The October 16 meeting will be one of our split SIG meetings. The Amiga SIG will be shown a landscape generator by Bill Zwicky. In the Macintosh SIG, Richard Rollins will be doing a presentation on MacOS8. From systems to scenery, it should be a fun evening.
We'd like to welcome like to welcome back returning members Angelo C. Fraga (Mac) and Ken Walker (A500).
We welcome any kind of input or feedback from members. Have an article or review you'd like to submit? Send it in. Have a comment? Email any officer you like. Involvement is the driving force of any user group. Welcome to the best.
Taiwan manufacturer Umax Data Systems said its September sales revenue jumped 144 percent from September 1996.
Umax makes Intel-based PCs, Apple Macintosh clones, scanners, and PC circuit boards, among other products.
The company said in a statement the revenue growth was due to increasing sales of its scanners and computers.
Umax is one of the few clone vendors that's been able to retain its operating system license with Apple. Apple has condoned Umax's continued sales of Macintosh clones because the company is an important supplier of clones on the international market, particularly Asia. U.S. domestic vendors such as Power Computing and Motorola are now getting out of the Macintosh clone business because of canceled licensing deals.
Umax also makes the UmaxStation line of Intel-based PCs, emphasizing high-end Pentium II machines.
The firm's combined January-September sales totaled $10.29 billion, the statement said. It did not give growth percentage or profit figures.
Umax, which started producing network computers from the fourth quarter, said the company was confident it was able to attain its $15 billion sales target for 1997.
Nova Sector Engineering, Inc. Phone: +1 (616) 361-0806
1936 Oakcliff Drive Fax: +1 (616) 365- 9596
Grand Rapids, MI 49525, USA Email: NovaSector@aol.com
WWW: http://www.pantheonsys.com/nova
In Nova Sector's Press Release to the Amiga community, they state, "We
are a 100% American Made Amiga Company. Our First objective is to establish
a business base, by going to the business that has kept the Amiga alive, the
CGA (Computer Graphic Artist). Currently we are developing our first industry solution. A high end graphic workstation called the CorDel Alpha series. The CorDel will be featuring a 150,180, and 200Mhz 604e PowerPC processor, 2.2GB and up SCSI hard drive, 32, 64, 128MB RAM, CyberVision 64-bit 4MB video card, Amiga OS 3.1, 33.6K external modem. Other options will include: Ethernet cards and many others. Later this year we will have an order form on the web site, with self configuration.
Please check our site often for product updates. We will be featuring new products and configurations almost weekly."
English: http://www.amiga.de/spare/spare-e.html
German: http://www.amiga.de/spare/spare-d.html
Parts lists are available for A500, A600, A1200, A2000, A3000 and A4000 models.
Apple Computer is set to drastically slash prices on some PowerBook notebook computers, by as much as $1,000, as it makes way for updated notebooks with the recently announced PowerPC 750 processor. The company is also expected to cut prices on high-end desktop computers.
Though the price cuts come in the wake Apple's decision to effectively shut down the Macintosh clone market, interim Apple CEO Steve Jobs promised that price reductions were forthcoming, speaking yesterday at a major computer industry conference. This is good news for Mac users, since there has been some concern that with the elimination of clone vendor competition, prices would remain higher than in the past.
In September, Motorola said it would stop producing Mac clones. Apple also bought back Power Computing's license for the Mac OS, effectively taking it out of the Macintosh market. Power Computing was the largest Macintosh clone vendor.
The PowerBook 3400/240 with 240-MHz PowerPC 603e processor will get a price cut next week of $1,000, or 18 percent, from $5,499 to $4,499 to make way for new notebooks that could be Apple's first computers to use the new PowerPC 750 processor. The PowerBook 3400 is Apple's high-end notebook PC line.
The new notebook will be introduced at the end of the month with a 250-MHz PowerPC 750, as first reported by PowerPage (http://ogrady.com), a widely read site covering Apple notebook news.
The new processor is expected to outperform the 240-MHz 603e currently used in the 3400/240 by a significant margin. The PowerPC 750 processor has enhancements to improve the way data flows inside the processor and the chip's onboard, high-speed "cache" memory and offers performance equivalent to, or better than, the PowerPC 604e, which is used in workstation-class computers.
The new notebook will again top anything available for notebooks based on Intel processors. Currently the fastest notebook available is a 233-MHz MMX Pentium. The PowerPC 750 is generally considered by industry analysts to have performance roughly equivalent to Intel's next-generation Pentium II processor, which is not yet available for use in notebooks.
Apple will also reduce prices on the 3400c/200 with 200-MHz 603e from $4,499 to $3,799, a reduction of $700 and the 3400c/180 with 180-MHz 603e from $3,999 to $3,199, a reduction of $800. Prices on PowerBook 1400s will drop by up to $500, including the recently introduced 1400c/166 with 160-MHz PowerPC 603e.
Apple is also expected to drop prices next week on a number of Power Macintosh 9600 and 8600 computers, which are targeted at scientific and content creator markets. For example, a 9600/300 with 300-MHz 604e PowerPC and 64MB of memory will be priced at $3,699, a reduction of $700 from $4,399.
Also, a Power Macintosh 8600/300 with 300-MHz 604e PowerPC, 32MB of memory and a 100MB Zip drive will be priced at $3,099, a reduction of $600. The 8600/250 with 250-MHz PowerPC 604e and 32MB of memory will be priced at $2,599, a reduction of $600.
Apple could not be reached for comment.
Apple Computer (AAPL) will stop taking orders for its fastest 350-MHz desktop computers because the company cannot build enough of them for customers.
The Power Macintosh 9600/350, featuring the 350-MHz 604e Power PC processor, will be dropped from dealer price lists in October, according to Apple. This system was just introduced this August at Macworld Boston. The 9600s are Apple's systems targeted for use in content creation and scientific applications.
The main problem is that IBM, which makes the 350-MHz 604e, can't supply the company with enough chips to satisfy demand, according to a spokesperson for Apple. Apple will continue to build the systems to fill orders that have already been placed as parts become available. IBM could not be reached for comment by press time.
Apple says that the 9600/350 could be placed back on dealer price lists when enough processors become available.
The systems use the PowerPC 604e, which is generally regarded as the most powerful PowerPC processor, although the recently introduced PowerPC 750 processors used in Motorola's Starmax 6000 systems appeared to give the veteran 604e a run for its money. Those systems won't ship, however, because Motorola is exiting the Mac clone business.
Some Apple resellers are afraid the move could signal a return to the days of "old Apple," when systems were released when Apple was ready to--and no sooner. While the clone vendors may have taken away hardware sales from Apple, they also forced the company to be more competitive, one Mac reseller told CNET's NEWS.COM on condition of anonymity.
However, the reseller qualified this statement, saying that often when new systems were announced, there was not enough product available to satisfy customer demand.
At the peak of the Mac clone business, Apple implemented a policy of building a 30-day supply of systems before announcing product availability in order to make sure demand for systems could be satisfied, according to industry observers.
The conundrum Apple then faced was that by waiting until it had inventory, it appeared to be behind companies like Power Computing in technological leadership because Power Computing could announce the newest, fastest systems without worrying about supplying them in a timely manner. "Forecasting has never been Apple's forte," says Kevin Hause, an analyst with International Data Corporation.
"[Apple] has never been in a rush to bring out new systems because in many cases they couldn't get it out in volumes people would expect, so rather than create issue of demand they can't meet, they would just wait a couple of months, whereas Power would announce as soon as a few were available. Resellers don't take well to that because customers don't buy the slower systems that are available," Hause says.
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. Please do not forget to include your credit cards details.
Suggested Retail Price DM 25.00 Subscription price DM 19.80
US$ 14.37 US$ 11.38
Exchange rates and shipping cost will cause quoted prices to vary.
Stefan Ossowski's Schatztruhe Phone: ++49-201-788778
Veronikastr. 33 Fax: ++49-201-798447
45131 Essen Email: stefano@schatztruhe.de
Germany WWW: www.schatztruhe.de
[Source: Amiga News Index of the
Amiga Web Directory.] Cloanto to Publish an Official Software Emulation of the AMIGA
Cloanto, publisher of leading AMIGA graphics and productivity packages such as Personal Paint, The Kara Collection, and the Personal Suite, was granted by AMIGA International, Inc. certain rights to publish an official software emulation of the AMIGA Computer, including original AMIGA OS software, AMIGA/PC networking software, and various other programs. The package, code-named "AMIGA FOREVER" and scheduled for release this November, will carry the "powered by Amiga" logo. The product is to incorporate a number of exciting and surprising features which will be announced shortly before the release.
Cloanto reported that: Within hours from this announcement, activity on our web site and on our mail server reached sky-high levels.
We knew there was such a strong interest for a product like Amiga Forever, but never would we have expected the amount of supportive feedback and requests for information that came in within the 24 hours which followed. Basically, the announcement by Amiga International was about the very first thing we obviously had to do: ask for the permission of Amiga International before even considering to include their intellectual property in one of our products.
The License
The license covers all Amiga operating systems from version 1.0 to version 3.0. (A few minor files will be missing or changed as agreed in this license, without affecting the emulation's Amiga compatibility. Certain Asian territories are excluded by the license.) The license also covers Amiga ROMs, Amiga patents and other intellectual property, the official "Powered by Amiga" logo, the use of the "Amiga" trademark in our product names: "Amiga Forever" and "Amiga Explorer", and every permission required to legally publish a fully working Amiga emulator.
The package will be presented to the public of the Computer '97 Show in Koln on November 14, 1997. It will indeed consist of much more than an "Amiga emulator".
The Emulation
Amiga Forever CD-ROM comes with the Amiga operating systems, ROMs, and Amiga emulation software preinstalled for easy use and installation. The user just needs to insert the CD-ROM in a PC, and with one mouse click a fully working Amiga will appear on the screen. The Amiga emulation software includes for the first time drivers for Picasso 96 screen modes (up to 256 colors, as well as 16/24-bit true color modes).
The Networking Solution
Amiga Forever includes "Amiga Explorer", a new Amiga-to-PC networking software developed by Cloanto. The Amiga Explorer user interface is an object-oriented extension to the Windows Desktop, where the Amiga appears as a networked computer. The Amiga and the PC can be connected via a serial (null modem) or parallel (Windows/LapLink/InterLink/Norton standard) cable. A future upgrade, expected to be available later this year (at no cost to Amiga Forever users on the Cloanto web site), will extend the networking capabilities to support TCP/IP.
The Package
The initial release of Amiga Forever is scheduled to include a CD-ROM with software for the Amiga and the other platforms, plus a floppy disk with a copy of the Amiga-side networking software (for Amiga systems with no CD-ROM drive). The exact platforms which will be supported by the emulation software, in addition to Windows NT, Windows 9x, DOS and Linux, will be defined and announced shortly. The official Amiga Forever web address http://www.cloanto.com/amiga/forever/ will allow users to obtain information and support, and to easily upgrade their software directly from the Internet.
Amiga Forever also includes a variety of famous old Amiga games, demos and other material of historical interest (with an exclusive, never before released, interview with the late Jay Miner, "Father of the Amiga"), plus Personal Paint and other up-to-date productivity software by Cloanto and other companies.
Behind Amiga Forever's Emulation Software
The idea of an official and legal Amiga emulation package came naturally, for a variety of reasons. Freely distributable Amiga emulators, such as UAE and Fellow, have been available for a few years now. We believe that the UAE emulator, in particular, has reached a technical maturity where it deserves a broader acceptance and diffusion.
Demand clearly exists, but, until now, no solution was found to satisfy the requirements of the owners of the Amiga intellectual property, and the needs of the user base. At Cloanto we wanted to provide a properly-licensed, well-organized and legal solution. We worked hard, mediating between a lot of people and interests, and developing new technical solutions, to make it all possible and acceptable.
As a leading publisher of Amiga productivity titles, we receive daily feedback about the reality and needs of our Amiga users, who are increasingly confronted with a world of PC technology, standards, and complexity. Every publisher, developer, distributor and dealer of Amiga software knows this all too well. Our web's log files, for example, show that even before the release of Amiga Forever, more than 50% of the Internet browsers used to access the Amiga section on the site were running on PC or Mac systems. For more and more Amiga users, the difficult choice is between Amiga Forever or... Forever Lost.
With Amiga Forever, we would like to provide the best possible bridge between dreams and reality, free time and work, the Amiga and other platforms. With the Amiga Explorer networking software, for example, it is possible to connect an Amiga to a PC, and to work on business files which no Amiga software can even load. Multimedia which no PC would be able to produce as easily as an Amiga can be integrated into presentation or Web management software on the PC. Amiga Forever provides different ways to allow the Amiga and other systems to communicate. At last, Amiga Forever even makes the Amiga notebook a practical reality.
Several companies and groups of programmers are currently working on independent solutions with the goal of achieving compatibility with the original Amiga without infringing on Amiga patents, copyrights and trademarks. Some of these efforts require the recompilation of Amiga code, which in turn requires the recompilation and maintenance of a critical mass of Amiga code for each platform in order for that platform to become successful. We believe that, in addition to the "real" Amiga, the simplest and most effective solution to all of the needs described here is a properly licensed software emulation of the Amiga, inclusive of all operating system files, which does not require additional maintenance to existing Amiga code. We hope that the fact that the Amiga companies (Gateway 2000, Inc., Amiga International, Inc. and Amiga, Inc.) granted us such a license will contribute to reduce the possible fragmentation of the Amiga software market, that it will help Amiga users who would otherwise have to entirely change platform, and that, by making sure the proper licenses are payed, it will in turn sustain the "real" Amiga.
During the past months, both internally at Cloanto, and in cooperation and contact with over 60 contributors of the UAE and Fellow Amiga emulators, we helped to improve these programs, and we developed a combination of technical and legal solutions which, for example, allow for officially licensed Amiga ROMs to be encrypted in a way that is supported by the emulation software. We just completed testing of a virtual Picasso 96-compatible graphics board for UAE, and we are bringing to new life pieces of Amiga history which deserve to be seen by everybody. Personal Paint will be included in a special version optimized for the emulation. No doubt, Amiga Forever will have some pleasant surprises for every Amiga enthusiast.
We admire and support the immense and free-spirited work that is behind the UAE emulator. UAE will be an important part of Amiga Forever, and it will also continue to be available for free distribution. Within Amiga Forever, UAE will become easier to install, configure and use, and it will be able to exploit the power and compatibility of eight different Amiga operating systems.
As the first, exciting but incomplete, news about Amiga Forever began to leak, a few Amiga enthusiasts expressed the concern that an Amiga emulator might "kill" the real Amiga. We take these worries most seriously, yet we also feel that at least two different aspects of this issue, namely some facts about the difficulties of the Amiga, and some facts about emulation, may require additional meditation.
Most likely, too many words have already been spent on what could have been done better over the past ten years of Amiga history. The history of emulation, however, is even older than that of the Amiga. Macintosh and PC emulators, for example, currently exist on many platforms, but in practice people still prefer the "real" Macs and PCs when it comes to regular day-to-day work. In our opinion, Emulation satisfies a need which is more one of integrating different platforms, rather than of replacing one or the other (except for systems which have been "dead" for years, like the Spectrum and the C64, but the cause of such condition has never been emulation, which is rather an effect of it).
In the case of the Amiga, its CPU and custom chips have to be emulated by software running on a different type of computer. This does not leave much margin for the application of direct price-performance comparisons, nor for worries about "competition" between the real Amiga and one emulated on a similarly-priced non-Amiga computer. Also, the emulation part of Amiga Forever is sold under license of the Amiga companies, which receive royalties for each unit sold, so there is no competition between Amiga Forever and the Amiga companies, but mutual support.
Amiga Forever, as one of the many "Powered by Amiga" solutions which are available to the public, is one product more, not one product less, to choose from. And, as we know from our personal experience, Amiga users appreciate the value of free and independent choice more than any other group of users.
More Information to Come
Amiga Forever is scheduled for release on November 14, 1997, at the Computer '97 show in Koln. By that date, we expect that both the Amiga Forever support pages at this address, and the entire Cloanto web site, will have a new and more complete look. This address (http://www.cloanto.com/amiga/forever/) will be the main access point to information, support and free upgrades to Amiga Forever.
Your feedback (suggestions, questions, flames, etc.) is, as usual, very appreciated. For additional information on local distributors and resellers of Amiga Forever, please refer to our Distributors page.
A novel method of making computer chips could produce personal computers that would be a thousand times more powerful than today's desktops, says a UI scientist who helped develop the technique. The new process, called SCALPEL (for "scattering with angular limitation projection electron lithography") can make chips with extremely small features.
"The smaller the feature, the faster the device and the more components you can pack into a computer chip," said Murray Gibson, a professor of physics and of materials science and engineering, and associate director of the Frederick Seitz Materials Research Laboratory.
"Today's integrated circuits are produced by optical lithography," Gibson said. "The process consists of projecting a pattern of light onto a light-sensitive material, which can then be transferred to make a very dense array of tiny transistors. Currently, the smallest feature that can be manufactured has a width of about 10 millionths of an inch."
Improvements in computer speed and memory in the last decade have been tied directly to the increase in density of these transistors; that is, to reducing the minimum feature size, Gibson said. "However, optical technology will soon reach an impasse because light has too large a wavelength for producing patterns much smaller than today's."
For a long time, researchers have dreamed of using electron beams to write patterns, because electrons do not suffer from the wavelength limitation and therefore can produce patterns more than a hundred times smaller. However, an electron-based lithography system fast enough to be used economically in production proved elusive, until the invention of SCALPEL, which employs a novel projection method for writing large areas with electrons.
In 1989, Gibson coinvented the technique with Steven Berger of Integrated Solutions Inc. while both were employed at AT&T Bell Laboratories (now Lucent Technologies). Recently, a SCALPEL proof of concept (SPOC) machine was built at Lucent and demonstrated the feasibility of manufacturing features with widths of less than 3 millionths of an inch-- a size required for the next century's computer improvements. Gibson assisted with the design of the SPOC machine, especially the basic electron optics of the lenses that project the image onto the chip.
The SPOC machine also demonstrated the feasibility of the method to reach production within the next decade. The industry consortium, SEMATECH, has identified SCALPEL as a leading technological contender for the manufacture of future computer chips.
"Although nearly $50 million of private and government support has been invested in SCALPEL, and the concept has been proven, it will take close to $1 billion investment worldwide over the next decade to lead to actual production with SCALPEL," Gibson said. "These numbers, although sobering, are not untypical for the industry, where a single factory line for chip production costs about $1 billion."
[Source: Inside Illinois, 10/02/97 - http://www.oc.uiuc.edu/NB/inside_ill/971002/newchips.html ]
Motorola's Semiconductor Product Group wants the world to know it has a "copper chip" too.
Last week, IBM trumpeted that it had found a way to use copper chip circuits. Copper conducts electricity better than aluminum, the metal traditionally used for microprocessors, and contributes to reducing chip size.
Motorola says it has independently developed a similar process for chip manufacturing, called "dual-inlaid metallization," which will allow processor speeds of up to 1000 MHz (1 GHz), according to Fabio Pintchovski, director of Motorola's Advanced Product Research and Development Laboratory.
Both Motorola and IBM jointly develop the PowerPC architecture at the Somerset Design Center in Austin, Texas, but separately manufacture PowerPC processors for Macintosh computers and other applications.
According to Pintchovski, Motorola will use the process first in workstation-class processors such as the PowerPC 604e and also the recently introduced PowerPC 750. He expects the company will be shipping sample quantities of the chips by early spring or summer of 1998 to OEM customers.
Though chip designers and manufacturers have been cramming more transistors onto smaller devices for decades, they expect to soon hit a "speed limit" of around 400 MHz imposed by aluminum's physical properties. While aluminum has been the mainstay metal for decades, it won't be able to conduct enough power as chips become smaller and smaller.
Copper has not been used in chip manufacturing yet because it is difficult to work with at the extremely small dimensions (.20 micron and lower) and can contaminate the transistors on a chip. Motorola and IBM say they have found a way to get around these problems, possibly giving rise to chips with 50 to 100 million transistors on a single chip. By contrast, today's desktop processors have between 5.5 and 7.5 million transistors.
Intel is attempting to come up with a method for making semiconductor circuits out of metals other than aluminum, but expects to develop two more generations of microprocessors before it is able to use new manufacturing methods.
Both Motorola and IBM say that the new process will eventually be used throughout their entire line of chip products. The companies recently announced that they were increasing their focus on non-PC markets for the PowerPC architecture.
Now thanks to the Internet, we know this is not true."
- Robert Silensky -
[Editor's Note: This is a continuation of the Tips begun last month.]
One often-recommended way to slash total interest paid over the life of a mortgage is to make an extra payment each year. To see how doing this affects your financial bottom line, bring up your mortgage loan information in Quicken 6 for Windows by selecting Features/Paying Bills/Loans from the main menu, clicking the Choose Loan button, and selecting the mortgage. (That last step isn't necessary if your mortgage is the only loan you've entered in Quicken.) Click the Payment Schedule tab; make sure the Show Running Totals box at the bottom is checked. Scroll to the bottom of the schedule, and note the payoff date and total interest paid. Now click the Edit Loan button, choose Other Period under Payment Period, and type 13 in the Payments Per Year box. Again, scroll to the bottom of the schedule. The difference between the first and second payoff dates and total interest amounts is how much time and money you'll save by cutting a 13th check every year.
Tip 19 - reduce your debt (Q6)
The new Debt Reduction Planner uses the data in Quicken 6 Deluxe (the higher-end version of Quicken) to highlight credit card and loan payments, then suggests common sense ways to trim your debt. It pulls data concerning your various loans, checks their interest rates and balances, and then graphically shows you the benefits of paying them off. It also advises you which debts you should pay off first (generally those with higher interest rates). The Debt Reduction Planner even checks how much cash you have available by looking at your savings and checking accounts, and suggests which accounts you should use for the payoff.
To open the Debt Reduction Planner, move the cursor over the Planning icon in the Activity Bar, and select "Create a debt reduction plan." To keep the plan current, place twice-annual reminders in the Financial Calendar. (Refer to "keep a date" for instructions on how to insert PIM-style reminders into the Calendar.) When Quicken prods you, return to the Planner, and click the Update Debt Balances button.
Tip 20 - account for adjustable rates
If you're paying off a loan with an adjustable interest rate, you'll need to stay on top of rate changes to keep Quicken in sync with reality. Head to the View Loans screen (select Features/Paying Bills/Loans from the main menu), click the Choose Loan button, and select the loan. If the new rate takes effect with the next payment, click the Edit Payment button, and change the number in Current Interest Rate to reflect the new rate. Otherwise, click the Rate Changes button and then the New button, and enter the date it changes and the new rate. (Quicken doesn't know when to update the rates, so if you want to insert PIM-style reminders into the Calendar, refer to "keep a date" for instructions.)
Tip 21 - track credit card limits (Q6)
Even Quicken 6 can't restrain you from overspending on your credit cards, but it will notify you when you're closing in on a particular card's credit limit. From the card account's register, click Edit Account on the button bar, type in the appropriate amount next to "Credit limit if applicable," and click the Done button. Next, select Edit/Options/Register from the main menu; then click the Miscellaneous tab. Check the "When balance is within" box, and enter a buffer amount. (Unfortunately, this will be a global buffer for all your credit card accounts.) Stick $500 in this field, for instance, and Quicken pops up a warning message after you enter a transaction that pushes a card with a $3,000 limit to a new balance of $2,500 or more.
Tip 22 - schedule smart to save typing
If your credit card gets tagged with regular amounts each month -- online service or ISP bills are a perfect example -- set them up as scheduled transactions. The menu choices vary from version to version; in Quicken 6, right-click the transaction, and select Schedule Transaction from the pop-up menu. In the Record in Register field, select Automatically Enter. Quicken adds the transaction to the register on the same date each month, saving you typing time later when you reconcile the card's account.
Tip 23 - get a free credit report (Q6)
To be a smart consumer, you should regularly check your credit report. Collected by credit bureaus, these reports include everything from bank card and loan payments to collection-agency referrals and creditors' requests for your records. If the report's information is incorrect, you may be turned down for a loan or credit card for which you rightfully qualify.
Fortunately, Quicken 6 Deluxe owners can retrieve a free credit report from Experian (formerly TRW), one of the country's largest credit bureaus. Hold the cursor over the Planning icon in the Activity Bar, and select "Get a personal credit report"; then fill in the necessary information using the Credit Check wizard. Mailed reports are free but take several weeks to arrive. An online report is delivered faster, although it will cost you $6.
When Windows first starts up, Quicken will prod you to pay bills and print checks, but only if you tell it to. To set the program's electronic alarm clock, select Edit/Options/Reminders from the main menu, and check the boxes marked Turn On Billminder and "Show reminders on startup."
Tip 25 - clean up your budget
If you've built a budget with Quicken's templates, you're probably looking at plenty of categories that contain nothing but zeros. (Few of us need, or want, to budget every single dime or dollar -- we're after the Big Picture.) To make your budgets easier to read, click the View button in the Budget window, and select Zero Budget Categories; all those know-nothing zeros will disappear. If you later decide you want to look at the hidden categories, simply repeat the process to toggle the selection back on.
Tip 26 - keep a date
In a pinch, Quicken 6 can serve double duty as a personal information manager. Open the Financial Calendar by selecting Features/Paying Bills/Financial Calendar from the main menu. Then, using the Note feature, insert a reminder or to-do task. Next, select Edit/Option/Reminders from the main menu. Check the Show Calendar Notes box at the bottom of the dialog box, and choose a time period (such as This Month) in the Show Notes For field. Quicken will now remind you of the items placed in Notes. To see a list of them, simply click the To Do icon on the bottom right of the screen.
Tip 27 - see what you've paid anyone
To quickly review all the checks you've written to a particular payee -- perhaps because someone says you haven't paid and you think you have -- right-click any transaction to that payee; then select "Payments made to that person" from the pop-up menu. You'll get an instant report showing all checks that you made out to the payee this year. To change the date range (say, to narrow down a long list of payments or to search back in time for a long-lost check), click the Customize button, and follow the onscreen instructions.
Tip 28 - compare this year to last
How ya doin', financially speaking? Quicken makes it easy to find out with a Comparison report. Select Reports/Home/Comparison from the main menu. The report is set up to automatically compare income and expenses by category from this year-to-date to last year at the same time, but you can easily change the date range if you desire.
Tip 29 - know your true net worth
Quicken is a great tool for automatically tracking changes in your net worth -- except for one thing. If you're a homeowner, the program can't accurately show your true net worth unless you manually create an asset account to track the market value of your house. (Quicken has no trouble tracking your home's liability; that's automatically generated when you set up a mortgage loan account.)
To add the market value of your home to your assets, begin by creating a new asset account: move the cursor over the My Accounts icon in the Activity Bar, select "Create a new account," and follow the directions from there. Then name the account Home Equity, and enter your house's current value as the opening balance. (One source for this info is your annual property tax statement or assessment, or you might want to talk to a local real estate agent.) It's a good idea to update the asset account annually to reflect any increase or decrease in your home's market value.
Tip 30 - change report dates fast (Q6)
Changing the dates on Quicken's standard reports is one of the most common changes you'll make. To quickly switch dates or date ranges in Quicken 6, place the cursor over the report's date (it's under the report title, near the top) and double-click; Quicken will open the Customize Report dialog box and automatically select the Report Dates field. Make your changes, and click the Create button. You can also use this trick to quickly change the included accounts: just double-click the account label at the upper left of the report window, right under the Customize button.
Tip 31 - watch the numbers
One of the fastest ways to see where your money goes -- and how much you've managed to save -- is with Quicken's income-and-expense graph. To use the graph, select Reports/Graphs/Income And Expenses from the main menu. Make sure Income And Expenses is checked in the Create Graph dialog box; then click the Create button. Quicken then produces a pie chart that breaks out expenses in both percentage and dollar values, and also shows your net savings during the period. Use the pie chart to instantly identify expenses that seem out of line.
You're not limited to the five default views of your portfolio within Quicken. You can, in fact, create a pair of custom investment perspectives. When the portfolio is onscreen, click the Options button and then the Custom Views tab. For each of the two custom views, select three criteria from the available lists. A view that shows detailed information about gains, for instance, might include the Est Income, Inv Yield, and Mkt Value criteria.
Tip 32 - Get the details
Quicken 6's new Security Detail view is a gold mine of investment information. To reach it, select an investment within your portfolio; then click Detail View in the button bar. Not only does this view reproduce the entire transaction history of the security, but it also uses market-value and price-history graphs to illustrate the stock's fluctuations. (You can even edit a transaction by double-clicking it within this view.) To switch quickly from one stock or fund to another, click the down arrow near the stock's name at the upper left; then select from the list that appears.
Tip 33 - watch a stock from afar
Thinking about buying a stock, but want to track its ups and downs first? Set up the investment in the usual way -- in Quicken 6, select Features/Investments/Create New Investment -- but don't enter any shares. (Want to see how the S&P 500 or Dow Jones indexes are doing? Indexes have ticker symbols, too; the Dow's is INDU, while the S&P 500's is SPX.X.) In the portfolio, click Options in the button bar; then click the Securities tab. Select the stock or index you want to watch, click the Watch List button, and click OK. To show those stocks, funds, and indexes you're watching in the portfolio, select Watch List from the Account drop-down list.
Tip 34 - sell stocks by lots (Q6)
Track your capital gains by specifying the share lot you want to reduce or liquidate.
If you're a serious investor, you'll want the most accurate picture possible of your gains and losses. When you sell stock, select the share lot -- the group of shares you purchased on a particular date -- you want to reduce or liquidate. (Note: this has important capital gains tax implications.) The easiest way to determine which stock lots you're selling in Quicken 6 is to use the Sell/Remove Shares option from the Easy Actions list at the top right of the security's register. When you reach the Summary tab of the wizard-style dialog box, click the Lots button. Quicken 6 can also select shares automatically from lots to maximize or minimize your gains; just click the Maximize Gains or Minimize Gains button.
Tip 35 - get free quotes (Q6)
All you need is an Internet connection to retrieve free price quotes on stocks and mutual funds and to update your investment information within Quicken 6. If you don't know the symbol of a stock or fund, select its name in the portfolio, and click the Detail View button. Click Edit Security on the button bar; then click Look Up. Quicken connects to the Internet and comes up with a list of possibilities from which to choose.
Quicken and TurboTax make a great combination. It's a good idea to import your Quicken data directly into TurboTax using TaxLink -- which accepts data from Quicken 4, 5, and 6 -- before you begin the tax-preparation interview process. If you've kept decent records in Quicken, most of your tax work has already been done.
Of course, you can use Quicken with other tax packages, but you'll have to export each individual account to a QIF file (select File/File Operations/Export from the main menu), and then import the data into your tax program. The import/export process can be a pain, so you may want to consider using TurboTax.
Tip 37 - track deductible expenses
For a less painful tax season, make sure you've tagged the appropriate Expense categories as tax-related. Select Lists/Category & Transfer from the main menu. Skim the list of categories, noting any that are not marked in the Tax column but should be. Select one of these categories, click the Edit button, and then check the Tax-Related box. To ensure that Quicken drops expenses into the proper part of your tax-prep program, choose a form or schedule from the Form drop-down list. And remember: even if you don't transfer the data to a tax-prep package, you can still apply Quicken's categorizations to produce a tax-deduction report that can help you in filling out a paper return.
Tip 38 - ferret out deductions (Q6)
Taxes should be on your mind all year long, not just when April 15 looms. Quicken's Deduction Finder helps by telling you whether you're eligible for a specific deduction. Select Features/Taxes/Tax Deduction from the main menu, pick a deduction type and a deduction from the lists at the left, and then simply answer the Yes/No questions that Quicken poses to determine if you can take a particular deduction.
Tip 39 - look at your taxes anytime
With Quicken's Tax Planner, you can get a feel for your tax situation at any time of the year--an especially good idea if you send quarterly estimated tax payments to the IRS. To call up Tax Planner, select Features/Taxes/Tax Planner from the main menu. Click the Quicken Data button to import your year-to-date info; then click the Annualize All button. Tax Planner extends current data on income, expenses, deductions, and tax payments to the end of the year and shows you the bottom line so far.
Tip 40 - file multiple tax forms
If you operate more than one business, own more than one rental property, or have more than one job, you may want to set up Quicken to track each of them separately, then dump the data into separate tax forms and/or schedules. Set up a class -- or metacategory -- for each business, property, or job by selecting Class/Lists from the main menu and clicking New. In the Set Up Class dialog box, give each class a different name and description; then enter a distinctive number in the Copy Number field. Attach an appropriate class to each transaction. Later, you can produce class-specific reports or send the info directly to separate copies of a tax return using TurboTax.
[Source: http://www.cnet.com/Content/Features/Howto/Quicken/index.html ]
[Editor's Note: Still didn't get them all in. More tips next month.]
Name: 5xxx/6xxx Floppy Fix 1.0
Version: 1.0
Released: August 21, 1997
Requires: Mac OS 7.6.1 or 8.0 and a Power Macintosh/Performa
52xx/53xx/62xx/63xx (but not 6360) computers.
Description: Extension that corrects two problems (slow floppy
diskette mounting and failures copying large files to
floppy diskette) on 52xx/53xx/62xx/63xx (but not
6360) series computers.
This software consists of a Disk Copy NDIF (New Disk Image Format)
compressed image, which requires Disk Copy 6.1 or later to use. Download
this software to your hard drive and then double-click it to use it. Disk
Copy is available in the Utilities folder. Disk Copy 6.1 (or later) or Disk Image Mounter 2.1 (or later) from Apple are the recommended applications to access all disk images released by Apple and are the only supported applications to access NDIF disk images.
From the Read Me included with this software:
This document provides information about 5xxx/6xxx Floppy Fix version 1.0. This extension is being released to address two specific floppy related problems that have been reported to Apple. They are:
* Slow Floppy Diskette mounting under Mac OS 7.6, 7.6.1 or 8.0
Some floppy drives in the Power Macintosh and Performa 52xx/53xx/62xx/63xx series of computers can exhibit slow mounting when a floppy diskette is first inserted under Mac OS 7.6, 7.6.1 or 8.0. You may notice that diskettes may take up to 45 seconds for a floppy diskette to show up after being inserted into the floppy drive. The 5xxx/6xxx Floppy Fix extension corrects this problem.
* Large File Copying to Diskette Failures under Mac OS 7.6, 7.6.1 or 8.0
On some Power Macintosh and Performa 52xx/53xx/62xx/63xx series of computers, errors may occur when copying large files (>700K) to a floppy diskette. You may receive a message that says" "The file 'xxx' could not be written because a disk error occurred." The 5xxx/6xxx Floppy Fix extension corrects this problem.
The 5xxx/6xxx Floppy Fix extension can be installed on both Mac OS 7.6.1 and Mac OS 8.0. The extension will not load on earlier system releases. The fixes included in the 5xxx/6xxx Floppy Fix extension will be included in future releases of Mac OS. If you are running under Mac OS 7.6, it is recommended that you upgrade to Mac OS 7.6.1 before installing this software. The free update is available on Apple's Software Update locations at: (http://www.info.apple.com).
Who needs the 5xxx/6xxx Floppy Fix 1.0?
The 5xxx/6xxx Floppy Fix should be installed on the below Apple computers running Mac OS 7.6.1 or Mac OS 8.0. Note that this extension will have no effect if it is loaded on any other Mac OS computer.
Power Macintosh 5200 Power Macintosh 6200
Power Macintosh 5260 Power Macintosh 6300
Power Macintosh 5300 Macintosh Performa 6200CD
Macintosh Performa 5200CD Macintosh Performa 6205CD
Macintosh Performa 5210CD Macintosh Performa 6210CD
Macintosh Performa 5215CD Macintosh Performa 6214CD
Macintosh Performa 5220CD Macintosh Performa 6216CD
Macintosh Performa 5260CD Macintosh Performa 6218CD
Macintosh Performa 5260/120 Macintosh Performa 6220CD
Macintosh Performa 5270CD Macintosh Performa 6230CD
Macintosh Performa 5280 Macintosh Performa 6260CD
Macintosh Performa 5300CD Macintosh Performa 6290CD
Macintosh Performa 5320CD Macintosh Performa 6300CD
Macintosh Performa 6310CD
Macintosh Performa 6320CD
How to install the 5xxx/6xxx Floppy Fix 1.0? To install the 5xxx/6xxx Floppy Fix extension follow these steps:
1. Locate the System Folder on the computer's hard disk. Don't open the
System Folder.
2. Drag the file named "5xxx/6xxx Floppy Fix" to the System Folder.
3. A message appears asking if you want to put the "5xxx/6xxx Floppy Fix"
into the Extensions folder. Click OK. If a second message appears stating
that "5xxx/6xxx Floppy Fix" already exists and asks you if you would like
to replace it, click OK.
4. Open the Special menu and choose Restart.
Users with one of the computers mentioned above may notice that floppy diskettes can take up to 1 minute to mount after upgrading to Mac OS 7.6, 7.6.1 or 8.0. Normally, this should only take 15 - 20 seconds if the floppy diskette does not have errors. The floppy disk drive in your Power Macintosh/Performa requires a piece of software called a "driver" to interface it to the rest of the Mac OS. Mac OS 7.6, 7.6.1 and 8.0 install a new updated floppy driver for these computers. The new floppy driver, which is added to the System file in the System Folder, has an internal cache* of memory to allow for faster floppy diskette access on these computers. Unfortunately, this cache of memory is not turned on under Mac OS 7.6, 7.6.1 and 8.0 and therefore access to the floppy diskettes is slower without the 5xxx/6xxx Floppy Fix extension installed. The 5xxx/6xxx Floppy Fix extension insures that this internal cache of memory is turned on under Mac OS 7.6.1 and 8.0.
* Note: The floppy driver cache is not the same as the "Disk Cache" (controllable in the Memory Control Panel) or any processor or "Level 2" cache that may be installed. It is strictly an internal floppy driver concept.
Large file copying to diskette failures under Mac OS 7.6, 7.6.1 or 8.0
Users with one of the computers mentioned above may notice that file copies of large files (>700K) to floppy diskettes may fail more often than normal under Mac OS 7.6, 7.6.1 or 8.0. This can happen even though the same diskette works fine on other computers. The updated floppy driver added to Mac OS 7.6, 7.6.1 or 8.0 could cause errors when copying large files to floppy diskettes. The 5xxx/6xxx Floppy Fix adjusts the timing of the driver to avoid this problem under Mac OS 7.6.1 and 8.0
Can you feel it? It has been quietly building up for the last few months. I call it the Amiga momentum. It started with the surprising purchase of the Amiga by Gateway 2000. It continued with the creation of Amiga Inc., the R&D branch of the Gateway's Amiga efforts. Under the control of Jeff Schindler, he has began to assemble the infrastructure to execute his yet to be disclosed business plan.
Recently, parts of the plan have leaked out. The interesting part of it is that some "mainstream" computer operations have been noticing. Ziff Davis featured an article about Darreck Lisle's (Event Coordinator for Amiga Inc.) meeting with the Amiga Users of the Heartland Group. In this meeting Darreck hinted about new machines, new versions of the OS, and possible use of Amiga technology in personal data assistants (PDAs) and home alarm systems. Darreck mentioned that up to 400 companies have contacted Amiga Inc. about use of Amiga technology for their own products. Turn to Ziff's The Site (http://www.thesite.com) for a look. Many Mac types are rumored to be following the Amiga since Steve Jobs seems intent on killing off the Mac market for his NC boxes.
John Jocke of Management Recruiters of Boise is one of the persons Amiga Inc. has contracted to fill three top level positions. These positions include Vice President of Sales and Marketing, Vice President of Technology and Development, and Director of Amiga Operating System. John Jocke stated to me that these positions will be filled first before the rest of the estimated 30 engineering and support positions are filled.
The duties of these three positions hint at Amiga Inc.'s possible game plan for the Amiga. Among the tasks mentioned are signing up OEM partners to make Amiga based clones, attract application software companies, implementing marketing plans, developing hardware reference designs, developing the operating system, and directing the engineering staff. Skills valued for engineering include C++, Java, 680x0 Assembler, and program debugging.
Up to now, a couple of Amiga personalities have talked with or have exchanged email with Amiga Inc. and their recruiter concerning business plans and other opportunities. Earlier this summer Carl Sassenrath met with Jeff Schindler. At this time Carl has stated that he is not interested in becoming part of this Amiga movement, most likely smarting from his bad experience with Viscorp. Other individuals whom have revealed their contact are Jason Compton, Dale Larson, Ed Hepler, and even Perry Kivolowitz of Art Department fame. John states that most if not interested in direct employment have offered their services on a contractual basis.
Amiga Inc. is expected to reveal more of their plans at the upcoming Mid-Western Amiga Expo in Ohio, and at the Computer 97 Show in Cologne, Germany. Darreck Lisle is busy setting up the much anticipated Developer Conferences that will take place at both events. Anticipation is high as users and developers alike are eagerly to hear what Amiga Inc. has in store for our platform. Up to now, only glimpses and some licensing of clones has materialized.
Phase 5 has finally released their PowerUP PPC accelerators for the Amiga. Initial models are for the 3000/4000 models. Soon to come are PPC cards for the 1200 and 2000, sorry no 500 support is planned. The 1200 version even promises a video card of sorts to take 1200 owners beyond AGA graphics. Many companies have promised support for Phase 5's cards including game maker ClickBoom and application writer Haage & Partner. However Haage & Partner may have shot themselves in the foot with Phase5 by releasing a competing PPC exec file called WarpOS. More to come here.
Most of the information mentioned here has been collected via the Internet. Certain members of the NCAUG have taken great time to establish and create a web page where members and other Amiga users alike can go to for current developments with the club and the Amiga. If you have any ideas or suggestions please feel free to email them to me at fabian@cais.com. We eventually hope to have a web page that suits the needs of all our members, including a BBS like message bases. To make the NCAUG Web Page everything we could need, we will need YOUR input. Surf to http://www.ncaug.org and take a look.
[Source: http://www.cais.com/fabian/oct.html ]
Features
The Catweasel controller handles Amiga and MS-Dos disks, no matter if they're DD or HD formatted. The HD formats offer higher speeds than Amiga disk drives : PC-HD disks are 2.15 times faster, and Amiga HD-disks are sped up by 1.3 times. This can be achieved because the Amiga-HD drives spin at 150 RPM as soon as you put a HD-Disk into the drive. The PC-drive on the other hand spins at 300 RPM, no matter what kind of disk you insert.
Additionally, a further strength of the Catweasel controller is reading and writing extraneous formats: Macintosh, Atari 10/11 sector disks and Commodore 1581 disks can be used in a standard 3,5" low-cost drive (*).
If you're connecting a 5.25" drive, even more formats can be handled : MS-Dos disks with 360K and 1200K open up to the Amiga-world, and the good old '64 disk is honoured in a special way : A filesystem for the Amiga OS is shipped with the catweasel, so you can copy the files from a 1541-disk using the shell or Directory Opus. Copying files for Emulators is no longer a problem, because a full disk is read within 12 seconds. A virtual file "disk.info" shows an icon on the Workbench, and another virtual file holds the .d64 image of the disk, as it's a standard in '64 emulators.
With a software update (available later in '97), you will be able to use floppystreamers with the Catweasel controller. With this sequential device you'll be able to backup your harddisks with AmiBack, Quarterback or Diavolo Backup. The speed will be about 2MB/minute. This software update will be free.
The controller is connected to the IDE port of the Amiga 1200/Amiga 4000. You can still connect 2 hard disks or 1 harddisk and 1 CD-ROM. If you already use a common 4-drive IDE adaptor, a special adaptor is available for the clock-connector port in the Amiga 1200, and it's fully compatible with all known Accelerators and hard disks. No problems have been found with the clock on accelerator cards.
The current release is for the A1200 only, but a Zorro-II version of the Catweasel will be released. It will include some additional features : 3 (three!) IDE-Ports for cheap CD-ROMS and hard disks, a bootrom for booting from Catweasel drives or a harddrive, and a local expansion port. This expansion port can carry an optional I/O module with 2 serial and 1 parallel interface. A special sysop's I/O module will carry 8 (eight!) serial ports. Each port has a 16-byte fifo to keep the interrupt-load low.
(*): Due to the bad quality of the drives, we don't guarantee the function with Mitsumi D359Tx drives.
Price (A1200 Version): 59.95 UKP
59.95 British Pound = 97.3948 US Dollar on 10/12/97
[Source: http://blittersoft.wildnet.co.uk/cweasel.htm see also http://members.tripod.com/~apd2/catweasl.htm ]
He stated he has an Amiga 1200 on his desk for work purposes, and an Amiga 4000T for home use. The A4000T at home has an 060 card, a Catweasel controller with two HD floppies, and additional expansion equipment.
He also talked about why we haven't heard any press releases from Amiga, Inc. License disputes and liquidator disputes need to be resolved before a press release can be approved. The Vice President hiring process is nearing completion, so barring any further delays, we should be hearing a press release soon.
Darreck then went on to talk about Amiga, Inc.'s approach to marketing. Open licensing will be utilized to speed up development while Amiga, Inc. completes its start-up cycle. One application for this open licensing could be in the area of Consumer Electronics where a small, highly-stable OS is critical. Some applications he speculated on include a palmtop Amiga, an Amiga-based security system, Amiga-based smart homes and Amiga-based cable TV boxes. A comment was made how it would be bad for the system running your house to crash because you would have to reboot your house.
Companies are coming to Amiga, Inc. with requests to receive licenses so they may pursue development on Amiga-based consumer electronics applications. It is Darreck's opinion that Amiga has a bright future because Amiga International and Amiga, Inc. are starting a cycle of slowly gaining momentum which will build in the upcoming months.
Another possible use of the Amiga technology may be into the existing Gateway Destination market. This technology incorporates a TV into the computer so regular TV viewing is done on a 31" screen, but as a task on the computer. The current use of PCs for this task has led to many families having to reboot their TV often due to crashes.
Cooperation with third-party developers is also a priority as they are the driving force behind research and development at the present time.
Darreck also said that he thinks the time frame for the release of AmigaOS 3.5 will be sometime within the next six months. AmigaOS 4.0 should be available before this time next year. AmigaOS 3.5 will use the existing 3.1 ROMs.
Amiga, Inc. is currently trying to collect all pertinent Amiga archives and technology. They are also attempting to assemble a comprehensive Amiga library of Amiga books, service manuals, technical manuals, and any other writings pertinent to the Amiga's technology.
Amiga International is the marketing arm of Amiga and is based in Germany. Amiga, Inc. is the R&D arm of Amiga and is based in North Sioux City, South Dakota.
Interaction with user groups is moving along. A user group network is in the works. (Editor's note: Just today I received an email from an Amiga user group coordination effort. They plan on compiling information on all Amiga user group meetings and asking Amiga resellers to include a flyer with each package shipped.)
The purpose of the Developer Network is to assemble and motivate developers. The Amiga, Inc. sponsored Developer Network should be getting underway sometime around March or April of 1998. Backward compatibility to 3.0, 2.0 and 1.3 (if possible) is a priority for new software, as is standardization on a set of issues. Autoconfiguration and plug-and-play software is also a priority.
Question and Answer Session
The Q's & A's are not word-for-word, but are taken from my notes.
One of the people who had just purchased AmigaOS 3.1 (it was being
installed during the club meeting) asked the following:
Q: Should we buy AmigaOS 3.1?
A: Yes--you will need the ROMs for the updated AmigaOS anyway.
Q: Is Amiga, Inc. interested in the educational software market?
A: Yes--we feel the Amiga is ideally suited to educational uses.
Q: Is graphics card compatibility going to be built into the next OS
release?
A: Yes--some type of RTG standard should be included as well as an AHI-type
of standard.
Q: How long should we expect to wait before we see new systems?
A: Probably around a year.
Q: How many old Commodore employees are working for Amiga, Inc.?
A: A rough estimate would be around 15 to 20. However, no former Commodore
employee has turned us down and has said they will contract out to Amiga,
Inc. if necessary to keep their present positions.
Q: Are there any other enhancements to the Amiga you foresee?
A: Possibly support for the Universal Serial Bus (USB).
Q: Do you know how much Gateway 2000 bought the Amiga for?
A: I wish I did, but I have no clue.
Q: What is Amiga, Inc.'s position on UAE, the Amiga emulator available for
Microsoft and UNIX?
A: The current practice of pirating Amiga ROMs will be cracked down on
shortly.
Q: Will Amiga, Inc. use UAE to sway Microsoft and UNIX users to the Amiga?
A: Probably not--the speed of the emulation on even the fastest Pentiums is
only roughly equivalent to an unexpanded Amiga 500.
Q: What does Amiga, Inc. think about Java?
A: We would like to see Java in the next OS, but there is still a lot to be
done in this area.
Q: Is Amiga, Inc. considering a "Power Up" style program like they had when
the A3000 was released?
A: That will most likely fall into the hands of the licensed
Amiga-compatible makers to decide, but there are many uses for older Amiga
systems. For instance, many technical schools modify Amiga systems for test
equipment. Also, many cable channels use Amigas for the Prevue Guide and
also Public Service stations.
Q: Are we going to see any of the current operating system hacks, such as
MUI, built into a future AmigaOS?
A: Possibly--however, MUI is too large and bulky to consider making it an
integral part of the OS. A TCP stack is a definite possibility, though.
Using Shareware and Public Domain OS software which is currently available
is probably not an option, because programmers of competing software may
claim Amiga, Inc. is showing favoritism by their choices. For instance,
Amiga, Inc. currently buys most of its test equipment from many different
Amiga mail-order houses for this very reason.
Q: Will the prices of existing systems be dropped, like say $1000 off the
existing A4000T prices?
A: Yes--Amiga motherboards are quite simple in design so cost should reduce,
especially after improvements are made to the current design, such as
optimization of the existing custom chip set. Today's technology allows chip
makers to reduce the size of the Amiga's custom chips.
Q: Is Amiga, Inc. investigating the possibility of giving the Amiga the
ability to run software written for other OSes?
A: Yes--I believe there is some work involving making the Amiga a
multi-platform machine. There is also the possibility of an Amiga-on-a-card
which would effectively take over the processing of an industry-standard
system making it essentially an Amiga.
Q: Has Amiga, Inc. discovered a lot of reverse engineering of the Amiga
technology?
A: Yes--especially overseas.
Q: Will Amiga, Inc. be coordinating with third parties?
A: Yes--that is one of the main goals of Amiga, Inc.
Darreck said his goodbyes around 9:00 as he had to be up for a 7:00am appointment, and he had two hours of driving ahead of him.
Here is information on how to contact Mr. Lisle:
Darreck Lisle 1-888-23-AMIGA
Public Relations/Events Coordinator 1-888-252-6442 Voice
Amiga Inc. 1-605-232-6442 Voice
1-605-235-1002 Fax
[Source: http://www.cucug.org/at/auoh970924.html ]The September 18th meeting began with President Richard Rollins' traditional introduction of officers. As this meeting was principally a social, the floor was immediately opened up to a Question and Answer Session.
* The first question came from Jim Lewis who asked, "How insane is Steve Jobs?" Things took off from there. President Rollins did his best to answer the question, giving several takes on the topic, including Apple's own justification for the current destruction of the clone market, but in the end, the initial question remained open to debate. Richard said he wrote a letter to Apple on this topic and he had received an answer which he may provide to the newsletter.
* Harold Ravlin commented on reports that Apple may be pursuing Intel processors for future Mac machines with the pointed remark, "Intel chips suck. They are hampered by carrying the baggage of dated technology. There are inherent limitations to that technology. Apple would be nuts to stop using PowerPC processors."
* Mike Anderson said he is having trouble with a Mustek scanner on his Mac's SCSI bus. Kevin Hopkins reported that he had the same problem and that it is because the termination on the scanner is not an active termination. The problem occurs when the scanner is left powered off. If the scanner is on, there is no problem. The only way Kevin was able to get his machine to work properly was to disconnect the scanner entirely when it wasn't in use.
* Emil Cobb said he needs a serial port extender to be able to use his QuickCam. He only has one available serial port on his Mac and the camera and a printer to go on it. Also, the camera needs all of the pins available or it will not work properly.
* Jerry Feltner announced there will be a Ham Fest in Peoria on the 20th and 21st.
* Robert Kidd stated that he was having a hard drive copying problem from a ZIP drive to his GVP. It was suggested by Kevin Hisel that he might have a Maxtransfer rate problem. He couldn't remember the exact setting to correct the situation, but suggested Robert start by looking there.
Robert reported that his drive light problem, mentioned last meeting, turned out to be a jumper set wrong on his Seagate drive, one specifically for the drive light.
* Mark Landman said he needs to change the firmware on his AV drives, but the software provided to do this is a PC program. He asked if somebody with a PC would be willing to help him upgrade his drives. Jim Lewis said he'd help.
* Jim Huls reported that BeOS on a Mac is very Amiga like. He was asked how much disk space was required to install the BeOS. Jim said it requires 150MB minimum. There were a lot of jeers that that isn't very Amiga like.
* Edwin Hadley said his Quadra 630 hangs every time he tries to shut it down. He asked if anybody had any possible solutions to this problem.
* Harold Ravlin asked if Power Computing's PowerTowers are a good buy now that they appear to be on clearance sale. Richard Rollins said Yes. PowerTowers and PowerCenters are good buys, although Richard was not so enthusiastic about Power Computing's PowerBase units. He said there have been reports about their lack of reliability.
* Brent Cornwell said he wants to clean up a ZIP disk. There is a Trash can on the disk and he is unable to empty it. He was told to check the protection setting on the disk with Zip Tools. Richard suggested holding down the option key while emptying the Trash. The final suggestion was just to reformat the disk.
* Don Chambers said his employer is looking for a logic board for an Amiga 2000. Many suggestions were made, but Don said he is trying to locate one locally first.
* Harold Ravlin let everyone know that Iomega has a 2 Gigabyte Jaz drive coming. It will be backward compatible with the 1 Gig. version. It should be out before Christmas.
* Jerry Feltner asked about the new DVD format. He wads informed that they are available now. Someone said you can buy DVD movies for $20 at Best Buy.
* Richard Rollins said he had a friend with a printing problem. The problem manifests itself with a flashing exclamation mark up by the Finder. He was told it is a SpoolMaster problem.
* Bill Zwicky said someone he knew was having trouble downloading software from AOL. The matter was resolved when it was discovered that the software was PC software rather than Macintosh software. The downloading process on AOL is also limited by their proprietary terminal software.
* Norris Hansell said he had seen Netscape 3.03 available recently and wondered if this version was worth getting. He was informed that it was simply a patched up version of 3 (security patches) and not worth bothering with. Going to 4.031 is worth it.
* Rich Hall asked about an IRC client for the Macintosh. IRCle was strongly recommended.
* Kevin Hopkins asked if Mr. Hisel could fill us in on what Gateway 2000 has been up to with the Amiga. Kevin gave a brief history, mentioning the upcoming developers conference at the Midwest Amiga Exposition in Columbus, Ohio on November 1 and 2. He said there will be another at the Gateway Amiga Users Group show in St. Louis on March 14 and 15. The Amiga Web Directory will be promoting this show and we will attend as we did this year.
Gateway 2000 started Amiga Inc. here in the US. They've hired some people in the Sioux City - Sioux Falls area. Jeff Schindler has been hired as Managing Director of Amiga Inc. It appears Petro reports to Jeff. They also hired Darreck Lisle as Amiga Inc.'s Public Relations and Events Coordinator. Kevin reported that the Amiga Web Directory and Darreck have a very cordial relationship. Darreck reported that he is organizing some developer events.
The central question, however, remains "Is there any plan to build a new machine?" The answer appears to be, "No. Not from Gateway."
* Richard Rollins formally raised the topic of upgrading the club's Macintosh computer. Putting it in the form of a motion to purchase a new machine, not to exceed $2000 and not in addition to the resale price of the old machine, Norris Hansel so moved and Jim Lewis seconded. It was to be left to President Rollins' discretion to obtain the best machine for the quoted price. Treasurer Mark Landman was requested to give a report on the club's financial health. That being done, a motion to close discussion was made by Jim Lewis and seconded by Mike Latinovich. The vote was then taken and the measure passed.
* Mike Latinovich reported that Phase 5 is now shipping PowerPC cards for the Amiga. They've shipped about two hundred 200 MHz 604e PowerPC cards, but they won't boot up without a 68K processor on them.
* Brent Cornwell said, in light of this evening's swap meet, he is liquidating his Amiga stuff, so anyone that is interested should come see him.
* Bill Zwicky asked about the club's Amiga. He will be doing a demo next month so he needs it. Mike Latinovich said he has it, so come see him to make arrangements.
* John Lynn reported that we have received the club's TIMM monitor back and it is working fine.
The meeting then broke up into individual socializing. Richard Rollins showed several programs on the club's Mac, among these were Weather Watcher, No More Cookies, Internet Explorer, Printer Switcher, Net Print, Web Free (a program that kills those annoying banner ads), and IRCle.
The September meeting of the CUCUG executive board took place on Tuesday, September 23, 1997, at 7PM, at Kevin Hisel's house. (For anyone wishing to attend - which is encouraged, by the way - the address and phone number are both in the book). Present at the meeting were Richard Rollins, Emil Cobb, Mike Latinovich, Jim Huls, Mark Landman, John Lynn, Kevin Hopkins, Dave Witt, Kevin Hisel, Ed Hartman and Jim Lewis.
Richard Rollins: Richard opened by stating that the meeting had been great. Our Question and Answer Session had lasted over an hour, indicative of involved membership.
Next month, Richard said, the Mac SIG will be having a presentation on OS8. John Lynn stated that Bill Zwicky will be showing the Amiga SIG a scenery generator.
Richard discussed his thoughts about which MacOS machine to buy to upgrade the club's machine. Having received input from several other members, he has decided that buying an Apple brand MacOS machine "has merit."
Richard initiated the yearly preparation for officer elections in December.
Emil Cobb: Emil reported that 28 members had attended the last meeting. He stated that he is still looking for a serial port A/B switch in order to run his QuickCam and printer off of the same serial port on his Mac. One of the board members recommended he check out the computergate.com web site since they specialize in unique cabling.
Mike Latinovich: Mike said the meeting was very good; in particular, to have that many questions. He also lightheartedly noted that there was a lot of doughnut eating, too. There was some comment about Kevin Hisel being seen using the club's Mac at one point. To which, Kevin retorted it was the Fisher-Price of computers.
Jim Huls: Jim said the meeting was cool; the doughnuts were great. There was a lot of mixing and mingling, which reaffirmed Jim's option as to the value of having social meetings from time to time. He said planned presentations don't always help people as much as having their individual questions addressed.
Jim said he would being willing to do a demonstration in November of some web sites of interest and what they had to offer.
Mark Landman: Mark reported that he had talked to our bank about the excessive fees we have been getting charged for their cashing foreign checks. They said they can't do anything about it up front, but will remove them from our statement after the fact. Mark concluded by summarizing our financial status.
John Lynn: Referring back to the General meeting, John said the doughnuts were good and that he had a good time visiting. He said Bill Zwicky will be showing a landscape generator at the October Amiga SIG meeting. November is shaping up to be an all-platforms meeting, if Jim Huls does a presentation on interesting web sites. John finished, saying the TIMM monitor is still ticking.
Kevin Hopkins: Kevin presented the usual exchange newsletters, mail, and membership money. He spoke a little about the work he has been doing on the membership database. This month was the fist month the Email newsletter mailing list was generated by Filemaker Pro and used for the actual mailing. Kevin brought up the need for choosing next year's membership card color and getting the cards produced, since the annual renewal process begins in October. After some discussion, the color red was chosen.
Dave Witt: Dave had no new business to bring up.
Kevin Hisel: Kevin brought up Jim Huls suggestion to get a custom domain name for the Amiga Web Directory. The problem is that all three letter domain name combinations, such as AWD.com have been taken. New domains will be added next year, but after much discussion, at was concluded that it was probably so much vanity and not worth the expense for such an undertaking, particularly if we couldn't get something meaningful, like AWD.
In a whimsical moment, Kevin stated wryly that "disk sales at the last meeting were about what we expected."
Kevin noted that there were several jobs opening up at Amiga Inc.
Kevin also made some humorous comments about Netscape 3.02 and Amiga 3.5 being expected soon.
Ed Hartman: Ed said he liked the doughnuts. He also liked the idea of a program on web sites. Richard Rollins interjected that members should email him with their favorite sites, if they care to suggest any.
Ed had a question about running classified ads in the newsletter for hardware, software, etc. We've always had that option for individual members. Ed would like to continue that line of thought to the web site and wondered if we could institute a CUCUG Classifieds Page or a club Trading Post on the AWD. There was some discussion on this topic with queries fired at Webmaster Hisel and it seems to be a do-able thing. It would be free to members to post their old items for sale, excluding commercial interests, and $20 for non-members to post, with a membership in the club thrown in (ie. you become a member and post for free).
Jim Lewis: Jim said he enjoyed the last meeting. He said it was refreshing to see such great involvement in the Question and Answer Session. He feels it is good for the great as a bonding mechanism.
Jim revisited the topic of officer elections and said he would be willing to run again as Corporate Agent.
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 (398-2550). 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 north-south 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.
Membership dues for individuals are $20 annually; prorated to $10 at mid year ($25US outside the U.S. and Canada; prorated to $15 at mid year).
Our monthly newsletter, the Status Register, is delivered by the postal service or email at the member's choice. All recent editions are available on our WWW site. To initiate a user group exchange, just send us your newsletter or contact our editor via email. As a matter of CUCUG policy, an 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: Richard Rollins 469-2616 Vice-President: Emil Cobb 398-0149 e-cobb@uiuc.edu Secretary/Editor: Kevin Hopkins 356-5026 kh2@uiuc.edu Treasurer: Mark Landman 398-2910 mlandman@earthlink.net Corporate Agent: Jim Lewis 359-1342 NOSPAMlewis_j_e@yahoo.com Board Advisor: Jim Huls 892-8730 Webmaster: Kevin Hisel 406-948-1999 khisel @ cucug.org Amiga SIG: John Lynn 586-3555
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