
 you might think.  The color (12,12,0) may look like a washed out brown
 on your monitor, but on the TV it will appear brilliant yellow.

 So, your Amiga's hooked up to the VCR and you've picked out some
 workbench colors that don't fry your TV.  What to try next?  Well, pop a
 tape into the VCR and start recording.  Now, launch your favorite paint
 program - making sure to select an interlaced resolution.  Doodle for a
 while.  Quit.  Pop in a disk of your favorite HAM pictures, and display
 them with your favorite slide show program.  Rewind the tape and play it
 back.  Any ideas coming to your mind?

 Try this idea out:  You're a member of your local PTA.  You've got a hot
 idea to raise money for this year's class trip. How do you convince people
 that your idea is great?

 Dig out that paint program again, and work up a series of charts and
 slides describing your idea. Make sure that the text is very large (use at
 least a 24 point font) and that the pictures are simple (complicated
 details can get lost when recorded on video tape).  When you're done,
 display them with your favorite slide show program -- I use the PD program
 "mostra". If you've got a copy of AmigaVision you can get fancy and try
 out the different "transitions" it has -- but remember to keep each slide
 on the screen long enough to give everyone a chance to read it.

 When the presentation's perfect, record it to videotape.  Now, you can
 either give a video presentation at the next PTA meeting or, even better,
 give copies to the various PTA members to watch at home. Video taped sales
 pitches are a big fad right now - people get videos from Ford and GM all
 the time.  Won't they be impressed when you do the same thing?

 Play with this basic set up for a while, and learn what works and doesn't
 work on the TV.  I record everything I try and play it back the next day.
 That way, I have a complete log of what I did, so I know how to do it
 again (if I liked it) or how to avoid it (if I didn't).  Next time, we'll
 talk about adding music and narration to this basic set up.

 BUYING A VCR

 If you don't already own a VCR, you'll be happy to learn that the prices
 of VCRs have been falling. While a basic VCR will still set you back about
 $300, that VCR will have many more features than even last year's models.
 For recording the Amiga's output there are two required features:  A
 composite input and a flying erase head.

 The composite input is easy - I would say 95% of all VCRs have composite
 input - so that you can hook the VCRs together and copy tapes. The flying
 erase head is slightly harder to find, and usually isn't found on the
 cheapest models.

 I won't give you the technical description of what a "flying erase head"
 is - I'll just tell you the results.  With a basic VCR, if you stop
 recording, then start recording again, there will probably be a short
 burst of static where the two recordings meet.  The flying erase head
 makes sure that this burst doesn't occur, by causing the two recordings
 to mesh together better.  This is essential, since you will probably want
 to make videos longer than you can fit into your Amiga's memory at one
 time - so you'll have to tape the first part, pause the VCR, load the
 second part and then tape that.

 On other option you might look for is called "digital still" or "digital
 freeze frame".  While not required for basic recording, if you ever decide
 you want to buy a video digitizer you will need this feature.

 The problem is that in order to display a freeze frame the VCR must
 constantly shuttle a small portion of tape back and forth over the video
 head.  This means that a traditional "freeze frame" is never really still,
 and usually has a good bit of static in it.  On the other hand, digital
 freeze frame copies that small portion of video tape into some RAM and
 displays it from there.  The tape doesn't have to move, so there is no
 static.  The picture really is "frozen" and you can easily grab it with a
 digitizer like Digi-View.

 If you decide to buy a VCR used, look for the same features.  In addition,
 make the seller have the VCR cleaned before you decide to buy it.  Video
 repair people have told me that many "broken" VCR's only need a good
 cleaning before they work as good as new, but don't take that on faith.
 Have them clean it before you buy it.



 ****************************************************************************


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 ****************************************************************************


 > Meet Denny Atkin GEnie Realtime Conference Transcript
   =====================================================

 This is an edited transcript of the April 6, 1993 *StarShip* Conference with
 Denny Atkin, Editor of COMPUTE's Amiga Resource and author of "Best Amiga
 Tips & Secrets." Denny attended the NYC World of Commodore Show and addresses
 questions relative to that, too.

 <[Peg] P.HERRINGTON> Welcome, everybody, to the conference tonight with our
 special guest Denny Atkin! ...

 <[Shadow] D.VANTREASE> So Denny, what was THE MOST exiting thing at the WOC?

 <[Denny Atkin] DENNYA> Shadow, PageStream 3

 <[Peg] P.HERRINGTON> So we can ask Denny questions tonight in a sorta orderly
 fashion, I'm going to put the room into listen only mode...

 <[Peg] P.HERRINGTON> ... and call on you in order. Please type /RAISE if
 you'd like to get on the question list.

 <[Denny Atkin] DENNYA> Hi folks!

 <[Peg] P.HERRINGTON> Denny, give us a few words, would ya?  You know,
 interesting ones. :)

 <[Denny Atkin] DENNYA> I'm here to answer questions about my new book,

 <[Denny Atkin] DENNYA> (oooh, tall task, Peg. :)

 <[Peg] P.HERRINGTON>  ::laugh::

 <[Denny Atkin] DENNYA> "Denny Atkin's Best Amiga Tips and Secrets", which
 shipped in late January

 <[Denny Atkin] DENNYA> from COMPUTE Books. It's essentially a collection of
 all the most-asked questions

 <[Denny Atkin] DENNYA> and cool tips I've run into since buying my A1000 back
 in 1985...

 <[Denny Atkin] DENNYA> It includes info on AmigaDOS 1.3 through 3.0, and all
 Amigas, including the A1200 and A4000, with CDTV covered as well.

 <[Denny Atkin] DENNYA> And I was so burned out after finishing it that I've
 had occasion to use it for reference myself. :-)

 <[Peg] P.HERRINGTON> Are you glad you wrote it, Denny?

 <[Denny Atkin] DENNYA> So let's start with book talk, and then we'll seg-way
 (where's a copy editor to fix my spellings when  I need one? ;-) into
 questions about WOCA.

 <[Peg] P.HERRINGTON> And would you do it again?

 <[Denny Atkin] DENNYA> Peggy, absolutely I'm glad I did. If you'd asked me
 that in mid-November, well, I'd probably have said...

 <[Denny Atkin] DENNYA> "wubba wubba... computer... get it away.."

 <[Peg] P.HERRINGTON> Hehehehe.

 <[Denny Atkin] DENNYA> And as for doing it again, if this one sells well, a
 sequel is always a possibility!

 <[Peg] P.HERRINGTON> Very good!

 <[Denny Atkin] DENNYA> "Denny Atkin's Not Quite as Good, But Still Useful,
 Amiga Tips and Secrets."

 <[Peg] P.HERRINGTON> Okay, let's go to questions...

 <[Peg] P.HERRINGTON> First up tonight is S.WALTON4.

 <[Peg] P.HERRINGTON> Go ahead, Scott. :)

 <[Scott W] S.WALTON4> Sorry, My question has been answered.  I wanted to know
 about Tips II

 <[Scott W] S.WALTON4> I would also like to know about PgS 3.0 mentioned
 earlier.

 <[Denny Atkin] DENNYA> Scott, PageStream 3.0 looks to be the most complete,
 powerful DTP program I've ever seen...

 <[Denny Atkin] DENNYA> They have the entire feature list of Quark, a great
 user-interface, professional publishing features...

 <[Denny Atkin] DENNYA> And I get the impression that any requests for
 features they get now (there's a Soft-Logik RT here on GEnie) will likely
 make it in. It's not slated for release until August, but the Alpha at WOCA
 looked very promising.

 <[Scott W] S.WALTON4> Thanks.

 <[Peg] P.HERRINGTON> Next up is S.ANDERSON32

 <[Denny Atkin] DENNYA> (Everyone put Dark Side of the Moon on your stereos so
 we'll be listening to the same thing and we can pretend we're in the same
 room. I'm on track 2 right now.)

 <[Peg] P.HERRINGTON> Take it away, Stan. :)

 <[Stan] S.ANDERSON32> Denny, ((trying to get used to this))  since I don't
 have the book in hand yet, (It's on order from DevWare), let me ask a q.
 about WOCA: The 1940 series monitors, in particular.  Any clues on a release
 date?

 <[Denny Atkin] DENNYA> I got the impression that they're in final debugging
 stages on the hardware...

 <[Denny Atkin] DENNYA> Apparently the prototypes didn't support Super72/laced
 mode. (ooooops) I'd guess it's probably a month or so before they're
 released..

 <[Denny Atkin] DENNYA> The 1940 is a .39 dpi monitor, and will be primarily
 of interest to gamers and folks content to work in medium-res...

 <[Denny Atkin] DENNYA> the 1942 is a .28 dp monitor, and will be the one most
 folks will want...

 <[Denny Atkin] DENNYA> Both monitors will be bigger (14") and less expensive
 than the 1960.

 <[Denny Atkin] DENNYA> They weren't on display at the show. :-(

 <[Peg] P.HERRINGTON> Follow up on that, Stan?

 <[Stan] S.ANDERSON32> Did you get a look at the ICD Viper and SCSI module?

 <[Peg] P.HERRINGTON> I'll let this question stand, but folks... please limit
 your questions to one at a time, in fairness for the others waiting their
 turn.

 <[Denny Atkin] DENNYA> Stan, it was on display, but not running... I got the
 impression they're still debugging the design. The boards looked good,
 though. :)

 <[Peg] P.HERRINGTON> Okay, thanks, Stan. Next up is RHETT.

 <RHETT> I have two questions. One concerning the book. Do you want them both
 now?

 <RHETT> Oops. Does that count as a question?

 <[Denny Atkin] DENNYA> Oh, sure. And then we'll go down to one.

 <RHETT> On page 70, what was Bill looking at?

 <RHETT> Chicken leg or something?

 <[Peg] P.HERRINGTON> You better explain who Bill is,Denny. :)

 <[Denny Atkin] DENNYA> Bill is my 20 pound Maine Coon Cat, and official model
 for the book...

 <[Denny Atkin] DENNYA> I actually did say "want some supper" to get his
 attention for that shot, yep. :-)

 <[Peg] P.HERRINGTON> Hehehehe. I've met Bill and can attest to his appetite.

 <RHETT> It's a great book, Denny. My other question is did you hear I'm going
 to be a father near Thanksgiving?

 <RHETT> :->

 <[Denny Atkin] DENNYA> WOW! Congrats, Rhett!

 <[Peg] P.HERRINGTON> Rhett is (among other things) a former editor of
 COMPUTE's Amiga Resource, for those of you who don't recognize his name.

 <[Denny Atkin] DENNYA> Don't name him Bill. :)

 <RHETT> haha

 <[Peg] P.HERRINGTON> Next up tonight is Shadow.

 <[Denny Atkin] DENNYA> And coauthor of Mapping the Amiga, soon to be
 available in a revised edition

 <[Shadow] D.VANTREASE> My question concerns the futre of CD-ROM...

 <[Peg] P.HERRINGTON> Cool. We'll have to have Rhett here to talk about that
 when it comes out.

 <[Shadow] D.VANTREASE> How much is Commodore pushing to improve and come out
 with CD-ROM for AGA machines?

 <[Shadow] D.VANTREASE> (Just got my feet wet on a friends Sega CD)

 <[Denny Atkin] DENNYA> Shadow, I think at this point Commodore considers
 CD-ROM much more a priority for AGA machines...

 <[Denny Atkin] DENNYA> than they do further CDTV development..

 <[Denny Atkin] DENNYA> Lew Eggebrecht said that CD-ROM was a "front-burner"
 project...

 <[Shadow] D.VANTREASE> Any idea of price and/or timing of one for the A1200?

 <[Peg] P.HERRINGTON> You can ask questions of Denny about his book and about
 the World of Commodore Show (which Denny attended) held last weekend.

 <[Denny Atkin] DENNYA> Which I'd guess means Fall is likely for release....

 <[Denny Atkin] DENNYA> And that it would be available for all Amiga models
 except the A600.

 <[Shadow] D.VANTREASE> Ok Great... and as always... "AMIGA RULES"!!!

 <[Denny Atkin] DENNYA> No idea on price, but their price on the A590 has been
 VERY reasonable.

 <[Peg] P.HERRINGTON> Denny will be giving away a free autographed copy of his
 book tonight, too. We'll get to details on that contest in a bit.

 <[Mark] M.TYNES> Denny, what about the 4000T.?  Was it worth wating for? When
 is availability due?

 <[Denny Atkin] DENNYA> Mark, the A4000T is probably about 2-3 months from
 release...

 <[Denny Atkin] DENNYA> Five Zorro III slots, 4 PC slots, 2 video slots, SCSI
 on the motherboard..

 <[Denny Atkin] DENNYA> tons of drive bays--BUT--expect to pay a premium price
 for it.

 <[Denny Atkin] DENNYA> So if you're looking for a machine under $3K, might as
 well go for the A4000/040.

 <[Peg] P.HERRINGTON> Next up is Nick.

 <[Mab] S.POPE3> Hi how are you and Bill.. BTW I managed to trade a copy of
 ManHunter for your book....

 <[Denny Atkin] DENNYA> We're fine. My book traded for a bad Sierra game?
 :THUD:

 <[Denny Atkin] DENNYA> :-)

 <[Mab] S.POPE3> Just kidding... I take it that the 1940 is built around the
 default screen drivers right?  Does the ICD viper have a socketed 68EC30??

 <[Denny Atkin] DENNYA> The 1940 will work with all AGA screen modes. Viper
 030 is surface-mount, but they sell a full-030 model as well. GA

 <[Peg] P.HERRINGTON> Thanks, Mab.

 <[Peg] P.HERRINGTON> Next up is Randy.

 <[Mab] S.POPE3> Ok thanks for the info, I was considered going that way.
 What I was referring to was fixed scanning.

 <[Denny Atkin] DENNYA> Oh. It has four scan rates, which coincidentally are
 AGA scan rates.

 <[Randy] R.TAYLOR67> Ive got two questions, one concerning hardware and one
 concerning future marketinhg

 <[Denny Atkin] DENNYA> Let's go for one question..

 <[Denny Atkin] DENNYA> Then let the others go, and I'll stick around and make
 sure everyone gets answered.

 <[Peg] P.HERRINGTON> Denny will be giving away a free autographed copy of his
 book tonight, too. We'll get to details on that contest in a bit.

 <[Randy] R.TAYLOR67> ok how about hardware....what was your impresion of the
 hardware commodore anounced

 <[Denny Atkin] DENNYA> Randy, I'm very excited...

 <[Randy] R.TAYLOR67> in paticular the new chipsets

 <[Denny Atkin] DENNYA> The A4000/030 fits a hole in the product line, the
 A4000T looks really good...

 <[Denny Atkin] DENNYA> But the new chip sets--WOW.

 <[Denny Atkin] DENNYA> These promise to be a quantum leap ahead of what we're
 used to,

 <[Randy] R.TAYLOR67> what about future software compatibility

 <[Denny Atkin] DENNYA> and unless something major happens outside the Amiga
 market that I don't know is coming up...

 <[Denny Atkin] DENNYA> Will be as much a quantum leap over the current state
 of the art as the original Amiga chipset was over CGA. :-) ...

 <[Denny Atkin] DENNYA> We're talking incredible speed, 32-bit color, huge
 resolutions, multiple blitters working together, etc.

 <[Denny Atkin] DENNYA> As for chipset compatibility, the low-end AA+ chipset
 is supposed to be hardware-compatible with AGA, and the high-end chipset will
 be hardware compatible with ECS and software compatible with AGA (so stuff
 that follows the rules will work)...

 <[Denny Atkin] DENNYA> I'd guess more stuff will break under the high-end
 chipset, but you won't miss your 1985 software when you see what this stuff
 can do. :)

 <[Mark] M.TYNES> Denny, the new is that the new AA+ is not compatiblewith the
 4000 motherboard

 <[Mark] M.TYNES> will there be a cheap upgrade?

 <[Denny Atkin] DENNYA> Mark, it would be relatively easy to swap out just the
 motherboard on an A4000....

 <[Denny Atkin] DENNYA> letting you keep your expansion slot card, processor
 card, RAMs, case, floppies, etc...

 <[Mark] M.TYNES> What about price on the !4000T?

 <[Peg] P.HERRINGTON> We'll have a Magic Word contest after these questions,
 and the winner will win an autographied copy of Denny's book, "Best Amiga
 Tips & Secrets"!!

 <[Denny Atkin] DENNYA> And it's much more viable than an A3000 swap...

 <[Mark] M.TYNES> If i don't win the book, you can chalk up another sale
 tomorrow!

 <[Denny Atkin] DENNYA> But I think Commodore marketing needs to be convinced
 that an A4000 motherboard swap is vital when the next gen chips come out.
 BUT--4000 owners will want AAA, not AA+, I'm sure.

 <[Denny Atkin] DENNYA> AA+ is for the A1200-level machines.

 <[Mark] M.TYNES> oops, I meant the AAA

 <[Denny Atkin] DENNYA> No price on the A4000T yet. I assume it will be a
 premium priced machine. GA

 <[Peg] P.HERRINGTON> Thanks, Mark. Next up is Flam.

 <[Mark] M.TYNES> If I'm in the market for a multi platform machine should I
 wait for the 4000T?

 <[Denny Atkin] DENNYA> (I'll get to that one later, Mark... Flam's up. Sorry,
 gotta let everyone get in!)

 <[FLAM] J.JOHNSON75> What do you know about/ think about the "Emplant"

 <[FLAM] J.JOHNSON75> BTW HI!  :)

 <[Denny Atkin] DENNYA> Flam, funny you should ask that...

 <[Denny Atkin] DENNYA> (Hi!) Jim gave me a review board at the show, so we'll
 have a full writeup in an upcoming COMPUTE...

 <[Denny Atkin] DENNYA> I saw it running at the show, with Adobe PhotoShop on
 the screen. It seemed to work very well.,

 <[Denny Atkin] DENNYA> The board is a quality product, the documentation is
 pretty poor, though, so it's not for the faint of heart. But with Jim's
 support here on GEnie, anyone should be up and running.

 <[Denny Atkin] DENNYA> At this point, I'd say it's for the "hacker" type who
 doesn't mind fooling around to get something to work right and in an
 optimized manner...

 <[FLAM] J.JOHNSON75> oh goody!!!  :)

 <[Denny Atkin] DENNYA> But it's maturning rapidly, and will likely be a good
 general solution for color mac emulation soon.

 <[FLAM] J.JOHNSON75> thanks!

 <[Greg] G.DUIGOU> great book.  How about tips on laser printers?

 <[Peg] P.HERRINGTON> Ahh.

 <[Denny Atkin] DENNYA> Greg, honestly, the reason there's not much there  on
 lasers is because I haven't been able to use them much with the Amiga...

 <[Denny Atkin] DENNYA> My best tip is the one in the book--if you don't have
 a PostSCript laser, SaxonScript or Post are great add-ons.

 <[Peg] P.HERRINGTON>  (Denny spends too much time online. Doesn't need to
 print. ;)

 <[Peg] P.HERRINGTON> Thanks, Greg.  Next up is M.ARNOLD.

 <M.ARNOLD6> Denny, I hate dead-air so I'll keep it flowing...

 <M.ARNOLD6> You've already answered a Q about the availability of an update
 to Mapping the Amiga

 <M.ARNOLD6> Please tell us WHEN the update will be available?

 <M.ARNOLD6> And will it include info about KS/WB 3.0?

 <M.ARNOLD6> Please be elaborate in your response,

 <[Denny Atkin] DENNYA> M.Arnold..

 <[Denny Atkin] DENNYA> Peg, lett Rhett talk.

 <[Denny Atkin] DENNYA> :-)

 <M.ARNOLD6> I'm preparing to forwared the info to Usenet news.

 <[Denny Atkin] DENNYA> (Rhett's co-author, with RANDYT, of Mapping)

 <[Peg] P.HERRINGTON> I think he's gone, Denny.

 <[Denny Atkin] DENNYA> Oooops

 <[Denny Atkin] DENNYA> Best to email RHETT or RANDYT for that info, then. GA

 <D.COZORT2> If the new chipset is scheduled for 1994 then

 <D.COZORT2> does that mean that a laptop is that far away?

 <[Denny Atkin] DENNYA> Good question. The new chipset will finally make a
 low-power laptop viable..

 <[Denny Atkin] DENNYA> And the prices of color LCDs are plummeting. It should
 be possible to make an under $2000 color Amiga laptop by then, so I'd say
 Commodore will be more likely to do it.

 <[Denny Atkin] DENNYA> They don't think (and I think they're wrong here) that
 Amigans would buy a grey-scale laptop. I would, as long as it had a monitor
 port.

 <O.IVIE1> I have an A2000 with Toaster and want the new 4000T when avaiable -
 will my old Toaster be upgradeable?

 <[Denny Atkin] DENNYA> O.Ivie1, I have no idea if NewTek will offer an
 upgrade or not. Sorry. However, Toasters aren't difficult to sell, and I've
 found it's usually better financially to sell hardware than to upgrade it. GA

 <O.IVIE1> thanks

 <[Gary] G.WOLFE6> OK, I have an A3000.  Are there any new ways to expand the
 graphics, or am I better off waiting for the new more advanced Amigas?

 <[Denny Atkin] DENNYA> Gary..

 <[Denny Atkin] DENNYA> The only options now are third-party graphics cards,
 some of which offer hacks to let Workbench apps run on them...

 <[Denny Atkin] DENNYA> AmigDOS 4 will have retargetable graphics, meaning it
 won't matter what you're using hardware-wise.

 <[Denny Atkin] DENNYA> Alas, AmigaDOS 4 will likely appear at the same time
 as the new Amigas. Right now, my answer depends on your application.

 <[Gary] G.WOLFE6> (I wonder how long 'til DOS4?)  Thanks Denny...

 <[Vic] TV> Is there any news on the Networking of amigas?

 <[Denny Atkin] DENNYA> Vic, Commodore's had a networking staff working hard
 on a project for a while...

 <[Denny Atkin] DENNYA> But Lew said they were working on something else right
 now, and would be back on it in a few weeks.

 <[Denny Atkin] DENNYA> In the meantime, you can get Arcnet and Ethernet
 cards, and Novell and DecNet are available.

 <[Denny Atkin] DENNYA> I'm currently using Parnet between the A1200 and CDTV,
 and a laplink cable and Twin Express between my A4000 and Jerry the PC.

 <[Mark] M.TYNES> with an 4000, Emplant, Emplant/IBM bridge and video card,
 the slots are all gone!

 <[Mark] M.TYNES> I the 4000T the answer?

 <[Denny Atkin] DENNYA> Mark, yes. :-)

 <[Mark] M.TYNES> That's all, Thanks

 <[Denny Atkin] DENNYA> (I like the easy ones. :-)

 <S.POPE3> How is CBM coming along on the promised DSP, do you think it will
 be available to A-1200 owners?  What's the price of your book anyways? Jerry
 the PC??

 <[Denny Atkin] DENNYA> S.Pope3, the DSP's getting closer--it's looking like a
 LOT is going to be coming from CBM in late summer...

 <[Denny Atkin] DENNYA> It's now a Zorro III card, and I hear rumors of a
 Zorro III expansion chassis or two in development for the A1200...

 <[Denny Atkin] DENNYA> I'd also expect to see a direct plug-in version from a
 third party for the A1200 after it's released by CBM for the A4000.

 <[Denny Atkin] DENNYA> The book is $19.95 at your local bookstore, or $22.45
 shipped and autographed direct from COMPUTE. :-)

 <[Denny Atkin] DENNYA> DSP=Digital Signal Processor, which can be used for
 lots of things--CD-quality sound, fast JPEG work, modem emulation...

 <S.POPE3> Commodore sure has a lot to do with a Zorro III DSP maybe they
 oughta consider ReTargetable sound.  :-)... Thanks.

 <[Denny Atkin] DENNYA> (if anyone wants to order the book, since I mentioned
 the price, send a check or Visa/MC with expiration and signature, to COMPUTE
 Books, Denny Book Offer, 324 W. Wendover Ave, Ste. 200, Greensboro, NC, 27408
 and make sure and mention if you want me to scribble on it. :-)

 <[Denny Atkin] DENNYA> Jerry the PC is named after a curmudgeonly SF writer
 who names his computers. :-)

 <[Peg] P.HERRINGTON> Hehehehe.

 <[Shadow] D.VANTREASE> Has CBM said anything about future advertising? Like
 TV ads?

 <[Denny Atkin] DENNYA> Shadow, the only thing I caught from DevCon was that
 the AmigaMan isn't long for this world...

 <[Shadow] D.VANTREASE> They must know by now we LOVE their machines but HATE
 their low-key marketing!

 <[Denny Atkin] DENNYA> And the president said a consumer machine is due in
 the fall, their shot at the "next 64", which one would assume means it would
 have to be advertised.

 <[Shadow] D.VANTREASE> (and when will COMPUTE revive AMIGA RESOURCE!) GA and
 thanks <[Denny Atkin] DENNYA> FYI, they said 50-70% Amigas are sold by Amiga
 users.

 <[Peg] P.HERRINGTON> Yayyyyy us!

 <[Denny Atkin] DENNYA> Amiga Resource is alive and well. :-) As a special
 edition in COMPUTE. It's possible it could be broken out again in the future,
 but the US Amiga market will have to pick up considerably to support three
 mags. GA

 <R.BILONICK> HI! I found your book VERY useful - Thanks! I've heard that a
 motherboard swap is needed to use the 4091 SI've heard a motherboard swap

 <[Denny Atkin] DENNYA> RB, thanks for letting me know! It's great to know the
 book's been helpful.

 <[Denny Atkin] DENNYA> If your buster chip is soldered in (and it is on most
 early A4000s, including mine), a motherboard swap will be needed...

 <[Denny Atkin] DENNYA> Commodore hasn't worked out all the details yet, but
 they did assure me that early A4000 buyers will be taken care of.

 <R.BILONICK> I'm looking for a portable monitor for the 1200.

 <[Denny Atkin] DENNYA> Since we have 1 year warranties, I'd assume the swap
 will be free. Alas, I don't know of any small monitors for the A1200. :-(

 <D.COZORT2> I may have missed this, but what are the specs on the aaa and aa+

 <D.COZORT2> chips sets?

 <[Denny Atkin] DENNYA> D.Cozort, that's a tall order. :-)

 <[Denny Atkin] DENNYA> Best place to look is the devcon reports from the
 Pasadena show, available here in the library. Higher resolutions, 24-big
 graphics, etc. Too much to go into here. :-) Also, I'll have full details in
 the June issue of Amiga Resource, out in a month.

 <[Dan] D.EPP> Are the A4000's going to stay IDE on the MB, or change to SCSI
 once the IDE interfaces are used up?  Did C= say what the price was going to
 be on the 4091?

 <[Denny Atkin] DENNYA> Dan, there really is no IDE interface. It's just a
 little extra stuff in the gate arrays. Commodore hasn't said, but I'd guess
 the A4000 will stay IDE, but IDE will in the future only be used on lower-end
 models. No price announcement on the A4091 yet. GA

 <[Dan] D.EPP> Ok thanks :)

 <J.WILSON107> Thanks for fitting me in Peg. Hi Denny. I came in late, so
 excuse me if you've answered this already. My question is about CBM's
 advertising in trade magazines.

 <J.WILSON107> What are their plans for letting people know what tha Amiga can
 do (customers as well as users)?

 <[Peg] P.HERRINGTON> I wonder if Commodore knows the answer to that one. :)

 <[Denny Atkin] DENNYA> JW, all I know is that the current ads focus on folks
 actually doing productive things with their Amigas...

 <[Denny Atkin] DENNYA> And that they're still actively looking for folks
 making money or doing "good" things with the Amiga for future campaigns.

 <[Denny Atkin] DENNYA> (Asking me about Commodore's advertising reminds me of
 a question I had on my comprehensive finals for grad school, which
 essentially asked me how I'd fix Dan Quayle's image. :-) GA

 <[Peg] P.HERRINGTON> Hahahah.. Thanks, J.W. Our last question tonight...

 <[Peg] P.HERRINGTON> Is from someone whose name you may recognize.  Go ahead
 Jim Drew. :)

 <[Jim Drew] J.DREW2> Do I get an autographed copy of your book complete with
 a picture of you holding the EMPLANT board I gave you?  ;-)

 <[Jim Drew] J.DREW2> Seriously, do you know the actual attendance figures
 from WOC?

 <[Denny Atkin] DENNYA> Jim, alas, I sure don't. I wasn't there on Sunday. I
 should know early next week, though.

 <[Peg] P.HERRINGTON> I'm sure Jim will be happy to answer any questions you
 may have after this conference, folks. :)

 <[Denny Atkin] DENNYA> (Dying to put the Emplant board in. :-)

 <[Jim Drew] J.DREW2> How crowded were we really?

 <[Jim Drew] J.DREW2> Peg!!  Sheesh!  ;-)

 <[Peg] P.HERRINGTON> Put you on the spot, huh, Jim. :)

 <[Denny Atkin] DENNYA> It was packed on Saturday, especially around your
 booth! ;-) Looked better than last year.

 <[Peg] P.HERRINGTON> Jim Drew is the developer of the EMPLANT Board.. in case
 you didn't know.

 <[Jim Drew] J.DREW2> Well, since we weren't there last year....I should hope
 so!  hehe

 <[Jim Drew] J.DREW2> Thanks Denny!

 <[Denny Atkin] DENNYA> Welcome! :)

 <AMIGA.DOC> Remember folks, if anyone wants to get more information from
 Denny or wants to drop some feedback about the book you might win.... Check
 out the *StarShip* RT CATegory 15, TOPic 7!!!!

 <[Denny Atkin] DENNYA> Thanks Doc!

 <[Peg] P.HERRINGTON> Alright.. let's get into something really good now...
 something interesting, something worthwhile...

 <[Peg] P.HERRINGTON> Something FREE.  :)

 <[Peg] P.HERRINGTON> I'm gonna open up the room to talk, but PLEASE dont
 everybody do so at once!

 Note: Contest portion of this transcript deleted because no Amiga-specific
 information transpired.  Winners of TWO autographed copies of Denny Atkin's
 "Best Amiga Tips & Secrets" were W.DAVIS15 and R.HARBISON.

 <[Peg] P.HERRINGTON> Thanks to everybody for coming tonight! And thank you
 for a great conference, Denny!

        _______________________________________________________________
       |                                                               |
       |  Reprinted by permission from the *StarShip* on GEnie.        |
       |  Joining GEnie is easy!   Use half duplex at 300/1200/2400    |
       |  baud.  Dial 1-800-638-8369 (Canada 1-800-387-8330).  Type    |
       |  HHH at CONNECT.  At the U#= prompt, type AMIGA and press     |
       |  Return.                                                      |
       |_______________________________________________________________|
        ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


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                                 LET IT BE
                                 =========


                   From the Jerry Pournelle RT on Genie

                               By LADY.LUCK

                     Compiled by Lloyd E. Pulley, Sr.

                      Reprinted from STReport #9.14


 I found this on another network and thought you folks might enjoy it  --
 especially coming from a non-programmer like me,  who knows just  barely
 enough BASIC to get caught in a never-ending FOR-NEXT loop. <G>

 Sung to Beatles "Let it Be":

   When I find my code in tons of trouble,
   Friends and colleagues come to me,
   Speaking words of wisdom:
   "Write in C."

   As the deadline fast approaches,
   And bugs are all that I can see,
   Somewhere, someone whispers:
   "Write in C."

   Write in C, write in C,
   Write in C, oh, write in C.
   LISP is dead and buried,
   Write in C.

   I used to write a lot of FORTRAN,
   For science it worked flawlessly.
   Try using it for graphics!
   Write in C.

   If you've just spent nearly 30 hours
   Debugging some assembly,
   Soon you will be glad to
   Write in C.

   Write in C, write in C,
   Write in C, yeah, write in C.
   Only wimps use BASIC.
   Write in C.

   Write in C, write in C
   Write in C, oh, write in C.
   Pascal won't quite cut it.
   Write in C.

   {
        Guitar Solo
   }

   Write in C, write in C,
   Write in C, yeah, write in C.
   Don't even mention COBOL.
   Write in C.

   And when the screen is fuzzy,
   And the editor is bugging me.
   I'm sick of ones and zeros,
   Write in C.

   A thousand people swear that T.P.
   Seven is the one for me.
   I hate the word PROCEDURE,
   Write in C.

   Write in C, write in C,
   Write in C, yeah, write in C.
   PL1 is 80s,
   Write in C.

   Write in C, write in C,
   Write in C, yeah, write in C.
   The government loves ADA,
   Write in C.



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 > STReport CONFIDENTIAL    "Rumors Tidbits Predictions Observations Tips"
   """""""""""""""""""""


 (Editor's Note:  This file was found on Bix, and even though it states
  that it has been confirmed by Commodore, we have no way of knowing this.
  Please take it with a pound of salt, as it is certainly one of the best
  rumors we've found!  The message is completely unedited.)


                     *** FIRST REPORTS OF THE A5000 ***

 Commodore have gone for much like the A2000 large case to contain the power
 of this new machine. On the front panel it supports two 3.5" drive (one as
 standard) and two 5.25" (one holding a CD-Drive). This is the first machine
 to really support multi-tasking with it's three processors on board.

 Processors
 ----------

 The A5000 will incorperate the new motorola 68060 + two 68EC040 processors,
 the '060' is clocked at over 35MHz and the two '040' clocked at 25Mhz
 will give the A5000 a total speed at over 60MHz. The '060' with sit on a
 seperate card in the cpu slot (as in the A4000) and both the '040' will
 sit on the motherboard. The '040' have been design to help the '060', this
 will be most evident at times of heavy multi-tasking. As a result of this
 configuration the A5000 will have a new kickstart.

 Kickstart/Workbench
 -------------------

 The A5000 will have kickstart/workbench 4.0 (beta version has 3.2). This
 kickstart is required to control the three processors, earlier kickstarts
 will not be able to access the '040' (but the '060' can). This kickstart
 will not be released for the older machines although 4.1 will. This
 kickstart/workbench will enable the '040' to be assigned to different tasks
 and as shiped one will handle all screen and sound processing and the other
 will handle all of the I/O devices. This kickstart is a 1Mb chip and will
 be shipped on the hard drive (to be confirmed). If it is released in chip
 form then the chip will be placed on it's own card. This kickstart will have
 a user-selectable kickstart screen so the user can select which kickstart to
 load (either in slot or on harddrive) and the A5000 has been tested with
 kickstart 1.2 upwards so there will be no more compatability problems.

 Chipset
 -------

 Commodore have done it again in changing the chipset as there are several
 new chips. The A5000 with workbench 4 is now capable of operating in all
 modes with a 512 colour pallet. To maintain the speed require to operate
 in this mode one of the '040' can be assigned to the screen display (as
 it is shipped). The maximum screen resolution is 4096 x 4096 with over
 32 million colours on screen. This new chipset will be able to detect which
 chipset it should use (orig., ECS, super-ECS or AGA, super AGA) by
 detecting which kickstart is currently running or which is selected at a
 cold boot.

 Ram
 ---

 As the new chipset has a higher resolution and more colours more chip ram is
 required and commodore have responded by having 16Mb of chip ram on the
 motherboard (expandable to 64Mb) and 16Mb of fast ram (theoretically
 expandable to 1024Mb, tested to 256Mb). The chip and fast ram have been
 organised on a 32-bit wide structure as in the A3000 + A4000.

 Drives
 ------

 The harddrive interface is the new scsi2 standard with a 210Mb slimline
 hardrive mounted as standard. The floppy drive is a high density type and
 the CD-drive is a standard A2000 internal drive.

 Sound
 -----

 The sound is now 16-bit as the A4000 was supposed to have.

 Internal Connectors
 -------------------

 There are eight zorro III expansion slots with three IBM slots in parallel
 with three zorro slots. There is no cpu slot as t) and the keyboard
 connector (same pins as the A4000) at the back, the mouse ports are on the
 right side towards the back.

 Price
 -----

 Well that depends on what pack you want as as of this moment there are two

 1 all above  =  $3499 (Appox.)

 2 all above plus

     Amax v3.0 Mac emulator (100% compatable with all known software) +

     Golden gate IBM emulator  =  $3999 (Approx.)(uses two zorro III slots)


 This information has been confirmed by Commodore.



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 > STR Dealer Directory
   ====================

   Armadillo Brothers
   753 East 3300 South
   Salt Lake City, Utah
   VOICE:  801-484-2791
   GEnie:  B.GRAY


   MicroSearch
   9000 US 59 South, Suite 330
   Houston, Texas
   VOICE:  713-988-2818
   FAX:    713-995-4994


           (Dealers:  To have your name added, please send Email!)

 """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""


                       Amiga Report's "EDITORIAL CARTOON"
                       """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""


 > A "Quotable Quote"
   """""""""""""""""

                  Overheard in a video/computer software store:

               "Do you have to have a hard drive or a soft drive?"




 """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
        Amiga Report International Online Magazine ~ STR Publications
                      -* [S]ilicon [T]imes [R]eport *-
 """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
 STR Online!            "YOUR INDEPENDENT NEWS SOURCE"          April 9, 1993
 Amiga Edition      Copyright (c) 1993 All Rights Reserved            No.1.04
 """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
 Views, Opinions and  Articles Presented  herein are not necessarily those of
 the editors  and staff  of Amiga Report  International Online Magazine or of
 STR Publications.  Permission to reprint articles  is hereby granted, unless
 otherwise  noted.  Reprints must, without exception, include the name of the
 publication, date, issue number and  the author's name. STReport and/or por-
 tions therein may not be edited in any way without prior written permission.
 Amiga Report, at the time  of publication, is believed  reasonably accurate.
 Amiga Report, its  staff  and  contributors  are  not  and  cannot  be  held
 responsible  for the use  or misuse  of information  contained herein or the
 results obtained there from.
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