HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: doiron@starpt.UUCP (Glenn Doiron)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.advocacy
Subject: Re:  Atari Falcon Discount Supermachine  Re: Sydnes is gone?!!
Date: 31 Aug 92 12:22:14 GMT
Organization: 68K Software Development

In article <1992Aug29.211827.20288@mnemosyne.cs.du.edu> jyoung@nyx.cs.du.edu (Jeff Young) writes:
[blah blah blah. blah blah blah ad nauseum]
>People want cheap hardware not cheap vapor!

Exactly.  So why are you blabbering away about the falcon?
 
Glenn Doiron
--
Amiga UUCP+
Origin:  uunet!starpt!doiron     (Organization:68K Software Development)
         BIX: gdoiron
** Not enough memory to perform requested operation.  Add 4 megs and retry.
Organization: The Leader Desslok School of Diplomacy
Date: Sun, 30 Aug 1992 20:32:48 EDT
From: Norman St. John Polevaulter <MBS110@psuvm.psu.edu>
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.advocacy
Subject: Re: Atari Falcon Discount Supermachine Re: Sydnes is gone?!!
 <1992Aug27.152935.28954@uwm.edu> <1992Aug29.210032.19728@mnemosyne.cs.du.edu>
 <1992Aug30.200109.11540@ra.msstate.edu>

In article <1992Aug30.200109.11540@ra.msstate.edu>, skip@tacky.cs.olemiss.edu
(Skip Sauls) says:

>Compared to you, the stupidest person that I've ever met looks like a
>genius.  You are a perfect example of what has happened to the American
>educational system due to a Democratic Congress.

HEY! Watch it! Don't blame the Democrats for that guy! He's OBVIOUSLY the
fault of the social program cutbacks under Reagan!

:-)

[Your blood pressure just went up.]       Mark Sachs IS: mbs110@psuvm.psu.edu
       DISCLAIMER: If it ain't money, Penn State doesn't care about it.
   "Ladies and gentlemen, I've suffered for my music! Now it's your turn!"
From: t9114145@phillip.edu.au
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.advocacy
Subject: Re: AmigaWorld LIES about Amiga Links
Date: 3 Sep 92 15:03:08 GMT
Organization: RMIT (Bundoora Campus)

In article <1992Sep2.143235.21783@ctr.columbia.edu>, jerry@connection.prospect.com (Jerry Shekhel) writes:
> In article <etxansk.715264903@garbod20> etxansk@garbo.ericsson.se writes:
>>
>>You may be right about resolution and colour, but when it comes
>>to animation - isn't animation, scrolling etc on a VGA PC a joke?
>>
> 
> VGA is capable of very good animation; it just requires some assembly
> language tricks that are only now becoming widely known.  For example, take
> a look at Wolfenstein 3D and Commander Keen (parts 4 - 6).  These may not
> be the greatest games ever created, but they clearly demonstrate that VGA
> is quite capable of smooth scrolling and animation.

I don't know about this.... I just finished Wolfenstein 3D part 1, and I think
that anyone who believes the PC's can't scroll should look at it. Resolution
isn't high, but it's a truly great game. 

(sigs deleted. They were pretty big.)
-- 

Adam Eberbach    Computer Science student, RMIT.   t9114145@phillip.edu.au
               "We don' need no stinkin' signatures!"
From: rjc@hal.gnu.ai.mit.edu (Ray)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.advocacy
Subject: Unreal demo, blah
Date: 3 Sep 92 16:21:00 GMT
Article-I.D.: mintaka.1992Sep3.162100.29543
Organization: /etc/organization


   For the record, I have a 486/33 with 16megs ram, SVGA, 200mb HD, and
I am running Linux.  I have a PC because it is cheap and has lots of
software, and that's one of its strong points. I have an Amiga
because I program 68000 assembly, and the Amiga hardware lends itself
to DEMOS.  PC users have been bragging lately about the Unreal
demo.  If unreal was released in 1989 on the Amiga, it may have won
10th place in a EuroDemo contest, but Unreal is no match for demos
like Hardwired, Unreal is pathetic in comparison. The fact that it takes
a 486 to get any real demo performance out of SVGA shows the
efficiency of using stupid frame buffers for something as complex
as a demo.   Let's face it PC users, SVGA will never duplicate
by mere cpu copying tricks, what can be done with multiple playfields,
coppers, sprites, and a blitter.  Doing something as simple as
flipping a bitmap upside down on the Amiga can be done without moving
a single byte of screen memory, whereas on SVGA you'd have to copy
it line by line.  I know from personal experience how hard it is to
do a simple half-screen sin-wave scroller on the PC (even using
the so-called special tricks like mode 13h) and how easy it is to
do on the A500. Dumb framebuffers are not suited for this purpose.
 Special blitter/playfield localbus cards on the PC
will not have a rich demo scene because they are not standard.
DIG under Windows/OS2 will not deliver the performace of a DEMO, you
need to hit the hardware.

  The AA chipset, if it takes off, will launch a new era of Amiga
demos that slaughter SVGA not only in DEMOS, but in still pictures
as well. Plasma effects will look awesome in 640x480 SuperHAM
(256,000+ colors). Vector bobs will look great. And effects will be
done that no one has ever saw yet.  Whatever you say about the Amiga,
it's old, it's not good for still pictures, the resolution is low,  
one thing I can still say is that it has the best demos of any personal
computer bar none.


  I'd advise the PC users who think Unreal is unreal, to get a used
A500, and see how mediocre Unreal really is in comparison.


  I hope the LCD of the AA machines is a 68030 with harddrive. Then
the Amiga will be the ultimate game computer once more. 486's have
enough horse power left over (after wasting much on screen updates)
to deliver much better filled vector performance. 68030 with math
coproc would strip away the PC lead in games.
From: cpw8034@venus.tamu.edu (ALAN CHIPIN WEN (409)693-2924)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.advocacy
Subject: Re: Interlace video (Was Re: PC (OS/2) / Amiga debate)
Date: 4 Sep 92 16:28:00 GMT
Organization: Texas A&M University, Academic Computing Services
News-Software: VAX/VMS VNEWS 1.41

>>Furthermore, nobody has ever "gone blind" (literally or figuratively) from
>>looking at an interlaced screen. After a couple of days using one, you hardly
>>notice it at all. Looking at ANY computer screen, especially one on which there
> 
>Believe me, the flickering is very noticable, I've looked at an interlaced
>PAL display and I will go blind if I have to look at it for long periods of
>time.
> 
>Idealy, interlaced video mode should only be used when doing video work,
>all other times it'll just put unnecessary strains on the eyes.
> 
>-- Nan

agreed.  before I got my A2320 and a multisync, I was literally going crazy
from the flickering in interlaced modes while using Pagestream.  Even though
my colors to minimalize the flicker, you cannot possibly say that you don't 
notice it.  IBM's and Amigas have definetly surpassed the Amiga in graphic
standards and though you may be raving about the AA chipset, how long will it
take before that becomes a standard?  Not even half of all amiga owners have
the Enhanced Chip Set in their machines (Denise AND Agnus) yet.  And now they're
coming out with a revolutionary 8+bit card for the Amiga that will probably
not be upgradeable to the 16/32 bit and 32 bit amigas?  

For the price of the A2320 that I bought, I can almost get a Diamond Stealth
with an S3 graphics coprocessor.  Awesome color, resolution, and SPEED.  Face
it, 7 year technology can't be called cutting edge anyway you put it.  Sure
amigas have neato euro demos and such... have fun.  The only reason anyone 
should have an amiga is to play games or do video.  Both of which are where
the amiga currently has an upperhand on.  But IBM games are getting better
(simulations are already better) so the amiga should concentrate on low-high
end video solutions and at least TRY and catch up the the graphics standards
of real machines.

alan
From: rhealey@kas.helios.mn.org (Rob Healey)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.advocacy,comp.sys.amiga.misc
Subject: Re: CDTV is dead.
Date: 31 Aug 92 20:43:05 GMT
Organization: Rob's home system, Hopkins, MN

In article <Yk5Ar*LT0@caleb.UUCP> jdp@caleb.UUCP (Jim Pritchett) writes:
=In article <1992Aug22.042013.16635@kas.helios.mn.org>, Rob Healey writes:
=
=> 	The 3000T '040 ad in byte this month was sad because it showed
=> 	how far behind the times Amiga really is. On one page you
=> 	had the 3000T '040 for $5998.00. 5 pages later you have a DELL
=> 	33Mhz 486 system that can do more for $2699.00. It's sad really
=
=I think that the 040 is faster than the 486.  What do you mean by "do more?"
=
	A 25Mhz '040 is not faster than a 50Mhz 486DX. By do more, you
	can best answer than by walking in to your local computer
	software store and compare the Amiga selection to PC, or
	Mac if you want a smaller ratio...

	Hmm, 6k-2.7k=3.3k to spend on any kludges I may need. Sounds
	good to my pocketbook!

	I can also bring home work or trade data with more people.

		-Rob
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.advocacy
From: derek@cgrg.ohio-state.edu (Dariusz Bolski)
Subject: Re: AmigaWorld LIES about Amiga Links
Organization: OSU, Advanced Computing Center for Arts & Design
Date: Thu, 3 Sep 1992 22:18:13 GMT

In article <9pxyt_b@rpi.edu> danaf@aix.rpi.edu (Frank R. Dana Jr.) writes:
>While I'm on the subject, I have just two positions on the new Amigas
>- Chip RAM sounded like a nice idea on paper. Let's set aside some RAM that's 
>  used by the custom chips, while all other operations can use the rest of the 
>  system RAM at much faster speeds. However, after 5 years as an Amiga owner, I
>  can testify that CHIP RAM SUX. I'm not saying that Commodore has to entirely
>  eliminate the concept, but how about giving us a little more flexibility? Put
>  in a set of 49-cent DIP switches or a no-cost software control so that WE can
>  set the amount of RAM used for CHIP, and the amount used for FAST. The A3000
>  system, where you can put as much RAM in the CHIP bank as you need, is a step
>  in the right direction, but it's a little klunky. Let's make this a little 
>  less permanent this time 'round.

I know that many would disagree with me but I wish all my RAM was configurable
to CHIP or to FAST. If I could allocate all my RAM to CHIP I could to 
animation just by flipping screens with no copying the bitmaps at almost any
frame rate. Then I would get a hundreds of MBs of RAM and I could edit
and record my entire animations off RAM. Right now, all I get with
DCTV overscanned 4 bitplanes (hires|lace) is about 6 frames a seccond.

With all pages in CHIP I would get 30 fps and the machine would be almost
free to do someting else.
To realize how much of CHIP RAM I wish to see would be to calculate the
image size times 30 fps * 60 seconds * 10 minuts. This would be enough
for what I do. :-)

> -Frank Dana.. known (718)-(212)-(516) over as Amiuser/Doc Ami!
>

I know almost everyone else thinks CHIP RAM is a bad idea, but for
some specific applications (like page flipping), it can be faster than
most of other methods. It is computationally inexpensive way to get
30fps (or even 60fps). And having this we would not need expensive
editing equipment. A high cost of memory would be well balanced by this.
Editing video on this system would be a dream.

Regards,

Dariusz Bolski

-- 
Dariusz Bolski     Ohio Supercomputer Center, IBM POWER Visualization System
Systems Programmer Ohio State University , Columbus U.S.
                   The Advanced Computing Center For The Arts And Design
e-mail: derek@cgrg.ohio-state.edu  derek@osc.edu
From: kkrebs@amilink.UUCP (Ken Krebs)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.advocacy
Subject: Re: AmigaWorld LIES about Amiga Links
Distribution: world
Reply-To: amilink!kkrebs@citrus.sac.ca.us (Ken Krebs)
X-NewsSoftware: GRn 1.16e (7/4/92) by Mike Schwartz & Michael B. Smith
Date: 1 Sep 92 18:33:46 PST
Organization: Sacramento Amiga Computer Club - Sacramento, CA

In article <1992Aug31.193622.3729@news.iastate.edu> barrett@iastate.edu (Marc N Barrett) writes:
> In article <13840@chalmers.se> d0dak@dtek.chalmers.se (David Kinnvall) writes:
> >I have seen LINKS on *both* a SVGA PC-machine and an Amiga(3000).
> >That is, I have seen it in action, on screen, *not* in magazine
> >screen-shots.
> >
> >Saying that the Amiga version isnt much better than games on the C64,
> >well, *THAT* is BULLSHIT, BULLSHIT, BULLSHIT and BULLSHIT AGAIN!!!!!!
> >
> >It looks very good on the PC with SVGA, and it also looks very good on
> >the Amiga.
> 
>    What you saw was probably not Links 386 Pro.  It was probably the older 
> and weaker VGA version running on the SVGA machine.  The fact is, the Amiga
> version of Links has a screen resolution of 320x200, which is exactly the
> resolution of most C-64 games.  Links Pro 386 has a screen resolution of 
> 640x480, which is almost five times as many pixels.  Links 386 Pro also uses
> a color palette that is almost as wide compared to the Amiga's color palette
> as the Amiga color palette is compared to the C-64 palette.  
> 
>    Since it is obvious that you have not seen Links 386 Pro, just take my
> challenge: pull out the issues of Discover and AmigaWorld that I mentioned, 
> open them to the pages I mentioined, and compare the screen shots head-to-
> head, then tell me with a straight face that I am wrong.  I most certainly 
> am not.
> 
> >| Chalmers  | USENET: d0dak@dtek.chalmers.se   | "A program under development |
> 
> | Marc Barrett -MB-  |  email: barrett@iastate.edu


How about comparing the same 2 programs...?  There is no Links Amiga Pro so
why compare Links 386 Pro to Links?  Maybe we'll get Links AA_Amiga Pro or
something.


-- 
*********** NewOrderDepecheModeUltravoxViolentFemmesKillingJoke |Amiga 3000|
*Ken Krebs* SkinnyPuppyLaTourBauhausBookOfLoveModernEnglishB52s |25Mhz/6Meg|
*********** FishBoneBigCountryJoyDivisonSiouxsie&TheBansheesXTC |Multitask!|
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
       UUCP: uunet!csusac.ecs.csus.edu!citrus!amilink!kkrebs
   InterNet: amilink!kkrebs@citrus.sac.ca.us or: kkrebs@citrus.sac.ca.us
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.advocacy
Subject: Re: 80,000,000 pc's can't be wrong
From: lkoop@TIGGER.STCLOUD.MSUS.EDU (LaMonte Koop)
Date: 27 Aug 92 07:03:12 -0600
Reply-To: lkoop@TIGGER.STCLOUD.MSUS.EDU
Distribution: na
Organization: St. Cloud State University, St. Cloud, MN

In article <mykes.0d40@amiga0.SF-Bay.ORG>, mykes@amiga0.SF-Bay.ORG (Mike Schwartz) writes:
>In article <1992Aug24.200314.8579@clipper.ingr.com> kontos@clipper.ingr.com (Thorne Kontos) writes:
>> Mike Schwartz (author of many programs and doesn't mind telling you so)
>> now has a strong desire to flame the Amiga by claiming that pc's number
>> 80,000,000, and a day spent programming the Amiga is a day wasted by
>> not programming for pc's. I love how people keep pushing this number
>> at me. Mike, what does it prove?
>
>The numbers prove that the Amiga is a flop in the marketplace.  That's
>what it proves.  It proves that a few small businesses can make it on
>the Amiga and that's it.  It proves that no matter what the Amiga has
>offered, not many people bought them.

    No, not at all.  It proves the installed base of PCs is larger than
Amigas, but the pure numbers mean nothing at all.  Given that the PC had
the jump start, the IBM name and backing behind it, and the large amount of
competitive diversification which exists today to give buyer incentive, the
fact that the Amiga has achieved roughly 4% penetration in 6 years compared
to the PC figure is actually not an indicator of a 'flop'.
    The PC had a large head start in the market, as well as the IBM name
guaranteeing that it would be purchased in business regardless of other
offerings.  The clone market today is saturated to the point that competition
makes prices low enough that clones will continue to be purchased based upon
that alone.

>Mike Schwartz  (ames!zorch!amiga0!mykes or mykes@amiga0.sf-bay.org)

                  ----------------------------------------
            LaMonte Koop -- SCSU Electrical/Computer Engineering
 Internet: lkoop@tigger.stcloud.msus.edu -OR- f00012@kanga.stcloud.msus.edu
               "You mean you want MORE lights on this thing???"
 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.advocacy
From: rickan@maccs.dcss.mcmaster.ca (Mark Rickan)
Subject: Industry News
Organization: Department of Computer Science, McMaster University
Date: Sat, 29 Aug 1992 15:11:41 GMT

Direct Access (August 28, 1992):

Wang seeks bankruptcy protection in U.S. (p. 1)

      "After several years of mounting losses, including a $116 million (US)
shortfall in its last reported quarter, Wang Laboratories Inc. has filed for
Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in a US court... Wang expects to cut about
5,000 jobs from its current total of 13,000 with revenues expected to decline
to about $1.4 billion from its current 1.9 billion. The company employed
31,500 people at its peak in the early 80's... Since 1989, Wang Laboratories
has piled up over 1.5 billion in losses."

Computerworld (August 10, 1992):

Judge sides with Lotus on suit (p. 8)

      "Borland International, Inc. last week began voluntarily removing from
dealer shelves versions of Quattro Pro that offer the Lotus Development Corp.
menuing system, following a court ruling that the product infringes on the
look and feel of Lotus 1-2-3... Borland may also find itself taking a trip
to the bank if a jury trial still pending awards Lotus damages, which some
observers predicted could run into millions of dollars... Philippe Kahn,
Borland founder and chairman claims the decision will be reversed on appeal.

Mark

-- 
 -------------------------------------------------------------------------
 = Mark Rickan                         ...!uunet!utai!utgpu!maccs!rickan = 
 = DCSS, McMaster University               rickan@maccs.dcss.mcmaster.ca = 
 -------------------------------------------------------------------------
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.advocacy
Subject: Re: IFF database of .advocacy folks
From: jbickers@templar.actrix.gen.nz (John Bickers)
Date: 31 Aug 92 18:51:19 PST
Organization: TAP, NZAmigaUG

Quoted from <1992Aug31.011818.8026@usl.edu> by das9674@usl.edu (Stephenson Daniel A):
> In article <jbickers.0e4r@templar.actrix.gen.nz> jbickers@templar.actrix.gen.nz (John Bickers) writes:

> >    Pretty dense. Why not find yourself a program like VPIC on the PC
> >    that can display IFF files? Or find an IFF to GIF converter that

> I guess I AM pretty dense in that case, since I have NO FREAKING IDEA
> _what_ 'IFF' is or means.  Is 'VPIC' the name of a ftp-able PD

    So what do you do on your PC? What program do you use to display
    .GIFs? Do you display .GIFs?

> IFF 'viewer'.  What does 'displaying' 'IFF files' mean?

    VPIC is (I thought) a famous PClone picture viewer, like Mostra on
    the Amiga. Another one on the PC is CSHOW.

    Displaying an IFF file means the program (VPIC) opens the file,
    reads the data into memory, and plonks it into the display RAM on
    the PC. Once it's put into the display RAM, the PC display
    hardware zaps it out the monitor port, and if you look in the
    correct direction you should see the picture on your monitor
    screen. This process is called "displaying" the picture.

    In VPIC, you may have to piss about adjusting the display mode and
    size, but that's easy enough if you know how to press function
    keys.

> Also, do you know the names (so I can archie search for them) or the IFF
> or HAM-->GIF converters?

    VPIC doesn't need to convert (except for HAM). I was just using it
    today to verify that GL font files I'd extracted into a bitmap on
    my Amiga at home were coming out ok (they weren't :). ZMODEM the
    file to my PS/2 at work, run VPIC, and no problems.

    If these pictures end up as HAM mode pics (or even better, PCHG
    pics compressed with XPK... :), I've seen a converter called
    iff2gif.zip that works. I don't think it's ideal (for example, if
    the HAM pic contains more than 256 colors, it craps out), but it
    works for most pictures I've wanted to convert.

    As it happens, VPIC _can_ be used to convert, by displaying the
    picture (you need to give IFF files an extension of .LBM)
    normally, then pressing whatever command key saves the file out
    as a .GIF.

> Dan Stephenson                                           das9674@usl.edu
--
*** John Bickers, TAP, NZAmigaUG.        jbickers@templar.actrix.gen.nz ***
***    "Radioactivity - It's in the air, for you and me" - Kraftwerk    ***
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.advocacy
From: trevore@vast.unsw.edu.au (Trevor Elbourne (Supr. Hell) BE)
Subject: Re: OS/2 vs. AmigaOS
Organization: University of New South Wales
X-Newsreader: Tin 1.1 PL4
Date: Tue, 1 Sep 1992 10:14:13 GMT

: Multithreading has nothing to do with what kind of message passing is used.
: A 'thread' or 'lwp' is a proccess that shares the same memory space and
: (usually) resources as its parent (heavy :-) proccess. This means that
: context switches are faster, because the MMU does not have to be reloaded,
: active resources do not have to be switched, ect. Everything on the Amiga
: is 'Multithreaded' :-). The threads just don't always talk to each other!

Exactly. The amiga OS knows nothing about Memory Management in the 
sense of virtual memory (most amiga's don't have MMUs). Talk of
multithreading really only makes sense on systems whose processes
have different address spaces, where sharing between two processes
incurs quite a bit of overhead. The point of multithreading or using
'light weight processes' is to greatly reduce context switch overhead,
the caches don't need to be flushed ..etc. Multithreading also facilitates
fine grained sharing with minimal overhead. But on the amiga there is only
*one* address space and all processes are sharing it. While this may
make sharing easier it won't stop some errand process from trashing
whatever it likes :-(

Cheers
	Trevor Elbourne
From: thad@cup.portal.com (Thad P Floryan)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.advocacy
Subject: Re: IFF database of .advocacy folks
Date: Tue,  1 Sep 92 13:32:04 PDT
Organization: The Portal System (TM)
  <1992Aug29.210801.13940@pdnfido.fidonet.org> <64989@cup.portal.com>
  <1992Sep01.063341.5430@pdnfido.fidonet.org>

In article <1992Sep01.063341.5430@pdnfido.fidonet.org>
scottw@pdnfido.fidonet.org (Scott Weintraub) writes:

| I don't give a damn about how much space ftp.uu.net allocates to faces
| pictures.  Let me ask you this: Does ADPro, Imagemaster, or any other
| Amiga products that would allow me to convert between faces and other
| formats exsist?  Is it 24-bit?  How much bandwith/space will you save the
| net by implimenting the faces format?  Will it be beneficial to other
| users besides of course you?  How come most BBSs use JPEG as their
| universal picture format?
| 
| The fact of the matter is that JPEG is a more practical format because
| it's supported by more software and is being used widely on every platform.

Have you not read the previous articles in this thread?  I even use JPEG
in one of my programs.

I'm curious, though, why you feel using "faces" is beneficial to me.  I
didn't invent the format, but I do find it useful for displaying portrait
data since everything is in the (small and portable) file.

PBMplus is but one set of software tools that handles "faces" format files
(and it (PBMplus) also handles ILBM IFF files).

On the off-chance you missed some of the earlier articles, the "faces"
format is simply:

	an arbitrary number of lines typically used for biographical data,
	such as the person's name, email address, etc.

	after the first blank line in a "faces" file, the remainder of the
	file is an ASCII form of the 8-bit deep bitmap.

BTW, a number of CBM people already have their portraits stored in this
form at UUNET.

Rather than a full-screen ILBM IFF image, "faces" format permits a small
driver's license sized photo to co-exist on the screen at the same time as
other stuff (such as email, Usenet article, etc.)  It's easy to zoom up a
"faces" picture as done in my demo program 3 years ago, where several images
are displayed on the screen to show the effect of the 8-bit plane to Amiga-
resolution conversion.

Again, I don't really care about this "project", but it seems you've lost
sight of the original proposal by Skip.

BTW, I'll demo the "faces" program (again, after nearly 3 years) at the
FAUG (First Amiga Users' Group) meeting this evening.

Thad Floryan [ thad@btr.com, thad@cup.portal.com ]