This newsletter will never appear on Prairienet BEFORE the monthly CUCUG
meeting it is intended to announce. This is in deference to actual CUCUG
members. It is, after all, THEIR newsletter. For advance notification of
CUCUG's meeting, look in the "Information About CUCUG" section.
To move quickly to an article of your choice, use the search feature of your Reader. Just type "/" ie., a backslash, and enough of your choice to ensure a successfull search. Enjoy.
The January meeting will be one of our split SIG meetings. However, independently, both SIGs came to the same concept for their activities. Both will be asking members what they want to see and do at the meetings. We're very serious in wanting to know what each of you thinks, so please come with ideas and suggestions. Both SIGs will also be addressing any and all questions or problems you might have. In short, we're going to have a free form bull session. Should be fun. We won't have to go out into the lobby to do what we all do most meetings anyway.
This has now triggered the final auction round of the bidding.
On December 22nd the former Commodore UK management group made their formal counteroffer plus deposit to acquire the Amiga.
The liquidators are now making their final evaluations of the two offers.
A decision is expected very soon.
No further bids are anticipated.
While CEI reportedly put an expiration date of Dec. 30th on their bid, apparently they are willing to wait just a little while longer for the liquidators to make a final decision.
Again, all signs point toward the final ruling on the liquidation very shortly.
I will update this message immediately after a decision is announced."
Needless to say we want to see you back again too. With the death of Commodore and the future uncertain, we rely on each other far more than before. Please join with us again.
In an act of humility from one of America's most aggressive and successful companies, Intel also apologized for its earlier replacement policy, under which computer owners wanting new chips had to prove they needed them.
The dime-size silicon chips that provide a computer's "brains" are in an estimated 2 million machines, meaning the new policy could cost Intel hundreds of millions of dollars. The company will also pay for the labor of replacement.
But the old policy had outraged many customers and led some analysts to question whether the world's leading maker of chips for personal computers really understood its market.
"We are dealing with a consumer community that was upset with us," Andrew Grove, Intel's chief executive, said in an interview. "That they were upset with us -- it has finally dawned on us -- is because we were telling them what's good for them. I think we insulted them."
He said Intel would run the apology and an explanation of the new policy in national newspapers.
The Virginia mathematics professor who discovered the flaw said he was pleased with Intel's decision, although he thinks it might eventually raise the price of computer chips.
"I wouldn't say I have any regrets. I just think it has established a new level of accountability," Thomas Nicely of Virginia's Lynchburg College said in a telephone interview.
Nicely sent computer messages to several colleagues telling them of the flaw, and one publicized his findings on the Internet, the global computer network.
He also told Intel, but the problem didn't come to public attention until the Internet posting.
It costs Intel an estimated $50 to $150 to manufacture each chip, not counting the cost for development. The labor for replacing a chip runs anywhere from $30 to $200, depending on the type of computer and who does the work.
Compaq, Gateway and Packard-Bell are among the computers that carry the flawed chip.
Intel said it would take an unspecified charge against earnings to pay for the replacements.
Word of the plans caused Intel's stock to jump more than $3 a share Tuesday as investors hoped the chip problem would quickly fade into history. Intel stock closed at $61.25 a share on the Nasdaq market, up $3.44.
The flaw generally changes a digit four to 19 spaces to the right of a decimal when a division problem is done. It happens with about 1,700 combinations of numbers and does not affect other math functions, word processing, games or communications.
Intel has said a typical user wouldn't come up with a wrong answer any more than once in 27,000 years. But critics said the problem could occur more frequently.
"We were motivated by a belief that replacement is simply unnecessary for most people," Grove said of the earlier policy. "We still feel that way, but we are changing our policy because we want there to be no doubt that we stand behind this product."
Industry analysts welcomed Tuesday's move as long overdue.
"It's about time. It's very clear they were fighting a losing battle, both in public relations as well as user confidence," said Tim Bajarin, president of Creative Strategies Research International in San Jose.
"To continue stonewalling by making people prove that they had to be building a bridge, or building, or airplane, was ludicrous."
The company does not expect any revenue from the product, called Windows 95, in the fiscal year that ends June 30, chief financial officer Mike Brown said.
Another executive said the software will undergo more testing. Nearly 50,000 people have been sent early versions and some came across some kinks, particularly in its compatibility with existing programs.
"The question really comes down to some little polished things, to make sure installation, configuration and compatibility is up to the level our customers expect," said Brad Silverberg, senior vice president of Microsoft's personal systems division.
"Customers have told us, 'If you need extra time to get it right ... please take it. There's too much riding on this,"' he said.
Nonetheless, Microsoft's stock dropped on the news. It closed down $2.75 to $59.82 1/2 on the Nasdaq Stock Market.
Some software makers that are counting heavily on Windows 95 to help sell their products were also down. For instance, Corel Corp., maker of graphics software, slipped $1.75 to $14.12 1/2 on Nasdaq.
Analysts didn't seem overly concerned about the new delay.
"Although some folks had been counting on revenue sometime in late fiscal '95, those expectations had been relatively modest," said Rick Owens, vice president of research for Pacific Crest Securities in Portland, Ore.
"It's a very sophisticated product the company is working on. It's not completely shocking that a major project such as Windows 95 has faced ongoing delays."
Windows' chief competitor, IBM's OS-2 software, has only about 5 percent of the market, another analyst noted.
"There's really only one train coming into the station. If it's late, it's late," said Jeffrey Tarter, publisher of Softletter, an industry newsletter.
However, IBM seized the moment to announce that it has sold 800,000 copies of Warp version of OS-2, which went on sale last month. The company noted those sales do not include Asian countries such as Japan that represent sizable opportunities.
Microsoft first set a target of spring 1994 for the Windows revision. Company Chairman Bill Gates said in July that he hoped to have it on sale before 1994 ends. The introduction was then delayed to mid-1995.
With the current Windows product on more than 60 million PCs, Microsoft cannot afford a slip-up such as the one chipmaker Intel Corp. has faced over the past month with a flaw in its Pentium microprocessor. Intel said Tuesday it would replace the chips without question.
In March, Microsoft will ship a version of Windows 95 to 400,000 more computer users for final testing.
Windows puts a graphical face on Microsoft's DOS, the operating system program that controls the basic functions of a computer and that catapulted Microsoft to financial success.
Windows 95 will be faster and less complicated than the current version, and will be able to run without DOS, the company has said. Microsoft projects 25 percent or more of the current users of Windows will upgrade in the first year Windows 95 is available.
"I think both companies will benefit greatly from this, and I'm not sure who will benefit more," said Mark Hall, editor in chief of Mac-Week in San Francisco. "This really is a very nice marriage of technical capability on Apple's side and marketing muscle on the IBM side."
However, machines covered in the agreement will not be available to customers until at least 1996, and the deal doesn't include a common operating system (the essential software that handles the basic functions of every computer). Apple will be responsible for preparing its Macintosh operating software for the new machine. IBM will prepare its own OS-2 system software, and Motorola will handle Windows NT, and operating system created by the dominant software company, Microsoft Corp. Other financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
Far from uniting the industry, the two biggest computer manufacturers are creating a new rival to the current standard Intel x86/MS-DOS/Windows "clone" market. Buyers will first have to consider the CPU - making sure it runs the software they want - and then the brand name instead of first thinking whether to buy and Apple or an IBM. Both IBM and Apple will still sell their old incompatible PCs until they can bring out the common model, known in the industry as the Power Reference Platform, or PREP. And IBM is likely to continue selling Intel chip-based machines long beyond then, a sticky marketing and service challenge.
"This is one of those pivotal points, an axiomatic shift, in the industry," said Richard Zwetchkenbaum, PC analyst at International Data Corp. in Framingham, Mass.
It comes at a tricky time in the history of personal computers, which are changing in the way that automobiles did after World War I, when product lines became diverse and technological differences were overtaken by style. Computer chips and programming are being added to virtually every device that plugs into a wall. As chips go down in price, functions that were common only on PCs a few years ago can be put into other devices like phones and pagers. That pressures PC makers to add more functions to their machines and keep prices down. IBM and Apple believe the PowerPC chip's design allows them to increase performance at a lower cost than the Intel-style chip. Some other manufacturers, notably Toshiba Corp. and Canon Corp., agree and will clone the new IBM/Apple PC design.
Adding to the choices, Digital Equipment Corp. has created a comparable chip to the PowerPC, called Alpha, and is trying to get more manufacturers to use it. And Advanced Micro Devices Inc. and Cyrix Corp., chipmakers that have previously cloned Intel's designs, are creating originals they hope PC makers will adopt. Intel, meanwhile, has formed an alliance with Hewlett-Packard Co. to create a microprocessor that will succeed its current x86 line late in the decade.
The Apple-IBM agreement means the PowerPC-based machines will be able to run operating software by either company. Although the companies' decision to maintain separate operating systems prevents their computers from being truly identical, several analysts did not consider this to be a major drawback, agreeing that customers might find the choice of a specific operating system better for their special needs than a common one.
"They're still torn by the mutually exclusive goals of gaining market share," analyst Zwetchkenbaum said.
Apple's MacOS, the simplest software for running a computer, remains a key asset for the company and one that is financially risky to share. IBM, meanwhile is reluctant to use it while still trying to push its relatively new OS-2.
Analysts believe, however, that IBM and Apple eventually will grant each other the right to sell the other's operating system. Until then, customers will have to buy them separately from each manufacturer. IBM and Apple formed a relationship in 1991 to wrest back the industry dominance they'd lost to Intel and Microsoft. In addition to PowerPC, they have worked together on software and multimedia products but so far have had little market impact.
After collaborating on the chip, the companies initially went different ways in its implementation. Apple uses the PowerPC in its Power Macintosh line of personal computers, which has sold more than 600,000 units since its spring debut. IBM uses the chip in high-powered workstation computers, but in September decided to delay a PC because not enough software was ready.
The two companies have been working on a common design standard for more than a year.
Computer trade publications reported that IBM and Apple agreed on key design elements of the new machine in October. But the announcement Monday comes a week ahead of Comdex, the PC industry's largest trade show, as the companies attempt to command attention at the event.
Answers to some common questions about the new computer design:
Q. What kinds of software can I run on this machine?
A. Any kind of software written for today's existing PCs can be run on this computer, but the speed and performance depends on which operating system you choose.
If you choose IBM's OS-2 operating system, you can run software made for it and Microsoft's Windows and DOS. However, you can't run software made for the Macintosh operating system.
If you choose Macintosh's MacOS, you can run all Macintosh software, plus Windows and DOS programs although not as fast as if your computer had the Windows due to the performance hit of emulating those environments. Finally, MacOS can't run programs designed specifically for OS-2.
Under the current marketing plans, IBM and Apple look to sell only their own OS with the computers they sell. However, if you buy an IBM PREP computer and you also want the Apple MacOS (or vice versa) you can buy the second operating system separately and install it at the same time.
Q. What's the difference between OS-2 and MacOS?
A. Apple's operating system is simpler to understand and use and has been since it was designed for the original Macintosh in 1984. But OS-2 is able to do more things, including running Windows programs. IBM is heavily promoting a version of OS-2 called Warp, noting it can save time by running several functions of a computer at once - multitasking.
Q. Will different accessories like printers and CD-ROM drives still be needed for IBM and Apple PCs?
A. No. Keyboards, trackballs, modems and other accessories will be interchangeable on the future PowerPC machine, as well as with existing Intel chip-based PCs.
Q. When will the new PC be available to costumers?
A. The companies are aiming to put systems in stores in 1996 but did not offer a specific date. Companies that write software will get prototypes of the new machine as soon as next spring. It will likely be 1997 or 1998 before the PCs start to claim a sizeable amount of the PC market.
Q. Will it cost more or less than current PCs?
A. The PowerPC chip's design, when volume production is reached, is supposed to cost less to make than Intel chips. That is one of the motivations for the whole effort, to sell PCs that cost you less. Executives said that aligning the different Apple and IBM designs will not cost enough to erode the price advantage of the PowerPC chip. They did not speculate on price however.
Q. Will other companies make the new PC?
A. Already some big name companies are lining up, including Toshiba Corp. and Canon Corp. A new PC maker called FirePower has gone into business solely to make clones of the design. Novell Inc., leading maker of PC networking software, said it would prepare its products for the machine.
(this text was retrieved from Usenet)
The following statement of directions is compiled from remarks made by Deron Kazmaier on an online conference held on Genie 10/30/94.
1. Soft-Logik's first priority is the completion of PageStream 3.0
for the Amiga.
2. PageStream 3.0 will not be developed for the Atari platform.
There is not a sufficient market to support the development effort.
3. After the Amiga version is completed, PageStream 3 will be ported to
the Macintosh (System 7) and Windows 3.1 environments. There will also
be a TypeSmith for these platforms.
4. No upgrade to Art Expression will be made; however, an add-in drawing
enhancement to PageStream 3 will be developed and marketed.
5. The Amiga, Mac and Windows versions of PageStream will be document
compatible.
PageStream interfaces with the OS through the Softlogik_app library.
Porting to a new platform means recompiling the PageStream code and
rewriting the Softlogik_app library for the new system. This means that
net features developed for one platform will be readily portable
to the others.
6. There will be an attractive cross-platform move path for the current
Amiga user base. Soft-Logik wants to keep its current customers.
7. The PageStream 3.0c patch file is scheduled for release on November 1.
This version fully supports the interface to PageLiner and there is a
text speed-up--not the full speed-up, but some. See the readme file
with the release for the long list of improvements/fixes.
8. The TypeSmith 2.5a update should be available in about a week.
This fixes a few small problems including the Print Overview.
Except as noted above, no time schedules or prices have been announced.[Source: Amiga Users of the Heartland newsletter, "Chronicles" November, 1994. AUOH's address is P.O. Box 1432, DTS, Omaha, Nebraska 68101-1432.]
Fast CD-ROM access is promised by PLI's upcoming 15X CD-ROM drive, based on a PLI-designed mechanism rather than the typical OEM product. The SCSI device, which works in Macintosh, DOS, and Sun environments, provides data transfer of up to 2.25 MB per second and an effective access time of 40 milliseconds (ms), much faster than the 300K per second transfer rate and 300 ms access time offered by drives such as Apple's double-speed CD300. The drive should be available within a month or so, and the list price will be around $1,300.
[Source: Amiga Users of the Heartland, November, 1994.]
Elastic Reality, the industrial-strength Hollywood software that strethced Jim Carrey's face in all directions in "The Mask" and has had a starting role in "StarGate" and "Forrest Gump", is making its way from high-powered workstations to mere mortal's Windows and Macintosh computers.Well, we all know that Elastic Reality used to be named ASDG (the good, good folks that make Art Department Pro, among other programs, as we all know). And since they've ported their software from "high-powered" workstations down to a lower form of computing we can assume that workstation in question must be the Amiga! At least, that's the way my warped sense of logic is working :)
[Source: Amiga Users of the Heartland, December, 1994.]
In the few seconds that it was shown on the screen you could plainly see an A500 with what looked like a GVP hard drive unit on the side connected to an A1084 monitor. Kinda says something about how useful Amigas are, eh?
[Source: Amiga Users of the Heartland, December, 1994.]
10. Your current computer is too accurate.
9. You want to get into the Guiness Book of World Records
as "Owner of the most expensive paperweight."
8. Math errors add zest to life.
7. You need an alibi for the IRS.
6. You want to see what all the fuss is about.
5. You've always wondered what it would be like to be a
plaintiff.
4. The "Intel Inside" logo matches your decor perfectly.
3. You no longer have to worry about CPU overheating.
2. You got a great deal from JPL.
And the #1 reason to buy a Pentium equipped machine:
1. It'll probably work.
ToC
With the acquisition, Pope John Paul II will become the senior vice-president of the combined company's new Religious Software Division, while Microsoft senior vice-presidents Michael Maples and Steven Ballmer will be invested in the College of Cardinals, said Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates.
"We expect a lot of growth in the religious market in the next five to ten years," said Gates. "The combined resources of Microsoft and the Catholic Church will allow us to make religion easier and more fun for a broader range of people."
Through the Microsoft Network, the company's new on-line service, "we will make the sacraments available on-line for the first time" and revive the popular pre-Counter-Reformation practice of selling indulgences, said Gates. "You can get Communion, confess your sins, receive absolution -- even reduce your time in Purgatory -- all without leaving your home."
A new software application, Microsoft Church, will include a macro language which you can program to download heavenly graces automatically while you are away from your computer.
An estimated 17,000 people attended the announcement in St Peter's Square, watching on a 60-foot screen as comedian Don Novello -- in character as Father Guido Sarducci -- hosted the event, which was broadcast by satellite to 700 sites worldwide.
Pope John Paul II said little during the announcement. When Novello chided Gates, "Now I guess you get to wear one of these pointy hats," the crowd roared, but the pontiff's smile seemed strained.
The deal grants Microsoft exclusive electronic rights to the Bible and the Vatican's prized art collection, which includes works by such masters as Michelangelo and Da Vinci. But critics say Microsoft will face stiff challenges if it attempts to limit competitors' access to these key intellectual properties.
"The Jewish people invented the look and feel of the holy scriptures," said Rabbi David Gottschalk of Philadelphia. "You take the parting of the Red Sea -- we had that thousands of years before the Catholics came on the scene."
But others argue that the Catholic and Jewish faiths both draw on a common Abrahamic heritage. "The Catholic Church has just been more successful in marketing it to a larger audience," notes Notre Dame theologian Father Kenneth Madigan. Over the last 2,000 years, the Catholic Church's market share has increased dramatically, while Judaism, which was the first to offer many of the concepts now touted by Christianity, lags behind.
Historically, the Church has a reputation as an aggressive competitor, leading crusades to pressure people to upgrade to Catholicism, and entering into exclusive licensing arrangements in various kingdoms whereby all subjects were instilled with Catholicism, whether or not they planned to use it. Today Christianity is available from several denominations, but the Catholic version is still the most widely used. The Church's mission is to reach "the four corners of the earth," echoing Microsoft's vision of "a computer on every desktop and in every home".
Gates described Microsoft's long-term strategy to develop a scalable religious architecture that will support all religions through emulation. A single core religion will be offered with a choice of interfaces according to the religion desired -- "One religion, a couple of different implementations," said Gates.
The Microsoft move could spark a wave of mergers and acquisitions, according to Herb Peters, a spokesman for the U.S. Southern Baptist Conference, as other churches scramble to strengthen their position in the increasingly competitive religious market.
(For the humor-impaired, this story is indeed a fabrication and is not meant to be taken seriously)
[Source: Amiga Users of the Heartland, December, 1994.]
Global Upgrades, Inc. 121 West Nyack Road, Suite 6 Nanuet, NY 10954. (914) 624-3200 (voice) (914) 624-3239 (FAX)[Source: From the Kankakee River Valley Computer Users Group newsletter, "Interface" January, 1995. KRVCUG's address is P.O. Box 931, Kankakee, Illinois 60901.]
I was talking to Doug Cotton yesterday, (Editor and Chief Engineer for CMD) and he told me that CMD is now into the repair business. The number of places supporting our systems is dropping, but they are picking up the slack. He also said they were working on a stock of hard-to-find chips & parts for all Commodore equipment.
They don't advertise everything they have on hand, but if you call them, they will tell you what's available. I got a printer and a 128D from them last week. They also have a bunch of Aprotek modems in stock. They keep buying up leftover equipment and software from the places that are going out of business. Doug said they have stuff stacked all over the place. If you are trying to find things, check with them first. Shoot, guys, it's a free call. Nothing to lose! 1-800-638-3263. They have a complete line of heavy duty replacement power supplies on hand for both drives and computers.
I called him to talk about dropping a 1000 meg drive into my 85 meg case. They sell a 1000 meg drive and I wanted to see if there were any problems. The guys in the back (CMD eggheads) bought a standard 1 gigabyte SCSI drive and dropped it into one of their old 40 meg cases. It worked like a champ. Qualifier: you need the latest "Boot ROM", $20, and HD DOS 1.88 to make the sucker work properly. The NEW boot ROM was designed to recognize over 100 different SCSI drive types. The HD DOS 1.88 is the support program for any SCSI drive over 100 megs. According to the guys in the back, the new Boot ROM was necessary because of the lack of standards in SCSI drives. They took a random sample of the drive addresses, and came up with a table that samples the drive when it's installed. The Boot ROM can recognize all the current SCSI addressing systems, and DOS 1.88 (along with the Low Level Format) program will do the entire setup for you in about one minute flat. No knowledge necessary. The program does all the work. It reads all the information directly from the drive itself.
The combination (Boot ROM and DOS 1.88) can be installed in any of the older CMD drives, and will allow you to drop in most any larger drive with no problem. They recommend Conner, Quantum or the IBM SCSI drives. All have been fully tested and all of them work flawlessly in the CMD. For a list of the drives they have bench tested, just call them at 1-413-525-0023. They will be happy to assist you.
[Source: From the Metroplex Commodore Computer Club newsletter, "MCCC News" January, 1995. MCCC's address is P.O. Box 813, Bedford, Texas 76095.]
Why? What use is it?
SALVAGE!
The easiest VIC-20 item to salvage is the power supply. Did you know that it is the same power supply used by the C64? 'Nuff said.
The VIC-20 keyboard is an exact replacement for the C64, physically, mechanically and electronically. The transplant operation is fairly simple: 3 screws to open the case, another 8 screws to remove the keyboard. Just take care removing the plug that connects it to the motherboard. Use the same procedure removing the "dead" keyboard from the C64 and swap 'em.
Missing one of those little rubber pads from the bottom of your 64? Roll over VIC, you old dog! What else?
Chips? Dip into the VIC-20 for a pair of 6522s and 6502, all used in the 1541 disk drive.
With a soldering iron you might want the joystick port, the DIN power, serial and video ports and chip sockets. I witnessed a C128 come back to life with an on/off switch carefully removed from a ... Well, by now, I hope you've gotten the point.
[Source: Commodore Users Group of St. Louis journal, "Keywords" January, 1995. CUGSL's address is c/o Ed Dawes, Pres., 129 Aokay Drive, Apt. K, St. Charles, MO 63301.]
Many owners of the 1541 Disk Drive either ignore the accompanying TEST/DEMO disk or used it only to access the WEDGE. It would be a sorry mistake if the 1571 TEST/DEMO disk is assigned the same fate. There are several very useful programs on this disk: unscratch, directory print, disk backups (for the C64, PLUS/4 and C16), disk name change, and several other good utilities.
There are two programs that are truly outstanding: "AUTOBOOT MAKER", a utility that allows you to automatically load and run a program by merely turning on your C=128 after the disk has been inserted into the disk drive, and "1571 DOS SHELL".
The C=64 has the WEDGE, but the C=128 has the DOS SHELL (the second gem on this disk). The DOS SHELL is autobooted on power-up and is thereafter called up or hidden from view by the F1 key. What is DOS SHELL? It is a hybrid of the WEDGE and several other programs.
It allows you to run a program, to COPY/RENAME/DELETE/ RESTORE files, FORMAT a disk, COPY a disk (8-10 minutes, including formatting) and REORDER a directory in alphabetical order or the order of your choice. When you choose to work with one of the file options, the directory is automatically loaded and you can manipulate files in multiples, or just singly.
As you can see, the 1571 TEST/DEMO disk deserves more than a cursory examination.
[Source: CUG of St. Louis, January, 1995. ]
Since last month I've done quite a bit more playing around with Lynx, the World Wide Web browser available both on Prairienet and the University systems. As you'll remember, there was a little confusion on what your personal bookmark file should be named. After exchanging email with Colin Thompson, the author of last month's Lynx article, this has been cleared up. You can call it anything you like. You just need to tell Lynx what it's called. To do that you need to select (O) for options from the Lynx menu, then (B) for bookmark file. The default name will be highlighted. Just delete it and enter the name of your choosing. I chose .l on my UX1 account, since the dot indicates a "hidden" file on UNIX and is thus not normally displayed when you list your directory, making it harder to accidently delete, and l, for short, because I got real tired of typing pico lynx_bookmarks.html when I wanted to edit that file. Once you've entered your filename, hit return to set it and then hit > to save it.
Last month, I also made one minor mistake in my Editor's Note (by copying a typo from the original article). If you look back, you'll note in the first line of my bookmark file I had:
<title> Bookmark file /<title>The backslash was out of place.it should be:
<title> Bookmark file </title>
A couple of keyboard things I've found useful since then are using the + key on the numeric keypad (or spacebar) to scroll down a page when reading material. And, just as important is using the - key on the numeric keypad (or b) to scroll back a page, rather than having to cursor through each entry on a page to get back. Likewise, hitting the z key to cancel a transfer in progress is real handy when Lynx goes off into the ozone to find a source and leaves you there waiting interminably. Lastly, the = key will show you the file and link info for the page you are looking at. Sometimes that information is very handy. And, the \ will show you how a document is actually written, ie. the HTML source code. Interesting.
Another bit of confusion, at least for me, that I've been able to straighten out is in downloading a particular document or file of interest. I was continually getting the wrong one: either downloading the one I was on rather than the link it was pointing to or vice versa. To straighten this out, you type (D) for download when you want to download the document the link you are on points to. You type (A) for add and then (D) to download the document you are on, no matter what highlighted link you are on in that document. And, you type (A) for add and (L) for link to add a link into your bookmark file for the document or site the link you are on points to. What's confusing about this last one is that you have to link to an interesting site before you go there, or go there, look around, determine it's somewhere you'd like to come back to, then go back to the link that sent you there to add it to you bookmarks. If you try to add it while you're there, you'll just get the link on the page you are on and it more than likely will be just a file on that system and not have the full http:// address to get you back to the site once you've left. Trying to retrace your steps to locate a link to a neat site can be very frustrating.
Another thing I've discovered by poking around is that there other URL: types than just http://. I gave a Web address last month for CDROM.COM. In the intervening time, it no longer works as given. However, by changing it a little, you can still connect with the site. Use this:
<LI><a href="ftp://ftp.cdrom.com/pub/aminet/">CDROM.COM </a>Another ftp:// URL: you'll want to use is for the Fish library at the University of Illinois (courtesy in large part to CUCUG).
<LI><a href="ftp://ftp.cso.uiuc.edu"> CCSO's FTP Server </a>You want to read the comp.sys.amiga.misc newsgroup? Try this:
<LI><a href="news:comp.sys.amiga.misc/"> comp.sys.amiga.misc </a>And, you want to be able to read those .HTML documents you've been furiously downloading? You can do it singly, by entering Lynx at the command prompt and using a filename as an argument, but I've found it easier to point Lynx back towards my own home directory to display what it finds there.
<LI><a href="file://localhost/... (and then the full path to my directory)I'll close by giving one more address for the Commodore Amiga Information Resource which I found in Amiga Report 2.15 in an article about Lynx.
http://www.cs.cmu.edu:8001/Web/People/mjw/Computer/Amiga/AR/MainPage.htmlIf you come across any good sites, let me know and I'll check it out. Have fun.
"Civilization advances by extending the number of important operations which we can perform without thinking of them." --Alfred North WhiteheadYou Can Get it on CD Rom...
You have a CD Rom drive don't you? If not here are just a few reasons to get one. Just make sure that the CD Rom drive is Multi-session PhotoCD -XA compatible...that means it can read Kodak Photo CD's. For as little as $10.00 plus $.59 per slide or color negative you can have your photographs archived forever on Photo CD's and accessible on your computer. The best part is that the resolution is incredible. Also if you have some photos that were damaged over time from careless handling you can import them into ImageFX 2.0 or Opal Paint or TV - Paint and retouch/repair them! You can get 100 photos on a Photo CD Rom. That's a lot cheaper than buying a scanner and taking the hours of scan time to digitize your pics.
How Cheap?
At Software Support International I picked up 3 CD's for less than $30.00 I got "Too Many Fonts," (actually not enough as there were only 450 Adobe Type 1 fonts on that disk!). Then there was The Encyclopedia of Sound volume 2...Sound effects. And finally, I couldn't resist, "Our Solar System," NASA photos including stuff from the Hubble Space Telescope and from the great comet smash/crash of '94. There are all kinds of deals available for clip art. I received a mailer a while back for 30,000 images in 400 categories from Zedcor. It's called DeskGallery. It was selling for around $40.00 The clip art on these disks are in Black & White.
In the MacWarehouse catalogue there was a bundle for $49.95. In the bundle you get Corel Gallery on CD Rom -10,000 images. The Corel Professional Photo Sampler (100 photographs royalty free). The Softkey PhotoLibrary 2,500 photographs. MediaClips WorldView, Key ClipMasterPro, 5,001 images. Softkey ClipArt Library, 3,000 hand drawn images in 67 categories. And Key FontsPro with 1555 typefaces in both Adobe and Type 1 format. All in all you get over 23,500 Images and Type Faces!
You can also get CD - Roms that contain Amiga 3-D Files, Texture Maps, Background photos on just about any subject. These specialty CD Roms are a little more expensive...I have seen the Amiga Syndesis 3d Roms (3D models) for as little as $89.95. The Syndesis disks used to sell for several HUNDRED dollars!
You can also get Amiga PD Programs like Fred Fish disks, AmiNet Disks on CD Rom. Real Soon Now your application software will only be updated on CD Rom... The best reason to get a CD Rom drive now is that the price has dropped! You can get a 3 speed CD Rom Drive including SCSI cable from The Mac Warehouse for $199.00 It's a Toshiba SCSI and by the way it can play Music CD's too! call 800-255-6227 You'll get it at your doorstep tomorrow!
So what happens when you get yourself a CD Rom Drive and a pile of CD Rom's? brimming with clip art, sounds and what ever else it is that you need...
"The past is the present, isn't it? It's the future too. We all tried to lie out of that but life won't let us." --Eugene O'NeillAvoiding Frustration.
Most of the CD Rom's are designed to run on a Mac or an MS Dos computer. They come with appropriate players and viewers on the CD Rom for MACs and MS Dos users. But, if you have an Amiga, and the CD Rom is not Amiga Specific you'll need to provide your own software to load and see the pictures, hear the sounds, run the animations and convert the fonts.
What Software? Some of it is PD, some is commercial...
Doing the Graphics.
ASDG's, AD Pro 2.5 with the additional Professional Conversion Pack will just about load anything except Kodak (PCD) Photo CD files, encapsulated (Eps) PostScript files, Corel (Pict) Draw, and WordPerfect (WPG) Graphic files.
Nova Design, Inc's, ImageFX 2.0 WILL load eps files, and just might load Corel (Pict) files. (It does!)
ViewTek 2.1 a PD viewer, will load .gif and .jpg files and convert them to IFF.
If you have a 24 bit card, you can get loaders specifically for those cards in the Public Domain. They may even come bundled with the card.
To read Photo CD's you'll need Image FX 2.0, or if you have Opal Vision you can get a PhotoCD loader called OpalPCD.
The ASIMCDFS software (Commercial CD Rom driver) comes with a Photo CD viewer/Iff converter, but Opal and ASIM... can't handle the Super Hires modes available on the CD-Rom. The best you'll get is 752 x 512 (full video overscan). (ImageFX 2.0 might be able to load the 3000 x 2000 images...I'll let you know when it arrives ((It does!!!))).
Softwood's, Final Writer II, can load and display EPS files.
Sounds
You'll need Legendary Design's (Syd Bolton's) freely distributable SoundMachine_v1.5. It can load and play .wav files and .voc (IBM "Voice" Sound Blaster files).
You can also try the PD program Wav2Iff by Gaven Egan. Neither of these programs can play sound files larger than your chip ram...
Animations - PD Players
To play MPEG files get Michael van Elst's MPEGplay 1.31 It'll use your 24 bit card (if you have one) to play back the animation.
To play IBM Flick files (.FLI or .FLC files) you'll need AmiFlick2.02 by Garrick Meeker. Also try Main Actor by Marcus Moenig for FLC (FLI) and DL animation files.
To play GL (grasp) animation files you'll need John Bicker's, what else...glpayer
So far I have not found an Apple QuickTime player/converter. However, I don't know what file formats Magic Lantern, an animation "workshop" can load and play ...yet.
End the frustration
It would be real nice if someone would make a viewer/ player/converter for CD Rom support that incorporated all of the above...
It would be real nice to get the CD Rom Publishers to include Amiga versions of a viewer/player/converter software on or is it in the CD Roms!
It would be nice if there were more Amiga specific CD Rom's published!
"The oppressed are allowed once every few years to decide which particular representatives of the oppressing class are to represent and repress them." --Karl MarxYour TAXES are due...in about 120 days
If you are a dataTax/Tax Break '93 user Legendary Design has picked up distribution of the software from Oxxi, and updated it to Amiga Dos 2.1 - 3.1 standards. The new and improved US Tax software is now called dataTax '94.
Upgrade fee is $29.95 plus $4.95 shipping. Call for new user package prices at 519 -753-6120 or, Write to: Legendary Design Technologies, PO Box 1147, Lewiston NY 14092-8147
I really like their invoicing software... Invoice-It! Invoice-It! is a real honest to goodness time saver!
I also really like LDT's aggressive direct mail marketing. By the way Syd Bolton includes "free" software on all his Invoice-It! and Address-It! distribution disks... In this time of adversity its nice to see a software company grow and continue Amiga support.
The possibility of war increases in direct proportion to the effectiveness of the instruments of war. -- Norman CousinsPrinter War
The laser printer manufacturer's thought that when they released their 600 DPI laser printers they would sell like hot cakes. Laser printer users ignored the 600 dpi printers.
So when Epson came out with a 720 x 720 dpi color ink jet printer, the printer pundits thought that it too would fizzle in the same way that the 600 dpi lasers fizzled on the consumers.
Wrong.
Not.
Surprise!
The Epson 720 DPI Stylus is selling now around town for as low as $539.00, and is in high demand. Local stores were only able to purchase about one-third the amount they wanted for the Christmas sales period.
Epson, caught Canon and Hewlett Packard napping in their glory, but HP's aggressive marketing has driven the price of 360 x 360 dpi colour ink jets to below $400.00. The black & white ink jets can be had for less than $200.00! However, HP's pricing and aggressiveness grabbed them a giant chunk of the printer market. Dot Matrix printers are all but gone...except if you need to make carbon copies or do multi-part forms???
Look to even better, faster cheaper colour ink jet printers. Soon on normal paper.
Now is the time to replace your aging dot matrix printer.
On the Amiga market there are several Professional Printer "Driver" Managers available that include 24 bit color support for the new color ink jets.
Best wishes and Happy New Year
...keep on WYSIWYGing..
garrys@pacifier.rain.com
[Source: Northwest Amiga Group, Inc.'s "Northwest Amiga Journal" December, 1994. NAG's address is Galleria Suite 553, 921 SW Morrison, Portland, OR 97205-2723.]
Well I've been shot down on this topic before but look at the P.C. world. Take a walk at Best Buy or the new Mega Mart and what is the most popular software out for computers today? Think about it, no really think! As you walk though the stacks and stacks of software do you see tons of word processors, spreadsheets, rendering software (like you can really render with an IBM. snicker) NO! The only software that is in the computer department in copious amounts are GAMES. Big ones, little ones, cheap games as well as outrageously overpriced games... so many games, so little time.
I have sat at the AUOH executive meetings and listened intently as the fellow members talked about Trapdoor Configurations, 32-72 pin simm modules, .IFF to GIF graphic conversions, monitor scan fequencies and so on, and so on... Now it's not that I don't find these conversations fascinating but I sometimes get completely lost in the lingo, so much so that it takes me months to sort it all out:(
Because of the constant volume of new games being produced and most Amiga users forced to buy things that they have never seen, how do you know that the game you are buying is fun and interesting. Believe it or not the secret lies in research, read reviews, look at screen shots and just like going to the doctor always get more than one opinion. But just like me at the executive meetings, people get lost in the lingo. Take this review for Syndicate:
"Yikes! like a bunch of small children in a sweet shop we just didn't know which one to chose from this month's batch. Would it be Microprose's obscenely playable helicopter sim Gunship 2000, or would it be that fantastic platformer with attitude, Yo Joe! make the grade? Or perhaps the real-time brilliance of Virgin's, Dune 2 ..."Now if you hadn't studied up on the topic how on Earth would you know what they meant in that revue... allow the gamemaster to enlighten you:
Business-Sim: A simulation of running a business. Example: SimCity, Detriot
God-Sim: The games in which you play god, controlling people, events etc.
Example: Populous I+II, The Settlers
War-Sim: War simulation, battles, casualties, defending, retreating also
named strategy (most times) Example: Battle Isle, War-In-the-Gulf
Scroller: Where the action scrolls from side to side forming movement,
(also side-view) Example: Defender, Shadow of the Beast
Platformer: The action takes place on various platforms bouncing from one
to the next Example:MarioBrothers, Turrican
Top-View: When the action gives you a birds eye view from above
Example: Gauntlet, Alien Breed
Isometric-View: The action is viewed at an angle Example: Syndicate, Hemdall
RPG: Role-Playing-Game usually in a medieval setting create a
character and go questing Example: Eye of the Beholder series
Adventure: A character is created for you and you must solve the
problem in the story. Text, with accompanying graphics
Example: Monkey's Island, Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis
Arcade: Harmless fun for all ages usually includes tremendous action
Example: PacMan, Stardust
Puzzler: You must try to solve the puzzles to complete the level
Example: Tetris, Oxid
Fighting game: Where two opponents fight from opposite ends of the screen,
usually a oriental theme. Example: Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat
All of the above can (and usually are) merged into a single review to
explain various games such as: "A fun action oriented arcade top-view
scroller! A must have by any serious gamer!" So you see game reviews aren't
that complicated just as long as you know the various meaning behind all the
hype.If you look through any "Serious Amiga Mag" even the most avid Amiga user has to admit that the most recent, most popular Amiga games are games. The new CD-32 is specifically designed as a gaming machine (I know that you can buy the SX-1 expansion module and turn it into a full blown A1200.) and it has sold tremendously well. Maybe at the end the big C= finally came to their senses and said "Hey! Our machines have always had the stigma of being called a game machine why don't we run with the idea!" In my opinion if Commodore would have helped the fact that the Amiga is the ultimate game machine instead of fighting it with every fibre of their being we wouldn't be in the dilemma that we are in today. If the Amiga IS to survive it needs to come back in ALL IT'S WONDERFUL FORMS: multimedia machine, desk-top video machine, and most importantly a GAME MACHINE!
[Source: Amiga Users of the Heartland, December, 1994.]
For all of you Amiga users using PAL games/demos on a regular basis, and have had problems using Degrader v1.3, by Chris Haymes, here's a helpful hint to boot 'em right.
I discovered this fix quite by accident, but it does work. It has now been verified by one of my pen pals on GEnie.
To get Degrader to work right on those pesky PAL programs, you have to lock out all calls to monitor and clocking functions that reset the machine to actual cycles (60 Hz). In other words, you have to "trick" the Amiga into thinking it really is a PAL machine!
Here's how you do it:
1) Run Degrader, and click these options on: 50 MHz 50 MHz System PromoteAll, then click the box to the right and enter "PALEnjoy!!". This promotes all monitor/clocking calls to PAL mode. Make sure PAL is in your DEVS:Monitors or SYS:WBStartup drawer. OneMegChip [If you have 1 MB Chip RAM. If it doesn't work right, try it again using the "HalfMegChip" option.] Click on "SurviveResets" _without_ a floppy in DF0: ! 2) The Amiga should now boot from the HD in PAL mode. 3) If all went well, pop the disk in DF0:, and do a CTRL-L Amiga-R Amiga soft boot. The game/demo should now load in PAL mode, with proper display and clocking! CAVEATS: 1) If you have problems due to floppy accesses, disable unused floppies in the Degrader screen. (i.e. If you need only DF0: and DF1:, define DF2: and DF3: both as DF4: to disable those two drives.) 2) Users of 68020/30/40 accelerators [like you, Dave 8) ] may need to disable the advanced CPU functions and caches. Read the Degrader docs for further information on which options to disable. 3) You must have a monitor capable of displaying PAL modes. Most late model 1084/1084S monitors can be adjusted to display PAL screens (but your NTSC screens will be slightly compressed 8) ). 4) WB 2.0/2.1 users must have the 8373 "Super" Denise and the 8372A "Fatter" Agnus ECS chips for some display modes and overscans to work. 5) Users with 2 MB Chip RAM (A3000/A4000/A1200 or A500/2000 with MegAChip) may need to use the "OneMegChip" or "HalfMegChip" options if programs that extensively use Chip RAM still don't work right.
In all the years that I have been President of the club I haven't written a Presidents column. But since I'm leaving I thought a few words would not hurt. I have just three points to talk about.
First I want to thank all the people who have helped me over the years. There have been so many that I could not even start to name them in this limited space. But....., (isn't there always one of these) , I want to mention five people in particular. The first person is one of my best friends and without him I probably would never have stayed in this club in the first place. KEVIN HOPKINS has filled the position of newsletter editor for so many years that I can't even remember who did it before him. Because I do not write very well he offered to take the position of secretary for me and has done his usual excellent job. Kevin has been there for me any time I needed him both for the club and for me personally. Why I even got him to do a presentation one time. I told him it would take about 45 min. and just before he started I told he had only about 15. He still went on but had to cut it on the fly. I'm still sorry about that one but it shows how he did everything I needed and more. The second person I what to thank is EMIL COBB. I have known Emil even longer than I have been in the club. We go back to High School and boy was I surprised to see him at that first meeting. Emil has been my vice-president for many years and even after that he agreed to take over the job of Sergeant-at-arms when his time was so limited. He also has been there any time that I have needed help. The third person that I want to thank is MARK LANDMAN. Mark has been my Treasurer for many years. I had to be both the Treasurer and the President for about six months and I know what the job involves. He has done an exceptional job on the finances and has been responsible for getting the taxes done for many years. The fourth person I want to thank is CRAIG KUMMEROW. Craig has not only put up with me mispronouncing his name but has done a fantastic job running the 64 sig. I have always been worried about this group and Craig took over this sig and I have never had to worry about them again. Finally I want to thank KEVIN HISEL. What can I say about Kevin that I haven't already said. He single-handedly makes and sells the club disks, (he has the help of the lovely library lady Cammy), the major income for the club. He took over the BBS after the death of Art Lewis and not only continued it as Art would have wanted but has made many improvements that have benefited club members. Over the years, he has come to be my friend and I have always valued his common sense and humor. I don't think I could have been President without him.
My second point is, when I took over the reigns as President, the club had just come back from the brink of not having enough funds to operate. Thanks to Steve Gast and Jeff Stevenson, our first President (My mentor) and our first Treasurer, we were saved. Since then I felt it was my responsibility to protect our assets as best I could. I hope this concern is felt by our next President as well. I know he shares my views on this. We are the only club that I know of that is still in the black and not on the edge of ruin.
My last point is one that I know you have heard before but I feel it needs repeating. Jim Huls is our new President and he deserves our support!! We have a machine that no longer has a manufacturer and support is dropping. This is your club and without your support it will die... Jim will need programs and other needs filled. Only a few people have supplied programs over the years, (Jim Lewis, Ed Serbe, Jim Huls, Kevin Hisel, Mark Landman, Dave Witt, Mike Latinovich are names that come to mind), and this is an area in which you can help. Even if you can't talk about something for a full 45 min. 10 or 15 would be fine. I have enjoyed being your President for low these many years and have had the opportunity to meet many new and interesting people. I have tried to allow the people who run our committees to have a free hand and found that when you do people have a tendency to surprise you. Thank you again for all you support and friendship. I hope our club will live long and prosper for many years. So .........
Happy to help.
Richard Rollins, Past President
I just wanted to let everyone know that my eyes and ears are open to any ideas one might have for the club. Since I'm and on the net quite frequently, please feel free to post to me. If you don't feel comfortable voicing your ideas or comments in public, you're welcome to post privately on Starship, email me at email address now withheld, or just grab me at a meeting.
I really like the way the club has been running for years and have no intention of truly changing anything. I do have a few goals for the club in the new year though.
1. Have more of the latest software and hardware shown and demoed
at the meetings.
2. Give CUCUG more of a net presences. (KH1 has already been doing
a nice job of this with the CUCUG home page on the WWW.)
3. Increase membership and club funds.
4. Build close relations with the new owners of the Amiga technology.
5. Enhance relations with many of the software developers.
I'm not interested in ever being a campaign manager in politics so there
might be a few other points I'll be pushing for the club that I just can't
think of at the moment. ;-)As far as I'm concerned the format for the general and board meetings should remain the same. They are well organized, productive, and effective. Like I said, I have no plans to make any alterations since I feel the current format works rather well. My main focus will be to build off of the club's success.
Before I end this I want to ask for help from the general club members on the first point I mentioned. I believe there to be enough new products available for the Amiga that are purchased by members to warrant a few showings. Of the latest available, I'd be very interested in seeing Pagestream 3, ImageFX 2.0, Lightwave, any of the most recent graphics cards, Final Writer Release 3, Wordsworth 3.1, TurboCalc 2.0, Brilliance 2.0, Newtek's Flyer, and much more I'm sure. :-) If you have any of the above, I'd certainly appreciate you contacting me to set up a time to demo it. Of course I'm open to other products and suggestions as well. Those are just a few that I personally know I would want to see. That and more animations of course (Ed Serbe? Mark Landman? Anyone?). :-)
On the 8 bit side, contact myself or preferably Craig and we'll get you setup. Craig has done a fantastic job with the C64/128 SIG and I'm not about to get in his way. :-) I used to have a C64 and C128 so I know that they are viable machines for many people and hope to see some good showings at the meetings.
With the members currently in the club, I don't see a problem with reaching any of the goals listed. I've been a happy member of CUCUG for years and always seem to learn or see something new from others in the club. After being on the net for years now, I constantly read about other clubs across the country who are dead, disbanding, or on the edge. I'm not about to see this happen to CUCUG, which is part of the reason for me participating in a few of the demos in the last year. If you've got something to show, let us know! After all no matter how badly C= was run, they did produce the best computers on the market.
President Rollins opened the December 15th meeting with an introduction of CUCUG's officers. But, unlike the way he has done this duty throughout his tenure as President, he made a point of thanking each of the elected official for his help and friendship over the years, as he now prepares to leave office. Richard also made a special point of thanking Craig Kummerow and Kevin Hisel, unelected yet vital members of the CUCUG corps.
The floor was then opened for our Question and Answer Session.
Then the business of electing new officers for next year was conducted. Richard appointed Jon Sago and Bill Baxter as the Election Tellers. Kevin Hisel explained the Election Procedure and then opened the floor for further nominations. As there were none, the floor was closed and the ballots were then distributed. Despite the fact that only one candidate per office stood for election, ballots are handed out because write in candidates are allowed. The membership voted, the Tellers gathered the ballots and then retired to count them.
In the intervening time, Kevin Hisel presented the Library's new Amiga disks for this month.
CUCUGAMI #135: Attorney (a legal forms creator), Auto3D (a program to create 3D pictures; you need to be a tinkerer to get this one to work, but it's pretty neat), GnuChess (an Amiga port of chess from Unix; it plays very well), and CalDix (more accurate than the Pentium).
CUCUGAMI #136: 3DTicTacToe (You have to have the brain of Spock to win), Smoke'em Poker (a poker game with 6 players - Beerware - programmed in CanDo; you can set the sex, skill level, etc. of the other players; it names the hands you have - quite tutorial), and MathAttack (math problems for kids).
After Kevin's presentation the Election Tellers returned with the tallies. The slate of candidates was elected. The new officers of CUCUG for 1995 are:
President: Jim Huls
Vice President: David Witt
Treasurer: Mark Landman
Secretary: Kevin Hopkins
Corporation Agent: Jim Lewis
Richard Rollins thanked the Tellers and gave his parting speech, stating that he had enjoyed been President of CUCUG.
The floor was then turned over to Kevin Hisel, who read the proposed changes to CUCUG's By-Laws. Action will be taken on them at the January meeting.
Some of the programs we saw at least part of were Rise of the Robots and Cannon Fodder. A game Geoff spoke highly of was Super Stardust (PAL version), but as our large screen monitor doesn't show PAL (as Geoff had been informed, prior to the meeting), we were unable to see it.
More to Geoff's strength, as a disseminator of news, he told us that there is a trend of software manufacturers selling packages with multiple games in them. He made note of the Flashback Collections which contain five games for the price of one. He said of the new titles coming out there is a 60/40 percentage of PAL to NTSC video. Another combination package Geoff mentioned was Sim Classic. This contains Sim City, Sim Ant, and Sim Life. Other titles earning honorable mention were Alien Breed, Tower Assault,UFO - Enemy Unknown (an AGA or CD32 strategy game) and Jungle Strike.
The December meeting of the CUCUG executive board was held on Wednesday, December 21st at 7PM at Kevin Hisel's house (address and phone number, both in the book). Present at the meeting were: Richard Rollins, Dave Witt, Mike Latinovich, Jim Lewis, Jim Huls, Craig Kummerow, Emil Cobb, Kevin Hopkins, and Kevin Hisel. Due to a medical emergency, Mark Landman was unable to attend this meeting. Happily, Mark's wife was fine.
Richard Rollins: Richard began by personally thanking Jim Lewis, Craig Kummerow, Emil Cobb, Kevin Hisel and Kevin Hopkins, each in turn, for the years of support throughout his CUCUG presidency. He said it had been a lot of fun and he had enjoyed it. Jim Lewis spoke for everyone in returning the compliments back to Richard, thanking him for his many years of service to the club.
The ritual releasing all those serving in non-elected positions was performed. Presidential power changed hands from Richard Rollins to Jim Huls at 7:33:33 pm. Jim's first act as President was to reinstate all those serving in non-elected positions.
The first order of new business was to pick a meeting date for January. All the other third Thursday dates for 1995 were secured, but the January date had already been rented out. Discussion concluded that the usual meeting date should be bracketed by a day one way or the other, with the strongest desired date the Friday just after. [This is the date that has since been booked.] The next Board meeting will continue as has been established: the Wednesday following the General meeting. In January this will be the 25th.
There was a discussion of how the new postal rates will effect the club's finances. Kevin Hopkins said he was thinking of reducing the newsletter by a page to counter the rising rate by reducing printing costs. The consensus of the Board was that this was unnecessary.
Jim Lewis: Jim reported that the IRS wants more information before deciding our tax status.
Dave Witt: Reviewing the General Meeting, Dave said, "The meeting was there." He gave some insights as to why Geoff's performance was sub-standard.
Looking forward, Dave offered his assistance to the new President.
Mike Latinovich: Mike said, "Geoff's demo didn't do anything for me. He's not Jim Oldfield. Kevin's disk demo was good, as usual. Congratulations to the newly elected officials. Next year will be great."
Jim Huls: Jim said he had posted his goals for the coming year to the BBS and he hoped that everyone had seen them [see this item elsewhere in this issue]. He briefly reiterated what he had written. Principally, he doesn't want to change much. He wants to increase membership and the clubs funds. He also want to raise the net awareness of the membership and show them the benefits there are in that knowledge. He said, "This year is going to be a very big challenge." He also wanted to say that he has been very impressed by the efficiency of the behind the scenes activities within the club. Most members don't know all the work that gets done quietly on their behalf.
Jim made a few general comments on Geoff's demo.
He also said, "You will be hearing from me for help."
Kevin Hopkins: Kevin brought the discussion back to the subject of the January meeting. "We've decided on a date, but what are we going to do at that meeting?" This spawned a discussion. One Board member suggested Pagestream 3, but KH1 said the program is not stable. Jim Lewis will do a scanner program later in the year, but January is too soon. Other possible demos mentioned were Lynx, Vic Serbe doing Midi, networking and getting net literate. Some of these topics raised the problem of not having a working phone line out of the Bresnan Center. The suggestion was made that we could video tape a presentation of Lynx to get around the phone problem. Finally, it was decided to poll the members and see what they wanted to do. Craig laughed and said that the C64/128 SIG was going to do the same thing, have an organizational meeting. The Amiga SIG will follow up on this with a Q&A session with extended discussion of any topics members may bring up.
Kevin then distributed the mail and passed around the one newsletter he brought. He made note of the exploration of Lynx he had been doing in the last month.
Kevin Hisel: Disk sales this month were nominal. Kevin reported that BBS usage has been very low at 14.6%.
Craig Kummerow: Craig reported that he had brought two boxes of donated items to the December meeting and had done pretty well. He only has one box left. There were no takers on the hardware.
Craig reported that the club's A500 has now been passed to the care of Vice President Dave Witt. Craig now has possession of the A2000.
Craig requests C64/128 SIG members to bring ideas with them to the January meeting. The SIG will reattempt the BBS demo in February if we can arrange a phone line.
Emil Cobb: Emil reported that he had received another 1541 drive from Steve Gast.
Meetings are held the third Thursday of each month at 7:00 p.m. at the Bresnan Meeting Center in the Champaign Park District Headquarters (398-2591). The Center is located at 706 Kenwood, 1/2 block south of the corner of Kenwood and John Street, in west Champaign. Kenwood is the fourth south-bound street off of John as you are going west, after crossing Mattis. The Center is in the northwest corner of Centennial Park, northwest of Centennial High School.
ASCII text files of all recent Status Register newsletters are available for downloading on our BBS or our WWW site. Other user group newsletter editors may leave a comment to the BBS Sysop to request free access. To initiate a newsletter exchange, just send us your newsletter. As a matter of CUCUG policy, a newsletter exchange partner will be dropped after three months of no contact.
This newsletter was prepared with PageStream 2.22 on an Amiga 3000 25/100 and output to an HP Laserjet IIP plus. Pagestream was donated to CUCUG by Soft-Logik Publishing Corporation.
For further information, please attend the next meeting as our guest, or contact one of our officers(all at area code 217):
President: Jim Huls 892-8730 Vice-President: David Witt 684-2815 maddog@prairienet.org Secretary/Editor: Kevin Hopkins 356-5026 khopkins@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu Treasurer: Mark Landman 398-2910 mlandman@prairienet.org Corporate Agent: Jim Lewis 359-1342 NOSPAMlewis_j_e@yahoo.com Librarian/Sysop: Kevin Hisel 406-948-1999 khisel @ cucug.org C64/128 SIG: Craig Kummerow 784-5919 cwkummer@prairienet.org Board Advisor: Richard Rollins 469-2616 RERollins@aol.com
Call our Starship CUCUG BBS at (217) 356-8056, always online, up to 14,400 baud, supporting all CBM computers. Surf our home page at
Call Prairienet free at (217) 255-9000. Login as "visitor".