====================================================================== ________ _________ ____ _|__ __ __|_______ _________ __\ _____ \\\\ \_ _/ //___// _____//______\ _____ \\ // \\\\ /. \\\\__ \/ __// \\ \\____. /// \\\\ /. \\ \\___\ /___///___\ /___\ \\_________//\\___\ /___// \/ \/. | |z!o \/ A M I G A | 060831 | U P D A T E |________| "SO THE WORLD MAY KNOW" (Eject -2) ====================================================================== AMIGA and the Amiga logo are trademarks of Amiga, Inc. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- B I L L M C E W E N T O A N S W E R Q U E S T I O N S A M I G A B I G B A S H 4 A M I W E S T I N F O R M A T I O N U P D A T E S A D L Y , A D E A T H T O R E P O R T U P G R A D E T O A M I P O D D E R A V A I L A B L E F R E E P A S C A L ! ( N O , N O T F R O M P R I S O N ) E P I S T U L A M E S S A G I N G S Y S T E M U P D A T E A N D W H I L E W E ' R E C H A T T I N G . . . W I N U A E M A R C H E S F O R W A R D A N D S O D O E S E U A E I G N I T I O N S P R E A D S H E E T ( * B E T A O N L Y * ) O P E N O F F I C E T E A M N E E D S H E L P A I S S S Y S T E M V E R S I O N 3 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Editor's Thoughts and Introduction: The re-emergence of Bill McEwen? When Gary Hare left Amiga Inc. behind, I at least was not certain who was in charge or what the management team looked like. I still don't feel as if I know. However, it is apparent Bill McEwen is still there, Amiga Inc. is still functional and you and everyone else will have a chance to read answers to 25 questions by Bill in the near future. Story is below. This could well be one of the more important events of the year in the Amiga community, depending on the quality of the questions and the frankness of the answers. Should be revealing however it goes. Beyond that interesting development, there were many other interesting things happening in the Amiga community this month. We have covered a number of them for you in this issue. Amiga activity seems to come in spurts these days, with some months having little happening and others a great deal. The good news is, there is always something going on in the Amiga community and most of the activity is good for the Amiga's future. While we would really like to hear some definitive news on the hardware front, at least we have good news in the software arena this month, and a fair amount of it. We hope you enjoy this issue. Brad Webb, Editor ---------------------------------------------------------------------- E-mail to the E-ditor: Brad, You have done an excellent job with this newsletter. I already get most of the news items at http://www.amigaworld.net so what I enjoy most are your general thoughts and comments at the beginning. I will be sad to see the departure of that part of the newsletter in October. Perhaps after October you could change the format to something easier for you, or make a regular online posting to the Amigaworld website instead? Anyway, good luck with whatever you do. I'm a happy AmigaOneXE / OS4 owner. I'll be using it for years and purchasing a second one as soon as the next motherboard solution is available. Thanks. - Lars ~~~~~~ Lars, Thank you, I appreciate the kind words. It's encouraging to hear about your commitment and confidence in the Amiga and its use into the future. I suppose some readers might take the end of "AU" as a vote of no-confidence on my part for the future of the Amiga. I want to make it very clear to the readers that such is NOT the case. It is a recognition that, after 20 years in Amiga journalism, it really is time to move on. And that being the case, it's unlikely a format change will happen though I appreciate the interesting suggestion. As you point out, there are other ways to get the information we carry. The Amiga community is very fortunate to have good websites supporting it. I couldn't list all the websites I prowl monthly for news, but amigaworld.net and amiga.org are good places to start for an overall coverage of the community. I do have an Amiga project or two in mind going forward, mostly involving preservation of items from the Amiga's history. We'll see what develops as time goes on. Regards, Brad -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= B I L L M C E W E N T O A N S W E R Q U E S T I O N S {Taken from the Amiga.org website. Pay them a visit - URL at end of this article. Brad} With all the questions of whether "Is Amiga Inc alive?" or not, I thought to write to Bill McEwen himself to see whether the lights were still on. Within an hour, I got a long, well-written reply and an offer to directly answer 25 questions from the Amiga community... In short, Bill wants everyone to know that they are still, very much alive despite the many popular rumors to the contrary. His standing offer is to take questions from Amiga.org users and they will answer the top 25 (as determined by the Amiga.org staff) as completely as possible. That being said, a few words of caution. What this is... This is a chance for the Amiga community to ask questions and have them directly answered by Bill McEwen in an open exchange. You can ask anything you want, as long as it's a legitimate question regarding Amiga Incorporated, it's products, plans, and future. What this is NOT - This is not a chance for politics and agendas - This is not an excuse to act like children and hurl insults - This is not an excuse for personal attacks and delving into the personal lives of Amiga Inc staff members. Post your questions in comment form [see URL] below. On the 8th of September, I will collect the questions and the moderators and I will correlate them and select the top 25 questions. Once selected, all of the questions will be passed directly to Amiga Inc. Mr. McEwen has stated that he will answer 25 questions. If there are more legitimate questions than that, we will select the best 25 and put them at the top of the list. It's up to them if they want to answer more. If there are fewer than 25 legitimate questions, all will be passed to Amiga Inc for their response. Amiga.org Disclaimer : Because of the potential for abuse, this thread and comments contained therein will, by necessity, be moderated to the fullest extent of our posting guidelines (see link on left) Out of necessity, we (the Amiga.org staff) reserve the right to edit the questions presented if they appear incomplete, unintelligible, or have a language barrier issue). Sincerely, Wayne Hunt Amiga.org http://www.amiga.org/modules/news/article.php?storyid=6929 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- A M I G A B I G B A S H 4 Announcing Amiga Big Bash 4: Amiga Big Bash and Retro, Saturday 16th September, Stafford Hall, Peterborough. Welcome to the home of the UK's biggest Amiga show - The Big Bash. This September is going to be the best Big Bash to-date! We have more exhibitors and friends coming along than the previous 3 events, which were enjoyed by all. This year we have also added a retro element to the show, and extended our invitation to those in the GP2X community and Retro Scene. There will be demonstrations and talks, great music, stalls and exhibitions and lots to eat and drink. If you go to no other Amiga and Retro show this year, go to this one. The show's address is: Stafford Hall Hampton Court Westwood Peterborough PE3 7LD Doors Open Saturday 16th September, 1pm until 7.00pm, then aftershow party. Admission: 3.50 Payable on door. What is Amiga Big Bash & Retro? Amiga Big Bash & Retro is simply an excuse for a party. It's a computer show with a difference in that it's not really about computers - it's about the people and the communities that use them. Big Bash started in 2004 as a way of bringing Amiga users together. The first event was such a success that a later one was held that very same year. Each year the event has gained in popularity and attracts more and more people - this is in part to the shows firm emphasis on fun. Initally devised on the Amiga World IRC channel, the event spawned the 3 Counties Amiga Group, who are responsible for organising the event. The show is also truely multinational, attracting visitors from as far afield as Poland, Greece and Sweden - and indeed even further away - Mikey C, our very own MC is from another planet.. 30 August, 2006 Godfreys-Online, in partnership with Troika and sponsors of Big Bash 4 are donating the following to BB4 to complement the other prizes vailable: 1x HP Photosmart 2710 All-in one Printer. See: http://audiovisual.kelkoo.co.uk/b/a/ps_12363773/100052213.html 1x Maxtor 200GB IDE HDD (7,200RPM/8MB Cache) See: http://www.techstore.co.uk/browse.php?a=p&prodLineID=41954 1x Aopen 52x32x52x16 CDRW/DVD Combo Drives See: http://solaristech.co.uk/store/product_info.php?products_id=221& solaris_id=c27dc972a0046d5e943baf9f3a618f5d I would like to thank my fellow organisers for spending time and money organising BB4 and hope people will come and see the culmination of our efforts. Godfreys IT Ltd. is an IT consultants and software house see: www.godfreys-it.com and also has an online retail shop, based on our own e-commerce product, LRG Ecommerce server see: www.godfreys-online.co.uk Big Bash 4 is organised by 3 Counties Amiga Group. See: www.3cag.net http://www.amigabigbash.net/ ---------------------------------------------------------------------- A M I W E S T I N F O R M A T I O N U P D A T E 21 August, 2006 Here is the third information release for AmiWest 2006, October 21, 2006 in Sacramento, California. Our webpage at www.sacc.org/amiwest is being updated with all the current show information. We encourage you to visit our site to see the rest of the current information. Amiga Forever, Sacramento Amiga Computer Club AmiWest 2006 Committee =================================== AMIWEST 2006 - TICKETS ON SALE NOW! =================================== A ONE-DAY EVENT CONTINUES TO MEAN LOWER PRICES! Lower prices (same as last year!) on admission tickets (see below) means that more of our great Amiga community can come at a reduced rate! Our hotel room prices REMAIN THE SAME AS LAST YEAR, including a full hot breakfast for up to two people per room. SO AMIWEST, YOUR BEST AMIGA SHOW DEAL, IS EVEN BETTER NOW! Don't wait! Ticket sales are already increasing! The fire department will only permit us to admit so many people. And you'll want to be one of them! ========================================= TIME TO BUY YOUR TICKETS FOR AMIWEST 2006 ========================================= We have a great facility (now completed) and we want YOU to come see AmiWest 2006. So print this ticket form out and mail it to the SACC address (given below)! ASAP! AmiWest 2006, October 21, 2006 Ticket Reservation Form Clarion Hotel Cal-Expo 2600 Auburn Blvd Sacramento, CA 95821 Your Name:______________________________________________________ Affiliation:______________________________________________________ Address:______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ City:______________________________________________________ State/Province:_________________________ Postal(Zip) Code: __________ Country:_________________________ Email Address:______________________________________________________ Ticket wanted ONE DAY PASS: SATURDAY, October 21, 2006 Do you want Banquet tickets (Circle One) YES NO Admission to AmiWest 2006 is: $ 8 (One Day Pass - paid in advance by July 12, 2006) $10 (One day Pass at the door) One day passes will allow admittance to any FREE seminars on that day only. Seminar topics will be announced later. Banquet tickets are $28 per plate and MUST be paid in advance. Seating is limited and tickets are available on a first come, first served. Please fill out this form and remit with proper payment (US Funds Only) to: AmiWest 2006 c/o Chuck Washburn 7051 Dolan Way Citrus Heights CA 95621 USA Make checks payable to "AmiWest". A form must be filled out for each person attending the show although one check can be used. For more information you can contact AmiWest by email to: chela@calweb.com Phone: (916) 723-9846 Evenings (Pacific Daylight time) Our WWW web page is: http://www.sacc.org/amiwest/ !!!!!!!!!!!! So remember, AmiWest 2006 is rolling! The facility is reserved and the vendors are notified! Keep watching for these releases and tell everyone that you know - the Amiga and the Amiga community is alive and well! !!!!!!!!!!!!! HOTEL CONTACT AmiWest 2006 will be October 21, 2006 at the Clarion Hotel Cal Expo 2600 Auburn Blvd. Sacramento California 95821 Reservations Phone 1-877-424-6423 toll-free (local 1-916-487-7600), choicehotels.com (click the Clarion icon) and by snail-mail at the above address. Please watch our website at www.sacc.org/amiwest for continuing news and information regarding AmiWest 2006. We are on target for another improved show! See you there! ---------------------------------------------------------------------- S A D L Y , A D E A T H T O R E P O R T 28 August, 2006 >From Amiga-news.de: According to the MorphOS-Team yesterday Michal Rybinski was killed in a motorcycle accident. The MorphOS-Team offer its sincere condolences to his family and friends. Michal 'RybciaDcaps' Rybinski was a MorphOS developer and a big help at developing the past versions of the operating system. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- U P G R A D E T O A M I P O D D E R A V A I L A B L E 19 August, 2006 A new version of AmiPodder, the Amiga's only podcast receiving utility is now available. www.amipodder.com Version 1.5 has several new features, many of them added in response to user requests. You can now organise your podcasts in to groups. The user interface has been enhanced with the ability to change the status of multiple podcasts and progress bars have been added to slow operations. Compatibility with podcast feeds has also been improved with support for redirected downloads and various types of character encoding in URLs. In addition, AmiPodder can now work behind an HTTP proxy and several bugs have been fixed. AmiPodder 1.5 is written in AREXX using rxMUI and therefore works on OS 3.x, OS 4 and MorphOS. It's released as freeware. www.amipodder.com ---------------------------------------------------------------------- F R E E P A S C A L ! ( N O , N O T F R O M P R I S O N ) Description: Free Pascal Compiler - AmigaOS4 port Download: fpc.lha Version: 2.1.1SVN Date: 20 Aug 06 Author: Free Pascal Development Team, Karoly Balogh Submitter: Karoly Balogh Homepage: http://www.freepascal.org Requirements: any PowerPC computer running AmigaOS4 Category: development/language License: GPL Distribute: yes FileID: 2028 W E L C O M E ! =============== This is an alpha quality public binary release of the Free Pascal Compiler for AmigaOS 4 platform. It's based on the current SVN version 2.1.1. To read more about the compiler, be sure to check out the /doc directory, and if possible, http://www.freepascal.org. About AmigaOS 4 support, it's still in an early stage, but progressing well. This release is intended for people who want to try out this new toy, and write some simple stuff in it, but NOT YET USEFUL FOR SERIOUS DEVELOPMENT. It only has a limited number of AmigaOS 4 specific features. You can fully use this release though to generate interface headers and such stuff to support as many AmigaOS 4 features as you want. With the contents of this package, you should be able build new FPC for AmigaOS 4 binaries by yourself from the FPC SVN. You will also need: AmigaOS 4 SDK, recent GNU Make (gmake) and recent abc-shell. REQUIREMENTS: ==== A PowerPC CPU equipped computer, with Amiga OS 4 pre-release installed (only Update #4 was tested). INSTALLATION: ==== Currently, only manual installation is possible. After uncompressing the archive, add the following lines into your S:user-startup file: Assign FPC: Path FPC:bin/powerpc-amiga ADD Also, you should set PPC_CONFIG_PATH environment variable, to let the compiler easiliy find its configuration file. This step is optional but recommended. SetEnv SAVE PPC_CONFIG_PATH FPC:bin/powerpc-amiga/ Then you should reboot, to make the new settings work. It's also recommended to fine-tune your settings in FPC:bin/powerpc-amiga/fpc.cfg then, to fit your needs. You can run the compiler without arguments to have access to the help pages about the avaiable parameters. THANKS: ======= I'd like to send thanks to the followings for making this port possible: - Colin_Camper, for the uA1 with 750GX, i used for the AmigaOS4 port - Florian Klaempfl, and the rest of the FPC Development Team for creating my favourite compiler - Carl Eric Codere and Nils Sjoholm, authors of the original Amiga/68k port Without their work i couldn't be able to come this far - All people who helped me with the MorphOS port, which paved the way for AmigaOS4 port, among others - #amigadev people, for a lot of very useful hints and tips - #amigahu guys on IRCNet, for not believing i'm able to do this, and some Hungarian OS4 users/developers for the negative attitude which motivated me :) Nuff said. Signed: 2006.08.20 Budapest, Hungary Karoly 'Chain-Q' Balogh (ps: And sorry for my bad english.) http://www.os4depot.net/?function=showfile&file=development/language/ fpc.lha {From the Free Pascal website. Brad} Advantages of Free Pascal Advantages of programming in Pascal and Free Pascal Maybe you think, why should I choose Pascal instead of, for example C. Or maybe you are comparing Free Pascal to another Pascal compiler. Well, in that case, be sure to read this page before making your decision. Well, for what is Free Pascal so good? * Very clean language Pascal is a very nice language, your programs will be more readable and maintainable than for example in C, and let's even forget about C++. And you don't need to give up the power, the Pascal language is as powerful as you want it. * No Makefiles Unlike most programming languages, Pascal does not need Makefiles. You can save huge amounts of time, the compiler just figures out itself which files need to be recompiled. * Pascal compilers are Fast with a big F and Free Pascal is no exception. Yes, you no longer need to grow roots while compiling your programs, just hit the compile key and it's done, even for large programs. * Each unit has it's own identifiers In Pascal you never need to worry about polluting the namespace, like in C where an identifier needs to be unique accross the entire program. No, in Pascal each unit gets it's own namespace and that's very relaxed. * Integrated development environment Free Pascal comes with an IDE which work on several platforms, in which you can write, compile and debug your programs. You will save huge amounts of time using the IDE, the best programming friend you have. * Great integration with assembler Do you think pascal is for wimps who need to learn programming? WRONG! It's excellent for high tech programming and for the supreme nerds among you we have the integrated assemblers. You can easily mix assembler code and Pascal code, in the language you wish? Prefer Intel styled assembler? No problem, if it's needed Free Pascal will convert it to ATT for you. Do you want to convert your program into a source file for Nasm? No problem, and all ATT assembler in your source files is automatically converted. * Object oriented programming And if you do the serious programming, you are of course very interested in object oriented programming. Use the Turbo Pascal and Object Pascal ways of OOP according to your taste. The FCL and Free Vision and provide you with the powerful object libraries you need. For your database needs we support PostgreSQL, MySQL, Interbase and ODBC. * Smartlinking Free Pascal's smart linker leaves out any variable or code that you do not use. That makes small programs small with a big S, while they are still statically linked, avoiding DLL hell! * Distribution independence (Linux) As a result of this, software compiled by the Linux version of Free Pascal runs on any Linux distribution, making it much, much, easier to make your software support multiple Linux distributions. * Available for a lot of platforms on several architectures Free Pascal is available for more platforms than most other Pascal compilers and allows easy cross-compiling, just change the target in the IDE and compile! And there is work going on for even more platforms and processors. * Compatible Have existing code? Free Pascal is more compatible with it than any other Pascal compiler. We are almost completely compatible with Turbo Pascal and quite well compatible with Delphi source code. If you have code in another language, like C or assembler, just use favorite compiler for it and call it from Free Pascal. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- E P I S T U L A M E S S A G I N G S Y S T E M U P D A T E 15 August, 2006 Epistula is to AmigaOS what GAIM is to Linux and Windows. For people not in the know, GAIM is an instant messenger application which can handle a variety of IM protocols, for example Microsoft MSN, AOL AIM and Yahoo Messenger. I know JabberWocky can provide a similar service, but that requires extra setting up with Jabber ID's etc. This way, you can log straight onto your favourite protocol, by-passing any need for yet another IM account. One of the main reasons I started to write this client was because I couldn't be bothered with Jabber... I can't be the only one... can I? Unlike GAIM, Epistula is written in a modular fashion in that each 'protocol' is a plugin which can be installed, and updated, seperately from the main application and other plugins. Epistula is initially only in development for AmigaOS 4, but hopefully in not-to-distant future, will also be made available for MorphOS, AmigaOS 3.1 and AROS, if and when I get access to the required hardware. However, those of you looking for individual 68k instant messengers available now wouldn't be going far wrong looking at JabberWocky, AmiMSN, AmiGG and AmigAIM. Due to the resonably simple plugin interface, as part of the Epistula package developers can download a 'Plugin Development Kit' which will allow them to easily build and integrate a new plugin based on their favourite protocol. Epistula v50.18 Quite a big update this time; I have been working hard on this for a while and have managed to complete all of the features I outlined in the last release. Read more for all the details... So, in this release the following changes have been made, and features implemented: - Documentation is provided in PDF form. - All imagery within Epistula is now user configurable. I've used PNG images as IFF won't display correctly on my machine. Note a word of warning though; don't try and use a PNG image with more than 256 colours as it will crash. I need to adapt my code to work with high colour images first. - You can now add and remove contacts to and from your contact list, although this will also depend on that functionality being implemented fully in the plugin. - Contacts can be moved (dragged and dropped) to and from any groups you have with your contact list. Note that I've found a nasty bug in the add group functionality, so it's disabled for now. A fix will be released VERY soon. - Full logging is provided should you need it. If I'm missing anything which you'd like implemented and added to the logs, drop me a line and I'll see it's added for the next update. - Docky icon implemented, although it doesn't do anything yet and looks err, dark. Best leave it off until I'm finished with it. - Updated catalogs and missing translations from last version fixed. If you spot anything which isn't translated let me know so I can fix it. Note that you should remove any old epistula.catalogs. - Nicely re-written plugin removal code which uses new features of dos.library to stop those awful crashes and 'Cannot quit plugin' messages. - Your installed MUI Classes are checked to make sure they're the correct version or above That's all I can think of right now, I'm sure there are lots of small fixed I've missed from that list so it'll be up to you lot to test everything for me. TOC v50.0 TOC is a new plugin from myself which will allow you to connect to AOL's AIM service which amongst other things, allows you to add ICQ contacts to your buddy list. I have tested this plugin with both official clients (AIM and ICQ) and I've had no problems so far. The plugin is pretty much complete apart from two areas; your buddy list order will not be saved on exit, and file transfer isn't i mplemented. Documentation is provided with the plugin should you need it, but please keep in mind that this is a first release and as such, should be expected to contain some teething problems. Please let me know of these ASAP so I can address them. Plugin Development Kit The plugin development kit is almost complete and will be released on my website by Friday 18th August, and will include the catalog translation files for interested parties. As usual, all of these updates can be (or will be eventually) found on my homepage which is The Snakepit Projects. Thanks for your patience, and enjoy! Although I've got that feeling that I've forgotten something really important Daniel Allsopp http://www.the-snakepit.co.uk/projects/ ---------------------------------------------------------------------- A N D W H I L E W E ' R E C H A T T I N G . . . 17 August, 2006 WookieChat Changes 2.3.1 What does this program do? It allows you to connect to Internet Relay Chat networks (IRC!) and chat with other users in a text medium in real-time. Some of the server groups are preconfigured to join an Amiga chat channel upon sucessful connection. WookieChat requires MUI + the custom classes: betterstring.mcc, nlist.mcc and nlisttree.mcc. Get it from os4depot as I'm unable to upload files to my web space currently. It should be ready for download soon! Register at my homepage for $15 usd! Or if you're too poor, dont worry about it because WookieChat is not crippled in any way! - I've attempted to fix the instability when using DCC SEND under OS3/MOS.. please report back to me if anyones still having problems - RESUME support added for outgoing DCC SEND (Incoming RESUME has worked for quite some time, but now it works both ways) - There used to be startup text if wookie couldnt load a catalog for your default language. I've since changed this so you only see this text if you run wookie with the "debug" option from shell. WookieChat is now in French, Swedish, German, Norwegian, and Polish! Both OS3.x and OS4 binaries are in the same archive. http://os4depot.net/ ---------------------------------------------------------------------- W I N U A E M A R C H E S F O R W A R D 6 AugUST, 2006 Ubiquitous (Universal?) Amiga Emulator for Amiga, New and improved features: - AVIOutput codec settings stored in registry and other small tweaks. - HRTMon updated to 2.30, WHDLoad-commands supported. - Some custom chipset timing tweaks. WinUAE 1.3 bugs fixed - Uaescsi.device freeze problem fixed. - Boot freeze if A4000 ROM was used without AGA. - Original extended ADF read bug. - Larger than 1280 wide fullscreen modes work. - Sound "led" filter configuration data was read incorrectly. - AVIOutput does not split the AVI anymore when focus was lost. - D3D filter fullscreen/windowed switching should not freeze anymore. - Integrated mousehack access fault fixed. http://www.winuae.net/ ---------------------------------------------------------------------- A N D S O D O E S E U A E 31 July, 2006 E-UAE This is a version of UAE, the Ubiquitous Amiga Emulator, with an emulation core largely based on WinUAE. It attempts to bring many of the great features of WinUAE to non-Windows platforms. This version now finally has a name, E-UAE, since that's what everybody was calling it anyway. The 'E' can stand for anything you fancy. Experimental, extreme, exciting, egalitarian, eggplant, . . . Currently it will build and run (with a varying degree of supported features) on Linux and other Unices, Mac OS X, BeOS, AmigaOS itself (either for 68k machines or PPC machines with AmigaOS 4.0 and the AmigaOS clones MorphOS and AROS). OS X requires either LibSDL or an X server for graphics output, but native graphics are supported on AmigaOS and BeOS, although, at the moment, SDL is also preferred on BeOS since the native driver is incomplete. E-UAE is open-source software and is made available under the terms of the GNU GPL. E-UAE is based on the work of dozens of contributors including Bernd Schmidt (the original author and maintainer of UAE), Bernie Meyer (the author of the x86 JIT compiler), Toni Wilen (the current maintainer of WinUAE), and many more. To make full use of E-UAE you will need access to an image of some version of the Amiga Kickstart ROM (although UAE does include a ROM emulation which may work with some old games). The Amiga Kickstart ROMs are copyrighted material and may not be freely distributed (so don't ask me for a copy). If you don't have an Amiga from which you can legally make a ROM image, a selection of ROM images are available for purchase online from Cloanto - publishers of the Amiga Forever d istribution. http://www.rcdrummond.net/uae/ ---------------------------------------------------------------------- I G N I T I O N S P R E A D S H E E T ( * B E T A O N L Y * ) 20 August, 2006 ignition 1.0 beta 1 has been released! ignition is a modern spreadsheet programme with a small but relational all-purpose database. You can realize your address database and manage your apartment house or whatever you like. You can calculate with times and dates as if they were regular numbers. The whole system can be controlled via ARexx. Since the development of ignition proceeds much slower than originally anticipated, we decided to release an up-to-date and not restricted beta version. Your support should push the further development forward. But we're also relying on your help to be able to complete the product. Particularly, we need help with the following things: * Revising and completing of the available documentation * Translation of that documentation to German and English - other languages are welcome, too, of course * Translations of the program texts themselves * New and more icons that can be used in the tool bars * Reports of existing bugs in the whole package At least the tree most contributing people will get a free version of ignition as a compensation for their help. A mailing list will be a vailable, a bug tracker already is. We're looking forward to your contributions! http://www.pinc-software.de/en_frames.html ---------------------------------------------------------------------- O P E N O F F I C E T E A M N E E D S H E L P 29 August, 2006 The Development of the Amiga OS4 port of OpenOffice.org requires some assistance. We have currently completed some dependancies including libusb, aspell, neon and some work has been done on porting csh. We need developers to produce a complete dependancy database plus further the csh port. All this needs doing prior to starting the actual OpenOffice.org code. To join our discussions/offer help please join the list at: https://lists.samfundet.no/mailman/listinfo/openoffice-os4 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- A I S S S Y S T E M V E R S I O N 3 11 August, 2006 AISS is a system to store, access and maintain toolbar images under AmigaOS. AISS 3 is available on the AISS section of Masonicons.de . Features: - more than 400 image sets (over 1200 single pictures). - 24 bit PNG images with 8 bit alpha channel - large documentation HTML format - printable PDF preview of the images The Powericons system is recommended for AISS3. If you still prefer Coloricons please use the special installation script in the 'Glowicons' drawer of the archive (untested). To do: - developer documentation - backup/restore system - version string =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Amiga Update on the net: All back issues available at: http://www.globaldialog.com/~bandr/AU/index.html Stop by and check out our archive! Now in our 13th publication year. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Copyright 2006 by Brad Webb. Freely distributable, if not modified. ====================================================================== _ __ _ <>_ __ _ A M I G A /\\ |\ /|| || / ` /\\ A M I G A U P D A T E /__\\ | \ / || || || ___ /__\\ U P D A T E / \\_ | \/ ||_ _||_ \__// / \\_ amigaupdate@globaldialog.com ======================================================================