JANUARY 1998 ********************************************** ISSUE #188 VILLANOVA UNIVERSITY, ST. AUGUSTINE CENTER MEETING STARTS - 09:30 - JAN 10 NOTE: Second Saturday Meeting! ----------------------------------------------------------------------- SPECIAL DEMO FOR THIS MEETING To start off the New Year, we are planning a special demo by Charles Curran, who will show us the SONY MAVICA MD7 digital camera! This is one of the new breed of "lower" price (i.e. under $1000) digital cameras. He will show the features and provide some insight as to why he selected this model. NOTE: demo planned to start at 10:30. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- MAIN LINE 64/128/PC USERS - Room 110 We'll launch the meeting with our usual announcements and news items. This should be a good chance for folks to pass on their Christmas experiences (see later in this issue for some of mine!). We may have a chance for a bit of Q & A, too. Then, at 10:30, we'll have the digital camera demo (see note above). After that is completed, the rest of the session will be devoted to more Q & A - on any matters related to 64's, 128's or PC's. Did you get something new for the holidays? Do you have any problems or questions about its use? We, obviously, can not promise to solve all problems, but we can try. For those who have started on the PC platform, this is your opportunity to make it easier to get up to speed (and that's a chore)! ----------------------------------------------------------------------- THIS MONTH'S CONTENTS Transferring Databases to PC's Year 1998/Other announcements Product Update - SUPERCPU 128/GODOT Trading Post 64/128 meeting minutes PC Q & A My Day AFTER Christmas AMIGA User Happenings State of the AMIGA World! MAP/Masthead/Meeting schedule **************************************** TRANSFERING DATABASE FILES Just had another go at transfering information from a Commodore database over to a PC database for Tom Johnson who now uses a PC. Some years ago, we transferred his home library collection from Data Manager 128 to Flex File 128 - so as to be able to use 1581 floppies and get up to 6,500 records on each. Tom needed to spread the data over three 1581's; so as to allow room for expansion. The time came to get the data out of Flex File and into some other database on the PC. The one Tom chose can import data in ASCII text format, provided it is in so-called "tab-delimited" form. What this means specifically is that: - the data in each database field is enclosed in double-quotes - each such entity is separated from the other fields by a tab character - after the last field in a record, there is a carriage return, instead of a tab - the CR marking the end of the record The only easy method of getting the data out of the large Flex File database was to have it write the data to a sequential file. Then, that file would have to be massaged to get it into the form needed for importability. Specifically, the Flex File data output sequential file has each field begin with a double-quote, followed by the field data, then a carriage return to mark the end of the field. There is no indicator of the end of a record - as Flex File does not need any such when it imports sequential data. Fortunately, Flex File is pretty flexible; so I could create a phony end of record marker! The process followed was: 1. Have Flex File write its data to a sequential file with a location for each field + one empty field at the end of each record's fields. In the sequential file, this was a field with only a double-quote and a carriage return. 2. The resulting file was transferred to a PC format floppy with Big Blue Reader, which translated the PETASCII to true ASCII and converted all carriage returns to carriage returns followed by line feeds (this latter eased some manipulations on the PC - but is actually not necessary to import the data). 3. The file was loaded into the word processor part of ClarisWorks (but many other competent word processors will do, if they can perform the next steps). 4. A series of three successive find-replace transformations were then run: - the combination of a CR+"+CR which signals that extra final, dummy field was changed to ZZ (for the total records, this was 13,130 replacements) - then each remaining CR was replaced with "+tab (this took a total of 65,650 replacements) - then the ZZ combination was replaced by "+CR to create the needed end of record marker (13,130 replacements) After the above sequences, the resulting files were ready for importing into the PC database. Which went perfectly and speedily! For the Commodore, this collection of 13 thousand+ records is a pretty impressive accomplishment. But, now the sky is the limit!!!!! Tom can have a field day (or week, month or year)! My reason for going thru all this is to give another indication that data that one has entered at one time should not have to be re-keyed just because you change platforms!!! [Emil Volcheck] ######################################## ANNOUNCEMENTS & SPECIALS ######################################## PLEASE NOTE: take a look at the upcoming meetings schedule on p.9. Note that our JANUARY meeting is planned for the SECOND Saturday, the 10th, to work around the New Year's holiday. YEAR 1998 IS UPON US! - we ended up the year 1997 with 35 renewals out of the 59 folks who were paid up for that year. The dues are still $15 to minimize the financial impact on your renewal tendency! Remember that, in addition to our traditional support for the 64, 128 and Amiga products, we now are supporting those folks who have either switched to, or added, the PC system. Hopefully, we can get up to the 50 level of renewals so as to insure a reasonable member base. Why not rejoin? And, if you know someone who switched to the PC and has not joined another user group, tell them about the possibility that Main Line Computer Users can help them. INTERNET BOOK! - at the December meeting, we got enough takers for a second discount order for Gaelyn Gasson's excellent Internet book. The sign up list will be at the January meeting for a last chance for additional interested folks. At the five or greater level, we can get the $24 discount (including shipping from Australia). Sign up then, or call Emil to get on the list. NOT SO GOOD NEWS - in the latest month's newsletter exchange there was a bit of bad news. The Pittsburgh Commodore Group announced that it was disbanding. PCG was formed in 1982 - same year as MLCUG - and reached a max membership level of around 500. (We only got to about the 275 member level at our peak). Their membership dropped - reaching about 40 last year, then to about 20 current members. Altho PCG had become strongly Amiga oriented in the last 2-3 years, that did not staunch the members bleeding away. We are sorry to hear this news. Hopefully, it will not happen (yet!) to us; so we can continue to mutually help computer users in this area. HOW GOOD IS YOUR PHONE LINE? - have you been tempted to upgrade your modem to one of the bleeding edge 56K jobbies? Well, before you take the step, you might want to find out if your phone connections can support 56K! The former US Robotics folks (now a division of 3Com) have provided a way for you to do so. With any modem of 2400 bps and up, you can call their toll free test number and have your phone connection(s) tested: 1-888-877-9248 This connects to the 3Com BBS. You'll see some interesting logon info and will shortly be greeted by a prompt, asking for your First Name. Enter the words line test, followed by a carriage return. The system will tell you it is testing your line and shortly will give you a potfull of information - including whether or not your phone line will work at 56K! If you have your terminal program set for ANSI, you can ask for the report in "graphics" when prompted. It is more colorful, but not more informative! BTW, if you buffer capture all this, you can have some interesting study time. OH YES, my phone line is NO GOOD for 56K (but then I live in Chester County!). As I said, it would be good to run this test before you make the 56K decision. [Emil Volcheck]. **************************************** PRODUCT UPDATE SUPERCPU 128 - CMD (Creative Micro Designs) has notified those who put down a deposit that the device will be shipping at any moment. Those who were still interested were asked to place a firm order for the setup they wanted (from several possible arrangements of the unit and its SuperRAM). As of this writing, it looks like at least three MLCUGgers have ordered. Perhaps, shortly, we'll be able to report that SOMEONE GOT ONE! And, schedule a meeting demo!!! GODOT GRAPHICS - late breaking news! As of December 27th, Charles Curran received his copy (from CMD) of the highly rated graphics program - GODOT - for the 64. We'll count on him to review and demo it for an upcoming meeting (after he gets this month's digital camera demo under his belt)! **************************************** 64/128 MEETING **************************************** December 6th brought us the "Holiday" meeting. For the first time in the club's history, we had a primarily social event, with goodies! In the back of the meeting room, the loyal 128, acting in 64 mode, rendered the Christmas themes (in sound and graphics) from the early years of the 64. Near the front of the room was Marty Caulfield's recently acquired $475 PC, with extra cost monitor. And, surrounding the front of the room were the goodies! There were donuts and danish, coffee, OJ, tea and cocoa for starters. This helped hold the fort til about 10:30 when the deli tray was brought out; so folks could follow their late continental breakfast with an early lunch!! From all signs, the repast(s) were much appreciated by the attendees. For the bulk of the meeting, we conducted a round the table Q & A, plus discussion, with some 22 folks participating. Total attendance at the 8-bit + Amiga sessions was about 30 - or more than half the club contingent - great! (We ended the 1997 year with 59 paid members). The discussions were interspersed with door prizes - won by Hines Mathews, Dennis Krall, Marty Caulfield and Bill Detwiler. Upstairs, the Amiga folk had enough prizes so that every attendee got something! At 11:45, we had the drawing for the 50/50 raffle, which was won by John Murphy - of the 8-bit group. A good time was had by all! PC Q & A We did not have a PC Q & A as such this month, as all the festivities were piled together. However, the PowerSpec 1660, recently bought by Marty, drew a lot of attention. The PC sells for $499 and makes a very respectable starting machine (tho its lack of upgradeability means it won't likely be your lifetime computer!). The price range of $500- $1000 is rapidly becoming populated with powerful PCs - far more capable than a year ago, where the $999 price tag was nowhere to be seen. Members who want to cross platforms should give this one a looksee - tho it is definitely NOT the machine for everyone. There will be more opportunity to deal with the topic of buying a new computer at our future PC Q & A sessions. **************************************** My day AFTER Christmas [by Emil "Santa" Volcheck] Well, the family got a couple of PC-based Christmas goodies: a parallel port ZIP drive (one of the $80 type from Santa Claus, via Staples!) and a flatbed parallel port scanner (one of the $90 type from Santa Claus, via Staples!). The ZIP was for my laptop - which was already set up for a ZIP drive that I had earlier. And the new one worked OK when hooked up. But, it came with a new version of the driver; so I went ahead and ran the setup to upgrade the driver on the laptop - it's always a good idea to "upgrade your drivers", right??? Well, after the upgrade, the computer would no longer recognize the ZIP drive! If I fired up the old driver, it was OK - but not with the new one!! So, naturally, I spent quite a bit of time running down why the "improved" driver did not work. To make a longer story short, one of the utilities that the laptop uses for memory management works OK with the older ZIP driver, but not with the new. By avoiding the use of that memory manager, the new driver works. I think it is faster than the old driver, but I'll have to test it. As for the scanner, the install of the software and driver seemed to be going OK - until the OCR software, provided with the device, started to install. It had some unusual test routines during the install - and they managed to crash the desktop PC. After a reset, I could come up, but the PC was running slower than molasses (for example, it took 10 seconds to respond to a mouse click - now that is slow!!!). Fortunately, my uninstaller - which had been monitoring the install process - was able to remove all the stuff put in (about 35 megs worth). When I rebooted, the PC worked fine! So, I tackled the install process again from scratch. This time I installed only the scanner driver and the image capturing program provided with it. Then I tested to see that the scanner actually worked - which it did! Hooray, no mechanical problems! Then, I tackled the install of the OCR stuff - the Xerox Textbridge Classic OCR program. By selecting carefully just what went on during the install, I got thru it OK this time! Hooray!! When I ran the software to see if it would grab an image and do OCR, it DID! Hooray again!! With both working, I then tested a couple of other pieces of software. One was an imaging program borrowed from Charlie Curran. It worked just fine with the new scanner. Then I tested the "Windows Imaging" accessory that comes with Windows 95 - it worked just nicely, too! So far, all the software I have checked seems to work nicely with the scanner - which is a Mustek TwainScan 600 III EP Plus. It is a 300x600, 30-bit, color flatbed, 8.5x11, parallel port jobby. Since it runs off the printer port, it is not real fast, but it won't be used for production either! While all the tests are not complete, this was a successful DAY of fiddling with these user-friendly, intuitive, no-instruction-needed, powerful (painful, frustrating, sometimes disgusting) computers!!! If there is more to tell, I'll tell it later.... Never put off 'til tomorrow what you should have done yesterday **************************************** AMIGA USER HAPPENINGS By John Deker, AMIGA SIG Leader MAIN LINE AMIGA USERS - Room 210 By the time you read this, Christmas will have come and gone. I hope all of you have had a wonderful holiday. As an avid computer user, you may have even received a computer related gift or two during the past month. Maybe even one or two of you upgraded the display capabilities of your computer based on our December presentation. There's more about that presentation in our Main Meeting section that follows. For January we have a change of plans. Instead of covering SSL (Secure Socket Layer) and PGP (Pretty Good Privacy) encryption issues as planned last month, we will be showing the relatively new Catalyzer video. Catalyzer is an instructional video on how to use ImageFX. I'm sure it doesn't cover all the aspects of using ImageFX, but it does do a significant job of covering topics and issues where the software documentation is weak. We may even take the time to shadow some of the operations presented on tape so as to get a better look at and appreciation of the ImageFX software. Whether we take the time to do so depends on the level of group interest. THE MAIN MEETING Last month our main presentation was a short one due to the fact that we were also celebrating the Christmas season. We presented and covered basic issues related to enhancing the resolution and color depth of the Amiga's video display. Specifically, we covered both the memory requirements and the basic type and size of monitor required for higher display resolutions. Here's a basic summary of the information one should consider when buying a monitor: MONITOR RESOLUTION LIMITS Size Pitch HorRes VertRes ----- ----- ------ ------- 14" 0.28 871 653 15" 0.25 1057 792 17" 0.28 1089 816 19" 0.28 1234 925 20" 0.56 653 490 NOTE the different pitches for the 15 and 20 inch monitors. The 20" specification represents the Toshiba TIMM monitor that we use at the Amiga meeting. The size and pitch are the determining factors for the physical number of pixels on screen in the horizontal and vertical directions. The resolution limits calculated above are approximate as they assume a certain mask size covering some of the visible part of the screen. In actuality, the given monitor size may be likely to display slightly more pixels. For those who wish to attempt the resolution calculations for themselves, just remember that pitch is defined as the vertical and horizontal distance between pixels measured in millimeters and that there are approximately 25.4 millimeters to the inch. Assuming the visible screen width of a 14" monitor to be 9.6", the horizontal resolution is calculated as 9.6 x 25.4 / 0.28 where 0.28 is the pitch. Here's a basic summary of the information one should consider when buying a video display board: SCREEN MODE MEMORY REQUIREMENTS Mode Colors Bytes --------- -------- ------ 640x480 256 307200 800x600 256 480000 1024x768 256 786432 1280x1024 256 1310720 640x480 16M 921600 800x600 16M 1440000 1024x768 16M 2359296 1280x1024 16M 3932160 The above table is very straight forward to calculate. Since it takes one byte to represent 256 colors, the equation for 256 colors is HorRes x VertRes x 1 Byte. For a 16 million color display (also called 24 bit display), 3 bytes are required to represent the color of each pixel. Therefore the equation is now HorRes x VertRes x 3 Bytes, or 640 x 480 x 3 for a 640x480 16 million color display. SCAN RATE CALCS In order to get a stable picture without apparent flicker, it is important to try and maintain a vertical refresh rate above 60 frames per second or essentially twice the rate of video film used for movies. Actually a vertical or picture refresh rate of at least 70Hz is recommended for extended viewing time so as to avoid fatigue. To achieve these vertical refresh rates, it is important to select a monitor that has an adequate horizontal scan rate capability. Based on my PicassoII video board manual, the calculation needed to determine what horizontal scan rate is required is as follows: Picture Rate x VertRes x 1.1 where 1.1 is used to allow for the blanked horizontal sweep of the monitor beam as it returns to the beginning of the next display line. A summary table for different monitor horizontal scan rates might look like this: SCREEN MODE SCAN RATES Pict Rate VertRes Horiz Rate --------- ------- ---------- 60 480 31.680 kHz 72 480 38.016 kHz 73 600 48.180 kHz 68 768 57.446 kHz 57 1024 64.205 kHz As can be seen, a monitor with a horizontal scan rate of 64kHz would be needed for a relatively stable picture with a 1280x1024 resolution. Knowing what screen resolution and color resolution you want to run, you can easily decide what monitor or video display board to buy for your Amiga, or for that matter any PC, Mac, etc. In the examples shown above, I've used resolutions that are standard for PC, Mac, or most any Amiga video display board. FUTURE MEETINGS If you have either software or hardware for your Amiga that has taken your fancy, please bring it to our attention. I'm sure your specific interests will be of interest to others. Let me know if this is the case at the next meeting, or leave me email on our BBS. Remember, a user group is only as rewarding as the sum of the efforts of its individual members. -------------------------- THE STATE OF THE AMIGA WORLD! ------------------------- SPEECH BY NEWTEK'S JENNISON Published in Amiga Update, 971128 As reported by Joe Tracy, Editor in Chief "NewTekniques" Magazine. This is a detailed report on the speech given by Tim Jenison at The Lively Computer in San Diego for the San Diego Professional Video Toaster Users Group. Date of speech: Thursday, November 13, 1997 --- Mr. Jenison began the evening by talking about NewTek's move to Topeka. One of his opening remarks was: "Yeah, we just moved from Topeka to San Antonio. Now I don't want to be one of these 'Topeka Sucks' ya know guys, but let me tell you something... Topeka sucks." He stated NewTek moved to Texas because they could not hire more people in Topeka with NewTek's strong growth. "Ever since the early days of NewTek, we've been trying to get the hell out of Topeka," he stated. California wasn't an option, he stated, because it is an expensive place to live. Jenison also stated that NewTek is saving almost one million dollars in taxes by moving from Topeka to Texas. --- Next, Jenison stated that up until LightWave 5.0, almost all of the work was done by Allen Hastings and Stuart Ferguson. "They're amazing people," he said. "Now LightWave has a development team of almost a dozen people." --- When packing to move, Jenison stated that he came across a number of old tapes that he wanted to show the group. He started it off by showing the NAB '89 Penn & Teller's Guide to Video Toaster Etiquette. The next tape he played was two of the first computer animations that Allen Hastings did [well prior to LightWave]. The first was titled "Infinite Loop" and the second was "Verx". He then showed another animation by Hastings titled "Rush Hour" that was done on one of NewTek's experimental animation/playback systems, "Chroma Dongle", that never shipped. Before showing the videos, he said he came across some rare business cards that NewTek use to hand out called "Cool Friends of NewTek". He found a box of them left and proceeded to hand one card to everyone who was in attendance. --- Next, Jenison asked how many people were familiar with Calibar or owned one [about a dozen or so people raised their hands]. He then proceeded to state he had brought one that was a "little different". He stated that the Calibar out now has a red light. But this "new" one also has a "green light". "Thank you very much," he stated to the laughs of those in attendance. He then proceeded to demonstrate how the green light was significant. It was a PAL version of Calibar. So the unit can now be bought as a COMBINATION NTSC AND PAL tester. "Our policy was to get the people [overseas] to convert to NTSC. It's not working," he jokingly stated as he showed the PAL version. He then stated that NewTek was almost finished with a Serial-Digital Calibar with imbedded audio. --- Jenison opened the floor to questions and answers. The first question was in regards to NewTek's "on-hold" announcement [made at the dealer meeting at NewTek Expo] about Flyer development on the Amiga platform. Tim was not at the meeting where and when the announcement was made and was not happy with the perceptions that the announcement left [i.e. the way the announcement could be interpreted by some as abandoning the Amiga platform]. "...I told Dwight to write a clarification and put it on the Toaster mailing list," said Jenison. "I believe it's out there now... well, Dwight just tried to basically clear the air. It was probably, more than anything, a really unfortunate choice of words because Dwight was going through, Dwight and Steve Herrmann, were going through a list of products and their status with NewTek. And when Dwight got to Flyer 5.0 he said 'this one is on hold pending what happens at Gateway' or something to that effect. And, you know, there is I guess an element of truth to that because the Flyer team, having just completed 4.2, their working on a little side project that has nothing to do with the Flyer and were accumulating a bug list on 4.2. And we are actively talking to Gateway." He further stated that NewTek was very encouraged that Gateway bought the assets of the Amiga. At the same time, he said, NewTek needs to know what they have/had in mind with the purchase of the Amiga so that they could plan accordingly. "Through these roller-coaster up and downs, it has been remarkably consistent - our sales [Toaster/Flyer sales]," said Jenison adding that such a fact had been an astounding surprise to NewTek. "Gateway buying the computer is yet another roll on the roller coaster," stated Jenison. "We are encouraged because Gateway is a very small company... we had no idea what they had in mind. We heard rumors that they were really hoping to acquire an operating system for their TV system [Destination]... so we put in calls to Gateway immediately and said 'we'd like meet with you, we'd like to talk to you' and, ya know, just nothing happened. And people write me these flames on e-mail going, ya know, 'why don't you come out and make a statement, why don't you come out and say that you're pleased that Gateway and NewTek are going to do some awesome and amazing things'. But, you know, I wrote back to the guy and said 'I can't just can't make stuff up'... Well since then, we have met with them. Dwight went out there and he came back very discouraged..." He went on to state that when Dwight flew to Gateway for a meeting, the gentleman who had encouraged the purchase of the Amiga and could make the decisions was not at that meeting. There were three guys in his place and none of them had the authority to make any decisions. That was the status when Dwight had to give an update to the dealers at NewTek Expo. "There is not a day that goes by when Dwight and I and the marketing people, and some of the engineering people, don't discuss what we can do with new Amiga technology," says Jenison. "... We have done a lot of stuff with the Amiga this year. Most of which would be a surprise to you. We look at the Gateway thing as just an opportunity to possibly get in control of our destiny for the first time with the Amiga." What Gateway does affects NewTek's choices for future developments, said Jenison. "Nobody has stuck around with the Amiga longer than NewTek," he said. "... we just keep charging along supporting this machine because it is an extremely good machine. Now a lot of people say 'why the hell are you even doing that?' I have really no culturistic goal of going out and making sure the Amiga is a wonderful thing that goes on forever. You know I like the computer, but it's just not my role in life to do that. I have my own very personal reasons for why using that computer. That computer, by sort of bizarre sets of circumstances ended up being perfect for desktop video... The computer, as it ended up, had all this amazing video circuitry in it. It was exactly NTSC frequencies and it had a genlock input. And it had a real-time operating system... The technical aspects did not change and they have not changed till this day. It is still the only computer that can scan an image using NTSC time... It is the only computer with a real-time operating system that is closing keyed in to video time... In short, you could not make a Video Toaster that would run on a Mac or on a Pentium. It would be impossible. The only way you can do it would be to have your own processor on board that would have a real-time operating system that was fast on switching on video clips." Back to the announcement, Jenison states that what should have been said was: "There are all sorts of different scenarios we can go through and they all kind of hinge on what we learn from Gateway. Now if we hear from Gateway 'screw you guys, we don't want anything to do with NewTek', that is a scenario. We can deal with that. We're use to that as a matter of fact [laughter from audience]. Even in that case we would not drop support. We would not stop working on it. We would not stop thinking about it. When he said 'on hold' that is what he really meant." --- In wrapping up his comments on the Amiga and the 'on-hold' announcement, Jenison stated, "On the sixth floor [NewTek's Research and Development Lab] there is a hardcore Amiga contingent that everyday they look at me funny if I don't have them work on Amiga stuff. Again, it is a mature product, it is a good product that can hold it's own with any other system out there. We think it has an incredibly long life ahead of it and we'd like to just keep our hands in it because as a finished product it is a thing of great beauty. The perception that came out of that meeting was the wrong perception." When asked where Gateway is now with the Amiga, Jenison stated that he is "guardedly optimistic" and that the licensing of QuikPak was a good thing for the providing of a short term Amiga source in the United States. "That was a big change for us," he said. --- Jenison then commented on the PlayableTV article that appeared in "The Amiga Informer". He stated that a guy approached him at NewTek Expo who was upset at what NewTek was doing to Mark Stross and PlayableTV as mentioned in the article. Jenison hadn't seen the article yet, so he read it. "So I read this article. I was very perplexed at what this was about because nothing could be further from the truth." Jenison stated that NewTek has gone out of it's way to help Stross solve any problems that came up to make PlayableTV a reality [like getting Scala running with the Flyer]. He then took a brief moment to describe PlayableTV: "It's really cool because you're seeing this full motion animation on the screen and it's trying to get your attention. You can just walk up and touch things on the screen. Instantly, without a hitch, without a glitch, it dissolves into what you want to watch or transitions into it or the animation spins around and becomes what you want to watch. And then from that point you can touch other things. There is this incredible feeling of power that you can just touch the screen and this amazing video image just morphs and does what you want... it's a very cool thing." After reading the article, Jenison pulled Stross aside to discuss the article. Says Jenison, "It turns out that it was kind of third hand information they got on a day Mark was very frustrated... In the article they talk about a license that Mark was needing. Mark does not need a license... the license you get with the Toaster and Flyer is exactly what Mark needs. What Mark needs for the clients he is going after, he needs an assured supply of product... Dwight and I have always told Mark that we will make those things as long as the sun shines. As long as we can get parts for them and we'll give him a contract to that effect." --- Jenison briefly spoke about digital video and the Flyer. "Tape noise is the Flyer's worse enemy," he said. "When you use digital tape, there is no tape noise. So the Flyer is just tickled to death with that signal..." --- About firewire, Jenison stated "I hear from guys occasionally who are working on a firewire connection to the Toaster." He further stated that the benefit to using it with the Flyer is very little. --- Jenison was asked to comment on the Trinity and their delays/technology. However, Jenison stated that he has been asked not to make any comments on the system as anything he says could have future implications. --- About HQ6, Jenison stated, "there is an HQ6 mode that we have at NewTek. It is experimental. We're not sure that it is working right or that it will work on all Flyer boards." He stated it is about to go into beta testing. --- About a Toaster for Windows, Jenison stated that it is still in development. --- It was very obvious to everyone there that Jenison was very "laid back" and sincere in everything he said and did [he spoke for nearly an hour and a half]. He mentioned that at NewTek Expo they got hit with a "one- two punch" [the "on hold" announcement and PlayableTV article] that allowed the wrong perceptions to form about their dedication to current Toaster/Flyer users and the Amiga. The meeting confirmed NewTek's dedication to the video market on both the Amiga and other platforms in the future. Most obvious was the fact that what happens with their continued development on the Amiga depends on what Gateway does or doesn't do. NewTek has taken the steps to communicate with Gateway and it seems that every time Gateway has shown very little interest. Most important, in this entire situation, is the fact that Dwight Parscale took the time to write a public note on NewTek's position and Tim Jenison took valuable time to fly to San Diego to speak to Toaster/Flyer users on this subject. They took the time to communicate [after the fact] which not only puts rumors to rest, but also shows that they are very much dedicated to addressing the concerns of users. Kudos to them for that. With improved Flyer marketing and commitments from Gateway, the Flyer could yet be recognized for the powerful machine that it is. Sincerely, Joe Tracy, Editor in Chief, NewTekniques ----------------- COMPUTER BIG LIE #6 - "This little change won't affect anything". Never decide to alter your system right before a big job is due. That little "fix" in the software could put the whammy on some part of the system you assumed was unrelated. $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ $ TRADING POST $ $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ FOR SALE: Complete C-64 outfit (it is a virtual "room full" of stuff). If you want to check on something of interest, call Don Sauerhoefer, 610-258-0218 (H) or 908-475-7597 (W). (1) FOR SALE: flat C-128, 1571 disk drive, 1902A RGB monitor, Star NX-1000C printer Manuals, some software apps and games Make offer to Bill Oaks, 610-459-5410(2) FOR SALE: C-64/Vic-20 outfit, w 1525 printer, 1541 drive, 1351 mouse, keypad, Omnitronix interface, books and mags. Wish to sell as a package. Make an offer to Sara Mathews, 215-945-8375, or email to gxmf91a@prodigy.com (2) FOR SALE: 3 each C-64, 1541 drives & 1702 color monitors. Also, a Plus4 with 2 special joysticks and associated soft- ware. And, tons of software for the 64. Call Ed Cohen, 215-628-4228, after 6P(3) FOR SALE: MLCUG has a lot of hardware and software that is available for you to purchase at very attractive prices! We'll have detailed lists at the next meeting - here is some of the hardware, the software list is to long to show! 6 computer - C-64 w/PS $25 18 disk drive 1541 - various $20 1 interface - Cardco $ 5 1 interface - MSD $ 5 6 joystick $ 2 1 modem - Panasonic 1200 bps $10 1 monitor - amber - Panasonic $10 1 monitor - screen filter $ 5 1 plotter - Commodore 1520 $10 2 printer - Commodore 1525 $10 2 printer - Commodore 803 $10 2 printer - color - Okimate 10 $10 1 printer - Okimate 120 $20 1 printer - Star Gemini II $25 2 computer - VIC-20 TBD 1 64K RAM/video for VIC-20 TBD 1 computer - Plus4 $25 You can contact Charles Curran to check on any items of interest (610-446-5239). --------------------------------------------------------------- 64/128/Amiga Meetings 1998 Steering Committee Meetings January 10 * January 14 February 07 February 11 March 07 March 11 * = second Saturday ** = third Wednesday *********************************************************************** * EDITOR: Emil J. Volcheck, Jr. 1046 General Allen Lane West Chester, PA 19382-8030 (Produced with C-128, RAMlink, HD-40/85, 1571, FD-4000, THE WRITE STUFF 128, XETEC Super Grafix, Panasonic KX-P1123, Swiftlink RS-232 and Motorola 288 modem) MLCUG BBS: 610-828-1359 (300 --> 28800 bps), 24 hr/day WWW: http://astro4.ast.vill.edu/mlcug/index.htm