@database "ar119.guide"
@Node MAIN "Amiga Report 1.19, July 30, 1993"

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

          ######    ######   ######    ######    ######   ########  TM
         ##    ##  ##       ##    ##  ##    ##  ##    ##     ##
         ##    ##  ##       ##    ##  ##    ##  ##    ##     ##
         ## ####   ## ##    ## ####   ##    ##  ## ####      ##
         ##  ##    ##       ##        ##    ##  ##  ##       ##
         ##   ###   ######  ##         ######   ##   ###     ##

                       International Online Magazine

                
July 30, 1993                                                      No. 1.19
///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////


                            From STR Publishing

                        [S]ilicon [T]imes [R]eport

@endnode

@node P2-1 "Where to find Amiga Report"
@toc "menu"
                        WHERE TO FIND AMIGA REPORT
                        --------------------------

    Click on the button of the system nearest you for more information.


FidoNet Systems
---------------
@{"       NOVA BBS       " link P2-1-1} .................................Cleveland, Tennessee
@{" IN THE  MEANTIME BBS " link P2-1-2} ...................................Yakima, Washington
@{"  CLOUD'S CORNER BBS  " link P2-1-3} ................................Bremerton, Washington
@{"    BIOSMATICA BBS    " link P2-1-4} .............................................Portugal
@{"   AMIGA JUNCTION 9   " link P2-1-5} .......................................United Kingdom
@{"    BITSTREAM BBS     " link P2-1-6} ..................................Nelson, New Zealand


Non-FidoNet Systems
-------------------
@{"  FREELAND MAINFRAME  " link P2-1-7} ....................................Olympia, Washington
@{"       LAHO BBS       " link P2-1-8} .....................................Seinajoki, Finland
@{"     FALLING  BBS     " link P2-1-9} .................................................Norway
@{"   COMMAND LINE BBS   " link P2-1-10} ........................................Toronto, Canada

@endnode

See the end of the text file for numbers to each BBS.
___________________________________________________________________________


/// 07/30/93 Amiga Report 1.19   "Your Weekly Source for Amiga Information"
    --------------------------
    · The Editor's Desk       · CPU Report          · New Products
    · Dealer Directory        · AR Online           · AR Confidential
    · A.M.I.G.A.              · Binary Math?        · Warez Out There
    · Sysops Beware!          · SHI News           · Supra Interview

                         » Atari Falcon030 Revealed «
                     » Commodore Extends PowerUp Special «
                       » Compute Drops Amiga Resource «

===========================================================================
                 Amiga Report International Online Magazine
                 "Your Weekly Source for Amiga Information"
                            » FEATURING WEEKLY «
                  Accurate UP-TO-DATE News and Information
      Current Events, Original Articles, Tips, Rumors, and Information
              Hardware · Software · Corporate · R & D · Imports
===========================================================================
               PORTAL · DELPHI · FIDO · INTERNET · BIX · NVN
===========================================================================
@node P1-1 "From the Editor's Desk"
@toc "menu"

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


Last weekend, I attended the annual BRACE AtariFest.  It's the Blue Ridge
Atari Computer Enthusiasts.  Since I went last year, and a good friend was
coming up from Florida for it, I figured I might as well tag along.
Besides, last year, I was an avid Atari owner, and at that point had never
even considered owning an Amiga.  Now that the 'impossible' has happened,
I wanted to take another look at the life I left.

Let me put it this way... I don't want to hear anybody bitching about the
Amiga world losing software developers and worrying about Commodore going
under, until they've taken a long, hard look at Atari.  The show was much
smaller than last year, and I got the general impression from most of the
vendors that they just don't care anymore.  I can count on one hand the
major developers for the Atari line, and their outfits are so small that
I honestly don't see how they can make a living doing ONLY that.  The
largest Atari developer, DMC Publishing, makers of Calamus, were showing
Calamus for Windows NT.  That probably spells doom for the Atari version
of what is probably the best DTP package on ANY computer.  Period.  Yes,
this includes PageStream.  Well, at least until 3.0 comes out, then we'll
see.

But I don't want to sound like I'm bashing.  It was kinda like old times
wandering through the show, seeing old stuff, seeing some of the new stuff
that I've missed.  I got to see Atari's new Falcon030, and even played
with my friend's unit for a few days.  You'll find a full review of it
later in this issue.

By comparison, the Amiga is doing far, far better than Atari.  We have
many major developers -- GVP, ASDG, Innovatronics, NewTek, Blackbelt,
ICD, Soft-Logik, Virtual Reality Labs, and Central Coast Software, just
to name a few.  I don't wish Atari to fail, by any means, but I also
have to wonder when I read constant postings from people bemoaning
Commodore's impending demise.  It just isn't so.

Amiga Report will be taking a week off the second week in August.  There
will be no August 13th issue.  The main reason behind this that I'm
moving again (this time to Omaha, Nebraska).  Don't ask.  It's too
complicated. <grin>

                            Rob @ Amiga Report


@endnode
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
@node P2-2 "AR Staff"
@toc "menu"

The Amiga Report Staff                          Dedicated to serving you!
======================


                                Editor in Chief
                                ===============

                                 Robert Glover

 Portal:                             Rob-G
 Delphi:                             ROB_G
 FidoNet:                         1:362/508.6
 Internet:                      ROB_G@Delphi.COM


                               Associate Editors
                               =================


                              Technical Department
                              --------------------

                Micah Thompson                     Robert Niles

 Portal:         Coming Soon!                         RNiles
 Delphi:                                              RNILES
 FidoNet:                                           1:3407/104
 Internet:     BOOMER.T@genie.geis.com           RNILES@Delphi.COM


                              Graphics Department
                              -------------------

                                 Mike Troxell

 Portal:                         Coming Soon!
 FidoNet:                         1:362/508


                            Contributing Department
                            -----------------------

                                 Tom Mulcahy

 Portal:                         Coming Soon!
 Delphi:                           16BITTER
 BIX:                               HELMET
 FidoNet:                         1:260/322
 Internet:                    16BITTER@Delphi.COM


                   ________________________________________



                         Contributing Correspondents
                         ===========================
                               Marcus J. Albers
                                Jason Compton
                                Chad  Freeman




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


@endnode
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
@node P1-2 "CPU Status Report"
@toc "menu"

/// CPU Status Report                     Late Breaking Industry-Wide News
    -----------------



COMMODORE OUTSOURCES US SUPPORT OPERATION TO THE SERVICE MANAGEMENT GROUP

(West Chester, PA - July 1 , 1 993) Commodore Business Machines, Inc. and
The Service Management Group, Inc. today announced an outsourcing
agreement in which the SMG will provide all post sale support to
Commodore resellers, OEMs, VARs and end users. Under the terms of this
agreement, the SMG will administer the U.S. warranty program for
Commodore. Commodore products are currently covered by a one year, parts
and labor warranty provided through Authorized Commodore resellers and
service centers. Beginning today Commodore resellers and service centers
will work with the SMG for all warranty-related activities.

The Service Management Group will also act as the U.S. distributor for
Commodore parts. The agreement is expected to eventually include the
repair and refurbishment of all defective products, repair component
management and end-of-life logistics and materials management.

Commodore also announced that it is unbundling end user product support
offerings effective today. After an extensive study of the current
customer service programs and consultation with Commodore resellers,
service centers and end users, CBM decided to restructure both the
Commodore ExpressTM and Gold Service Programs. These nationally
recognized programs will now be unbundled, permitting Commodore customers
to select the service level that best meets their individual needs. The
Gold Service Programs will be available through the Service Management
Group. Under Gold Service, Commodore end users can select a variety of
coverage options for their Commodore Amiga% systems and the most
popular third-party items purchased for these systems. These coverages
include dealer, depot or on-site support in the United States.

"Commodore end users are a very diverse and demanding group" commented
James Dionne" President and General Manager of Commodore Business
Machines" Inc. "Their support requirements range from self maintenance to
total turnkey support. Commodore is committed to meeting each of these
support requirements with the highest quality service at the lowest cost
to the customer . Outsourcing our support program to the SMG permits us
to not only meet these requirements" but to keep Commodore support among
the best in the industry." The SMG provides customer support through a
network of Authorized Commodore resellers and service centers" as well as
a nationwide service provider.

The SMG will also provide support for both Commodore Authorized resellers
and service centers. These programs are slated to include a technical
help desk" staffed by engineering personnel and specifically trained to
assist dealers and service centers" as well as technical publications and
on-line bulletin boards.

"We are very proud of the work we have done with Commodore over the past
three years" noted Paul Bielski" President of the SMG. "With programs
such as CommodoreExpress Gold Service and the SMG Extended Warranty"
Commodore has been able to meet the needs of the most demanding
customers" while improving quality and reducing cost. We are proud to
have had the opportunity to design" implement and manage these efforts
for Commodore."

The SMG announced that it will be expanding its headquarters operation in
Columbia" Maryland and will add new facilities and personnel in the West
Chester" Pennsylvania and Memphis" Tennessee areas.

Commodore Business Machines" Inc." based in West Chester" PA is a
subsidiary of Commodore International Limited. The company manufactures
and markets a complete line of Amiga computers and peripherals for the
business" consumer" education and government markets.

The Service Management Group" Inc." located in Columbia" MD" is a
professional services and management consulting firm" specializing in
customer service and product support. Chartered as a Service Integrator"
the SMG provides innovative solutions to complex operational and support
problems for manufacturers" distributors" VARs and large end users.

Commodore is a trademark of Commodore Electronics Limited. Amiga is a
trademark of Commodore-Amiga" Inc. CommodoreExpress tm is a trademark of
Commodore Business Machines" Inc.


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



COMMODORE EXTENDS AMIGA 2000 POWER UP PROMOTION AND OFFERS THE PROGRAM
SAVINGS TO AMIGA 3000 OWNERS

(West Chester, PA - July 1, 1993) Commodore Business Machines, Inc.
today announced it is extending the Amiga 2000 Power Up program, offering
special savings for Amiga 2000 owners on the purchase of an Amiga 4000
series computer, through July 31, 1993. The company is also expanding the
Power Up program to include owners of Amiga 3000 series computers.
Promotional pricing is $2349* for the A4000-040/1 20 and $1 599* for
the A4000-030/1 20, representing substantial savings of $1 350 and $800
respectively, based on Manufacturer.s Suggested Retail Prices.

"The success of the Amiga 2000 Power Up program and feedback from our
established Amiga 3000 customer base encouraged us to expand the program
to include A3000 owners," commented James Dionne, president and general
manager of Commodore Business Machines, Inc. "Extending the promotion
through the end of July will allow A3000 owners to take advantage of the
substantial Power Up savings and enable us to meet the growing demand for
Amiga 4000 products."

The Power Up program is designed to position the Amiga 4000 computer as
the new base platform for development of future Amiga products. The
promotion provides current Amiga 2000 and 3000 computer owners the
opportunity to purchase an Amiga 4000 at a substantial cost savings. By
not requiring current users to trade-in their A2000 and 3000 systems the
program also protects their investment in software and add-on hardware.

To receive the promotional pricing purchasers must provide the front
cover of their Amiga 2000 or 3000 owners manual and the system serial
number. Power Up program pricing is available at the time of purchase
through participating Commodore Authorized Resellers in the United
States.

The high performance A4000-040/1 20 and A4000-030/1 20 both feature
Commodore's Advanced Graphics Architecture tm (AGA) chip set, enabling
users to display and animate graphics in multiple resolutions at up to
256,000 colors from a palette of 1 6,8 million. Both systems include
AmigaDOS tm Release 3, Commodore's multitasking operating system that
takes advantage of AGA features while maintaining backward compatibility
with most software developed for earlier versions of AmigaDOS. Backward
compatibility is also maintained for most peripheral products originally
designed for the Amiga 2000 or 3000 computers.

Commodore Business Machines, Inc., based in West Chester, PA, is the U.S.
subsidiary of Commodore International Limited, The company manufactures
and markets a complete line of Amiga computers and peripherals for the
business, consumer, education and government markets. The company's
worldwide installed user base of Amiga computers is presently almost
four million.

Amiga, AmigaDOS and Advanced Graphics Architecture are trademarks of
Commodore-Amiga Inc.

* A2000 and 3000 Power Up promotional pricing is subject to reseller
participation. Actual

Reseller pricing may vary. See reseller for further details.



            __________________________________________________




APPLE CANADA TO LAY OFF 21

MARKHAM, ONTARIO, CANADA -- In the wake of its parent company's
announcement that it lost US$188.3 million in its third quarter and
will lay off about 2,500 employees over the next 12 months, Apple
Canada Inc., said it has given 21 employees their pink slips.

The 21 employees, who received their notice July 15, are
scattered throughout the company and not concentrated in any one
functional area, said Franca Miraglia, a spokeswoman for Apple
Canada. They represent roughly 10 percent of the Canadian
subsidiary's work force; the layoff leaves Apple Canada with 199
employees, Miraglia said.

The parent company said it took an accounting charge of US$320.9
million, or US$198.9 million after tax, for a previously
announced restructuring and other cost-cutting measures now under
way. This turned what would have been a quarterly profit into a
loss.

In the third quarter, which ended June 25, Apple had revenues of
US$1.862 billion, up seven percent over the same period last
year.

Miraglia said Apple Canada made every effort to cut costs without
cutting jobs, but was unable to avoid layoffs.

"The goal was to significantly and permanently reduce our expense
structure," she said. The cuts do not change the nature of the
work Apple Canada is doing, she added.


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


JAPAN - GAME FIRMS LINK WITH US MOVIE FIRMS

TOKYO, JAPAN -- A number of major Japanese game machine makers have
begun to tie-up with movie firms in the US, and are preparing to
create movies. The tie-ups are possible because of the popularity of
game characters among children.

Sega Enterprises is making a movie called "Surf Ninja," which
will be released around the end of this month. The firm has
linked with Newline Cinema of New York. Upon the release,
Sega will release the game software which is related to the
movie.

Another rival arcade game machine maker, Capcon, will also
release a movie based on one of the company's game character.
Capcon has tied up with Hollywood's Edward Pressman Film. The
firms will create a movie based on Capcon's best-selling game
software "Street Fighter II." A reported three billion yen ($27
million) will be spent on the movie, which will be released next
summer.

Meanwhile, Nintendo has already released a movie based on the
firm's Super Mario character. Nintendo linked with Hollywood's
Light Motive on the film.

The companies hope that the tie-ups with movie firms will
stimulate sales of their game products.


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


CONNER POSTS SECOND QUARTER LOSSES

SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA -- Conner Peripherals continues on its
financially troubled way, and has now posted a $58.8 million loss
for its second quarter ended June 30, 1993.

Sales were $490.6 million, a decrease of 11 percent from the second
quarter of 1992. The company's loss of $58.8 million translated into
$1.19 per share in the quarter, compared to net income of $46 million
or $0.63 per share on a fully diluted basis in the like period last year.
Included in the second quarter loss was a $12 million charge against
earnings to write down inventories of certain older disk drive
products, said the company.

Without Compaq Computer, sales would have been even less. Conner
said that sales to Compaq were 16 percent of total revenue during
the quarter, compared to 11 percent in the like period a year ago.

Finis Conner, chairman and chief executive officer, blamed a number
of factors, saying: "As previously announced, this quarter's results
were negatively impacted by a variety of factors, including soft
demand of certain products due to industry over capacity,
unparalleled price deterioration and a major transition from older,
less profitable products. Although we see this difficulty continuing
to a lesser degree through the third quarter, we also believe we
have taken the actions necessary to emerge as a stronger competitor
in the future."

The company is planning new products. Said Conner, "These actions
include a broad lineup of new storage products covering disk, tape,
software and storage systems, which we will continue to announce
through the end of the year." said Conner.

As reported by Newsbytes, Conner has been restructuring its
organization for some time.

In February Newsbytes reported that the company made a "series of
changes in its operations in response to a decline in market demand
for disk drives with capacities of 120 megabyte (MB) or less due to
newer computer system requirements for higher capacity and
performance." As a result, the company said it was going to increase
production of some of its new products.

In March, Newsbytes reported that the company had reorganized
around four market groups: the OEM (original equipment manufacturer)
Products Group; the Distribution Products Group; the Software
Products Group; and the Storage Systems Group.

Then in April Newsbytes reported that the company, in announcing
expected lower earnings for its first quarter, 1993, was considering
various restructuring options. At that time Kevin Burr, spokesman
for the company, told Newsbytes that, "We don't know if we will
take a restructuring at this point. We are still investigating the best
way to downsize our company, and to reduce our costs."


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


IBM JAPAN DEVELOPS HIGH CAPACITY 2.5-INCH DISK DRIVE

TOKYO, JAPAN -- IBM Japan has developed a 2.5-inch hard disk drive
with a large capacity, called the H2344.

According to the company, it supports 344 megabytes (MB) of
data on two disks, which are in the disk drive. It can store 172
MB per disk. This is claimed to be the largest data storage for a
2.5-inch hard disk drive.

According to the company, 322 megabit of data can be stored and
read per square inch. This is twice as much as that of current disk
drives of IBM Japan.

The drive is 17 millimeters thick, which is the same as those of
IBM Japan's current disk drives. The company also plans to ship
this disk drive to other computer makers on an OEM (original
equipment manufacturer) basis. The sample price of the disk is
53,000 yen ($480).

Other computer makers such as Toshiba have also been selling 2.5-
inch hard disks. Toshiba's hard disk, for example, has a 340MB
storage capacity, but it is on three disks compared with the two
disks of IBM Japan.

The 2.5-inch hard disk is not regarded as a standard. However,
due to the increasing popularity of notebook PCs and pen-input
computers, 2.5-inch disk drives are expected to be used more in
the future.


                The preceding stories are © 1993 NewsBytes.
                        Reprinted with permission.


            __________________________________________________




KODAK OFFERS $50 IN FREE PHOTO CD TRANSFERS

At the February Photo Marketing Association trade show, Eastman Kodak
introduced a coupon book promotion that gives picture-takers $50 in
free Photo CD transfers. The coupon book will be available at no extra
charge to consumers who purchase Kodak Photo CD players from par-
icipating retailers between March 15, 1993, and September 30, 1993.
Each coupon book contains one $20 and three $10 coupons that can be used
toward single or multiple transfer orders when the coupons are presented
to participating photofinishers that offer Photo CD transfer services.
The coupons can be redeemed between March 15, 1993, and September 30,
1994. To receive a Photo CD coupon book, consumers simply fill out a
form, available at local Kodak Photo CD retailers and photofinishers,
and mail it with their Photo CD player proof-of-purchase. Participating
retailers and photofinishers will have countertop displays with the forms
and complete promotion details. Consumers can call the Kodak Customer
Assistance Center at 800-242-2424, extension 36, for the location of
the nearest retailers that stock Photo CD players, or photofinishers
that offer Photo CD transfer services.


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


NEW STANDARDS ANNOUNCED BY SONY

Sony announced the development of standards for MD DATA, a new
compact data storage medium offering high data storage capacity for
personal computer applications. The MD DATA standard has been
developed to meet the computer industry's growing need for storage
media capable of handling large amounts of data. The standard is based
on specifications recently established for the MiniDisc personal audio
system, which Sony introduced in Nov. 1992. Sony will offer the new MD
DATA standard to computer and other manufacturers to generate industry
support. Once MD DATA system software is installed onto the computer,
information written onto MD DATA discs can be retrieved and modified
regardless of differences in the CPU and/or OS of the computers being
used. For more information contact Sony at (201) 930-6443.


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


JPEG STANDARD ACCEPTED 

Twenty leading multimedia software and hardware vendors have agreed to
standardize on a common Joint Photographic Expert Group (JPEG) file
format for bit-mapped images and compressed video data under the
Microsoft Windows operating system. JPEG still-image files will be
supported under Microsoft Windows as device independent bitmaps (DIB)
files, and JPEG video files will be supported under Video for Windows
as audio/video interleaved (AVI) files. Vendors who have agreed to
endorse the standard JPEG format include AMDRIX Software; C-Cube
Microsystems; Cirrus Logic; Creative Labs; Dolch Computer Systems;
Fluent Inc.; Intel; LSI Logic; Microsoft; Motorola; New Media
Graphics; Optibase; SuperMac; Telephoto; Texas Instruments;
Truevision; U-Lead Systems; Videologic; Xing Technology Inc.; and
Zoran. The JPEG file format can be obtained by calling Microsoft
PhoneFAX server at (206) 635-2222 or on the CompuServe WINEXT forum.


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


ORGANIZATION FORMED FOR SOFTWARE INDUSTRY

The Software Industry Coalition, has been created to provide a strong
voice for the software industry. Coalition members include corporations,
non-profit and educational groups and individual members. Although it
intends to work closely with other organizations that include software
companies in their membership, it will focus on issues not being
adequately addressed by groups too diverse to develop a consensus on
software issues. It intends to focus on specific projects, ensuring
efficient use of members' dues rather than retain a large staff and
administrative overhead. The Software Industry Coalition is a national
organization, formed to provide a regulatory platform, educational
impact and eventual database resources specific to the needs of the
software industry. The coalition is located at 2369 Gianera Street,
Santa Clara, CA 95054. (408) 980-8294.


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


RAIDS SEIZES $9 MILLION

U.S. marshals and Microsoft investigators have seized over $9
million worth of counterfeit software over the past four months in a
nationwide sweep. Several defendants named in three separate federal
lawsuits filed in conjunction with the seizures were former or present
Microsoft distributors. They included Unitron Computer of the City of
Industry, Calif., CMOS Technologies of Piscataway, NJ, and Micro
Innovation of Houston.


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


NEW ATT COMMUNICATOR AVAILABLE

The AT&T EO 440 Personal Communicator is available now in
52 select AT&T Phone Centers across the country. AT&T and EO are
making the device available through Phone Centers as part of an
agreement announced earlier this month. The agreement will allow EO to
use the AT&T brand on its personal communicators; give EO access to
AT&T's communications technology and services, and to its sales
channels; and make AT&T the majority stockholder in the Silicon Valley
company. Customers can call 800-222-3111 to get the location of the
nearest Phone Center carrying the product. The company expects to
introduce the 440 into its over 300 other Phone Centers gradually
throughout the rest of the year. Prices for the EO 440 start at
$1,999. Standard features in all versions include a high-speed serial
port and cable, allowing exchange of data with any IBM-compatible
personal computer; a parallel port for connection to a printer or an
optional 1.44 MB floppy drive; a communications port for optional
cellular or wireless modules; and a PCMCIA slot for future expansion.
Additional information is available from EO's toll-free number:
800-458-0880.


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


USERS GROUP FOR COLOR CENTRAL

An international Color Central users group is in the process of
being formed. The objective of the group is to share information among
members on configuring and optimizing their OPI system/network, as
well as lobby Compumation for product improvements and enhancements.
Primary communications within the group will be conducted via
electronic mail, preferably on CompuServe. To stay tuned with current
happenings, monitor Section 10 in the DTPVENDOR Forum - Vendor User
Groups. A membership roster containing e-mail addresses will be sent
to members periodically. Dues are $25.00 per year, in U.S. funds, made
payable to: Color Central Users Group. To apply for membership, please
forward your dues and the following information: Company Name:,
Individual Name:, Mailing address:, City:, State:, Zip Code:,
Country:, Voice Phone:, Fax Phone:, Compuserve Address:, Applelink
Address:, Nature of Business: Color Central Version in live
production:, Computer model used as server:, Total on-line storage
dedicated to server:, Number of Workstations accessing the server:,
And, one thing about Color Central that you want to know more about,
or see improved, or see fixed or see added to your system. Send to:
Color Central Users Group, Attn: Rick Pietrykowski, Four Lakes
Colographics, 4230 Argosy Ct., Madison, WI 53714. CIS: 70703,1555,
Applelink: FourLakes.


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


BITSTREAM UPDATE

Bitstream will no longer be supporting Fontware (any version), FaceLift
1.0 for WordPerfect, or FaceLift 1.x for Windows. We released FaceLift 2.0
for Windows in April of 1992 which replaced versions 1.0 and 1.2. If you
would like information on FaceLift 2.0 for Windows please call
Bitstream Sales at one of the numbers listed below. We released a new
version of FaceLift for WordPerfect in March of 1993 which replaced
older versions. If you would like information on FaceLift 2.0 for
WordPerfect please call Sales at one of the numbers listed below.
Refer to the Fontware User Guide for assistance on making fonts. If
you are having trouble using the fonts in your application, please
contact your application vendor for assistance. For upgrade
information and information on other Bitstream products please contact
Bitstream Sales at one of these numbers : End User Sales (within US)
800-522-3668, Dealer Sales/Canadian End User 800-223-3176, Outside US
and Canada 617- 497-6222 x801.


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


SPEECH COMPRESSION UNDER DEVELOPMENT

DSP Group announced this week that it is working with Microsoft and
Compaq Computer to develop speech compression technology that will run
on Microsoft Windows operating system-based computers. This joint
development effort, using DSP Group's Truespeech software technology,
will make PC applications with voice easier to use. With the addition of
a low cost, efficient voice compression standard, a variety of
applications in the business environment will be enhanced. These include
voice annotated business documents, voice annotated electronic mail,
voice supported presentations, voice annotated databases, and a variety
of other documents which use the full complement of multimedia tools
including both video and audio.


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


SOFTBANK - CDROM MARKETING ANNOUNCED

Four leaders in software technology distributing and direct marketing
have announced the creation of a new company Softbank - and a new
software marketing and sales program called "Softbank On-Hand" that
exploits the low cost and high capacity of CD-ROM technology. The
company will begin shipping its first Softbank On-Hand Software Library
CD-ROM disc set bundled with computers and multimedia upgrade products
this fall. The On-Hand Library will include interactive product
advertisements, demos, and hundreds of actual, purchasable software
titles organized in an entertaining and easy-to-use interactive
multimedia interface. The Softbank On-Hand Software Library will
initially run under Windows 3.1 on 386 or 486 computers with multimedia-
ompatible CD-ROM drives and sound capabilities.


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


FLEXTRONICS ANNOUNCES NEW INVESTORS

Flextronics, a privately held electronics contract manufacturer, has
announced an equity investment by a consortium of new investors and an
existing investor. The equity investment provides the company with an
additional $4 million of working capital.  The investment consortium, CLG
Partners, is composed of: Sequoia Capital; Kleiner, Perkins, Caufield &
Byers; Chemicals and Materials Enterprise Associates; Point Venture
Partners; and several individuals. Sequoia Capital is a $500 million
series of venture capital partnerships.  Since being formed in 1973,
Sequoia has invested in more than 250 young companies. Among the companies
Sequoia has helped start and finance are: Apple Cypress Semiconductor,
Cisco Systems, LSI Logic, Convex, Oracle, 3COM, Atari, Tandem, Electronic
Arts, Altos, Acuson and Chemtrak.


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

 
APPLE POSTS $188 MILLION LOSS

Apple reported financial results for its third fiscal quarter
which ended June 25,1993. Net revenues for the third quarter of 1993
were $1.862 billion, a 7 percent increase over the third quarter of
the prior year. Apple also announced that it has taken a charge of
$320.9 million, or $198.9 million after tax, for the previously
announced restructuring and other cost reduction activities that are
now underway at the company. As a result of these charges, the company
reported a net loss for the quarter of $188.3 million or $1.63 per
share. Shipment of Apple's first product based on Newton technology--a
handheld communication assistant--is on track for later this summer.
And, in addition to the Apple Workgroup Server 95 that shipped last
month, two new server products, the Apple Workgroup Server 60 and
Apple Workgroup Server 80 will ship in volume, starting this month.


@endnode
            __________________________________________________

@node P1-3 "Emplant Video"
@toc "menu"

EMPLANT VIDEO PRODUCTION TAPE AVAILABLE

THE EMPLANT: A Video Presentation by Jim Drew of Utilities Unlimited
     
Jim Drew of Utilities Unlimited, makers of The Emplant, a multi-
platform emulation system for the Amiga, recently gave an in-depth
presentation on his company's emulator set up and use at the San
Fernando Amiga User Group July meeting. Over 100 people attended this
spectacular program. The presentation included a step-by-step set-up
procedure for emulating the MacIIxx platform with the Emplant.

The presentation was videotaped, and includes direct video recording
of the Emplant's emulation screens. Jim also gave an interesting
commentary and personal views on the MacIntosh platform which the
Emplant emulates, as well as other platforms scheduled for emulation.

The 1 hr-47 minute videotape is available from The Toaster Crustaceans
for $9.95 + $4.95 shipping/handling by priority mail. CA residents
please include 8.25% sales tax. Send a check or m.o. to:

Toaster Crustaceans
1730 Arcane St.  
Simi Valley, Ca. 93065

For more information, contact the Toaster Crustaceans at the address
above, or call (805)522-4864.

Tony Gomez
Toaster Crustaceans

@endnode
                      ------------------------------
@node P1-4 "ImageFX v1.5"
@toc "menu"

ImageFX v1.5 NOW SHIPPING!


King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, July 23rd, 1993 -- GVP announced today that
it has started shipping version 1.5 upgrades for their ImageFX software.

While one might expect to pay dearly for such an upgrade, Great Valley
Products will continue to support their "power to the people" approach
by offering this new version to registered users at only $29.95!

This notice also serves as a brief list of the many added features and
improvements to the ImageFX since the previous version 1.03.  These
features are listed below.


Faster Speed Throughout!

ImageFX has been optimized throughout to provide faster operations and
reduced code size to increase your productivity and enjoyment of this
software.

One outstanding example of this is ImageFX's virtual memory handling.
Virtual memory has been dramatically improved and optimized so that it's
many times faster than it was before.


Gigamem Compatibility!

GigaMem compatibility has been added to ImageFX.  GigaMem is a virtual
memory package designed for MMU equipped Amigas.  ImageFX can now run
under Gigamem fully -- giving you even more flexibility.


Image and Animation Viewing!

ViewTek, the most popular image and animation viewing program for the
Amiga, (running Workbench 2.04 or higher) is now included with ImageFX.
You have to look no further to show off your ImageFX images or CineMorph
animations to your friends.  ViewTek does this easily for you -- even
for the new AGA mode graphics!


MAGIC!

No, we're not talking parlor tricks here, but a new system that allows
applications to share images, in memory, with one another in order to
reduce memory overhead when multitasking several graphics programs at
the same time.  MAGIC (Multi-Application Graphic Image Communications)
is being made available with this release of ImageFX and may be included
at no charge in other applications.  Many other developers of 24bit
applications are planning MAGIC support as well.  This will be a public
standard available to all.


New Scanners!

ImageFX now features the best available support for the Epson 300c, and
Epson's new top of the line 600/800 series scanners including the new
transparency unit and the automatic document feeder.  There are two new
framegrabber modules for Macrosystem's VLAB and Progressive Peripherals
& Software's Framegrabber 256 that have been added as well.


Palette!

A new feature has been added to give you the ability to have multiple
drawing palettes.  These can be preloaded by your startup script, or you
can load palettes directly into any of them.  You can even choose to
load a palette from the dozens of pre-created palettes that have been
newly added to give you sets of colors for watercolors, chalk, felt-tip
markers as well as many other interesting, and some abstract, color
selections.


Toolkit!

The toolkit's new aspect locked preview mode will benefit users
enormously.  This is available in all of the available previews (Amiga,
IV24, etc) and it is used to keep your image's aspect correct while you
are editing or creating the image.  If you are working on an image for
an 8.5" x 11" page, the image will now be taller than it is wide.  By
using this you can tell precisely what your artwork will look like when
output.

ImageFX's new macro recording allows you to automatically create ARexx
scripts that can be used from ImageFX to apply any series of operations
over and over.  Use of macro recording can practically eliminate the
need for programming ARexx scripts for batch operations, and for
programmers it can greatly reduce development time for special projects.

Multiple level UNDO handling has been added.  While all other image
processing software allows only one UNDO level (if any at all), ImageFX
allows you to reverse and remove the effects of several operations -- as
many as you like!

Tablet support with pressure sensitivity has been added for users of the
Wacom and Cal-Comp drawing tablets supplied by Tri-Media.  You can now
draw using either of these tablets and use pressure to affects the
amount of "ink" or "paint" applied during drawing operations.  A
fantastic tool for artists!

ImageFX has many new and improved drawing and airbrush tools.  Most
important is the dramatic improvement in ImageFX's real time feedback
for nearly every drawing tool.  There are new controls and drawing modes
that allow you to simulate real world painting effects such as felt tip
pens, crayons, and much more with just a few simple settings.  ImageFX's
new Pantograph drawing mode allows you to easily copy portions of the
image into one another with ease.

Image compositing has been sped up greatly, and new controls have been
added to give you more tools for merging images together.  You can now
easily merge two images together and apply a texture, perhaps a rough
paper, automatically by using the new alpha channel compositing modes.

Dozens of new sample custom convolves have been added to this release to
better demonstrate the use of this powerful image processing tool.
These include new blurring tools, special effects, and much more.


Loaders/Savers!

There are new loaders and savers galore for ImageFX 1.5!  Many of the
existing modules have also been enhanced to speed them up and support
more variations.  These modules include;  ANIM7, FAXX, SGI, FLI/FLC,
IMG8,  JPEG, MacPaint, QRT, DKB, POV, Sculpt, Targa, TIFF, YUVN, DPIIE,
.info (Amiga Icon), PCX, and the Rendition Alpha format.

ImageFX can also now detect the special "MacBinary" headers placed on
some images by Macintosh computers and will automatically remove them to
let you load an even greater range of images.  A feature only offered in
ImageFX!  Special thanks to John Foust of Syndesis for this feature.


Image Rendering!

The following modules have been added or enhanced in ImageFX; DCTV, EGS,
IV24, Retina, and OpalVision.

A new method of color "quantizing", or color selection, developed by
Steve Tibbett has been added to ImageFX.  This new system  can pick
colors for images with large areas of color gradients much more
accurately than any other system of color selection.

A new method of dithering, known as ordered dithering, has been added to
ImageFX for color operations.  Formerly available only for greyscale
images, this dither creates a more stable pattern in the image which
can make animations created with ImageFX much more compact.


Preview Displays!

Three new preview modules have been added to ImageFX.  You can now work
on DCTV, OpalVision, or use the new SuperAmiga preview to preview on any
Amiga screen at any depth...even for the new Amiga AGA modes and beyond!


Printer Modules!

The PostScript printing module now produces PostScript level 2 compatible
output, and includes more robust error handling.  A thumbnail version of
the image in TIFF format has also been implemented for cross platform uses.

The new PREFS2 printing module uses less memory, is easier to control,
and has been improved to offer significantly better output than any other
competing package.  You can easily achieve high quality 8 bit accurate
greyscale printing and 24 bit accurate color printing from any properly
implemented Preferences printer!


Hooks!

IMP has been improved and now allows you to select the output animation
format via. the "Anim Format" and "Anim Options" pull down menus.  This
makes the process of creating animations easier than ever!

This ImageFX hook version of CineMorph has been updated and can now save
animations to the regular ANIM format, the new ANIM7 format, and flick
(.FLC) format animations.

Two new hooks; Deinterlace and Interlace, can be used by video
professionals for separating and integrating video fields for high end
video work.

Blackout, another new hook program, allows users of the Hewlett Packard
Deskjet 500c to separate the black component from their images so they can
easily make two pass color printouts with much improved color reproduction.


Acclaim from the Press!

We've told you a lot about the new ImageFX and all of it's many features.
Here's what the press has been saying about the previous ImageFX:

"...for my money ImageFX has more power and features.  ...I recommend
ImageFX - nothing else quite compares."

Video Toaster User, August/September 1993

"I feel the program's CineMorph module represents the most elegant morph
solution of the three (competing morph packages)."

AmigaWorld, May 1993

"(ImageFX) has to be the best image-processing system so far on the
Amiga."

Amiga Format, April 1993

"(ImageFX's) IMP is nothing short of a dream come true...The virtual
memory option (in ImageFX) is nothing short of a masterstroke..."

Amiga Computing, February 1993


Kermit Woodall
Nova Design, Inc.


@endnode
                      ------------------------------
@node P5-1 "AlertPatch v2.17"
@toc "menu"

ALERTPATCH v2.17 AVAILABLE FOR FTP


TITLE

        AlertPatch - replacement patch for exec.library/Alert()

VERSION

        Distribution version 2.17

AUTHORS

        David Swasbrook

        E-mail address: dswa1@cs.aukuni.ac.nz (expires 01-Jan-94)


DESCRIPTION

        AlertPatch replaces the system exec.library/Alert() with
        two custom routines to give the user a choice of how the
        alert is to be displayed, either as an intuition window or
        a system alert with additional information.

FEATURES

        1. Alerts now displayable as windows. With options to
           Continue, Suspend or Reboot for all alert types.

        2. Displays description of alert and name of the offending
           task.

        3. Dumps contents of CPU data and address registers and
           displays a text representation.

        4. Can list or get information on alert numbers from cli or
           listview.

SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS

        OS release 2.04 or newer is required.

        "matrix.library" version 23.410 required. (included in archive)

        Hypertext compatable document. (ie. MultiView/AmigaGuide)

        Distribution is archived with lha so program to
        un-archive them is needed.

UPDATE
        This archive is an update of the AlertPatch216.lha archive
        which due to an oversight asked for V39 of the Utility
        Library even though it did not require it to function
        correctly. Apologies to all people who were inconvenienced
        and thanks to all those who reported the problem.

HOST NAME

        Software has been uploaded to the Aminet Site:

        wuarchive.wustl.edu      128.252.135.4   pub/aminet/

        and will be readily available on other Aminet sites.

DIRECTORY

        /pub/aminet/util/misc

FILE NAMES

        AlertPatch217.lha   -   AlertPatch binaries and documentation

PRICE
        Shareware. Contributions are gratefully accepted.

DISTRIBUTABILITY

        Freely distributable as long as the contents of the archive
        are kept in tact. AlertPatch is shareware, and may not be
        included in any other distribution or used for commercial
        use without my express permission.

OTHER
        E-mail address for bug reports and fixes:
        dswa1@cs.aukuni.ac.nz (expires 01-Jan-94)

@endnode
                      ------------------------------
@node P5-2 "MultiUser v1.4"
@toc "menu"

MULTIUSER v1.4 AVAILABLE FOR FTP


TITLE

     MultiUser

RELEASE

     1.4

AUTHOR

     Geert Uytterhoeven
     uytterho@cs.kuleuven.ac.be

SHORT

     A protection system for several users

DESCRIPTION

       You've got an Amiga with Kickstart 2.04 or higher and several
     people are regularly fooling around with it ...  Last week your
     sister deleted your 20MB JPEG collection by mistake and you don't
     want this to happen again ...  Well, here's the answer:
     MultiUser!

       MultiUser allows you to create a *IX-like environment where
     several users live together in harmony, unable to delete each
     others files, unable to read those private love-letters of other
     users ...  And this even if several users are working on the
     machine at the same time (on a terminal hooked up to the serial
     port) ...

       You are the sole user of your computer?  Well, make sure it
     stays that way by installing MultiUser!  People without a valid
     login ID and password won't be able to access files you have made
     private with MultiUser.  If you make all files private (not
     readable for others), the only useful thing they could do, is
     boot from a floppy ...

       And ...  you do not have to reformat your hard drive!

NEW FEATURES

     Enhanced security

SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS

     - AmigaOS Release 2.04 (V37+) or higher.

     - A Rigid Disk Block compatible hard drive/controller.

HOST NAME

     wuarchive.wustl.edu (128.252.135.4) [AmiNet]

DIRECTORY

     /pub/aminet/os20/util

FILENAME

     MultiUser14.lha

PRICE

     500 BEF or USD 15

DISTRIBUTABILITY

     Shareware

@endnode
                      ------------------------------
@node P5-3 "NetHack 3.1.3"
@toc "menu"

NETHACK v3.1.3 OFFICIAL BINARIES AVAILABLE


TITLE

        Amiga NetHack 3.1.3

VERSION

        Amiga NetHack 3.1.3 is the third patchlevel of NetHack 3.1.
        Saved games and bones files from previous versions (including
        previous patch levels of 3.1) will NOT work with this release.

AUTHOR

        NetHack is created by the NetHack Development Team and ported to
        the Amiga by the Amiga NetHack Team.  Please report bugs, problems,
        and suggestions to nethack-bugs@linc.cis.upenn.edu.  Please note
        that you are using the Amiga version.

DESCRIPTION

        NetHack 3.1 is a new generation of the dungeon exploration game
        NetHack.  It is a distant descendent of Hack, and a direct
        descendent of NetHack 3.0.  It is the product of two years of
        very intensive effort by the NetHack Development Team and its
        porting sub-teams.  Many parts of 3.0 were rewritten for
        NetHack 3.1, and many new features were added.

        We dedicate the game to the many players of 3.0, with special
        note of those who communicated with us and contributed their
        ideas to the development of this new version.

NEW FEATURES

        NetHack 3.1.3 is primarily a bug-fix update.  Other improvements
        are left for you to discover.

SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS

        NetHack runs on any Amiga with at least 2 meg of RAM and AmigaDOS
        1.3 or 2.04 (or later).  NetHack will run from floppy but a hard
        disk is strongly recommended - NetHack requires approximately 3
        meg of hard disk space.  The official binaries are packed with
        the lz archiver, version 1.92.

FTP INFORMATION

        The official binaries are available in two .lzh files on aminet.
        The files are NH31P3-1.lzh and NH31P3-2.lzh.  (They have been
        uploaded to the new directory on ftp.wustl.edu; I expect they
        will be moved to game/role.)

        In addition, the same files are available on linc.cis.upenn.edu
        (please limit transfers from linc to non-business hours, East
        Coast USA time).  The files on linc are in pub/NH3.1/binaries/amiga.
        Full source code for all versions of NetHack (Amiga, Unix, MS-DOS,
        Macintosh, OS/2, VMS, NT, Atari) is available in pub/NH3.1/source.


        The official binaries for Amiga NetHack come in two .lzh
        files.  Extract the installation instructions from the first
        archive (probably called NH31P3-1.lzh) with the following
        command:
          lz x NH31P3-1.lzh NetHack/ReadMe
        and follow the directions.  Note that the ReadMe file will be
        in a NetHack subdirectory.

        We have been informed that the default stack is not big enough
        to unpack the archives with some archivers - if you have
        trouble unpacking the archives try increasing your stack to
        40000.

        For problems with the archives contact keni@oasys.dt.navy.mil
        or use the central address nethack-bugs@linc.cis.upenn.edu.
        Please mention that you are using the official Amiga binaries
        for 3.1.3.

DISTRIBUTABILITY

        NetHack is freely-redistributable copyrighted code - please see
        the license for details.

@endnode
                      ------------------------------
@node P5-4 "PrintManager v2.0"
@toc "menu"

PRINTMANAGER v2.0 AVAILABLE FOR FTP


TITLE

        PrintManager - printer spooler

VERSION

        2.0

AUTHOR

        Nicola Salmoria

        E-mail address: MC6489@mclink.it

DESCRIPTION

        PrintManager is a printer spooler. Data sent to the printer is
        cached on a disk file so that the printing program is able to
        resume interactive operations.

        The program is a system wedge, so it will work with *any* program,
        not just ones explicitly written to take advantage of it.
        PrintManager has a Graphical User Interface (GUI) which allows
        the user to view the list of queued print jobs and perform some
        operations like pause, remove, sort, save.

        After a system crash or reset, unfinished print jobs are
        automatically recovered.

        An AppIcon is available on request where the user may drag icons
        to print files. Under Kickstart 3.0, datatypes.library is used
        to allow printing of any document which may be displayed by
        MultiView.

        Under Workbench 2.1 or later, localization is supported (currently
        only Italian and German catalogs included).

NEW FEATURES

        It's now possible to spool PAR: and SER:, via the DEVICE ToolType.
        "How can I make PrintManager work with PageStream?" is a question
        I will hopefully not have to answer any more. ;-)

        AppIcon and AppWindow printing.

        Auto Form-Feed feature.

        Ability to save raw data files and print them later.

        Font sensitive user interface.

        PUBSCREEN ToolType.

SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS

        OS release 2.04 or newer
        Hard Disk strongly suggested
        Printer ;-)

HOST NAME

        Any Aminet site, for example

        ftp.luth.se              130.240.18.2

DIRECTORY

        /pub/aminet/text/print

FILE NAME

        prtman20.lha

PRICE

        Shareware, suggested fee is $20.

DISTRIBUTABILITY

        Shareware, freely distributable as long as the archive remains
        intact and only a nominal fee is charged for its distribution.


@endnode
                      ------------------------------
@node P5-5 "OnTheBall v1.14"
@toc "menu"

OnTheBall v1.14 DEMO AVAILABLE FOR FTP


TITLE

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

VERSION

                      V1.14 demo, July 19, 1993
                   V1.14 registered, July 19, 1993

COMPANY

 Pure Logic Software
 789 Butterfly Road
 Quincy, CA  95971  USA

DESCRIPTION

        Version 1.14 contains over 40 new features, enhancements, and bug
 fixes over the last demo version of On The Ball.  These changes are
 enumerated in a text file in the demo's notepad.

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

 Calendar:
     * View and print adjustable appointment schedules from eye-catching:
         week-at-a-glance, month-at-a-glance, or year-at-a-glance
         graphical views.
     * 9 Powerful repeat modes automatically re-schedule appointments:
                 Selected day(s) of week, Bi-weekly,    Monthly, or Yearly,
                 Repeat on second Tuesday of each month, (example)
                 ...and more.
     * Each repeat mode can be set to repeat a certain number of times

         or forever.
     * Snooze bar can be clicked on to automatically re-remind you again later.
     * Tells the number of days between two dates.
         * Warns you of overlapping appointments.

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

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

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

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

 Compatible:
     * For all Amigas: 500 through 4000,  WorkBench 1.3-3.x compatible.
     * Automatically takes advantage of many WB2.0+ features, if
         available. (ie. prints compugraphic fonts, font requester, etc.)
     * Multi-Lingual interface modules and interface for:
                English, German, French, Swedish, Italian, Spanish, & Dutch.
     * Regristration price: $40 (+$5/overseas, +$3/CA residence).

ANONYMOUS FTP SITES

     FILES: OnTheBall_V114.lha OnTheBall_V114.readme

  ftp merlin.etsu.edu in /aminet/biz/demo/OnTheBall_V114.lha
  ftp wuarchive.wustl.edu /systems/amiga/aminet/biz/demo/OnTheBall_V114.lha

     The demo will be available on many ftp sites, PD collections and BBS's.
         Look for it on Fred Fish #890.

DISTRIBUTABILITY

      The demo of On The Ball is a freely redistributable program under
 the condition that all accompanying files are included.  Users are
 granted a limited 30 day license for the purpose of evaluation only.
 After that time, you must register with Pure Logic Software (see below.)

          The registered version of On The Ball is a commercial product.  It
 is not freely distributable and it's use is subject to copyright protection
 laws and its licensing agreement.

PRICE

         To register, send $40.00 (+$5/overseas, +$3/CA residence) to:

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

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

OTHER

 Dealer and distributor inquiries welcome.
 Questions and comments: jfreund@relleno.engr.ucdavis.edu


@endnode
                      ------------------------------

@node P5-6 "Rush Demo v1.0"
@toc "menu"

RUSH DEMO RELEASE v1.0 AVAILABLE FOR FTP


TITLE

    Rush - Professional Directory Utility for AmigaDOS 2.x and 3.x

VERSION

    Demo release 1.0

AUTHOR

    Douglas Keller  dkeller@bix.com  Comments or questions welcomed.

DESCRIPTION

    Rush is a directory utility for AmigaDOS 2.0 or greater.  It
    allows files and directories to be manipulated quickly and
    easily.  Rush uses features of AmigaDOS 2.0, 2.1, and 3.0, and
    follows the Amiga User Interface Style Guide.

    This demo version differs from the registered version in the
    following ways:

     - The demo version will not save the definitions for the center
       gadgets, the settings file is ascii text so it can be changed
       with a text editor.

     - Annoying requesters will appear periodically in the demo
       version.

     - The registered version includes more utilities, see the
       registration section below for a full list.

FEATURES

    Rush is an AmigaDOS 2.0 directory utility with dozens of build in
    commands like copy, move, etc.  It can also execute AmigaDOS
    commands and ARexx scripts.

    Rush is fully localized and includes language catalogs for
    francais and deutsch.

    Rush takes fully advantage of AmigaDOS 3.0 and AGA.

    Rush has been tested with Enforcer and MungWall!

    See the README in the archive for a full list of features.

SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS

    Rush requires AmigaDOS 2.0 or greater.

HOST NAME

    Rush Demo release 1.0 is available on:

        Aminet (e.g. ftp.wustl.edu)

        Bix

DIRECTORY

    Aminet: /pub/aminet/util/dir

       Bix: amiga listings

FILE NAMES

    RushDemo.lha    - Rush Demo release 1.0

PRICE

    Registered versions of Rush are available for $25US.  See README
    in archive for more details.

DISTRIBUTABILITY

    Unregistered versions of Rush are freely distributable.

    Rush is Copyright 1993 by Douglas Keller.


@endnode
                      ------------------------------
@node P5-7 "TrashMaster v1.5"
@toc "menu"

TRASHMASTER v1.5 AVAILABLE FOR FTP


TITLE

        Trashmaster15.lha

VERSION

        1.5

AUTHOR

        Aric R Caley.

        Email: dances@qedbbs.com

DESCRIPTION

        Workbench 2.x AppIcon to "drag-and-drop" delete files.  Deletes any
        files and/or directories (and the files in them) whose icon(s) are
        dropped into the Trashmaster AppIcon.  Files can be deleted
        interactively, with confirmation on each file (delete, all, abort,
        and skip).  Disks will be formatted.

        Unlike other similar programs (the ones I have seen, anyway),
        Trashmaster keeps Workbench "in sync".  "Fake" icons generated
        dynamically by Workbench (via the "Show >> All Files" menu option)
        will be removed from the display.  Any open directory windows are
        closed when that directory is deleted.

NEW FEATURES

        Formats disks, properly handles delete protected files, Tooltype to
        change the AppIcon's name, option to disable verification
        requesters, option to force deletion of delete-protected files
        without warning, and a few Bug fixes.

SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS

        Requires 2.04 and above of Workbench.

HOST NAME

        merlin.etsu.edu (192.43.199.20)

        (and all aminet mirrors)

DIRECTORY

        /pub/aminet/os20/wb

FILE NAMES

        Trashmaster15.lha

PRICE

        Free, or $5 for those who's conscience compels them to pay :)

DISTRIBUTABILITY

        Freely distributable but Copyright (c) 1993 by Aric R Caley.
        Donations welcome, however.



@endnode
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
@node P1-5 "Online Weekly"
@toc "menu"

/// ONLINE WEEKLY Amiga Report Online                The lines are buzzing!
    ---------------------------------



From Denny Atkin in the Compute Vendor area on Portal...


Folks, I'm afraid I have some bad news about the Amiga Resource
section of COMPUTE. The following letter went out to subscribers this
week:

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

Dear Amiga Resource Subscriber,

Due to a general slowdown in the U.S. Amiga market, COMPUTE has had to
make the difficult decision to discontinue our Amiga coverage. The
September 1993 issue will be the last one containing the special Amiga
Resource section.

Of course, much of COMPUTE is of interest to owners of all computer
models. Every month, COMPUTE will continue to bring you the latest
computing news, home business management advice, and tips on the best
buys for peripherals and accessories -- many of which (such as
printers, hard drives, and monitors) are Amiga-compatible.

You may have access to IBM-compatible computers as well as your Amiga,
or perhaps you have a Bridgeboard or other IBM emulator. Or maybe
you've been considering investing a PC clone to supplement your Amiga
system. You'll find that COMPUTE is a must-have source of news,
technical advice, and product evaluations for the MS-DOS computing
market.

As always, your satisfaction is guaranteed: If you're ever unhappy
with COMPUTE, simply let us know and we'll cancel your subscription
and send you a refund for all unmailed copies.

 Sincerely,
 COMPUTE Publications
 
-=-=-=-=-=-

Sorry to be the bearer of such news, folks. Nobody is sorrier than I
am about this decision -- editing the Resource section was a dream
job. Imagine getting paid to have fun!

Now, before anyone flames COMPUTE for this decision, let me mention a
few things. First, the primary reason that this decision was made was
that the number of folks requesting the Resource section had dwindled
exponentially over the past couple of years. (I realize delivery
methods and problems had a lot to do with this.) Our subscription
numbers had dwindled considerably. Also, the general health of the
U.S. Amiga market meant that the amount of advertising -- where
almost all magazines make their money -- had dwindled significantly
as well. Most advertisers could only afford to put their ad money in
one magazine due to the current economy. In short, COMPUTE stuck with
Amiga Resource much longer than I had hoped for, and long after it
was profitable to do so.

The good news is that, if you read only the Resource section, you CAN
write in and request that your subscription be cancelled and ask for
a refund for all remaining issues. Selfishly, I hope that most of you
choose to at least let the subscription run out without cancelling
(you probably have <$9 invested in the rest of your subscription,
after all) and keep reading. When Resource was shut down, I was
offered the position of Entertainment Editor of the main section, and
I'll also be coordinating our review section. So you WILL see the
word Amiga mentioned occasionally, I promise. <grin> Frankly, I think
it's a good idea to read a PC magazine or two occasionally even if you
don't own one, just to see what the mainstream of computing is doing.
(And it usually makes you feel pretty good about buying an Amiga
instead, too. :)

So am I leaving the Amiga fold? Absolutely not! I'm still writing
monthly for the U.K. magazine Amiga Computing, and I'll be popping up
in one of the U.S. Amiga magazines soon as well (the one I had my
first review published in back in 1987!). Although I've had a 486DX2
machine for a while now, anticipating this eventuality, my A4000
still sits proudly next to it and will remain my primary productivity
machine, even for writing PC reviews. <g>

I really do hate to see Resource go -- it was like an adopted child
that I'd helped raise. It was a fun three years. In the meantime,
support your favorite Amiga magazine so it can stick around for many
years to come. I saw a listing of growth in circulation of about 50
magazines in an industry newsletter recently, and a major Amiga-only
magazine was one of only three magazines in the list that had
actually lost circulation. (They still have oodles, but this is a
trend we don't want to continue.)

I don't really know what to say, other than "bummer, eh?"
 



Harv Laser, AmigaZone sysop, agrees...


Well, all I can say is THIS STINKS! It was bad enough when
C's A-R was chopped down from a full magazine to 32 pages stuck
inside the regular Compute that folks found so hard to find, and
which so many people tried to subscribe to and got the wrong
edition sent to them. (None of which, of course, has anything to
do with Denny).

But now to remove all Amiga coverage entirely, especially when
Denny had assembled a wonderful staff of regular writers and 
reviewers (I wrote many articles and reviews for the Amiga Resource
edition myself :-) ... well, this doesn't look good from many points
of view, which needn't be elaborated upon here since everyone can
figure out what they are for themselves.

But besides depriving Amiga users of a good source of well-written
reviews and articles, it speaks very poorly of Compute's management's
idiotic PC orientation and myopic view of the computing world.

I will miss this special edition, I will miss the articles by
the regular columnists, I will miss the opportunities it gave
me to write for it, and perhaps most of all I will miss Denny's
Editorship of it. 

Harv


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



From Portal's AmigaZone
-----------------------


From George Madison (Furr) about his letter to PC World...


.../General Q&A, Announcements, and Help!/PC Mag *Printed* *My* *Letter!*
16026.3.565.1 Shock And Amazement!
7/24/93 12:01 34/1366 Furr

When PC Magazine ran a cover feature on "The New PC's," including
such machines as the Mac Quadra, and Sun and Silicon Graphics
workstations -- but totally ignoring the Amiga, I got *pissed*.

I wrote them a letter and faxed it off, never expecting it to see
the light of day; as it happens, I was wrong!  While it was rather
drastically edited for size, here it is as it appears in Volume
12, Number 14:

-=-=-=-=-

There you go again: your second issue comparing the PC platform
with others ("The New PC's"), and your second glaring omission of
the Amiga line. One can't help but wonder what your criteria for
inclusion are. I wouldn't be surprised if there are more Amigas
out there than $30,000 Silicon Graphics machines. The Amiga 4000
uses the same Motorola 68040 CPU that the Macintosh Quadra
systems do. AmigaDOS/WorkBench allows such features as
multitasking and interprocess communication, and in far less
memory. After using my Amiga 3000, I find Windows 3.1 sluggish
and clumsy, even on a VL-Bus based 50-MHz 486DX2.

George Madison
Glendale, California

-=-=-=-=-

No editorial comment addressing my question of what their
criteria are/were, of course.... ;-(  And if you take issue with
the way anything is phrased in the above, blame it on their
editor, not me.

George/FURR


Below is his actual letter to PC World...


Dear Editor:

To borrow a phrase, "there you go again." Your second issue
comparing the PC platform with others available on the market,
and your second glaring omission of the Amiga line.

One can't help but wonder what your criteria for inclusion
actually are. If it's installed base, I'd not be surprised if
there were more Amigas out in the world than $30,000 Silicon
Graphics machines. If it's comparable hardware, the Amiga 4000
uses the same Motorola 68040 CPU that the Mac Quadra systems do.
If it's being the leader in a particular application field, the
Amiga is the first choice of people doing video -- from the
recently aired SF movie Babylon 5 to the upcoming SeaQuest, from
Stephen Spielberg's Amblin Entertainment. All of the major
effects for both of these were/are created on Video
Toaster-equipped Amigas.

And if it's sophisticated operating systems you're looking at,
AmigaDOS/WorkBench allows multitasking, interprocess
communication and the like -- and has been doing so longer than
either PC's or Macs, and in FAR less memory. [An Amiga can boot
up in a mere 512k. Compare that to the multiple megabytes needed
simply to boot Windows, OS/2 or System 7.1.] After using my Amiga
3000, Windows 3.1 -- even on one of my office's 486-DX2/50's with
VESA accelerated video cards -- seems sluggish and clumsy.

This is not to claim the Amiga is perfect; there is no such thing
as the perfect all-purpose personal computer, as you do wisely
note. Given that the Amiga line generally and in particular the
new 4000 series has strengths that might be of interest to your
readership, I cannot help but wonder why it is that these
machines have been flatly ignored two years running.

Sincerely,

George D. Madison


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



A question about making Portal and Baud Bandit work in harmony from
David Luke...


.../Message Bases/General Q&A, Announcements, and Help!/BB and Portal
16026.3.567.1 BB and Portal
7/26/93 21:39 20/650 Nervid

Hello Fellow Amiga Portalites,

Does anyone know the key to using Baud Bandit in perfect harmony with
Portal while using the page (vs line) interface format?  My screens
frequently leave garbage from previous screens.  And also when I am typing
in a message like this one, the backspace function goes a little awry when
near the left side of the page.

What Portal selections (I've tried both Generic ANSI and Amiga ANSI)
help correct this problem?  What BB selections correct this problem?

Basically if someone has had good success with BB and Portal, could you
tell me what your settings are?


Thank You Very Much,

NERVID

(Dave Luke)


Harv Laser, AmigaZone sysop, responds...


.../Message Bases/General Q&A, Announcements, and Help!/BB and Portal
16026.3.567.2 Bandit + Portal
7/27/93 09:37 28/1144 Harv

To use Baud Bandit successfully with Portal do these things:

1) Set your Portal screen mode y_size (# of vertical lines on screen)
setting to 23 if you're using Bandit in non-lace mode. Bandit can't
display 24 or 25 lines cuz the strip of icons across the top eats
a couple lines on screen.

2) Open Bandit's config window and make sure the "True CR/LF" option
is set to ON.

Resave your configuration to make it stay that way.

3) Don't hold down your backspace key for a long time. Just tap
the backspace key. If you need to ersae the entire current (but un-sent)
line then type a control-u instead.

4) Set your Portal terminal type to VT100 generic which will also
select ANSI - i.e., they will both be selected.

5) Bandit will still get a bit squirrely in the vi editor from time
to time 'cuz it doesn't emulate VT100 very well, if at all. In that
case, use a control-l to refresh the screen when necessary (make
sure you're in vi's command mode, not in entry mode when you do this).

I use Bandit *exclusively* on Portal and I'm online for many hours
every day and all my stuff is set per above and it's fine for me.

Regards, Harv


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



From Usenet
-----------


From hacker@acs2.bu.edu (Jose Elias)

If you work for C=, and have something to do with the CD-32 machine, PLEASE
read this, I wrote it in good faith, because I LOVE Commodore machines!!!
First, I think this is a nice thing to come out from C=, and it looks like
something "new", NOT like the CDTV, based in old A500 and slow CD-ROM
technology.  Second, I guess you and we all know why CDTV was never a
success: no software to take advantage of it, and no avilability in stores
other than the ones who carried the Amiga. Why don't you make deals with
the "big papa" delers that sell to smaller dealers? Why not making deals
with Sears, Macy's, Lechmere, etc...?  Third, have Microcosm, Defender of
the Crown II, and the awesome Flight Simulator included in the Lemmings
disk been released together with the CDTV it would have been a much bigger
hit. PLEASE make sure there's "cool" software available for it at the time
of its release, stuff that you cannot find anywhere else.  Fourth, have you
seen screenshots from the upcomming 3D0?, they look FANTASTIC!!!. But the
CD-32 still has a chance to compete with such a machine: If it's sold in the
neightborhood of 300 dollars at street price, it would take LOTS of sale
away from 3DO's 700 dollars tag price, BUT people might consider saving
instead if they think that what they will get on 3DO is MUCH better than
CD-32, and this is where software plays the "big selling point" game. I
only HOPE that you guys at C= have killer software ready at the time of the
machine, not just Amiga conversions, if this is not so, then I'm very sorry
for this machine, specialy since I know it has potential, BUT will it be
used to its advantage???

Sincerelly yours,
hacker@acs.bu.edu


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


From Delphi's Amiga Forum
-------------------------


16842 24-JUL 01:31 General Information
     Busy Motorola
     From: LMCCLURE     To: ALL

According to a post on another network, here is a list of CPU's Motorola is
expected to announce in the next 6 months:

                      PowerPC 98601
                      68LP040
                      PowerPC 98603
                      68060 (50MHz)
                      PowerPC 98605
                      68040 (50MHz)
                      PowerPC 98610
                      68060 (66MHz)


I assume the "LP" in 68LP040 stands for "low power". Hmmm..wasn't one of the
problems cited with putting a 68040 accelerator in an A1200 the heat factor?
<grin>

BTW, the same message noted the big M has already started sampling the 50Mhz
version of the 68060, and claims they have a history of shipping in volume 3
months after sampling begins.


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


From FidoNet's Amiga International echo
---------------------------------------


Area: AMIGA                                   Date: 21 Jul 93  2:10:37
From: Todd Vierling (1:371/46.0)
To  : All
Subj: US News & World Report

Hi all,

If you have not yet read the US News and World Report article on "The
Computer Price Wars" in the July 26, 1993 issue, don't bother. No mention
of Amiga anywhere - the attitude was the same as the Popular Science
article (the Mac is the only computer in existence that uses Motorola
chips, etc). After being utterly fed up with the article, I wrote a no
shorter than six page letter to the editing supervisor of US News & World
Report, and faxed it in today. Hopefully, portions of this letter will
appear in a future issue. In it is a condensed history of the Amiga
computer, the real "quiet revolution" that CAUSED the computer price wars.
Miucrosoft did not do it. Apple did not do it. IBM did not do it. Intel did
not do it. COMMODORE did it! It also advertises the September 1 Amiga
T-Shirt day and I am hoping that at least that part will appear in the
magazine. I pleaded (well nowadays for Amiga coverage you have to plead)
for the letter to be published, but I cannot guarantee anything. Now I wait
for the next few issues and find out.


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


From FidoNet's Amiga Tech echo
------------------------------


Area: AMY_TECH                                Date: 26 Jul 93  8:25:29
From: Joe Hobson (1:362/508.0)
To  : Brian Bonner
Subj: Re: 14.4K Modems

  I have a ZyXEL and can vouch for the noise handling! This sucker
ignores call-waiting signals even at high sensitive baud rates.



@endnode
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
@node P4-5 "Amiga Report Mailing List"
@toc "menu"

/// Amiga Report Mailing List
    -------------------------


Are you tired of waiting for your local BBS or online service to get
Amiga Report each week?  Have you been spending more money that you want
on long distance phone calls to download it from one of our Distribution
Sites?  If so, have we got a deal for you!

If you have an internet mailing address, you can receive Amiga Report
in UUENCODED form each week as soon as the issue is released.  To be put
on the list, send Email to Amiga-Report-Request@gnu.ai.mit.edu.  Your
account must be able to handle mail of any size to ensure an intact copy.
For example, GEnie has a limit of about 40K per message, and most of our
issues are well over that limit.

Please do not send general Email to Amiga-Report-Request, only requests
for subscription additions or deletions (or if you are not receiving an
intact copy).  All other correspondence should be directed to the editor
at ROB_G@Delphi.COM.

Many thanks to Bob Caron for setting this service up for us!

P.S.:  Please be sure to include your Email address in the text of your
request message, it makes adding it to the list much easier.  Thanks!


@endnode
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
@node P1-6 "AR InfoFile"
@toc "menu"

/// SYSOPS BEWARE!  AR InfoFile
    ---------------------------
    Author Unknown


[Editor's Note:  This file was found floating around FidoNet recently.
It may or may not be legit, but given its nature, I thought it was worth
printing.]


No Privacy Or Safety For Sysops
Joe Sysop @ 1:something/something

I received the call at my second job..."This is Detective X of the
Sheriff's Office...we need you to come home.  We're serving you with
a search warrant."

I had been arrested several days earlier, as a piece of computer
equipment that I had thought salvage was found to be stolen.  With
the property now retrieved, I thought that was the end of it, I would
go to court, and once I told my side of it, it would all be over.

Not so...despite the thoughts of how easy it would be, I soon found
out some harsh details, and in writing this, warn you, sysops and
users alike, that more may happen than you think.  The criminal
element of this matter is not the important part; it is what has
happened after that which is of concern to all.

I came home to discover several police vehicles, marked and unmarked,
in front of my home, and every piece of electronic equipment I had,
computer and not, strewn across the house.  I was taken into my own
room to identify my own computer, and found a police officer, not a
sheriff, downloading my hard drive into a Bernoulli box.  I was
interrogated more about the initial arrest, and responded...but then,
the questions took another turn.

"Who is your overseas connection?"  "Who is it in Washington State
that is your contact?"  "We found a 'hacking' program on your hard
drive...want to tell us about it?"  "What do you charge people to use
your system?"  "What kind of pornography do you have for download?
"Do you make it available for children?"  "Do you have any porno of
kids?"

I've run a BBS for two years, and other than the typical shareware
violation which comes about from not having the money immediately,
there was nothing illegal being run on my system.  If anything
questionable was done, it was on one of the two other non-BBS
systems...but illegal activity on-line is not something I engage in.

While I was being questioned, I saw all my computer systems being
carried out the door, including the BBS.  I was now under
investigation, I was told, but no one would tell me what my BBS had
to do with that investigation.

Later, a friend called to let me know that his phone records had been
pulled up for the last six months...he had been notified by a law
enforcement source of someone investigating him.  The connection
between us was that of a daily poll to his BBS...and, having once
worked extensively with phone systems, I notice some tell-tale noises
on my voice-line.

To date, I am only charged with the initial crime...nothing has come
out of the confiscation of my BBS, or the software on board.  Yet
still, my BBS is in police custody, for a matter being investigated
by the Sheriff's Office.  Unlike some places, the Police and Sheriff's
here are not a joint police force...so what crime is the Police
investigating me for?  In the court records, where the investigation
report is in public view, no mention is made of the police officer
assisting the Sheriff.

Am I a victim of Operation Sundevil?  Is it an overactive and overly
zealous local cop, thinking he can make it big by 'breaking' this
bizarre 'international modem conspiracy' that's been concocted?  And
now...?

The search warrant itself is interesting; fourteen specific items are
being sought, none of which were located at home or in storage---yet
there are eight 'general' listings which served to give enough
latitude for everything else.

"Any and all telephones with memory devices or speed dialers..."
"Computers, CPUs, etc, together with peripheral equipment, such as
    keyboards..."
"Any and all computer or data processing software..."
"Records or documents in any format relating to theft of telephone or
    communications services, or unauthorized access to computer,
    electronic or voice mail systems..."
"Any computer or data processing literature..."
"Proof of occupancy..."
"Any confirmation or purchase order numbers reflecting use of credit
    cards or credit services..."
"Neutralize and seize any degaussing equipment..."

Suffice to say, this is a massive fishing expedition.  There has been
some bad blood between the particular police officer and myself;
indeed, most of the network locally, when he refused to investigate a
hacker locally, and said that our evidence was insufficient...even
after he had spoken to the hacker and was _told_ an admission of
guilt by the person!

The word is out locally, however, it needs to go out everywhere...

Judges and magistrates who issue search warrants are gullible for the
type of technobabble that anyone can spring on them.  Warrants are
issued because the judges do not know any better, and because the
officer can buffalo the judge into including things not even
marginally related.

The entirety and enormity of the Steve Jackson Games raid hit home
to me...

NO ONE IS SAFE.  Even if you are completely and totally innocent,
even if you have never even had so much as a parking ticket, your
entire computer system can be confiscated as 'evidence' SIMPLY
BECAUSE YOU HAVE ONE.

On the side, I've begun investigating...interestingly, when a
computer has been located at the site of an arrest, the local
authorities seem to confiscate them as evidence.  It is of no concern
that the crime is outstanding traffic tickets or Murder One...the
fact that a suspect has a computer gives the police the opportunity
to search it for 'evidence' of more crimes.

If you have a computer, the assumption is that it is used for some
form of criminal activity.  That's it...that's the story.  Your
system will be downloaded and searched by the police.  Your private
mail will be read; your programs will be searched; any writing you
do will be held against you.

In my own case, my brother sent me the formula for black powder
(gunpowder) through the Internet several years ago, and it sits in
archived old mail on my drive...I'm waiting to see what I get charged
with now...

What can be done?  I'm posting this to the community at large...first
to see that everyone protects themselves; second to see if anyone can
assist.  I have been in contact with the Electronic Frontier
Foundation, and my criminal attorney is to be in touch with them.

No, by assistance, I mean to ask for advice to others as well...to
protect the privacy of electronic mail, to frustrate attempts to
breach that privacy, and get rid of the secret-police tactics of the
'fishing expedition' method of police investigations.

The future is now, people...even the innocent are no longer safe from
the police.  The next step is to assume that if a modem tone is heard
on the phone that is an indication of illegal activity...and into
your home they will go.

In the meantime, I sit at home, waiting under house arrest...no one
calls because the phone is tapped, and messages go out from this
cobbled-together backup computer only in compressed bundles to
frustrate them even more.  The case drags on through the courts, and
as much as a year will go by before I can get my computer systems
back from the 'evidence' locker...'evidence' which has _nothing_ to
do with the actual charges against me.

And, at anytime, I could be you.  Think about it.



@endnode
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
@node P1-7 "SHI News"
@toc "menu"

/// SHI News:  THREE DATA SECURITY PRIZES IN 1992
    ---------------------------------------------
    By Michael Arends

   
Our work at Safe Hex International has been widely recognized in Europe by
the public.  In 1992 "SHI" was presented with awards three times for our
worldwide virus work:

The first award was presented on February 29th by the Danish computer
trade organization (i. e. the PC organizations). The prize was given at
the Danish "Dataforening's",(Data-society's) annual safety conference at
the SAS Hotel Scandinavian.

The second award was presented on March 21st at the annual Amiga Expo in 
Copenhagen, Denmark.

The third award was presented on May 1st by AmiCon in Stockholm, Sweden,
and was given for our worldwide virus work too and of course we are very,
pleased that our work has been recognized and appreciated. 


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


WHAT CAN ONE DO?

We at Safe Hex International are so stubborn that we will no longer
accept a "polluted" data environment. The beginning of our organization
was when we began to collect computer viruses.

· We sent them to various clever programmers around the world who then made 
  virus killers. Since then, our project has torn ahead so fast that we can 
  hardly keep up with the progress. Here are just a few of the new develop-
  ments:

· We  write articles for those magazines which do not publish enough
  information on data security. For example, several American magazines
  are two years out of date on this matter.

· We provide background material for the magazines so that their articles
  are more up to date.

· We have made contact with radio and TV, eg, our first programme on our
  work on data security and was transmitted by Danish local radio, and
  the national TV channel, TV2.

· We have  established a "Virus Test Centre" where all viruses are tested
  on all the virus killers and reports of these tests are published.

· We have the world's largest collection of Amiga viruses. These viruses
  are sent to us by our members.

· We have an "ideas bank" where programmers in our group can get info and
  ideas for smart new virus test methods.

· We are in the process of constructing a standard program which can recog-
  nise all Amiga viruses when it is used as a sub-program of other programs.

· We are in the process of making a special virus program which can automa-
  tically control viruses on "Bulletin Boards". These boards are probably
  the source  of 80% of the virus spread we have today. It is therefore
  very important that something is done.



@endnode
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
@node P1-8 "The Emulation Examiner"
@toc "menu"

/// The Emulation Examiner
    ----------------------
    By Jason Compton
    (jcompton@mlinknet.uucp)



Among the many talents of the Amiga lies in the ability to emulate pretty
much any computer on the market, provided someone wants to sit down and
develop a hardware or software or both method way of doing it.  To say I 
have an avid interest in this is sort of exaggerating.  I'm obsessed with 
it, and have done my best to find out as much as I can about just how well 
all of it works.  Believe it or not, some of it is actually useful, 
practical, and cost-effective.  I'll examine the lowest-cost options for 
emulation I know of:  Questronix's A64 Package and three software-only 
IBM emulators.

The A64 Package is a good place to start.  It is a Shareware product, with 
the approximately $40 registration fee getting you a better version and a 
hardware interface which plugs into the parallel port and gives you full 
support to 64 daisy-chainable peripherals on A500s and 2000s (the 3000, and 
presumably the 4000, has a bus that's just too fast for the 64.)  The 
software comes as two disks, one with the program, the other with the 
detailed documentation and utility programs, which allow for 64-Amiga 
copying, 64 DOS options, and optimization and 680x0 conversion of "frozen" 
A64 programs. It also provides for usage of real 64 ROMs (the package comes 
with special kernal and BASIC rom files written by Questronix), access to 
the PRT: device (assuming you have a parallel-port multiplexer or forego 
the hardware interface for a time), partial serial emulation (I've only 
been able to connect at 1200 baud), and joystick port access.  The package 
is great if you want to stroll down memory lane, switch some files between 
the 64 and Amiga, maybe use an old 64 program you haven't been able to use 
in a while, but it doesn't replace the real thing.  First off, it's rather 
slow on a stock Amiga, and while it supports the 68010-030, there is no 
word in the documentation about the 68040.  In all fairness, it runs near 
100% on my 68020/14, but that's not all of it.  A64 doesn't support most 
fast loaders, so most of your games are out.  The games that don't fall 
under this category probably won't work very well, because while A64 
supports sprites, it has a very difficult time with raster interrupts. 
This causes a lot of problems, and pretty much no graphic demos will work 
properly.  There is sound emulation present, but you're pretty much better 
off without (ever heard a PC speaker? This is a notch above.) For free (or
for $40 for the emulator), who's complaining? It doesn't promise anything 
it can't deliver, and is perfectly well suited for any 64 program which 
doesn't want to use a raster interrupt. 

Now, on to the IBM software-based emulators, one commercial, one shareware, 
and one with a status I'm really not sure of.  I'll begin with that one to 
get it out of the way:  Amiga Transformer, a 286-emulating program which is 
really only worth mention as a curiosity, and because it emulates a 286.  
It takes over the system completely and irreversibly (well, you can reset, 
but you know what I mean), is 2.0 unfriendly, monochrome only, and provides 
no port emulation that I'm aware of.  Its one redeeming quality might be 
that you can use 4 floppy drives with built-in MS-DOS emulation, but that's 
a questionable plus.  Since the release date on it states 1988 and I've 
never heard of it being offered for sale or as Shareware, I'm completely in
the dark as to its status. But that's probably a good thing, as it's mainly 
just going to come in handy if you're DYING to see an A:> prompt.

Next, onto the commercial product:  CrossPC, available with Consultron's 
newer CrossDOS programs. Formerly the Shareware emulator IBeM, this program 
emulates an 8088 with CGA.  As IBeM, it was a real pain getting drives to 
work with this, as you needed to reassign them in mountlists with a CrossDOS 
or similar filesystem, etc. etc... now that it's included with CrossDOS, I 
believe things have gotten a bit simpler.  To my knowledge, the CGA
emulation is faithful enough (how tough can it be, it's CGA).  I am unsure 
as to how it handles ports.  I do know that the original IBeM had an 
enhanced version for processors above the 68000, which is basically a must 
(I'll explain at the end of the article).  If you're going to buy CrossDOS,
you may as well give CrossPC a look, but CrossPC isn't worth the full price
alone...but will run XT programs that don't make intense BIOS calls (again,
I'll explain later) with respectable faithfulness.

Finally, the flagship of the software IBM emulators: the Shareware-prolific 
Chris Hames' PC-Task.  With the advent of V2.0 of his 8088 emulator, Hames 
added EGA and VGA emulation to his program (which on AGA machines can be 
used as a full 256 color VGA screen).  While I've found that GIF viewers 
don't want to touch the EGA emulation (not enough video RAM allocated by 
PC-Task for EGA), the VGA is real enough, in the video modes my 2000 gets 
me for the program.  PC-Task supports two floppy drives with its own MS-DOS
reading system, as well as supporting up to two Bridgeboard PC hard drive 
files, which to my knowledge is unique among software emulators.  PC-Task 
enables you to choose the task priority for the program when it is both 
elected and unselected.  It provides serial and parallel ports for the 
emulation, and is overall the best software-based PC emulator available.

Hames' shareware pitch is to disable all disk writing until you pay him 
$40, which is really sort of reasonable considering surplus supplies of XT 
Bridgeboards are going for about $50, with only a 360k 5.25 drive available 
to the Bridgeboard.

Now it's time to point out some drawbacks that all of these PC emulators 
share.  First, and most obviously, they are limited by speed.  It's not the 
easiest thing in the world making a Motorola chip want to be an 8088, so a 
lot of effort goes into doing it.  For instance, I've found that on a 68000 
machine, a PC emulator gets somewhere near .5 mhz.  That's really, really, 
really slow.  A 68030/25 should have no problem getting the 4.77 mhz of an 
8088, and then some, though, based on the improvement I get on my '020/14.  
BIOS support is another issue to consider: any program that wants to take a 
look at the PC's BIOS is going to be in for a big surprise, because these 
emulators seem to have enough to get by, and that's about all.  I have only 
been able to get one system information program to work on these emulators, 
and it was a very old one which I can no longer find (but it got me the 
speed reading).  Memory is another consideration: on a 1 meg Amiga, you can 
get somewhere near 500k of memory on an emulator, which isn't a whole lot. 
Unfortunately, as much memory as you may have, you'll only get up to 704k 
before the emulator can't support any more... of course, for an XT program, 
that shouldn't be a problem.  But there will be no XMS available, ever.  
Then, of course, should you ever get really involved with a nice emulation 
system, say a 4000 running PC-Task in VGA, you won't get niceties like a 
joystick or sound card...(PC-Task and I believe CrossPC do provide mouse 
emulation, however).  In all, if you're not planning to be a power-PC user 
(no pun intended), going with a software-based emulator might just be 
enough for you.  In the future, I'll cover what I know of IBM hardware 
emulation (doing my best not to repeat the work of Dave Johnson's 
AmigaWorld article on hardware emulation...), Mac emulation, and anything 
else that happens to come up with any remote focus on whatever I have been 
or will talk about.  Please send me mail with your questions, comments, 
experiences, etc. with emulators.  Amiga Report willing, we'll meet again 
soon...



@endnode
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
@node P1-9 "Atari Falcon030"
@toc "menu"

/// The Atari Falcon030:  A Closer Look
    -----------------------------------
    By Robert Glover



You may be asking, "Why are you reviewing an Atari computer in an Amiga
magazine?"  Good question. And I have two [hopefully] good reasons for you.
First, Atari's [not-so] new Falcon030 is considered to be a challenger to
the Amiga 1200, and secondly, because I'm an ex-Atari owner.  As you may
recall, I sold off all of my Atari equipment and bought an Amiga 1200 back
in January, after the Falcon had been delayed several times.  (Its original
release date was September, 1992).  It seemed only natural to take a look
at the machine I had intended to purchase, when I decided it was time to
move on.  Now I'll take a closer look and decide if I made the right
decision...

The Atari Falcon030 looks almost exactly like one of its predecesors, the
1040STE.  The "classic" ST case has lived on, the only updates being a gray
keyboard (as opposed to white on earlier machines) and a rainbow-colored
name plate.  Aside from that, the machine looks identical to a 1040STE.
The STE's ANALOG joystick ports are on the left side of the machine, before
the cartridge and MIDI ports.  Across the back (in no particular order) are
the printer port, serial (DB9), LAN (AppleTalk style mini-DIN), power
connector, power switch, SCSI-2 (Apple mini-connector), DSP, headphones,
microphone (stereo input), video, TV.  On the right side of the machine is
the high density floppy disk drive.  Underneath, in typical 1040STE fashion
are the mouse and joystick ports.  This is where they have been located
since the 1040ST's debut in 1986.  Why Atari is still placing these ports
in such an awkward position is beyond me.

The Falcon030 is available in four variations -- 1 meg of RAM and no hard
drive, 4 meg of RAM and no hard drive, 4 meg of RAM and an 80 meg hard
drive, and 14 meg of RAM and an 80 meg hard drive.  Retail prices range
from $799 to $1899.  Actual street price is generally $100-200 less.

The Falcon's maximum memory capability is 14 meg.  Unlike the Amiga, the
Falcon has no specific video (Chip) RAM.  All memory can be used as either
system or Chip memory.  There is no true "Fast RAM" in the Falcon. In
fact, the Falcon's memory bandwidth is only 16-bit.  But to make up for
it, the CPU can fetch twice as much memory per cycle, so in effect, there
is no loss of speed. This is another design mystery. Furthermore, there are
only three possible memory configurations -- 1 meg, 4 meg or 14 meg.  And
the only way to upgrade is through Atari's custom memory boards.  There are
reportedly one or two third party boards allowing the use of conventional
SIMMs, but the memory configuration limitations remain.  This is another
design mystery.  The original ST and STE line was limited to 4 meg by the
design of its MMU (Memory Management Unit).  The Falcon's MMU is limited
to a max of 14 meg.  The "missing" 2 meg are set aside for hardware
locations, OS space, and internal expansion work-area.

Like the Amiga 1200, the Falcon's internal hard drive must be a 2.5" IDE
unit. The machine has been shipping with a Conner 2088, 80 meg drive, which
is adequate for most users.  Another option is to connect an external SCSI
or SCSI-2 hard drive, since the machine has SCSI-2 built-in, a nice
standard feature, missing from the A1200.

Since the Atari ST line was introduced in 1985, the operating system has
been TOS (The Operating System) and GEM (Graphics Environment Manager).
Shortly after the ST's birth, Digital Research, the makers of GEM, were
sued by Apple.  (Remember the "Look & Feel" debate?).  DRI caved in and
rewrote GEM.  GEM II, its successor, was awful.  Fortunately, Atari was not
required to use GEM II.  But unfortunately, it meant DRI would do no more
updates to the original GEM.  So GEM has remained much the same, until just
a few years ago, when Atari started improving on GEM itself.

GEM is, as its name implies, a graphical user interface.  It is much like
the Macintosh or Amiga in operation.  Disk drives are represented by filing
cabinets, double clicking on one of them will open a window with icons
representing programs and data.  Drop-down menus contain various options,
from sorting, viewing as text or icons, screen mode preferences, etc.  The
Falcon's version of TOS (which actually contains GEM) is 4.04.  This newest
version has many, many new enhancements to improve the look and function of
the OS.  Windows now have a shaded 3D look, their color may be customized
by the user.  Backdrop patterns may be edited directly from options in the
drop-down menus.  Icons may be up to 16 colors, and be "animated" in the
same way as on the Amiga.  However, icon size is limited to 32 x 32 pixels.

My biggest beef with the Falcon, and honestly, all machines before it, is
the fact that many of the drawing routines in GEM are SLOW.  I mean REALLY
slow.  Using GEM on an 8 MHz ST is painful once you realize how slowly
windows and menus are drawn and erased.  But in 1986, software screen
accelerators appeared.  These programs intercepted calls to various drawing
routines and patched in their own, much faster ones.  The result was a
dramatic increase in responsiveness.  Imagine adding a bottle of Nitrous
Oxide to your 1984 Ford Escort.  It made that much of a difference.

The problem is, even though the Falcon has been available since January
overseas, and since June here in the States, there are no widely
available screen accelerators that will run in the Falcon's new graphics
modes.  So the machine feels much slower than it actually is.  It's not
unusable, but compared to my Amiga 1200, it's damn annoying.

The Falcon ships with several software packages.  The standard single-
tasking TOS 4.04 is in ROM, but a multitasking kernal called MultiTOS is
included as a soft-loaded extra.  MultiTOS is a completely preemtive
multitasking OS with adaptive prioritization, just like the Amiga.  It
also features hardware memory protection.  It has two problems right now...
First, since there are no screen accelerators yet, loading MultiTOS only
slows the system down further.  Secondly, using it without memory
protection will eat 800K of RAM.  Enabling memory protection will eat
another 800K.  So on a 4 meg machine, MultiTOS is nearly useless, since
you have a little more than 1 meg free after booting.

Atari Works is a really nice integrated business package featuring a word
processor, spreadsheet and database (anybody see the similarity to
Microsoft Works??).  It's a top-notch package, probably the best thing to
ever come out of Atari in terms of software.  SpeedoGDOS is a new version
of the old GDOS (Graphical Device Operating System).  It's one of GEM's
greatest assets, but has been the bane of most Atari users' existence, due
to difficulty of setup and use.  SpeedoGDOS adds what was missing from GEM
when DRI died -- scalable fonts and virtual device drivers.  SpeedoGDOS
supports Bitstream fonts for compatibility, as well as older GDOS fonts
from years past.  Lastly, there is a nice little D2D (Direct to Disk)
recording program that uses the machine's built-in DSP to record directly
to the hard disk at rates of up to 50 kHz in 16-bit stereo.  There are
four tracks, allowing for tapeless CD quality recording with non-
destructive editing.

The DSP is the Falcon's greatest asset.  The Amiga and Atari have been
similar in that the're niche machines.  The Amiga's niche is animation and
video.  The ST has always been a music machine, primarilty due to its
built-in MIDI ports.  Now, with the addition of a Motorola 56001 DSP, many
music studios will use the machine for direct to disk recording, and for
editing and manipulation of music tracks.  Aside from the DSP, the Falcon
has two other sound systems.  The original Yamaha PSG (Programmable
Sound Generator) is a three-voice chip (the same as in the old TI99/4A)
is there for compatibility with older ST software, and because it pulls
double duty as a floppy disk controller and passes data to the printer
port.  There is also a very nice DMA sound engine which features 8-bit PCM
(Pulse Code Modulation), and can play samples back at rates up to 50 kHz.
Sound quality from is actually slightly better than the Amiga's Paula chip,
but the DMA setup cannot manipulate sounds without processor intervention.
 This means that playing a MOD file at 50 kHz will bring an 8 MHz 68000 to
its knees, and a 16 MHz 68000 will run at half speed.  But with the DSP,
that won't make much difference once some DSP-based MOD players are
available.

Which brings us to why a DSP is so neat.  The DSP in the Falcon is rated
at 16 MIPS (Million Instructions Per Second) and 96 MOPS (Million Operations
Per Second).  With this kind of power, programs that are written to use the
DSP will run extremely fast, and take a lot of load off of the CPU.  For
example, the DSP can act as an extremely fast FPU (Floating Point Unit).  A
good example here is Fractal Generation.  On my A1200 with a 25 MHz 68882,
it took about three minutes to generate one 250x250, 256 color fractal.  On
the Falcon using the DSP, it was generating them about five per second.

Now that's FAST.  Similarly, a DSP-based MOD player would take all of the
load off of the CPU.  The DSP could be used to decompress JPEG files, and
could do it in maybe a second or two for even the larges JPEGs.

The Falcon's graphics capability is finally up to that of current PC's, and
even approaching that of AGA Amigas.  You still get all of the old ST 
resolutions -- 320x200 in 16 colors, 640x200 in 4 colors, 640x400 in 2
colors.  But now you have the new modes, of which there are two types:  VGA
or Broadcast (NTSC).  The VGA modes are 640 or 320 by 240 or 480.  The x240
modes use line doubling).  These modes are available in up to 256 colors.
The Broadcast modes are 640 or 320 by 200 or 400 (the x400 modes are
interlaced).  These modes are available in up to 256 colors, or in "True
Color" mode.  True Color is the Falcon's maximum color setting -- 65,536
colors on screen with no palette -- only 65,536 colors are available.
Compare that to AGA's HAM8 mode -- 262,144 colors on screen out of a
palette of 16.7 million.  That sounds like a dramatic difference, and it
is.  We compared some JPEGs rendered in equivelent resolutions in HAM8
on my A1200 and in True Color on the Falcon, and compared them side by side,
both on NEC 3D monitors.  There were noticable color swirls in some areas
where shading is important (skin tones on the face of a woman for example).
True color is nice, but it's not going to compare to a 24-bit palette.
All NTSC modes can be overscanned to 20% of their horizontal and vertical
dimensions.  VGA modes can be overscanned, but rather than having a larger
picture, the screen scrolls virtually.  It's also worth noting that there
are freeware hacks that allow a really wild NTSC resolution of 1600x600
(interlaced) in 16 colors, and another that lets you adjust the overscan
beyond VGA's 800x600.  Keep in mind that the number of colors and scan rate
affect the amount of overscan available.

Just how expandable is the Falcon?  Well, that remains to be seen.  The
machine includes two internal expansion connectors.  One is a 16-bit
bus designed with a 386SX emulator in mind, and the other is the RAM
expansion connector.  The 16-bit limitations of these slots probably will
not slow down hardware developers too much, but it will prove a difficult
job when it comes to adding faster CPU's and some true 32-bit Fast RAM.
One drawback of all past Atari's, and will no doubt be true in the case of
the Falcon, is that accelerators have always been expensive.  A 68030 board
for the Mega STE, a 16 MHz 68000, is about $600.  A similar board for the
A1200 is $400 or less, and we have several to choose from.  There is only
one for the Mega STE, and if memory serves, the developer that makes it is
about to go under.  There are rumors of a fast 030 board in Europe for
under $200, but that's with no CPU.  No other details are available.

Is the Falcon easy to use?  Absolutely!  I was a little overwhelmed
when I got my A1200.  There are so many things to learn in AmigaDOS that
simply aren't present in TOS:  Shared libraries, datatypes, device drivers,
monitor drivers, startup-sequences, etc.  On the Falcon, all you do is place
your autoboot (WBStartup Drawer) programs in a folder called "AUTO" on your
main hard disk partition (or boot floppy) and place any desk accessories
(like on the Mac) in your root directory, and you're ready to go.

How does the Falcon compare to the Amiga 1200?  I'll have to admit some
bias here, having owned an A1200 for nearly eight months.  I much prefer
my Amiga 1200.  The operating system is superior, the multitasking is top-
notch, and the software support is much better.  The Falcon has been
available in Europe since January, yet there is only ONE program that we
know of that will load JPEG image files and support the Falcon's video
modes -- True Paint from HiSoft -- and it's so bug-ridden that the program
is virtually unusable.  There are lots of demos and screen hacks, but no
serious Falcon-specific software is available yet, aside from music
software.

The only Falcon games are direct ports of IBM games using cheesy 320x200
256-color graphics.  In time, I'm sure the Falcon will have equivelents of
ADPro, ImageFX, DPaint IV, and so on, but until then, Falcon owners will
feel frustrated when they see an AGA Amiga in operation.

Would I buy one?  If I had the money to support two computer systems, yes.
Mostly because I like being in on the new stuff.  I like learning as and
growing with the machine.  But until the currently supply of Falcons with
4 meg of RAM and a hard drive are supplemented by the 1 meg/no hard drive
version, I'll wait.  It's far more cost-effective to buy the base model
and add your own hard drive (especially when you can add an external SCSI
model that's larger and cheaper than an internal IDE unit), and to buy a
third-party memory board.  I can pick up some used 4 meg SIMMs on Usenet
a lot cheaper than buying one of Atari's boards.  So, for about $1500, I
could have a Falcon with 14 meg of RAM and an external 240 meg hard drive,
or an internal 120 meg unit.  But unless I come into some serious money,
I'd rather put that $1500 toward an Amiga 4000.

The Falcon is a really neat machine, for a natural evolution of the ST
line.  But it just cannot compare to an AGA-based Amiga.  The Falcon's
only real advantage at this point is the DSP.  But since we all know
there will be DSP-based Amigas in the next six to eight months, we can
relax.  It'll take Atari at least that long to make enough money off of its
new Jaguar video game system to be able to market the Falcon in the manner
in which they promised.

One final note.  Let's say you want to buy a Falcon, but you have no dealer
close by.  So you decide to mail order it.  WRONG.  You can't.  Atari has
completely prohibited the sale of Falcons by mail.  That also includes
calling up a legit retail dealer and having him ship it to you.  No can do.
You have two choices:  Either drive to your closest dealer (my closest
Atari dealer is 200 miles away) and buy it, or you will have to fill out a
special form and send it to Atari to be completed and approved, then
sent to the dealer, authorizing him to sell you one by mail.  Complicated,
isn't it?  That's typical of Atari's practices.  It's also the most
assanine things I've ever seen.  Sure, they want to keep what few dealers
they have left from dropping support due to cutthroat mail order prices,
but at the same time, the majority of the US population is nowhere near
a dealer.  That would explain why Falcons are not selling that well.

With that said, I'll close up.  I'll admit that I have a certain bias
toward my A1200, but I've also tried to be as fair as possible in covering
the Falcon's capabilities and limitations.  To answer the question I posed
at the start of this review, yes, I made the right decision to leave Atari
and buy an Amiga.



@endnode
***************************************************************************
  
@node P4-1 "Delphi"
@toc "menu"

/// Delphi:  It's Getting Better All The Time!
    ------------------------------------------


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


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

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

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

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

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

                          Try DELPHI for $1 an hour!

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

                  DELPHI - It's getting better all the time!


@endnode
***************************************************************************

@node P1-10 "Binary Mathematics"
@toc "menu"

/// Binary Mathematics                 Just what you never wanted to know!
    ------------------
    By Mike Troxell


                            BINARY MATHEMATICS
                              (or 1 + 1 = 3)



I know most people say they never want to see another math book (or math
article in this case) after they finish High School. I said the same thing.
So why an article on Binary? Well, first of all, computers use the binary
number system to operate, so if you are really interested in computers, you
will want to at least learn the basics of the binary system sooner or
later.  Second, most of my friends think I should be locked up when I tell
them this, but binary math is really fun once you get the used to it.
Make a bet with your friends that you can prove that 1 + 1 =3.  Just be
sure and forget to tell them what number base you are working in. Also,
once you learn a little about the binary number system, you can start
playing around with logic gates and learn exactly what makes a computer
capable of making logic decisions. 

Okay, so you're not excited about reading a dull article on math. Read the
article anyway. If you understand the title (1+1=3) then you're probably
saying to yourself that you already know enough about binary. Humor me.
Read the article anyway. If enough people are interested, I'd like to do
a series of articles on logic gates (AND, OR, NAND, NOR, XOR), truth tables 
and designing circuits with logic gates. 

We normally use base 10 (0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,ect.). Why? Probably 
because we have ten fingers and ten toes. If humans were all born with 8 
fingers and 8 toes, we would probably be counting in base 8. Computers 
(on the other hand?) have two states, on and off / 0 or 1, so they use 
binary (base 2). When we count in base 10, the first place represents 1's, 
the second place 10's, the third place 100's and so on so that 147 means 7 
1's, 4 10's and 1 100. In binary all you have is 0 and 1. Each place in a 
binary number represents the previous number times 2. The binary table
looks something like this:


1 2 4 8 16 32 64 128 256 512 1024 2048 4096 ..............

only you count from right to left so it would really look like

......4096, 2048, 1024, 512, 256, 128, 64, 32, 16, 8, 4, 2, 1

A binary number is either on or off, either 1 or 0. If the numbers place 
has a 1 in it then it represents the values of that place. If there is a 
0 then it represents, you got it, 0. So the binary 1010 represents 10 
because 

1  0  1  0 
8  0  2  0  

As you can see, the first 1 is in the 8's place (>1<010) so it represents 
an 8, the first 0 is in the 4's place (1>0<10) but since it is a 0 (off) 
then the 4's place has a value of 0, the second 1 is in the 2's column 
(10>1<0) so it represents a 2 and the second 0 is in the 1's column 
(101>0<) so it is a 0. This gives you a 8+0+2+0=10. It's really a very 
simple and logical system once you get used to it. Try working a few of 
these problems out. I'll give you the answer in base 10. The easiest way 
to work them is to draw a binary table out at the top of the page like the 
one in the article (.....32, 16, 8, 4, 2, 1)

  101   = 5
  110   = 6
 1010   = 10
 1100   = 12
10110   = 22
11111   = 31

[I'm working these problems out without a calculator, so if anyone finds an 
error, just remember -- I'm just a lowly writer. Rob's the editor.]   :)

[Editor's Note:  Gee, thanks Mike!]

I mentioned earlier that I would like to do a series of articles on Logic 
Gates and designing simple circuits with Logic Gates.  If anyone is 
interested, please drop me a note at one of my Email addresses listed at
the beginning of the magazine, or send it to the editor.  Rob will pass
it onto me.


@endnode
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
@node P1-11 "On Comm-on Ground"
@toc "menu"

/// On Comm-on Ground - Shareware Communication Programs
    ----------------------------------------------------
    By Marcus J. Albers
    (malbers@ns.ccsn.edu)


Ever since I got my modem, I have been on a never ending search of the Net
for the ULTIMATE communication program.  These, for those of you who do not
use modems, are programs that emulate terminals for easy access to BBS's
and InterNet systems.  Some are really good, some are VERY bad.  Here is
a quick rundown of ones that I have used.  As always, all of these lovely
programs can be found somewhere on the Net.
 
*** AmigaTerm ***
 
ACK!  This is the first terminal program (disease?) that I was presented
with, for this was the one that was packaged with my 1680 Commodore modem.
It was good for looking around the Net, but that was about all.  It doesn't
support a 24 line screen, which will often mess up Unix programs like the
Pico text editor that utilizes the entire screen.  As for downloading
programs, the supplied X-modem transfer protocal is a very old and error-
ridded method of downloading.  Do not consider going away from the computer
while downloading a large file, because X-modem seems to have to be watched
constantly, to restart it when to many errors have accumulated.  An over-all
old comm program.  Good to start with, but not that good.
 
*** Hand Shake ***
 
This is an excellent program if you need *complete* emulation of a VT-xxx
terminal.  It does excellent emulation of VT-100, 102, and 220 terminals,
which most general BBS's and Net systems are based around.  I took a look
at this program when I found that the program that I was using wouldn't
send the correct codes when the function keys were pressed.  This program
is a very slick implementation of all features of the VT terminals.  It is
small memory wise, and multi-tasks most excellently, although one should
avoid attempting to have two comm programs running at the same time.  The
modem will send half the info to one and the other half to the other and
neither gets anything done.  One of the neat features of Hand Shake that
I like is the option of making it a half-height interlaced screen, making
it possible to see the upper half of your Workbench (or whatever program
you happen to have running at the same time) screen.  A nice program, which
for downloading, utilizes something called xpr libraries.  These libraries
are for using any transfer protocal that you wish with a program that
supports them.  This way, if you can find the current xprz.library, you can
use Z-modem transfer with Hand Shake.  Very nice feature.
 
*** NComm ***
 
This was the first REAL comm program that I used.  I got it off of the Fred
Fish CD-ROM that I have, so didn't have to rely on the X-modem transfer of
AmigaTerm (whew!).  It is a nice comm program, with a number of features,
as well as a number of versions, the most current being 2.0.  It utilizes
the xpr libraries for performing X-modem, Y-modem, Z-modem, and Kermit
transfers.  The Z-modem is, by far, the best transfer protocal that there
is currently.  Unfortunately, when I was running NComm, I was unable to get
Z-modem to work correctly.  This may have been a problem with the version
of the library, or NComm itself, I don't know.  NComm supports macro keys,
also.  This is done by programing the function keys (F1-F10) to sned a
string of characters each time that they are pressed.  I believe it also
used the shift and control keys in combination with the function keys to
allow for up to 30 different macros.  These are good for passwords and
forum names on BBS's.  You know, the things that you wish someone could
remember for you.  Unfortunately, the fact that NComm doesn't support a
non-interlaced 24 line display, and the non-functioning Z-modem, forced me
to graze greener pastures.

[Editor's Note:  NComm v2.0 will come promote to DBLNTSC, which is a non-
interlaced 48 line display, plus a DBLNTSC 24-line display on AGA machines.
Furthermore, it is unknown if there will ever be an update to NComm, as
the Email address to the author is no longer in service.  I would very
much like to see an AGA-capable update, user-specified screen fonts, and
a built-in Zmodem (in addition to XPR libraries) for some systems that
don't like the XPR Zmodem.  NComm is, in my opinion, the best terminal
program... it does everything I want, but it just doesn't look very nice
compared to Term v3.4.]

 
*** Jr-Comm ***
 
The gem at the bottom of the shareware well!  This is the comm program that
I swear by.  It has its own internal X, Y, and Z modem transfer protocals,
which work like a charm.  It also saves me the trouble of making room on
my Workbench diskettes for xpr libraries.  It supports up to 40 macro keys,
which still isn't enough for me, but it suits me fine.  It supports a 24
line non-interlaced display, thus not messing up my Pico screens.  It has
what is called a scroll-back buffer, which is a nice little device that
allows you to look at what has been sent to the screen in a buffer that is
as large as 100k, or as small as 8k, depending on your memory constrictions.
It supports baud rates up to 57.6kbps, an option that I probably won't have
to worry to much about in the near future, being I am still trying to get
the money for 2400bps.  It supports VT-100, VT-102, SkyPix, IBM-mono,
IBM-colour, TTY, and Amiga colour terminal types, although for VT-100 and
VT-102 emulation, it will not send the correct function key codes.  A small
price to pay for the vast usefulness of this comm program.  There is an
update to this called Terminus, which has been nearly 2 years in the making.
I dabbled with the demo of this progam, and was not overly impressed with
the changes.  The scroll-back buffer is now in a window instead of on
another screen.  Arexx support has been added, as well as its own simple
scripting language for those of us without Arexx.  And a neat little beeping
tune now tells you when you have connected to you host, remenicent of the
old IBM beep speaker (spending to much time next to the MS-DOG, eh
Mr. Radigan?).  I would personally have liked to see an IFF file support
option for this sound, as well as the beep.  Oh, well.  All in all, not much
of an improvement over JrComm for what I would want to use it for, but to
others, it may be worth the $40 registration fee.
 
That wraps it up for comm programs this week.  There are many more on the
Net, a lot are 2.x compatible, or run only under WB 2.x.  These are simply
the ones that I have used.



@endnode
***************************************************************************
@node P4-2 "Portal"
@toc "menu"

/// Portal:  A Great Place For Amiga Users
    --------------------------------------



                   Portal Communications' Amiga Zone

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

The Portal Online System is the home of acclaimed Amiga Zone, which was
formerly on the People/Link System.  Plink went out of business in May,
1991 and The Amiga Zone's staff moved to Portal the next day. The Zone has
just celebrated its second anniversary on Portal. The Amiga press raves
about The Amiga Zone, when compared to its competition.

If you live in the San Jose, CA area, then you can dial Portal directly. If
you live elsewhere, you can reach Portal through any SprintNet (formerly
Telenet) indial anywhere in the USA or through Tymnet from anywhere in
North America.  If you have an account on another Internet-connected
system, you can connect to Portal using the UNIX Telnet programs, from
anywhere in the industrialized world.  Delphi and BIX users can now Telnet
into Portal for a flat $19.95 a month, with *unlimited* use.

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

 - Over 1.5 GIGabytes of Amiga-specific files, online, 24 hours a day.
   Portal has dedicated a 2.5 GIGabyte disk drive to the Amiga Zone.
   We have virtually unlimited space for files and new uploads. 

 - The *entire* Fred Fish collection of freely distributable
   software, online.  All of it.  Every disk.  Well-organized so
   it's easy to find exactly what you're after.

 - Fast, Batch Zmodem file transfer protocol. Download up to 100 files at
   once, of any size, with one command. 

 - Twenty Amiga vendor areas with participants like AmigaWorld, ASDG,
   Soft-Logik, Black Belt, Apex Publishing, Stylus, Prolific, NES,
   and many others including Compute's Amiga Resource with over
   4 Megabytes of exclusive Compute magazine disk stuff you won't find
   elsewhere.

 - 35 "regular" Amiga libraries with thousands of files.  Hot new
   stuff arrives daily.  Since Portal has FTP connections we can get
   new freely-distributable software online within MINUTES of its 
   being announced on Usenet.

 - No upload/download "ratios" EVER. Download as much as you want, as
   often as you want, and never feel pressued doing it.  Start downloading
   files with your first session on Portal. 

 - Live, interactive nightly chats with Amiga folks whose names you
   will recognize.  Special conferences.  Random chance prize contests.
   Famous Amiga folks aren't the exception on Portal, they're the norm.
   Instead of stumbling around in frustration you can talk to the
   people who design your hardware, who write your software.

 - Vast Message bases where you can ask questions about *anything*
   Amiga related and get quick replies from the experts.

 - Amiga Internet mailing lists for Imagine, DCTV, LightWave, HyperAmi,
   Director and Landscapes are fed right into the Zone message bases.
   Read months worth of postings.  They don't scroll off, ever!
   No need to clutter your mailbox with them.

 - FREE unlimited Internet Email.  Your Portal account gets you a
   mailbox that's connected to the world.  Send letters of any length to 
   computer users in the entire industrialized world.  No limits. 
   No extra charges. No kidding!
   
 - Portal has the Usenet.  Thousands of "newsgroups" in which
   you can read and post articles about virtually any subject you can
   possibly imagine.  Usenet feeds into Portal many times each hour.
   There are 14 Amiga-specific Usenet newsgroups with hundreds of
   articles posted every day, including postings by Commodore 
   personnel.  Since Usenet is distributed worldwide, your questions
   and answers can be seen by literally hundreds of thousands of
   people the same day you post them.  

 - Other Portal SIGs (Special Interest Groups) online for Mac, IBM, Sun,
   NeXT, UNIX, Science Fiction, Writers, amateur radio, and a graphics
   SIG with thousands of GIF files to name just a few.  ALL Portal SIGs
   are accessible to ALL Portal customers with NO surcharges ever.

 - The entire UPI/Clarinet/Newsbytes news hierarchy ($4/month extra)
   An entire general interest newspaper and computer news magazine.
 
 - Portal featues an exciting package of Internet features: IRC, FTP,
   TELNET, MUDS, LIBS.  Free to all Portal customers with your account.
   Internet Services is a menu driven version of the same kinds of 
   utilities you can also use from your Portal UNIX shell account.
 
 - All the files you can FTP. All the chatting you can stand on the IRC.  
   And on IRC (Internet Relay Chat) you can talk live, in real time 
   with Amiga users in the U.K., Europe, Australia, the Far East, 
   24 hours a day. 

 - 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)

 - And 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.

How does all that sound?  Probably too good to be true. Well, it IS true.

Portal Signup or for more information:

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
1-408-973-8091 (modem 9600/14400) 24 hours every day
or enter "C PORTAL" from any Sprintnet dial-in in the USA,
or enter "portal" from any Tymnet "please log in:" prompt, USA & Canada
or telnet to "portal.com" from anywhere.

PORTAL'S CURRENT RATES:

All prices shown are in U.S. Dollars
                                                Total Total  Total  Total
                                                Cost  Cost   Cost   Cost
                                          Fee   1 hr. 5 hrs. 10 hrs.30 hrs.
                          Startup Monthly Per   Per   per    per    per
                          Fee     Fee     Hour  month month  month  month
                          $       $       $     $     $      $      $

Portal                    19.95   19.95         
 2400/9600/14.4Kbps, *direct 24 hrs        0.00 19.95  19.95  19.95  19.95
 2400/9600bps nonprime Sprint or Tymnet    2.50 22.95  32.45  44.95  94.95
 2400/9600bps prime Sprint +% or Tymnet 5.50-10 29.95  69.95 119.95  varies
 2400/9600bps non prime # PCPursuit        1.00 20.95  24.95  29.95  49.95

* plus cost of phone call if out of Portal's local dialing area
  Direct rates also apply to connections made to Portal using the
  UNIX "telnet" program from an account you may already
  have on an Internet-connected system. 
% 9600 bps Sprintnet and Tymnet available in over 300 cities areas
+ $10 rate prevails at smaller US Cities
# PCPursuit is a service of US Sprint. Portal is a PCPursuit
 "Direct Access Facility" thus connection to Portal with a PCP account
 is simply a matter of entering C PORTAL,PCP-ID,PCP-PASSWORD  at the
 SprintNet login prompt instead of C PORTAL. 

Note: 

   Portal Direct 9600/14400 bps service is availble for both USR HST
   modems, and any V32/V32.bis modems. There are dozens of direct-dial
   high speed lines into Portal.  No busy signals!

   SprintNet 9600bps service is V.32 modem protocol only.
   Tymnet 9600bps services is V.32 modem protocol only.
   Again, Portal does NOT surcharge high speed modem users!

   Portal subscribers who already have an account on an Internet-capable
   system elsewhere, can use that system's "telnet" program
   to connect to Portal for $0.00 an hour. That's right ZERO. From anywhere
   in the world.  If you're in this category, be sure to ask the Portal 
   reps, when you signup, how to login to Portal from your existing
   Internet account.  

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!]

That number again:  408-973-9111.

Portal Communications accepts MasterCard, Visa, or you can pre-pay any
amount by personal check or money order.  The Portal Online System is
a trademark of Portal Communications. 


@endnode
***************************************************************************

@node P1-12 "A.M.I.G.A."
@toc "menu"

/// Another Moronic, Inane and Gratuitous Article
    ---------------------------------------------
    by Chad Freeman
    (cjfst4+@pitt.edu or cjfst4@cislabs.pitt.edu -- Internet)
    (cfreeman -- BIX)



Hi folks!  Yes, its time for another AMIGA, brought to you this week by
Micro Chips, the crunchiest potato(e) chip to ever grace a hackers desk!
 Tired of eating those soggy potato(e) chips, just because they've been
sitting under a pile of disks for 2 months?  Well now you can leave those
ant-infested potato(e) chips behind, because Micro Chips are GUARANTEED not
to go stale for up to 5 months!  That's right hackers, if you accidentally
leave those chips under your latest printout of BlazeMonger II: The
Apocalypse, and find them 5 months later, they'll still be as good as the
day you first bought 'em!  What's our secret?  Silicone coating!  That's
right, each and every chip is coated with a layer of silicone to preserve
that crunchiness we all love in our chips!  Hey, they may taste like
something your dog regurgitated in the back yard after going through your
neighbor's trash, but we coat them with so much salt you'll never be able
to tell the difference anyway!  So rush out to your local grocery or
software store and pick up a bag right away!  Micro Chips, the ones with
K-R-U-N-C-H!


Well, now that we've taken care of business (munch, munch) we can get down
to the _real_ business of another moronic, inane and gratuitous article.
Some of you (the three who actually read this stuff) may remember a few
weeks ago I promised to tell you the story of my rise to the level of Blue
Level Status Commodore Beta Tester.  Well, since I can't think of anything
else to write about, this is the week I'll do it.

HOW I BECAME A BLUE LEVEL STATUS COMMODORE BETA TESTER
By Chad Freeman, age (mentally) 2.5
 
It was a dark and stormy night.  Suddenly, a shot rang out.  A dog barked.
The maid screamed.  It was a _really_ lame TV show, so I decided to go
hack on my old trusty Commodore 64 for a while.

I decided to take a disk editor to my favorite piece of hacked software,
the Q-Link program disk.  For those of you who don't know, Q-Link was
supposedly an on-line service, which you supposedly paid to use, but no-one
ever seemed to do.  Anyway, I was busily modifying the Q-Link program disk
so it would write 'Elephants Eat Red Oak Leaves On Friday' (an unusual set
of circumstances that would be much too difficult to explain lead to this
combination of words being the most efficient for the task at hand) into
their entire file storage space (the first virus, _I_ think), when I
noticed a little piece of code that had been tucked away on track 60 of the
disk (disks only went to track 40 back then, but if one ran enough copy-
protected material on a 1541 disk drive, the gronking and grinding would 
actually extend the physical dimensions of the drive as well as the parts 
inside, leading to, in radical cases, a 50 track gain in disk space).  It 
was sitting there innocuously, but oddly enough, it seemed to be calling to
me to put it in action.  So, being the teen-age hacker I was, I immediately
stuck a branch somewhere in the program to activate this hidden code.  Then
I booted up and prepared for the worst.

What I found, however, was something entirely beyond my quite fertile
imagination!  There, staring back at me from the screen, was The Lost City
Of Habitat!  The screen was bathed in a golden hue as little LucasFilm-
style people ran around a city with streets of gold.  But before I go into
more detail about this wonderful city, I must explain a bit more about
Habitat!

LucasFilm games had introduced Labyrinth, the game, which was greeted
with Lukewarm reviews.  'Interesting interface, but needs work.'  Then came
Zak McCracken and the Alien Mindbenders, which got pretty much the same
reviews.  But in the meantime, LucasFilm had begun a nasty rumor with
QuantumLink about a project called Habitat.  Habitat was going to be the
first on-line virtual reality system anywhere.  It was such a new and
radical idea, the word virtual reality didn't even exist.  So anyway, they
made up some pretty pictures and a press release, and sent them out to the
major Commodore magazines (which included Commodore Magazine, Info, Run and
Compute! at the time), which obligingly printed it up, and the response was
_phenomenal_. People were signing up left and right, waiting for this
wonderful 'thing' where you could have a character and build whatever you 
anted, like houses and amusement parks and toxic waste dumps, and have other 
people from around the country come and visit and tear everything you built 
down, and all kinds of neat stuff like that.  It really was a fabulous 
concept, and I still want to see something like it done to this day.

But unfortunately, what LucasFilm and Q-Link DIDN'T release to the press
was how they were going to achieve such a wonderful 'thing' on a computer
that could barely operate a toaster oven, and it is _this_ which led to
their downfall.  Unfortunately for YOU, you'll have to wait until next week
to find out the _real_ story behind Habitat, because this story is...

                             TO BE CONTINUED!


And now for something completely different; the joke of the week!

     Q:  So just what part of Bill Gates anatomy does 'Micro Soft' refer to,
         anyway??

Well, its time for my dog's electrolysis appointment again, so stay tuned
next week for the exciting conclusion of HIBABLSCBT (pronounced 'ack!') in
AMIGA, the only column that dares to tear off the tags on your mattresses.




@endnode
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
@node P1-13 "Supra Interview"
@toc "menu"

/// Supra Corporation Speaks!
    -------------------------
    By Robert Niles


Commodore-Amiga gave us a wonderful platform in which to work and 
play, but from video display systems to games, it's the third 
party developers that bring us the "toys" in which we enjoy so 
much. 

One of those companies that have been providing products for the 
Amiga is Supra Corporation. I thought it would be nice to "get to 
know" them a little better, and get a better feeling of "who" 
they are. Sally McMillan, Director of Marketing, was nice enough 
to take the time to complete my informal interview and give me 
some additional information on the background on Supra 
Corporation and its founders. The "interview" and that additional 
information is what follows.



AR: Can you tell us a little about Supra Corporation and how it 
    relates to the Amiga platform?

Sally McMillan: The enclosed corporate background document should 
    provide a good history of Supra and its relationship to the Amiga 
    community. While the primary focus of our business is now 
    faxmodems, we do still manufacture and support a wide range of 
    Amiga products.

[Here is the background information Sally McMillan provided. It 
is shortened a bit, but gives a good understanding of how Supra 
was started and where it is now:

John Wiley and Alan Ackerman, met when they were students at West 
Albany High School in Albany, Oregon. Both were participants in 
the Talented and Gifted program where they had a hands-on 
opportunity to learn about the emerging personal computer 
industry.

In the summer of 1981, shortly after high school graduation, they 
opened a computer retail store in a 10-foot corner of a bicycle 
shop. Soon business was flying, they moved into a store front. 
That fall, they started college, and hired a manager to run the 
store. As the realities of higher education and retail trade sank 
in, Wiley and Ackerman took new risks. In 1982, they rented a 
six-foot micro booth at the fourth West Coast Computer Fair and 
exhibited an Atari printer solution they had designed. They took 
orders for more than $80,000, and decided to shift from retail to 
manufacturing.

By 1984 they had created a booming business designing, building, 
and selling Atari peripheral products. But shortly after the 
Christmas of 1984, that boom turned to bust, The Atari market 
dropped to 1/4 of it's previous levels. After nightmare 
encounters with controllers, bankers, and attorneys, Wiley and 
Ackerman emerged with a reorganized company.

In the mid 1980s, Supra continued to develope peripherals for the 
Atari and Amiga. In 1987, Supra introduced the SupraModem 2400 at 
$179 when the street price for a comparable Hayes modem was $500. 
SupraModems sold like hotcakes.

"We were early in recognizing changes in technology," Wiley said. 
"While other manufacturers were still assembling every component 
of their modems, we recognized the quality-control and cost 
benefits of moving to integrated chip sets."

They continued producing communications products such as the 
internal modems with data compression and error correction, and 
later high-speed fax/modems. "We decided to bet the farm on this 
new technology," Wiley said. "We committed marketing dollars for 
this product far in excess of anything we had done before. High 
speed modems were going to make or break us." It worked. Supra 
modem sales soared.]

AR: Who are the people there at Supra that work with creating 
    products for the Amiga?

Sally McMillan: Supra does not have separate teams for separate 
    platforms. A wide range of people in engineering, production, 
    marketing, and support work with Amiga products. Supra has about 
    120 employees.

AR: What can we possibly look forward to in the future as far as 
    products for the Amiga?

Sally McMillan: Supra has a customer-driven development 
    philosophy. At the moment, most of our development efforts center 
    around new and enhanced technologies for telecommunications. 
    However, we welcome product suggestions from Amiga customers as 
    well.

AR: What changes/additions have been made to the new ROMS [this 
    was concerning the new ROMs for the SupraFax .32bis modems], and 
    when will they be released?

Sally McMillan: We do not have a firm ship date for the next ROM 
    upgrade. The primary addition is enhanced ability to communicate 
    on noisy phone lines.



While telecommunications seems to be the focus of development for 
Supra, they have provided the Amiga community with a nice 
assortment of peripherals in the past, and most recently the 
SupraTurbo 28, the 68000 accelerator, which increases A500s and 
A2000s from 7.14MHz to 28MHz. 

"The SupraTurbo 28 grew out of customer demand," stated John 
Wiley. "We have been selling peripherals products to Amiga 
customers for years, and recently they've been telling us they 
want their existing computers to run faster, without compromising 
either their already-installed peripherals or their pocketbooks." 


Here is a listing of products that Supra provides:

Amiga 500 products
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Power PC Board, MS-DOS emulating hardware/software
SupraTurbo 28, 28MHz accelerator for the 68000
SupraRam 500, 1/2MB RAM with clock
SupraRam 500RX, 8MB Ram expansion board
SupraDrive 1MB floppy drive
SupraDrive 500XP, HardDrive and RAM expansion (various sizes)

Amiga 2000 products
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

SupraTurbo 28
SupraDrive Hard Disk (52 or 120MB)
WordSync SCSI Interface
SupraRam 2000, 8MB RAM expansion board


How to contact Supra Corporation:

USA:
Supra Corporation
7101 Supra Drive SW
Albany, OR 97321

Voice: 503-967-2400
Fax  : 503-967-2401


Europe:
Supra GmbH
Rodderweg 8
5040 Bruehl
Germany

Voice: +49 02232 22002
Fax  : +49 02232 22003



@endnode
***************************************************************************
@node P4-3 "Holonet"                                    
@toc "menu"

/// Holonet:  Inexpensive Internet Access
    -------------------------------------


                                *** HOLONET ***


HoloNet is an easy to use Internet Access BBS.

HoloNet is based on custom BBS software which provides an easy to use menu
driven interface.  HoloNet is ideal for those looking for an easy way to
use Internet services.  HoloNet does not currently provide UNIX shell
access.

Services include:

    o  Convenient Access
       A local call in 850+ cities nationwide.

    o  Online Publications
       Include USA Today Decisionline, Newsbytes, Datanet Computer News,
       Eeeekbits, and Boardwatch Magazine.

    o  USENET
       Averages over 30MB of USENET news per day.  The following news
       readers are available: NN, TIN, and RN.

    o  Internet E-Mail
       Members have an Internet E-mail address similar to:
       member@holonet.net

    o  Internet Access
       Access to telnet, talk, finger, IRC, and FTP.
       (note: you must comply with the policies of any networks you use)

    o  Single and Multi-player Games
       Board, card, fantasy, and puzzle games.

    o  Support for Eudora
       Excellent off-line Macintosh e-mail reader.

    o  UUCP E-mail and USENET feeds
       Link LAN E-mail systems and BBSes to the Internet.

How to try HoloNet for FREE:
      Telnet: holonet.net
       Modem: 510-704-1058 (Berkeley, CA) at 1200, 2400, 9600, or
              14400 bps.  There are free demo numbers nationwide, for an
              automated response containg a list of access numbers, send
              e-mail to access@holonet.mailer.net

How to get more information:
      E-mail: info@holonet.net
       Modem: 510-704-1058 at 1200, 2400, 9600, or 14400bps
       Voice: 510-704-0160
         Fax: 510-704-8019

HoloNet is a service mark of Information Access Technologies, Inc.

           Copyright © 1992 Information Access Techologies, Inc.
                           All Rights Reserved.


@endnode
***************************************************************************

@node P1-14 "Warez Out There"
@toc "menu"

/// Warez Out There
    ---------------
    By Tom Mulcahy



TITLE

        Virus Z 

VERSION

        3.03

STATUS

        Shareware

AUTHOR

        Georg Hörmann
        Am Lahnewiesgraben 19
        W-8100 Garmisch-Partenkirchen
        Germany


DESCRIPTION
        
                          | 
         ·` __/   _     --+--
        /| / /`\ /(____   |  .   . __|__   _    \/_________. - - ----- --- --
  ·/\  / | \/__/ \  __ \ ·   I\_/I   /\____)\   /\   _   °/  ---- -- --- - -
  |°|  |!| /___` |\ II  \|\_/|·  |  /°  __  /     \  /   /  - c0nt®0[/aTz -
  | |  | I | //| |  __ /`|   |i /i  \_   \_/       \/·  //\ ------    -
  | I\/  / |//·|/   || \ |   I:  I /\ \  \\       \//  /~  \  - --      
  \    `// |// |    ||  \I   ^  /|/  \~\  \\  _|_ //        \
   \_.\/// |/_/|___°I|_°/ \____/_|\._______/   | /________/°/ Ve®$i0n 3.o3
     \/       \/                                     \
                                                      \

    Shareware
    ------------
    VirusZ is no longer Freeware, but  Shareware. This means you are  still
    allowed to copy the software freely, but  you have to pay a fee to  the
    author if you use VirusZ regularly. Not paying your fee is both immoral
    and illegal. If you  already have registered  for any former  releases,
    paying the fee  again is optional.  Suggested donation is  DM 10 or  an
    equivalent amount  in any  other currency.  Anything else  will not  be
    accepted. By now,  I had more  expense than profit  by sending all  you
    folks your disks back etc.  If you want me  to continue my work,  don't
    try to cheat me.  Submissions with new material  (viruses/crunchers) are
    welcome. If you want your disks back, either enclose enough money for
    postage or German stamps. If you  send  me   useful  stuff,   you   will 
    additionally receive  the   latest  update  of VirusZ  on   your   disk.                                                         

                    
    VirusZ Philosophy
    --------------------
    VirusZ is another try to  make the perfect viruskiller. Although  there
    are already hundreds of killers, none had to offer the, in my  opinion,
    most important features. These  are to be short,  fast and not to  keep
    the user from working by opening a big screen with hundreds of  gadgets
    or locking the drives. If you like that type of killer, forget VirusZ.

    Why Use VirusZ?
    ------------------
    VirusZ has been  tested on  Kickstart 1.2/1.3, OS  2.0 and  OS 3.0  and
    worked just fine.  It offers several  OS 2.0 features  even under  Kick
    1.2/1.3 like gadget activation via  keyboard. All windows use the  full
    screen size, have a built-in Topaz 8 font to prevent any trouble, bring
    themselves to the front when started and set up a wait pointer for  the
    other windows. Windows always support the screen font (up to size 124!)
    in the menu/title bar. VirusZ recognizes over 200 bootblock viruses and
    the filechecker not  only detects  over 95  file viruses,  but it  also
    offers you the unbelieveable feature of decrunching files. The boot lab
    offers all  important bootblock  operations on  one screen.  The  whole
    software is written 100% in assembly language for lightning speed.  The
    memory checker  removes all  known viruses  from memory  without  'Guru
    Meditation' and checks memory for viruses regularly. VirusZ has easy to
    use intuitionized  menus  including  keycuts  for  both  beginners  and
    experienced users. It performs a self-test on every startup to  prevent
    link virus infection. VirusZ works in the background and uses less than
    0.5% of your processing time (use Xoper to verify). Last but not least,
    VirusZ is regularly  updated and  hence offers  you perfect  protection
    against the latest viruses. Starting with 3.00, you have the ability to
    learn your own bootblocks via the VirusZ Brain Editor VZBE.


REQUIREMENTS

        Tested OK on OS 1.2/1.3 and higher

FILENAME

        virz_303.lha - 147,803k

LOCATION

        BIX
        CI$
        GENIE
        AMINET



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



TITLE

        SysInfo

VERSION

        3.22

STATUS

        Shareware

AUTHOR

        Nic Wilson
        P.O. Box 1164
        TooWoomba, Queensland 4350     <<<<<----  NEW ADDRESS <<<<<----

        Phone +61 76 358539 A/H Voice only
        
        Within Australia (076) 358539

        EMAIL cbmaus!cbmozq!wilson!nicw@cbmvax.commodore.com
        CBMNET nicw@wilson@adsp.sub.org


DESCRIPTION

                            SysInfo 
                            -------
            written in Assembler with Macro68 V3.170
            ----------------------------------------

PAYMENT
-------	
	Even though you may have paid for the disk this program came on, 
	you have not paid for SysInfo.   Please read the donation and 
	distribution headings below.
	                      
        * * * DONATIONS * * *
        ---------------------
        
        A dontation of $20.00 American or $25.00 Australian is suggested,
        but if you cannot afford that, any amount will be gratefully accepted.
        
        Overseas users, please DO NOT send personal or EuroChecks.  They
        are very difficult and expensive to cash.  Please send an overseas
        bank draft in Australian Dollars drawn on any Australian bank.  Your
        local bank should be able to help you with this.
        Any cash currency is acceptable as it is very easy to convert to
        Australian.
        
        The following credit cards are accepted.
        
        OVERSEAS  -> MASTERCARD, VISA.
        
        AUSTRALIA -> BANKCARD, MASTERCARD, VISA.
        
        These cards can be accepted by mail, email or phone.  Confidentiality
        is guaranteed.  If using credit card, please include the card number,
        the expiry date and the name as it appears on the card. 
        
        Donations in the form of software or hardware is also acceptable.  I
        write many reviews here in Australia and quite often give free plugs
        to companies that have been generous enough to donate to my work.
        
        * * THANK-YOU * *
        
        Three companies deserve a special thank-you for their generosity.
        A big thank-you to Progressive Peripherals and Software and NewTek 
        Corp.  
        
        A thank-you to "Amiga Format" Magazine for being the only magazine 
        so far to send me a donation for using the program on their cover 
        disk.


INTRODUCTION
------------
        
        This program was originally written due to the lack of such a 
        program  on the Amiga.  Since that time the response has been
        terrific.  SysInfo is now even more powerful and has become
        a standard on the Amiga.
        
        I have placed this program on Shareware so that it can be
        used by everyone.  All code, graphics and documents remain
        copyright Nic Wilson Software.
        
        If you like this program, then help me to help you more by
        sending a donation.

                      *********************************            
                      IMPORTANT FOR KICKSTART 1.2 - 1.3
                      *********************************
                      
        Amigas that have a maths co-processor using kickstart 1.3 or 
        earlier, MUST use SetPatch 1.34 or later otherwise this program
        will crash.  This program uses 68881 & 68882 instructions and a 
        bug in the kernal causes a guru.  SetPatch patches this bug.  
        This is not required for Kickstart V2.04 or greater.
        
        Sysinfo is an Amiga Sytem Information program.  It interrogates
        the Amiga and determines types of hardware, software, modes,
        speed etc.  Users have found it very useful for determining
        correct operation of an Amiga before purchase and that the
        unit actually contains hardware that they are paying for, without
        having to open it up.  It is under constant revision, and these
        revisions are available from myself at any time.  My goal is to
        make SysInfo the most informative and accurate information program
        on the Amiga.  To do this I need your feedback and suggestions. 
        
        This program is tested with the program 'Enforcer'.
        
        Please be patient if you are running SysInfo on a standard
        Amiga as it will take a while to perform its tests.  SysInfo
        really interrogates your system and has to perform many timing
        loops to test ram speed, type etc.  Some other programs sacrifice
        accuracy by speeding the tests up, SysInfo takes time but does
        an intensive test.  At times it also disables multitasking and may
        blank the mouse pointer.  It will return to multitasking when
        finished and the mouse pointer will return.
        
        TIMINGS FROM ONE VERSION OF SYSINFO TO THE NEXT
        -----------------------------------------------
        
        If you are wondering how come SysInfo may give different results
        from one version to the next, this is because it is under 
        constant revision and accuracy is improved with each version as
        YOU THE USER gives me feedback on varying models and 
        configurations.  This feedback is very important, as it allows
        SysInfo to grow into the most powerful and accurate System
        information program and an invaluable tool for the Amiga.


SysInfo HISTORY (HISTORY PRIOR TO V3.10 HAS BEEN DELETED)
---------------
3.22    Fixed a MAJOR bug in the display info.  The bug would 
	occur if for example the system was booted without a 
	startup-sequence.  This caused the program to totally 
	hang or crash. 

	Added a new function in the BOARDS section as many
	users have asked for.  If SysInfo does not recognise
	a board by name, SysInfo will look in an external
	ascii file that you create, and try to find a match
	for each unknown card.  Please see the README file for 
	specific info on creating this file.

	Added the ability to split the 68020 and 68EC020 CPU's.
	So who said it couldn't be done eh?.  Tests so far
	seem to indicate the routine works fine.
	
	Replaced the "DISABLED" and "ENABLED" strings for the 
	MMU display with "NOT IN USE" AND "IN USE" respectively
	as some users seems to think that disabled, meant 
	permanently disabled or a less than working version.
	Remember though that just because SysInfo states that
	you may have one, does not necessarily meant it is
	in a fully working state, some 68EC030's have an less
	than operational MMU that will partially work and
	SysInfo sees this as a working MMU.
	
	Added the ability to recognise kickstart that have
	been "ReKicked" and kickstarts larger than 512k.  This
	information if found will be displayed in the scroll
	area beside the kickstart version.

3.21    There was an error in the string for 25Mhz Amigas and
	this was forcing it to show as "25000".  This has now
	been corrected and shows correctly as "25.00" 

3.20    Even though the -p Print routine was working fine the
	internal print gadget routine was broken.  I have fixed
	this and now it prints ok.

3.19    Thanks to a good friend of mine, Andy Clay, a blatant
	bug has been fixed that has been in SysInfo since
	V3.00.  The priority display in the Task and Port lists
	was shown as values between 0 and 255 instead of -128
	to +127.  This has been corrected and it now shows the
	correct value.  Strange how it took this long for someone
	to notice such an obvious error.  Thanks Andy.
	
	The Total Size memory field inside the Memory function
	was inaccurate and losing half a meg on some setups, this
	has been corrected.

3.18    Corrected a problem for some IDE drives in the A4000.
	It seems that some brands of IDE drives do not like
	reads of 128K or greater at once and some users have 
	not set their "MAXTRANSFER" value to $FFFF.  The SPEED function
	of SysInfo tried to use a 128K read, so I have changed
	this to 64K.  It fixes the problem for a Quantum IDE LP52
	drive and I expect it should fix all others.

3.17    Corrected an error in the drives function.  It always
	used a read size of TD_SECTOR in order to fetch the 
	first block of the boot sector.  CD-ROM drives with 2048
	bytes per sector did not like this.  I have changed the
	read size to the id_BytesPerSector of the particular device
        being read.

3.16    Fixed a bug in the dhrystones printing routine, any
	subsequent printing of the number could be wrong if
	it was much smaller (eg. caches off) because the 
	number was not erased first, and part of the old
	number was left behind.

3.15    Fixed the "lies" of CLOCK function, it should now 
	correctly report if you have a Commodore compatible
	hardware clock or not.  Older versions lied on the
	A1200 and A600.


REQUIREMENTS

        OS 1.3 and higher - OS 1.3 machines with fpu must use SETPATCH

FILENAME

        sysin322.lha - 50,708k

LOCATION

        AMINET


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



TITLE

        MOVE

VERSION

        2.1

STATUS

        Shareware 

AUTHOR

        PORTAL:       Wizard0
        INTERNET:     asher@shell.portal.com
                      Wizard0@cup.portal.com  

        US Snail:     (send money here :-)                         

        Asher Feldman
        4791 Calle de Tosca             
        San Jose, CA 95118


DESCRIPTION

 
                             Move 2.1
                             --------
Written by Asher Feldman

Note: Move requires the Copy, Rename, and Delete commands in your c
directory.

Move 2.1 requires kickstart 2.04 or higher.  If you have not yet upgraded, 
you should use Move 1.1. (Or better yet, upgrade! :-)

Changes since 2.0a
------------------
2.0a contained a major bug, which stoped you from closing your shell
after using move.  That, and all known bugs have now been fixed.

Thanks to everyone who mailed in bug reports on Move 2.0a! :-)

What is it?
-----------
Move is a simple Un*x like "move" command.  It allows you to move files 
to and from any device or directory.  It performs the same function as the 
Move command on a directory utility, but from the CLI or Shell.  It can 
also be used as a Rename command.  Move supports true (rename style) moves
when moving files on the same device, while still allowing you to move files
across volumes.

Move will also allow you to move file links, and supports all standard 2.x
wildcards.


REQUIREMENTS

        OS 2.04 or higher

FILENAME

        move21.lha - 4,334k

LOCATION

       BIX


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


TITLE

        Terminus 2.0 bug fix file

VERSION

        2.0a

AUTHOR

        Jack Radigan

DESCRIPTION

        
History file
------------
The contents of this file contains bugfix lists, changes and
additions to each maintenance release of Terminus 2.0.  Everything
discussed here will be merged in the user manual as well for the
full distribution archive.


Terminus 2.0a
-------------
As expected, there were some bugs remaining in the initial release of
Terminus.  This version is primarily a maintenance release to repair those
problems, but it does incorporate several changes and additions which are
sectioned and titled below.


Bug fixes
---------
- ReqChange is now working.
- Entry macros requester no longer opens without a script being present.
- Now closes review buffer if it is cleared while open.
- [MISC][RESET TERMINAL][X] now resets the foreground/backround pens.
- Palette requester now changes screens when menu pens are changed.
- Prescroll should work with ANSI controls in data stream now.
- Now forces non-interleaved bitmaps with non-AGA machines and no fast ram.
- No longer disables 16 color screens on AGA machines without fast ram.
- VTOpts requester no longer resets column size and font.
- Sprite horizontal offset fixed.
- <ESC>, <BS> and <DEL> keys send appropriate characters in VT-220.
- COLOR and CUSTOM palettes should work properly with VT-xx now.
- Predefined script variables were not passing a result back to ARexx.
- Line wraps with double width characters in VT-xx should work correctly now.
- [MISC][PRINTER ?][P] no longer prints contents of screen at close.
- No longer gurus after posting serial port error requester.
- Now keeps the serial port if carrier is present when using OwnDevUnit.
- Deleting and inserting characters at end of chat buffer no longer gurus.
- Smooth scroll should no longer leaves rectangles of the menus behind.
- Phonebook now deletes new entries that don't have any numbers defined.
- [PHONEBOOK][DIAL NUMBER...][j] ignores null entries now.
- Dialer now loads fkey macros when an entry is in auto-record mode.
- Selected files list is now purged when a transfer aborts.
- Can no longer enter an empty string for Boyer-Moore search.
- Script command CALL now working.
- Beefed up checking for unassigned volumes and missing subdirectories.
- Able to clip hidden text in the review buffer now.
- CURPALETTE is working now.
- Fixed syntax error in palette definitions.
- INVLINE no longer interfered by cursor.
- ZMODEM window problem fixed.


FILENAME

        texe20a.lzh - 167,141k

LOCATION

        BIX
        CI$
        GENIE
        AMINET



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



TITLE

        DiskSalve

VERSION

        11.27

STATUS

        Shareware

AUTHOR

        Dave Haynie
	284 Memorial Avenue
	Gibbstown, NJ
	08027 USA

	BIX,Portal:	hazy	
	Internet:	daveh@cbmvax.commodore.com
	FAX:		(609)224-0442


DESCRIPTION

DiskSalv 2 (V11.27) Release Notes
This is the second public BBS/Network release of the DiskSalv 2
program.  The DiskSalv program and distribution materials are Copyright 
1991-1993 by Dave Haynie, All Rights Reserved.  This program is freely
redistributable copyrighted software.  It may only be distributed as a
complete package.  No fees other than reasonable copying and media charges
may be collected for non-commercial distribution.  A shareware fee of US$10
is suggested for anyone using this program.  

A professional quality printed manual (approximately 100 pages), 
AmigaGuide on-line manual, and latest version are also available for US$40 
as a semi-commercial package.  This will be available only in English in
August, other languages may be supported commercially via local distributers 
in the future.  At present, the shareware and registered version of DiskSalv
are the same, though they may not always be.  Some extra stuff will wind up
on the registered disk as well.  The price includes one free update.  A year
of updates (at least two) is an additional US$10.  Please see the included
"OrderForm.txt" for a full schedule of prices, which cover things beyond my
control like distant postage, local sales tax, and foreign check or money-
order collection.


ABOUT DISKSALV

DiskSalv is a "Disk Salvage" program.  It can recover data from a
disk in severe trouble, it can fix a good portion of disk problems directly
on the problem disk, and it can locate valid partitions on a disk with an
unknown layout or damaged rigid disk block.  It supports all AmigaDOS file
systems through 3.0.  The included "Cheap" manual details the basic
functions available, while the semi-commercial manual covers every little
detail, theory of operation, and other good stuff.  

If you're the type who would rather just run the program and see
what happens, type "DiskSalv" or click on the icon to begin.  Brief help on
individual menu items and gadgets is available via the HELP key.  HELP will
active the help message for any gadget or menu item that's currently under
the mouse pointer.


REQUIREMENTS

        OS 2.x or higher

FILENAME

        dsprg11_27.lha - 95,872k

LOCATION

        BIX
        AMINET



@endnode
***************************************************************************
@node P4-4 "NVN"
@toc "menu"

/// NVN WANTS YOU!                        Another Network Supports Amiga!
    --------------



                       National Videotext Network (NVN)


National Videotext Network (NVN) has recently added an Amiga Forum to it's
growing lists of available services.  The Amiga Forum is ready and waiting
for you!

Order an extended NVN Membership of 6 or 12 months, pay for it in advance
and receive a bonus in connect time at no additional charge.  Choose from
two subscription plans:

6-Month Membership
------------------

Pay just $30 for a 6-month Membership and receive a usage credit that
entitles you to $15 of connect-time in the Premium services of your choice.
Your total savings using this plan would be over $20!*

12 Month Membership
-------------------

Pay $50 for a full year's Membership and get even more free time online.
We'll give you a $25 usage credit to use in your favorite Premium services
or try out new ones.  You could save as much as $45.*

For more information about either of these plans, give us a call at
1-800-336-9096.


                            -=* 9600 BAUD USERS *=-
                  $6/hour non-prime time - $9/hour prime time

                       You can join NVN one of two ways.
                By voice phone 1-800-336-9096 (Client Services)
                                      or
                        via modem phone 1-800-336-9092.


@endnode
***************************************************************************
@node P4-6 "BIX"
@toc "menu"

/// BIX - Byte Information Exchange             Lots of information!
    -------------------------------


Give BIX a try with our new 5 for $5 offer! 

Join BIX today and get 5 hours of evening and weekend access for just 
$5.00! Use the rest of the calendar month to explore BIX, with the 
option of continuing for only $13 per month. Further details and complete 
rate information are provided during registration.

Using any communications program, dial 1-800-695-4882. At the "logon"
prompt enter bix. Then at the "name?" prompt enter bix.amw37.

Questions? Call us at 1-800-695-4775 (voice). Or fax to 617-491-6642.
Send Internet mail to bix@genvid.com


@endnode
***************************************************************************

@node P1-15 "AR Confidential"
@toc "menu"

/// AR Confidential                    We heard it through the grapevine!
    ---------------



                    SOME SOLACIOUS RUMORS ABOUT NEWTEK


Area: AMIGA                                   Date: 25 Jul 93 12:17:00
From: Rich Koster (1:396/36.0)
To  : All
Subj: Just Rumors!

Here is some juicy gossip about NewTek as well as
completely unofficial, you-didn't-hear-it-at-all, rumors!
This is all rumor, nothing here is real -- or is it? ;-) --
Anything I'm writing, I will deny...  So here is "pure
speculation, rumor, innuendo..." for your enjoyment!
Let's see what of the following comes true in the months
to come!  :-)

Within the next few months (within 8 months or so) it will be
possible to load Toaster framestores from disk within less than
a second with a new upgrade.

It will be possible to grab 5 seconds of 30-frames-a-second video
to RAM with the Toaster, and then use it to convert the frames to
framestores.  This would be very useful in rotoscoped animations.

Video Toaster User magazine will hopefully have an article
in one of the next issues showing how easy it is to hook up
Toasters with PARNET, a networking solution that costs about $20
on the Amiga.

All future development on the Toaster will be based on the Amiga
4000/Toaster 4000 (probably).

The new editing solution from NewTek will come out in the next
year-ish or so and it will probably be based on the A4000, but
there's no guarantee there.  It might work on the A2000 or A3000.
It might be a non-linear editor... Think about this:  Two things
NewTek could have done at any point are (1) released a machine-
control editor easily like other companies have done, but machine-
control editing stinks (edit aborts, color frame problems, trying
to do a split edit), and (2) adding an S-VHS input or output, but
the only reason to add this feature would be if you were going to
be editing in S.  If, on the other hand, you could have the
equivalent of D2 or one-inch decks on your desk, you wouldn't
want S ins or outs, would you?  ;-)  So this new editor is the
reason why you haven't seen those things from NewTek.  NewTek
wouldn't call it non-linear editing, probably.

Another good rumor is six tracks of CD-quality digital audio...

There might be a CD-ROM full of effects out in the next 6 months
or so, just hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of effects.  One
of the reasons NewTek hasn't done it yet is that they would offer
a price break to Toaster owners on buying the CD-ROM player, and
they are not sure yet which CD-ROM deck they are going to use.
Currently there are a few different formats of these players, and
picking one right now is like trying to hit a moving target.

Grant Harvey (spelling?) has designed a chroma-keyer for NewTek for
use in the Toaster, but there's no solid plans to add it to the
Toaster.  He's got an idea for one but hasn't built it yet.  They've
talked about it for a long time but haven't gotten around to doing
it yet.

There is an 80% chance that NewTek will move to Austin, Texas from
Topeka.  Austin is the only city remaining on their "short list"
of desirable cities.  They want to move away from Topeka for a
variety of reasons, but one of the big ones is because Topeka has
"bad food served slowly".  There is a macro in Lightwave Modeller
3.0 (you'll find the dinner macro if you choose the configure F-keys
function) which computerizes the process of deciding which Topeka
restaurant the NewTekkers will have lunch at.  It used to take a
long time for everyone to agree on a place, and they even kept a
chart on the wall showing who liked what dish at what restaurant,
and how many times each person had to compromise on choosing an
eating place to help decide who gets to pick each day.  Read the
macro in a text editor/reader for more details!

There may be a fairly big announcement at Siggraph from NewTek...
How would you like to go 40 times faster than an '040-based renderer?
This translates to about 3 to 4 times faster than a Silicon Graphics
box.  The price would be about $15,000 and it would be Amiga 4000 -
Toaster 4000 based complete system.  Maybe.  Remember, these are
just rumors.  ;-)

There is a RISC processor in prototype form right now for the A4000
at NewTek.

NewTekkers hate Silicon Graphics for a variety of reasons, but one
is that they've been gouging people on software too long, so there
is a plan in effect to really hurt them badly.  The only advantage
SGI has now is speed, and NewTek is working on taking that advantage
away.  The first goal NewTek had with LightWave 3D was to blow away
the competition from other 3D programs, especially on non-Amiga
computer platforms.  They feel they have accomplished this goal now
with all the features LightWave has had added to it over time since
its first release.  NewTek's new goal is to knock out Silicon
Graphics with the Toaster's 3D animation price/performance value,
and the only thing standing in the way of that right now is the
Toaster's rendering speed.  The new $15,000 speedy processor system
should take care of that, because that amount is far less than
what a comparable SGI box would cost when you add in all the features
and software.  Right now there are only a few features that you can
do on an SGI box that can't be done on in LightWave, but there are
also some things LightWave can do that can't be done on an SGI machine.

In the next few months, the necessity of painting in the 1/4-screen
view (to use all of the paint tools) in ToasterPaint will change for
the Toaster 4000 to full-screen painting within the next few months.
There's no way really to change it for the other non-A4000 versions
of ToasterPaint due to the limitations of being in HAM mode.  They
wanted a revised version to go out with Toaster 3.0, but the paint
program wasn't ready and NewTek had to ship the new Toaster because
the demand was so high.  But the guy who programmed TPaint has been
very sick -- so sick that he can't program.  So they've assigned the
new TPaint version to other Alcatraz programmers.  Be sure to
register your Toaster by mailing in the card and you might find the
new ToasterPaint in an upgrade in your mailbox for free.

There is going to be an instructional videotape which was shot by
Lee Stranahan a couple of weeks ago.  As soon as it gets edited and
approved it will be sent out with all systems shipped out of NewTek,
so that when you get a Toaster you'll have a tape showing you how to
use it.  This tape will also be shipped free to all registered owners
of the Toaster.

The Video Toaster warranty is unofficially, basically, a lifetime one.
Unofficially, there is no limit to the Toaster warranty (even though
terms of it are spelled out in the manual).  This lifetime unofficial
policy is because Tim Jenison wants to keep Toaster owners happy.

GVP will be coming out with an '040 board for the A4000 soon, and
that should really smoke!  Word is that it will be much faster than
the A4000/040.  So, when GVP releases that board you would be much
better off buying it to put in an A4000/030 than just getting an
A4000/040.

NewTek resisted putting playback capability for LightWave animations
up until now because HAM-based playback looks crappy.  HAM-8 looks
pretty good, so it is supported now.  This is not the final answer,
though.  That will come when they add the editing stuff.



@endnode
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

@node P3 "Dealer Directory"
@toc "menu"

/// Dealer Directory                               Serving our readers!           
    ----------------



                           Almathera Systems Ltd
                              Challenge House
                              618 Mitcham Rd
                              Croydon, Surrey
                             CR9 3AU  England
                         VOICE: (UK) 081 683 6418
              Internet: (Sales) almathera@cix.compulink.co.uk
                  (Technical) jralph@cix.compulink.co.uk


                           Amigability Computers
                               P.O. Box 572
                          Plantsville, CT  06479
                            VOICE: 203-276-8175
                        Internet: amiga@phantm.UUCP
              (Send E-mail to subscribe to our mailing list)
                               BIX:  jbasile
                         Internet: jbasile@BIX.com


                            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
                              GEnie:  B.GRAY


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


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

                           Finetastic Computers
                           721 Washington Street
                            Norwood, MA  02062
                           VOICE:  617-762-4166
                       Portal:  FinetasticComputers
               Internet:  FinetasticComputers@cup.portal.com


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


                          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


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


                           Software Plus Chicago
                          3100 W Peterson Avenue
                             Chicago, Illinois
                           VOICE:  312-338-6100



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

@endnode
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
@node P1-16 "Humor Department"
@toc "menu"

/// The Humor Department           Jokes, Quotes, Insults, Shameless Plugs
    --------------------


    From the Lotus Improv manual...


                       "Recursion.  See recursion."


@endnode

@node P2-3 "In Closing"
@toc "menu"

===========================================================================
                  Amiga Report International Online Magazine
July 30, 1993          * YOUR INDEPENDENT NEWS SOURCE *            No. 1.19
                     Copyright © 1993 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
STR Publications.  Permission to reprint articles is hereby granted, unless
otherwise noted.  Reprints must, without exception, include the name of the
publication, date, issue number and  the author's name. Amiga Report and/or
portions therein  may not be edited in  any way  without prior written per-
mission. However, translation into a language other than English is accept-
ble, provided the original meaning is not altered. Amiga Report may be dis-
tributed 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).  Distribution  on for-profit magazine cover
disks requires  written permission  from the  editor  or  publisher.  Amiga
Report is a not-for-profit publication.  Amiga Report, at the  time of pub-
ication, is believed reasonably accurate. Amiga Report, its  staff and con-
ributors 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  Commodore-Amiga, Inc., Commodore  Business
Machines, Ltd., or any other Amiga publication in any way.
===========================================================================
 
                                    Only
                  * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
                  *       _    _       __  ___    _       *
                  *      /\\  |\\   /| || //  \  /\\      *
                  *     /  \\ | \\ /|| ||(< __  /  \\     *
                  *    /--- \\|  \X || || \\_||/--- \\    *
                  *   /______________________________\\   *
                  *  /                                \\  *
                  *                                       *
                  * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
                             Makes it possible!!

@endnode

@node "menu" "Amiga Report 1.19  Main Menu"
@toc "menu"

@{"    Columns and Features    " link P1} News, Reviews, and More!
@{"     About AMIGA REPORT     " link P2} Staff, Copyright information
@{"      Dealer Directory      " link P3} Dealer Addresses and Numbers
@{" Commercial Online Services " link P4} Sign-up information
@{"     FTP Announcements      " link P5} Files available for FTP
@{"   AR Distribution Sites    " link P2-1} Where to get AMIGA REPORT


      
/// 07/30/93 Amiga Report 1.19   "Your Weekly Source for Amiga Information"
    --------------------------
    · The Editor's Desk       · CPU Report          · New Products
    · Dealer Directory        · AR Online           · AR Confidential
    · A.M.I.G.A.              · Binary Math?        · Warez Out There
    · Sysops Beware!          · SHI News           · Supra Interview

                         » Atari Falcon030 Revealed «
                     » Commodore Extends PowerUp Special «
                       » Compute Drops Amiga Resource «

===========================================================================
                 Amiga Report International Online Magazine
                 "Your Weekly Source for Amiga Information"
                            » FEATURING WEEKLY «
                  Accurate UP-TO-DATE News and Information
      Current Events, Original Articles, Tips, Rumors, and Information
              Hardware · Software · Corporate · R & D · Imports
===========================================================================
               @{"PORTAL" link P4-2} · @{"DELPHI" link P4-1} · @{"FIDO" link P2-1} · @{"INTERNET" link P4-5} · @{"BIX" link P4-6} · @{"NVN" link P4-4}
===========================================================================


@endnode

@node P1 "Columns and Features"
@toc "menu"

@{"     From the Editor's Desk     " link P1-1} Saying it like it is!
@{"       CPU  Status Report       " link P1-2} CBM Power-Up extended!
@{"    Emplant Video Available     " link P1-3} See it in action!
@{"   ImageFX v1.5 Now Shipping    " link P1-4} And sporting many improvements!
@{"         Online Weekly          " link P1-5} Amiga Report Online
@{"          AR InfoFile           " link P1-6} Sysops beware!
@{"     Safe Hex International     " link P1-7} 3 Data security prizes awarded
@{"     The Emulator Examiner      " link P1-8} A close look at emulators
@{"      The Atari Falcon030       " link P1-9} A closer look
@{"      Binary Mathematics        " link P1-10} Just what you never wanted to know
@{"       On Comm-On Ground        " link P1-11} Shareware telecommunication programs
@{"           A.M.I.G.A.           " link P1-12} ...another potato(e) chip commercial!
@{"      Interview with Supra      " link P1-13} A look inside the company
@{"        Warez Out There         " link P1-14} Freely Distributable files
@{"        AR Confidential         " link P1-15} Rumors on NewTek
@{"      The Humor Department      " link P1-16} Definition....

@endnode


@node P2 "About Amiga Report"
@toc "menu"

@{" For Starters " link P2-1} Where to get AMIGA REPORT
@{"   AR Staff   " link P2-2} The Editors, and Contributers
@{"  In Closing  " link P2-3} Copyright Information

@endnode

@node P4 "Commercial Online Services"
@toc "menu"

@{"   Delphi   " link P4-1}  It's getting better all the time!
@{"   Portal   " link P4-2}  A great place for Amiga users...
@{"   Holonet  " link P4-3}  Inexpensive Internet Access
@{"    NVN     " link P4-4}  National Videotex Network
@{"  InterNet  " link P4-5}  Subscribe to the AR Mailing List
@{"    BIX     " link P4-6}  For Serious Programmers and Developers
@endnode

@node P5 "FTP Announcements"
@toc "menu"

@{"     AlertPatch v2.17     " link P5-1} Replacement for exec.library/ALERT()
@{"      MultiUser v1.4      " link P5-2} Protection system FUW multiple users
@{"      Nethack v3.1.3      " link P5-3} Dungeon exploration game
@{"    PrintManager v2.0     " link P5-4} A printer spooler
@{"   OnTheBall Demo v1.14   " link P5-5} A calendar/address book, etc. program
@{"      RUSH Demo v1.0      " link P5-6} A directory utility for OS2.x and 3.x
@{"     TrashMaster v1.5     " link P5-7} AppIcon to drag/drop and delete files

@endnode



                 -----------------------------------------
@node P2-1-1 "NOVA"
@toc "menu"


                               * NOVA BBS *
                         Amiga Report Headquarters
                          * Running Starnet BBS *
                         Wayne Stonecipher, Sysop
                            FidoNet  1:362/508
                 An Amiga Software Distribution Site (ADS)
                 615-472-9748  USR DS 16.8  24hrs - 7 days
                           Cleveland, Tennessee
@endnode           
                ------------------------------------------
@node P2-1-2 "In The MeanTime"
@toc "menu"


        
                          * IN THE MEANTIME BBS *
                  Official Amiga Report Distribution Site
                          * Running Starnet BBS *
                            Robert Niles, Sysop
                            FidoNet  1:3407/104
                509-966-3828  Supra V.32bis  24hrs - 7 days
                            Yakima, Washington
@endnode           
	       ------------------------------------------
@node P2-1-3 "Cloud's Corner"
@toc "menu"


        
                          * CLOUD'S CORNER BBS *
                  Official Amiga Report Distribution Site
               Starnet/MebbsNet Support Site West Coast USA
                          * Running Starnet BBS *
                            Larry Cloud, Sysop
                             FidoNet  1:350/30
                 206-377-4290  USR HST DS  24hrs - 7 days
                           Bremerton, Washington
@endnode
                 ------------------------------------------
@node P2-1-4 "Biosmatica"
@toc "menu"


         
                            * BIOSMATICA BBS *
            Official Amiga Report Distribution Site -- Portugal
                    * Running Excelsior/Trapdoor/UUCP *
                           Celso Martinho, Sysop
                             FidoNet  2:361/9
                  +351-34-382320  V.32bis  24hrs - 7 days
@endnode
                 ------------------------------------------
@node P2-1-5 "Amiga Junction 9"
@toc "menu"


                           * AMIGA JUNCTION 9 *
         Official Amiga Report Distribution Site -- United Kingdom
                       * Running DLG Professional *
                          Stephen Anderson, Sysop
                   Internet:  user_name@junct9.royle.org
      Line 1  +44 (0)372 271000  14400  V.32bis/HST   Fido 2:253/510
      Line 2  +44 (0)372 278000  14400  V.32bis only  Fido 2:253/520
      Line 3  +44 (0)372 279000  2400   V.42bis/MNP   Fido 2:253/530
                  Sysop Email:  sysadmin@junct9.royle.org
@endnode
                 ------------------------------------------
@node P2-1-6
@toc "menu:



                             * BITSTREAM BBS *
               The BBS of the Nelson (NZ) Amiga Users Group
                  Official Amiga Report Distribution Site
                       * Running Xenolink 1.0 Z.3 *
                            Glen Roberts, Sysop
                             FidoNet 3:771/850
               +64 3 5485321  Supra V.32bis  24hrs - 7 days
                            Nelson, New Zealand

@endnode
                 ------------------------------------------

           Amiga Report can be FREQ'd each week from the systems
              listed above.  Use the filename AR.LHA and you
                     will always get the latest issue.

                 ------------------------------------------
@node P2-1-7 "Freeland Mainframe"
@toc "menu"



                          * FREELAND MAINFRAME *
                   Offical Amiga Report Distribution Site
                       * Running DLG Progessional *
                           John Freeland, SysOp
                 206-438-1670  Supra 2400zi
                 206-438-2273  Telebit WorldBlazer(v.32bis)
                 206-456-6013  Supra v.32bis
                              24hrs - 7 days
                       Internet - freemf.eskimo.com
                            Olympia, Washington
@endnode
                 ------------------------------------------
@node P2-1-8 "LAHO"
@toc "menu"



                               * LAHO BBS *
             Official Amiga Report Distribution Site -- Finland
                             * Running MBBS *
                           Juha Makinen,  Sysop
                        +358-64-414 1516, V.32/HST
                        +358-64-414 0400, V.32/HST
                        +358-64-414 6800, V.32/HST
                        +358-64-423 1300, V.32 MNP
                            Seinajoki, Finland
 
Our machine is a 386/33 with 20MB of memory, 1GB harddisk and upcoming
CD-ROM drive. The BBS software is a Norwegian origin MBBS running in
a DesqView window. 

We have over 6000 files online (no CD-ROM yet) containing titles for PC
and Amiga or both like GIF-pictures, music-modules and text-files. The
upload/download ratio is a very lousy 1:100.  (i.e. you upload a 20k file
and may download 2MB).

Messages are mainly written in Finnish, but English is widely used by
Swedish-speaking and international callers.

Download-access will be granted when asked. Also Amiga-areas are available
for those who will need them to avoid 'wars' between PC and Amiga users.
Access to sex pictures and stories are only for persons over 18 years
and given when requested.

Every user has an access to download filelist (LAHOFIL.ZIP), list of
Finnish 24-hour BBS's (BBSLIST.ZIP or BBSLIST.LHA) and every issue of
the Amiga Report Magazine (AR101.LHA-AR1??.LHA) on their first call.

The system is 4.5 years old and sponsored by the local telephone company,
Vaasan Laanin Puhelin Oy.

   SysOps:   Lenni Uitti        (Main SysOp)
             Juha Makinen       (SysOp of the Amiga-areas)
             Tero Manninen      (SysOp of the PC-areas)
             

@endnode
                 ------------------------------------------
@node P2-1-9 "Falling BBS"
@toc "menu"



                              * FALLING BBS *
             Official Amiga Report Distribution Site -- Norway
                             * Running ABBS *
                          Christopher Naas, Sysop
              +47 69 256117  Rockwell V.32bis  24hrs - 7 days
                    EMail:    naasc@cnaas.adsp.sub.org
@endnode
                 ------------------------------------------
@node P2-1-10 "Command Line BBS"
@toc "menu"



                           * COMMAND LINE BBS * 
            Official Amiga Report Distribution Site -- Canada 
                Canada's Amiga Graphics & Animation Source 
                        * Running AmiExpress BBS * 
                           Nick Poliwko, Sysop 
              416-533-8321 V.32 V.42bis/MNP  24hrs - 7 days 
                             Toronto, Canada 
@endnode  
                 -------------------------------------------


