@database "ar139.guide" @Node MAIN "Amiga Report Online Magazine #1.39 -- December 31, 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 "Your Weekly Source for Amiga Information." December 31, 1993 No. 1.39 /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// / Winners Don't Use Drugs / /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// Copyright © 1993 SkyNet Publications All Rights Reserved @endnode @node P2-1 "Where to find Amiga Report" @toc "menu" /// WHERE TO FIND AMIGA REPORT Distribution Sites! -------------------------- Click on the button of the BBS nearest you for information on that system. //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// / FidoNet Systems / //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// FREQ the filename "AR.LHA" for the most current issue of Amiga Report! @{" OMAHA AMIGANET " link P2-1-9} ..................................Omaha, Nebraska @{" NOVA " link P2-1-1} .............................Cleveland, Tennessee @{" CLOUD'S CORNER " link P2-1-3} ............................Bremerton, Washington @{" BIOSMATICA " link P2-1-4} .........................................Portugal @{" AMIGA JUNCTION 9 " link P2-1-5} ...................................United Kingdom @{" BITSTREAM BBS " link P2-1-6} ..............................Nelson, New Zealand @{" REALM OF TWILIGHT " link P2-1-7} ..................................Ontario, Canada @{" METNET TRIANGLE " link P2-1-8} ......................Kingston Upon Hull, England @{" AMIGA-NIGHT-SYSTEM " link P2-1-10} ................................Helsinki, Finland @{" RAMSES THE AMIGA FLYING " link P2-1-11} ...........................................France @{" GATEWAY BBS " link P2-1-12} ..............................Biloxi, Mississippi @{" TALK CITY " link P2-1-13} ...............................Waukegan, Illinois @{" AMIGA BBS " link P2-1-14} .........................Estado de Mexico, Mexaco //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// / Non-FidoNet Systems / //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// @{" IN THE MEANTIME " link P2-1-2} ...............................Yakima, Washington @{" FREELAND MAINFRAME " link P2-1-50} ..............................Olympia, Washington @{" LAHO " link P2-1-51} ...............................Seinajoki, Finland @{" FALLING " link P2-1-52} ...........................................Norway @{" COMMAND LINE " link P2-1-53} ..................................Toronto, Canada @{" RENDEZVOUS " link P2-1-54} ......................................New Zealand @{" LEGUANS BYTE CHANNEL " link P2-1-55} ..........................................Germany @{" STINGRAY DATABASE " link P2-1-56} ...........................Muelheim/Ruhr, Germany @{" T.B.P. VIDEO SLATE " link P2-1-57} .............................Rockaway, New Jersey @{" AMIGA CENTRAL " link P2-1-58} .............................Nashville, Tennessee @{" CONTINENTAL DRIFT " link P2-1-59} ................................Sydney, Australia @{" GURU MEDITATION " link P2-1-60} ............................................Spain @endnode Non-AmigaGuide Users: See the end of this document for numbers to each BBS. ___________________________________________________________________________ /// 12/31/93 Amiga Report 1.39 "Your Weekly Source for Amiga Information" -------------------------- · The Editor's Desk · CPU Status Report · New Products · FTP Announcements · Dealer Directory · AR Confidential · The Humor Department · Usenet Reviews · AR Online · EuroDemo Compatibility · DiskExpander · » Buying your first Amiga « » CD32 Reviewed! « » AmigaWorks: New Column! « /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// 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 /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// / DELPHI · PORTAL · FIDO · INTERNET · BIX · AMIGANET / /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ @node P1-1 "From the Editor's Desk" @toc "menu" /// From the Editor's Desk "Saying it like it is!" ---------------------- I want to apologize to everyone for not having an issue last week. Normally, I try to announce a break in circulation at least a week ahead of time, but it just didn't happen this time. There were two main reasons why we didn't make it out last week... first, I didn't have much to put in the issue -- it was a slow news week, and we've been having some trouble getting people's submissions through Email intact. The second reason is that I've been trying to assemble two PC systems over the past two weeks. One for myself, one for a friend. Yes, I know... PC's suck. Well, rather, MS DOS sucks. I've been battling with mail order vendors and other people that just couldn't get things shipped on time, and when I did get enough pieces to get one of them running, I had the ever so pleasureful experience of trying put it all together and get it running. In fact, I'm still working on getting these blasted things working. I have two PC's on my desk, plus my A1200, and only two monitors. So I keep switching my NEC 3D from my 1200 to the PC and back. It's really time to get an A/B switch- box. Building a PC is NOT for the faint at heart. Had I not been doing one of them for a friend, I would have given up in disgust and sent all the crap back. But now that they're close to being usable, I might as well keep it. ;) Now I'm sure you're wondering why I'm going on about PC's in an Amiga magazine. Well, I had been starting to take my 1200 for granted, and had been tempted by the PC. Especially that new game, Doom. It's wild. But after going to the trouble of assembling one, I really came to miss my 1200. Especially the most endearing quality of the Amiga: Preemptive Multitasking. I tell ya, Windows can't multitask worth a crap. It's all cooperative, which means applications have to voluntarily give up control so another application can get CPU time. The best I've managed is playing Solitaire in Windows while downloading at 14.4Kbps, without causing problems. And this is on a 40 MHz 486! Sheesh. If I had the money, I'd add enough memory and run OS/2, but 4 meg doesn't cut it. To further complicate things, I think I'm coming down with the Flu. Wonderful. I consider myself fortunate that I haven't had it yet, but the beginning of a three day weekend is not the time one wants to get sick. I feel like dozing off right now as a type this... Zzzzzzzzzzzz... Rob @ AR \|/ @ @ ----------------------------------------------------oOO-(_)-OOo------------ @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 SIG on DELPHI. Amiga Report readers are invited to join DELPHI and become a part of the friendly community of Amiga 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 Username: type JOINDELPHI and press RETURN, At Password: type AMIGAREPORT and press RETURN. DELPHI's best plan is the 20/20 plan. It gives you 20 hours each month for the low price of only $19.95! Additional hours are only $1.50 each! This covers 1200, 2400 and even 9600 connections! For more information, and details on other plans, call DELPHI Member Services at 1-800-695-4005 SPECIAL FEATURES ---------------- · Complete Internet connection -- Telnet, FTP, IRC, Gopher, E-Mail and more! (Internet option is $3/month extra) · SIGs for all types of computers -- Amiga, IBM, Macintosh, Atari, etc. · Large file databases! · SIGs for hobbies, video games, graphics, and more! · Business and world news, stock reports, etc. · Grolier's Electronic Encyclopedia! DELPHI - It's getting better all the time! @endnode *************************************************************************** @node P2-2 "AR Staff" @toc "menu" /// The Amiga Report Staff Dedicated to serving you! ---------------------- Editor ====== Robert Glover Portal: Rob-G Delphi: ROB_G FidoNet: 1:285/11 AmigaNet: 40:200/10 Internet: General Mail: ROB_G@Delphi.com Submissions: Rob-G@cup.portal.com Assistant and Technical Editor ============================== Robert Niles Portal: RNiles Delphi: RNILES FidoNet: 1:3407/104 (Private) Internet: rniles@imtired.itm.com Contributing Correspondents =========================== Randy Abel Boydell Brown Jason Compton Douglas R. Cootey Njaal Eide @endnode *************************************************************************** @node P1-2 "CPU Status Report" @toc "menu" /// CPU Status Report Late Breaking Industry-Wide News ----------------- ** Trial Edition of Quicken for DOS now Available ** Intuit Inc. this week announced a new Trial Edition of Quicken for DOS, Windows and the Macintosh. The finance software publisher says the Trial Edition lets people test drive Quicken. Intuit notes that it developed the Trial Edition for the 8.5 million PC-owning households that don't currently use personal finance software. The Quicken Trial Edition contains all the functionality of the lat- est versions of Quicken, but limits users to setting up eight accounts and to entering 50 transactions per account, providing about a month's use of the software. Users can continue to run reports and graphs even after they've reached the 50- transactions per account limit. The Trial Edition also includes a Getting Started guide providing an overview of Quicken's features. The Trial Edition is available for $8 directly from Intuit by calling 800-624-5071. A rebate coupon good toward the product's full $69.95 purchase price is included. ** IBM Tries Again with ThinkPad 500 ** IBM has resumed shipments of its ThinkPad 500 subnotebook computer, a system it pulled from the market last month because of a battery prob- lem. Sources say the IBM PC Co. will install and test the new battery free to owners of the unit, which went on sale in July. If you are a ThinkPad 500 owner and need information, call IBM at 800/426-7244. ** U.S. Chipmakers Outdo Japanese ** According to Dataquest, a market research firm, for the first time in eight years, U.S. semiconductor makers this year retook the lead in chip production. The Dataquest report says American companies controlled 41.9 percent of the world semiconductor market in 1993, compared with 41.4% for Japanese makers. Dataquest says that Intel Corp. was the world's largest chipmaker for the second year, stretching its world market share to 9.6%, 2.2 points ahead of Japan's NEC Corp. Motorola Inc. moved ahead of Japan's Toshiba Corp. to become the world's third-largest chip company. ** Apple No Longer in First Place ** The research firm, International Data Corp., sees IBM reclaiming from Apple Computer the title as top seller in the U.S. for the year. IBM is expected to edge out Apple Computer Inc. by 25,000 units in the U.S., which represents 40% of world market. IDC says the 10 largest firms account for 9.5 million of the 14.8 mi- llion PCs sold in the U.S., or about 64% of the market, compared to 52% a year ago. "That is a big, big change," Richard Zwetchkenbaum, chief of PC market research at IDC said. "A brand name has become important for a number of reasons. These vendors have more marketing muscle, more R&D capability, the ability to have multiple brands and an array of dis- tribution channels." IDC's projection of 14.8 million units shipped in the United States represents a 26% increase from 11.8 million units in 1992. The research firm projects worldwide shipments of 36.1 million units, up 19% from 30.4 million in 1992. -:- IBM's U.S. sales rose 51% to 2.08 million units from 1.37 million in 1992. Worldwide sales climbed 37% to 4.4 million units from 3.2 million a year ago. -:- Apple showed 32% growth in the United States, with 2.05 million units compared to 1.55 million a year ago. Its worldwide sales were 3.6 million, up 30% from 2.8 million in 1992. -:- Compaq posted the year's biggest growth, more than doubling U.S. sales to 1.4 million units from nearly 676,000 in 1992. Worldwide sales were up 96% to 3.05 million units from 1.56 million a year ago. Packard Bell remained No. 4, followed by Dell Computer Corp., Gateway 2000 Inc., AST Research Inc., Tandy Corp., Toshiba Corp. and Zenith Data Systems Inc., which rose to No. 10 from No. 16. Compudyne Computer Corp. fell out of IDC's top 10 in U.S. sales. ** Sharp to Sell Sun Workstations ** Starting next year, Japan's Sharp Corp. will sell workstations made by Sun Microsystems Inc. Sharp also plans to start development of its own workstations and server models by acquiring Sun's processors and operating systems. ** Compaq Quits Printer Business ** Compaq Computer Corp. this week announced that it's leaving the prin- ter business. The company will continue to offer its existing Pagemarq product line during early 1994, but is discontinuing its printer devel- opment immediately. It will also continue to offer its printer customers full support ** Piracy of CD-Roms Alleged ** A federal grand jury has indicted a woman for allegedly importing more than 900 counterfeit CD-ROMs from Hong Kong with the intent to sell them in the United States. An indictment for software piracy had been handed down against Clare Waioi Sham, 29, and her company, C-88 Interna- tional Corp. Sham is alleged to have imported more than $200,000 worth of the co- unterfeit computer parts along with manuals. If convicted, Sham could be sentenced to 20 years in jail and a $1.75 million fine. ** Thieves Steal Computer Chips ** A band of armed robbers yesterday handcuffed employees at an Irvine, Calif., computer chip business and escaped with an estimated $200,000 worth of property. Five to six men armed with handguns handcuffed the employees and taped their eyes, mouths and legs while they removed property from the business, said Police Lt. Vic Thies. ** Magazine Editor Convicted of Mail Fraud ** The editor/publisher of defunct computer magazine Desktop Publishing Journal has been convicted of mail fraud following an investigation of an alleged computer scam. Set for sentencing March 18, Linda Ann Laurie, 37 -- who used the name Linda Hansen when she operated the magazine that folded in 1988 -- faces up to five years' imprisonment and/or a $250,000 fine. A statement from the U.S. Postal Inspection Service in Seattle al- leges from September 1988 through November 1989, after the magazine ceased publication, Laurie mailed numerous letters from her home in Snohomish, Wash., to computer hardware and software companies throughout the United States, "claiming that the Desktop Publishing Journal had a monthly circulation of as many as 80,000 and requesting that certain computer-related items be loaned to her for an evaluation to be reported in an upcoming issue of her publication." The statement says that the indictment handed down against her last May further charged she received equipment worth about $75,000 and attempted to get additional items worth over $95,000. ** Video Games Might Not be a Link to Epilepsy ** A study commissioned by the British government says video games are no more likely to trigger epileptic seizures than TV. The U.K.'s National Epilepsy Society study was commissioned by the Department of Trade and Industry last May after reports of several cases of epilepsy among young video game players. The report says: -:- About 30,000 people in Britain have a first epileptic seizure every year. -:- Of these, about 600 are susceptible to seizure triggered by TV, video games, computer graphics and other flashing light sources, meaning they are photosensitive epileptics. -:- Up to 150 people a year may have their first seizure triggered by playing a video game, but the report estimates that TV will touch off about the same number. The report found no evidence that photosensitivity itself can be caused by playing video games, watching TV or by other light sources. ** Study Says U.S. School Computers Outdated ** While America has boasted of the extent to which computers have come to its school classrooms, a new study says the technology often is outdated and that teachers lack adequate training. "Teachers are not afforded the time they need to become conversant in computer technology or to plan lessons which integrate technology into classroom activities," concludes "Computers in American Schools," a study by the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement, a cooperative of research centers in more than 40 countries that study educational practices. The research, paid for by the National Science Foundation, compared computer use in schools in the U.S., Germany, Japan, Austria and the Netherlands. The study fewer than half the schools surveyed have introductory com- puter courses for teachers either in their schools or at local colleges. By comparison, in the other countries, two-thirds to 95 percent of the schools said training is available. Japan, Austria and the Netherlands all had a higher percentage of up- to-date school computers than the United States, the study found. ** BBS-Delivered Death Threats Gets Houston Teen Jail Sentence ** A death threat made on a computer bulletin board system has meant a 30-day jail term for a Houston teenager who already was on probation for allegedly trying to hire the killing of a romantic rival. Eighteen-year-old Shawn Kevin Quinn also was ordered by State District Judge Denis Collins to spend three months in the county's boot camp for young offenders after finishing his jail sentence. "On Sept. 7, Quinn was using the Spitfire computer bulletin board and found himself discussing his probation with a man who called Quinn a whiny complainer who probably belonged in jail." Quinn responded, "I deserve freedom, criminal conviction or not ... Even if I was in jail, and I read your stupid, rude message, I would probably think about getting a gun or other lethal weapon, Brady bill or not, and you can guess the rest. The moment I escaped or got paroled, guess what I'd do? And you don't need a gun to kill someone, though it certainly makes things a bit easier." Quinn was placed on probation Aug. 12 "after pleading no-contest to charges stemming from him giving seven Atari computer games and $5.30 to a district attorney's investigator in January to assassinate a fellow student at Alief Elsik High School." ** Two Accused of Stealing Systems ** Charges of stealing desktop computers containing the records of 7,000 people who receive AIDS-related services have been lodged against two hospital security guards in Miami. The two insisted they did not know what was on the computers taken from the South Florida AIDS Network at Jackson Memorial Hospital. Some activists fear the confidential informa- tion could be used against the named patients. ** Massachusetts Child Porn BBS Busted ** A Massachusetts man has been indicted by the federal government for operating a computer bulletin board system from his Medford home that offered explicit child pornography images to anyone who logged on. Reports say that Alden L. Baker, 44, distributed child pornography from his home computer BBS during the late 1980s and early 1990s to users all over the United States and as far away as New Zealand. Baker called his BBS Boston's Eagle's Nest. Federal prosecutors said Baker's computer files contained numerous graphic images "which involve the use of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct." The government also accused him of employing or coercing a minor to perform sexually explicit acts to be distributed via computer. U.S. Attorney Donald K. Stern said this indictment "emphasizes that we will vigorously prosecute any sexual exploitation of children. The use of computerized bulletin board systems which distribute pornographic images to members throughout the country are particularly deserving of our vigorous prosecution." UPI notes that if convicted, Baker would face a maximum of 10 years in prison on each count and a fine of up to $100,000. ** Microsoft Introduces New Windows Releases to Developers ** At its Professional Developers' Conference in Anaheim, Calif., this week, Microsoft Corp. is providing in-depth technical information to 5,000 developers to prepare them for the next major release of the Microsoft Windows operating system -- code-named Windows "Chicago." At the same time, a pre- release version of Windows "Chicago" for developers is being released to attendees. Technical presentations at the conference explain how the same applications programming interface (API), Win32, can be used to develop a new generation of 32-bit applications that can run across the entire Windows platform -- on the Windows 3.1, Windows "Chicago," Windows for Workgroups and Windows NT operating systems, as well as the next major release of Windows NT, code-named Windows NT "Cairo" -- and also can optionally exploit new functions in each. In addition to presentation materials, each developer is receiving two CD-ROMs: the new developer release of Windows "Chicago," including the latest 32-bit development tools for Windows "Chicago" and Win32, and a pre-release implementation of the next version of OLE that provides distributed object support for 32-bit Windows platforms. Microsoft notes that more than 250 32-bit applications for Windows are now available, with several hundred more expected to ship by spring of 1994. Windows NT began shipping in July of 1993, Windows "Chicago" is scheduled to ship in the second half of 1994 and Windows NT "Cairo" is scheduled to ship in the first half of 1995. ** COMMON GROUND For Windows Ships ** No Hands Software says it will begin shipping the Windows version of its Common Ground electronic document distribution software this week. The software publisher says the product is the first commercially available, cross- platform competitor to Adobe Acrobat. Common Ground 1.0 for Windows retains all of the major features of the Macintosh version, including a free, compact MiniViewer and pixel- for-pixel fidelity to the original document. Common Ground 1.0 for Windows also offers full Postscript support, JPEG compression and the ability to save documents into popular word processor formats. Common Ground also acts as an OLE 2.0 server, providing seamless integration into other applications, including electronic mail and databases. "Common Ground users can send documents with confidence they can be viewed and printed, because Common Ground lets them include a small, free MiniViewer, which runs on a minimal system configuration," says Tony Stayner, vice president of marketing at No Hands Software. The Windows and Macintosh versions of Common Ground each have an introductory price of $99.95. ** Dell Offers New Systems ** A second group of Pentium processor-based personal computers has been introduced by Dell Computer Corp. Called the Dell OmniPlex 560 and 566, they start at $3,499 for the 60Mhz and $3,999 for the 66Mhz model. The OmniPlex systems are based on Intel Corp.'s Peripheral Component Interconnect architecture and extended Industry standard architecture, featuring the highest level of Intel-based computing power now available. ** Newton's Sales Slow Down ** Sources say that Apple Computer Inc.'s Newton message pad's sales have slowed considerably since they peaked in October. The hand-held communicator, the first of its kind, was introduced in August. Specula- tion is that sales could increase as more software and features become available. ** FoxPro 2.5 for Mac is Here! ** Microsoft Releases to Manufacturing the New FoxPro 2.5 Relational Database Management System for Macintosh Microsoft FoxPro Defines New Standard for Performance and Power; Offered at Special Introductory Price of $99 Microsoft Corporation announced this week that the Microsoft FoxPro database management system version 2.5 for Macintosh has been released to manufacturing, with commercial availability in January 1994. Designed to empower developers and users alike, FoxPro provides unsurpassed speed, full cross-platform capabilities and extensive support for Macintosh System 7 technologies. Through June 1994, FoxPro for Macintosh will be available at a special introductory price of $99. ________________________________________________________ CENVI FOR OS/2, DOS, AND WINDOWS Version 1.008 (Now executes faster and can create stand-alone, royalty-free executables.) Cmm (C minus minus) is 'C' for the rest of us. CEnvi runs Cmm programs in the DOS, Windows, and OS/2 environments (more to follow). Together, CEnvi and Cmm make the power and flexibility of the C programming language part of every computer user's environment without the hardware, time, and programmer resources needed for developing full-blown C programs. With CEnvi and Cmm, anyone can take control of their computer environment. C is not just for programming nerds anymore. CEnvi utilities, macros, batch files, and scripts can quickly be created, shared, and modified among all computer users, professional and amateur alike. CEnvi can be incorporated at a pace that is comfortable to you: you may only want to use CEnvi code set up by a more experienced user, you may want to enhance existing batch files with a line or two of CEnvi code, or you may write complete utilities using CEnvi. The following statement is a single-line CEnvi example that you can include into batch files to return ERRORLEVEL 1 only on Fridays: CEnvi "date = ctime(time()) return( strstr(date,"Fri") ? 1 : 0 )" Nombas provides over a hundred samples such as this one--many single-line and other complete program files--and more samples are added every day to provide solutions to CEnvi user's needs. Sample programs included with the CEnvi shareware demonstrate Cmm programming; looping in batch files; altering environment variables; using environment variables in mathematical equations; user input; reading time; sounds; setting ERRORLEVEL; file read/write; OS/2 WPS and PM calls; controlling OS/2, PM, and Windows tasks; interacting with DOS, OS/2, and Windows operating systems; defining windows and Windows functions; extending PATH; scheduled command execution; setting NUMLOCK; and much more. Even if you don't learn the Cmm programming language, you could still personalize these samples to suit your needs. (Do you need a program to tell if it is a Thursday? I'll bet that you could "reprogram" the above sample Cmm code to return ERRORLEVEL 1 only on Thursdays!) If you choose to learn the Cmm programming language (C programmers will find that they already know it), then step through the Cmm programming tutorial in the CEnvi Registered User's Manual. This tutorial takes you step by step through the planning, creation, and debugging of a simple text editor: CmmEdit. With the /BIND option, you can create stand-alone executables from your Cmm code. These executables can be freely distributed without paying any royalties to Nombas. (This is a great feature if you are a computer support guru who must often come up with a quick fix in diverse environments.) CEnvi costs $38 for a license that includes the OS/2, DOS, and Windows versions. Additional site licenses (which do not include the 100+ page manual) are $15 each. The CEnvi Unregistered Shareware package is a working version of CEnvi with occasional registration reminder screens. The most recent versions of CEnvi Unregistered Shareware, including sample files, are always available via anonymous FTP from "world.std.com" in the "pub" directory: cenvi2.zip, cenvid.zip, and cenviw.zip are CEnvi for OS/2, DOS, and Windows, respectively. From CompServe: CEnvi for OS/2 is CENVI2.ZIP in OS2USER library 4, CEnvi for DOS is CENVID.ZIP in IBMSYS library 1, and CEnvi for Windows is CENVIW.ZIP in WINSHARE and WINUSER library 6. Also available for download from the Nombas BBS (suggested dial string ATDT16173916565,,,,,44444). Upgrade patches for this latest version are available for electronic download to registered CEnvi users. Nombas may be reached at: Nombas Internet: bsn@world.std.com P.O. Box 875 CompuServe: 72212,1622 Medford, MA 02155 USA Phone: (617)391-6595 BBS: (617)391-6595 ext. 44 after 2nd ring (e.g., ATDT16173916595,,,,,44444) ************************* CENVIW.ZIP FILE LIST ************************* CENVIW.ZIP, the Unregistered Shareware CEnvi package for Windows, contains the following files: *CENVI.EXE: CEnvi shareware executable for DOS, OS/2, or Windows. *CENVI.DOC: CEnvi Shareware Manual, Chapter 1: CEnvi Unregistered Shareware *CMMTUTOR.DOC: CEnvi Shareware Manual, Chapter 2: Cmm Language Tutorial *CMM_VS_C.DOC: CEnvi Shareware Manual, Chapter 3: Cmm versus C, for C Programmers *CENVILIB.DOC: CEnvi Shareware Manual, Chapter 4: Function Library *LICENSE.DOC: CEnvi Unregistered Shareware License Agreement *README.DOC: Introductory file. Read this first for quick intallation. *REGISTER.DOC: CEnvi registration form *INSTALL.CMM: Cmm source file for installing this shareware version *Ascii.cmm: Display the ascii character table *BattMem.cmm: Show values stored in a PC's battery-protected memory *BootEd1.cmm: Start NotePad to edit c:\AutoExec.bat and C:\Config.sys using Windows DLL's. *BootEd2.cmm: Start NotePad to edit c:\AutoExec.bat and C:\Config.sys using CEnvi's spawn() function. *Border.cmm: Draw a simple border on the screen *BugHunt.cmm: Example for using the ClipBrd.lib routines. Constantly scan clipboard for "bug" in clipboard text *ClipBrd.lib: Library of routines for reading from or writing to the Windows clipboard *CmmEdit.cmm: VERY simple text editor; developed step-by-step in the tutorial chapter of the Registered CEnvi Manual. *Comm.lib: Simplified function interface into Windows' serial communication routines *DosTime.cmm: Show time according to computer's internal clock *Fibonacc.cmm: Two methods for generating the Fibonacci sequence *FranTick.cmm: Animated tick who drank too much coffee *GDI.cmm: Demonstrate some of Windows' graphics functions from GDI.lib *GDI.lib: Library of a few of Windows' graphics routines *Hello.cmm: My first Cmm program. Used to begin the Cmm tutorial. *HexDump.cmm: Display hexadecimal dump of a file *Icons.cmm: Minimize all windows. Demonstrate PostMessage() from Message.lib. *IdleTime.cmm: "ScreenSaver" - Show clock if computer is idle *Install.cmm: Install this registered version of CEnvi. *KeyCode.cmm: Display keycodes returned by getch(). *KeyGhost.cmm: Demonstrate how to use KeyPush.lib to control other applications. *KeyPush.lib: Library of routines created for passing keystrokes to a window with the current focus. *Message.lib: Wrapper for Windows' PostMessage() and SendMessage() function to send commands to windows. *MsgBox.lib: A wrapper library for Windows' MessageBox() function. This file is #include'd in other CEnvi sample files. *MsgBoxes.cmm: Show various message box types using the function in MsgBox.lib. *NumLock.cmm: Set the NUMLOCK key ON *OpenCmm.cmm: Use Windows' common dialog (via PickFile.lib) to select a *.cmm file to edit. *PickFile.lib: A simple interface to the GetOpenFileName() function in the Windows Common Dialog DLL. This library file is #include'd in some of the other CEnvi sample files. *PMCorner.cmm: Minimize Program Manager and then move its icon to the lower-right corner of the screen. *PongTime.cmm: Bounce the Windows clock mini-app around *Quote.cmm: Choose a "profound" quote at random *RunTime.cmm: Schedule a command to execute at a specified hour and minute. *Terminal.cmm: A simple terminal program; demonstrate some of the functions in COMM.lib *WhoRYou.cmm: Design and implement a dialog box using CEnvi's MakeWindow() and DoWindows() functions *WinBeep.cmm: Call Windows' MessageBeep() function. *Window.lib: A few functions and many defined values useful for CEnvi's MakeWindow(), BreakWindow(), and DoWindows() functions *WinExec.lib: A wrapper library for Windows' WinExec() function. This file is #include'd in other CEnvi sample files. *WinExecs.cmm: Demonstration of Windows' WinExec() function using the wrapper from WinExec.lib. *WinList.cmm: Show a list of all Windows, their handles, and their children. *WinMsg.cmm: Demonstrate how to make a window, and show all the messages that go to that window *WinShell.bat: Start windows with a specific shell. Run Windows for a single program. This use CENVI.EXE for DOS. *WinTools.cmm: Demonstrate many of the capabilities of WinTools.lib *WinTools.lib: Library of routines for directly manipulating windows by name or by handle *WinUtil.lib: A small selection of utilities that may be #include'd in CEnvi code to get simple access to Windows DLL functions. NetMinder for Windows Version 1.01 Release CPProgma Software Inc is pleased to announce the general release of the newest version of its high successful NetMinder Internet address book program for Microsoft Windows. Version 1.01 Update Features: -Much improved memo functionality. Paste from your terminal to the memo window with Shift-Ins. -Improved interaction with your Unix session prompt via the new "LaunchLines" feature. -List by "type gopher" category. -Faster searching with large databases. NetMinder is a program that allows the easy use, storage and manipulation of hard to remember Internet or other network addresses. NetMinder lets you enter these addresses into its database either by manually entering them, or by using the Windows cut and paste functions to "cut" them from your Windows compatible terminal screen and "paste" them right into the NetMinder database entry screen. One way to think of what NetMinder does is to view it as an interactive electronic address book. You could use it to record E-Mail addresses and then use it's search capabilities to find a specific name. Or perhaps for example, you might want to list everyone who has the domain .edu in their address. NetMinder stores more than just E-Mail addresses, it is specifically configured for Telnet, FTP, Gopher or any other conceivable network category. While the "Address Book" analogy for NetMinder is in some respects true, NetMinder is far from being just another address book program. NetMinder is a powerful database program that can create an unlimited number of different databases, each containing many thousands of entries. NetMinder not only has the capability to record network information for each entry, but external information such as postal addresses and memos as well. NetMinder stores its information in a standardized DBASE IV file format. This makes it easy to take the information you have stored in NetMinder and use it in another application (such as Microsoft Access or Borland Paradox). Using this capability you could for use Microsoft Access to print postal mailing labels for the entries in your NetMinder database. NetMinder is completely compatible with your Windows network. Multiple instances of NetMinder can be run, and databases can be exchanged amongst them or with any other users of NetMinder. ****************** Obtaining NetMinder 1.01 ****************** A demonstration version of NetMinder for Windows (nmdr11.zip)is available for FTP or download from the following and other sites: ftp.uu.net (/tmp/NETMINDER/) ftp.uni-kl.de ftp.uml.edu ftp.cica.indiana.edu Compuserve: WUGNET file library announcements/demos area A fully enabled, registered version is available for $45.00 UPS included from: CPProgma Software Inc. Box 1147 108 - 4800 Kingsway Burnaby, B.C. Canada V5H 2C0 Tel: (604)438-2693 Please feel free to address any queries regarding NetMinder to chapmaa@sfu.ca FREE E-Newsletter on Adv Computing, incl Online Services HOTT -- Hot Off The Tree -- is a FREE monthly electronic newsletter featuring the latest advances in computer, communications, and electronics technologies. Each issue provides article summaries on new & emerging technologies, including VR (virtual reality), neural networks, PDAs (personal digital assistants), GUIs (graphical user interfaces), intelligent agents, ubiquitous computing, genetic & evolutionary programming, wireless networks, smart cards, video phones, set-top boxes, nanotechnology, and massively parallel processing. Summaries are provided from the following sources: Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, San Jose Mercury News, Boston Globe, Financial Times (London), Daily Telegraph (the largest circulation daily in the U.K.) ... Time, Newsweek, U.S. News & World Report ... Business Week, Forbes, Fortune, The Economist (London), Nikkei Weekly (Tokyo), Asian Wall Street Journal (Hong Kong) ... over 50 trade magazines, including Computerworld, InfoWorld, Datamation, PC Week, Dr. Dobb's Journal, LAN Times, Communications Week, Electronic Engineering Times, New Media, VAR Business, Midrange Systems, Byte ... over 50 research journals, including ALL publications of the IEEE Computer and Communications Societies, plus technical journals published by AT&T, IBM, Hewlett Packard, Fujitsu, Sharp, NTT, Siemens, Philips, GEC ... over 100 Internet mailing lists & USENET discussion groups ... plus ... listings of forthcoming & recently published technical books and forthcoming trade shows & technical conferences BONUS: Exclusive interviews with technology pioneers ... the next issue features an interview with Mark Weiser, head of Xerox PARC's Computer Science Lab Send subscription requests to: listserv@ucsd.edu Leave the "Subject" line blank In the body of message input: SUBSCRIBE HOTT-LIST Do *not* include first or last names following "SUBSCRIBE HOTT-LIST" The next issue of the revived HOTT e-newsletter is scheduled for transmission in late January/early February. Please forward this announcement to friends and colleagues, and post to your favorite bulletin boards (especially university BBS). Our objective is to provide a high quality newsletter for over 1,000,000 subscribers. Thank you. @endnode @node P5-1 "SwazInfo v1.0" @toc "menu" SwazInfo 1.0 TITLE SwazInfo - replacement for workbench icon information VERSION Distribution version 1.0 AUTHORS David Swasbrook E-mail address: swaz@status.gen.nz DESCRIPTION SwazInfo replaces the workbench.library (V39+) icon information function giving the user greater control when editing the icon information. It is now possible to set protection bits for owner, group and others. The icon image may be changed by simply dropping an alternative icon into the window. All gadgets have hotkeys and the font is configurable. Tool types can be sorted/cleared/restored or added from the tool types of other icons. FEATURES 1. AppWindow support for changing the icon image by dropping any icon ontop of the current ieage. Can also add tool-types from other icons in a similar manner. 2. Commodities support 3. Arexx support 4. Configurable font for icon information window 5. Locale support 6. MultiUserFilesystem support to set file owner. SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS OS release 3 or greater is required. "matrix.library" version 23.1620 required. (included in archive) Hypertext compatable document. (ie. MultiView/AmigaGuide) Commodore Installer for easy installation Distribution is archived with lha so program to un-archive them is needed. 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/os30/util FILE NAMES SwazInfo10.lha - SwazInfo binaries and documentation PRICE Shareware. Contributions are gratefully accepted. DISTRIBUTABILITY Freely distributable as long as the contents of the archive are kept in tact. SwazInfo 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: swaz@status.gen.nz or msd@status.gen.nz @endnode ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ @node P1-3 "Amiga Report Online" @toc "menu" /// Amiga Report Online News Eavesdropping on the world! ------------------------ » From Usenet « ----------- From: c.connery@mis.mi04.zds.com Newsgroups: alt.internet.services Subject: Misinterpretation of BIX correspondence? Date: 16 Dec 1993 16:12:45 GMT In the December 1993 issue of OS/2 Professional (Pg.42) is an add for "BIX: Your Coach to the Internet." I am looking for an Internet service provider so I figured I read through the add. The first line of the body of the text reads "Give BIX a try with our new 5 for Free Offer!" I'm all for any try- before-you-buy Internet services so I figured I'd give it a go. I was a little confused by the rest of the add, however. The very next line stated "Join BIX today and get 5 hours of evening and weekend access for $5!" The "5 hours for $5" slogan was present throughout the rest of the add as well. It appeared to me that someone had screwed up when creating the add, but I wanted further clarification so I emailed info@bix.com (as suggested in the ad). The next day I received a timely response which not only answered my specific questions, but also included a wealth of information regarding BIX. The technical representative who responded to my question, did, however, question my interpretation of the ad and asked me to point out the specific lines which confused me. I emailed a response pointing out the above information and asked a few other questions regarding their service. To this email I received, what I thought, was a very belligerent reply. One of my questions addressed their 20/20 billing plan which allows for 20 hours of access for $20. I noticed in the literature that this 20/20 plan was in addition to the $13 monthly fee. I pulled out a Delphi brochure to see what their 20/20 plan called for and noticed that there were no extra charges per month (a one time $19 set-up fee is required, however). In my final correspondence with this technical representative, I pointed out that I was disappointed to see this difference hoping that he/she would respond with the appropriate marketing verbiage necessary to convince me that BIX was better that Delphi for the following X reasons and that is why their billing rates differ (much in the same way that someone might ask Compaq why their PC offering is more expensive than, say a comparable Gateway offering). Little did I know that Delphi and BIX were owned by the same company. This was very rudely pointed out to me, however. The response I got was as follows: "BIX is a separate service, sir. DELPHI's policies have nothing to do with BIX. Although owned by the same company, each product serves a different audience (and population) and therefore has different pricing/costs/services." Below please find an exact copy of the two correspondences and their responses. I have used "Xtechnicalrep" in place of the representative's actual name in case it is I who am just misinterpreting the text. My questions are these: (1) Has anyone else had problems with BIX or ever used BIX? I had never heard of them until I saw this ad. (2) Am I wrong in my interpretation of these responses as being belligerent? Might the tech rep just be foreign or use a different writing style than I am use to? I found the word "sir" to be very condescending and it seems that the writer was pre-supposing things such as (1) my knowledge of the relationship between BIX and Delphi and (2) that everyone uses UNIX and has a .sig that they can modify (I send email through a cc:Mail gateway that we have setup here at work and thus attempt to sign my correspondences with my return address). ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Initial correspondence from cconnery@zds.com to info@bix.com on 12/14/93 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Please forward rate information for BIX services to cconnery@zds.com. I am specifically interested in SprintNet, Tymenet [sic] access in the Birmingham Alabama area (area code 205). I'm a little confused with you advertisement in the December issue of OS/2 Professional which states "Give BIX a try with our new 5 for FREE Offer!" but then goes on to state that you get 5 hours for $5 (as opposed to free). Please clarify this. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Response from Xtechnicalrep.@BIX.com (I don't want to slander him/her) ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sir: There are 9600bps nodes for both Tymnet and Sprintnet in Birmingham, AL. These can be provided to you during registration. I have reviewed the OS/2 Professional December '93 BIX ad - I do not see any mention of 5 for Free. Could you review this and point out where it might be? Our $5 for 5 hours offer still stands for new subscribers. [followed by 3.5 pages of marketing text and billing information] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Follow-up from cconnery@zds.com ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Xtechnicalrep, Thank you for your quick reply to my request for information regarding your service. After reading through the information you supplied, a few questions still remain: (1) Is the NewsReader available yet? If not, when do you anticipate its availability? (2) Can I try the BIXnav windows software before I buy (I'd like to see the GUI interface before I spend the $15+). Also, is a Mac front-end available as well? (3) Regarding the December OS/2 Professional December '93 BIX advertisement (pg. 92), the first line of the body of the text (to the right of the circular 5 hours for $5) clearly states in bold letters "Give BIX a try with our new 5 for Free Offer!" Any further clarification of the above items would be much appreciated. cconnery@zds.com I am a little disappointed to see that the 20/20 plan is in addition to the $13 monthly fee (if I'm not mistaken, DELPHI's 20/20 plan has no additional charge other than the 1 time $19 sign-up fee). ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ XReps' response to cconnery's follow-up ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Sir: You certainly do want to correct your return path or include a .signature for the e-mail address to send responses to in each message -- you'll probably get more replies! 1: Newsreader (nn) is going along smoothly, available in January. But you can't hold me to that. 2: No, you can't try before you buy. You must purchase it from the BIX.mall. By doing so, you will have the opportunity to download a pre-release version of the successor, InterNav, which has point and click access to some of BIX internet services as well! No Mac front end at this point in time, there are plans for a solution to this during next year. 3: Thanks for pointing that out: there is an error and our advertising firm had made the mistake. You may have a free keyword: use "bix.free" for the 5 for free offer. The advertisment [sic] keyword is for 5 for $5. >I am a little disappointed to see that the 20/20 plan is in addition... BIX is a separate service, sir. DELPHI's policies have nothing to do with BIX. Although owned by the same company, each product serves a different audience (and population) and therefore has different pricing/costs/services. --Xtechnicalrep BIX Technical Associate » From Delphi « ----------- 21273 23-DEC 08:28 Business and Productivity Good Recipe :) From: JULIENNE To: ALL Greetings of the Season....I know this isn't the "recipe sig" but here's a little something posted on a local board I call here back home....just had to share it :) BEST RUM CAKE EVER 1 or 2 quarts of RUM 1 cup butter 1 tsp. brown sugar 2 large eggs 2 cups dried fruit 1 tsp. baking soda 1 tsp. baking powder 1 Tbs. lemon juice 1 cup sugar 1 cup nuts Before starting, sample the RUM to check for quality. Good isn't it? Select a large mixing bowl, measuring cups, etc. Check the RUM again. Good isn't it? (It must be just right). To be sure the RUM is of the highest quality, pour one level cup of RUM into a glass and drink it. (If the RUM quality is not the best, the cake will not be superior). With an electric mixer beat 1 cup butter into a fluffy bowl. Add 1 seaspoon of tugar and beat again. Meanwhile, make sure the RUM is of the finest quality--try another cup. Good isn't it? Open a second quart of rum, if necessary. Add two arge leggs, 2 cups of fried druit and beat until high. If the druit gets stuck in the beathers, just pry to loosen with a dewscriver. Next. Sift 3 cups of baking powder, a pinch of Rum, a seaspoon of toda and a cup of pepper or salt. (It really doesn't matter). Sample the RUM again. Good inn'nt it? Sift 1/2 pint of lemon juice. Fold in chopped butter and strained nuts. Add 1 Tbs. of brown sugar (or whatever color you can find). Grease that crazy oven and crank up that cake pan to 350 degrees. Now, pour the whole mess into the oven. You don't need a pan. Just throw it in. (Where is that oven anyway?) Now check the RUM again. Good, ain't it? Now, get someone to watch the oven `cause if you feel like I do, I'm gon t' bed. Grumpa--this Rum Cake's for YOU! ;) (If you make it--let me know how it turns out Merry Christmas everybody..."C-ya" after Christmas Day! *Julienne* @endnode ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ @node P4-5 "Amiga Report Mailing List" @toc "menu" /// Amiga Report Mailing List ------------------------- No Official Amiga Report Distribution Site in your local calling area? Are you tired of waiting for your local BBS or online service to get Amiga Report each week? 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@imtired.itm.com. Your account must be able to handle mail of any size to ensure an intact copy. For example, many systems have a 100K limit on incoming messages. 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 concerning the mailing list should be directed to Robert Niles at rniles@imtired.itm.com. Also, please do not send subscription list requests or changes to the editor. Many thanks to PORTAL Communications 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! ** IMPORTANT NOTICE: PLEASE be certain your host can accept mail over ** 100K! We have had a lot of bouncebacks recently from systems with a ** 100K size limit for incoming mail. If we get a bounceback with your ** address in it, it will be removed from the list. Thanks! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ @endnode ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ @node P1-4 "AR Questionnaire Results" @toc "menu" /// AR Questionnaire Results ----------------------- by Robert Niles (and Amiga Report) Well the results are in, calculated and tabulated!! First off, thanks to all of you who took the time to respond! Everyone's response was insightful, and thought provoking!! I loved hearing from you all! 1. How old are you? We received a total of 168 replies. All percentages are based on this count. < to 16 : 4% 17 to 25 : 58% 26 to 40 : 29% 41 to > : 8% No answer: <1% 2. What AMIGA computers do you own? Most people reported owning more than one Amiga. In fact, one person owned at least one of everything except for the A600. A500 : 35% A600 : 1% A1000 : 11% A1200 : 15% A1500 : 1% A2000 : 28% A3000 : 18% A3000UX: 1% A4000 : 21% CDTV : 2% CD32 : 1% 3. What other computers do you own? Most people reported that they use a multitude of other computers at school or at work. Here we only report on the other platforms that they OWN. The percentages are low from a total of 168 people, as alot of people only own the Amiga. MS-DOS (AT/XT): 20% MAC : 2% Apple : 0% C64/128 : 13% Atari : <1% Other : 6% 4. What other external peripherals do you have? Now, of course, people own more than one of the items listed below. This makes the percentage count quite high. These figures are based on the total of 168 reponses. The 'OTHER' column seems to reflect music hardware the most, but various other things were included. I thought it was strange that people seem to be buying modems before they even think of buying a printer. Modem : 76% Printer : 56% Video : 18% Other : 21% CD-ROM : 9% Tape/DAT: 7% 5. What internal peripherals do you have? (modems, RAM, video, etc) Here again, it's the same as number 4 above. Basically a HardDrive and extra memory were important items to purchase. This seems to be quite different from a couple years back. The 'OTHER' column includes everything from serial cards to other not-so-common devices. The 'Gfx' column contains everything from display boards to items like the Video Toaster. HardDrive : 78% Memory : 78% Gfx : 18% Accelerator: 23% Emulator : 10% Network : 2% Other : 7% Modem (int): 2% 6. What do you do for a living? (job, student, nothing, etc.) Wow!! There's a wide range of people out there using the Amiga. I received responses from ALL over the world! I heard from students, writers, physicists, programmers, line production workers, Video production supervisors, and more! 7. Do you use your Amiga in a business? I thought it surprising, the amount of people who actually use the Amiga in some manner with their business. Although, the percentage wasn't high, it was higher than I expected. Yes : 29% No : 67% No answer: 4% 8. What do you primarily use your Amiga for? (games, educational, bbs, etc.) This shows what you all are doing with your Amigas. ALOT of telecommunications out there. From BBS'es to Just chatting online. Online : 55% Games : 36% Productivity: 34% Graphics : 20% Programming : 36% Education : 8% Job : 6% Other : 5% 9. What would you really like to see made for the Amiga? Either, hardware, software, etc. OK, there were alot of requests, and ideas. I'll post the ones here that were asked for quite frequently. #1 - Good Productivity software. This was what the largest portion of the responses asked for. Better Word Processing, better Spreadsheets and Database programs.. #2 - Cheap Networking capabilities. Even CBM's own networking systems much like Apple has with AppleTalk. #3 - RTG Graphics. #4 - Commercial! Alot of people asked that CBM advertise the Amiga. #5 - 16bit Audio built into the Amiga. #6 - Cheaper peripherals - Quite a few people thought that add-ons for the Amiga were just too expensive compared to those found for MS-DOS. #7 - A Portable Amiga computer. #8 - RIP communications programs. #9 - PAL Video Toaster #10 - CD32 add-on for the A4000/A1200 10. Name one of your most liked pieces of Hardware that you have with the Amiga. #1 - The MODEM. The simple things are liked the most. #2 - The HardDrive. Again! #3 - The Amiga computer #4 - Picasso II #5 - GVP's IOextender #6 - Video Toaster #7 - Extra RAM #8 - OpalVision #9 - Supraturbo 28 #10 - Retina 11. Name one of your most liked pieces of software that you have with the Amiga. It was good to see quite a few of the PD and SW programs in everyone's "favorite" list. There were many more, but I picked the ones mentioned the most. #1 - SAS/C #2 - PageStream #3 - The Amiga Operating System #4 - Dir Opus #5 - Spot #6 - Terminus #7 - Term #8 - DICE #9 - Deluxe Paint IV #10 - Lightwave 12. Would you buy the CD^32? Alot of people still undecided on whether they should buy the CD^32. Most of them stated that they would rather purchase the CD-ROM as an addition to their existing platform (A1200 or A4000). Quite a few have the "wait and see" attitude. Some being afraid that the CD^32 might turn out to take the same path as the CDTV did. Yes : 23% No : 40% Maybe : 30% No answer: 7% 13. How often do you read Amiga Report? Looks like we're gaining popularity! Good! Alot of the kudos here goes to all of you. You read the mag, but you all make the magazine too! 14. What would you like to see in Amiga Report? Alot of suggestions came in. I'll post some of the most requested here. This next year we should be taking some of you requests and putting it into AR. #1 - Hints and Tips column. #2 - More news from Europe and elsewhere. #3 - More PICTURES!! #4 - Less news about other platforms (but still keep anything that might be important for the readers to know). #5 - Programming articles (C and ARexx was suggested). #6 - Technical articles. #7 - Cross comparison on various products. #8 - More news from Commodore! #9 - CBM stock quotes. #10 - More software/hardware reviews. 15. Do you prefer the AmigaGuide style, or should we go back to simple ASCII text? AmigaGuide won out!! For many reasons, from simplicity to use to "it feels more like a mag". AmigaGuide: 83% ASCII : 8% No answer : 7% 16. Comments: Alot of comments came in as well. I read each and every one. I'll be making sure that Rob, our editor gets to read them as well! It was fantastic doing this survey...maybe we'll do another one next year!! A happy New Year to you all!!! @endnode ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ @node P1-5 "Buying your first Amiga" @toc "menu" /// Buying your First (!) Amiga --------------------------- By Jason Compton (jcompton@tcity.com) --------------------------------------------------------------------- NOTE: I know what you're thinking. "Wait a second. I already OWN an Amiga. I don't WANT to buy one for the first time. True, if you're reading Amiga Report, odds are you've already bought your first Amiga. I would like, though, for all of you to distribute this article wherever you can, on the condition that it says "Reprinted from Amiga Report #1.39 with permission". My purpose here is to present some sort of cohesive guide to people who might consider buying an Amiga for the first time. They're out there. I've met them. I've sold Amigas to them. It CAN happen. This article, I hope, can help. In addition, it could be used as a reference if anyone wants to convince someone to buy an Amiga... ----------------------------------------------------------------------- So, you want an Amiga but don't really know which one would be right for you? Maybe I can help. I've owned 3 so far, ranging from the 1 meg Amiga 500 I started with to my current A3000, with an accelerated 2000 inbetween. I've messed around with the others enough to have some sort of grip as to what I'm talking about. Why would you want an Amiga? Well, plenty of other people can give you reasons, and if I repeated them or added my own, this article would run even more horrifyingly long than it already is. I'll assume you've discovered why. What do you need to own an Amiga? Two things: money and courage. How much money depends on what type of Amiga you want, and we'll deal with that momentarily. How much courage? A considerable amount. Right now is not a time in which Amiga users can sit back smugly knowing their future is assured. With an onslaught of uninformed, lying, and otherwise deceived people out badmouthing the Amiga, it takes a strong person to stare back and say, "You're wrong." It comes with practice. Quick glossary: While I'm assuming that the reader either knows why they want an Amiga, or know someone who will tell them :), I do sling around a few terms I'd like to define: ECS/OCS: The Enhanced Chip Set and Old Chip Set. These came with the Amiga 500,600,1000,2000, and 3000. They are the ones which provide the 4096 color palette and 32/64 color game play (in most cases). AGA: Advanced Graphics Architecture chip set, which provide a gargantuan color palette (at least a quarter million, if I understand correctly), and lots and lots of ways to display things on the screen. Comes in the 1200 and 4000. PCMCIA slot: An industry-standard expansion slot, also called "credit- card expansion slot". Usually used on laptops, but can be found on the 600 and 1200, for easy and cheap memory expansion. Zorro II/III slot: The Zorro slots are the regular Amiga bus slots found on the 2000, 3000, and 4000. The 2000 has Zorro II slots, which are slower than the Zorro III slots found on the 3000 and 4000. How will I help you decide? Well, I'm going to list the pluses and minuses to each machine as I see them, and then rank the machine on its expandability, compatibility with certain types of Amiga software (read: games and demos), Cost-effectiveness, and future. I'll start with the pioneer of the Amiga line: The Amiga 1000 -------------- You can't find an Amiga older than this, and you won't find one new. These were the first machines, initially released in 1985. They're the classics, but not show-stopping productivity machines. If you want to play games, run demos, and aren't too worried about high-level graphics or speed- demon operation, this is for you. Pluses: If you can find a 1000 for sale, chances are you'll get it for VERY, VERY cheap. I've seen a 512k system sold for $50. Your mileage may vary. Like I said, for games and demos, I can't see a better choice. Minuses: Expansion for the 1000 was fairly limited. It needs special hardware to get the 2.0 and above OS. Your speed is effectively locked at a 7.14mhz 68000, unless you dig up the specs for the LUCAS 68020 project and are a madman. The parallel port is also inverted. Rankings (10 being the best) Expansion: 1. It's just not very expandable anymore. You can add a HD and 2.1, but it would be an effort. Compatability: OCS/ECS-6 AGA-0. While you will be hard pressed to get 1 meg of chip mem, most games and utilities will treat you well enough with 1 meg, regardless of how you get it. 2.1 CAN be added, if you like. It works, mate. Cost-effectiveness: 7. Well, you're still getting the Amiga multitasking capabilities, and nobody is looking to gouge you for it. Future: 0. The 1000 hasn't been much of an issue forquite some time. Conclusion: If you can get it cheap, get it. The Amiga 500 ------------- My personal first Amiga, it became inadequate for me when I decided I wanted more speed and more expandability, particularly towards IBM slots. If a 1000 is a bit too flaky or too hard to find for you, and you want more expansion options, this computer is a considerably better choice. No longer produced new, but you can obtain a used one relatively cheap. I let a 2.5 meg 500 go for $150, if that gives you any indication. You can go up to 8 megs on this, and you can accelerate it to an 040, if you can find the board. GVP still makes an 030/40 for it. It's a one-piece affair: bordering on easy transportation. Pluses: Like I said, you can upgrade the memory, HD, and speed far easier than on a 1000. One-piece design is nice. Can use the 1 meg Agnus, putting it at a higher level of compatibility, and is easier to upgrade to 2.1. Also fixed that parallel port thing. Minuses: Expansion is expensive on this machine and tends to be external, which can make for a very unwieldly system. The computer has a relatively big footprint and I've heard some complaints about a bad keyboard angle, but I always liked it. Expansion: 3. No Zorro slots built in, but you can get ones off of the left-hand expansion slot (a Trumpcard 500 case has two of them, in fact.). But expanding this sucker is pricy: buying a BaseBoard and 2 megs was $200. Compatibility: OCS/ECS-10 AGA-0. After all, it's one of the target machines for those chipsets, so it BETTER be compatible with all of the software. Cost-effectiveness: 8/5. Like I said, I sold mine for pretty cheap, and there's not much of a reason for someone to ask for an arm and a leg for one. The 5 represents what happens when you start expanding the computer. Future: 3. Support for the 500 has really dwindled, but it's out there, as exemplified by GVP's 030/40 add-on. Conclusion: More useful than a 1000, but probably still not the best choice for a full-blown high-memory and HD system. The Amiga 600 ------------- This is the cutest computer I've ever seen. It's sort of amazing that something this small really works Amiga magic. It, much like the 1000, would be primarily a games/demos computer, but it can of course handle application software...albeit slowly. Pluses: SIZE. If you don't have room to spare, this is the computer for you. Memory expansion is pretty low-cost, compared to the 2000 or 500, since it takes standard PCMCIA-slot RAM, and the 2nd meg of chip ram comes pretty cheap ($35) too. With a little LCD screen and a power socket, this thing could theoretically be a laptop. Comes with a built-in IDE hard drive interface, which is always nice. Memory and HD expansion (if it's a 2.5in drive) won't increase the size of the footprint. Minuses: You can't increase the speed. Period. Ever. Also, since it's surface-mount, if something goes wrong you've got a big problem. The keyboard is a bit cramped, too. Expansion: 5. Memory and HD additions are pretty straightforward, and internal (see 500 expansion). Compatibility: OCS/ECS-9 AGA-0. I've had a little trouble getting assorted things to run on one of these, so I can't give it a 10. No AGA, ever. Cost-effectiveness: 8. A friend of mine got one new, 1 meg with a 40 meg HD, for $200. Wasn't bad at all. Future: 1. The support for the 600's hardware seemed to die instantly. Conclusion: It will never win any speed records, but is the best choice if you want a 68000 HD system with easy memory expansion. The Amiga 2000. Floor models and other refurbished-types of this computer are still being sold at outrageously high prices. This was the big brother to the 500: similar architecture, but a LOT more expandability. It has its pluses and minuses. Pluses: The computer itself is a pretty good investment, if you're not looking at true AGA. You get a TON of slots, so you can add any Zorro-II (old bus format) card...and keep adding them. It also has 2 16-bit and 2 8-bit ISA slots, expandable to 4 16-bit-meaning with a Bridgeboard, you can have a very well decked out IBM system on here. Has a processor slot for easy speed upgrades, and three drive bays. Can be accelerated up to 040/33, and can support Zorro-II 24-bit cards for AGA emulation and more. Minuses: This sucker is huge. I mean, REALLY, REALLY big. Maybe not quite as big as an original XT, but that's not saying much. It's also expensive to upgrade: not so much as a 500, but if you assemble a 2000 with an 030/25 and some memory next to a 3000, the 3000 wins. Expansion: 8. Gotta love all those slots, whether or not you know what you're going to do with all of them. Compatibility: ECS/OCS-10 AGA-possible but questionable. After all, 24-bit AGA is not true AGA, and no self-respecting shoot-em-up game is going to be fooled. Cost-effectiveness: 5.5. It's hard to say. New 2000s are being sold for something outrageous like $500 for a 2000, 2 floppy drives, 1 meg, an ECS chipset and OS 2.1. Old 2000s are bound to be a considerably better bargain, though. Expansion routes are still a bit expensive, but not insurmountable. Future: 3. Zorro-III is finally being developed, so the 2000s slots might not cut it in the future, but it's still got a shot, since it can support Emplant, bridgeboards, and 24-bit video cards. Conclusion: A good computer for big desks. (The Amiga 1500 and 2500 are not included because they're silly.) The Amiga 3000 -------------- The first Amiga to feature an onboard, standard processor that was NOT a 68000-at the same time being the only Amiga without any 68000 on it. It's a very nice machine: compact but still expandable, although not NEARLY as much as the 2000. Pluses: Its 2 external-facing, 1 internal 3.5in bays make for some pretty nice expansion options, and its built-in SCSI controller is a big plus. Memory can be expanded onboard to 2 megs chip, 16 megs 32-bit fast- VERY nice. The Zorro-III slots make going 24-bit video a more attractive option as well. BUILT-IN FLICKER FIXER! Minuses: The lack of a 68000 onboard is a drawback for many games and demos, because try as you might to get them to run with a Degrader-type program, some simply will not work. It's not the target computer for a Bridgeboard, because it has only 2 16-bit ISA slots, meaning you can have the Bridgeboard and a multi-IO (VGA/serial/parallel/IDE) card, but no sound above a PC speaker. The Video Toaster also does not fit without modification. Also, to my knowledge, nobody develops 3000 accelerators anymore, so you're stuck with what you've got unless you find someone willing to sell. The 3000T, from what I have heard, can come with an 040 onboard, however. Ratings: Expansion: 7, because although Zorro-III is nice, the slots are overlapping, so while you have 4 Zorro-III slots, a video slot, and two ISA slots, you can only have 4 cards at a maximum. Compatibility: ECS/OCS-8 AGA-possible. Of course, OS-compliant things will work just fine on the 3000, but a lot of things that rely heavily on custom, 68000-specific code just won't work. That's when you want a spare 500/1000 series machine around. AGA can be emulated to a point with 24-bit video boards, but again, only for OS-compliant software. Cost-effectiveness-8. Putting a 2000 system and a 3000 system together side by side will bring the 3000 out a winner the vast majority of the trials. At the blowout pricing of late, it's a good deal. Future: 5. The 3000 has not been forgotten, as video board manufacturers try to gain their attention with new, better, and more features, as well as better AGA, since Commodore seems unwilling to offer a true AGA solution to 3000 owners. Not being of the true AGA generation, however, it is not at the forefront of the market anymore. Conclusion: A very good deal for the money, especially as a productivity machine. OS-compliant programs, a significant portion of games, and even a lot of demos WILL work on it. Don't be scared-just don't get too mad when things that work on a 500 won't work on it. The Amiga 1200 -------------- The low-end AGA machine, the 1200's price has fluctuated a bunch and is hard for me to keep track of. It has a redesigned version of the 500's case, making it attractive in a unique way. The 1200 is a machine with quite a bit of promise. Pluses: AGA. Right there is a good reason to own one. It comes with a 68020 EC chip, meaning it gives you more speed than a 500/600/1000/ 2000 without turning itself into a racehorse. It can be upgraded up to 030/50, last I checked, with memory expansion available either on processor boards or (slower) the PCMCIA slot. Comes with an onboard IDE controller, always nice to have. If Utilities Unlimited ever gets around to buying PCMCIA connectors for the right price, Emplant should be available for it. Minuses: It shares the keyboard design of the 500, for all practical purposes, but that's a minor thing. It has no IBM-type expansion and in general has pretty limited expansion, since the alleged external expansion boxes for the 1200 haven't materialized, at least as far as I've seen. Expansion: 6. You can add processor upgrades, but memory is sometimes constricted-like with ONE SIMM slot on the board. The Zorro slots are nowhere to be found. Compatibility: ECS/OCS-7 AGA-10? I rate the ECS/OCS compatibility lower than the 3000s for these two reasons. 1. I owned a 2000 with an 020 and suffered the same incompatibility problems I do now with the 3000, but back on the 2000 I could just disable the accelerator. Not so on the 1200. Also, since the system comes with OS 3.0, it's harder to get back to good old Kickstart 1.3 for the picky programs that want it. I haven't gotten too involved in the discussions on AGA compatibility, so until I hear otherwise, it's got a 10. Cost-effectiveness: 6. Seeing as how the price for a 1200 and HD seem only slightly more than the cost of a new 2000 with 1 meg of RAM, I'd say it's not bad. AGA-supporting monitors aren't the cheapest things in the world, though, and the lack of expansion on this limits the cost value. Future: 7. I keep hearing rumors of the 1200s demise, but haven't seen solid proof yet, so I give it a 7 for AGA. Conclusion: A faster, AGA'd 500/600-type machine, but far more expandable. If you're not hankering for lots of expansion, but want AGA, it could be your machine. The Amiga 4000 -------------- The current Amiga flagship, this model is the one that's the "must-have". It sports the fine points of AGA as well as being highly expandable. Pluses-This is the high-end machine. By all rights, this is the one that the "serious" user is supposed to want. It sports Zorro-III slots as well as three 16-bit IBM slots, meaning that it is easy to put together an MPC IBM system, if you REALLY want to. In more practical terms, you can add both VGA and a sound card. For the Amiga side, you get either an 030 or 040 onboard, and pretty decent memory options. Onboard IDE controller for hard drives. You also get the 3.0 version of the system software, which from what I've gathered is 2.0 faster with some really innovative features. Minuses: Not coming standard with SCSI has been a hangup for some people, as has Commodore's 4091 SCSI card. Actually, from reports I've read, the Emplant SCSI controller is one of the better options currently available for a 4000 SCSI solution. The computer is expensive, but the price is dropping (I've seen a lower end 4000 sold for $1400 new...) Some problems have been had with the Super-Buster chip and some Zorro cards. Expansion: 8. I approve. Compatibility: ECS/OCS-7 AGA-10? Again, just like the 1200, sharing the same problems with ECS and OCS programs, mainly due to the 3.0 Kickstart. That's a surmountable problem, but a bit of a pain, really. Cost-effectiveness: 6. Being a high-end machine, its price is a bit high. Seeing how it's been dropping, though, it may become a better and better bargain by the day. Future: 8.5. It's got whatever future there is for the Amiga, which of course I hope is bright and wonderful. This is the standard-bearer for now, so it leads the way for the next generation of Amigas. This machine could go far. Conclusion: Everybody wants to be #1, and own it, too. The 4000 IS an awfully nice machine, but it's not a necessity for everyone. The 2000 is a better IBM solution, if that's the main goal. The 1200 is a lower-cost solution to playing AGA games. The 4000 does both well, however, and gives you a powerful computer on top of it. The CD Consoles: CDTV/A570 --------- An Amiga 500 in CD-player's clothing, this computer looked for all the world like a modular-stereo CD player. Commodore tried to define the CD field with it. That didn't take. The CDTV is the independent unit, while the A570 is an external unit which plugs into the left-hand expansion slot on the 500, which behaves as a CDTV. Pluses: Well, the A570 unit is selling now for $100 in some places, which is really an incredible deal for ANY CD-player, let alone one that will play CD+G and CDTV titles. Not all of the CDTV titles were bad, from what I've gathered, and it'll let you sling around the term "multimedia" like a pro. Minuses: This unit really never took off. It's been supplanted by the CD32 by Commodore, even though just about every other CD console had supplanted it anyway. Too bad, because some of them REALLY suck. Compatibility: 6. It reads CD+G, CDTV (obviously), and even some ISO-9660 formats. It'll only play CDTV titles as games (again, obviously), but that may not be enough for a lot of people, with CDTV titles sort of elusive and CD32 moving in. Expansion-5. The CDTV could be turned into a full-blown 500, or hooked up to one via ParNet. Cost-effectiveness-(?) For $100, I don't see how you can go wrong, especially if you don't own a CD player already. Otherwise, though, I'm not up on the prices. Sorry. Future: 2. Some more CDTV material might trickle out, and of course you can always play audio CDs, but the Commodore CD market is in the CD32. Conclusion-The 570 unit add-on looks like a nice deal, but the CDTV as a stand-alone isn't really exciting. The Amiga CD32 -------------- Commodore's new entrant to the CD game console field, this sucker is apparently doing VERY well in Europe and is occupying most of C='s production time. Now selling in Canada and occasionally in America, but could be a strong US contender, if it gets enough popular support from dealers and retailers. Based on Commodore's AGA graphics system. Pluses: Has a price which pretty much beats out the competition. CD-I is $500, 3DO is $700, while the CD^32 is priced around $350-$400. The Jaguar with CD is said to run around $450. If the MPEG module is priced at the latest-rumored $200, that brings a CD32 to $600, a full $100 less than a 3DO (which plays MPEGs), and $100 more than a CD-I, which plays a proprietary (read: less popular) format. The CD^32, being based on the Amiga architecture, also has more years of development and support behind it. In the future, will be able to deck out to a full Amiga 1200-type system. According to AR1.36, it has over 150 games in various stages of completion. Minuses: It IS a game machine, for now. Compatibility: 9. I don't know about the CD+G or ISO-9660 compatibility, but the CD^32 is supposed to be able to play CDTV titles. Some may have to be re-released with CD^32 patches, but I am not positive on that. Expandability-Unknown at this point. Let's see what Commodore does. Utilities Unlimited has mentioned a possible 3DO emulator for the CD^32, which would be a remarkable piece of hardware. Cost-effectiveness: 9. Compared to the other 32-bit CD consoles in the field. Future: 8? The console is the biggest seller in Europe, and thanks to its price could be big in the US. The problem is that all of the major tech/ computer distributers are waiting around to see if it does well, which is a bit of a paradox. This could be the big booster shot for Commodore-Amiga, though. I'm seriously considering buying one, and I HATE game machines...but its expandability options entice me, and besides, I own an Amiga as it is...since the prime reason to go AGA would be for games, the CD32 can give an ECS/OCS Amiga user who is happy with the productivity/graphics end of his/her current system a relatively inexpensive AGA game solution. After all, if you've got a 2000 or 3000 decked out to the gills, but would like to play James Pond 2AGA, this could be the answer. I hope this long undertaking has been worthwhile. Mail me with any suggestions/responses/additions/deletions you may have, and spread this knowledge as far as you can. Only Amiga makes it possible, but only with your help. @endnode ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ @node P1-6 "AmigaWorks" @toc "menu" /// AmigaWorks ---------- By Boydell Brown and Douglas R. Cootey Life after Death (or "Mounting RAD:") It's 2 o'clock in the morning. You've been typing all through the evening on the term paper that is due the next morning. And then it happens: the dreaded software failure. The flashing red border is like a beacon from Hell, signifying the death of all your work and effort. With your term paper transformed into digital smoke, you wonder if you should have been playing that old PD game on Workbench2.0 during your break. What will you do? You have several options, actually. This first, of course, is to start over from whatever point you last saved your work on disk. Didn't save anything on disk? You preferred the quick access of RAM, you say? Well, you could simply slide in a stick of dynamite into your disk drive, then stand back. Or you could cram your computer down the garbage disposal while it's still plugged in. If you leave the water on, it should put on quite a show. These later solutions don't help you get your paper done any faster, but at least they would make you feel better. Then again, you could have saved everything in RAD: to begin with. Even after the software failure, your term paper would still be there when your Workbench booted back up. WHAT IS RAD:? What makes RAD so unique is that it is a virtual disk drive. Now, the term "virtual" is tossed about a lot these days. In fact, one could almost say it is a virtual buzzword for our modern times. It basically means "almost like the real thing, except that its not." The RAD device is a partition of your computer's memory that pretends that it is a real disk drive. You can format it, you can copy disks to it, and you can reboot from it. You'll find the RAD device configured in the mountlist within your Devices directory ("devs" for short), unless you have WB2.1 where RAD is stored in the Storage drawer. In addition, RAD cannot function without the "ramdrive.device", also in your Devices directory, and the ramhandler in your L directory. These directories are located on your System disk. For Workbench2.0 owners, these programs are resident within the 2.0 Kickstart ROMs. By the way, your "RAM Disk" is also a virtual device. Where the two differ is in their (meta)physical makeup. Unlike the "RAM Disk", RAD will survive a warm boot. This means that when you reset your Amiga by holding down the Control-Amiga-Amiga keys, everything in RAM will be a virtual memory, whereas RAD will be waiting for you when the Workbench screen loads back up complete with all the files you had stored in there before your system went to Red Alert. Often, the RAD disk can even survive a system crash. HOW DO YOU USE RAD:? Now that you know what the RAD device is, and where its information is stored, you may be interested in knowing how to use it. We have already mentioned how useful RAD is to use as a storage disk. Since it is a partition of your RAM, reading and writing to the RAD disk is exceptionally fast. Coupled with its ability to survive everything except a power outage, it makes an excellent place to store your current works in progress. Another excellent aspect of the RAD device is that it is bootable. If you were to copy your system disk onto a large enough RAD disk, you could have your Amiga reboot from memory. Not only does this give you a very quick boot-up, but it also frees up one of your real disk drives, allowing you to transfer information much more conveniently and saving you from constantly inserting your Workbench disk during disk validation. Even though 2.0 uses resident commands to validate disks, you will find that freeing up two disk drives is still very helpful. For owners of hard drives that are not autobootable, a smaller RAD disk can be mounted that can pass system control to your hard disk without having to insert the boot-up disk when you want to reboot. These are simply a few suggestions for the use of RAD. You may think of others that meet your own individual needs. Doug likes to mount RAD when he's optimizing disks with B.A.D. By optimizing the source disk to RAD, then optimizing RAD to the source disk, he achieves blazingly fast results. MOUNTING RAD: Mounting RAD is as easy as inputting any other AmigaDOS command. Forget about sensible English for a while, and let your mind become one with DOS. You will need to use your mouse for this first step. Relish the experience while you can. AmigaDOS may be powerful, but it is as intuitive as a brick in the face. Open up your Shell icon by double clicking on it. If you have Shell, then you shouldn't bother with the CLI. Amazing as it may seem, we have met people who actually never use the Shell, but instead prefer to use the CLI. These people seemed to know that the Shell was somehow more powerful than its ugly brother, but were too intimidated by AmigaDOS in the first place to even find out why. The truth is that the Shell is a CLI (Command Line Interface), and that it operates from the "CLI" within your System directory. Where the Shell is different is that it has a memory buffer, and it allows the use of aliases, whereas the CLI does not. By WB2.x, though, the CLI and the Shell were one and the same. We will pad our AmigaDOS commands with blank lines for legibility. In addition, we will put comments out to the side after a semicolon (;). DO NOT input anything after a semicolon into your Shell window. This is not to say that your Amiga will explode if you do, but that AmigaDOS knows that everything after a semi-colon is a comment, and so should you. These comments are there for your benefit and not AmigaDOS's. Type the following into the Shell window: mount RAD: ;Remember to hit If you typed in the above statement correctly, then you will get another Shell prompt (>). That's it. You've mounted your RAD device. If you were expecting something to happen on your Workbench, then you will need to access your RAD disk from the Shell. For example, type the following to list the contents of RAD: list RAD: Since there is nothing in your RAD at this moment, you will not see very much. However, you should have noticed the RAD's icon popped up onto your Workbench. From now on, you can access RAD as you would access any other disk drive: with your mouse or through the Shell. Most of the work has already been done for you in the mountlist we referred to earlier. For WB2.1, the mountlist is the "RAD" file. Every time you reboot your computer, RAD and everything you stored in it will always be there. If you wish to reclaim the memory RAD takes up (unlike the RAM disk, RAD allocates a specific amount of memory) you will either need to physically shut off your Amiga with the power switch, or you can type the following into the Shell: remrad ;Removes RAD. "REMRAD RAD:" for 2.x users This will delete all of RAD's files, and liberate all that memory back to the system. Now if you reboot, there will be no RAD icon waiting for you next time. Since we only use the Shell if we have to, we like to have RAD take its place on our Workbench as soon as possible so that we can put the command line beast away. A typical Shell session to mount RAD for us may go as follows: mount RAD: relabel RAD: LAD ;Life After Death diskchange RAD: ;not necessary for 2.0 users endshell In one fell swoop, we have mounted the RAD device, renamed it "LAD", and ended the Shell session. 1.3 users will need to use the "diskchange" command in order to inform AmigaDOS of the name change. AmigaDOS2.0 does this automatically. Since you are already in the Shell when you are mounting RAD, it is easier to change the volume name there, than with the mouse from the Workbench. Another reason to rename RAD in the Shell, is that for 1.3 users, AmigaDOS may not recognize the new name. Of course, you could always live with the name "RAMB0", which is sure to impress even the staunchest IBM fanatic. In the event that the default RAD size is not to your liking, there is a way to choose your own size. Unfortunately, this may take you far out of your comfort zone. You will need to use the delicate practicality of Ed (one of your AmigaDOS commands) or even the very user friendly MEMACS. Not to knock these text editors too badly, but they are very intimidating for the uninitiated. You may want to find a Public Domain editor that offers a more wordprocessor-like interface. In fact, if you have a word processor that accepts vanilla text (ASCII), you may even want to use that, especially if you are more familiar with it than the others we have mentioned. Then, once you have chosen your weapon, it is time to load it. Load the SYS:Devs/mountlist file into your text editor. (SYS: is AmigaDOS for your Workbench disk.) If you are using Ed, you would type the following: ed devs/mountlist Never mind all of the cryptic entries in here; just keep your eyes out for the entry for "RAD:". We would also like to point out that the "/*...*/" you see in front of each device entry functions much like the ";" we used to set apart our comments in the above examples. The location of the RAD: entry depends on which operating system you are using. But whether it is 1.3 or 2.05, the RAD: entry should look something like this: RAD: Device = ramdrive.device Unit = 0 Flags = 0 Surfaces = 2 BlocksPerTrack = 11 Reserved = 2 Interleave = 0 LowCyl = 0 ; HighCyl = 21 Buffers = 5 BufMemType = 1 # Depending on what you want to do with your RAD disk, you will need to set the "Cyl" values accordingly. "Cyl" stands for "Cylinder", which represents the amount of information this device can hold. For instance, a typical floppy disk has 80 cylinders, 0 to 79, which adds up to 880K of storage. Therefore, if you were to change the HighCyl value equal to 79, you would have a RAD disk of 880K. If you want to use RAD merely as a safe, but convenient, storage area for your term papers while you are typing them, you may find 880K a bit too large for your needs, and also a waste of precious memory. For those interested in only forcing RAD to do their bidding without knowing too much about it, remember the simple equation below to figure out how many cylinders you need, and ignore the technical, boring stuff: Divide the amount of kilobytes you want by 11. For example, 880K divided by 11 gives us 80 cylinders. If 0 represents the first, or Low, cylinder, then 79 would be the eightieth cylinder. Set your HighCyl to equal 79, and you have a floppy disk in RAM! If you only want a small portion of memory reserved for RAD, say 220K, then divide that number by 11 and set up your RAD entry with the resulting number. Just remember that the HighCyl value is calculated from 0, your LowCyl value, meaning that 20 cylinders will yield a HighCyl value of 19, not 20. Once you have changed the high cylinder value to meet your needs, save the file, and mount RAD. Of course, you will need to make sure RAD is not already mounted in order to see the size change. In the event that RAD already exists, you will need to either use "remrad", then reset your Amiga with the hot keys (called a soft boot), or you will need to completely shut off your Amiga and turn it back on again (called a cold boot). SUMMARY As far as teaching you how to access RAD and manipulate its size, we have covered all of our material. Now you know what you need to know in order to utilize this powerful feature of the Amiga. Although we have given you a few examples, the individual applications are up to you. If you can come up with some creative ways to utilize the RAD device that we have not covered here, or if you would like to just share with us how you use the RAD device to make your computing life easier, please send your comments along to: Douglas Cootey 1:312/18................................Fidonet DOUGLAS_COOTEY@f18.n312.z1.fidonet.org.................Internet 57 E 400 N #9 Provo UT 84606-2987....................................US Mail We would like to pass along the best comments to the readers of this electronic magazine in future issues. And of course, we are always looking for the easy way to do things. :) In upcoming issues, we will cover AmigaDOS scripts, ARexx scripts, and many other utilities that help make you more productive under WB2.x. AmigaWorks(tm) 1993 Douglas R. 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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: 408-973-9111 (voice) 9a.m.-5p.m. Mon-Fri, Pacific Time 408-725-0561 (modem 3/12/2400) 24 hours every day 408-973-8091 (modem 9600/14400) 24 hours every day or enter "C PORTAL" from any Sprintnet dial-in in the USA, 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 2.50 22.95 32.45 44.95 94.95 2400/9600bps prime Sprint +% 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 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. 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 P1-7 "DiskExpander" @toc "menu" /// Usenet Review: DiskExpander --------------------------- By Njaal Eide (njaale@dhhalden.no) PRODUCT NAME DiskExpander ("DE") BRIEF DESCRIPTION A utility to expand your storage capacity on floppy and hard disks. COMPANY INFORMATION Name: Stefan Ossowski's Schatztruhe Address: Veronikastrasse 33 45131 Essen Germany Phone: 0201/788778 Fax: 0201/798447 Email: stefano@schatztr.adsp.sub.org LIST PRICE $ 30,- SPECIAL HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS Any Amiga with Kickstart later than 1.2. At least 1 meg memory is highly recommended. COPY PROTECTION DE is copy-protected. But as the original disk is only used when you install DE, this is not a problem at all. Serious changes in your system, or in DE's configuration, might make it necessary to use the original disk again. The disk also contains a unprotected utility that lets you recover your compressed data if your DE disk should get damaged. MACHINE USED FOR TESTING: Amiga 4000/030, 6M RAM. 80MB Seagate hard drive, 250MB Western Digital hard drive. INTRODUCTION If you ever run out of storage-space for your files, you are faced with three alternatives: buy more storage-space, delete files, or use more efficient storage methods. DiskExpander is a product that takes the latter approach to solving this problem. DiskExpander (or "DE" for short) is a program that gives you on-the-fly compression/decompression of files. This means that when DE is installed on a device, all files get compressed when saved and uncompressed when loaded. This process is totally transparent to all applications, as they will not even know that they are loading/storing compressed data. This is a really great concept, but as with everything great, it's got a catch to it: disk access gets slower (in most cases) and can be demanding in memory terms. I will discuss this in more detail later on in the review. PACKAGE When I first opened the DE box, I got a little surprised that it contained no less than three disks. Shouldn't this be a storage expander and not a storage filler? Upon further inspection, I found that one of the disks is a demo version of TurboCalc v2.0 and the other two are identical copies of DE. I guess this was due to a packaging mistake at the manufacturer, but a backup is nice anyway. Furthermore, the box contained manuals in both German and English. The German manual was included probably because the English manual was not completed. The latter came in the form of a bunch of loose A4 sheets; but by the time you read this, it should have been made into a proper manual. Anyway, the content of it turned out to be clear and informative: no problems here. If it wasn't for the single phrase "1.3 oder 2.0 style", I (a Norwegian) could have been fooled to believe it was written by an Englishman. INSTALLATION: DE uses the brilliant Installer program from Commodore, and the installation works nicely indeed. The only problem occurs when you are personalising your DE disk, as the installation script doesn't check the protection state of your disk. So whatever you write will get lost if your disk is write-protected. CONFIGURING DE When you have successfully installed DE on your hard disk, the first thing you ought to do is to configure it as you please. There are several ways to do this. You can manually edit your startup-sequence, or let a configuring program do it for you. DE also supports various tooltypes in a Project icon. So if you please, you can place DE icons, one for each device, in the WBStartup drawer (Workbench 2.0 or later). I do not recommend the latter approach, as it seems unreliable (DE doesn't recognise all the tooltypes that it supposedly should). I also had problems using this method on more than one device at a time. What happens is that DE functions like an on/off switch. Run it once, and DE activates. Run it again and it dies. This would have been nice if DE checked the state of the device you are trying to activate. Instead, DE checks only if it is active on ANY device, and if it is, then it disables itself completely. (Remember, this is only a problem with two or more project icons in WBStartup. With scripts, there are no problems.) DE doesn't contain a fixed number of compression algorithms built into the program. Instead, it uses external libraries for compression purposes, including the widely available XPK standard and others. The use of external libraries lets the user choose which algorithm is most suitable for his/her needs. To add a new packing method, you just add a new library. A user with little memory could choose a library which uses little of it. A user with a fast, powerful machine could choose an algorithm that has very good compression ratio, but is too slow on a less powerful machine. There are libraries optimised for most needs (speed, compression-ratio, certain file types, memory etc.), so most users will find something appropriate. Lots of external libraries are supplied, and their pros and cons are discussed in the manual. Still, it seems like SOS haven't been able to keep up with the development of new XPK-libraries. I found that I had a newer version of the XPK-library 'NUKE' on my hard disk than on the DE disk. Not a big deal anyway as new libraries will be supplied to registered users. Every other program that I have with XPK support expects to find the XPK libraries in LIBS:compressors. DE expects to find then in LIBS:. This means that I now must store them in both places and shows poor attention to detail on SOS behalf. I tried the DOS-command ASSIGN LIBS: SYS:libs/compressors ADD which should assign both directories to LIBS, but this doesn't seem to work with any program. Is this a bug in AmigaDOS? IN USE Now we have come to the most interesting part. How is actually DE in everyday use? I must admit that DE in the beginning was a real pain. Programs was either crashing like mad, or they refused to load. I was preparing for a long and harsh letter to the publisher. But by coincidence I changed the settings for DE, and every problem vanished. Since then, I haven't had a single problem with DE at all. This means six weeks of solid use, and not a single crash due to DE. Excellent. To save other users from the problems I had, here is what I found: There are two options in DE called 'No Examine' and 'No ExNext.' DON'T USE THEM! These two options determine how AmigaDOS finds the size of files. If used, AmigaDOS calculates the physical size of the file. If not, AmigaDOS calculates the uncompressed size. For a user (me at least), it is more interesting to know the physical size than the virtual. For the Amiga, it's definitely not. My theory why this is essential is as follows. When a program loads a file, it first checks its size and allocates that amount of bytes in memory. What happens then is that the uncompressed file occupies more space than allocated, causing all sorts of problems/crashes. So remember to use only 'Examine' and 'ExNext.' BENCHMARKS I started out making some benchmarks that measured loading/saving times with and without DE installed. But I've come to the conclusion that benchmarks don't say much. It all depends on how powerful a machine you have, how many tasks are running simultaneously, what pack library you are using, your hard disk interface, file size, etc., etc. All I can say is that my experience with DE is highly enjoyable. With my setup, the increased loading time from hard disk is just noticeable, and only with large files. With floppies, loading time actually decreases. On average you will save about 30-40% disk space with the most efficient pack library. For text files, expect 50-70% savings, and for previously packed files (like GIF, JPEG, LHA etc.) you will not save a single byte. So if you have a hard-disk full of packed pictures, you will not save much. If you on the other hand are a programmer with lots of include files and AutoDocs, then your savings will be enormous. So take a look at your files before you decide if DE is for you. INCLUDED UTILITIES With DE comes a utility that lets you pack or unpack a complete partition. This is useful when you are installing DE for the first time, or if you want to change pack libraries or remove DE. Another utility inspects the files of your choice and gives you various information like compression level, pack library used, file size, etc. IMPROVEMENTS I'd really like to see DE transformed into a commodity. Right now, I find it a little cumbersome to change parameters for DE. I guess this was dropped in order to keep compatibility with Kickstart 1.3 (why do publishers still make productivity software for 1.3?). It would also be nice to be able to use different pack libraries on different directories or assigned drives. Right now, all files on the entire partition use the same algorithm. It should also been possible to mark files that DE should not compress. That way it would be much safer to install it on a boot partition. Right now, you can end up in great trouble if you compress some of the files DE needs for itself. I would also like to see DE supporting RAM: and PC0:. For some reason, RAM: is only supported on machines with Kickstart 1.3. COMPARISON TO OTHER SIMILAR PRODUCTS There are at least two similar products as shareware called EPU and XFH. Both gives similar compression results as DE as they use the XPK standard, but they are very unstable. I have tried them both, but I had to give them up. By the way, EPU is written by the same author as DE. CONCLUSION When you first have got it properly installed, DE is really good. I really recommend it. For those that really think loading times are important, why not compress only the files you don't use very often? COPYRIGHT NOTICE This document is copyright 1993 Njaal Eide, but freely distributable. E-mail: njaale@dhhalden.no Njaal Eide Harreschousvei 31 1300 Sandvika Norway Phone: NORWAY-67548247 @endnode ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ @node P1-8 "A3000 MegaDemo/EuroDemo Compatability List" @toc "menu" /// AMIGA 3000 Megademo/Eurodemo Compatibility List -- 12/27/93 ----------------------------------------------------------- By Randy Abel (Rabel1@cup.portal.com) ============================================================================= GROUP |TITLE |A3000 ====================|=================================|====================== 23 Celsius Crew |Inside Anarchy |Just Boot-minor probs Abyss |Monalisa was a Man |Relokick Accession |Sun Wind |Relokick Adict |Mayday Resistance |NOPE Aesthetica |Ivy & Chrome |Just Boot AGOA |First Think |Just Boot Alcatraz |Megademo III |Relokick-crashes Alcatraz |Megademo IV |NOPE -A500 Alcatraz |Memorial Songs |Just Boot Alcatraz |Museum |Degrader Alcatraz |Odyssey (5 disks) |Just Boot Alcatraz |Stop Facism |Relokick Alchemy |Deliverance |Just Boot Alchemy |Digital Innovation |Degrader Aliens |Breed disk #3 |Just Boot Aliens |Space Music Disk Vol #2 |Just Boot Alliance Design |Arkham Asylum |Just Boot-minor probs Analog |Dyspepsia |NOPE Analog |Megademo |Degrader Anarchy |3D Demo (2 disks) |NOPE Anarchy |3D Demo II |NOPE Anarchy |DejaVu |NOPE -A500 Anarchy |Flower Power |Relokick-minor probs Anarchy |In The Kitchen |Relokick-crashes Anarchy |Krestmass Leftovers |Degrader Anarchy |Seeing is Believing |Degrader Andromeda |Decaying Paradise |Degrader Andromeda |DOS |Degrader Andromeda |Mirror Music (2 disks) |Just Boot Andromeda |Mind Riot |Just Boot-minor probs Andromeda |Multica |Degrader Andromeda |Point Blank |Degrader Animators |IRAC Demo |Relokick Angels |Sunrise |Just Boot Anthox |Demo Compilation |NOPE Arcadia Team |Megademo I |Relokick-minor prob Arise & Drinks |40K Tracktro |NOPE Austex |Genesis |Degrader Avenger |Megademo |Degrader Awesone & SDC |Termintor 2 slideshow |Degrader Balance |Lost World |Relokick Balance |Sound Barrier |Just Boot Balance |Zoom Parallax Demo |Just Boot Bass |Megademo II |Degrader Beastie Boys |Megademo I |Degrader Blaze |Overvision |NOPE -A500 Brainstorm |Musicland |Just Boot Brainstorm |Musicland II |Just Boot Bud Brains |Megademo I (2 disks) |NOPE Bud Brains |Megademo II |NOPE C&C |Aquarium Demo |Degrader Caltec |Musipics 10 |Relokick (1,4,5) Caltec |Musipics 10b |Relokick Caltec |Musipics 11 |Relokick (2,4,5) Caltec |Musipics 13 |Relokick (1-4) Cannibals |Misery |Just Boot Caves |It's So Cool |NOPE Chaos-Corp |Hot in the City |Degrader-some probs Complex |Delirius |Degrader-crashes Complex |Gospel-Karaoke |Relokick Complex |Paradigma |Just Boot Complex |Stateline |Just Boot Complex |Universal Intensity |Degrader Crass |Anarchy Inc. |NOPE Crass |Digital Complexity |Degrader Crass-Gothic Void |Perehelion |Degrader-crashes Creator |Strange Features |Degrader Crionics |Megademo |Degrader (1&3) Crionics |Neverwhere |NOPE Crionics |Total Destruction |Degrader-crashes Crusaders |Audio X |Degrader-some probs Crusaders |Bacteria |Degrader Crusaders |Freekd Out |Degrader Crusaders |Selector Pack 29 |Relokick-some crash Crusaders |Sweet Music |Just Boot Crusaders |Tuff Enuf |NOPE Cryptoburners |Megademo II |NOPE Cryptoburners |Revelations Slideshow |Relokick Cult |Kefmania (2 disks) |Degrader Cyberiad |Great Bytes |Just Boot Cycron |Musical Massacre |Degrader Da Movement |Cooky |Relokick Darkness |Megademo |Degrader Deathstar |Megademo I (2 disks) |Degrader-crashes Decay |Simpsons Demo |Degrader Devils |Colors |Just Boot Devils |Party Cocktail #1 |Degrader Devils |Party Cocktail #2 |Degrader Dexion |Megademo I |Relokick-some probs Dexion |Megademo II |Degrader Digital |Day of Reckoning |NOPE -A500 Digital |Dream Tripping |NOPE -A500 Digital |Magnetic Dreams |NOPE -A500 Digital |Lethal Exit |Degrader Divina |Technofright |Degrader DMOB |Lame D'Mo |NOPE Dominators |Golf War |NOPE -A500 Dragons |Megademo I |NOPE Dream Dealers |Megademo II |Degrader Drix |Megademo II |Relokick Dual Crew |Brain Drain |NOPE -A500 Dual Crew |Finlandia (3 disks) |Degrader Dual Crew |Megademo |NOPE E.T. |Hartcore |Just Boot E.T. |NTSC - Demo |Just Boot EMT Designs |Heliopolis |Just Boot Encore |Digital Surgery |Degrader-some probs E.O.C. 1999 |Megademo II |Just Boot-gfx probs Energy |Wasted Time II |Degrader Epsilon Designs |Nervous Breakdown |NOPE Exit |Exit Demo |Relokick Extacy |Transfusion |Degrader Exterminators |Demo Pack 1 |Relokick Fairlight/Virt Drms |242 |Relokick Fairlight |Illusion |Relokick FI-RE Crew |FI-RE Land |Just boot-minor prob The Flame Arrows |Plasmutex |Degrader Flash Productions |Danish Know-how |NOPE Flash Productions |Digital Concert II |Degrader Fraxion |Revenge |Relokick Freedom Force |Megademo |Relokick Freehand |MC Hammer Mix |Degrader Future Mirror |Clasutrophobia |NOPE -A500 Future Vision |Baby Coma 5 |Relokick Gate |Bruno's Music Box II |Relokick Gate |Megademo |Relokick Gunnars Faruebio |Megademo 4 |NOPE Half-Brain |Sunstone (2 disks) |Relokick Hydra |Synthetic Delight II |Relokick Ian 'N' Mic |Megademo |Relokick Infect |Earwigg |NOPE Infect |Helter Skelter II |Degrader Infect |Promotion |Just boot Infect |Utility Dream #0 |Relokick Investation |Hydra |Relokick-crashes Investation |??? |Degrader IT |Megademo II |Relokick JEDS |Music Disk 1 |Relokick Jetset |Over Loading |Degrader JS |Innervision (2 disks) |Just Boot KGB |Hit Fido (2 disks) |Relokick KGB |Purple Brain |Relokick Kefrens |D.A.N.E. |Degrader Kefrens |D.A.N.E. Interal Exile |Relokick-crashes Kefrens |Desert Dream (2 disks) |Degrader Kefrens |Guardian Dragon 2 (2 disks) |Degrader Kefrens |Interchange |Just Boot Kefrens |Kris Kros Sucks! |Just Boot Kefrens |Masterpieces Slideshow |Degrader Kefrens |Megademo 7 |Degrader Kefrens |Megademo 8 (2 disks) |Degrader-some crash Kefrens |Multi-Mega Remix 2 |Degrader+no fast mem Kefrens |Powermunker |Relokick Kefrens |The Wall |Degrader Kyd & Balle |Cat Computer Club Demo |NOPE Lemon |Groovy |Degrader Lemon |Rink Pink |NOPE The Link |Megademo |Relokick-crashes LSD |Jesus on E (2 disks) |Relokick Lunatics |Existro |Relokick The Lync Crew |Party Massacre |NOPE Lynx |AMFM2 |Degrader Mad Elks |Technological Death |Degrader Majik 12 |Dance Diverse Vol 1 |Just Boot Majik 12 |Ray of Hope II |Degrader Mathic |Mathic-The Demo (2 disks) |Degrader MDMA |Unnatural High |Just Boot Megawatts |A Taste of U4ia |Just Boot Megawatts |Christmas 1991 |Relokick Megawatts |Monolithe |Relokick Melon Dezign |Crayon Shinchan |Just Boot Melon Dezign |How to Skin a Cat |Degrader Melon Dezign |Humanoid Target |Relokick Melon Dezign |Prism |Just Boot Melon Dezign |Romantic Demo |Degrader Melon Dezign |The S.O.S. Demo |Degrader-crashes Mops |Softwave |Degrader The Nasty Boys |Odessy |Relokick Nation-X |Lobotom |Relokick Nerve Axis |Demon's Rage |Degrader Network/Flash Prod. |Just 4 Fun |Degrader-minor probs New Wave |Vector Up Your Ass |Relokick Nikki Corruptions |Piece of Mind |Just Boot Noice |Reductio Ad Absurdum |Relokick+hit return North Star |Metademo II |Degrader North Star/Fairlight|Megademo III (2 disks) |NOPE Nuance |Subtle Shades |Degrader Old Bulls |Fugazi (2 disks) |Degrader Overkill |The Traditional |Degrader Ozone |Shed Tears (2 disks) |Degrader Palace |Pulling the Trigger |Degrader-crashes Panoramic Designs |Megademo I |NOPE -A500 Panoramic Designs |Never Again |NOPE Panthorus |Amos Megademo (2 disks) |Relokick Parallex |Critical Mass (2 disks) |Degrader-crashes Paranoimia |Party Demo |Relokick Parasite |Imperial Tunes 2-hit single |Just Boot Parasite |The Four Seasons |Degrader Parasite |Megademo I |NOPE -A500 Parasite |Zyclonium |NOPE Paradise Productns |Optimas Maximus (2 disks) |NOPE -A500 Paradise Productns |Virtual Meltdown (2 disks) |Just Boot Perspex |Hypnosis |Just Boot Phenomina |Crystal Symphonies I |NOPE Phenomena |Crystal Symphonies II |Degrader Phenomena |Enigma |Degrader-minor prob Phenomena |Interspace |Degrader-some probs Phenomena |Megademo |Degrader-crashes The Pornos |Shave Off Your Mustache |Just Boot-crashes Powerslave |Megademo I (2 disks) |Relokick Predators |Megademo (2 disks) |Degrader Profecy |Numeric Volume 3 (2 disks) |NOPE Pure Metal Coders |Alpha & Omega |Relokick-crashes Pure Metal Coders |Alpha & Omega II (3 disks) |Just Boot-crashes Pygmy Projects |Extension |Just Boot Quadilyte |C64 Demo |Degrader Radar Contrast Prod.|Polytheism |Relokick Rage |Neural Assult |Just Boot Razor 1911 |Voyage |NOPE Rebels |Advanced Disk Designs V1.0 |Relokick Rebels |Megablast |NOPE Rebels |Megademo |Relokick Rebels |Megademo II |Degrader-no fast mem Red Sector |Megademo (2 disks) |Degrader-crashes Reflect |Sound Vision |Degrader SAE |Amazing Tunes II (3 disks) |Just Boot Sagacity |Abdomenizer |NOPE Sanity |Boggledop |Just Boot Sanity |Interference |Just Boot Sanity |Pygmie Projects 93 |Just Boot Sanity |World of Commodore |NOOE -A500 Sargon |Megademo II |Degrader-flakey Scoopex |2 Unlimited (2 disks) |Degrader Scoopex |Beast Music |Relokick Scoopex |Laterna Magica |Just Boot Scoopex |Maxima |Just Boot Scoopex |Megademo |Degrader-some probs Scoopex |Mental Hangover |Degrader Scoopex |Pha Q |Degrader SHITTS |3 Day Hardcore |Just Boot+hit lmb SHITTS |Jesus on Cheese |Relokick Silents & Crionics |Hardwired (2 disks) |NOPE Silents |Blues House (2 disks) |NOPE Silents |Demon Download (2 disks) |Degrader Silents |Enjoy the Silents |Degrader Silents |Global Trash |Degrader Silents |ICE |Degrader Silents |Maximum Velocity |NOPE Silents |Megademo |Just Boot Silents |Static Change |Relokick Silents |Xpose (2 disks) |Just Boot-minor probs Sim Productions |Speed Demo (4 disks) |Degrader Skidrow |Jetset |Degrader SOC.Brigade |Aabsolute! |Degrader Solution |Odeon (2 disks) |Degrader Sonic |Gastric Ulcer |Just Boot Spaceballs |Mobile Destination Unknown |Degrader Spaceballs |Spaceball Demo |Degrader Spaceballs |Spasmolytic |Degrader Spaceballs |Wayfarer |Degrader The Special Brothers|Maximum Overdrive (2 disks) |Degrader Split Dim./Caltec |The Wall (6 disks) |Just Boot Stone Arts |A Demo |Relokick Sundell & Birk |The 100 Most Remembered C64 Tunes|NOPE Sunlight |Megademo |Just Boot Supreme |Demo compilation |Just Boot-not #1 Syntex |Aluminium |Just Boot T.E.T. |Melted Experience |Degrader Talent |Q.E.D. |NOPE Team 17 |Alien Breed |NOPE Technoflight |Ectoplasma |Degrader-crashes Them |Pixeled Pleasure |NOPE Tilt |Raytraced Dreams II |Just Boot Tom Soft |Virtual World |Relokick Trakers |Dead or Precise |Degrader Trash |The Co-operatation BBS Intro |Just Boot Trash |The Mouse that Ate the Cat |NOPE Triangle |Gigademo II |Relokick Triangle |Gigademo III |NOPE Triangle |No More Vectors (2 disks) |Degrader Trilogy |Gigademo (2 disks) |NOPE TRSI |Ecliptica |NOPE TRSI |Wicked Sensation (2 disks) |Just Boot UDO |Vaginal Massacre |Degrader Underwurlde |Megademo |Just Boot Union |Hallucinations & Dreams (2 disks)|Degrader Upfront |Cool Fridge |NOPE Upfront |Plastic Passion |NOPE -A500 VARIOUS |Corise-Far Beyond |Just Boot VARIOUS |Demos of the World #52 |Relokick VARIOUS |Euro Demos 1 |Degrader VARIOUS |Euro Demos 5 |NOPE VARIOUS |Image |Degrader VARIOUS |Optical Illusion #1 |Relokick VARIOUS |Optical Illusion #6 |Degrader VARIOUS |Optical Illusion #7 |NOPE Vectors |Vectoria |Relokick Vectra |Amnesty |Degrader Vectra |Sinking Demand |Degrader Violence |Phon-O-Bomb |Degrader Virt. Drms/Fairlite |Absolute Inebriation (2 disks) |NOPE Vision |Megademo II |Relokick Vision |Megademo IV |Relokick Wild Copper Crew |Preview of Wild Copper Demo |NOPE Wildfire |In Full Affect |Relokick Wizzcat |Trashcan |NOPE -A500 Xymox |Wind It Up |Relokick ========================================================================== NOTES: These demos were tested on my 25mhz A3000 with 2megs chip ram and 4megs fast ram. I also have my system set to default to PAL mode (via jumper on the motherboard). Relokick - This boots your A3000 in WB1.3. This program loads the kickstart 1.3 into different locations in memory which tends to give different results even with the same demo. (available on Aminet in utils/misc as kick13.dms) Degrader (version 1.3) - I use '50hz system', 'nocache', '1 meg chip','priviledged' (available on Aminet in utils/misc as degrader13.lzh) 'NOPE' - This means I couldn't find a way to make the demo work. By 'work' I mean that the majority of the demo works. '-A500' - I could not get this demo to work on my A500 either! A500 configuration - 1meg agnus/no fast ram. The recommended boot method may not be the only way to get a demo to work but (in my opinion) is the best way/most compatible way to get the demo to work properly. ========================================================================== PLEASE! If you have found a repeatable way to make any of the above 'NOPE' demos work on your A3000 then let me know so that I can update this list. Comments, suggestions, and additional information can be sent to: rabel1@cup.portal.com (Randy Abel) @endnode *************************************************************************** @node P4-6 "BIX" @toc "menu" /// BIX - Byte Information Exchange Lots of information! ------------------------------- BIX is the premier online service for computing professionals and enthusiasts. 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These are some of the exchanges on BIX: amiga.exchange - the place for Amiga developers and enthusiasts byte - the full text of each issue of BYTE magazine; source code too e.and.l - Entertainment and Leisure; music, pets, games, more ibm.exchange - everything from OS/2 to PC clones mac.exchange - Mac news, support, software, advice professionals - consultants, engineers, financiers gather here programmers - some of the best brains in the business! wix - the Information Exchange for Windows; Windows Magazine online writers.ex - the professional and amateur writer's exchange *** FULL INTERNET ACCESS! *** BIX also features access to the Internet - you can use FTP to transfer files from sites all over the world, telnet to log on to other online services, schools, and research sites, and send Internet mail to millions of people at services like DELPHI, CompuServe, America Online, MCI Mail, and other sites and services. Services like "WHOIS" and "Finger" are also available, with more features on the way (like USENET newsgroups; our newsreader is currently being tested and should be available very soon!) There are no usage fees or special charges for Internet access - it's all part of your BIX subscription. ============================== Rates and Connect Information: ============================== BIX membership costs $13 per month, plus connect time. There are several different ways to connect: SprintNet* $3/hour evenings/weekends $9/hour weekdays Tymnet:** $3/hour evenings/weekends $9/hour weekdays (SprintNet and Tyment rates shown are for 48 contiguous US states only.) Tymnet Canada: $4/hr eves/wkends $9/hour weekdays Tymnet Hawaii: $10/hr eves/wkends $20/hour weekdays Telnet(via Internet): $1/hour, round the clock Direct dial (Boston): $2/hour, round the clock (up to 9600 bps) * SprintNet daytime hours are from 6am to 7pm, M-F, ET. ** Tymnet daytime hours are from 7am to 6pm, M-F, ET. To find your local SprintNet number, call SprintNet at (800) 877-5045, ext. 5. Internationally, call (404) 859-7700. To find a local Tymnet number, call Tymnet at (800) 937-2862. Internationally, call (703) 442-0145. ================ There is no surcharge for 9600 bps access via either telecom carrier. There is no surcharge for up to 10mb of Internet mail per month (sent and received). There will be a charge of $1 per 100,000 bytes thereafter. ================ 20/20 PLAN OPTION (for USA-48 users only): Volume users can choose the 20/20 Advantage Plan, which is $20 per month and includes the first 20 hours of access by any combination of methods from the contiguous United States. Additional use is $1.80 per hour (additional use for telnet access is $1 an hour). The 20/20 Plan's cost is in addition to the $13 monthly fee. INTERNATIONAL USERS: If you wish to connect internationally through Tymnet or SprintNet, please contact your local PTT. BIX accepts prepaid international calls, direct dial, or telnet connections. In order to make a "collect" (not prepaid) call to BIX, your account must be verified before the charges are accepted. When you complete the registration, we'll mail you a BIX Membership Agreement by regular US Mail. Whe you receive it, sign it and return it to us by mail. When we receive it here, we'll authorize your account to make reverse charged calls. If you want to access BIX right away, contact your local PTT to set up a prepaid account. You'll pay your local carrier for your calls to BIX in advance, so there's no waiting period or verfication needed. Or, connect at BIX via telnet to x25.bix.com. SprintNet international calls from most locations are $24 an hour. Tymnet international charges vary, but are generally between $20-$30 an hour. ==================== Billing Information: ==================== You can charge your monthly BIX membership fees to your Visa, Mastercard, Discover, or American Express card. You may have your company invoiced for one or more BIX memberships with a BIX Corporate Account. To do so, send by US Mail or fax a Purchase Order including a Purchase Order number, invoice address, contact person, a phone number where we can reach the contact person, and the company's fax number. Please direct it to the attention of Connie Lopes, who handles corporate accounts. Our fax number is 617-491-6642. Your corporate account will generally be set up within 24 hours. =================== To Sign Up For BIX: =================== Dial by modem 1-800-695-4882 or 617-491-5410 * (use 8 data bits, no parity, full duplex) Press a few carriage returns until you see the Login:(enter "bix") prompt, then type bix At the Name? prompt, type bix.amrpt * Users already on the internet can telnet to x25.bix.com instead. At the USERNAME: prompt enter bix, then bix.net at the Name? prompt. Once your account is registered, you can connect the same way, except at the Name? prompt you'll enter your BIXname and then your password. Using the above procedure will allow users in the 48 contiguous United States to take advantage of our special "5 for $5" offer. This offer lets you use up to 5 hours of evening/weekend time on BIX during the current calender month (whatever month you sign up in), for $5. Additional time is $1.80 per hour ($1 per hour for telnet). At the end of the calender month, you will be placed into our standard rate plan, at $13 monthly plus connect charges. You may also join the 20/20 Plan at this time. If you have other questions, please contact BIX Member Services at (800) 695-4775; send a fax to BIX at (617) 491-6642; or send Internet mail to info@bix.com. BIX Member Services hours are 12pm - 11pm, Monday through Friday, ET. @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 BIX: jbasile (Send E-mail to subscribe to our mailing list) Apogee Technologies 1851 University Parkway Sarasota, FL 34243 VOICE: 813-355-6121 Portal: Apogee Internet: Apogee@cup.portal.com Armadillo Brothers 753 East 3300 South Salt Lake City, Utah VOICE: 801-484-2791 Internet: B.GRAY@genie.geis.com Brian Fowler Computers Ltd 11 North St Exeter Devon EX4 3QS United Kingdom Voice: (0392) 499 755 Fax: (0392) 423 480 Internet: brian_fowler@cix.compulink.co.uk CLICK! Microcomputer Applications B.V.B.A. Boomsesteenweg 468 B-2610 Wilrijk - Antwerpen Belgium - Europe VOICE: 03 / 828.18.15 FAX: 03 / 828.67.36 USENET: vanhoutv@click.augfl.be FIDO: 2:292/603.9 AmigaNet: 39:120/102.9 Computers International, Inc. 5415 Hixson Pike Chattanooga, TN 37343 VOICE: 615-843-0630 DataKompaniet ANS Pb 3187 Munkvoll N-7002 Trondheim Norway - Europe VOICE/FAX: 72 555 149 Internet: torrunes@idt.unit.no Digital Arts 122 West 6th Street Bloomington, IN 47404 VOICE: (812)330-0124 FAX: (812)330-0126 BIX: msears Finetastic Computers 721 Washington Street Norwood, MA 02062 VOICE: 617-762-4166 BBS: 617-769-3172 Fido: 1:101/322 Portal: FinetasticComputers Internet: FinetasticComputers@cup.portal.com HT Electronics 275 North Mathilda Avenue Sunnyvale, CA 94086 VOICE: 408-737-0900 FAX: 408-245-3109 Portal: HT Electronics Internet: HT Electronics@cup.portal.com Industrial Video, Inc. 1601 North Ridge Rd. Lorain, OH 44055 VOICE: 800-362-6150 216-233-4000 Internet: af741@cleveland.freenet.edu Contact: John Gray 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 MusicMart: Media Sound & Vision 71 Wellington Road London, Ontario, Canada VOICE: 519-434-4162 FAX: 519-663-8074 BBS: 519-457-2986 FIDO: 1:221/125 AmigaNet: 40:550/1 MaxNet: 90:204/1 iNET: koops@gaul.csd.uwo.ca 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 Wonder Computers Inc. 1315 Richmond Rd. Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K2B 8J7 Voice: 613-596-2542 Fax: 613-596-9349 BBS: 613-829-0909 (Dealers: To have your name added, please send Email!) @endnode ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ @node P1-9 "Humor Department" @toc "menu" /// The Humor Department Jokes, Quotes, Insults, Shameless Plugs -------------------- (This one comes from Rob Furr (R.FURR@GENIE.GEIS.COM) from the Usenet newsgroup, rec.humor) Hi there! Do you, like many other computer users around the world, have large, combustible wads of money in your pockets? Do you find writing all those pesky zeroes down in your bank book tedious? Would you like to lose $1,000? $25,000? even $50,000? Think it's impossible? Well, it's not! Anybody can lose AS MUCH MONEY AS HE OR SHE LIKES, and faster than anyone could imagine! Five years ago, I was rich. I had money in high-yield investment securities, stocks, municipal bonds. Two cars sat in my garage, and I was in the highest income tax bracket possible. Then, one day, I discovered the secret of how to LOSE MONEY FAST, and it changed my life. Now, I am living in one small room of a second-story apartment in the second-oldest apartment building in Durham, and I'm working as a temp at eight dollars an hour, with no health or vacation benefits. Sounds good, doesn't it? Read on, and you'll find out how YOU can LOSE MONEY FAST! The first step in LOSING MONEY FAST is deciding HOW much money YOU want to lose. Do you want to lose $1,000? Or do you want to go all the way and drop $50,000? It's up to you! Take a piece of paper and write down YOUR personal loss target. Take that number to a local graphic designer, and have him or her create a really nifty-looking design for that logo, in four-color seperations, with gold foil highlights. After you have your Loss Target in hand, take it to a framing studio, and get a cool-looking frame, maybe in with anodized black trim. Once you've got it all framed and nice-looking, PUT IT ON YOUR WALL, and be proud! You've just lost UP TO $500! That's right! By this time, you're already down FIVE HUNDRED DOLLARS, and that's only the BEGINNING! There's even BIGGER losses on the way! The real secret of LOSING MONEY FAST is in VOLUME. Don't think about losing money a few bucks at a time, think of losing money HUNDREDS OF DOLLARS at a time. Here's how: Go to your bank or savings and loan, and withdraw an amount of money equal to your Loss Target. If you don't have that much in liquid assets, try selling your car, or even an organ or two. Ask for the money in small denominations, preferably dollar bills. Then, go down to your local post office and ask about the rules and regulations governing mass mailings. Get a number of envelopes equal to your Loss Target, address them to OCCUPANT, and put a dollar bill inside each and every envelope. Then, take them down to your local post office, and send them off! You've just LOST BIG BUCKS! And it's NOT TAX DEDUCTIBLE! That's the danger in OTHER lose-money schemes...many of them are tax deductible, and some can even qualify you for charitable awards! But not LOSE.MONEY.FAST, because YOU cut out the middleman! YOUR money goes DIRECT from you to OTHER PEOPLE! No receipts! No records! Nothing except the thrill of seeing your bank account dwindle! Here are a few comments by happy people who have LOST MONEY FAST!: Mr. D. Terwilliger, of Pismo Beach, CA.: "I never thought I could lose money so fast, or so easily. The cash just seemed to vanish. It was exciting, and I got rid of all my money. I can't recommend LOSE.MONEY.FAST enough. " Ms. R.Swathmire, of Springview, VA: "Thank you for telling me how to LOSE MONEY FAST. I used to have to sweat through bank statements, credit reports, and dividend checks. Now, I don't have to worry about any of that!" Mr. R.Cherminski, of Seattle, WA: "It's such a relief not to have to worry about my money any more. It's so different, now, I don't have a care in the world, and it's all thanks to LOSE.MONEY.FAST." Take advantage of this new and exciting concept in fiscal management, and LOSE MONEY FAST!* *as used by the U.S. Government. @endnode @node P5-2 "DSE v2.00" @toc "menu" TITLE DSE VERSION 2.00 COMPANY none AUTHOR David Prothero 812A Buchanan Towers Bellingham, WA 98225 USA email: n9346670@henson.cc.wwu.edu DESCRIPTION Dave's Space Empire (DSE) is a "door" game to play online most any Amiga bulletin board systems (BBS's). The game is a multi-player game where participants compete to build the largest "space empire". The game involves military strategy, cooperation with other players, and you mustn't forget to keep the people in your own empire happy. By purchasing and/or conquering various types of planets, players gain population, the resources of the particular planet, and points. When a player reaches 100,000 points, they become "Space Lord". They do not automatically win however, they must retain their Space Lord status for one week (seven days). Dave's Space Empire is a "DOS" door game to make it compatible with as many BBS packages as possible. It may also be run from a CLI window. It supports ANSI colors and IBM graphics, each of which can be turned on/off by each individual user. Also, all menus are ASCII text files so that they can be altered by any text editor. Every message displayed by the game is in one large text file so that SysOps can customize the game and colors of the text as much as possible. NEW FEATURES The game was originally a CNet game and has been re-written as a "DOS" door so that more BBS's can use the game. The text code system was implemented. Many separate text files were created to add to the flexibility of the program. Anything that appears in text in the game can be changed! This means the game could even be re-written for another language without having to touch the source code. Text files can be powerpacked. Message system has been re-done. There is now both private and public messaging available in the "InterGalactic Radio Network". Players can attach cargo transfers to their private messages. These can be for sending items (money, cruisers, soldiers, etc) to someone for free or for bartering (requesting a certain amount of money, cruisers, soldiers, etc.). Many bugs have been fixed and the file format has been made more efficient. Graphical configuration program. Documentation in AmigaGuide format, which includes documentation for setting up the game in general terms and also in specifics for the following BBS programs: * CNet AMIGA * DLG-Pro * Excelsior! * StarNet * TransAmiga Please realize that if your BBS program is not listed here, it does not mean that the game will not run. It simply means I do not have SPECIFIC documentation for that BBS. DSE will run if your BBS can run doors that use stdin/stdout. SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS DSE requires at least AmigaDOS 1.3. Nothing else is required if you are just running the game from a shell, but if you run it from a BBS, then you will probably want at least 1MB of RAM and a hard-drive. Different BBS programs have different requirements. HOST NAME wuarchive.wustl.edu (128.252.135.4) or any other AmiNet site. DIRECTORY /pub/aminet/comm/bbs FILE NAMES dse200.lha PRICE FreeWare DISTRIBUTABILITY FreeWare @endnode --------------------- @node P5-3 "Fed-CASE v1.0" @toc "menu" TITLE Fed-CASE VERSION V1.0 (light version) COMPANY Joosen Software Development Dr. J.M. den Uylstraat 32 4908 CT Oosterhout (N-Br) The Netherlands Tel. (31) 1620 35348 e-mail christian@ecl008.adsp.sub.org AUTHOR Christian Joosen & Ron Heijmans DESCRIPTION FED-CASE()) for the Amiga is a software tool that can assist the design of software. FED-CASE()) consists of a graphical environment to design flows the flowchart editor and a source code generator that generates direct compilable C source code. The generated code can be used to be compiled for any other C-compiler on any computer system. The FED-CASE()) code generator generates C-source code according to the C source code definition. This is including the declaration and prototyping part of the source code. The code generator will automatically do the type casting. An auto-comment function will take care of commenting the C source code with all kind of helpfull information. The source code generator will take care of the includes and put all the required includes into the source code. It is possible to generate source code for a C compiler on an UNIX operating system or a PC operating system. The demo version is available on: HOST NAME Aminet DIRECTORY /pub/aminet/dev/c FILE NAME fedcase.lha PRICE $79 DISTRIBUTABILITY The product is copyright of Joosen Software Development @endnode @node P5-4 "C-Shell v5.35" @toc "menu" TITLE C-Shell (csh) VERSION 5.35 AUTHOR Andreas M. Kirchwitz (csh 5.20+), based on csh 5.19 by Urban D. Mueller E-Mail: csh-fan@zikzak.in-berlin.de DESCRIPTION C-Shell is a replacement for the AmigaDOS command line interface. Many builtin Unix-like commands, very fast script language, file- name completion, command-name completion, comfortable command line editing, pattern matching, AUX: mode, object oriented file classes. C-Shell is easy to install and to use. Online help for all commands, functions and various subjects. ARP-free! NEW FEATURES Changes since version 5.31 (summary): - Command name completion for DOS-search-path. - I/O redirection with <>. - Enhanced pattern matching. - DOS-scripts are now fully working. - Supports ReadArgs()-compatible argument parsing. - Supports ".logout" on exit. - Supports KingCON (menus not cleared). - Various changes/enhancements to existing commands. - Bug fixes. See file "HISTORY" in archive csh535.lha for complete listing of changes and new features. SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS AmigaOS 2.0 (or higher) HOST NAME FTP/Internet: AmiNet and mirrors For example, ftp.wustl.edu [128.252.135.4]. UUCP/E-Mail : mail-server@cs.tu-berlin.de Send mail to the address above and put the line "send /pub/aminet/util/shell/csh535.lha" in the body. DIRECTORY /pub/aminet/util/shell FILE NAMES csh535.lha (binary and documentation) csh535src.lha (source code for SAS/C 6) DISTRIBUTABILITY Freely distributable, Copyright by the individual authors. @endnode @node P2-3 "In Closing" @toc "menu" /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// Amiga Report International Online Magazine December 31, 1993 * YOUR INDEPENDENT NEWS SOURCE * No. 1.39 Copyright © 1993 SkyNet Publications ~ All Rights Reserved /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// Views, Opinions and Articles presented herein are not necessarily those of the editors and staff of Amiga Report International Online Magazine or of 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. All items quoted in whole or in part are done so under the Fair Use Provision of the Copy- right Laws of the United States Penal Code. /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// Only * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * _ _ __ ___ _ * * /\\ |\\ /| || // \ /\\ * * / \\ | \\ /|| ||(< __ / \\ * * /--- \\| \X || || \\_||/--- \\ * * /______________________________\\ * * / \\ * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Makes it possible!! @endnode @node "menu" "Amiga Report 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} Amiga Dealer Addresses and Numbers @{" Commercial Online Services " link P4} Sign-Up Information @{" FTP Announcements " link P5} New Files Available for FTP @{" AR Distribution Sites " link P2-1} Where to get AMIGA REPORT /// 12/31/93 Amiga Report 1.39 "Your Weekly Source for Amiga Information" -------------------------- · The Editor's Desk · CPU Status Report · New Products · FTP Announcements · Dealer Directory · AR Confidential · The Humor Department · Usenet Reviews · AR Online · EuroDemo Compatibility · DiskExpander · » Buying your first Amiga « » CD32 Reviewed! « » AmigaWorks: New Column! « /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// 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 /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// / @{" DELPHI " link P4-1} · @{" PORTAL " link P4-2} · @{" FIDO " link P2-1} · @{" INTERNET " link P4-5} · @{" BIX " link P4-6} / /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// @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} Computer Products Update @{" Online Weekly " link P1-3} The lines are buzzing! @{" AR Questionnaire " link P1-4} The results are in!!!! @{" Buying your first Amiga " link P1-5} Tips on doing it right! @{" AmigaWorks! " link P1-6} Wow that's RAD:! @{" UseNet Review " link P1-7} DiskExpander @{" A3000 Compatability list " link P1-8} With MegaDemos and EuroDemos @{" Humor Department " link P1-9} Shameless Jokes, Quotes, and Plugs @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} Getting better all the time! @{" Portal " link P4-2} A great place for Amiga users... @{" InterNet " link P4-5} Subscribe to the AR Mailing List @{" BIX " link P4-6} For Serious Programmers and Developers @endnode @node P5 "Files Available for FTP" @toc "menu" @{" SwazInfo v1.0 " link P5-1} Replacement for WB's icon information @{" DSE v2.00 " link P5-2} Dave's Space Empire @{" Fed-CASE v1.0 " link P5-3} Software design tool @{" C-Shell v5.35 " link P5-4} Replacement for AmigaDOS' CLI @endnode ----------------------------------------- @node P2-1-1 "NOVA" @toc "menu" * NOVA BBS * Official Amiga Report Distribution Site * 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 AXShell * Robert Niles, Sysop rniles@imtired.itm.com 509-966-3828 Supra V.32bis 24hrs - 7 days Yakima, Washington ******* Notice ******* After 13 September 1993, In The MeanTime will no longer be on FidoNet, thus we will no longer be accepting File REQuests (FREQs). We WILL be still accepting calls and will have the latest edition of Amiga Report online. Downloads to first time callers are still accepted. For the west coast call @{"Cloud's Corner" link P2-1-3} to FREQ the latest edition of Amiga Report. Those who call for the latest edition of Amiga Report, and who do not with to establish an account, log in as guest with the password of "guest". At the prompt type "ARMAG" (without the quotes). @endnode ------------------------------------------ @node P2-1-3 "Cloud's Corner" @toc "menu" * CLOUD'S CORNER BBS * Official Amiga Report Distribution Site MebbsNet/Starnet Support/Distribution Site West Coast USA * Running MEBBSNet BBS * Larry Cloud, Sysop FidoNet: 1:350/30 MaxNet: 90:180/10 Internet: larryc@hebron.connected.com 206-377-4290 USR HST DS 24hrs - 7 days Bremerton, Washington New users can call and get ANY copy of Amiga Report. These are considered "free" downloads, they do not count against any file ratio. The latest issue of Amiga Reports can be Freq'ed (FileREQusted) from here as "AR.LHA", as "AR" or as ARxxx.LHA where xxx is the issue number. Freq's are valid at ANY time. For users interested in reading AR, but who do not have access to AmigaGuide, you can freq ARBUL and get the AR in bulletin form. This service is provided for persons who do not have Amigaguide (such as IBM users). Please note that any pictures distributed with the "regular" Amiga Reports archive will NOT be sent with this freq. This file is not available for dial-in users, but you can read bulletin #5 with your capture buffer open and get the same file. @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 Sysop Email: sysadmin@junct9.royle.org Line 1 +44 (0)372 271000 14400 V.32bis/HST FidoNet 2:440/20 Line 2 +44 (0)372 278000 14400 V.32bis only FidoNet 2:440/21 Line 3 +44 (0)372 279000 2400 V.42bis/MNP Internet: user_name@junct9.royle.org @endnode ------------------------------------------ @node P2-1-6 "BitStream BBS" @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 ------------------------------------------- @node P2-1-7 "Realm of Twilight" @toc "menu" * REALM OF TWILIGHT BBS * Official Amiga Report Distribution Site -- Canada * Running Excelsior! BBS * Thorsten Schiller, Sysop Usenet: realm.tdkcs.waterloo.on.ca UUCP: ...!uunet.ca!tdkcs!realm FIDO: 1:221/202 Fish: 33:33/8 24hrs - 7 days 519-748-9365 (2400 baud) 519-748-9026 (v.32bis) Ontario, Canada Hardware: Amiga 3000, 105 Meg Quantum, 213 Meg Maxtor, 5 megs RAM @endnode ------------------------------------------- @node P2-1-8 "Metnet Triangle" @toc "menu" METNET TRIANGLE SYSTEM Official Amiga Report Distribution Site UK Support for Mebbsnet * Running Mebbsnet and Starnet 1.02a * Jon Witty, Sysop FIDO: 2:252/129.0 24 hrs - 7 days Line 1: 44-482-473871 16.8 DS HST Lines 2-7: 44-482-442251 2400 (6 lines) Line 8: 44-482-491744 2400 Line 9: 44-482-449028 2400 Voice helpline 44-482-491752 (anytime) Fully animated menus + normal menu sets. 500 megs HD - Usual software/messages Most doors online - Many Sigs - AMIGA AND PC SUPPORT Very active userbase and busy conference Precious days and MUD online. AMUL support site. @endnode ------------------------------------------- @node P2-1-9 "Omaha Amiganet" @toc "menu" * OMAHA AMIGANET * Official Amiga Report Distribution Site * Running DLG Professional * Andy Wasserman, Sysop 24 hrs - 7 days FidoNet: 1:285/11 AmigaNet: 40:200/10 Line 1: 402-333-5110 V.32bis Line 2: 402-691-0104 USR DS Omaha, Nebraska @endnode ------------------------------------------ @node P2-1-10 "Amiga-Night-System" @toc "menu" * AMIGA-NIGHT-SYSTEM * Official Amiga Report Distribution Site - Finland * Running DLG Professional * Janne Saarme, Sysop 24 hrs - 7 days InterNet: luumu@fenix.pp.fi FidoNet: 2:220/550.0 +358-0-675840 V.32bis Helsinki, Finland @endnode ------------------------------------------ @node P2-1-11 "Ramses Amiga Flying" @toc "menu" * RAMSES THE AMIGA FLYING * Official Amiga Report Distribution Site -- France * Running DLG Professional * Eric Delord, Sysop Philippe Brand, Co-Sysop Stephane Legrand, Co-Sysop Internet: user.name@ramses.gna.org Fidonet: 2:320/104 +33-1-60037015 USR DS 16.8 +33-1-60037713 V.32bis +33-1-60037716 1200-2400 Ramses The Amiga Flying BBS is an Amiga-dedicated BBS running DLG-Pro on a Amiga 3000, 16MB RAM, 2GB Disk space, 3 lines. We keep a dayly Aminet site mirroring, NetBSD-Amiga complete mirror site from ftp.eunet.ch (main site), Amiga Report, GNU Amiga, Ramses is the SAN/ADS/Amiganet French coordinator. @endnode ------------------------------------------ @node P2-1-12 "Gateway BBS" @toc "menu" * THE GATEWAY BBS * Official Amiga Report Distribution Site * Running Excelsior! BBS * Stace Cunningham, Sysop Dan Butler, CoSysop 24 hrs - 7 days InterNet: stace@tecnet1.jcte.jcs.mil FidoNet: 1:3604/60.0 601-374-2697 Hayes Optina 28.8 V.FC Biloxi, Mississippi @endnode ------------------------------------------ @node P2-1-13 "Talk City" @toc "menu" * TALK CITY * Official Amiga Report Distribution Site 708-372-0190 - 2400bps 708-372-0268 - V32 14.4K 708-372-0283 USR DS 14.4K Fido Net 1:115/372,0 Phantom Net 11:2115/2.0 Clink Net 911:6080/4.0 UUCP tcity.com Over 3 Gig of Files Online | More and More things everyday. With Three IBM CD-ROMs online, 10 lines, support for all platforms, and a REALLY dedicated sysop (The Mayor). @endnode ------------------------------------------ @node P2-1-14 "Amiga BBS" @toc "menu" * Amiga BBS * Official Amiga Report Distribution Site * Running Excelsior! BBS * Alejandro Kurczyn, Sysop FidoNet 4:975/7 First Amiga BBS in Mexico (5) 887-3080 9600 V32,MNP Estado de Mexico, Mexico @endnode ------------------------------------------ @node P2-1-50 "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 P2-1-51 "LAHO" @toc "menu" * LAHO BBS * Official Amiga Report Distribution Site -- Finland * Running MBBS * Lenni Uitti, SysOp Tero Manninen, SysOp (PC-areas) Juha Makinen, SysOp (Amiga-areas) +358-64-414 1516, V.32bis/HST +358-64-414 0400, V.32bis/HST +358-64-414 6800, V.32/HST +358-64-423 1300, V.32 MNP Seinajoki, Finland Our machine is a 386/33 with 20MB of memory, 1GB harddisk and a CD-ROM drive. The BBS software is a Norwegian origin MBBS running in a DesqView windows. We have over 7000 files online (both for the Amiga and PC) + 650MB stuff on the Aminet CD-ROM disk. 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) even on their first call. The system has been running since 1989 and is sponsored by the local telephone company, Vaasan Ladnin Puhelin Oy. @endnode ------------------------------------------ @node P2-1-52 "Falling BBS" @toc "menu" * FALLING BBS * Official Amiga Report Distribution Site -- Norway * Running ABBS * Christopher Naas, Sysop +47 69 256117 V.32bis 24hrs - 7 days EMail: naasc@cnaas.adsp.sub.org @endnode ------------------------------------------ @node P2-1-53 "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 24hrs - 7 days Toronto, Canada @endnode ------------------------------------------- @node P2-1-54 "Rendezvous BBS" @toc "menu" * RENDEZVOUS BBS * Official Amiga Report Distribution Site - New Zealand New Zealand Excelsior! BBS Support Site * Running Excelsior! Professional BBS * David Dustin, Sysop Internet: postmaster@eclipse.acme.gen.nz +64 6 3566375 Supra V.32bis 24hrs - 7 days Palmerston North, New Zealand @endnode ------------------------------------------- @node P2-1-55 "Leguans Byte Channel" @toc "menu" * LEGUANS BYTE CHANNEL * Official Amiga Report Distribution Site -- Germany * Running EazyBBS V2.11 * Andreas Geist, Sysop Usenet: andreas@lbcmbx.in-berlin.de 24 hrs - 7 days Line 1: 49-30-8110060 USR DS 16.8 Line 2: 49-30-8122442 USR DS 16.8 Login as User: "amiga", Passwd: "report" @endnode ------------------------------------------- @node P2-1-56 "Stingray Database BBS" @toc "menu" * STINGRAY DATABASE * Official Amiga Report Distribution Site -- Germany * Running FastCall * Bernd Mienert, Sysop EMail: sysop@sting-db.zer.sub.org.dbp.de +49 208 496807 HST-Dual 24hrs - 7 days Muelheim/Ruhr, Germany @endnode -------------------------------------------- @node P2-1-57 "T.B.P. Video Slate" @toc "menu" * T.B.P. VIDEO SLATE * Official Amiga Report Distribution Site An Amiga dedicated BBS for All * Running Skyline 1.3.2 * Mark E Davidson, Sysop 24 hrs - 7 days 201-586-3623 USR 14.4 HST Rockaway, New Jersey Full Skypix menus + normal and ansi menu sets. Instant Access to all. Download on the first call. Hardware: Amiga 500 Tower custom at 14 MHz, 350 Meg maxtor, 125 Meg SCSI Maxtor, 125 Meg IDE Maxtor, Double Speed CD rom, 9 meg RAM @endnode -------------------------------------------- @node P2-1-58 "Amiga Central" @toc "menu" * AMIGA CENTRAL! * Official Amiga Report Distribution Site CNet Amiga Support Site * Running CNet Amiga BBS * Carl Tashian, Sysop Internet mail: root@amicent.raider.net 615-383-9679 1200-14.4Kbps V.32bis 24 hours - 7 days Nashville, Tennessee Hardware: Amiga 3000 Tower 68030+882@25MHz, 105 meg Quantum, 225 meg Seagate, Zoom 14.4k modem @endnode -------------------------------------------- @node P2-1-59 "Continental Drift" @toc "menu" * CONTINENTAL DRIFT BBS * Official Amiga Report Distribution Site * Running MAXsBBS software (DLG Pro is being delivered!) * Murry Chaffer & Andre Lackman, Sysops +612 9188375 24 hours - 7 days Sydney, Australia @endnode -------------------------------------------- @node P2-1-60 "Guru Meditation: @toc "menu" * GURU MEDITATION * Official Amiga Report Distribution Site -- Spain * Running Remote Access * Javier Frias, SysOp +34-1-383-1317 V.32bis 24 hours - 7days Spain @endnode