@database "ar402.guide"
@Node MAIN "Amiga Report Online Magazine #4.02 -- January 31, 1996"
===========================================================================
  January 31, 1996            @{" Turn the Page " link MENU}             Issue No. 4.02
===========================================================================
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                 "THE Online Source for Amiga Information!"

                      Copyright 1996 FS Publications
                            All Rights Reserved
@endnode
@node MENU "Amiga Report Main Menu"
@toc MAIN

===========================================================================
==                               Main Menu                               ==
===========================================================================

    @{"  Editorial and Opinion   " link OPINION}             @{"    Featured Articles    " link FEATURE}

    @{"         Reviews          " link  REVIEW}             @{"  News & Press Releases  " link NEWS}

    @{"      Aminet Charts       " link     FTP}             @{"       Reader Mail       " link MAIL}

                     ---------------------------------

    @{"    About AMIGA REPORT    " link ABOUT}             @{"    Dealer Directory     " link DEALER}
 Contact Information and Copyrights     Amiga Dealer Addresses and Numbers

    @{"     Where to Get AR      " link WHERE}             @{"     Advertisements      " link COMMERCIAL}
 Mailing List &  Distribution Sites     Online Services, Dealers, Ordering
               ______________________________________________
         //   |                                              |       //
========//====|  Amiga Report International Online Magazine  |======//=====
==   \\//     |  Issue No. 4.02            January 31, 1996  |   \\//    ==
==============|  "THE Online Source for Amiga Information!"  |=============
              |______________________________________________|
@endnode
@node JASON "Editor"
@toc STAFF

===========================================================================
                                  EDITOR
===========================================================================

                               Jason Compton
                               =============
             Internet                                  Address
             --------                                  -------
     jcompton@shell.portal.com                1203 Alexander Ave
     jcompton@xnet.com                        Streamwood, IL 60107-3003
                                              USA

               Fax                                      Phone
               ---                                      -----
           847/741-0689                             847/332-6243

@endnode
@node KATIE "Assistant Editor"
@toc STAFF

===========================================================================
==                           ASSISTANT EDITOR                            ==
===========================================================================

                             Katherine Nelson
                             ================

                                 Internet
                                 --------
                            Kati@cup.portal.com

@endnode
@node ROBERT "Senior Editor"
@toc STAFF

===========================================================================
                               SENIOR EDITOR
===========================================================================

                               Robert Niles
                               ============
            Internet                                   Address
            --------                                   -------
        rniles@Wolfe.NET                           506 W. Orchard
                                                   Selah, WA 98942

            FidoNet                                      Fax
            -------                                      ---
           1:3407/103                                509/697-5064

@endnode
@node WILLIAM "Contributing Editor"
@toc STAFF

===========================================================================
                            CONTRIBUTING EDITOR
===========================================================================

                               William Near
                               ============

                                 Internet
                                 --------
                              wnear@epix.net

@endnode
@node ADDISON "Contributing Editor"
@toc STAFF

===========================================================================
                            CONTRIBUTING EDITOR
===========================================================================

                              Addison Laurent
                              ===============

                                 Internet
                                 --------
                       addison@jobe.shell.portal.com

@endnode
@node EDITORIAL "compt.sys.editor.desk"
@toc OPINION

===========================================================================
    compt.sys.editor.desk                          By: @{" Jason Compton " link JASON}
===========================================================================

First, the good news.  The licensing deal with Viscorp, the North America
set-top manufacturer, has gone through.  Viscorp will be using parts of the
AGA chipset in their "Ed" device, a set top designed to bring lots of neat
applications to home users through ordinary phone lines rather than waiting
for everyone to run out for ISDN or for a mystical nationwide fiber optic
cable network to materialize.

Second, the even better news.  Amiga Technologies beat everyone to the
punch and assembled the Amiga Surfer A1200 pack, an Amiga 1200 with a nice
suite of hardware and software for a decent price, all with the aim of
getting people on the net.

060 accelerators are coming out in decent quantities, some new hardware is
starting to surface, and software development is continuing where it
counts.

However, Wonder Computers of Canada is in bankruptcy.  For the official
word, the press release is included in the issue.

Wonder meant a lot to the North American Amiga market, and for both the
health of the market and personal reasons (as a contract employee who,
after all, enjoys being paid), I hope their reorganization plan goes
through.

If there's one thing I've learned on the side, however, it's just how large
of an impact a situation like this can cause for other companies.  Wonder
isn't just leaving its customers and its employees in a fairly
uncomfortable position, but its creditors as well--including other Amiga
companies.

Obviously, I hope and trust that this will be taken care of.  But the real
message here is that the Amiga industry, like any other, is not comprised
of a bunch of disjoint individuals and companies, but is very
interconnected, intertwined, and interdependent.  Had we not been, the
Amiga market would never have survived the collapse of Commodore.  And
unless we all continue to support the Amiga companies out there who are
counting on us--and each other--the whole delicate stack of china could
come crashing down.

I'm gunning for that not to happen.  Who's with me?

Jason

@endnode
@node COMMERCIAL "Commercial Products"
@toc MENU

===========================================================================
                            Commercial Products
===========================================================================

@{"        Editor's Choice        " link EDITORCHOICE}  Jason's picks

@{"   Portal Information Systems  " link PORTAL}  A great place for Amiga users.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
@{"   News   " link NEWS} @{"  Opinion  " link OPINION} @{" Articles " link FEATURE} @{"  Reviews  " link REVIEW} @{"  Charts  " link FTP} @{"  Adverts  " link COMMERCIAL}
@endnode
@node MAIL "Reader Mail"
@toc MENU

===========================================================================
                               Reader Mail
===========================================================================

From: "John V. Pickett" <afn35081@afn.org>
To: Kati@cup.portal.com
Subject: Amiga Report

Thank you for all the hard work you & J.Compton do on AR.  As an Amiga 500
owner still stuck with 1.3.  I look forward to every issue.  I hve lived in
places that had only a bbs to get it from & it was my only link to Amiga
news.  Thank you both :) Take care & have a great Day.  :)

John V. Pickett
afn35081@afn.org
Amiga 500 Powered ! 
The Truth is out there.

 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

From: "Kennedy, James" <JKennedy@qnpbndc1.telecom.com.au>

Jason (& Co),

Thankyou for providing a current and accurate source of Amiga information,
FREE!

The Amiga has some real strengths with well received concepts like Aminet,
Fred Fish and Amiga Report --these resources should be treasured and give
the Amiga a real global feel, rather than fragmented around the planet.

I need to know what has happened to Sunrise Audio (The AD516 audio cards
etc) and what may happen.  For the past 5 years my only reason for wanting
to get into Amiga was to implement Sunrise Audio as a digital recording
studio.   Time and again I have investigated other platforms or standalone
solutions.   They are either more expensive or don't cut it like AD516.
And now finally I can afford it...  and they seem to have gone broke!  Last
week I purchased a Mac/Power Mac magazine to check their progress and looks
like they have almost caught up in the features & cost, but still not quite
so I still want to buy Sunrise Audio.  I think the Amiga has been
tremendously undervalued as a powerful music platform, and Microsoft buying
Blue Ribbon out is a REAL worry.  Since the new Amigas promise PCI buses
(please include a couple Zorro III as well or develop Zorro IV to be a
superset of PCI and Zorro III ESCOM!), Amiga developers should note the MAC
products are mainly Nubus still --so is anyone planning an Amiga/Mac/PC PCI
direct to disk recorder system while the starting line's even?

ESCOM please note --music is an area that can be marketed because muso's
aren't always so worried about compatible platforms, they just want a
friendly solution that works, and there are so many industry standards for
music (digitised formats, MIDI, etc) that platforms just don't matter much.
In fact artistic people often love the idea they are using something
different to the crowd.

High Quality audio is also an important part of Video production, and this
is supposed to be one of the Amigas' strengths --but what good is it if we
have to resort to non-Amiga solutions for audio?

Regards,

Jim Kennedy

>>  To my knowledge, SunRize went out of business.  There is a press
>>  release for a new dedicated 16-bit audio card for non-linear editing in
>>  this issue, however.  -Jason

 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

From: Roger Long <rjlong@oneworld.owt.com>

Would you happen to know the answers to the following questions:
 
1) What happened to the law suit that was going to be brought against Gould
    and Ali for their mis-management of Commodore?

2) Reportedly, Gould and Ali had taken out insurance on themselves to help
   protect themselves from any liability resulting from CBM's closure.
   Was this true?

>>  #2 was very true, and pretty much precluded #1 from being carried out.

3) A smaller, but still relevant portion of the CBM properies is the
   Commodore 64 and 128 computers.  Many people are still interested in
   them, still use them, and still want to add to them.  (I use my C128 and
   my A3000 about equally, though for Internet access, the Amiga wins.)
   The 10 and 20 MHz accelerators are due out by the end of February.

   Has Amiga Technologies made a decision as to what to do with the rights
   for the 8-bit line?

>>  There was that plan to make them in China but that seems to have fallen 
>>  through.  They apparently licensed the ROMs, because Activision recently 
>>  released a 64 emulator pack.

4) Our local Amiga club received one of the "4000 Reasons To Own an Amiga"
   T-Shirt, and I won it.  So, I know 2 of the 4000 reasons:
   #573=Videography, and #1098=Animation.

   Is there a list of those 4000 Reasons?  (If not, it's another example of
   failed CBM follow-through on marketing.)

>>  Never heard of that campaign, I'm afraid.  -Jason
@endnode
@node OPINION1 "World Wide Amiga In A Box"
@toc OPINION

===========================================================================
                         World Wide Amiga In A Box
  Paul Kyle                                              PKyleCA @aol.com
===========================================================================

[Not since the buyout has a single issue captured the attention of so many
Amiga users, this elusive "$500 Internet Box" thing.  Now that Amiga Tech
has announced its "$720 Internet Box", the Amiga Surfer A1200 pack, the
complexion of the issue is a bit different...-Jason]

For about two months now, I have been reading about this $500 "Internet in
a box" idea.  From what I have read, it has been stated that it is the wish
of several large OEM's to get out from under the licensing and influence of
Microsoft for a variety of published and unpublished reasons, too numerous
to discuss here.  I have read numerious articles in Upside Magazine,
Electronic Design News, OEM, Inc/Technology, and a host of other industrial
technical journals.  Needless to say, there would be a tremendous perceived
competitive advantage in such a market segment, if this were to occur.

 The vision of the future unfolds in several different directions:

First- we have seen numerous utilities incorporated into operating systems,
thus obviating the need for some of these smaller companies to publish such
utilities.  The companies that did not 'reinvent themselves' to deal with
the newer eficiencies or inefficiencies of our pc operating systems have
disappeared.  This vision extends to the future where the operating system
will include such things as an 'office-suite' package as the operating
system (As our hard drives grind on endlessly exchanging information with
gigabyte sized swap-files).  Many companies fear that there will only be
one or two companies left in such a vision of the future, leading them to
alternate visions of the future.

Second.  With a $500 internet in a box, users are visioned to 'lease'
software while connected to the site.  If you want to use a spreadsheet,
draw or CAD package once or twice a month but can't justify a $600
professional program the $500 box owner would rent its use for the time
hooked up on the phone.  The visionaries proposing this idea are targetting
a group of users that can not afford a $1500-$2000 computer.  I think they
have failed to reason that the software has to be real darned intuitive if
they expect people to rent things other than games or a simple word
processor.  Secondly, if someone can't afford a $1200 computer, are they
willing to pay an extra $30 to $50 per month for internet usage?  The main
target audience will still be those already connected to the net, and most
of us won't want to have to buy another box to connect to the net.  This
means that the server communicating with the $500 client will either have
to communicate with both the PC and the server, or they will be left with
an uncertain market for these $500 servers.  Thirdly, privacy is a hotly
contested issue.  How would your data files be stored, accessed, protected
when it comes to intellectual property such as authored text,
illustrations, drawings and such- that can be patented or copyrighted? 

Having had an Amiga, with a lower installed user base, yet much more
affordable software for many years, this vision of the future does not help
me to understand how such software becomes so 'unaffordable', necessitating
the idea of 'renting it out' over the phone line on a per-use basis.  The
Amiga is the better mousetrap, but the world is not yet beating a path to
its door.  More on this later.

If the Amiga 1200 could interface to this language/system, there would be a
clear reason to buy the Amiga version- it would no longer be a dumb box
that had to be hooked into a phone line to get some use from it-
(especially when word gets out that these $500 boxes have a $30-$100/month
utility bill attached to it every month because of usage).  The A1200 could
be marketed as a stand alone, operational computer, game machine, and
browser for surfing the net.  This would be one way to increase market
share and increase the installed user base.  Somehow, I suspect this is
more difficult than it sounds.

In an alternate vision in a current technical journal/editorial, a large
computer company (currently on the comeback trail) with the #2 operating
system should purchase a popular spreadsheet company which is for sale,
purchase a popular word processor currently up for sale and also buyout a
struggling elite computer manufacturer, currently offering a power-ful
platform.  In this article that I read, the editor stated that with the
given popularity and established presence and staying power of the
individual pieces, it would be a refreshing, welcome alternative to the
current popular operating system.  In this version, there may be room for
the Amiga to survive as an add-in high performance graphics and math board.
I am certainly waiting for this day, as it is the only way many of us Amiga
users can hope that such a system will enter the professional workplace and
establish a larger installed user base that will attract more developers to
publish software for it.

Others visions have this as the $500 box where you can rent software,
interactive rendering of your own opinion (America's funniest home-video
voting in the privacy of your own home?), purchase
hyster/overpriced/infomercial/trinkets, rent pay-per view movies with an
unlimited selection from a tremendous library at your own schedule, etc.. 
This will be in direct competition with some very large telecommuincations
companies, so it does not appear feasible. 

Now we start to see why this starts to take on such significance, and why
maybe the Amiga has such a hard time gaining professional respect or
credibility particularly from those with a market turf to protect.  If a
new computer technology takes a foothold, there is a tremendous competitive
advantage, as we have seen other companies abuse that power in their
arrogance and negligence of the customer.  As an Amiga user, I have seen
true productivity increases, on a platform that does more for me with each
application that I purchase.  I still use my Amiga whenever I can, simply
for two reasons:

My Amiga helps me be more creative than does my PC because of its
flexibility,

and

I can multitask more effectively, so the job gets done quicker.  The amount
of "IDLE" time- waiting for task completion (or the hourglass to go away)
so I can continue, is far less with my Amiga than on the PC where frequent
trips to the coffee machine break up the monotony waiting for my PC to let
me finish the job (Is Juan Valdez behind this conspiracy too?).

In other words, If my PC is analogous to being my pickup truck then my
Amiga is my sports car, and I wish there were more places I could drive it!
I'm tired of driving in first gear in the slow lane!  My pickup truck may
have more prestigious under-the-hood specs, but when it comes to road
handling and travelling with style, and getting to the final destination,
my sports car handles better, gets better mileage and gets me there a lot
faster than does my pickup truck.  The people who do the benchmarking tests
forget about that part of the test-drive.  While they are still looking at
compression ratios, the size of the spark plugs and the size of the gas
tanks, they haven't gotten out of the starting gate!  Its the performance,
not the specs!  Those of us who use Amiga's haven't lost sight of this
fact.

While the wimp (Windows, Icons, Menus, Pulldowns) interface can make it
easier and more intuitive for the average user to get started, we have to
remember that those of us who depend on computers to be more productive,
the market has moved us into areas where we constantly have to learn new
interfaces, new methods, new macros each time a software publisher decides
to issue an upgrade, and this slows us down each time, while the machines
slow down with such overdeveloped applications. 

Those of us who bought Amiga's did so because it had both features- the
wimp interface (for those things we aren't quite up to speed on) and the
Shell/CLI (for those of us power users who can adapt our platform to meet
our specific POWER needs).  Yes, Virginia, there is a POWER USER, and its
not simply a matter of having a 200MHz, 64 meg RAM, 2.5 Gigabyte HD with a
6X CDROM connected to an ISDN phone line!  It's those of us who want to get
out of the office by 5PM each night, not having to re-print a WYSIWYG
document for the 12th time, because it isn't exactly WYSIWYG, but more like
WYSIWYAGBHTRSTTGITLLWYRWOP (What you see is what you almost get but have to
reprint several times to get it to look like what you really wanted on
paper) and you have to guess how the magical operating system is going to
interpret your desires, only to find the tachyon field array random number
generator is seeding the flux capacitor to outguess you in a stressful
chess strategy so that it can drain more power, memory and system resources
(so that you will believe its time to trade it in for a newer more powerful
model). 

It's those of us who graduated from a wimp interface to a tailorable
platform (that can be modified to meet our computing power needs) who
recognize the value of a fast machine, fast software that operates quickly.
This is not simply measured by some standardized performance test in
MFLOPS/lightyear, but by how many trips to the water cooler, or coffee
machine it takes while waiting for the machine to free up, or whether the
TASK/JOB can get done before the 5:15 traffic jam adds another 20 minutes
to the ride home, and spouse is mad because you're home late for dinner
again.  (My wife doesn't understand when I stagger in the door and mumble
WYSIWYAGBHTRSTTGITLLWYRWOP'd again! 

Many times, I will postpone a task to bring it home for my Amiga, because I
know the task will only take 3 to 5 minutes on my Amiga 4000, while the
contorted logistics of my PC (or the lack of imaginative software) turns
the same task into a 30 minute job, even with OLE, SHARE, ODBC, OB-GYN,
DNA, AHA and Clipboard.  Sometimes I think those design engineers put more
efforts into the acronyms than coming up with a user-friendly program or
operating system!

While we all had hopes that Escom could 'reinvent and revive' the Amiga,
the jury is still out.  Colleagues tell me stories about Amigans visiting
Escom retail outlets in Europe, seeing Amigas turned off and collecting
dust, and being steered to PC's when asking for a platform that performs to
the Amiga's specifications- concluding that the Escom folks had not
educated their retail sales people about their new acquisition.  I don't
know how true these stories are, or whether its an isolated case, but if
so, it sounds like we are not out of the woods yet. 

The Amiga, despite the rescue and attempted revival by Escom, remains the
U.S.'s best kept secret in terms of raw, creative computing power.  I can't
say that I have seen Escom overcome any of the problems of Commodore in
terms of that- which directly relates to a larger installed user base as
well as a software developer base- but then again, that's my opinion, and
what really counts is whether Escom or SMG are selling machines at a level
that meets or exceeds their business plan projections! 

I was pleased to hear that SMG was recently named as the U.S.  distributor,
so I would like to see how they take part in shaping the future destiny of
the Amiga.  I was very happy with SMG when they took over Commodore's
failed Gold Service policy.  They did a superior job supporting me with my
4000 through the period when no spare parts were available and Commodore
was in the final death throws.  Perhaps SMG can help the destiny of the
Amiga also.

HOW CAN WE HELP?

Those of us already using Amiga's, realize the boost in creativity,
productivity and to selfishly protect that vital interest, we would like to
see the Amiga platform survive as a healthy competitor.  This means we can
get our machines repaired, we can upgrade them in the future and we can get
more new software in the future.  We wished that upon Commodore, and helped
protect it, and for that, Commodore survived longer than it deserved to.
In fact, the Amiga was a survivor in spite of everything Commodore did to
kill it as a viable computing platform! 

In thinking about marketing, whether it be an appliance, politician,
software or computer, one needs household, brand-name recognition before
anything else.  The Amiga does not yet have this.  It does not share the
same elite status that Apple Macs do, in spite of it being superior to the
Mac in performance, though some Mac software support is clearly superior. 
Why the difference?

Politicians resort to grassroots campaigns.  Netscape has done well in the
last year with a grassroots effort and a free engine for everyone to use. 
People are posting Netscape logos on their pages, boasting that their site
is enhanced/supported by Netscape.  Almost every web page that I see has a
reference that it was enhanced by "Netscape", almost like a status symbol,
like driving a certain car, wearing a shirt or cap with a certain logo or
popular phrase! 

Can Escom provide some support- such as an official picture/logo (not just
the new Amiga logo, but something incorporating the logo?  Are there better
web links for all of us to use to spark the curious but not-yet-converted?
Thoes of us who have web pages would be glad to support such a grassroots
support movements to give credit to our creative machines and the software
behind it?  How many others would develop top-notch links that entice more
users and developers to support our platform?

How about Amiga platform developers- do they want such credit too? 

This is FREE ADVERTISING and I am sure many of us Amigans would give up the
few kilobytes to store the images and links to a page that essentially
promotes the Amiga hardware platform, dealers, etc.  Current tech pundits
claim there is 24 billion to be made off the internet each year either
directly or indirectly.  I would be more than happy to give credit in the
PC world net pages to those tasks which are more readily created by the
Amiga and simply ported over to the pc side.  If I had 'created by' logos
from Electronic Arts Deluxe Paint, Soft-Ligik's PageStream, etc....I would
certainly use them, and leave in a link to those sites so users could see
their offerings, advertising etc.

(NOTE: I've cruised the existing Amga web pages- this is not what we need-
unless they already exist but are just harder to find!) This page reference
would be for the curious user that needs to be quickly told about the
Amiga).

What we need is a page link that catches the existing pc user that is
contemplating an upgrade- persuading them to consider adding an Amiga to
their household instead of trading in their pc.  This web page would also
hook developers into writing for the Amiga.  Perhaps we need a page with
some credits to famous users, TV shows, special effects done with it, etc.,
system cost comparisons ie, Toaster, vs Sun, vs PC etc.  This sort of
grassroots marketing campaign would be neccessary, independent of any
direction the hardware takes on.  Brand name recognition (brand
familiarity) is first and foremost before any sale is made! 

Does Escom and software developers support this conceptually?  Can a world
wide user group pull it off- with or without a nod from Escom? 

Currently, I'd have to say most of the Escom web links remain as 'insider
information', links for existing Amiga users to stay informed and agonize
over whether Escom appears to be marketing the Amiga propertly,.  and what
the latest information is about how many units are being shipped to where,
and what distributors are being named, etc.  almost like Escom expects to
keep existing Amiga customers (BTW, I'm not exactly ready to upgrade my
4000 yet, unless it's to trade in my 486 PC for a PC/Amiga platform)

Most people that subscribe to commercial internet providers have free web
space to run a web page.  On America On-Line, I have 10 megs for my
account, which is 2 megs for each screen name.  As soon as I can, I'd like
to do something like that to give credit where credit is due!

Can Amiga Report be a forum for this effort- a clearing house to publish web
sites that promote the cause and provide such artwork for top-notch
professional web links????
@endnode
@node NEWS1 "SoundStage"
@toc NEWS

SoundStage
----------

SoundStage is a new 16 bit audio card for the Amiga 3000/4000 series
computers.  It has been developed by Applied Magic Inc to operate in
conjunction with the Broadcaster Elite and the Digital BroadCaster32
(DBC32) JPEG video cards.  Zorro-III bus architecture has been implemented
to ensure maximum audio throughput (up to 16 channels), while playing the
highest quality video through the JPEG card.

Technical Information on SoundStage
-----------------------------------
  Hardware requirements
    - 32 bit Zorro III, i.e. Amiga 3000(T) or Amiga 4000(T)
    - 32 bit SCSI device.
    - An Elite or DBC32.   Note:  A stand-alone software maybe
      developed in the future if there is demand.

  Audio Inputs
    - 2 balanced XLR analog inputs.
    - 1 (Stereo pair) digital input (AES/EBU format).

  Audio Outputs
    - 4 balanced XLR analog outputs (i.e. surround sound capable).
    - 1 (Stereo pair) digital output (AES/EBU format).

  SoundStage Processor
    - 40MHz Texas Instruments TMS32C30 DSP.
    - Rated at 20MIPs and 40MFlops.

  SoundStage Memory
    - Audio sample memory: up to 4MB of static memory (SRAM).
    - Program memory is 32Kb of high speed dual ported SRAM.

  SoundStage Audio Support
    - 16 internal 16bit audio channels (with at least 2MB of SRAM).
    - Sample rates : 32KHz, 44.1KHz, 48KH.
    - Real time volume envelope control (i.e. no rendering).
    - Real time pan control. Place sound anywhere in the room.
    - Audio effects such as compression, noise gating, and reverb.
    - Audio scrubbing.

  Video Effects Supported
    - The SoundStage will also serve as a transition and CG
      rendering accelerator.
    - Accelerating transition rendering times to 4-10 faster over
      a stock A4000.
    - More complex transitions and video effects, such as 3D page
      turns with realistic rendering times.

  Retail prices
    - $1399 US with 0K of SRAM.
    - $150 US per 512K SRAM SIMM.
    - $250 US per 1MB SRAM SIMM.

Background on Applied Magic Inc.
--------------------------------
Applied Magic Inc (AMI) has been in existence since the middle of 1994.  It
has been producing digital video editing products for the Amiga, such as
the Broadcaster Elite and MPEG playback cards for the PC market.  AMI also
developed "Producer", a non-linear video editing package that controls the
Elite and DBC32 JPEG hardware.

  Contact details:
    Applied Magic Inc.
    2649 Vista Way, Suite 837,
    Oceanside, California,
    92056 USA

    Phone: (619) 966-8080
    or: 1-800-619-ELITE
    Fax: (619) 966-8075

    World Wide Web:  ftp://ftp.cts.com/pub/dan/index.html
@endnode
@node NEWS2 "fifolib"
@toc NEWS

TITLE

    fifolib -- fifo.library and dos handler

VERSION

    38.1 (10.12.95)

AUTHOR

Chronologically:
Matthew Dillon  up to version 37.4
David Varley    37.5
Hans Verkuil    38.0
J"org H"ohle    38.1

Address:  J"org H"ohle
          Steinacker 44
          53229 Bonn
          Germany

    Internet: Joerg.Hoehle@gmd.de
    Phone:      +49 228 431235

DESCRIPTION

FIFO: is like PIPE: but is based on fifo.library rather than its own
implementation.  Fifo.library is a general fifo library implementation that
supports named fifos, writing to a fifo from a hardware exception, multiple
readers on a fifo with each getting the same data stream, efficient
reading, and automatic or manual flow control.  Programs that require
non-blocking IO can access one side of a FIFO: connection via the
fifo.library instead of the FIFO: handler.

Includes source.

Now programmers of getty, telnetd, remote shells etc.: stop writing custom
DOS handlers and use fifo.library and FIFO: instead, you'll get all the
benefits of a common handler.  Emacs, AUUCP and other programs already use
it.

FIFO source might be of interest to programmers, topics include:
  o interactive DOS handler, CON/AUX: like
  o library creation, even with GCC+Libnix yet 1.3 compatible
  o deep use of GCC inlines and GCC-specific optimizations
  o usage of PA_SOFTINT port arrival action
  o usage of SIGB_SINGLE signal bit

EXAMPLES

    NewShell FIFO:shell1/rwkecs
    Run >NIL: RemCLI shell1
    Run >NIL: Type FIFO:shell1/rmt TO CON:0/11/500/150/Tee_output

NEW FEATURES

  o corrected ACTION_WAIT_CHAR (with timeout).
  o corrected ACTION_SCREEN_MODE.
  o recognizes CONSOLE:
  o ACTION_CHANGE_SIGNAL, ACTION_IS_FILESYSTEM, ACTION_SEEK.
  o many error checks and error return codes.

SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS

  OS 1.3 is still supported (untested).

AVAILABILITY

  Aminet:    util/misc/fifolib38_1.lha, for example at
  ftp://ftp.uni-paderborn.de/pub/aminet/util/misc/fifolib38_1.lha

  Hopefully soon part of Fred Fish's upcoming ADE:
  ftp://ftp.amigalib.com/pub/amiga/ade/.../fifolib-38.1-(src|bin).lha

DISTRIBUTABILITY

  Placed in the Public Domain by Matthew Dillon
  Left there for the benefit of all.

     Joerg Hoehle.
Joerg.Hoehle@gmd.de            hoehle@zeus.gmd.de
Author of Amiga-CLISP, a Common Lisp implementation
@endnode
@node NEWS3 "Amiga Typeface Engine"
@toc NEWS

My current job gives me NO time to continue my Amiga Typeface Engine
project.  I'm opening up development to interested programmers.

Ultimately, whoever wants to continue development of ATE will get my source
code and development log and a license to use it to finish the program.
Whatever you end up doing with it is up to you, as long as it results in a
finished program to use PostScript type in any Amiga app; the original
intent.

Contact:

Gordon Fecyk (gordonf@freenet.vancouver.bc.ca)
5531 McRae Street
Richmond, BC   V6V 2P5
Canada

Phone: (604) 526-8724 or (604) 681-1373 ext 105

Conditions:

If the final product will be free/shareware/otherwise publicly available
for little or no money, the only condition is you reach the original
objective; A typeface manager allowing PostScript type to work in any Amiga
application, preferably using a bullet.library style process (I kept
getting slammed for my hacker's approach).

If the final product will be for commercial sale, you and I must work out
some kind of payment for work already completed.  You must still reach the
final objective.

Sincere hopes:

I hope that someone else, with a lot more time on their hands than me, can
see Amiga Type Engine to completion.
@endnode
@node NEWS4 "AmiBroker v1.6"
@toc NEWS

TITLE

AmiBroker - Stock charting/analysis program.

VERSION

1.6 (16 Dec 95)

AUTHOR

Tomasz Janeczko

email: tjaneczk@asic.ict.pwr.wroc.pl

DESCRIPTION

AmiBroker is a powerful and easy to use stock charting/analysis program.  
Main features include candlestick, bar and line charts; moving averages;
Bollinger bands; ROC, RSI, MACD, OBV, TRIX, Stochastics, Ultimate studies;
trendlines drawing; portfolio management with customisable commisions and
taxes.  All chart parameters are user-definable.

Now, with version 1.6, AmiBroker provides easy quotation data import from
simple ASCII file.  Data format is freely definable.  Two more specialized,
Warsaw Stock Exchange specific import options are also included.

Version 1.6 introduces also powerful ARexx port implementation with lots of
internal commands/options providing total control over stock database.

SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS

AmiBroker requires Release 2 of the Amiga operating system; it also
requires the ReqTools library.

AVAILABILITY

  ftp://wuarchive.wustl.edu/pub/aminet/biz/misc/AmiBroker160E.lha (258931)

PRICE

  Requested shareware fee is $15 US.

DISTRIBUTABILITY

  The version available on aminet is a 98% functional demo version which is
  freely distributable, but remains copyrighted Tomasz Janeczko 1995.

OTHER

  If there are any further queries regarding this software or its usage
  please email, tjaneczk@asic.ict.pwr.wroc.pl
@endnode
@node NEWS5 "IntuiCookie for MUI"
@toc NEWS

TITLE

  IntuiCookie for MUI

VERSION

  2.96 (01.01.96)

AUTHOR

  Christian Kemp

  Address: 52, BD Patton
           L-2316 Luxembourg

  E-Mail : ckemp@innet.lu
  WWW    : http://www.club.innet.be/~year0183/

DESCRIPTION

IntuiCookie is a fortune cookie program with many features and support for
formatting characters.  Its only purpose is to display random quotes, jokes
or fortunes at bootup.  It can only be used from Workbench and its look and
behaviour is very configurable.

NEW FEATURES

Some minor bugfixing and addition of more tooltypes to allow further
customisation.  v2.96 is fully localized and comes with English (built-in),
German and French catalogs.

SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS

IntuiCookie requires OS2.04 or later and MUI v8.0 or later.

AVAILABILITY

IntuiCookie is available from my home page:

http://www.club.innet.be/~year0183/IntuiCookie/ICookie_MUI.lha (176635)

or on Aminet as:

ftp://ftp.wustl.edu/pub/aminet/util/misc/ICookie_MUI.lha (176635)

PRICE

IntuiCookie is Giftware, but a mail will make me perfectly happy ;-)

DISTRIBUTABILITY

IntuiCookie is subject to the "Standart Amiga-FD Software Copyright Note".

OTHER

I will no longer support the Reqtools version of IntuiCookie.  If anybody
is interested in enhancing the Reqtools version, or in writing a version
for other GUI libraries, I am prepared to make the C source code of both
the MUI and Reqtools versions available.
@endnode
@node NEWS6 "AMIGA Surfer"
@toc NEWS

Press Information

Bensheim 22.01.96

Amiga Surfer available!

The "AMIGA Surfer" pack will hit the shelves at the end of January 1996.

The "AMIGA Surfer" consists of an Amiga A1200HD multimedia system fitted
with 260MB hard drive and two megabytes of RAM, together with a complete
suite of Internet software and a 14,400bps modem.  The package will be
priced at approximately USD 720 (exclusive of VAT).  This complete solution
from Amiga Technologies is the cheapest available plug&play Internet
bundle.

The Amiga A1200 is video-compatible and can be easily connected to a
Television set, saving the additional cost of a monitor.

Other Internet options soon to be available from Amiga Technologies
include: the "Surfkit", a package consisting of the Internet software suite
and modem, at an approximate price of USD 190 (excluding VAT).  A package
call "Surfware" is also being planned which will provide the Internet
software alone.

All packs will include an option to connect to the IBM Internet Link and
get 100 hours free connection.

About the Internet Software:

MUI3.2: Magic User Interface is an Amiga-OS extension that makes dedicated
applications more ergonomic with a friendlier user interface.  With MUI,
the user can also customise and configure their applications individually.


AS 225 R2: A new and completely reworked version of the original AMIGA
TCP/IP software is provided.  This software handles the connection between
the Amiga and the network.  [Note: This is I-Net 225, single-user version.
-Jason]

Mindwalker: The WWW Browser with MUI-support: A full featured graphical
World Wide Web Browser that can handle forms, bookmarks, search functions,
hotlinks and many more.

AMIRC: The IRC Client with elegant MUI interface, gives access to the
"Internet Relay Chat", where one can participate on-line and in real-time
to discussion forums.  Several thousands of users meet here daily to
discuss various topics.  Binary files can also be sent among users using
AMIRC.

AMFTP: The FTP Client also uses the MUI-extension.  The graphical interface
of AMFTP makes the handling of files and directories from distant servers
very effective and comfortable.  The program works as a file-manager and
gives access to tremendous amounts of Amiga software available on the
Internet.

Voodoo: The included E-mail manager is a fully new development and supports
the "Mime-standard" to send, receive and view graphics and other binary
files easily.  UU-Encoded binary files are also supported.   The advanced
user interface of Voodoo helps to handle electronic mail quickly and
easily.

The Surfer pack also includes the popular Amiga Magic Bundle's productivity
software of a wordprocessor, spreadsheet, database, organiser and graphic
tools.

Contact:

Gilles Bourdin                  Tel +49 6265 709 195
Amiga Technologies GmbH         Fax +49 6252 709 520
Berliner Ring 89                E-Mail: gbo@amiga.de
D64625 Bensheim                 HTTP://www.amiga.de
Germany
@endnode
@node NEWS7 "The Pentatrator"
@toc NEWS

The specs on the Pentatrator, the new Pentium "bridgeboard" emulator for
the Amiga.  Thanks to the many people who sent these spec sheets in...

The Pentium card:
----------------------------------------------------------------------
PCI ISA architecture, compatible with PICMG standard,
132 MB/sec PCI-Bus transfer, Up to 4 extra Master PCI external cards,
CPU: Pentium 75-166 MHz
Cache Ram: 256Kb to 1MB,
Ram: up to 128 MB
Bios: 1x27C010 EPROM with Award BIOS,
PC/104: 1 for PC/104 module
Clock: Dallas/batterie,
Storage: Floppy controller 2XFDD, IDE interface for 2 Harddisks
Flash-ROM-Disk: 360 Kb Flash or 1.44 MB Eprom-Disk, bootable,
Multi I/O Chip set: SMC-FDC-37C665 all I/O Setup in BIOS,
2 X RS-232 High-Speed 16C550 compatible (COM1, COM2)
1 X PS2 compatible Bi-Directional Paralell Port with EPP/ECP functions 
(MS-HP Mod.)
WatchDog-Timer: 1-220 seconds.
Mouse port: PS/2 or RS-232,
Keyboard: PS/2
The Shuttle: 2 x Vide Buses, 8 x ZorroIII buses(5 of them clean DMA), 6 
PC-ISA buses, EPS bus for 8 more ZorroIII buses.

Retailer:
Eagle Computer Products
Altenbergstrasse 7
D-71549 Auenwald
Germany

Phone: Int. +49 (0) 7191-53773 / 59028
Telefax: Int. +49 (0) 7191-59057
@endnode
@node NEWS8 "VISCORP License"
@toc NEWS

PRESS INFORMATION FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

"VISCORP agreement complete"

Bensheim 23/01/96

Chicago - January 12, 1996 - Visual Information Service Corp.  (VISCORP),
an INTERACTIVE TV developer headquartered in Chicago, Illinois and AMIGA
Technologies GmbH, headquartered in Bensheim, Germany, have finalized an
international license agreement to adapt, utilize, license and distribute
the AMIGA technology within VISCORP's interactive intelligent set-top TV
appliance - Electronic Device (ED).  The license authorizes VISCORP the
right to use, re-license and distribute the AMIGA operating system and
compatible parts of current versions of the technologies where the AMIGA
products are used as, or as part of, interactive television devices.

In 1995, ESCOM AG acquired all Commodore and AMIGA licenses, patents and
trademarks.  Amiga is an acknowledged leader in the computer industry in
the area of providing high-quality graphics for monitors and television
broadcasts through their sophisticated chip sets.  The combination of the
AMIGA hardware/software technologies and intuitive operating system makes
them a viable contender in the development of high-speed delivery for
complex graphic programming.  The AMIGA technology can import and adapt
software to the set-top box with minimal changes. 

By employing the sophisticated AMIGA chip set, VISCORP will have the
ability to provide a complex set-top appliance with multitasking functions
to integrate affordably the TV set, phone line, and network service
providers.  This ability has not yet been offered or available through
existing systems" said Jerome Greenberg, VISCORP's chairman of the board. 
"By utilizing our unique set top appliance and incorporating the AMIGA
technology, VISCORP is able to provide a complete practical solution for
interactive TV-services, and now the ability to access the Internet through
a standard TV set with pricing that makes sense for the average TV viewer".

The integration of the AMIGA system with the VISCORP set-top appliance will
allow access to the Internet, on-line services and voice "chat" programs
through the TV set.  As planned, ED will access any on-line services and
any address on the Internet's superhighway.  Access can be though a TV
remote, a computer keyboard, a touch-sensitive pen or the microphone in the
ED.   Additional plans will enable consumers to play games (e.g.,
individually, against a networked opponent), or enable home shopping,
electronic banking, and enable a subscriber to gain access to information
services through a TV set.

About VISCORP

VISCORP develops and markets a brand of cost effective set-top appliances
for the home, business, government and educational users of interactive TV
devices.  VISCORP's set-top device integrates the television and telephone
line to access on-line services, interactive applications and direct
Internet service through the TV set.  Through blending of the existing
VISCORP set-top TV appliance and the AMIGA technology, VISCORP will be able
to provide a gateway for every household to enter into the age of
interactive services at a cost-effective price and user friendly
environment.

Information about Amiga Technologies GmbH is available on the URL
HTTP://www.amiga.de

PRESS CONTACT : 
Gilles Bourdin              Tel +49 6252 709 195 
AMIGA Technologies GmbH     Fax +49 6252 709 520
Berliner Ring 89            E-Mail : gbo@amiga.de
D-64625 Bensheim            HTTP://www.amiga.de
Germany

Regards,
Gilles Bourdin
@endnode
@node NEWS9 "Amiga Atlanta Anniversary Banquet"
@toc NEWS

Amiga Atlanta 10th Anniversary Banquet:  The CuSeeMe Broadcast!

Amiga Atlanta's 10th Anniversary Banquet was a huge success.  The AAi crew
professionally videotaped the event and will be broadcasting highlights
over CuSeeMe on February 3rd.

No time has yet been set, but it will likely be 6 PM EST.

The reflector is noel.pd.org.

Any info/questions/problems on this should be directed
banquet@ttlchaos.randomc.com.
@endnode
@node NEWS10 "Looking for Amiga Assistance"
@toc NEWS

News Service Looks for Amiga Assistance

NY -- Operators and Troubleshooters needed.  We have a customized
application currently running on an AMIGA platorm with integrated PC-based
components and plans to fully convert to a PC-based platform.  If you have
related PC experience or you're very familiar with AMIGA operating systems
(i.e.3000's-4000's, SCALA/Infochannel software, Lightwave, PAR boards, AD
PRO, ARREX, SUPERGEN's, Studio 16's, AmigaDOS) have knowledge of PC's and
networking, are interested in animation/graphic art, are used to working
with industrial grade videotape recorders, and would like to get involved
in a new and very fast-paced type of innovative local news coverage that
combines digital photography-voice and music tracks, contact my E-MAIL at
America on Line (BRVID) to discuss temp., part-time or full-time work on
Long Island.  Entry, senior and management level positions are available.

http://www.blue.aol.com
brvid@aol.com
@endnode
@node NEWS11 "Atari President Leaves"
@toc NEWS

[Thanks to Fabian Jimenez for sending this in.  Apologies to Reuters, but I
think this is really important.  Another great computer pioneer reduced to
a sorry state...-Jason]

Atari President Leaves After Layoffs

By Katharine Stalter, Reuters

HOLLYWOOD (Variety) - Atari Corp.  president of North American operations
Ted Hoff left his post Wednesday, following layoffs of 20 employees and
amid reports that the company is liquidating its videogame assets. 

Those assets include Jaguar, Jaguar CD, and Atari Interactive, a CD-ROM
unit formed two weeks ago. 

According to a report that first appeared in Bethesda, Md.-based Multimedia
Wire, Jack Tramiel, who purchased Atari from Warner Communications in 1985,
plans to use $50 million in cash currently tied up in Atari to make an
investment in a computer hardware firm. 

Sources close to the company said lack of interest in the business on the
part of Tramiel and his family -- not lackluster sales -- is behind the
move. 

Hoff told Daily Variety he resigned because of the direction the company
was taking with the layoffs: ``It was an indication that Atari's long-term
intentions were not to continue in pursuit of videogame developing or
publishing, neither for Jaguar nor Atari Interactive.''

Hoff said the layoffs include staffers from the engineering, testing,
production, customer service, marketing, merchandising and advertising
areas. 

Those left, he said, don't constitute ``the ranks you would need to
continue in the videogame industry.''

Before joining Atari in June, Hoff had been VP and general manager of Fox
Interactive.  Before that, he was senior VP at Time Warner Interactive. 

Atari chief financial officer August Liguori denied any assets are being
liquidated.  ``We're not going out of the videogame business.  We have $50
million, and we're going to continue making strategic investments and
developing and publishing for all our platforms,'' he said. 

But sources said it's unlikely that development deals already under way
will proceed, and said the Jaguar videogame hardware and CDs are no longer
being manufactured. 

In addition, sources said, Atari plans to vacate its office space by the
end of next month, and its warehouse must be emptied by the end of April. 

Reuters/Variety
@endnode
@node NEWS12 "OctaMED Web Site"
@toc NEWS

From RBS Software, publishers of OctaMED Pro...

There is now an OctaMED Website and allthough in its infancy, visitors will
be able to get the latest info on OctaMED SoundStudio V1

http://www.compulink.co.uk/~octamed/
@endnode
@node NEWS13 "da capo 2"
@toc NEWS

da capo 2 Is Coming...

For the forthcoming release of da capo, Volume 2 (planned in April 1996) we
are looking for good modules, samples and music programs.  We are planning
to put some audio tracks onto it and therefore we are looking for people
who would like to have their music on this CD.  If you are interested then
please contact me at the following address: Daniel Amor
<amor@cli.di.unipi.it>

Thanks,

Danny
@endnode
@node NEWS14 "Wonder Computers, Incorporated Restructures"
@toc NEWS

WONDER COMPUTERS, INC. TO ENTER HEAVY RESTRUCTURING, EMERGE AS NEW FIRM

January 30, 1996
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

Today, Wonder Computers Inc.  entered the most dramatic and critical stage
of its restructuring, initiated two weeks ago when a large corporate loan
was called in.

Despite record sales in January, Wonder Computers Inc.  has operated at a
loss for months, attributable to the lack of available Amiga computers to
sell.  It was no longer possible to extend Wonder Computer's credit.

As of January 30th, all Wonder locations will be under the supervision of
court-appointed trustees.  Regular business will not be conducted at WCi
headquarters, nor at Wonder's 6 retail locations.

However, this does not spell the end of Wonder Computers.  WCi President
and CEO Mark Habinski has put a plan into action to enlist venture capital
from an outside firm and purchase the assets of WCi from the trustees. 
These assets, comprising the inventory, intellectual property, equipment,
and leases of WCi, would then be used by a new company, to be dubbed Wonder
Computers International.  This company would be debt-free and would
continue WCi's business, ideally with minimal interruption of service.

It is Habinski's goal to have Wonder Computers International up, running,
and functional for a March 4th launch.  All retail operations will be
restarted at this time, hopefully with the same phone numbers to minimize
the impact on service to its customers.

The Amiga market is beginning to turn around for North America.  It is the
belief of the Wonder Team that a leaner, debt-free company with world-class
resources is the best thing for the market right now, and they are striving
to create such a company.


Contact: Jason Compton, Promotional Director, WCi
         847-741-0689 fax, jcompton@shell.portal.com e-mail

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Attached:  A Letter From Mark Habinski To the Amiga Community


At this time I'd like to thank all of those who helped to make the Wonder
dream a reality.  First, I'd like to thank my wife and family, without
who's support none of Wonder's successes would have been possible.  I'd
also like to thank all of our shareholders.  You believed in me, and in the
Wonder concept, and I thank you for your unswerving confidence. 

Next, I'd like to thank all of our suppliers and developers, particularly
those top flight people who work hard day in and day out to bring new and
exciting products to the Amiga platform.  Theirs is often a thankless task,
and without them, the Amiga would never have survived Commodore's Demise. 
I'd also like to thank the brave hearts at Escom and Amiga Tech for doing
something daring, and bringing the Amiga back to market.  Petro and his
team have worked hard, and I believe, stand every chance of succeeding in
their quest to bring the Amiga back to the forefront of personal computing.

I'd especially like to thank my team: the Wonder team, for working so
incredibly hard over the past three years to promote and support our
company and the Amiga platform.   Never have I had the privilidge to work
with such a dedicated and inspiring group.  Wonder employed just over 100
people during its 33 months in business.  At our zenith, a few short weeks
ago, our team consisted of 62 people, by all accounts, the largest
Amiga-dedicated workforce on earth. 

I'd like to write in detail about each of these quality individuals, and
will do so in another forum.  But here, I trust it will suffice to say
thank you, one and all for bringing Wonder the most valuable gift in your
possession, yourselves.  I look forward to working with you all again in
the near future.  I'd also like to thank all of the unsung heroes in the
Amiga success story (for I believe the Amiga's mere existence today to be a
tremendous success against the odds).  I'd like to thank every Amiga user
group, every show co-ordinator, every Sysop, every journalist, and every
dealer who has contributed to the continuance of the Amiga platform.  Your
efforts have not been in vain.  The Amiga has weathered an incredible
storm; but it is back now, and its back to stay!

Finally I'd like to thank our most ardent supports, our customers.  Wonder
has been far from perfect, but despite our numerous mistakes, our customers
have stuck by us.  They've spent just under ten million dollars of their
hard earned money on our Amiga products and services.  They've been
patient, they've been loyal, and over the past few days I've seen them be
incredibly supportive.  Thanks to each of you, for helping to prove to the
world that an Amiga-dedicated retail chain can succeed in North America!

                                         Signed,
                                         Mark Habinski
                                         Founder, President, CEO
                                         Wonder Computers Inc.
@endnode
@node FEATURE1 "About the 68010"
@toc FEATURE
===========================================================================
                              About the 68010
  Robert Davis              Amateur Radio K0FPC            rdavis@nyx.net
===========================================================================

Every few weeks, a series of exchanges about using the 68010 CPU appears in
the comp.sys.amiga.hardware newsgroup.  A somewhat related discussion
reappears whenever someone asks if putting a higher speed 68000 in an older
Amiga will speed up the computer.

I hope to offer some answers to those questions in this short article.

First, just putting a 68000 rated at a higher speed will do nothing.  The
speed of the CPU is not determined by what is printed on the chip.  The
speed is determined by the computer timing device, its "clock" which is
separate from the CPU.

So putting a 10mhz 68000 in an Amiga means the Amiga won't run any faster
than with an 8mhz 68000.  Think of it like this: Which is faster?  A Yugo
travelling at 55 miles per hour, or a Ferrari travelling at 55 miles per
hour?  Just because you can go faster does not mean you are going faster.

Now there are hacks on Aminet which do change the clock speed of the Amiga
to speed up the CPU while keeping the necessary parts of the computer at
the necessary, slower speed.  Some commercial accelerators have used the
same principle.  AdSpeed and Supra units come to mind.  If you want to
construct one of the hacks, be my guest.  Don't come to me if it does not
work.

Now about the 68010.  That IC does exactly replace the 68000 in its socket
in any older Amiga.  And, that IC does execute some instructions faster
than does the 68000.   Some small loops and all of the more complicated
math instructions are faster on the '010 than on its older sibling.
Therefore the 68010 will run programs which use those particular
instructions faster than the 68000 will run the same programs.   But the
speed up is not very great.  My own tests on an A500 indicate ray tracing
with Imagine isabout five per cent (5%) faster on the '010. 

Many respondents to news postings caution potention users of the 68010 to
get the old program DECIGEL which will fix a problem with one instruction
on the 68000 which is not handled in the same manner on the 68010.  They
tell everyone that some of their software will crash without decigel. 

That is garbage.
   
The particular MOVE instruction which messes up on the 68010 but not on the
68000 will also crash any computer using a 68020, 68030, 68040 or 68060
cpu.  And all programmers have been aware of that instruction and its
problems since the mid-1980s.  More specifically, writers of compilers have
made sure their code generating software did not use that instruction as it
was defined on the 68000.  It has been literally years since any new
software for the Amiga suffered from the MOVE SR,Destination bug in the
68000.

So, the conclusion.  If you want a small speed increase for your older
Amiga (A1000, A500, A2000) changing to a 68010 cpu will do it.  Since the
speed up is small, it will likely be economical only if you get the cpu
chip free or for a very low price, and if you are able to do the
installation yourself, without paying someone else to do the work.

I have 68010 cpus in both my A500 and my A2000.  I paid $5.00 for four of
the '010 cpu ICs at an Amateur Radio swap meet.  For a cost of $1.25 per
cpu, it was worth it for a five per cent speed up.  You must make your own
decision as to whether a 68010 is cost effective for you.

Robert Davis
1107 Mary Apt. 4
Emporia, KS 66801
316 341-9115
rdavis@nyx.net
@endnode
@node FEATURE2 "Modify an Analog Joystick"
@toc FEATURE

===========================================================================
        How to Modify an Analog IBM Joystick For Use With the Amiga
  Jim Franck                                             MIJ67@Delphi.com
===========================================================================

[Please don't attempt to do this if you think you might blow yourself or
your computer up. -Jason]

Let's face it, finding an analog joystick for the AMIGA at your local
computer store is virtually impossible.  On the other hand, the hordes
of IBM clone users can take their pick from a dozen options at the
smallest of stores.  Being an avid fan of flight sims, I finally got so
sick of digital joysticks that it motivated me to sit down and figure
out how to wire up these nice IBM compatible joysticks for my AMIGA.
The following procedure describes the conversion process.

Disclaimer:  

     Although I have successfully converted at least a dozen
     joysticks for myself and friends, I can't guarantee that
     every analog joystick on the planet conforms to the same
     standards.  This document is for information only, and I will
     not be responsible for blown out joystick ports, damaged
     joysticks, or any other damage or expenses incurred because of
     an "unsuccessful" conversion attempt.  If you feel squeamish
     about attempting the following procedure, consult with someone
     who has knowledge of electronics and/or the AMIGA before
     attempting it.  To sum it up...if you don't feel comfortable
     doing the procedure, DON'T DO IT!.  Also, the application(s)
     you wish to use the analog stick with MUST SUPPORT AN ANALOG
     JOYSTICK!  Programs written to work only with digital joysticks
     will not work with an analog stick.

     * PLEASE READ EACH STEP COMPLETELY BEFORE EXECUTING THE STEP!

EQUIPMENT/MATERIALS REQUIRED:

     * Soldering Iron

     * Solder

     * Wire Stripper/Cutter

     * Ohm Meter (or other type of continuity tester)

     * 9 pin Female D-Sub Connector with Solder Terminals and Hood
       (even Radio Shack sell's em!)

STEP 1:

Be sure that the analog joystick you buy for conversion was originally
intended for use with IBM and compatible computers.  These joysticks come
with a 15 pin Male D-Sub connector.

Looking into the end of connector, it should look something like this:
                                                           
                         Pin 1         Pin 8               
                         |             |                   
                      +--|-------------|--+                
                      |.-|-------------|-.|                
                      |` o o o o o o o o '|                
                      | ` o o o o o o o ' |                
                      |  `|-----------|'  |                
                      +---|-----------|---+                
                          |           |                    
                          Pin 9       Pin 15               
                                                           

STEP 2:

Cut the 15 pin Male D-Sub connector off of the joysticks cable.  BE SURE TO
LEAVE AT LEAST 3 INCHES OF CABLE STICKING OUT OF THE CONNECTOR THAT YOU CUT
OFF, YOU WILL NEED TO PROBE THE ENDS OF THE WIRE LATER!  Strip the ends of
the wire on the joysticks cable, and strip the ends of the wire on the cut
off connector.

STEP 3:

Solder the 9 pin Female D-Sub connector to the joysticks cable according
to the following diagram.  Use an ohm meter on the 15 pin D-Sub (that was
cut off) to determine which color wire connected to each pin. 


                             AMIGA SIGNAL
    15 Pin Connector             NAME              9 Pin Connector
    ----------------         ------------          ---------------

    The wire that was                              Should be soldered
    connected to:                                  to:

         Pin 1...............< VCC +5V >...............Pin 7

         Pin 2...............<  RIGHT  >...............Pin 4

         Pin 3...............<  POT Y  >...............Pin 9

         Pin 4...............< GROUND  >...............Pin 8

         Pin 6...............<  POT X  >...............Pin 5

         Pin 7...............<  LEFT   >...............Pin 3

         Pin 5, 8-15 Not Used           Pin 1, 2, 6 Not Used

                                                Pin 1   Pin 5
                                                |       |   
                                             +--|-------|--+
                                             |.-|-------|-.|
                                Solder       |` o o o o o '|
                                 Side------> | ` o o o o ' |
                                             |  `|-----|'  |
                              9 Pin D-Sub    +---|-----|---+
                                                 |     |
                                                 Pin 6 Pin 9

When you have finished soldering all six wires, complete the job by 
assembling the 9 Pin D-Sub connectors hood.

STEP 4:

ENJOY THAT NEW JOYSTICK!
@endnode
@node FEATURE3 "Amiga Atlanta Anniversary Banquet Report"
@toc FEATURE

===========================================================================
               Amiga Atlanta 10th Anniversary Banquet Report
                            By: @{" Jason Compton " link JASON}
===========================================================================

Since we're just barely clearing the Amiga's 10th anniversary, not many
user groups can claim to have been supporting the Amiga for a decade.  And
not many who can would have put on as big--or as good--of a party as Amiga
Atlanta did on January 20th to celebrate their milestone.

They invited me to come, but that was really pretty unimportant compared to
the rest of the lineup.  Not only did they secure the trio from this past
autumn's videotaping session (Dave Haynie, Fred Fish, and myself) but they
got Dale Luck and RJ Mical, original Amiga Corporation employees, to come
to the party as well.  Toss in hosts Stewart "Computer Chronicles" Cheifet
and Susan "CNN TalkBack Live" Rook, and over a hundred attendees, and
you're talking about a pretty unique Amiga event.

Of course, that was Saturday night.  When Katherine Nelson of AR and I
arrived, it took a little while for Eric Webb, our ride, to realize that
we were indeed the people he was looking for.  He then proceeded to try to
get us killed while driving us to the Terrace Garden Hotel.

But his plans were foiled and we arrived safely.  The afternoon was
interesting (more on that later) but the evening was what everyone paid
for.

At 7 PM, the hallway area outside the banquet room was open.  Two Amiga
Tech 4000Ts were on display, as was a large piece of sheet metal with
various Amiga hardware components mounted on it, including an A2000 (with a
leaky battery.  Amiga users take note--if you leave your computer to rot
for a long time, when the battery recharges, it will likely leak and
corrode your motherboard.)

At the far end of the hall was a machine running Windows NT.  But it
belonged to Motorola and was powered by a PowerPC 604 chip, manned by two
local representatives of Motorola RISC Marketing.  Yes, Motorola cared
enough about this event to send reps.  They were happily giving away stacks
of PowerPC developer documentation, audio tapes, and refrigerator magnets.
The coolest items, their PowerPC ties, were sadly not available.

Wandering through the halls were legions of banquet attendees, all
seemingly surprised to meet us.  IRC nicknames were exchanged like wild.

Standing out of the crowd were a bunch of guys in Newtek jackets.  Tim
Jenison, chief of Newtek, put roughly half a dozen of his employees on
vacation and shipped them down to Atlanta, along with himself, for the
party.  To put it mildly, the crowd was pleased.

It was also a first for Amiga Report, as three editorial members were in
the same place at the same time (Myself, Assistant Editor Katherine Nelson,
and Contributing Editor Addison Laurent).

Amiga Technologies cancelled at the last minute.  Boo, hiss.

For an hour, everyone mingled in the crowded hallway, got their badges, and
drank from the expensive cash bar.

One of the more interesting items keeping the crowd's attention was the
Mindlight.  This little device, originally released in the late 80s, plugs
into your joystick port and reacts to the noise around it to make cool
effects on the screen.  It's making a comeback and going back into
production, and yes, the software works (but does not support the new
features, apparently, yet) of AGA Amigas, as it was running on an A1200
hidden under a table.

Finally, the doors were opened.  The tables were arranged, well, much as
you'd expect a banquet hall to look.  Every table got a rather original
display of Amiga balloons held down by an unfortunate 5.25 inch hard drive
platter.

After a few opening remarks, we got to eat.  Eating up at the head table
wasn't as self-conscious of an experience as you might think.  It was that
unique meal known to the universe only as Banquet Chicken.

THEN, it was time to party.  Susan Rook of CNN's TalkBack Live show hosted
the first half.  For those of you who missed it and can't catch the CuSeeMe
rebroadcasts and can't wait for the banquet tape to be released, I can sum
up the two most memorable elements of her tenure.

1.  She doesn't know much about computers.  In fact, she reminded the
audience of that fact about every 90 seconds.

2.  She flirted a lot with RJ.

The setup of the hall put the speakers at a long head table with a podium
in the center and a big-screen projection TV on the left end (facing it) of
the table, where the multi-camera production could be seen.

One of the original 2 members of the group was on hand to re-tell the story
of the group's inception.  Unfortunately, his name isn't listed in the
program.  He did memorably please the crowd by relating his tale of the
Newton's OS, which politely kept asking him to let it restart in order to
clear up an error it kept having--to wit, it ate his speech notes.  It
recalled a lot of hot meetings in the Atlanta summer, stories of the first
software packages making big splashes...all of that stuff I missed out on
by not getting an Amiga until '91.  The former group presidents who were on
hand also took a brief turn addressing the audience, including Joe Torre,
who worked on the original CSA Amiga accelerators.

Fred Fish, infamous among Amiga users, recounted the story of the
inspiration to compile and distribute Amiga software--he couldn't find any.
He bought one of the very first A1000s and was a Unix man by day, so he
brought a bunch of source home and made it work, and got the idea to share
it with everyone else.  Perhaps most interesting was the fact that he
didn't name them Fish Disks at all, it was Perry Kivolowicz (of ASDG, later
Elastic Reality, and one of the authors on Fish Disk #1) who mentioned to a
user group that he had some new neat "Fish Disks."  Fred had been referring
to them as something like "Freely Redistributable Amiga Software Disks",
which isn't nearly as pleasant to say.

RJ gave his speech next, telling assorted tidbits from the history of Amiga
Corporation, the company that built the first Amiga computer.  Most
interesting was the story of Jay Miner's dog, who apparently offered design
advice to his owner, shaking or nodding his head at various gates he drew
on the chip layout sheets.  (also interesting, the Amiga was designed
largely with paper and pencil.)  He also proclaimed somewhere along the
line that he shared Susan Rook's inability to program a VCR, but I would
have thought that the man who worked at the very heart of the Amiga could
handle a few buttons and a flashing LED.  RJ still owns a Joyboard, the
device that lead to the naming of the Guru Meditation.  Apparently, RJ is
writing some sort of book, but we never actually heard about it...

The hosts changed here, and we were treated to two videos, the first,
produced and edited by Aaron Ruscetta of Amiga Atlanta, was a "Message to
Escom", including clips from AAi members, Dale Larson, and the three of us
brought down for taping.  Anchoring the various segments was the now
infamous "clawed hand shooting out of the ground clutching a Boing! ball"
logo.

The second, brought by Cheifet, was a brief video history of Computer
Chronicles' coverage of the Amiga, from 1985 to 1993.  I never got a chance
to ask what happened to the last 2 years, but I have a sneaking suspicion
it had something to do with the virtually invisible market.  It was also an
opportunity to see the Boing! demo, even if it was on video.

Dave Haynie was the speaker up next, and he mostly focused on what makes
the Amiga special, the magic about it.  (Not to be confused with the Amiga
Technologies "Amiga Magic" software package.)  He kept up what by now was
an absolute tradition by now amongst the speakers--slamming Microsoft, hard
and often, and gave the audience reason to keep up their interest in the
Amiga.  Perhaps most surprising of all was that Dave managed to stay
entirely within his alloted time.

Then it was my turn.  Since I had virtually no notes worth speaking of,
you'll just have to wait for the tape to hear what I said, because I have a
tough time remembering it.  I do remember GVP being in there somewhere,
though, and I got people to applaud for the presence of Newtek and
Motorola.

After my speech (which ran a bit over, so Katie tells me), I was up there
to field questions from the audience.  That didn't last long, however.  A
question was asked about Newtek, and Tim Jenison was given the mike.  He
talked for a good 10 minutes on the future of the Amiga and his confidence
in Amiga Technologies.  This got the crowd very excited, and was an
excellent way to close the evening.  (He didn't answer the question,
though.)

Cheifet closed the evening with some parting comments.  He defended his
show and himself by pointing out he still had two Amigas that he loved and
used regularly, to resounding applause.

Finally, around midnight, way over schedule but loving every minute of it,
the banquet ended and it was time to go.  Well, all except the AAi crew who
had the unpleasant task of cleaing the place up, breaking down the very
impressive set of video equipment.

I really lost count over the course of the evening as to how many rousing
rounds of applause and standing ovations there were.  Reportedly, the wives
of the Motorola PR guys were looking a bit overwhelmed.

Amiga users came here to be entertained, and to find a reason to be
enthusiastic about the Amiga, and they got it.  The banquet was a
celebration of 10 years of AAi and the Amiga, and I'd like to be invited
back for #20.

The Side Notes:

Atlanta has some really interesting ideas about restaurants and cuisine.
While looking for a place to have lunch, the most interesting location we
passed was The Rusty Nail, a barbeque joint with a 10 foot long smoking gun
on the front lawn.

The Thai restaurant we had lunch at on Sunday was interesting, too.  The
food was great, but the place served Buffalo wings (as apparently ALL
restaurants in Atlanta do) and had jalapeno pepper slices in a jar on every
table.

After the banquet, a lot of people headed to The Bucket Shop, a bar just
down the road from the hotel.  The Guiness there wasn't as good as it was
in Toronto.  

Dale Luck's Boing! optical mouse is now in its final days.  He's only got a
limited quantity left and his supplier has stopped building them, since he
was the only guy who actually bought them.

When the question was asked "How many here owned an original A1000?" at the
banquet, well over half the hands in the room shot up, in addition to every
hand at the head table but mine.  Man, did I look out of place.

RJ Mical left 3DO earlier this year.  Dale Luck remains, as Senior Software
Architect.

All of the banquet's sponsors had banners up around the room.
Unfortunately, the Computer Chronicles banner kept falling off.

The tape of the banquet should be available soon.  It's much more than a
bunch of people eating dinner, it's one of the greatest Amiga events I've
ever been to.
@endnode
@node FEATURE4 "Amiga Atlanta Banquet"
@toc FEATURE

===========================================================================
            The 10th Anniversary of Amiga Atlanta Inc.  Banquet
                            By: @{" Addison Laurent " link ADDISON}
===========================================================================

Since Jason is writing this up, probably in much better prose than mine,
I'll just try to touch on the main points, and my observations.

I arrived slightly early, got to watch two dueling brand new AT Amiga
4000Ts.  (complete with turbo button to turn built-in-speaker on and off)

Then I found Motorola's representatives, complete with PowerPC 604 demo
model running Windows NT.  The Representatives told me it was there, to
show the 604 existed and could run NT.  (From what I gathered, they were
local Motorola employ ees sent to show the colors.  So I explained slightly
what the signifigance of Motorola was to the Amiga, and I think Jason later
did a better job.)

I then wandered around, looking at the local Atlanta stores that had set up
the displays, and ran into Dave Haynie, who was looking at one of the 40
00Ts.

I got a chance to sound him out a little on the BeBox, having noticed quite
a few posts from him on comp.sys.be.

[Personal aside - I don't know whether I want to see the Be succeed.  On
the one hand, we've got just about every major remaining Amiga developer
and quite a few ex-Amiga developers interested in the machine.  And that
*could* be bad.  On the other hand, if AT doesn't keep new Amigas rolling,
and the spirit begins to flag even worse - the Be MIGHT be just the machine
to move to.  It certainly looks very nice, with the dual PPCs, with the
off-the-shelf component factor.  I can only hope that the Be makes AT more
competitive, instead of less.  ]

[deleting a lot of milling around, meeting people, talking, etc]

I found Dale Luck and Fred Fish discussing X11 emulators and a few things.
R.  J.  Mical joined them, and began talking about the 3D0 operating system
that he and Dale had been major movers during the design of.  After his
description, I was ready to go get one, and put a keyboard on it.  He
talked at great depth about the lengths th t they went to to get errors
reported, "you WILL RETURN an ERROR CODE!" and the customised filesystem,
with the ability to mirror files to reduce seek times...  One comment he
made was that they took the

lessons they learned with the Amiga, and didn't make their mistakes this
 time.

I had heard a rumor that there were several NewTek employees in attendance,
but hadn't seen any.  So I was slightly surprised when Tim Jenison joined
the group and greeted everyone there.

The dinner started, and I was sitting with two friends from college, and
the Motorola representatives and their wives.

After dinner we had the speeches (please see JC's article for more
information).

The speeches seemed to group into two themes, past and future.

The Amiga club, Mical, Haynie and Fish talked about the past.

Mical and Haynie each touched upon a point, and I cannot do it justice by
repeating offhand what they said, but it helps me try to explain why I use
and support the Amiga.....  That the Amiga wasn't a job, it was a goal, it
was a work of art, so to speak, that they weren't just looking to get the
job done, but done well, and elegantly, and with flair.

[ In "real life" I'm a Netware/Windows/OS/2 administrator.  And every day I
work on PC machines with easily 3-20X the horsepower of my 3000-040.  And
it never fails to amaze me that I'd much rather be using my Amiga than the
PCs.  Explaning this is hard, and I don't think there =5Fis=5F an answer. 
Tho se of you reading Amiga Report obviously know at least slightly what I
allude to.   I'd love to see a transcript of those sections of their
speeched edited and published as a guide to the rest of us.  ]

Compton and Jenison (who answered a question at length during the Q&A
session) talked about the future.

Afterwards, a large group went to the "Beer Bucket".  As is usual in my
experience with Amiga users, the discussions rambled around, often on
diverse issues with no bearing on the Amiga.  I heard Haynie, and a couple
of NewTek employees talking about martial arts.

I was able to talk to Dale Luck and R.  J.  Mical a great deal, and tried
to convince R.  J.  that his newfound freedom needed to take him to
Germany, that I'd heard there was this company there, looking to hire...

Attending the Amiga Atlanta 10th anniversary celebration was at the same
time fun and sad.  The contacts, the people, the stories...  And the worry
that the Amiga might not outlive Commodore by much.

I can only hope that Amiga Technology has the understanding of the
community they they have inherited from Escom.
@endnode
@node REVIEW1 "Cardinal v.34 External Modem"
@toc REVIEW

===========================================================================
                   Review: Cardinal v.34 external modem
  Robert Davis             Amateur Radio K0FPC             rdavis@nyx.net
===========================================================================

I know a few Amigans who use the Supra V.34 modem as reviewed in AR 401.
But when I decided to get a higher speed modem, I could not find the Supra
in any of the stores I frequent.

So I bought a Cardinal v.34 external modem.  It had been available for
several months, but with the introduction of a model supporting voice-mail,
the older unit suddenly got cheaper.  I spent $170 for mine, without
voice-mail, at the Elek-Tek store in the Kansas City area.  I have seen the
Cardinal in Computer Shopper for less than $150, mail-order.

The modem does not come with a serial cable, so if you don't already have
one, it will cost you a few bucks more to get the modem going.  And of
course, the included software is for clone computers, so you gotta find
your own programs to make it work on an Amiga.  My favorites are Terminus
and VLT.

The modem lives in a plastic box about the same size as a Supra and about
the same color as my Amiga 3000.  It has eight LEDs on the front panel.  My
Cardinal modem replaced a Zoom 14.4 which I had owned for about three
years.

I've used several modems on my Amigas.  An early 1200 bps unit, a Supra
2400, a Cardinal 9600, a GVC 9600, an AT&T 14400, the Zoom 14400 and a
LineLink 14400 (which I still have).

The Cardinal v.34 is the FIRST modem I've hooked up to an Amiga which
required NO change in configuration and worked the first time I tried it. 
Almost all of my use of this modem is to call my Internet Service Provider.
I only call a couple of BBSes.  My A3000 contains a GG2 bridgecard and an
ISA dual 16550 buffered UART serial card.  Therefore, the A3000 talks to
the Cardinal modem at 115200 bps.  Since I got the modem in November '95,
it has not dropped a byte.

Also, I sent a few faxes from the A3000, using GPFax 2.347.  Without
changing anything from the default configuration set up by the GPFax
installation, it worked perfectly.

To get some type of speed indication, I downloaded the INDEX.Z file from
ftp.netnet.net.  The file transfer came over the Internet at a busy time,
during the noon hour on a Friday.  On this day, INDEX.Z measured 724717
bytes.  AmiFTP showed a transfer rate of 2696 characters per second on this
binary file.  I can live with that speed.

I have not yet called the Cardinal BBS to see if there is a Flash Rom
upgrade for this modem.  As a firm believer in "If it ain't broke, don't
fix it" I am very reluctant to make any change in this modem.  It works so
well. 

Is there anything this modem does not do?  Uh, yeah.  It does not connect
properly to one local system which I am told runs a bank of USR Sportster
28.8 modems.  I have no idea why.  But I keep my LineLink 14.4 around just
for the times I need to communicate with that particular IBM mainframe
computer.
 
We've reached the bottom line.  I am very pleased with this Cardinal v.34
modem.  I recommend it.

Robert Davis
1107 Mary Apt. 4
Emporia, KS 66801
316 341-9115
rdavis@nyx.net
@endnode
@node REVIEW2 "Review: DKB Cobra A1200 030 Accelerator"
@toc REVIEW

===========================================================================
                  Review: DKB Cobra A1200 030 Accelerator
  Paul Morabito                                        paulmbto@world.net
===========================================================================

PRODUCT NAME:

DKB Cobra A1200 030 accelerator

AVAILABILITY:

contact DKB for your nearest distributor:
DKB
PO BOX 438
Michigan 48393-0438
Phone: (810) 348 3821
Fax: (810) 348 3531

PRICE:

28mhz with 4 meg SIMM $AUS499
40mhz version with 4 meg SIMM $AUS699
A SCSI controller is available for $AUS189

In todays world it's becoming cheaper and cheaper to accelerate an
A1200.The DKB Cobra accelerator combines power at a reasonable price.  For
this review I will concentrate on the 28mhz version although if there are
differences between the two models they will be stated.

A1200 accelerators are renowned for their difficulty to install.I got mine
installed by a technician which going by stories of mishaps I've heard
seemed to be the intelligent way to go.Just a word of warning to
prospective buyers - apparently *some* A1200's require a modification
performed before any accelerator or RAM expansion will function properly. 
Personally mine had the modification and still doesn't function properly
(sometimes hanging on reset) although this may just be my A1200. 

The Cobra like a plethora of A1200 accelerators and RAM expansions includes
a battery backed clock,one standard 72 pin SIMM socket along with a PLCC
FPU socket.The RAM unlike other accelerators can be in any size up to
128mb.A utility is also provided to map KickStart into fast RAM and the
usual SCSI controller is available.

The 28mhz version includes the full 68030 CPU incorporating a Memory
Management Unit (MMU).In reality they aren't much use except for Virtual
Memory and the odd debugging utility (namely Enforcer).With the addition of
Gigamem or VMM you can transform part of your hard drive into RAM.  This of
course is no where near as fast as real RAM but it may appeal to some.An
interesting side note is that DKB do not include an MMU with the 40mhz
version of the board and incidentally the 40mhz version is actually only
clocked at 33mhz.

Now to the most important part of any accelerator - SPEED.  The Cobra is no
slouch clocking in at around 5.3 MIPS (Millions Of Instructions Per Second)
according to Sysinfo 3.23.  Of interest to current A1200 owners is that it
is 4.32 times faster than a base A1200 and slighty faster than a 25mhz
A3000.

Overall the Cobra is one of the best accelerators for the A1200.Combining
power at an affordable price it easily beats other 020 accelerators and RAM
expansions for the best low end A1200 accelerator. 
@endnode
@node REVIEW3 "Review: EIZO FlexScan T563"
@toc REVIEW

===========================================================================
                        Review: EIZO FlexScan T563
  Christian Rotter              christian.rotter@rz.fh-regensburg.d400.de
===========================================================================

PRODUCT NAME

   EIZO FlexScan T563

BRIEF DESCRIPTION

   A 17-inch, .25 pitch, multisync monitor with tension mask CRT

   Vertical Scan Rates:     30-86 kHz
   Horizontal Scan Rates:   55-160 Hz
   Recommended Resolution: 1280x1024 at 80 Hz (more possible)
   Display Size:           323 mm x 242 mm
   Compliant with:         MPR-II, TCO-II, ISO9241-3
                           Energy Star guidelines

COMPANY INFORMATION

   Name:      EIZO CORPORATION
   Address:   655 Fukudome, Matto, Ishikawa 924 Japan

LIST PRICE

   2450.- DM (Germany, date: January 1996)

SPECIAL HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS

HARDWARE

   An Amiga Computer with GFX-board (for full utilization)
   or display enhancer (flicker fixer).

SOFTWARE

   The Monitor will work on any Amiga with the above add-ons.

COPY PROTECTION

   None 8-)
   But who _can_ copy this wonderful piece of hardware ?

MACHINE USED FOR TESTING

Amiga 3000 68030/25, 12 MB Fast RAM, 2 MB Z2-Fast RAM, 2 MB Chip RAM
Retina BLT Z3 with 4 MB RAM, Retina System Software
Quantum Lighning 730S, Quantum LP240S
AmigaDOS/WB 3.1.

INSTALLATION

Plug in and switch on.

REVIEW

The T563 is the big brother of the F563.  The difference is the tension
mask CRT and the CRT trio pitch of 0.25 mm, resulting in a sharp display of
various screenmodes.

I owned a 14" no-name SVGA-monitor quite a long time, and it annoyed me
more from day to day (in the university, I use only Suns with 17+"
displays, so I started to hate this 'mouse-cinema' at home).

And I wanted to use my GFX-board to display a bigger Workbench than the 14"
could display, so I decided to get something bigger.

Some things were a problem: I wanted a display for the normal (flicker-
fixed) VGA-connector and the Retina Z3-connector, so I thought about buying
a electronic monitor switch (damn expensive !).  I already had a manual
switch (normally used for printers), but this one even had problems
transmitting a 35 kHz signal, so I feared the worst for 60 KHz or more.

After testing some monitors and reading some tests, I went for the T563.

Happily, I discovered that this display has two input connectors, one for
D-Sub mini 15 pin and one for 5-BNC (R,G,B,H,V), and so I connected the
normal A3000 flicker-fixer port via D-Sub and the Retina port via BNC.

Result ?  Well, I feared that the monitor would not display the standard 50
Hz from the ECS (used mostly for WORMS :), since it's specified for 55 to
160 Hz horizontal, but it worked quite fine.  The only drawback is that
RetinaEmu can't turn off the ECS completely, so automatic switching from
D-sub to BNC is not working (ECS always spits out some signals), so I have
to press a button everytime I change the display from GFX-board to ECS and
vice versa.  However, I can live with that.

The monitor checks incoming signals, if the frequencies are too high/low,
the monitor turns off, avoiding possible damage (however, 50 Hz works).

The on-screen display manager (multilingual) has lots of possibilities, in
fact, you can change _every_ setting form the display, and you can even
lock the manager, avoiding that silly users change your settings.  There
are 4 factory settings and 18 user-definable settings.

Adjusting the display is quite easy, instead of trimming height, width,
left and right offset separately, simply use the Auto-adjust feature: with
a simple button-press the monitor does this for you, the displayed picture
fills the visible screen with very high accuracy.  Manual adjustment was
not necessary until now.

There are three different settings for colors, one for normal computer
usage, one for paper-like display, and one for viewing videos or digitized
images.  All settings can be modified temporarily or permanently.

Power saving is implemented in several ways:

-Off: no power saving at all
-Nutek: use a screenblanker that blanks the screen totally, the monitor
        switches to suspend mode after a set time and to powersave-mode
        after a second set time.
-VESA DPMS: this is an extension to Nutek and requires special software
            for your GFX-board. The main difference to Nutek is that
            the monitor suspends after a given time _after_ the screen
            went black. After that, it works like Nutek.
-Power consumption: maximum          120 W
                    normal           115 W
                    suspend mode    < 10 W
                    powersave mode  <  5 W

A feature I have not seen before is display chaining.  That means linking
several monitors together with BNC connector cables, producing a 'showcase'
for presentations, all monitors display the same picture.

And should someone finger-print the anti-reflex coated CRT surface, remove
it with the supplied cleaning cloth (and cut the finger that touched it :).

DOCUMENTATION

There is one multi-lingual manual with instructions in English, German and
French and several other papers (see OTHER ACCESSORIES).

The manual contains a lot of safety information and describes everything
needed for operation on 38 pages with explaining pictures.

The installation instructions are very straightforward, no problems here.

There is an extensive troubleshooting section in the manual, but I never
needed it.

OTHER ACCESSORIES

   VGA signal cable (D-Sub mini 15 pin)
   AC cord
   Warranty Card
   User's Manual
   ScreenManager Quick Reference Guide
   CRT Cleaning Cloth (!)
   Tilt-swivel Stand

SPECIAL KNOW-HOW

As far as I know, EIZO monitors are sold under the NANAO-label in the US.

The factory settings are 100% for brighness and contrast, I would reduce
that to about 70% to avoid excessive CRT-stress.

LIKES

Very good display, sharp, with bright colors.

Monitor feels 'solid' and looks attractive (think I already love it :)

Lots of goodies:
   -Auto-resize button - fast way to adjust to different resolutions
   -Dual video input (good for using Retina & ECS-chips, video switch
      no longer required !)
   -CRT Cleaning Cloth is included (good for removing fingerprints)
   -On-screen display manager (multilingual)
   -possibility to lock the current settings, a 'normal' user cannot
      mess up anything
   -several monitors can be chained together, ideal for presentations

I really like using a flicker-free 1120x832 Workbench.

DISLIKES AND SUGGESTIONS

The monitor is pretty expensive (but it's worth it).

Loudspeakers are missing, but I prefer a good amplifier with good speakers
anyway.

I would prefer a BNC video cable, but this is personal 'taste'.

So: no real dislikes

COMPARISON TO OTHER SIMILAR PRODUCTS

I've seen a lot of other 17" monitors before, from Sony, Idek and Miro, and
some more.  The Eizo may be pretty expensive, but it beats all the other
monitors when it comes to economy and quality.

BUGS

None.

VENDOR SUPPORT

All worked fine right from the start, so I had no need to check this.

However, the local EIZO dealer is very kind and a real pro, so I would say
support is very good (he offered me a refund if I would have been
discontented with this monitor).

WARRANTY

Normally one year, if you mail an enclosed warranty registration card to
EIZO, warranty is extended to three (3 !!) years.

CONCLUSIONS

A monitor for everyone who needs a high resolution and ergonomic display.

Ok, it's expensive, but I'm already wearing glasses (nearly 20 years now),
and I know how important my eyes are.  So why should I use something that
possibly is not good for my eyes ?  Everyone looks at CPU MHz, HD size and
RAM amount, but most people I know have cheap monitors and some even get
headaches when working for several hours.

And before I spend 1500.- DM on a 17" display that I'm discontented with
(because some 'minor' noise or 'flaky' display), I'll better buy quality.

I rate this product 5 stars out of 5.

AT should try to improve graphics performance in future models, high
resolution - flicker free - is a must for the next generation of computers
with improved GUIs.

COPYRIGHT NOTICE

Copyright 1995 Christian Rotter.  All rights reserved.

This review may be redistributed for free, please avoid changes.

Copies go to Amiga Report and AmiNet (directory: docs/rview).

EMail: christian.rotter@rz.fh-regensburg.d400.de
  WWW: http://rfhs1012.fh.uni-regensburg.de/~rotter/

PS

HTML version is available at this URL:
http://rfhs1012.fh.uni-regensburg.de/~rotter/WWW/Amiga/Eizo_T563.html

Should you have any questions about the hardware I use, please drop me a
mail.

For regular mail check out my homepage, you'll find all the information you
need there.
@endnode
@node REVIEW4 "AFS Review Fallout"
@toc REVIEW

===========================================================================
                            AFS Review Fallout
===========================================================================

[Generally, people are happy enough to let me do my reviews.  But the
review of Ami-File Safe did not go unnoticed...-Jason]

From Osma Ahvenlampi, editor of the Amiga Report Tech Journal:

The speed tests you made were hardly fair, giving AFS 7 times as much RAM
buffers as FFS.

Admittedly, FFS does not use them for much, but still, you effectively were
using a disk cache on AFS and none on FFS.  I've found the results to be
completely different when both are cached, or AFS has only 30-40 buffers
like FFS.

Also, DiskSpeed didn't show the CPU usage in your tests.  If it had, you
would have found that FFS took 10-30% of CPU, depending on buffer size,
while AFS took 100%.

From: John Larkin  <lurker@m-net.arbornet.org>

Hi, 

I just read your review of AFS and there's one very important point you
over-looked; reliability.

I'm not a programmer, but I do understand, basically, the way that AFS
works.  AFS tries to be as safe as possible by writing the file to disk,
then creating a new copy of the directory and when everything has been
successfully written, it updates the pointers from the old dir to the new
dir.  This is the point where the entire thing is vulnerable.

If something happens at exactly that point, such as a crash, popping the
floppy out, or a read/write error on the disk, AFS will fail and leave you
with a corrupted disk that you cannot access at all.

You can see this for yourself; format a fresh AFS disk and copy a few files
to it.  Watch the drive activity light and listen to the head move after
the main write operation is finished.  There should be a pause and then two
distinct drive-head movements before the drive stops for good.   (you might
have to copy 300-500k to the disk before you notice both head movements)
Now copy another small file to the disk, wait for the pause and the second
head movement, then pop the disk out immediately after the second one.  You
should get a requestor on Workbench telling you the disk has a read/write
error.  Cancel it, wait a few seconds and then re-insert the disk, and if
you timed it correctly, the result should be AF0:???  on Workbench.  You
might have to try it a couple times to get the timing down pat, but after a
while, you cand do it every time!

Now, you may be thinking; "If I have to work so hard to make this happen,
then it'll probably never occur on its own." Just think about the number of
read/write errors you've ever encountered, the number of crashes, the
number of times you've forgot and popped a disk out too early etc, and
consider that just one error at the proper time can render the entire disk
unreadable.

AFS comes with no disk salvage or repair utilities and I've been told that
Disksalv 4 will have only limited AFS salvage capabilities.  During my
experimentation, I managed to create a read/write that would not go away,
short of re-formatting the disk, definitely not something you want to
happen on a hard drive.

Please note; I have nothing against the creators of AFS, or their company,
but I think people should know that AFS isn't as safe as it claims to be. 
AFS disks may never get 'invalidated' (a relatively minor problem with FFS
considering the amount of disk utilities available to users) but they can
become unreadable due to a single error.

I know it's unlikely that you could manage to crash the Amiga during the
fraction of a second AFS would take to update the pointers on a good hard
drive, but if you're unlucky enough to get a read/write error in just the
right place, kiss the entire contents of that partition goodbye!
@endnode
@node REVIEW5 "SupraFAXModem Review Fallout"
@toc REVIEW

===========================================================================
                       SupraFAXModem Review Fallout
===========================================================================

[Just can't leave me alone...-Jason]

From: mathias.axelsson@coders.ct.se (Mathias Axelsson)

Hello Jason!

I read your review on the SupraFAXmodem 28k8 V.34, and I just like to comment a
few things.

JC> compatible with the Amiga.  As cables go, it's nice.  The modem also ships
JC> with some PC telecom and fax software, but you're on your own as far as JC>
getting Amiga software goes.

This one of the few drawbacks with the Supra modem.  A friend of mine
(another sysop) bought his SupraFAXmodem 28k8 V.FC modem on sysopdeal and
asked if he could get the GPFax bundle instead, but he still got the PC
software pack...  :( At least here in Sweden they bundled GPFax with the
old SupraFAXmodem 14k4 V.32".  It's a pity they don't do the same with the
sysop deal.

JC> forgotten the business of the Amiga community.  You'll find an Amiga tech
JC> support number listed in the manual, and they have Term on their 
JC> ftp.supra.com FTP site, as well as GPFax drivers.

Here's also a big plus on Supras side.  They finally made a flasher program
for the Amiga.  It gives an occational Enforcer hit, but it works. 
[Of course, now you can flash the ROM without the program, as I pointed out
in the review. -Jason]

JC> flashing LEDs and a small LED letter display, used for a variety of JC>
purposes.  The letter display indicates your state of connection, any

This is also great, because one can actually see when it retrains/recieves
errors, as well as the current connect speed.

JC> Real world use of the modem in an MLink network setup to Xnet at 28.8k 
JC> tends to give me in the range of 2700-3000 usable CPS.  (That is, I can

I, as a Fidonet sysop, calls different places every night to get mail, and
on big zipped (or lha/lzx:ed) files I get almost always 3200-3300 cps in
transfer rate (if I get a 28k8 connect that is).  I've been using the modem
for about 1.5 year (I got mine in September 1994) and it only failed once,
but that must have been an rare occasion.  Other Supra sysops I've talked
to has said that the V.34 modem is very stable.  Using NComm to download,
with the port set to 115200 (on my A3000/25) I get 3200-3300 cps as well
when up/downloading files.

Even on long distans calls (more than 500 km away) I still get good
transfer rates, so I class their modem as very good.

I can also say that they have great support, with quick response time.
They also have a great sysop deal.  I bought my SupraFAXmodem 28k8 V.FC for
US$ 169 + p&p.  The p&p was quite expensive for sending it to Sweden, US$
90 for one modem and US$ 20 for each extra modem.  I bought mine with a
friend, so I only got US$ 55 in p&p, but that is still very expensive.  The
modems was quickly delivered though.  Less than a week after I faxed the
order I had the modems.

I had problem with my first V.FC modem.  The display just went dead and I
couln't even flash the modem.  I had to send it in, and asked for them to
update the modem to a V.34 modem at the same time, and I got the modem
upgraded and sent to me for the upgrade cost of US$ 49.95.  That is truly
great!

It's also great to see a company that still supports the Amiga.
@endnode
@node REVIEW6 "Review: Iconographics"
@toc REVIEW

===========================================================================
                           Review: Iconographics
  Christian Kemp                               year0183@mailhost.innet.lu
===========================================================================

PRODUCT NAME

Iconographics 3.0

BRIEF DESCRIPTION

8 color Workbench icon collection with NewIcon support.

AUTHOR/COMPANY INFORMATION

Name:           Tom Ekström
Address:        Tiilentekijänkatu 16 as.10
                SF-20810 Turku
                Finland

E-mail:         litoek@uta.fi

LIST PRICE

Freely distributable.

SPECIAL HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS

No special hardware and software requirements, although Kickstart 2.0, a
hard disk and a multiscan monitor are suggested.

COPY PROTECTION

None.

MACHINE USED FOR TESTING

A1200, 68030, 6 MB RAM, 250 MB hard disk

INSTALLATION

Installation is accomplished through a special script, which will copy all
icons to their relevant places.  This installation can be interactive or
automatic.  This is very straightforward and Iconographics can be installed
in a few minutes.

REVIEW

I have always hated the old 4 color icons that came with my Workbench.
Then came MagicWB, and my life changed.  My Workbench turned into something
beautiful, which was actually fun to use.  But then I realized that it was
Shareware.  My philosophy is to be honest and either register for a
Shareware program or stop using it.  With much regret I deleted all MagicWB
icons and sweared that I would register one day.

Then came Iconographics 1.0 and my life changed again.  I can't remember
where I first saw it, but it was impressive!  Lively colors, icons which
are easily recognisable and, best of all, it was not Shareware.  I
immediately installed it and since then I have converted all my Workbench
icons to the Iconographics standart.

But what makes Iconographics different from the other packages that float
around on Aminet?  Well, first, it has a good installer.  No fiddling
around with tooltypes, no manual installation of the icons in the SYS:
device, and very important, it is complete.  There are icons for every
purpose, the need to get additional icons from another source is fairly
low.

Before I continue this review, let me describe you the colors Iconographics
uses.  Firstly, it uses the first 4 colors from a standard Workbench,
grey-black-white-blue.  The four additional colors are dark blue, light
green, orange and red.  This covers the RGB spectrum, which means that you
will have less difficulty to draw something than with the pale MagicWB-type
colors.  The colors are layouted in a way which makes it possible to view
the icons in 4 color mode without losing too much information.

There is not much to say about the replacement icons for the Workbench
files.  They are simply great.  My Workbench looks so much more
professional with them.  All Iconographics icons have the same dimensions,
which make it easy to tidy up your Workbench.

The real strenght of Iconographics are the tons of additional drawer and
file icons.  They cover every aspect of computing on the Amiga and they are
mostly not related to a specific program, but almost always to a program
type.

There are 80 drawer icons, 71 "flag drawers" showing flags of different
countries, 52 program and prefs icons, 45 dock icons and 116 def_icons.

The def_icons can be used in conjunction with DefIcons from the NewIcons
collection.  DefIcons is an enhancement of the default Amiga icon.library
which features an automatic recognition of the file type of files which
don't have an icon.  For example when doing a <Show All> on a directory on
the Aminet CD, lots of <def_archive_lha> icons will be displayed.

NewIcons is not only supported through DefIcons, but rather the whole icon
collection can be converted to newIcons format.  I won't describe NewIcons
here in every detail, this has already been done more than once.  For
people new to the Amiga, NewIcons is a system patch that is able to show
icons - no matter what their colors are - in best-possible quality and no
matter which palette is installed on the computer.  The Installer can
automatically convert standart Iconographics and Workbench icons to NewIcon
format.

Installing the additional icons is accomplished through the IconInstaller
program, which is very user-friendly and has drag and drop capabilities.
Normally, no more than two mouse moves are needed to replace the imaginary
of an icon with the one of a Iconographics one.  The nice thing about this
is that IconInstaller will not modify the tooltypes of the old icon, only
its look.  IconInstaller can also be configured to automatically convert
icons to given format (tool, project, disk, trashcan) and it can be used to
quickly set or change the default tool of files.

Iconographics comes with a construction kit, an IFF picture full of small
"cliparts", which make it easy for you to construct your own icons with a
minimum of effort and time.  v3.0 also includes a font, a mouse pointer,
some Workbench patterns and images for MUI gadgets.

DOCUMENTATION

The documentation consists of an AmigaGuide® text, it contains all the
information you are likely to need.  A documentation is not essential for
an icon package, but the author seems to have put a lot of work in it
nevertheless.

LIKES

I like everything about Iconographics.  It's perfect!  (Well, nearly) All
the features I mentioned in the review can be considered as LIKES.

DISLIKES AND SUGGESTIONS

My only dislike is that all icons are saved in 8 bitplanes, which causes
long loading times when a drawer is opened and which also implies that the
icons are rather large.  However, this is not the fault of the creator, but
rather the fault of the palette system developed by Commodore.  If you want
speedier access to directories you can still alter the depths of the icons
from 8 Bit to 3 or 4 Bit.  Programs for doing this are available on Aminet.

COMPARISON TO OTHER SIMILAR PRODUCTS

I used MagicWB before I installed Iconographics and I wouldn't want to
change again.  Iconographics is just so much better ;-)

BUGS

I found a slight annoyance in the IconInstaller, but this only occured
once, when I had little memory remaining.  The author knows about it, and
if there should be a bug in the program (which I am not sure), there will
probably soon be an update.

CONCLUSIONS

Get it!

A rating of 5 stars out of 5 is the only logical conclusion to this review.

COPYRIGHT NOTICE

        Copyright (C)1996 Christian Kemp.
Freely distributable as long as the review is not altered.

All opinions are my own, I wasn't paid by Tom Ekström for this review!
@endnode
@node REVIEW7 "Review: Light ROM 3"
@toc REVIEW

===========================================================================
                            Review: Light ROM 3
  Bohuslav Blahut x5440                              bmb000@dns.colum.edu
===========================================================================

If you've worked in any of the 3D animation softwares available for the
Amiga or the PC, you may recall your feeling of awe at the vastness of the
virtual universe that were creating.  Combine that with the limitless
reaches of the Internet, and you've got a mindboggling amount of space to
fill.   Graphic Detail has bridged some of that vastness with the release
of Light ROM 3: a set of three CD roms primarily dedicated to the Lightwave
3D artists.   Don't let the name fool you, there is much to interest users
of other software packages on both the Amiga and PC.

Most of the 3D models, textures, et al are available in the public domain.
These CDs bring all of these resources together in one convenient and
inexpensive package.  Much of the material on the discs is available
exclusively to Light ROM 3 purchasers. 

The first disc in the set contains literally hundreds of LightWave models,
loadable into both Amiga and PC versions.  Also on the disc are full color
thumbnail pictures showing you the models already rendered.  Since there is
no good way to preview models on the net, this feature alone makes the
discs worth adding to your collection.  New to this version of the
collection is the fact that the models, their surfaces, imagemaps, etc.
are in directories on the CD optimised for easy loading into LightWave. 

Another LightWave-aimed directory includes several Plug-ins, Arexx scripts,
surfaces, and other related programs.  Also is a directory of Jpegs
produced by Questar's World Construction Set, a landscape generating
program.  I loaded this demo sequence into my DraCo, and was surprised at
the stunning realism.  The WCS demo sequence takes you on a slow flight
into a canyon, as the sky goes from day till night.  This is truly a superb
demonstration of the latitude of this program.  Those of you who have Vlab
Motion or PAR cards, would do yourselves a service if you load up these
frames.

Disk #2 in the set has 100.7 megs of objects in 3D studio format, some with
GIF thumnail renderings.  Other directories contain objects in Imagine (176
Megs), Real 3D (7.2 megs), and Sculpt (32.7 megs) formats.   These objects
can be converted for use in LightWave by using both Pixel Pro (axiom) and
Interchange (Syndesis). 

820 textures are included in Jpeg format, along with thumbnail renderings.
It would be nice to have these organized into categories, and have names
instead of numbers.  Another of Graphic Detail's CD collections Texture
Gallery, does have it's textures named and categorized.  These new textures
include cloth, brick, tiles, and a directory of greyscale images for
bumpmapping and alpha channel compositing.

In addition to a Video Toaster directory with accessories and textfiles for
NewTek's Amiga video hardware, is a directory of DEM objects.  Landscape
generators such as World Construction Set and Vista Pro use DEM (Digital
Elevation Maps) to create their landforms.  DEMs are geographic digital
data gathered by the US Government.  DEM compatible software uses this
information to fractally generate landscapes.  This disc's DEMs have been
converted into actual 3D objects for use in LightWave, 3D studio, and
Imagine.

There are Thumnail indexes in IFF and Targa format on disc 2 for the true
DEMs on disc 3.  Also included on Disc 2 are various PD programs for both
Amiga and PC, and issues of "Tesselation Times", another electronic
publication concentrating on 3D graphics.

Disc 3 contains the true DEMs mentioned earlier.  On this disc are
thumbnail rendering of the DEMs in JPeg format.

In my work I've used all three volumes of LightROM, and this latest 3 disc
set represents an impressive accomplishment.  While many of these programs
and objects are available in the public domain, having so many of them
assembled in one place on a rapid access disc makes this volume well worth
the $49.95.  If you're a 3D graphic artist, you cannot be without a CD ROM
reader.  Internal double speed drives are availble for about $50, and there
are several good PD CD interface programs for the Amiga.  With the
increasing number of texture and object CDs coming out, you won't want to
be left behind.  This CD set is a great example of what's out there for
computer users with CD rom readers.

LightROM 3 is an excellent investment for any artist, and the investment of
time that Graphic Detail has put into this collection is clear in the high
quality of the CDs.  Since the objects and textures are created by users of
varying skill levels, be prepared for varying levels of quality in the
material on the discs.  I've been very satisfied with the CD's objects.  
Even if an objects isn't exactly what I need for a particular project, I've
found that having even a rough object to use as a template saves me
considerable time in modeling.  As you can see LightROM 3 is a very
complete answer to the needs of beginners and pros alike.  The CDs are
updated every six months, and are very reasonably priced.

  Available from:

    Graphic Detail Inc.
    4556 South 3rd St.
    Louisville, KY 40214
    USA

    orders:    1.800.265.4041
    voice/fax:   502.363.2986
    email: michael@iglou.com

    Light ROM 3: $49.95
    shipping:    $ 4.95 US and Canada
                 $ 6.95 international orders  
@endnode
@node REVIEW8 "FantaSeas PhotoCD"
@toc REVIEW

===========================================================================
                         Review: FantaSeas PhotoCD
  Bohuslav Blahut                                    bmb000@dns.colum.edu
===========================================================================

FantaSeas- a portfolia PhotoCD

Many Amiga owners still don't have CD rom drives.  While other platforms
have more of a pressing need for CD roms, most Amiga software publishers
still provide software on Double-Density floppy discs.  In the past.  there
were few advantages (and even fewer titles) offered Amiga CD rom owners,
but that is rapidly changing.  If you use your Amiga for graphics,
animation, or video, there are a number of exciting new CD roms available
to the Amiga owner. 

CD rom readers are coming down radically in price.  Internal SCSI 2x units
start at $50, though if you can afford to, you should consider a 4x drive.
In my day to day use of a 4x, it seems as fast as a harddrive.  AmigaDOS
3.0 or higher already has built-in facilities for reading CDroms, but 2.0
users have to find other ways to make their systems CD compatible.

While there are several PD tools for accessing CDs, I have had the best
success with ASIMcdfs, a commercial product.  ASIMcdfs has facilities for
converting PhotoCds to Amiga IFFs, and has a great library program for
audio CDs.  ImageFX can load PhotoCDs as well.  I mention Photo CDs because
there have been more and more available texture PhotoCDs for multiplatform
use.  Corel (makers of Corel Draw) have come out with a series of photoCDs
for Mac and PC use, but as long as the disc is in ISO-9660 format, it
should read on your Amiga.  Other CDs are available with TIFF and Jpeg
format images, so armed with your CD rom reader and your favorite IP
software, you have expansive choices from an inexpensive armada of
textures. 

Caveat Emptor, as usual.  Just because it's on CD, that doesn't gurantee
you the best possible quality.  I've bought texture CDs with almost
unusable fuzzy HAM format imagery.  However, I've found that PhotoCD
selections represent better quality.  One of the best I've seen is
FantaSeas from Amiga Library Services.  This 2 disc set is readable by any
CDrom that supports Kodak's PhotoCD format.

The discs contains almost 300 (most photo CDs have around 100 photos) of
undersea life and exploration.  I used ImageFX to load the pictures onto my
DraCo.  The images are stored in full photo quality on the disc, and
different viewers/programs will treat the large-resolution phot images in
different ways.  ImageFX's PhotoCD loader gives you the option of loading
the image at the following reolutions: 192x128, 384x256, 768x512,
1536x1024, 3072x2048 Lo Res, and 3072x2048 Hi Res.

If you open the image on a 24bit screen, you'll be treated to a bevy of
beautiful underwater photography.  There are series of photos of fish,
anemones, divers, skulls, shipwrecks, and more.  All of the pictures are
indexed by description and name in the Cd's booklet.  These photos could be
great backgrounds in Lightwave 3D, the closeups could be highly-detailed
imagemapped textures for models.  You could bluescreen actors in diving
suits against these deep sea scenes, and perhaps animate some bubbles over
the background to add some life to the still.  ImageFX would be perfect to
add a slight ripple to the imagery to camouflage it's still photograph
origin.

Since these pictures can be interpreted by your Amiga in a number of
different resolutions, this means that you can use FantaSeas equally well
in video projects as well as publishing at full photo quality.  Your
purchase of FantaSeas includes your right to include these images in your
work with a run of under 5000 copies.  A deal to be sure.   (How did I get
through this review without making the obligatory "make a splash in your
video with FantaSeas jokes?")

  available from:

    Amiga Library Services
    610 N. Alma School Rd., Suite 18
    Chandler, Arizona 85224-3687
    USA

    call:  1.800.804.0833
    email: info@amigalib.com

    FantaSeas: $49.95
    Shipping:  $ 3.95
@endnode



@node CHARTS1 "Aminet Charts: 22-Jan-96"
@toc FTP

| The most downloaded files from Aminet during the week until 22-Jan-96
| Updated weekly. Most popular file on top.
|
|File              Dir        Size Age Description
|----------------- ---        ---- --- -----------
ar401.lha          docs/mags   66K   0+Amiga Report 4.01, January 16, 1996
Floppy_fix.lha     hard/hack    6K   0+Fix for the floppy problem of newer
Voodoo-1.103.lha   comm/mail  424K   1+Very nice GUI MIME E-Mail reader for
mn_ansitest.lha    comm/mebbs   3K  30+ANSI Test Door for MEBBSNet
AMountains.lha     gfx/fract   67K   1+Fractal landscape generator
taskbar3.lha       util/wb     19K   0+Win95 style taskbar (bugs fixed)
ST210.lha          biz/patch  767K   0+Studio V2.10b Update of the printer
cybershow60.lha    gfx/board   96K   1+SlideShow&Viewer(incl.PCD)for CybGfx
DeliTracker222.lha mus/play   717K   1+Bugfixes & some new players/genies
gsv.lha            game/gag    17K   1+Win95's General Priviledge Violation
uconv14.lha        gfx/conv   1.1M   0+Best converter. 32 Filters...MPEG Su
amtank.lha         game/2play 322K   1+A tanks clone.
GUItcp.lha         comm/net     3K   1+Launches TCP & Related programs from
mnews0_2.lha       comm/news   45K   0+MUI news group reader for AmiTCP. V0
MagiC64.lha        misc/emu   286K   0+The fastest C64 emulator for Amiga V
RAM-icon.lha       pix/mwb     10K   0+Replaces RAM-icons (Disk, Env, T, Cl
xtd-tp5.txt        demo/tp95   19K   1+Report from THE PARTY 5 - Worst Part
IconifyGadget.lha  util/misc   12K   1+Adds iconify gadget to windows. BETA
Worms+.lha         game/misc   37K   1+2 new WORMS Maps by Maxime/RamJam

| The highest rated programs during the week until 22-Jan-96
| Updated weekly. Best program on top. Please rate all the programs you
| download. To do so, send to aminet-server@wuarchive.wustl.edu :
| RATE <path> <num>
| where <path> is the file you want to judge and <num> is a mark from 0..10
| with 10 being the best. You can rate several programs in one mail, but
| don't rate your own programs. Example: RATE dev/gui/mui23usr.lha 8
|
|File              Dir        Size Age Description
|----------------- ---        ---- --- -----------
imdbDiff951222.lha biz/dbase  704K   3+Diffs for the Internet MovieDatabase
upcat13.lha        biz/dbase   64K  91+A disk catalog program.
Voodoo-1.103.lha   comm/mail  424K   1+Very nice GUI MIME E-Mail reader for
E-MailMosaic.lha   comm/tcp    23K   6+To get & put E-Mail with Mosaic
ar401.lha          docs/mags   66K   0+Amiga Report 4.01, January 16, 1996
AmigaFAQg.lha      docs/misc  489K   4+Amiga: H ufig gestellte Fragen ( 5.0
ParrotIsland.lha   game/demo  761K   3+Very great adventure like Monkey Isl
tritus_demo.lha    game/demo  213K   6+Superb 3-player Tetris Clone
DiamondCave2_3.lha game/misc  563K   4+The ultimate Boulder Dash Clone V2.3
JTEWorms.lha       game/misc   54K   5+4 Custom Maps for Worms
xanimwin003.lha    gfx/show    34K   2+MUI based GUI for XAnim
SoundBox22.lha     mus/misc   122K  11+Converts soundfiles and plays 14 bit
viva-amiga.lha     pix/imagi  300K   7+Pro-Amiga Imagine raytrace - VIVA AM
Repack3_4.lha      util/arc    27K   2+Update of the best ->LZX repacker, G
uuxt31.lha         util/arc   109K  26+The Best UUcoder with full WB suppor
Remind1.52.lha     util/cdity  55K  19+Never forget an important event agai
mcxp212.lha        util/cdity  54K   2+MUI Preferences for MultiCX
scrwiz11.lha       util/cdity  68K  41+Small,configurable public screen man
Index2GuideV13.lha util/conv   14K   4+AmiNets Index/Recent -> AmigaGuide V
PGPtoGUIV2.0e.lha  util/crypt  36K   1+A GUI for PGP. V2.0e-english-languag
XPKDT-1.0B.lha     util/dtype  14K   8+DataType for XPK compressed files
ReqToolsUsr.lha    util/libs  156K   1+ReqTools 2.4 - the requester toolkit
GrabKick.lha       util/misc    3K   1+Copy KICKSTART-ROM to a file V1.7
snoopdos30.lha     util/moni  128K  70+System monitor, many new features ad
VZ_II126.lha       util/virus 160K   5+VirusZ v1.26 by Georg H rmann
TimeConnect.lha    comm/misc   66K   0+Phone Call coster/logger with MUI
AmigaFAQ.lha       docs/misc  468K   4+Amiga: Frequently asked questions  5
nemac4d1.lha       game/demo  441K   6+3D T-mapped game demo 1/3. Read .rea
nemac4d2.lha       game/demo  695K   6+3D T-mapped game demo 2/3. Read .rea
nemac4d3.lha       game/demo  698K   6+3D T-mapped game demo 3/3. Read .rea
@endnode
@node CHARTS2 "Aminet Charts: 29-Jan-96"
@toc FTP

| The most downloaded files from Aminet during the week until 29-Jan-96
| Updated weekly. Most popular file on top.
|
|File              Dir        Size Age Description
|----------------- ---        ---- --- -----------
mn_ansitest.lha    comm/mebbs   3K  31+ANSI Test Door for MEBBSNet
ar401.lha          docs/mags   66K   1+Amiga Report 4.01, January 16, 1996
TCPIP-Master15.lha comm/tcp    30K   1+Version 1.5 of an TCP/IP Controll-Pa
FastExec11.lzh     util/boot    6K   1+Moves exec.library to fast memory
mftp1_33.lha       comm/tcp    79K   0+Update for mftp1_31.lha (MUI ftp cli
WinPlay.lha        gfx/show    41K   0+Workbench Anim Player - Version 1.31
CGWBPat105.lha     util/wb    101K   0+New WBPattern (supports. CGfx) Now l
ju257.lha          hard/hack  121K   1+How to modify Panasonic 3.5" disk dr
picturedtV43.lha   gfx/board  103K   0+24Bit picture.datatype for CyberGfx
FTPMaker.lha       comm/misc   40K   0+Help you to configure your ftpaccess
taskbar3.lha       util/wb     19K   1+Win95 style taskbar (bugs fixed)
MUIXAnim10.lha     gfx/show    20K   1+A Graphic User Interface to use with
ifftoasc.lha       gfx/conv    70K   1+Converts IFFs to ASCII art!
MountInfo.lha      disk/misc    5K   1+Shows Mountlists for auto-mounted de
Rocko.lha          game/misc  294K   0+Boxing Game with Digitized Graphics
slipcall4.lha      comm/tcp    97K   0+Dialer for AmiTCP, v37.51, bugfixes.
GPDialv1.0.lha     comm/tcp    59K   1+A script based dialer for AmiTCP
mcx243.lha         util/cdity  53K   0+Multi Function Commodity
sfx-doc_eng.lha    mus/edit    76K   0+V 3.3 Docs english

| The highest rated programs during the week until 29-Jan-96
| Updated weekly. Best program on top. Please rate all the programs you
| download. To do so, send to aminet-server@wuarchive.wustl.edu :
| RATE <path> <num>
| where <path> is the file you want to judge and <num> is a mark from 0..10
| with 10 being the best. You can rate several programs in one mail, but
| don't rate your own programs. Example: RATE dev/gui/mui23usr.lha 8
|
|File              Dir        Size Age Description
|----------------- ---        ---- --- -----------
upcat13.lha        biz/dbase   64K  92+A disk catalog program.
Voodoo-1.103.lha   comm/mail  424K   2+Very nice GUI MIME E-Mail reader for
E-MailMosaic.lha   comm/tcp    23K   7+To get & put E-Mail with Mosaic
ar401.lha          docs/mags   66K   1+Amiga Report 4.01, January 16, 1996
AmigaFAQg.lha      docs/misc  489K   5+Amiga: H ufig gestellte Fragen ( 5.0
ParrotIsland.lha   game/demo  761K   4+Very great adventure like Monkey Isl
tritus_demo.lha    game/demo  213K   7+Superb 3-player Tetris Clone
JTEWorms.lha       game/misc   54K   6+4 Custom Maps for Worms
argus.lha          game/shoot 357K  16+Fast with lots of weapon powerups.
xanimwin003.lha    gfx/show    34K   3+MUI based GUI for XAnim
MagiC64.lha        misc/emu   286K   1+The fastest C64 emulator for Amiga V
SteveHeadroom.lha  misc/misc  1.0M   4+Random talking head, needs 2M chip r
SoundBox22.lha     mus/misc   122K  12+Converts soundfiles and plays 14 bit
viva-amiga.lha     pix/imagi  300K   8+Pro-Amiga Imagine raytrace - VIVA AM
Repack3_4.lha      util/arc    27K   3+Update of the best ->LZX repacker, G
uuxt31.lha         util/arc   109K  27+The Best UUcoder with full WB suppor
Remind1.52.lha     util/cdity  55K  20+Never forget an important event agai
scrwiz11.lha       util/cdity  68K  42+Small,configurable public screen man
Index2GuideV13.lha util/conv   14K   5+AmiNets Index/Recent -> AmigaGuide V
PGPtoGUIV2.0e.lha  util/crypt  36K   2+A GUI for PGP. V2.0e-english-languag
XPKDT-1.0B.lha     util/dtype  14K   9+DataType for XPK compressed files
ReqToolsUsr.lha    util/libs  156K   2+ReqTools 2.4 - the requester toolkit
Executive.lha      util/misc  527K   9+UNIX-like task scheduler (V1.30)
GrabKick.lha       util/misc    3K   2+Copy KICKSTART-ROM to a file V1.7
snoopdos30.lha     util/moni  128K  71+System monitor, many new features ad
VZ_II126.lha       util/virus 160K   6+VirusZ v1.26 by Georg H rmann
TimeConnect.lha    comm/misc   85K   0+Phone Call coster/logger with MUI
AmigaFAQ.lha       docs/misc  468K   5+Amiga: Frequently asked questions  5
FOV_3Ddemo.lha     game/demo  389K  13+Breathless Demo.
@endnode
@node MAILLIST "Amiga Report Mailing List"
@toc WHERE

===========================================================================
                        Amiga Report Mailing List
===========================================================================

If you have an internet mailing address, you can receive Amiga Report in
@{"UUENCODED" link UUENCODE} form each week as soon as the issue is released.  To be put on
the list, send Email to majordomo@amigalib.com

Your subject header will be ignored.  In the body of the message, enter

subscribe areport <your e-mail address, this part is optional>

ie: 

subscribe areport jcompton@xnet.com

The system will automatically pull your e-mail address from the message
header.

Your account must be able to handle mail of any size to ensure an intact
copy.  For example, many systems have a 100K limit on incoming messages.


** IMPORTANT NOTICE:  PLEASE be certain your host can accept mail over   **
** 100K!  We have had a lot of bouncebacks recently from systems with a  **
** 100K size limit for incoming mail.  If we get a bounceback with your  **
** address in it, it will be removed from the list.  Thanks!             **
@endnode
@node UUENCODE
@toc MAILLIST

===========================================================================
                          UUDecoding Amiga Report
===========================================================================

If you receive Amiga Report from the direct mailing list, it will arrive in
UUEncoded format.  This format allows programs and archive files to be sent
through mail by converting the binary into combinations of ASCII
characters.  In the message, it will basically look like a lot of trash
surrounded by begin <filename> and end, followed by the size of the file.


To UUDecode Amiga Report, you first need to get a UUDecoding program, such
as UUxT by Asher Feldman.  This program is available on Aminet in

     pub/aminet/arc/

Then you must download the message that it is contained in.  Don't worry
about message headers, the UUDecoding program will ignore them.

There is a GUI interface for UUxT, which should be explained in the docs.
However, the quickest method for UUDecoding the magazine is to type

     uuxt x ar.uu

at the command prompt.  You will then have to decompress the archive with
lha, and you will then have Amiga Report in all of its AmigaGuide glory.

If you have any questions, you can write to @{"Jason Compton" link JASON}

@endnode
@node AMINET "Aminet"
@toc WHERE

                                  Aminet
                                  ======

To get Amiga Report from Aminet, simply FTP to any Aminet site, CD to
docs/mags.  All the back issues are located there as well.

Sites: ftp.netnet.net, ftp.wustl.edu, ftp.tas.gov.au, ftp.doc.ic.ac.uk

@endnode
@node WWW "World Wide Web"
@toc WHERE

                              World Wide Web
                              ==============

AR can also be read with Mosaic (in either AmigaGuide or html form). 
Reading AmigaReport with Mosaic removes the necessity to download it.  It
can also be read using programs found in UNIX sites such as LYNX.

Simply tell Mosaic to open one of the following URLs:

     http://www.omnipresence.com/Amiga/News/AR/
     http://www.pwr.wroc.pl/AMIGA/AR/
     http://mm.iit.uni-miskolc.hu/Data/AR
     http://www.fhi-berlin.mpg.de/amiga/ar/
     http://ramiga.rnet.cgi.com/~AR
     http://www.sci.muni.cz/ar/
     http://metro.turnpike.net/P/panther/main.html
     http://www.lysator.liu.se/amiga/ar/
     http://ArtWorks.apana.org.au/AmigaReport.html
     http://www.vol.it/MIRROR2/EN/AMIGA/

The following AR sites also have a mailto form, allowing you to mail to
Amiga Report from the web site.  <Make sure your reader has forms
capability).

     http://www.pwr.wroc.pl/AMIGA/AR/
     http://www.sussex.ac.uk/Users/kcci1

Amiga information can also be accessed at this URL:
http://www.cucug.org/amiga.html

Mosaic for the Amiga can be found on Aminet in directory comm/net, or
(using anonymous ftp) on max.physics.sunysb.edu

Mosaic for X, Macintosh(tm) and Microsoft Windows(tm) can be found on
ftp.ncsa.uiuc.edu
@endnode
@node COPYRIGHT "Copyright Information"
@toc ABOUT

===========================================================================
==                       _    _       __  ___    _                       ==
==                      /\\  |\\   /| || //  \  /\\                      ==
==                     /  \\ | \\ /|| ||(< __  /  \\                     ==
==                    /--- \\|  \/ || || \\_||/--- \\                    ==
==                   /______________________________\\                   ==
==                  /                                \\                  ==
==              Amiga Report International Online Magazine               ==
==                January 31, 1996        Issue No. 4.02                 ==
==                     Copyright 1996 FS Publications                    ==
==                           All Rights Reserved                         ==
===========================================================================

Views, Opinions and Articles presented herein are not necessarily those of
the editors and staff of Amiga Report International Online Magazine or of
FS Publications.  Permission to reprint articles is hereby denied, unless
otherwise noted.  All reprint requests should be directed to the editor. 
Amiga Report and/or portions therein may not be edited in any way without
prior written permission.  However, translation into a language other than
English is acceptible, provided the editor is notified beforehand and the
original meaning is not altered.  Amiga Report may be distributed on
privately owned not-for-profit bulletin board systems (fees to cover cost
of operation are acceptable), and major online services such as (but not
limited to) Delphi and Portal.  Distribution on public domain disks is
acceptable provided proceeds are only to cover the cost of the disk (e.g. 
no more than $5 US).  CD-ROM compilers should contact the editor. 
Distribution on for-profit magazine cover disks requires written permission
from the editor.  Amiga Report is a not-for-profit publication.  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.  Amiga Report is not affiliated with Escom AG.  All
items quoted in whole or in part are done so under the Fair Use Provision
of the Copyright Laws of the United States Penal Code.  Any Electronic Mail
sent to the editors may be reprinted, in whole or in part, without any
previous permission of the author, unless said electronic mail is
specifically requested not to be reprinted.

===========================================================================

@endnode
@node GUIDELINE "Amiga Report Writing Guidelines"
@toc ABOUT

===========================================================================
                      Amiga Report Writing Guidelines
===========================================================================

The three most important requirements for submissions to Amiga Report are:

     1.  Please use English.

     2.  Please use paragraphs.  It's hard on the eyes to have solid
     screens of text.  If you don't know where to make a paragraph break,
     guess.

     3.  Please put a blank line in between paragraphs.  It makes
     formatting the magazine much much easier.

     4.  Please send us your article in ASCII format.

Note:  If you want to check ahead of time to make sure we'll print your
article, please write to the @{"Editor" link JASON}.

Please stipulate as well if you wish to retain copyright or hand it over to
the editor.
@endnode
@node EDITORCHOICE "Editor's Choice"
@toc COMMERCIAL

===========================================================================
                              Editor's Choice
===========================================================================

These are selected products, reviewed by myself, that I've liked.  So, I've
landed them and decided to sell them.

All prices are in $US.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chris Hames' PC-Task 3.1 IBM emulator is available for the rather low price
of US$110.

PC-T 3.1 offers 286-level compatibility, video displays up to SVGA with
support for many popular graphic card systems including CyberGraphics, and
a built-in BIOS.

Orders will be drop-shipped from Wonder Computers, North American
representatives for Quasar Distribution products.

Credit card or money order/postal cheque accepted to
@{" Jason Compton " link JASON}.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

John McDonough's The Music Maker, a Contemporary New Age CD composed on the
Amiga, is available through Amiga Report.

The crisp, clean sounds and calm melodies present a welcome alternative to
many pounding alternatives.

Available for US$12.00 plus $3 shipping in the US.  Non-US orders, please
contact before ordering.  Check or money order accepted addressed to
@{" Jason Compton " link JASON}, shipments made by the artist.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

|                                | Issue    | Approximate  | Amiga Report |
|           Product              | Reviewed | Retail Price | Reader Price |
---------------------------------|----------|--------------|--------------|
|                                |          |              |              |
|Swifty 3-button mouse           |   2.28   |    $39.95    |    $22.75    |
|                                |          |              |              |
|GPFax Amiga Fax Software        |   2.30   |   $100.00    |    $60.00    |
|    (Class 1 and 2)             |          |              |              |
|                                |          |              |              |
|Micro R+D CD-ROM Volume 1       |   2.25   |    $69.00    |    $30.00    |
|    (Includes early Transition  |          |              |              |
|    graphics converter and loads|          |              |              |
|    of artwork)                 |          |              |              |
|                                |          |              |              |
|Micro R+D CD-ROM Volume 2       |   2.26   |    $99.95    |    $46.75    |
|    (Includes entire Nature's   |          |              |              |
|    Backdrop series)            |          |              |              |
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Orders may be placed via check, money order, or postal cheque, made out to
Jason Compton.  Visa/Mastercard accepted via post or E-Mail.  No CODs.

Mail all orders to @{" Jason Compton " link JASON}.  Orders will be processed by
Amiga Report and drop-shipped from Micro R+D.

In the US, add $5/$10/$20 for UPS shipping, ground/blue/red label,
respectively.  Overseas: It is recommended that you consider $20 to be the
minimum cost for shipping.  If you plan to order more than one item, E-mail
for shipping cost.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sidewinder's Future Shock II CD is now available through Amiga Report.
Featuring 15 Amiga-generated tunes totalling 71 minutes, Eric Gieseke's
work is captured on an Amiga-independent media.

Available for US$12.00.  Please add $5 for shipping.

Make check or money order payable to @{" Jason Compton " link JASON}.  Orders will be
drop-shipped from Sidewinder Productions.

For overseas orders, please contact through E-Mail before ordering.
@endnode
@node PORTAL "Portal"
@toc ONLINE

===========================================================================
                  Portal:  A Great Place For Amiga Users
===========================================================================

                The Portal Information Network's Amiga Zone

          The AFFORDABLE alternative for online Amiga information
          -------------------------------------------------------

Portal is the home of acclaimed Amiga Zone, a full-service online SIG
(Special Interest Group) for Amiga owners and users. We promise, and
WE DELIVER ongoing & aggressive Amiga support!

You can dial into Portal to access the Amiga Zone in many ways: direct
dial to our San Jose, CA high-speed modems (you pay for the phone call
if it's not local), or though any SprintNet or Compu$erve indial anywhere
(with a small hourly fee) or via the World-wide Internet "telnet"
program to portal.com (no hourly fee).

Even Delphi and BIX users can Telnet into Portal for a flat $19.95 a month,
with *unlimited* use.

Portal is NOT just another shell service!  Its Online system is fully
menu-driven with on-screen commands and help, and you can easily customize
it for your favorite terminal program and screen size.

Some of Portal/Amiga Zone's amazing features include:

 * 2.5 GIGabytes of Amiga-specific file space - we have so much Amiga Stuff
      online, we've lost count!
 * The *entire* Fred Fish collection of freely distributable software,
       online.  ALL 1000 disks!
 * Fast, Batch Zmodem file transfer protocol. Download up to 100 files at
      once, of any size, with one command.
 * Amiga vendor areas with participants like AmigaWorld, Elastic
      Reality (ASDG), Soft-Logik, Apex Publishing, and others.
 * 40 "regular" Amiga libraries with over 10,000 files.  Hot new stuff
       arrives daily.
 * No upload/download "ratios" EVER. Download as much as you want, as
      often as you want, and never feel pressured doing it.
 * Live, interactive nightly chats with Amiga folks whose names you will
      recognize.  Special conferences.  Random chance prize contests.  We
      have given away thousands of bucks worth of Amiga prizes - more than
      any other online service.
 * Message bases where you can ask questions about *anything* Amiga
      related and get quick replies from the experts.
 * Amiga Internet mailing lists for Imagine, AMosaic, LightWave, EGS,
      OpalVision & others feed right into the Zone message bases.  Read
      months worth of postings.  No need to clutter your mailbox with them.
 * FREE unlimited Internet Email with 5 meg of free storage.
 * A FREE UNIX Shell account with another 5 meg of free storage.
      You can run Amiga Mosaic through your shell and explore the
      vast World Wide Web!
 * Portal has the Usenet.  Thousands of "newsgroups" in which you can read
      and post articles about virtually any subject you can possibly
      imagine.
 * Other Portal SIGs (Special Interest Groups) online for Mac, IBM, Sun,
      UNIX, Science Fiction, Disney, and dozens more.  ALL Portal SIGs are
      accessible to ALL Portal customers with NO surcharges ever. You
      never worry "Ooops... Am I paying for this area?" again!
 * Portal was THE FIRST online service to offer a full package of Internet
      features: IRC, FTP, TELNET, MUDS, LIBS.  And you get FREE unlimited
      usage of all of them.
 * Our exclusive PortalX by Steve Tibbett, the graphical "front end" for
      Portal which will let you automatically click'n'download your waiting
      email, messages, Usenet groups and binary files!  Reply to mail and
      messages offline using your favorite editor and your replies are sent
      automatically the next time you log into Portal.  (PortalX requires
      Workbench 2.04 or higher)
 * Portal does NOT stick it to high speed modem users. Whether you log in
      at 1200 or 2400 or 9600 or 14.4K you pay the same low price.

To join Portal or for more information call:

   1-800-433-6444 (voice) 9a.m.-5p.m. Mon-Fri, Pacific Time
   1-408-973-9111 (voice) 9a.m.-5p.m. Mon-Fri, Pacific Time

   1-408-725-0561 (modem 3/12/2400) 24 hours every day
   1-408-725-0560 (modem 96/14400) 24 hours every day

   or enter "C PORTAL" from any Sprintnet dial-in, or "portal" at any
   CI$ network dialin, or telnet to "portal.com" from anywhere,
   and then enter "online" and then "info"

Call and join today.  Tell the friendly Portal Customer Service
representative, "The Amiga Zone and Amiga Report sent me!"

[Editor's Note: Be sure to tell them that you are an Amiga user, so they
can notify the AmigaZone sysops to send their Welcome Letter and other
information!]

The Portal Information Network accepts MasterCard, Visa, or you can pre-pay
any amount by personal check or money order.  The Portal Online System is a
trademark of The Portal Information Network.  SLIP, UUCP and custom domain
accounts are also available.
@endnode
@node BBS_AUSTRALIA "Distribution BBSes - Australia"
@toc BBS

===========================================================================
                      Distribution BBSes - Australia
===========================================================================

                              -=NEW ZEALAND=-

                             * BITSTREAM BBS *
               FidoNET 3:771/850.0   AmigaNET 41:644/850.0
             +64-(0)3-548-5321, SupraFaxModem 28k8 VFast Class


                               -=VICTORIA=-

                         * NORTH WEST AMIGA BBS *
          EMail: mozza@nwamiga.apana.org.au     Fido: 3:633/265.0
         BBS Phone/Fax: +61 3 9331 2831   USR Courier V.Everything


@endnode
@node BBS_EUROPE "Distribution BBSes - Europe"
@toc BBS

===========================================================================
                        Distribution BBSes - Europe
===========================================================================

                                -=FINLAND=-

                               * LAHO BBS *
       +358-64-414 1516, V.32bis/HST   +358-64-414 0400, V.32bis/HST
          +358-64-414 6800, V.32/HST   +358-64-423 1300, V.32bis

                             * KINDERGARTEN *
                      Email: matthias.bartosik@hut.fi
                        +358-0-881 32 36, v.34/HST


                                -=FRANCE=-

                              * DYNAMIX BBS *
                        Email: erlsoft@mcom.mcom.fr
        +33.1.48.89.96.66 Minitel (vv23) to Modem (v32bis/Videotex)

                        * RAMSES THE AMIGA FLYING *
     Internet: user.name@ramses.fdn.org     Fidonet: 2/320/104-105-106
              +33-1-45845623 V.34     +33-1-53791200 V.32bis


                                -=GERMANY=-

                           * DOOM OF DARKNESS *
                      Email: marc_doerre@doom.ping.de
                    +49 (0)4223 8355 19200 V.42bis/Zyx
           AR-Infoservice, contact Kai Szymanski kai@doom.gun.de

                              * IMAGINE BBS *
                    Email: Sysop@imagine.commo.mcnet.de
                B+49-69-4304948 Yoriko 28.8ET V.Fast Class
              Login: GAST (Download from area "Amiga-Report")

                         * LEGUANS BYTE CHANNEL *
                    Usenet: andreas@lbcmbx.in-berlin.de
                49-30-8110060   49-30-8122442   USR DS 16.8
                 Login as User: "amiga", Passwd: "report"

                              * REDEYE BBS *
                       Internet: sysop@redeye.muc.de
               +49-89-5460535 (V.32b, Zyxel EG + / USR V.34)

                          * STINGRAY  DATABASE *
                 EMail: sysop@sting-db.zer.sub.org.dbp.de
                          +49 208 496807 HST-Dual

                            * VISION THING BBS *
             Infect East German HQ, Keks ASCII Design World HQ
                          ++49(0)345 663914 19200
                          System Password: Amiga


                                -=GREECE=-

                            * HELLAS ON LINE *
          EMail: cocos@prometheus.hol.gr    Telnet: hellas.hol.gr
       82 Hunter Lines (28.8KB): ++301/ 620-6001, 620-6604, 620-9500

                              * ODYSSEY BBS *
            email: konem@prometheus.hol.gr   39:250/1@Amiganet
                ++ 301 412-3502 (ZyXEL 16.8K)   22.00-10.00


                                -=IRELAND=-

                               * CUGI BBS *
                            Fidonet: 2:263/155
                          +353 1 837 0204 V32bis

                               * FWIBBLE! *
               Fidonet: 2:263/900.0   E-Mail: 9517693@ul.ie
              Phone: +353-902-36124    Midnight to 8am (GMT)
                       Freq "Readme.txt" for details


                                 -=ITALY=-

                        * AMIGA PROFESSIONAL BBS *
                 Amy Professional Club, Italian Amos Club
                              +(39)-49-604488

                               * FRANZ BBS *
                          EMsil: mc3510@mclink.it
                            +39/6/6627667 24hrs

                                 * IDCMP *
                             Fidonet 2:322/405
                               +39-542-25903

                             * SPEED OF LIFE *
                  FidoNet 2:335/533   AmigaNet 39:102/12
                The AMIGA Alchemists' BBS   +39-931-833773


                              -=NETHERLANDS=-D

                       * AMIGA ONLINE BS HEEMSTEDE *
   Fidonet: 2:280/464.0, 2:280/412.0   Internet: michiel@aobh.xs4all.nl
                +31-23-282002   +31-23-470739   14400 Supra

                             * THE HELL BBS *
           Fido-Net : 2:281/418.0   e-mail : root@hell.xs4all.nl
                     +31-(0)70-3468783 (v32bis Supra)

                          * TRACE BBS GRONINGEN *
            FidoNET 2:282/529.0   Internet Martin@trace.idn.nl
               +31-(0)-50-410143 (14k4 Buad (28k8 V.34 soon)

                              * X-TREME BBS *
                      Internet: u055231@vm.uci.kun.nl
                            +31-167064414 (24h)


                                -=NORWAY=-

                              * FALLING BBS *
                       EMail:  christon@powertech.no
                            +47 69 256117 28.8k


                                -=POLAND=-

                          * SILVER DREAM!'S BBS *
                            SysOp: Silver Dream
                            +48 91 540431 (24h)


                               -=PORTUGAL=-

                               * CIUA BBS *
                FidoNet 2:361/9   Internet: denise.ci.ua.pt
                  +351-34-382080/382081 (V32bis soon V34)


                                -=RUSSIA=-

                          * NEW ORDER BBS *
 E-Mail: norder@norder.spb.su  FidoNet: 2:5030/221.0  AmigaNet: 39:240/1.0
            +7-812-2909561 (24 hours) USR 21k6 Dual Standart


                                 -=SPAIN=-

                            * GURU MEDITATION *
                           Running Remote Access
                          +34-1-383-1317 V.32bis

                            * LA MITAD OSCURA *
  E-Mail: jovergon@offcampus.es  Fido: 2:341/35.19  Amiganet: 39:192/1.19
                               +34-1-3524613

                        * MAZAGON - BBS - SYSTEMS *
       E-mail: jgomez@maze.mazanet.es   FTP: ftp-mail@ftp.mazanet.es
                        +34 59 536267 - Supra 28.8
                              Login: a-report


                                -=SWEDEN=-

                                * CICERON *
                           E-mail: a1009@itv.se
                               +46 612 22011


                              -=SWITZERLAND=-

                          * LINKSYSTEM LINK-CH1 *
                   contact: rleemann@link-ch1.aworld.de
      +41 61 3215643 V32bis/Zyx16800     +41 61 3832007 ISDN X75/V110
                 Local newsgroup link-ch1.ml.amiga-report


                            -=UNITED KINGDOM=-

                           * AMIGA JUNCTION 9 *
        Internet: sysadmin@junct9.demon.co.uk     FidoNet: 2:440/20
                    +44 (0)372 271000 14400 V.32bis/HST

                             * CREATIONS BBS *
 E-Mail: mat@darkside.demon.co.uk   2:254/524@Fidonet   39:139/5@Amiganet
              +44-0181-665-9887 Hayes Optima 288 2400 - V.FC

                              * METNET CCS *
     Email: metnet@demon.co.uk    FidoNet: 2:2502/129.0  2:2502/130.0
           10 Lines: +44-1482-442251   14k4 +44-1482-444910 16k8

                           * OCTAMED USER BBS *
  EMail: rbfsoft@cix.compulink.co.uk     Support board for OctaMED Users
                            +44 (01703) 703446

                              * SCRATCH BBS *
      EMail: kcci1@solx1.susx.ac.uk     Official Super Skidmarks site
                      +44-1273-389267  24 hrs  14.4k
@endnode
@node BBS_NAMERICA "Distribution BBSes - North America"
@toc BBS

===========================================================================
                    Distribution BBSes - North America
===========================================================================

                                -=ARIZONA=-

                       * MESSENGER OF THE GODS BBS *
                           mercury@primenet.com
                               602-326-1095


                           -=BRITISH COLUMBIA=-

                             * COMM-LINK BBS *
               InterNet: steve_hooper@comm.tfbbs.wimsey.com
  Fido: 1:153/210.0    AmigaNet 40:800/9100.0    604-945-6192 USR DS 16.8

                              -=CALIFORNIA=-

                            * TIERRA-MIGA BBS *
  FidoNet: 1:202/638.0   AmigaNet: 40:406/3.0   Internet: torment.cts.com
                           619.292.0754 V32.bis

                          * VIRTUAL PALACE BBS *
                   Sysop Email: tibor@ecst.csuchico.edu
                                916-343-7420

                        * AMIGA AND IBM ONLY BBS *
                               (619)428-4887
                           vonmolk@crash.cts.com
                       AmigaNET address: 40:406/7.0


                                -=FLORIDA=-

                            * LAST! AMIGA BBS *
                              (305) 456-0126
                             USR 21600 HST D/S


                               -=ILLINOIS=-

                           * EMERALD KEEP BBS *
                 FidoNet: 1:2250/2     AmigaNet: 40:206/1
                      618-394-0065 USR 16.8k DS

                            * PHANTOM'S LAIR *
  FidoNet: 1:115/469.0   Phantom Net Coordinator: 11:1115/0.0-11:1115/1.0
                         708-469-9510 708-469-9520

                            * STARSHIP CUCUG *
                       Email: khisel@prairienet.org
                               (217)356-8056

                         * THE STYGIAN ABYSS BBS *
                            FIDONet-1:115/384.0
  312-384-0616 USR Courier HST   312-384-6250 Supra V.32 bis (FREQ line)


                               -=LOUISIANA=-

                             * The Catacomb *
                        E-mail: Geoff148@delphi.com
                       504-882-6576 Supra v.fc 28.8k


                                 -=MAINE=-

                     * THE KOBAYASHI ALTERNATIVE BBS *
          Usenet and FidoNet Echo Areas     FidoNet: 1:326/404.0
                     (207)/784-2130     (207)/946-5665
                   ftp.tka.com for all back issues of AR


                                -=MEXICO=-

                               * AMIGA BBS *
                             FidoNet  4:975/7
                        (5) 887-3080   9600 V32,MNP

                           * AMIGA SERVER BBS *
                         Now with 17 CDs available
                              Number: 5158736

                          * TERCER PLANETA BBS *
                  FX Network 800:525/1, CD-ROM, ANSI/RIP
           [525]-606-2162 24h   2400 - 28.8k V.fast Class / V.34


                              -=MISSISSIPPI=-

                            * THE GATEWAY BBS *
        InterNet: stace@tecnet1.jcte.jcs.mil   FidoNet: 1:3604/60.0
                    601-374-2697 Hayes Optina 28.8 V.FC


                               -=MICHIGAN=-

                            * DC Productions *
                    Email: dcpro!chetw@heifetz.msen.com
                               616-373-0287
                               V.Everything


                                -=NEVADA=-

                              * PUP-TEK BBS *
                       EMail: darkwolf@accessnv.com
                               702-553-2403

                              -=NEW JERSEY=-

                          * T.B.P.  VIDEO SLATE *
              Full Skypix menus + normal and ansi menu sets.
                         201-586-3623 USR 14.4 HST

                           * DLTACOM Amiga BBS *
                              (201) 398-8559
                           Fidonet: 1:2606/216.0
             Internet: dltacom.camphq.fidonet.org (email only)


                               -=NEW YORK=-

                             * THE BELFRY(!) *
                         stiggy@dorsai.dorsai.org
                       718.793.4796     718.793.4905


                                -=ONTARIO=-

                           * COMMAND LINE BBS *
                Canada's Amiga Graphics & Animation Source
                             416-533-8321 V.32

                              * CYBERSPACE *
                       joehick@ophielia.waterloo.net
                     (519) 579-0072     (519) 579-0173


                                -=QUEBEC=-

                         * CLUB AMIGA DE QUEBEC *
          Internet: snaclaq@megatoon.com   Voice: (418) 666-5969
                      (418) 666-4146   (418) 666-6960
               Nom d'usager: AMREPORT   Mot de passe: AMIGA

                              * GfxBase BBS*
       E-mail: ai257@freenet.hsc.colorado.edu     Fidonet: 1:167/192
                             514-769-0565 14.4


                               -=TENNESSEE=-

                            * AMIGA CENTRAL! *
                  Internet mail:  root@amicent.raider.net
                   615-383-9679  1200-14.4Kbps V.32bis

                               * NOVA BBS *
    AmigaNet 40:210/10.0 40:210/1.0 40:210/0.0     FidoNet 1:362/508.0
                         615-472-9748 USR DS 16.8


                               -=VIRGINIA=-

                       * NETWORK XXIII DATA SYSTEM *
                       EMail: gottfrie@acca.nmsu.edu
                           804-266-1763 v.42bis
                     Login: anon     Password: nopass


                              -=WASHINGTON=-

                          * FREELAND MAINFRAME *
                         Internet - freemf.wa.com
                  (360)412-0228 five lines - USR v.32bis
         New users have immediate access to Amiga Report Downloads

                              * PIONEERS BBS *
                            FidoNet: 1:343/54.0
                   206-775-7983 24 hrs.  Supra 28.8k v34
              Login: Long Distance     Password: longdistance
                  Or File Request the MAGIC NAME: AR.lha

@endnode
@node BBS_SAMERICA "Distribution BBSes - South America"
@toc BBS

===========================================================================
                    Distribution BBSes - South America
===========================================================================

                                -=BRAZIL=-

                            * AMIGA DO PC BBS *
          Fidonet: 4:801/44     Internet: fimoraes@dcc.unicamp.br
     Weekdays: 19-07 (-3 GMT)   Weekends: 24 hours     +55-192-33-2260

@endnode
@node DEAL_ASIA "Dealers - Asia"
@toc DEALER

===========================================================================
                              Dealers - Asia
===========================================================================

                                 -=JAPAN=-
                             Grey Matter Ltd.
                           1-22-3,Minami Magome
                        HillTop House 2F suite 201
                             Ota-ku,Tokyo 143
              Tel:+81 (0)3 5709-5549   Fax:+81 (0)3 5709-1907
    BBS: +81 (0)3 5709-1907   Email: nighty@gmatter.japan-online.or.jp

@endnode
@node DEAL_AUSTRALIA "Dealers - Australia"
@toc DEALER

===========================================================================
                            Dealers - Australia
===========================================================================

                              -=QUEENSLAND=-

                               Image Domain
                               92 Bridge St
                        Fortitude Valley, Brisbane
                     E-mail: s322698@student.uq.edu.au
                 Voice: 617-3216-1240   Fax: 617-3852-2720


                             -= NEW ZEALAND =-

                                CompKarori
                         LG/F Karori Shopping Mall
                            Karori, Wellington
                          Tel/Fax: +64 4 476-0212
                       Email: sales@compkarori.co.nz

@endnode
@node DEAL_EUROPE "Dealers - Europe"
@toc DEALER

===========================================================================
                             Dealers - Europe
===========================================================================

                                -=AUSTRIA=-

                   A.R.T.  Computeranimation Ges.m.b.H.
                              Feldstrasse 13
                              3300 Amstetten
                Tel: +43 7472/63566-0 Fax: +43 7472/63566-6

                                -=BELGIUM=-

                               CLICK!  N.V.
                            Boomsesteenweg 468
                        B-2610 Wilrijk - Antwerpen
           VOICE: +32 (0)3 828.18.15     FAX: +32 (0)3 828.67.36
           INTERNET: vanhoutv@nbre.nfe.be      FIDO: 2:292/603.9


                               -=BULGARIA=-

                           KlubVerband ITA Gmbh
                                1309 Sofia
                          P.F.13, KukushStr.  1-2
                  Tel: +359-2-221471   Fax: +359-2-230062
          Email: KVITA@VIRBUS.BG     Contact: Dr.  ING B.  Pavlov


                                -=DENMARK=-

                               Data Service
                           Att.  Soren Petersen
                              Kaerhaven2a 2th
                              6400 Sonderborg
          Phone/Fax: +45 74 43 17 36   EMail: sorpe-95@sdbg.ih.dk

                              Nemesis Amy BBS
               EMail: boersting@hoa.ping.dk   Fido: 2:238/43
                       USR 33k6 V.E.  +45 75-353726


                                -=FINLAND=-

                              DataService Oy
                               P.O.  Box 50
                            Kuurinniityntie 30
                                02771 ESPOO
          Voice: +358 (9) 400 438 301     Fax: +358 (9) 0505 0037

             Lincware Computers Oy / Lincoln Technologies Ltd
                              Lovkullankuja 3
                               10300 KARJAA
            Voice: +358-(9)50-5583720   Fax: +358-(9)11-205415
                      EMail: linctech@freenet.hut.fi


                                -=FRANCE=-

                            ASCII Informatique
                             10 Rue de Lepante
                                06000 NICE
               Tel: (33) 93 13 08 66   Fax: (33) 93 13 90 95

                            Quartz Infomatique
                          2 bis, avenue de Brogny
                              F-74000 ANNECY
                  Tel./Fax (automatique): +33 50.52.83.31
                      E-Mail: Yann-Erick.Proy@Imag.fr


                                -=GERMANY=-

                           AMItech Systems GmbH
                              Ludwigstrasse 4
                             D-95028 Hof/Saale
               VOICE: +49 9281 142812   FAX: +49 9281 142712
                       EMail: bsd@blacky.netz.sub.de

                    dcp, desing+commercial partner GmbH
                               Alfredstr.  1
                              D-22087 Hamburg
                 Tel.: + 49 40 251176 Fax: +49 40 2518567
                 EMail: info@dcp.de WWW: http://www.dcp.de

                          Hartmann & Riedel GdbR
                               Hertzstr.  33
                           D-76287 Rheinstetten
            EMail: rh@fs.schiele-ct.de     Fido: 2:2476/405.12
              Voice: +49 (7242) 2021     Fax: +49 (7242) 5909
     Please call first before visiting us, otherwise we may be closed.

                             Hirsch & Wolf OHG
                              Mittelstra_e 33
                              D-56564 Neuwied
            Voice: +49 (2631) 8399-0   Fax: +49 (2631) 8399-31

                           Pro Video Elektronik
                                Roßmarkt 38
                           D-63739 Aschaffenburg
                 Tel: (49) 6021 15713 Fax: (49) 6021 15713


                                 -=ITALY=-

                              C.A.T.M.U.  snc
                            Casella Postale 63
                             10023 Chieri (TO)
                          Tel/Fax: +39 11 9415237
       EMail: fer@inrete.it (Ferruccio Zamuner)   Fido: 2:334/21.19

                            Cloanto Italia srl
                           Via G.  B.  Bison 24
                                33100 Udine
                 Tel: +39 432 545902   Fax: +39 432 609051
              E-Mail: info@cloanto.it   CompuServe: 100145.15


                                 -=SPAIN=-

                               Amiga Center
                               Argullós, 127
                              08016 Barcelona
                Tel: (93) 276 38 06     Fax: (93) 276 30 80

                           Amiga Center Alicante
                                Segura, 27
                              03004 Alicante
                            Tel: (96) 514 37 34

                        Centro Informático Boadilla
                                Convento, 6
                     28660 Boadilla del Monte (Madrid)
                Tel: (91) 632 27 65     Fax: (91) 632 10 99

                                Centro Mail
                            Tel: (91) 380 28 92

                                  C.R.E.
                             San Francisco, 85
                          48003 Bilbao (Vizcaya)
                Tel: (94) 444 98 84     Fax: (94) 444 98 84

                               Donosti Frame
                           Avda.  de Madrid, 15
                      20011 San Sebastián (Guipuzcoa)
                Tel: (943) 42 07 45     Fax: (943) 42 45 88

                            Eurobit Informatica
                    C/.  Gral.  Garcia de la Herran, 4
                           11100 - San Fernando
                                   Cadiz
                           Tel/Fax: (956) 896375

                                 GaliFrame
                           Galerías Príncipe, 22
                             Vigo (Pontevedra)
                Tel: (986) 22 89 94     Fax: (986) 22 89 94

                                 Invision
                             San Isidro, 12-18
                     28850 Torrejón de Ardoz (Madrid)
              Tel: (91) 676 20 56/59     Fax: (91) 656 10 04

                                 Invision
                               Salamanca, 53
                              46005 Valencia
              Tel: (96) 395 02 43/44     Fax: (96) 395 02 44

                                  Norsoft
                                Bedoya, 4-6
                               32003 Orense
                Tel: (988) 24 90 46     Fax: (988) 23 42 07

                                 PiXeLSOFT
                              Felipe II, 3bis
                              34004 Palencia
                Tel: (979) 71 27 00     Fax: (979) 71 28 28

                                 Tu Amiga
                             Plaza Pedro IV, 3
                       08120 La LLagosta (Barcelona)
                Tel: (93) 560 76 12     Fax: (93) 560 76 12

                                  vb soft
                               Provenza, 436
                              08025 Barcelona
                Tel: (93) 456 15 45     Fax: (93) 456 15 45


                                -=NORWAY=-

                             DataKompaniet ANS
                        Trondheim Innovation Centre
                           Prof.  Brochs gt.  6
                             N-7030 Trondheim
                  Tel: +47 7354 0375   Fax: +47 7394 3861
EMail:datakompaniet@interlink.no  WWW:http://www.interlink.no/datakompaniet

                              Sezam Software
                              Ulsmågveien 11a
                              N-5o5o Nesttun
                       Tel/Fax: +47 55100070 (9-20)
           ABBS: +47 55101730 (24t)   Email: oleksy@telepost.no


                            -=UNITED KINGDOM=-

                           Almathera Systems Ltd
                Southerton House / Boundary Business Court
                             92-94 Church Road
                         Mitcham, Surrey / CR4 3TD
            VOICE: (UK) 081 687 0040     FAX: (UK) 081 687 0490
 Sales: almathera@cix.compulink.co.uk     Tech: jralph@cix.compulink.co.uk

                        Brian Fowler Computers Ltd
                           90 South Street / Exeter
                              Devon / EX1 1EN
               Voice: (01392) 499 755   Fax: (01392) 493 393
                Internet: brian_fowler@cix.compulink.co.uk

                             Visage Computers
                              27 Watnall Road
                           Hucknall / Nottingham
           Tel: +44 (0)115 9642828   Tel/Fax: +44 (0)115 9642898
                        EMail: visage@innotts.co.uk

@endnode
@node DEAL_NAMERICA "Dealers - North America"
@toc DEALER

===========================================================================
                          Dealers - North America
===========================================================================

                                -=CANADA=-

                          Animax Multimedia, Inc.
                         196 Joseph Zatzman Drive
                          Dartmouth, NS / B3B 1N4
                 Ph: (902)468-AMAX     Fax: (902)468-4341
                       EMail: animax@ra.isisnet.com

                           Atlantis Kobetek Inc.
                           1496 Lower Water St.
                           Halifax, NS / B3J 1R9
               Phone: (902)-422-6556     Fax: (902)-423-9339
                     E-mail: atkobetek@ra.isisnet.com

                Atlas Computers & Consulting - Derek Davlut
                       400 Telstar Avenue Suite 701
                           Sudbury, ON / P3E 5V7
                Phone: (705) 522-1923   Fax: (705) 522-1923
                   EMail: s2200147@nickel.laurentian.ca

                      Computer Shop of Calgary, Ltd.
                          3515 - 18th Street S.W.
                         Calgary, Alberta T2T 4T9
                 Ph.  1-403-243-4358   Fx: 1-403-243-2684
        Email: austin@canuck.com   WWW: http://www.canuck.com/cshop

                           Computerology Direct
                             Powell River, BC
                                  V8A-4Z3
               Call 24 hrs.  orders/inquiries: 604/483-3679
          Amiga users ask for HEAD SALES REP for quicker response!

                        Comspec Communications Inc
                              74 Wingold Ave
                         Toronto, Ontario M6B 1P5
 Computer Centre: (416) 785-8348  Sales: (416) 785-3553  Fax: 416-785-3668
      Internet: bryanf@comcorp.comspec.com, bryanf@accesspt.north.net

                             ElectroMike Inc.
                         1375 Boul.  Charest Ouest
                           Quebec, Quebec G1N2E7
         Tel: (418) 681-4138, (800) 463-1501   Fax: (418) 681-5880

                         GfxBase Electronique, Inc
                              1727 Shevchenko
                             Montreal, Quebec
                  Voice: 514-367-2575   Fax: 514-367-5265
                             BBS: 514-769-0565

                              National Amiga
                             Oakville, Ontario
              Fax: 905-845-3295   EMail: gscott@interlog.com
          WWW: http://www.interlog.com/~gscott/NationalAmiga.html

                        Oby's Amigo Computing Shop
                             765 Barrydowne Rd
                         Sudbury, Ontario P3A-3TG
                         VOICE/FAX: (705)524-5826
                    All Amiga Computer Store Since 1990

                            Randomize Computers
                                 R.R.  #2
                         Tottenham, Ont.  L0G 1W0
                   vox: 905-939-8371   fax: 905-939-8745
       email: randomize@nrzone.com   www: www.nrzone.com/~randomize/

                            Software Supermart
                            11010 - 101 Street
                         Edmonton, Alberta T5H-2T1
                Voice: (403) 425-0691   Fax: (403) 426-1701
                       EMail: ssmart@planet.eon.net

                         SpectrumTech Electronics
                       412-1205 Fennell Avenue East
                           Hamilton, ON L8T 1T1
                Voice: (905) 388-9575   BBS: (905) 388-2542
           E-Mail: ste@spectrum.gryn.org   Contact: Derek Clarke


                           Wonder Computers Inc.

                        WCi (Corporate)
                        1827 Woodward Dr. Suite 110
                        Ottawa, Ont.  K2C 0P9
                        V: (613) 226-0000
                        F: (613) 226-9990

       Calgary Store                      Ottawa Store
       8180 Macleod Trail S. Suite 12     1315 Richmond Rd.
       Calgary, Alb, T2H 2B8              Ottawa, Ont. K2B 8J7
       V: (403) 253-0009                  V: (613) 596-2542
       F: (403) 253-2435                  F: (613) 596-9349

       Toronto Store                      Montreal Store  
       371 Old Kinston Rd.                130 Laurier St. W.
       Scarborough, Ont. M1C 1B7          Montreal, QC. H2T 2N7
       V: (416) 286-0001                  V: (514) 279-0002
       F: (416) 286-0038                  F: (514) 279-6229

       London Store                       Vancouver Store
       395 Wellington R. S.               4040 #3 Rd. Unit 280
       London, Ont. N6C 5Z6               Richmond, B.C. V6X 2C2
       V: (519) 681-0004                  V: (519) 279-4240
       F: (519) 681-7736                  F: (519) 279-4241


                             -=UNITED STATES=-

                               A&D Computer
                               211 South St.
                          Milford, NH 03055-3743
                Voice/Fax: 603-672-4700   BBS: 603-673-2788
                         Internet: amiga@mv.mv.com

                             Alex Electronics
                            597 Circlewood Dr.
                            Paradise, CA 95969
                  Voice: 916-872-0896  BBS: 915-872-3711
     EMail: alex@ecst.csuchico.edu   WWW: http://www.km-cd.com/~alex/

                           Amigability Computers
                               P.O.  Box 572
                           Plantsville, CT 06479
                            VOICE: 203-276-8175
                         Internet: caldi@pcnet.com

                              Amiga-Crossing
                                PO Box 12A
                        Cumberland Center, ME 04021
        VOICE: (800) 498-3959 (Maine only)   VOICE: (207) 829-3959
              FAX: (207) 829-3522   Internet: amiga-x@tka.com

                          Amiga Library Services
                          610 Alma School Rd, #18
                          Chandler, Az 85224-3687
                Voice: (800) 804-0833   Fax: (602) 491-0048
                        E-Mail: orders@amigalib.com

                           Amiga Video Solutions
                           1568 Randolph Avenue
                            St.  Paul, MN 55105
                 Voice: 612-698-1175     Fax: 612-224-3823
           BBS: 612-698-1918     Net: wohno001@maroon.tc.umn.edu

                          Applied Multimedia Inc.
                              89 Northill St.
                            Stamford, CT 06907
                           VOICE: (203) 348-0108

                            Apogee Technologies
                          1851 University Parkway
                            Sarasota, FL 34243
                            VOICE: 813-355-6121
            Portal: Apogee     Internet: Apogee@cup.portal.com

                            Armadillo Brothers
                            753 East 3300 South
                           Salt Lake City, Utah
          VOICE: 801-484-2791     Internet: B.GRAY@genie.geis.com

                            Computer Advantage
                             7370 Hickman Road
                           Des Moines, IA 50322
                          Voice/Fax: 515-252-6167
                       Internet: Number1@netins.net

                             Computer Concepts
                   18001 Bothell-Everett Hwy, Suite "0"
                             Bothell, WA 98012
                           VOICE: (206) 481-3666

                               Computer Link
                              6573 middlebelt
                           Garden City MI 48135
                 Voice: 313-522-6005     Fax: 313-522-3119
                         clink@m-net.arbornet.org

                       Computers International, Inc.
                             5415 Hixson Pike
                           Chattanooga, TN 37343
                            VOICE: 615-843-0630

                          Computerwise Computers
                              3006 North Main
                              Logan, UT 84322

                              CyberTech Labs
                               PO Box 56941
                         North Pole, Alaska  99705
 Vox: (907) 451-3285   BBS1 : (907) 488-2547   BBS2 & Fax: (907) 488-2647
            EMail: 71516.600@CompuServe.com   Fido: 1:355/17.0

                              DC Productions
                          218 Stockbridge Avenue
                            Kalamazoo, MI 49001
                       (616)373-1985   (800)9DC-PROD
                    Email: dcpro!chetw@heifetz.msen.com

                               Digital Arts
                            122 West 6th Street
                           Bloomington, IN 47404
                VOICE: (812)330-0124     FAX: (812)330-0126
                                BIX: msears

                              Digital Castle
                       4046 Hubbell Ave.  Suite 155
                         Des Moines, IA 50317-4434
                           Voice: (515) 266-5098
                          EMail: Sheep@netins.net


                              HT Electronics
           E-Mail: HT Electronics@cup.portal.com     BIX: msears

           422 S. Hillview Dr.          211 Lathrop Way, Ste. A.
           Milipitas, CA 95035          Sacramento, CA 95815
           V: (408) 934-7700            V: (916) 925-0900
           F: (408) 934-7717            F: (916) 925-2829


                           Industrial Video, Inc.
                           1601 North Ridge Rd.
                             Lorain, OH  44055
         VOICE: 800-362-6150, 216-233-4000     Contact: John Gray
                  Internet:  af741@cleveland.freenet.edu

                            Kipp Visual Systems
                          360-C Christopher Ave.
                          Gaithersburg Md, 20878
                               301-670-7906
                           kipp@rasputin.umd.edu

                     The Lively Computer - Tom Lively
                             8314 Parkway Dr.
                             La Mesa, CA 91942
                   Voice: 619-589-9455 Fax: 619-589-5230
                        Net: tlively@connectnet.com

                                Magic Page
                            3043 Luther Street
                          Winston-Salem, NC 27127
          Voice/Fax: 910-785-3695   E-mail: Spiff@cup.portal.com
                          Contact: Patrick Smith

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

                         MicroTech Solutions, Inc.
                         1885 N.  Farnsworth Ave.
                               Suites 6-7-8
                           Aurora, IL 60505-1162
        Voice: 708-851-3033   Fax: 708-851-3825   BBS: 708-851-3929
           Email: info@mt-inc.com   WWW: http://www.mt-inc.com/

                          Mr. Hardware Computers
                      P.O.  Box 148 / 59 Storey Ave.
                          Central Islip, NY 11722
                 VOICE: 516-234-8110     FAX: 516-234-8110
                         A.M.U.G. BBS:  516-234-6046

                         OverByte Industries, Inc.
                       661 Blanding Blvd.  Suite 391
                        Orange Park, FL 32073-5048
            Voice: 904-858-3348   E-mail: overbyte@jax.gttw.com
          URL: http://www.jkcg.com/Webmaster/Overbyte/index.html

                            Paxtron Corporation
                              28 Grove Street
                          Spring Valley, NY 10977
     Voice: 914-576-6522    Orders: 800-815-3241    Fax: 914-624-3239

                              PSI Animations
                         17924 SW Pilkington Road
                          Lake Oswego, OR  97035
                           VOICE:  503-624-8185
                     Internet:  PSIANIM@agora.rain.com

                          Raymond Commodore Amiga
                            795 Raymond Avenue
                         St. Paul, MN   55114-1521
                 VOICE: 612.642.9890     FAX: 612.642.9891

                           Safe Harbor Computers
                          W226 N900 Eastmound Dr
                            Waukesha, WI 53186
                 Orders: 800-544-6599   Fax: 414-548-8130
                       WWW Catalog: www.sharbor.com

                               Slipped Disk
                               31044 John R
                      Madison Heights, Michigan 48071
                           Voice: (810) 546-3475
                  BBS: (810) 399-1292   Fido: 1:120/321.0

                           Software Plus Chicago
                         2945 W Peterson Suite 209
                             Chicago, Illinois
                           VOICE:  312-878-7800

                        System Eyes Computer Store
                          730M Milford Rd Ste 345
                         Merrimack, NH 03054-4642
               Voice: (603) 4244-1188   Fax: (603) 424-3939
                  EMail: j_sauter@systemeye.ultranet.com

                              TJ's Unlimited
                              P.O.  Box #354
                        North Greece, NY 14515-0354
                  VOICE: 716-225-5810   BBS: 716-225-8831
           FIDO: 1:2613/323   INTERNET: neil@rochgte.fidonet.org

                                Zipperware
                             76 South Main St.
                           Seattle, WA  98104
                 VOICE: 206-223-1107     FAX: 206-223-9395
   E-Mail: zipware@nwlink.com   WWW: http://www.speakeasy.org/zipperware

@endnode
@node OPINION "Editorial and Opinion"
@toc MENU

===========================================================================
                           Editorial and Opinion
===========================================================================

@{"   compt.sys.editor.desk   " link EDITORIAL}  It's ALWAYS something.

@{" World Wide Amiga In A Box " link OPINION1} By Paul Kyle

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
@{"   News   " link NEWS} @{"  Opinion  " link OPINION} @{" Articles " link FEATURE} @{"  Reviews  " link REVIEW} @{"  Charts  " link FTP} @{"  Adverts  " link COMMERCIAL}
@endnode
@node NEWS "News & Press Releases"
@toc MENU
===========================================================================
                           News & Press Releases
===========================================================================

@{"      AMIGA Surfer      " link NEWS6} Finally, a GOOD idea.

@{"    VISCORP License     " link NEWS8} Finally, the deal is closed.

@{"    Atari In Trouble    " link NEWS11} Amiga, Apple, Atari...What's with the letter 'A'?

@{"    WCi Restructures    " link NEWS14} Big shakeups and bankruptcy...

@{"       SoundStage       " link NEWS1} New 16-bit sound for the Amiga

@{"        fifolib         " link NEWS2} First in, first out...

@{"    OctaMED Web Site    " link NEWS12} If you like OctaMED, and you like the Web...

@{" Amiga Typeface Engine  " link NEWS3} Your mission, should you choose to accept it...

@{"     AmiBroker v1.6     " link NEWS4} Chart and analyse like the big boys

@{"  IntuiCookie for MUI   " link NEWS5} Fortunes minus the fat

@{"    The Pentatrator     " link NEWS7} That Pentium bridgeboard...

@{"  Anniversary Banquet   " link NEWS9} See you, see me (us) on CuSeeMe

@{"    Amiga Assistance    " link NEWS10} An Amiga-related job!

@{"       da capo 2        " link NEWS13} Wanted: MODs, samples, music

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
@{"   News   " link NEWS} @{"  Opinion  " link OPINION} @{" Articles " link FEATURE} @{"  Reviews  " link REVIEW} @{"  Charts  " link FTP} @{"  Adverts  " link COMMERCIAL}
@endnode
@node FEATURE "Featured Articles"
@toc MENU

===========================================================================
                             Featured Articles
===========================================================================

@{"      About the 68010      " link FEATURE1} A cheap way to accelerate older Amigas

@{" Modify an Analog Joystick " link FEATURE2} Hacker's delight

@{"   Amiga Atlanta Banquet   " link FEATURE3} The report...

@{"   Amiga Atlanta Banquet   " link FEATURE4} Take two

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
@{"   News   " link NEWS} @{"  Opinion  " link OPINION} @{" Articles " link FEATURE} @{"  Reviews  " link REVIEW} @{"  Charts  " link FTP} @{"  Adverts  " link COMMERCIAL}
@endnode
@node REVIEW "Reviews"
@toc MENU

===========================================================================
                                  Reviews
===========================================================================

@{"         Light ROM 3          " link REVIEW7} The 3 CD 3D object package

@{"      FantaSeas PhotoCD       " link REVIEW8} Fish pics from Mr. Fish

@{"     DKB Cobra A1200 030      " link REVIEW2} A look at the accelerator

@{"      EIZO FlexScan T563      " link REVIEW3} A big monitor

@{"        Iconographics         " link REVIEW6} A new icon collection

@{" Cardinal v.34 External Modem " link REVIEW1} A low-cost alternative...

@{"      AFS Review Fallout      " link REVIEW4} Cringe!

@{" SupraFAXModem Review Fallout " link REVIEW5} Cringe again!

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
@{"   News   " link NEWS} @{"  Opinion  " link OPINION} @{" Articles " link FEATURE} @{"  Reviews  " link REVIEW} @{"  Charts  " link FTP} @{"  Adverts  " link COMMERCIAL}
@endnode
@node FTP "Aminet Charts"
@toc MENU

===========================================================================
                               Aminet Charts
===========================================================================

                            @{"    22-Jan-96    " link CHARTS1}

                            @{"    29-Jan-96    " link CHARTS2}

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
@{"   News   " link NEWS} @{"  Opinion  " link OPINION} @{" Articles " link FEATURE} @{"  Reviews  " link REVIEW} @{"  Charts  " link FTP} @{"  Adverts  " link COMMERCIAL}
@endnode
@node ABOUT "About AMIGA REPORT"
@toc MENU

===========================================================================
                            About AMIGA REPORT
===========================================================================

@{"        AR Staff         " link STAFF} The Editors and writers

@{"   Writing Guidelines    " link GUIDELINE} What you need to do to write for us

@{"  Copyright Information  " link COPYRIGHT} The legal stuff

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
@{"   News   " link NEWS} @{"  Opinion  " link OPINION} @{" Articles " link FEATURE} @{"  Reviews  " link REVIEW} @{"  Charts  " link FTP} @{"  Adverts  " link COMMERCIAL}
@endnode
@node STAFF "The Staff"
@toc ABOUT

===========================================================================
                                 The Staff
===========================================================================

               Editor:               @{" Jason Compton    " link JASON}

               Assistant Editor:     @{" Katherine Nelson " link KATIE}

               Senior Editor:        @{" Robert Niles     " link ROBERT}

               Contributing Editor:  @{" William Near     " link WILLIAM}

               Contributing Editor:  @{" Addison Laurent  " link ADDISON}

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
@{"   News   " link NEWS} @{"  Opinion  " link OPINION} @{" Articles " link FEATURE} @{"  Reviews  " link REVIEW} @{"  Charts  " link FTP} @{"  Adverts  " link COMMERCIAL}
@endnode
@node WHERE "Where to Get AR"
@toc MENU

===========================================================================
                              Where to Get AR
===========================================================================

                         @{"   The AR Mailing List   " link MAILLIST}

                         @{"         Aminet          " link AMINET}

                         @{"     World Wide Web      " link WWW}

                         @{"   Distribution Sites    " link BBS}

                         @{"   Commercial Services   " link PORTAL}

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
@{"   News   " link NEWS} @{"  Opinion  " link OPINION} @{" Articles " link FEATURE} @{"  Reviews  " link REVIEW} @{"  Charts  " link FTP} @{"  Adverts  " link COMMERCIAL}
@endnode
@node BBS "Distribution Sites"
@toc WHERE

===========================================================================
                            Distribution BBSes
===========================================================================

                          Arranged by Continent:

                          @{"    Australia    " link BBS_AUSTRALIA}

                          @{"     Europe      " link BBS_EUROPE}

                          @{"  North America  " link BBS_NAMERICA}

                          @{"  South America  " link BBS_SAMERICA}

Sysops: To have your name added, please send @{"Email", link JASON} with the BBS name,
its location (Country, province/state) your name, any internet/fidonet
addresses, and the phone number of your BBS

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
@{"   News   " link NEWS} @{"  Opinion  " link OPINION} @{" Articles " link FEATURE} @{"  Reviews  " link REVIEW} @{"  Charts  " link FTP} @{"  Adverts  " link COMMERCIAL}
@endnode
@node DEALER "Dealer Directory"
@toc MENU

===========================================================================
                             Dealer Directory
===========================================================================

                          Arranged by Continent:

                          @{"      Asia       " link DEAL_ASIA}

                          @{"    Australia    " link DEAL_AUSTRALIA}

                          @{"     Europe      " link DEAL_EUROPE}

                          @{"  North America  " link DEAL_NAMERICA}

Dealers: To have your name added, please send @{"Email", link JASON} with the name,
address, phone, and net address (if available) of your establishment.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
@{"   News   " link NEWS} @{"  Opinion  " link OPINION} @{" Articles " link FEATURE} @{"  Reviews  " link REVIEW} @{"  Charts  " link FTP} @{"  Adverts  " link COMMERCIAL}
@endnode
