====================================================================== _ __ _ <>_ __ _ || /\\ |\ /|| || / ` /\\ || A M I G A U P D A T E /__\\ | \ / || || || ___ /__\\ || -News and Rumors- / \\_ | \/ ||_ _||_ \__// / \\_|| (An Occasional Newsletter) BACK FOR THE FUTURE || ====================================================================== AMIGA and the Amiga logo are trademarks of Gateway 2000, Inc. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 971102 D C E M A K I N G A M I G A B A S E D C O M P U T E R S N O V A S E C T O R E N G I N E E R I N G M A D E A M I G A S L A T E S T O N L O T U S P A C I F I C F R E E C D F R O M A M I G A Z O N E ! A L A D D I N 4 D 5 . 0 S P E C I A L O F F E R C O M P L E T E A M I N E T P A C K C H R O M A - A N D S O N Y D I G I T A L C A M E R A S V U L C A N A N D W O R L D F O U N D R Y C O M B I N E M E C C A B B S C D R O M A M I G A E 3 . 3 A A V A I L A B L E T C P D L F O R H T T P U S E R S L I M I T E D T I M E S H A R E W A R E D I S C O U N T T H E A M I G A I N F O R M E R A N N E X ! Editor's Thoughts and Introduction: It seems hardly a day goes by without someone announcing a new Amiga clone. We have two to report on today. This looks to be the future for the Amiga - machines built by companies other than Amiga International or Amiga Incorporated, but with the standards of compliance controlled by the two AIs and their parent Gateway. We think this is a good idea which should ensure a future for the Amiga. Contrast this approach to the one being used by Apple in an attempt to save the sinking Macintosh, and the wisdom of Gateway's method seems very apparent. Time changes all things. Apparently NewTek has made it official. In an announcement at the recent NewTek Expo, they supposedly told the world there would be no more Amiga development. We haven't seen the announcement to confirm this yet, but it fits with what we've been hearing. Well, I have what may be an unusual way of looking at this, but I think I'm right. This is as much NewTek's loss as the Amiga's. Maybe more. New Tek hasn't shown me they have what it takes to really compete long term in a dog-eat-dog PC world, and the advantage of a hardware platform with an efficient, easy to use operating system is now lost to them. Granted, you can't compete on the high end with current generation Amigas, but the high end was never NewTek's arena anyway. The Amiga survived the defection of ASDG, Word Perfect, Deluxe Paint, and others. It will survive the loss of NewTek, sad though it is. There was always a "tail trying to wag the dog" manner to NewTek's approach to the Amiga. Time to forget NewTek and get on with building a future without their interference. And don't be too surprised if another company moves in to fill the gap down the road. I'm writing this as the big MAE show winds up in Ohio. We don't have a report for you yet, but we expect to have some information soon. Stay tuned, we'll run a special issue if need be. This issue includes the second of our "Amiga Informer Annex" pieces. This one is a reprint of a very informative article from that magazine, one which should be of great interest to you citizens of the net. Lots to read this time. Have fun! Brad Webb, Editor ---------------------------------------------------------------------- D C E M A K I N G A M I G A B A S E D C O M P U T E R S October 24th, 1997  DCE GmbH to manufacture Amiga based computers  Langen/Oberhausen, Germany, October 24th, 1997 - Following on from AMIGA International's recent announcements about an open licensing policy for the Amiga, an agreement has been reached which licenses DCE Computer Service GmbH to manufacture and distribute its own range of Amiga motherboards and computers. DCE Computer Service GmbH, based in Oberhausen, Germany, have developed a new advanced board based on Amiga A4000, on the Amiga Chip Set and the OS 3.1. The agreement with AMIGA International, Inc. allows the use of the Amiga OS 3.1, supply agreements on Amiga proprietary chips and the use of the "powered by Amiga" logo on all its products."As promised we continue an open license policy, to broadening our Amiga market. DCE Computer Service GmbH is well known in Europe for advanced technology developments. This new developed board in standard ATX, with a modular system, MPEG, ZORRO 2/3 is another milestone for the future of our Amiga technology", said Petro Tyschtschenko, President of AMIGA International, Inc. in Langen, Germany. Mr. Thomas Dellert, Managing Director of DCE Computer Service GmbH, "I believe that this new board development based on Motorola CPU 68030/50 MHZ and 68060/50MHZ; 64 MB/128MB Ram, a standard PC Keyboard, 1.44 MB floppy disk, 1.7 GB IDE HDD, 10 - 24 speed IDE CD Rom, AGA Chip Set, scan doubler and HF modulator optional BU LD in an standard ATX comfort tower case is one of the steps for Amiga to be back for the future." About DCE Computer Service GmbH DCE Computer Service GmbH was founded 1987 in Oberhausen, Germany. The service company is wholly owned by Thomas Dellert. The company started as a service shop for wholesale dealer and consumer markets. Since now the company became one of the leading available Amiga repair shops. In 1993 DCE was nominated to the European Amiga Repair Service Centre by Commodore. Since that time DCE is in charge of the Amiga Service. Since 1995 DCE is working on developments and productions to make the Amiga expansible. DCE's standard of performance is underpinned by an own production line of the highest standard of production engineering to create omplex sophisticated conductive plates.Several successful tests in Amiga Magazines have furnished the proof of high efficiency of the goods produced by DCE. The consequent development of their own products underlines the position of DCE as an innovative company, which has the opinion that a successful future can only be achieved by the permanent seek of the optimum and by market adaptation of their own products. Currently DCE has 12 employees, and it is one of DCE's fundamental policy to support them with further technical education. RELATED STORY ... 29 October 1997 Power Computing acquire world-wide distribution of DCE Power A5000 and A6000 We can finally announce a new line of Amiga computers. Unlike other products, the Power A5000 and A6000 are based on genuine, newly designed motherboards, which, in order to avoid Zorro III incompatibility, are based on the A4000 designs, improving even further the original idea. The A5000 will be shown at the Computer '97 exhibition in Cologne, Germany, from the 14th to the 16th of November 1997. The A6000 (with a 68060 50MHz) should reach the market by mid January. The following are the specs for the Power A5000: * 68030 50 MHz (full version, including MMU) * Socket for optional 50 MHz 68882 FPU (Math co-processor) * AGA chipset * 2 MB Chip Ram on-board * 2 sockets for standard 72-pin SIMM, for up to 64MB of Fast Ram * Sockets for either a standard Amiga 4000 keyboard or a PS2 keyboard * 1.76MB or 880KB floppy disk drive * Adapter for up to four IDE devices * 1.7 GB hard disk * From 10x to 24x speed CD-Rom drive * Scandoubler on-board * Socket for optional MPEG level 1 player * Optional HF modulator * Battery backed-up clock * Zorro II/III and CPU slots Price, availability and more technical detais will be available after the Cologne exhibition. We are currently looking for distribution in other countries. Please e-mail/fax us with details of your company. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- N O V A S E C T O R E N G I N E E R I N G M A D E A M I G A S Alpha Series - Nitro Series - Bravo Series Nova Sector Engineering are manufacturers of high-quality graphics workstations, officially licensed by Amiga International, Inc. Our systems integrate only the best components, including Amiga busboards, Motorola PowerPC 604e and 680X0 processors, SCSI-Wide and EIDE hard disks, and 3D-accelerated display hardware. Creative graphics professionals will have immense creative capability using our Alpha Series PowerPC workstations, while cost-minded video houses will cut production time using our NitroVideo-toaster workstation and our NitroPro non-linear workstation. Home and educational users will benefit from our incredible line of Bravo PowerPC Amigas, too. ====== Cordel Alpha Series PowerPC Workstations The Alpha series of Amiga-based workstations from Nova Sector are aimed at the serious graphics professional.Priced competitively with other platforms, Nova Sector's Alpha series delivers an enhanced productivity standard to graphics artists, 3-D designers, and web developers. Three Cordel Alpha-series Configurations are Available: * Alpha One * Alpha Two * Alpha Five Cordel Alpha 1 PowerPC Workstation The Alpha One workstation offers multi-processor architecture, built on a solid backplane and equipped with plenty of RAM and video fidelity. PowerPC 604e@150mHz 68060@50mHz 32 MB EDO 12 MB Fast 2 MB Chip 46 MB Total 2 GB SCSI-Wide SCSI-II IDE Mouse Keyboard Joystick Parallel Serial 4 MB Video Max 1600x1200@16-bit 1280x1024@24-bit 3D Accelerated 33.6kbps US Robotics w/Internet Kit 17" Super VGA .25 Dot Pitch 20X SCSI 1.76 MB Floppy, Optional 10-base-T Price $5999 (USD) Cordel Alpha 2 PowerPC Workstation The Alpha Two workstation offers multi-processor architecture, built on a solid backplane and equipped with extended RAM and storage space. PowerPC 604e@180mHz 68060@50mHz 64 MB EDO 12 MB Fast 2 MB Chip 78 MB Total 4.5 GB SCSI-Wide SCSI-II IDE Mouse Keyboard Joystick Parallel Serial 4 MB Video Resolutions Modem Monitor Disk Drives Network Interface Max 1600x1200@16-bit 1280x1024@24-bit 3D Accelerated 33.6kbps US Robotics w/Internet Kit 19" Super VGA .25 Dot Pitch 20X SCSI 1.76 MB Floppy 100 MB Zip Int., Optional 10-base-T Price $7699 (USD) Cordel Alpha 5 PowerPC Workstation The Alpha Five workstation offers multi-processor architecture, equipped with industrial levels of RAM for complex projects. PowerPC 604e@200mHz 68060@50mHz 128 MB EDO 12 MB Fast 2 MB Chip 142 MB Total 9.1 GB SCSI-Wide SCSI-II IDE Mouse Keyboard Joystick Parallel Serial 4 MB Video Max 1600x1200@16-bit 1280x1024@24-bit 3D Accelerated 33.6kbps US Robotics w/Internet Kit 19" Super VGA .25 Dot Pitch 20X SCSI 1.76 MB Floppy 100 MB ZIP Int., Optional 10-base-T Price $8999 (USD) ====== Nitro Series PowerPC Video Workstations   The Nitro and NitroProAmiga-based PowerPC video workstations by Nova Sector are the only serious choice for video professionals. The Nitro and NitroPro workstations have been create to provide screaming-fast RISC processor power to 3D animation and video editing applications. Each is equipped with the revered Video Toaster switcher, effects generator, and keyer. The NitroPro includes a Flyer non-linear editor to round out the video-shop-in-a-box standard that other high-end hardware manufacturers charge double for!  Both the Nitro and the NitroPro come with Lightwave 3D pre-installed.  Cordel Nitro PowerPC Video Workstation PowerPC 604e@200mHz 68060@50mHz 128 MB EDO 12 MB Fast 2 MB Chip 142 MB Total 9.1 GB SCSI-Wide SCSI-II IDE Mouse Keyboard Joystick Parallel Serial 8 MB Video Toaster 4.2 Video Max 1600x1200@24-bit 3D Accelerated 33.6kbps US Robotics w/Internet Kit 21" Super VGA .25 Dot Pitch Internal 1 GB JAZ 20X SCSI CDROM 1.76 MB Floppy, Optional 10-base-T Price $16,499 (USD) Cordel NitroPRO PowerPC Non-linear Video Workstation PowerPC 604e@200mHz 68060@50mHz 128 MB EDO 12 MB Fast 2 MB Chip 142 MB Total 2 23 GB SCSI-Wides 1 9 GB for audio track 1 9 GB for internal storage SCSI-II IDE Mouse Keyboard Joystick Parallel Serial 8 MB Video Toaster 4.2 Video Max 1600x1200@24-bit 3D Accelerated 33.6kbps US Robotics w/Internet Kit Optional 1 GB JAZ 20X SCSI CDROM 1.76 MB Floppy Optional 10-base-T NewTek Flyer Price $27,999 (USD) Cordel NitroSupreme Coming Soon ====== Nova Sector Bravo Series Bravo Series PowerPC Workstations The Bravo series of Amiga-based PowerPC workstations from Nova Sector provide cost-sensitive delivery of creative graphics power.The Bravo models are engineered to garnish true RISC processing for demanding applications, while their scalable design allows future growth as demands increase. The Bravo Series makes the perfect workstation for educational fields, web development, and the at-home power-user.Cordel Bravo 1 PowerPC Workstation The Bravo One workstation offers multi-processor architecture, and comes equipped with 46 MB of RAM, an EIDE hard disk, Amiga OS 3.1, a modem, and a great software bundle that consists of DataStore 1.1, WordWorth 4SE, TurboCalc 3.5, Organizer v1.1, and two games. PowerPC 604e@150mHz 68040@40mHz 32 MB EDO 12 MB Fast 2 MB Chip 46 MB Total 1.6 GB EIDE SCSI-II IDE Mouse Keyboard Joystick Parallel Serial 4 MB Video Max 1600x1200@16-bit 1280x1024@24-bit 3D Accelerated 33.6kbps US Robotics w/Internet Kit Optional 1.76 MB Floppy, Optional 10-base-T Price $3899 (USD) Cordel Bravo 2 PowerPC Workstation The Bravo Two workstation offers multi-processor architecture, a 12X CD-ROM drive, and comes equipped with 46 MB of RAM, an 2.1 GB EIDE hard disk, Amiga OS 3.1, a modem, and a great software bundle that consists of DataStore 1.1, WordWorth 4SE, TurboCalc 3.5, Organizer v1.1, and two games. PowerPC 604e@180mHz 68040@40mHz 32 MB EDO 12 MB Fast 2 MB Chip 46 MB Total 2.1 GB EIDE SCSI-II IDE Mouse Keyboard Joystick Parallel Serial 4 MB Max 1600x1200@16-bit 1280x1024@24-bit 3D Accelerated 33.6kbps US Robotics w/Internet Kit Optional 12X CD-ROM 1.76 MB Floppy, Optional 10-base-T Price $4299 (USD) 1936 Oakcliff Dr. Grand Rapids, MI 49525 USA 616-361-0806 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- L A T E S T O N L O T U S P A C I F I C October 22, 1997 Piscataway, NJ - Mr. James Liu, Vice President of Lotus Pacific Inc. announced today the Wonder TV Broadcast System developed by the company's subsidiary, Regent Electronics Corporation. This newly developed system which includes Wonder TV A 6060 will be shown at the International Broadcast Television Equipment Show in Chengdu, China, to be held from October 28 to 31, 1997. This coming product introduction is to be jointly presented by Regent and CCTV Teletext which is part of the Chinese Central Television Station. This broadcast system was designed to provide product and services to the subscribers of the cable TV companies. Useful information selectively collected from Internet and local information sources is sequentially transmitted 24 hours a day through a cable channel. A user can select the desired information by setting attributes or references. Wonder TV A 6060 serves as a terminal set top box for receiving and down loading the required information transmitted via cable by CCTV and any local cable broadcast company. Besides the cable broadcast function of this newly developed Wonder TV A 6060, it also retains other existing functions of the previous model Wonder TV A 6000, such as audio CD, video CD, Karaoke, Internet access, and all other general PC functions. "We are pleased to note the recent news releases with regard to the cable broadcast by Microsoft and Intel.", said Liu, "This inspiring news make us more confident of our dedicated efforts in the product development." October 10, 1997 Piscataway, NJ - Lotus Pacific, Inc. announced today of two recent concluded agreements and revenue income of its over 90% owned subsidiary, Regent Electronics Corporation. Following an agreement signed with the largest TV manufacturer in China, Sichuan Changhong Electronics Group Corporation, Regent has concluded other two agreements with Nanjing Panda Electronics Corporation and Shanghai Dingqiu International Trade Co., Ltd. in China. Both Nanjing Panda and the parent company of Shanghai Dingqiu are public traded companies in China. Based on these two signed agreements, Regent is to supply Wonder TV A-6000 product specific chipsets, corresponding software and technical support. Regent began generating its revenue income in the third quarter of this year. Until today Regent has received $1.1 million in cash and $1.72 million of L/C for the supply of chipsets, software and technology. Lotus Pacific, Inc. is a public company traded on the OTC bulletin board under the symbol of LPFC. Its Internet website is at http://www.lpfc.com. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- F R E E C D F R O M A M I G A Z O N E ! AmigaZone Offers a Free CD To All New Members Oct. 29, 1997 [http://www.amigazone.com/] AmigaZone, the premiere online service for Amiga owners and lovers, will give you a FREE Compact Disc full of software when you join. Sign up with our host, CalWeb Internet Services, say "AmigaZone Sent Me!" when you do, and upon verification of your new membership, you'll get our welcome letter and a list of CD titles from which you can choose your free gift. To join, just phone 1-800-509-9322 and say "AmigaZone Sent Me!" or visit [http://www.calweb.com] CalWeb's page and select the new user application link, then choose the "Tier 4" option, select "Amiga" as your operating system, and enter "AmigaZone Sent Me!" in the "other" box. (The $20 signup fee will be waived!) Upon notification of your signup, the AmigaZone will ship you a free CD of your choice - choose from many CD titles by Graphic Detail and Fred Fish! Offer good while supply lasts AmigaZone has been online, serving the needs of Amiga owners since 1985. Members can telnet into our text-style interface, or use our slick, fast Web interface, our members-only FTP site, and our POP3 email server to access over 40,000 Amiga files, (including thousands of files you won't find on Aminet or anywhere else!) 40,000 articles in Amiga Usenet newsgroups, Amiga Fidonet newsgroups, over a dozen popular Amiga mailing lists, participate in our live, nightly chats and join our Sunday chat where we give away even MORE free stuff every week! $19.95 a month (billed to your credit card or invoiced in the mail) gets you unlimited 24/7 access to everything in the Zone, plus your own CalWeb shell account with 10 meg of storage (for your own personal Web site). We also offer a totally free, two-week trial account (limited to 120 minutes of usage per day) to try us out. (The free CD gift applies only to new, paid signups, whether or not you use the two-week trial account first). Visit our Web site for more info (http://www.amigazone.com). Harv Laser AmigaZone Sysop ---------------------------------------------------------------------- A L A D D I N 4 D 5 . 0 S P E C I A L O F F E R October 17, 1997 As a special holiday offer, Aladdin 4D 5.0 is now available in special bundled pricing from the following distributors and dealers. Safe Harbor (USA) 1-800-544-6599 Software Hut (USA) 1-800-932-6442 Wizard Technologies (UK) (011) 44 181 303-1800 Oberland (Germany) (011) 49 61 736-5001 You will find special pricing for Aladdin 4D when bought with ImageFX or other products at these dealers. Please contact them for further details, availability, and pricing. Aladdin 4D is the Amiga's fastest 3D modeling, rendering, and animation package currently available. It's integrated particle systems and volumetric gases along with its support for Lightwave 3D and the Video Toaster make it an ideal addition to both the consumer and professional markets! Here is just a small sampling of some of the new features incorporated in Aladdin 4D 5.0: · Dongle copy protection - GONE! · All-new AmigaDOS 2.1/3.1 style interface . The completely configurable interface has been designed to make using Aladdin 4D's modeling, rendering and animation tools easier to use than ever before! · Support for all Amiga display modes, CyberGraphX displays, Toaster, DCTV and more. · Full support for the MAGIC image buffer system to allow integration with ImageFX for amazing post-processing and special effects. · New lighting such as spotlights, negative lights, and completely configurable photorealistic soft-edged shadows! · Two lens flare systems! · Support for Newtek's Video Toaster and Lightwave 3D object loading · Hierarchical, spline based, motion paths. · ARexx support, instant texture previewing, interactive help system, multiple level anti-aliasing, motion blur and more! ImageFX and Aladdin 4D are trademarks of Nova Design, Inc., All other trademarks are held by their respective owners. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- C O M P L E T E A M I N E T P A C K 01 Nov 1997 The complete Aminet Pack is available! Suggested Retail Price US$ 115.00 ****** Ordering information: The most convenient method of placing an order is to use our electronic order form located at http://www.schatztruhe.de/order.html. You can also send an E-Mail to stefano@schatztruhe.de including your address and the products you wish to order. ****** The complete Aminet Pack - The whole Aminet on CD-ROM! It's finally done. Now you can grab the whole Aminet on CD-ROM at an inexpensive package price. In this package you receive more than 20GB of data in more than 50.000 archives on 22 CD-ROMs! Our Aminet package contains Aminet Sets 1, 2, 3, 4 & 5 and the single Aminet-CDs 20 & 21 and is therefore the complete collection of Aminet on CD-ROM. Some of these CD-ROMs do also contain special commercial highlights (including attractive upgrade offers). Available now for only DM 199,00 - you're saving DM 86,00 compared to the regular prices! -- Stefan Ossowskis Schatztruhe Gesellschaft für Software mbH Veronikastr. 33 - 45131 Essen - Germany Phone: ++49-201-788778 Fax ++49-201-798447 EMail: stefano@schatztruhe.de WWW: http://www.schatztruhe.de/ Visit our Web site and join our mailing-list. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- C H R O M A - A N D S O N Y D I G I T A L C A M E R A S Chroma Announces Availability Of Two New Multi-Format Digital Still Cameras 20/10/97 Sony has recently announced the release of two revolutionary disk-based digital cameras. Both machines have a built-in floppy disk drive (PC HD format) on which photos are stored.As many Amiga systems now incorporate HD drives which can read PC 1.44Mb disks, the world of digital stills photography is now open to the Amiga world. Use on other platforms (PC, Mac etc.) is also possible. The MAVICA FD5 boasts an auto exposure fixed-focus f-4.8, f-2.0 lens, equivalent to a 35mm focal length of f-47mm. The MAVICA FD7 features auto exposure with 5 mode settings, auto / manual focus and an f-4.8 to f-1.8 lens (35mm lens equivalent focal length f-40 to f-400mm). Features also include a 10-1 optical zoom and 4 built-in image effects (sepia, mono, neg & pastel). The cameras store 24-bit colour images (max res 640 x 480) in JPEG format, ideal for web page graphics, video backdrops and desktop publishing.Up to 40 images can be stored per disk in low res. Image preview is via a rear-mounted LCD panel. Accessories supplied with both models: Rechargeable battery, charger, handstrap, backup memory battery (optional for the FD7 are a wide-angle and a telephoto lens). Chroma will be supplying the cameras with both PC and Amiga software. PRICES: MAVICA FD5: UKP459 PLUS DELIVERY MAVICA FD7: UKP619 PLUS DELIVERY Although available now, product may initially be in short supply. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- V U L C A N A N D W O R L D F O U N D R Y C O M B I N E 20 Oct 1997 Vulcan Software Ltd is proud to announce the signing of The World Foundry. Vulcan has signed The World Foundry in it`s entirety and will be publishing all World Foundry titles under the Vulcan Software banner, beginning with Explorer2260 and Maim & Mangle. The World Foundry was formed in September of this year from Digital Anarchy Software, Deimos Design and Intuition Software with the intention of pooling knowledge and resources to develop high specification Amiga titles. Vulcan has been in talks with all the members of The World Foundry for some time and are very excited about the prospect of adding their talents and commitment to our organisation. The World Foundry is a welcome addition to `The Vulcan Army' which already consists of some 14 development teams and over 100 skilled individuals. The primary aim of The World Foundry is to develop high quality, high specification games for the Amiga market which will take full advantage of expanded Amigas and PPC equipped machines. This concentration on higher spec Amigas falls in perfectly with Vulcan`s current drive to push the Amiga forward. Vulcan and all it`s developers have made a commitment to the Amiga and the Amiga Community, through our combined efforts and enthusiasm we can help shape the future, a future which is starting to look very bright indeed. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- M E C C A B B S C D R O M 30 Oct 1997 TITLE The MECCA BBS CDROM PUBLISHER RBProductions 835 West Warner Road Suite 101-251 Gilbert, AZ 85233 (602) 545-6162 voice & fax http://www.goodnet.com/~cyrano cyrano@amigazone.com DESCRIPTION o The full file databases (400+Mb) from the MECCA BBS. o A special preview edition of the Scientific Amigan CDROM, soon to be released by RBProductions. o HTML-front end. Though issued primarily for MECCA (Motorola Experimental Computer Club of Arizona) members, this compilation is being offered to the public at large. FILE CONTENTS All BBS files are organized in the same databases as on the BBS proper: Base Category Files Size ---------------------------------------- 2 Animations 73 23M 3 ARexx 16 622K 4 Audio,Music & MODs 338 50M 5 DataTypes 31 1.3M 6 Demos, Euro, etc. 8 5.0M 7 Desktop Publishing 366 33M 8 Documents & Textfiles 197 9.5M 9 E-Zines 158 15M 10 Emulation 22 4.6M 11 Encrytion & Compression 38 3.2M 12 Games 140 29M 13 Hardware 57 4.5M 14 Miscellaneous 186 12M 15 Networking 132 17M 16 Patches (commercial) 27 4.5M 17 Pictures 249 22M 18 Programming 160 21M 19 Scientific 72 19M 20 Screen Blankers 16 1.3M 21 Telecommunications 163 21M 22 Utilities - Graphic 22 5.3M 23 Utilities - System 407 21M 24 Video & Multimedia 2 323K 25 Virus Checkers 13 2.5M 26 Applications 90 27M 27 CoverDisks 228 22M 28 CNET BBS Stuff 224 9.3M 29 Compute Disks 7 3.2M SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS CDROM drive; Hard drive suggested. AVAILABILITY Directly from RBProductions. PRICE US$14.95, domestic shipping included. -- Rob Pigford. Member Team AMIGA RBProductions - home of Scientific Amigan http://www.goodnet.com/~cyrano/ ---------------------------------------------------------------------- A M I G A E 3 . 3 A A V A I L A B L E 30 Oct 1997 TITLE Amiga E VERSION 3.3a (update to 3.2a). AUTHOR Wouter van Oortmerssen (wvo96r@ecs.soton.ac.uk). DESCRIPTION This is an update to v3.2a. Please read the documentation for a full list of new features. For those who have never seen E before: E is a powerful and flexible object oriented / procedural / unpure functional higher programming language, mainly influenced by languages such as C++, Ada, Lisp etc., and Amiga E a very fast compiler for it, with features such as speed of >20000 lines/minute on a 7 Mhz amiga, inline assembler and linker integrated into compiler, large set of integrated functions, great module concept with v40 includes as modules, flexible type-system, quoted expressions, immediate and typed lists, parametric and inclusion polymorphism, exception handling, inheritance, data-hiding, methods, multiple return values, default arguments, register allocation, fast memory management, unification, LISP-Cells, gui-toolkit, (macro-) preprocessor, very intuitive and powerful source-level debugger, easy .library linking, and much more... AVAILABILITY ftp://ftp.luth.se/pub/aminet/dev/e/amigae33a.lha (1692229) DISTRIBUTABILITY This udistributionn is Freeware. It contains only a limited compiler, a registered compiler is available separately. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- T C P D L F O R H T T P U S E R S 21 Oct 1997 TITLE tcpdl VERSION 2.3 AUTHOR Tim Corringham Ramjam Consultants Ltd http://www.ramjam.demon.co.uk/ mailto:support@ramjam.demon.co.uk DESCRIPTION tcpdl is a program which downloads files from a http host. It can follow links (across sites if required), and can be configured to ignore certain file types. It makes full use of AmigaDOS multi-tasking, and can download up to 15 files at a time. A status window reports current activity. tcpdlpp is a post processor for html files downloaded by tcpdl, which converts all links to those files downloaded to relative URLs. Links to files that have not been downloaded are made to explicitly refer to the site where they can be found. tcpdlpp provides a summary of the number of occurances of every link found, for both downloaded files and remote URLs. Using these programs together allows you to make a local copy of selected sites, which can be browsed off-line. Links to files that have not been downloaded can be followed when you are on-line. NEW FEATURES tcpdl 2.3 has the following new features: - support for proxy servers - configurable timeouts and number of retries - better memory management, reducing memory fragmentation - several minor bug fixes SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS tcpdl requires a TCP/IP stack, and an Internet connection. AVAILABILITY The most recent version of tcpdl is always available from: http://www.ramjam.demon.co.uk/software/tcpdl.lha (50260) or via e-mail to support@ramjam.demon.co.uk PRICE The tcpdl 2.3 distribution is FREE! DISTRIBUTION tcpdl 2.3 and tcpdlpp 1.4 are Copyright (c) 1997 by Ramjam Consultants Ltd. The complete distribution may be distributed without charge for non-commercial use. There is no requirement to register its use, but anyone who does so will be kept informed of future updates. Ramjam Consultants Ltd, 28 Queensway, Caversham, Reading, RG4 6SQ, England e-mail: support@ramjam.demon.co.uk http://www.ramjam.demon.co.uk/ telephone: +44 (0)118 946 5940 fax: +44 (0)118 946 5941 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- L I M I T E D T I M E S H A R E W A R E D I S C O U N T 25 Oct 97 PerSuaSiVe SoftWorX offers limited shareware discount PerSuaSiVe SoftWorX, namely Andreas R. Kleinert, may be known as the procucers of some well known Amiga programs, such as SuperView, the "ak Datatypes" and various other commercial and non-commercial software products and add-on software. Since we think, that Amiga - and some upcoming Amiga events in special - should gain some more audience and attention, we have decided to offer a shareware discount on our products limited until the end of the "Computer 97" show, taking place in Cologne from 14th-16th November. If your order is sent to us until 16th November (postal stamp's date) we will grant you the following discounts on our products: Discount range #1 ----------------- If you already are a registered user of one of our products (*) OR select more than one product from the list below, you get these for the discount price instead of the regular one (in brackets). Product regular discount O SuperView/SViewNG, personalized keyfile (30 DM) 20 DM * Aminet:gfx/show/SViewNG.lha - http://www.amigaworld.com/support/sview/ O PNG-Box, personalized keyfile (20 DM) 15 DM * Aminet:gfx/conv/PNG-Box.lha - http://www.amigaworld.com/support/png-box/ O DRAFU, personalized keyfile (30 DM) 20 DM * Aminet:misc/math/DRAFU.lha - http://www.amigaworld.com/support/drafu/ O PPC-Modules for SuperView-Library 19.x (30 DM) 25 DM * not freely distributable - http://www.amigaworld.com/support/sview/ You will receive your keyfile (respectively the PPC modules) via eMail (mention your email address), unless you add 5 DM postage/disk fee for european and 10 DM for overseas "snail mailing". Discount range #2 ----------------- As you know, you won't receive anything for registering akJFIF-Datatype and/or akPNG-Datatype except fame and (usually) some honorable mention in the documentation. Nevertheless, these fees have been decreased, too - since you may wish to add that value to your "Discount range #1" order: Product regular discount O akPNG-Datatype, (15 DM) 10 DM * Aminet:util/dtype/akPNG43x.lha - http://www.amigaworld.com/support/akpng/ O akJFIF-Datatype, (15 DM) 10 DM * Aminet:util/dtype/akJFIF43x.lha - http://www.amigaworld.com/support/akjfif/ ====== Please note (again), that all these offers are limited until 16th November 1997, the last day of the "Computer 97" in Cologne (for detailed information, see http://www.computer97.de) ====== And now to something completely different: SuperView-Library related products ---------------------------------- Picture Manager: You may have noticed, that Picture Manager professional 4.1 (PMPro) in the english version now is being distributed by BlitterSoft in England. Since PMPro is making use of SuperView-Library, it may be interesting to note, that the price has been lowered, too. It's now 39.95 UKP for end-users (see http://blittersoft.wildnet.co.uk/pmpro.htm or download the demo version from Aminet:biz/demo/pmpdemo.lha) Orders have to be addressed to BlitterSoft or your local dealer, please don't place any orders to PerSuaSiVe SoftWorX ! Image Engineer: (*) As the author, Simon Edwards, already stated on his homepage under http://yallara.cs.rmit.edu.au/~sbe/ , he has moved to the Netherlands, and the australian registration site can't accept any registrations any longer. Thus, any registration forms should be addressed to the european registration site, which in fact is PerSuaSiVe SoftWorX. Image Engineer BTW is an image processing program, that makes use of SuperView-Library (see AmiNet:gfx/edit/ImEngV3.41p1.lha and /ImEngV3.41p2.lha) for loading and saving graphic files, which is the reason, why any registered Image Engineer users are allowed to make use of the "Discount range #1" and "Discount range #2" offers, too. There's no discount on Image Engineer registrations, though (the european fee is 55 DM or equivalent in other currencies). Please address all orders to: PerSuaSiVe SoftWorX Andreas R. Kleinert Sandstrasse 1 Fax: +49-271-22869 D-57072 Siegen eMail: Andreas_Kleinert@t-online.de Germany WWW: http://home.t-online.de/Andreas_Kleinert/ ..and don't forget to mention "Computer'97 discount" with your order ! ---------------------------------------------------------------------- _ __ _ __ _ ____ _ _ The AMIGA /\\ |\ || |\ || || \\ / I N F O R M E R /__\\ | \ || | \ || ||-- \\ / \\__| \||_ | \||_ ||___ _/\\_ Section ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Originally appearing in Issue 5 of The Amiga Informer Magazine In this day of fancy Internet browsers, it is interesting to look at the other devices available to access data from the net. Aside from the stan- dard interfaces like mail clients, FTP directory browsers and newsread- ers, there is a small group of relatively obscure programs to directly ac- cess some otherwise formidable information sources. The first program in this category is WeatherExperience. It is a small MUI-based interface for accessing the national weather database. When this program starts, it allows configuration to get various types of weather data from virtually any of the reporting sites in the US or abroad. The program is completely configured, allowing for choice of sites to display, and the data from them to be displayed. Data includes temperature, wind speed and direction, barometric pressure, conditions, etc. Once started, this program will run in its own window on any public screen, and will periodically update the data displayed as new informa- tion becomes available. As a bonus, clicking on a city name for the US will give the United States Weather Service forecast for the next five days. MUI configuration makes this a neat program to run in the back- ground while you're showing off your TCP/IP interface to your jealous Mac and IBM using friends. Secondly, there's MUIadt. ADT stands for Aminet Download Tool, a data standard created by the developers of Aminet to allow transmission of the Aminet directory with brief program comments as a single com- pressible file. There are two ADT files available from ADT accessible sites; recent.adt and long.adt. The former contains either the last seven or fourteen days of new files, and the latter contains the entire index of Aminet. There are ADT interfaces compiled for most large scale work- stations, and these mostly function as CLI type clients, but the data ac- tually lends itself to graphic display. Several FTP clients actually have the ability to read this data, but I find it nicer to access it through the MUI GUI program MUIadt. MUIadt starts by opening a window with several gadgets at the bot- tom. By clicking on the "Host" gadget, a second window with a list of Aminet servers is displayed. Double clicking on a server will initiate con- nection to that server. Depending on whether you've asked to display new, recent, or all files, either the recent or long ADT files are down- loaded in compressed form. You'll need to get and configure a Unix ".Z" type decompressor for MUIadt to use the file it obtains, but this is easy and covered in the installation instructions. I recommend requesting the new or recent files to be displayed, just because downloading long.adt (which is often about a 1 Mb file) can take a long time. If you request new files, MUIadt will keep track of what you've seen each time you ac- cess it, and it will only show the files that are new to you. Once MUIadt decompresses the ADT file, it will parse it and display a list of programs. Clicking on a file and clicking the "Readme" gadget retrieves and dis- plays the long program description in a scrollable text window. Clicking to highlight a file and clicking the "Download" gadget causes the file to be downloaded to your computer. As with most MUI lists, multi-clicking is entirely configured, as are all the windows. There is a download progress window displayed whenever a file is downloading, which has a neat status bar. This program makes keeping track of what's new on Aminet a snap. It also includes a file finder, but this requires download- ing long.adt, and so requires a large chunk of disk space, and a fair bit of time. There are also CLI driven versions of ADT for the Amiga, but the interface makes this program so easy to use that I highly recom- mend it. Ever want to just quickly check to see if your net buddy is on-line? On the Internet there is a utility that will do just that with most servers. The utility is called "finger." When you finger an account or a server on the Internet, this refers to asking for a brief current activity statement, not making a rude gesture. The information returned from fingering an ac- count is usually whether the account is active (the person is on-line), the time of the last login, whether there is unread mail, and the contents of the accounts ".plan" file. The ".plan" file is a file describing your current project, and possibly containing such things as your PGP public key. When you finger a server, you may receive a server status message and a list of the active accounts on that server. As with most Amiga In- ternet clients, there is a MUI interface for "finger as well." This program, "mfinger," has a simple text gadget to enter the account (using the Email address) to finger, and a scrolling text window to display the result. These three specialized clients allow fast and functional, as well as very configured, access to information on the Internet. They are all worth a look. Available on Aminet at: comm/tcp/WeatherEx14.lha comm/tcp/MUIAdt.lha comm/tcp/MUI-finger12.lha Copyright 1997 Davis Sprague Exclusive Distribution rights held by Eldritch Enterprises ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Amiga Update on the net: some issues available at: http://www.sharbor.com/amiga/news/ (in html format) Australian Mirror Site: http://www.comcen.com.au/~paulm/index.html All back issues available (in ASCII text) at: http://www.globaldialog.com/AdventureCentral/AU/index.html ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Copyright 1997 by Brad Webb. Freely distributable, if not modified. ====================================================================== _ __ _ <>_ __ _ || /\\ |\ /|| || / ` /\\ || Brad Webb/AmigaUpdate /__\\ | \ / || || || ___ /__\\ || bandr@globaldialog.com / \\_ | \/ ||_ _||_ \__// / \\_ || ======================================================================