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Date:         Thu, 5 Nov 1992 13:38:00 EST
From:         Jim Loomis <LOOMIS@ITHACA.BITNET>
Subject:      101692 GEnie Weekend News

As long as individual stories are kept intact and credit is given, this
material may be reproduced in ALL or PART on a privately owned BBS or in
a user group newsletter.  See wording for proper credit at the end of this
Newscast.

Thanks to Denny Atkin, Editor, COMPUTE's Amiga Resource, for his generous input.


                       DateLine:  October 16, 1992
         This 5-MINUTE Newscast presents the following stories:
         ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 1. Deluxe Paint IV AGA

 2. News from Blue Ribbon SoundWorks:
     Blue Ribbon Tops Its State-of-the-Art
     Olympics Project Wins Computerworld Smithsonian Awards: Amiga Benefits
     Blue Ribbon and Music For Life Team to Promote Social Harmony
     SuperJAM! 1.1 Announced and New PatchMeister Update Released

 3. Free Spirit to Market Aussie Educational Software

 4. Next Week's *StarShip* Amiga Conferences [DELETED]

 5. How to Catch an Elephant

 6. Three Sixty, Inc.: Megafortress: Operation Sledgehammer
     Two Value Paks Hit the Shelves for This Holiday Season!

 7. GVP Unveils Low Cost Genlock



                         *StarShip* NEWS *Flash*
                             1st of 7 Stories


                            Deluxe Paint IV AGA
                            ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
     ____      Paint and Animate with 262,000 Colors at Hi-Res
    / ___)
   / (_               San Mateo, CA -- October 8, 1992
  / ___)
 / (_
(____)lectronic Arts today anounced the upcoming release of Deluxe Paint IV
AGA, the latest addition to the DeluxePaint line of innovative paint and
animation products.

DeluxePaint now offers more colors and better screen resolution to Amiga
owners using Commodore's new AGA (Advanced Graphics Architecture) chip set.
For owners of the Amiga 4000 or Amiga 1200, DeluxePaint IV AGA now offers 256
color support and access to over 262,000 colors (HAM8) at any resolution,
including hi-res. The program also reads and coverts 24-bit IFF files,
supports all Amiga screen resolutions, and includes all the features of its
predecessor, DeluxePaint 4.1.

DeluxePaint's vast range of easy-to-use paint and animation features such as a
LightTable, animation control panel, metamorphosis, animbrushes and
animpainting, color cycling, and a Move requester makes the program accessible
to the basic needs of amateur artists, while satisfying the rigorous
requirements of graphics and video professionals.

"Commodore's new technology is designed to meet the needs of today's creative
professionals," noted Dallas Hodgson, designer of DeluxePaint IV AGA.
"Electronic Arts is excited to take advantage of the machine's new
capabilities, and offer our paint and animation program simultaneously with
Commodore's launch."

DeluxePaint IV AGA requires Workbench 2.04 or greater and at least 2MB of
memory. Electronic Arts will continue to market DeluxePaint IV 4.1 to users
who do not own the new chip set, or do not meet the memory and system
requirements.

Electronic Arts is offering a $30.00 upgrade to DeluxePaint IV owners. Details
for ordering the DeluxePaint IV AGA upgrade can be obtained by calling
Electronic Arts at 800/245-4525 Monday through Friday between 8:00 A.M. and
5:00 P.M. Pacific Time.

Category: Paint/Animation                   Suggested Retail Price: $199.00
Platform: Amiga                                 Availablity: December, 1992

                                   -*-


                            *StarShip* NEWS *Flash*
                               2nd of 7 Stories


                    Blue Ribbon Tops Its State-of-the-Art
 ______             ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
(__  __)               Atlanta, GA -- October 6, 1992
  / /
 / /
(_/he Blue Ribbon SoundWorks, makers of leading music software and hardware
products for the Commodore Amiga computer, announced the upcoming release of
Bars&Pipes Professional 2.0 today. In addition to all of the functionality of
version 1.0, Bars&Pipes Professional 2.0 includes the folowing:

Notation:
  Improved notation display and editing; Guitar tablature editing; Background
  display of alternate track; and Saving Notation as an IFf image.

Editing:
  Program change selected by name; Pattern style loop editor with drum
  mapping; SMPTE display in both the graphical and list editors; Event filter
  display in List editor; Improved song construction; Improved graphical
  editing; and Hit List editing.

Recording:
  Grove qualtize; Sequence trigger; Integrated Transport Controls;
  Event-specific recording/merging; and Tempo tap & Rubato.

Tools:
  Tools listed with names in the ToolBox; Slide show presentation; Video
  Toaster control; ARexx and device control; SunRize direct to-disk control;
  Triple Play Plus control; Easy Off Tool; Velocity Splitter; Stop!; Tool
  trays; and over fifty Tools from Music Box A and B that have been enhanced
  and included.

Interface:
  Improved window design, including 2.0 style front/back buttons; 2.0 feature
  support including ASL file requester, public screen and virtual screen
  size; and Preferences saved in an icon.

Interoperability:
  Support for The PatchMeister's automatic installation of Patch Lists;
  Expanded MIDI File Format support; SMUS conversion Accessory; and SyncPro,
  Real 3-D, and Imagine Accessories.

In addition, Bars&Pipes Professional 2.0 includes Media Madness, extensive
Multi-media enhancements which allow Bars&Pipes Professional 2.0 to rival
state-of-the-art multi-media authoring applications. Media Madness includes a
complete set of Multi-Media features designed to integrate control of
non-musical events into Bars&Pipes Professional 2.0.

The Media Madness Tool set can control Toaster transitions, ANIM file
playback, SunRize sound effects, genlocks, video decks, ARexx, and much more.
The Media Madness Window provides complete graphic editing of the multi-media
performance, in SMPTE as well as music time. The Media Madness Recorder saves
the Bars&Pipes performance in the Media Madness multi-media format, while the
freely-distributable Media Madness Player performs Media Madness performances,
including MIDI, internal sounds, toaster transitions, animations, etc.

As new Multi-Media Tools arrive, the Media Madness Player will inherit their
capabilities. The Media Madness Player can also synchronize to SMPTE, ARexx,
and all of the special Accessories that synchronize Bars&Pipes Professional
2.0 to other products such as Real3D, Imagine, and Scala.

Using Media Madness, Bars&Pipes Professional 2.0 users can design multi-media
presentations from within Bars&Pipes Professional, synchronizing video,
animations, music and sound effects.

Bars&Pipes Professional 2.0 lists for $429 and will be available on December
22, 1992. Registered owners of Bars&Pipes Professional will be notified of
upgrade details by mail.



            Olympics Project Wins Computerworld Smithsonian Awards:
                          Amiga Market Benefits
 ______                   ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
(__  __)              Washington, DC - June 8, 1992
  / /
 / /
(_/he Centennial Olympic Games multi-media technology was awarded the
prestigous computer Smithsonian Award for excellence in the innovative use of
technology from across the country and around the world. More than 800
industry leaders, nominees, professionals and guests attended the
international program.

Featuring software custom-designed by The Blue Ribbon SoundWorks, the
presentation used an Amiga to control simultaneous narration, music, animation
and video. Comments Todor Fay, Vice President of Research and Development at
Blue Ribbon, "Many aspects of the Olympics project grew into full-fledged
features in our product line. For example, Bars&Pipes Professional was greatly
influenced by our experience of scoring the Olympics soundtrack."

The award-winning Olympics project inspired Blue Ribbon to create Media
Maness, an exclusive feature of its new Bars&Pipes Professional 2.0. Media
Madness' extensive multi-media enhancements allow Bars&Pipes Professional 2.0
to rival state-of-the-art multi-media authoring applications. Media Madness
includes a complete set of Multi-Media features designed to integrate control
of non-musical events in to Bars&Pipes Professional 2.0.

Available in mid-December, Media Madness is included free with Bars&Pipes
Professional 2.0.



        Blue Ribbon and Music For Life Team to Promote Social Harmony
    ____~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
   / _  )              Atlanta, GA - Sept. 24, 1992
  / __ /
 / _  )
(____/lue Ribbon SoundWorks, designers of Music software and hardware
projects, and Music For Life, a Los Angeles-based non-profit organization of
musicians and computer artists, have joined forces to benefit abused,
underprivileged, and seriously ill children.

Using software donated by The Blue Ribbon SoundWorks, Music For Life
volunteers its talents by offering educational computer workshops using the
Commodore Amiga. Young "artists" can participate in a hi-tech music recording
session, smear digital "paint," and even feature themselves in computer
animation.

Goals of the Music For Life program include:

 o  Hastening the healing process through creative and socially rewarding
    activities;
 o  Instilling a sense of personal accomplishment and heightened self-esteem;
 o  Exposure to computers, stimulation of curiosity, and motivation to learn
    more; and
 o  Increased aesthetic values through participation in the creation process.

"Music For Life seeks to apply the spirit of those endeavors to a variety of
worthy causes on an ongoing basis," comments Vinnie Tieto, founder and
director of Music For Life. "We feel that building a firm foundation of
self-esteem and hope for the future in underprivileged and abused children is
a top priority."



         SuperJAM! 1.1 Announced and New PatchMeister Update Released
 ______  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
(__  __)               Atlanta, GA -- Sept. 22, 1992
  / /
 / /
(_/he Blue Ribbon SoundWorks, makers of leading music software and hardware
products for the Commodore Amiga computer, announced today the upcoming
upgrade release of its best-selling interactive composition software,
SuperJAM! Version 1.1, which will replace version 1.0c, and includes the
following new additions:

  o  Stereo TurboSounds
  o  Two octave chords
  o  Split chords with Bass on bottom, other instruments on top
  o  Visual volume and pan mixing
  o  Multiple grooves per Style
  o  Existing Styles enhanced to support multiple grooves
  o  Additional Styles
  o  Improved interface design, including Workbench 2.0 style front/back
     buttons
  o  2.0 feature support including ASL file requester, public screen and
     virtual screen size

Version 1.1 will be released December 10, 1992. The price of SuperJAM! will
remain at $149.00. Upgrade information will be sent to registered owners of
SuperJAM! in late November.


The PatchMeister V1.0c

Blue Ribbon has released version 1.0c of The PatchMeister, its universal MIDI
patch librarian. This version, which replaces all preceding versions, includes
the following enhancements:

  o  The Stand-alone version can default to interlace mode upon start up
  o  The SysEx command lines in the Driver Creator window have been expanded
     to contain 75 characters
  o  A Clock gadget has been added to the Driver Creator window
  o  A Sort Bank option has been added to the Bank Menu
  o  The Settings Menu now includes a Catalog option
  o  The Save Patch List and Transfer Patch List menu items have been changed
     to insert a bank's patch names at a specific location in the list
  o  This version can send individual Note Off commands for all 128 notes on
     each of the 16 MIDI channels

In addition to these changes, The PatchMeister includes these new synthesizer
drivers: Art DRI, Ensoniq Mirage, E-mu Procussion, Alesis QuadraVerb, Yamaha
SY22, Yamaha SY55, Yamaha TG33, Yamaha TG77, Tascam 644 and Tascam 688.

Registered owners of The PatchMeister can upgrade to version 1.0c directly
through Blue Ribbon for $9.50.

For more information, contact Blue Ribbon SoundWorks at Post Office Box 8689,
North Highland Station, Atlanta, GA 30306, or call 404/377-1514.

                                 -*-


                            *StarShip* NEWS *Flash*
                               3rd of 7 Stories


               Free Spirit to Market Aussie Educational Software
     ____      ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    / ___)
   / (_                Columbus, IN - September 18, 1992
  / ___)
 / /
(_/ree Spirit Software, Inc. has reached an agreement with the Education
Department of South Australia to market certain Satchel Software titles in
North America. The Minister of Education and Children's Services, Mr. Greg
Crafter, signed the agreement with Joe Hubbard, President of Free Spirit, in a
meeting in Adelaide, Australia, on June 30.

The agreement covers the Satchel Software educational range which was
developed by the Angle Park Computing Centre a division of the Education
Department. The Angle Park Computing Centre is a developer of high quality
educational software for use throughout Australian schools.

The Satchel Software titles to be marketed in North America include Dr.
Spellingstein, Math Booster, Granny's Garden, Picture Book, Flowers of
Crystal, Dragonworld, Jara Tava, The Lost World and Forte Jr. These titles are
for primary school students and are available for MS-DOS, Amiga and C64/128
computers. Each title has a suggested retail price of $39.95.|
For more information contact Free Spirit Software at 720 Sycamore Street,
Columbus IN 47201 or call 812/376-9964.

                                  -*-



                          *StarShip* NEWS *Flash*
                             4th of 7 Stories

                                 [DELETED]

                                    -*-


                          *StarShip* NEWS *Flash*
                             5th of 7 Stories


                         How to Catch an Elephant
                         ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
                            by Peter Theobald
            National Center for Software Technology, Bombay, India

    _____            A Bold New Proposal for Matching
   / _   )         High-Technology People and Professions
  / / ) /
 / (_/ /
(_____/ver the years, the problem of finding the right person for the right
job has consumed thousands of worker-years of research and millions of dollars
of funding. This is particularly true for high-technology organizations where
talent is scarce and expensive. Recently, however, years of detailed study of
the finest minds in the field of psychoindustrial interpersonnel optimization
have resulted in the development of a simple and foolproof test to determine
the best match between personality and profession. Now, at last, people can be
infallibly assigned to the jobs for which they are truly best suited.

The procedure is simple: Each subject is sent to Africa to hunt elephants. The
subsequent elephant-hunting behavior is then categorized by comparison to the
classification rules outlined below. The subject should be assigned to the
general job classification that best matches the observed behavior.

Classification Guidelines

Mathematicians hunt elephants by going to Africa, throwing out everything that
is not an elephant, and catching one of whatever is left.

Experienced mathematicians will attempt to prove the existence of at least one
unique elephant before proceeding to step 1 as a subordinate exercise.

Professors of mathematics will prove the existence of at least one unique
elephant and then leave the detection and capture of an actual elephant as an
exercise for their graduate students.

Computer scientists hunt elephants by exercising Algorithm A:
     1. Go to Africa.
     2. Start at the Cape of Good Hope.
     3. Work northward in an orderly manner, traversing the continent
        alternately east and west.
     4. During each traverse pass,
         a. Catch each animal seen.
         b. Compare each animal caught to a known elephant.
         c. Stop when a match is detected.

Experienced computer programmers modify Algorithm A by placing a known
elephant in Cairo to ensure that the algorithm will terminate.

Assembly language programmers prefer to execute Algorithm A on their hands and
knees.

Engineers hunt elephants by going to Africa, catching gray animals at random,
and stopping when any one of them weighs within plus or minus 15 percent of
any previously observed elephant.

Economists don't hunt elephants, but they believe that if elephants are paid
enough, they will hunt themselves.

Statisticians hunt the first animal they see N times and call it an elephant.

Consultants don't hunt elephants, and many have never hunted anything at all,
but they can be hired by the hour to advise those people who do.

Operations research consultants can also measure the correlation of hat size
and bullet color to the efficiency of elephant-hunting strategies, if someone
else will only identify the elephants.

Technical writers don't hunt elephants, but prepare detailed instructions for
hunting them, arranged in alphabetical order rather than in the order they are
to be executed. This provides additional work for the consultants.

Politicians don't hunt elephants but they will share the elephants you catch
with the people who voted for them.

Lawyers don't hunt elephants, but they do follow the herds around arguing
about who owns the droppings.

Software lawyers will claim that they own an entire herd based on the look and
feel of one dropping.

Vice presidents of engineering, research, and development try hard to hunt
elephants, but their staffs are designed to prevent it. When the vice
president does get to hunt elephants, the staff will try to ensure that all
possible elephants are completely prehunted before the vice president sees
them. If the vice president does see a nonprehunted elephant, the staff will
(1) compliment the vice president's keen eyesight and (2) enlarge itself to
prevent any recurrence.

Senior managers set broad elephant-hunting policy based on the assumption that
elephants are just like field mice, but with deeper voices.

Quality assurance inspectors ignore the elephants and look for mistakes the
other hunters made when they were packing the jeep.

Salespeople don't hunt elephants but spend their time selling elephants they
haven't caught, for delivery two days before the season opens.

Software salespeople ship the first thing they catch and write up an invoice
for an elephant.

Hardware sales people catch rabbits, paint them gray, and sell them as desktop
elephants.

Computer journalists call the PR people for the hunters and demand a free
elephant:  NOW!!!

Psychics never catch any elephants, but they appear on talk shows to claim
that they successfully directed the hunters to do so.

                                   -*-



                          *StarShip* NEWS *Flash*
                             6th of 7 Stories


                    Megafortress: Operation Sledgehammer
                    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
       Category: Military Simulation Data Disk
       Suggested Retail Price: $39.95
       Format/Compatibilities: Amiga 500, 1000, 2000, 2500 & 3000;
       Requires Kickstart 1.3 or 2.04. 1 MB of RAM required.
       3D 256 color VGA graphics. AdLib and Sound Blaster compatible.
 ______
(__  __)               Campbell, CA - Sept. 11, 1992
  / /
 / /
(_/hree-Sixty, Inc. today announced the immediate availability of
Megafortress: Operation Sledgehammer for the Amiga. For use with the
award-winning Megafortress game based on the nationally acclaimed best-selling
novel "Flight of the Old Dog," this first mission disk exposes you to new
territory, new threats, and new targets in the Middle East. Along with
confronting numerous threats from enemy fighters and SAMs, the player must
master the art of resource management, knowing when, for example, to
rendezvous for flight refueling.

Author and military aviator Dale Brown collaborated with Three-Sixty's
developers to produce 25 new missions with over 1000 square miles of territory
in Iran and Libya. The player will be flying a fully renovated "super" B-52
Bomber with all the latest in weapons and avionics high technology. New
weapons features in this data disk are: ASM-119A Penguin anti-ship missile
(ASM), the CBU-95 Fuel Air Explosive (FAE), the Iranian SA-12A and HAWK SAMs,
the Libyan SA-10, MiG-25s, and Mirage F-1s. Operation Sledgehammer's missions
are portrayed in stunning 256 color VGA three-dimensional graphics.

Operation Sledgehammer is distributed exclusively in North America by
Electronic Arts Distribution under its Affiliated Label program. Three-Sixty,
Inc. is a privately held developer and publisher of personal computer
entertainment software for the IBM PC and compatibles, the Commodore Amiga and
the Macintosh.


         Two Value Paks Hit the Shelves for This Holiday Season!
 ______  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
(__  __)              Campbell, CA - Sept. 28, 1992
  / /
 / /
(_/hree-Sixty Pacific, Inc. today announced the release of the Harpoon
Challenger Pak Signature Edition and the Megafortress Mega Pak. Each offers a
value added incentive for the end user.

Harpoon Challenger Pak Signature Edition

This new Challenger Pak is autographed by Larry Bond and Tom Clancey and
includes the Harpoon Master game, BattleSets 2, 3, and 4, and the Harpoon
Scenario Editor. Conceived by Larry Bond, naval analyst and author of "Red
Phoenix" and "Vortex," the Harpoon Master game delivers the excitement and
tension of naval battle in a fact based simulation. Harpoon's three additional
BattleSets, North Atlantic Convoy, The Med Conflict, and Indian Ocean/Persian
Gulf, provide over 250 additional platforms and 48 new scenarios. Finally, the
Harpoon Scenario Editor, the same tool used by Harpoon programmers to create
new scenarios, gives players the capability to modify existing scenarios or
create new ones. This attractively priced collection of Harpoon products can
provide unlimited hours of play and makes an excellent holiday gift.

Suggested Retail Price: $79.95
Format/Compabitilies: IBM PC 286 or better & 100% Compatibles; Required DOS
3.3 or 5.0 Requires EGA or VGA 640 x 350 (16 color); 640K and Hard Drive
required; High Density Drive Required, Mouse Recommended.
Also available in Macintosh and Amiga formats


Megafortress Mega Pak

The Megafortress Mega Pak is a compilation product that includes the
Megafortress Master game, Mission Disk One: Operation Sledgehammer, and the
Megafortress Mission Editor. Based on the best seller "Flight of the Old Dog"
written by Dale Brown, the Megafortress Master game is an adventure into the
complex world of modern strategic air assault in the Persian Gulf and Soviet
threatres. Operation Sledgehammer, the first mission disk, allows the player
to take on a power hungry Libyan general in 25 new missions in the Libyan and
Iranian theatres. To complete the Mega Pak, Three-Sixty has included the
Megafortress Mission Editor which enables the player to modify existing
missions or create new ones. The Mission Editor will not be sold separately.
This quality Three-Sixty product is available now and will be included in
Electronic Arts' Buy 2 Get 1 Free holiday promotion.

Suggested Retail Price: $59.95
Format/Compatibilities: IBM PC 286 or better & 100% Compatibles; Requires DOS
3.3 or newer; Requires 256 color VGA; 640K, Hard Drive, and Mouse required, Ad
Lib and Sound Blaster Sound Support.

                                   -*-



                          *StarShip* Amiga *Flash*
                              7th of 7 Stories


     _____             GVP Unveils Low Cost Genlock
    / ____)            ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
   / /___          King of Prussia, PA -- Sept. 8, 1992
  / /(   )
 / (__) /
(______/reat Valley Products, Inc. announced today that it has developed a
very affordable, high quality, verstile genlock that will rival even the most
expensive genlocks on the market.

Called G-Lock, this feature-packed unit is completely software controllable
through its user friendly control panel software, or through ARexx or the CLI.
It can accept two composite or one Y/C inputs, and provides composite, Y/C,
RGB or YUV outputs at all times. Many adjustable parameters affecting the
incoming video are available, including brightness, contrast, saturation, hue,
sharpness, filtering, and gain. Full audio support is provided through two
audio inputs which can be switched or mixed, and the output volume, bass and
treble can also be adjusted.

The G-Lock software also allows all of the Amiga's custom chip genlock control
features (including EGS and AGA) parameters to be utilized, and can also load
and display IFF images.

"G-Lock is the best value in genlocks for the Amiga, providing a high quality
audio/video solution and powerful control software," commented Paul
Higginbottom, GVP's Senior Director of Technical Services. "I predict it will
quickly become the most popular genlock for everyone from the video hobbyist
to the full-time professional videographier."

G-Lock is scheduled to ship at the end of September and will list for $449. It
will be available in both PAL and NTSC versions.

Great Valley Products was founded in 1988 and is today the world's largest
third-party suppier of peripherals for the Amiga. For more information,
contact GVP at 600 Clark Ave., King of Prussia, PA 19406 or call 215/337-8770.

                                   -*-

       Permission is hereby  granted to quote ALL or PART of this
       Newscast on a privately owned BBS or in a user group news-
       letter provided you include the following credit:

          Reprinted by Permission from the 5-MINUTE Weekend
        News Network, a *StarShip*(tm) Production on GEnie(R).


Disclaimer:  My association with GEnie is merely as a subscriber.  This post is
offered without compensation or endorsement of any kind.

              Jim Loomis   LOOMIS@ITHACA.BITNET   GEnie: J.LOOMIS

###
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