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                               ________
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       __\ _____ \\\\  \_  _/  //___//  _____//______\ _____ \\
      // \\\\  /. \\\\__ \/ __//    \\  \\____.  /// \\\\  /. \\
      \\___\¯ /___///___\  /___\     \\_________//\\___\¯ /___//
       ¯    \/    ¯ ¯    \/.  |¯      ¯|z!o     ¯  ¯    \/    ¯
               A M I G A      | 051231 |      U P D A T E
                              |________|
  "SO THE WORLD MAY KNOW"
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        AMIGA and the Amiga logo are trademarks of Amiga, Inc.      
----------------------------------------------------------------------

 E 3 B ,   I N D I V I D U A L   C O M P U T E R S   C A N   S E L L

               B E T A   T E S T E R S   W A N T E D ! 

       M E D I A T O R   P C I   B U S B O A R D   U P D A T E

       T U N E N E T   A U D I O   P L A Y E R   F O R   O S 4

            W H D L O A D   H A S   N E W   V E R S I O N

       D E S E R T   R A C I N G   G A M E   A N N O U N C E D

             A M I K I T   1 . 0 . 3   A V A I L A B L E

           A M I P O D D E R   N O W   D O E S   V I D E O

     O N Y X S O F T   R E L E A S E S   F I V E   U P D A T E S

         A M I G A S Y S 3   F O R   W I N U A E   U S E R S

               F R E E P O P S   F O R   M A I L E R S

----------------------------------------------------------------------
Editor's Thoughts and Introduction:
 Congratulations to the Amiga community - we have survived another 
year! While it has been a busy and fulfilling year in many ways, we 
still have no final release of Amiga OS 4.0 to celebrate. However, 
there has been some interesting information regarding that topic which 
came to light recently. 
 On December 28, an IRC session was conducted with representatives of 
Hyperion by the good folks at AmigaWorld.net. This information 
provided by Hyperion and taken from one of the session transcripts 
should be of interest to all Amigans eager for a full release version 
of OS4:

"Rogue: As you have probably already guessed, there will be no OS 4 
release this year. There are reasons for that which I would like to 
explain. The main reason is the unavailability of hardware. As you all 
know, AmigaOne's [sic] are not available right now, so we are not in a 
position to offer an OS 4 with a matching hardware. We DO think that 
once we release AmigaOS4.0, there will be a general interest in the 
news, in media, etc. We will get a lot of interest from people outside 
the amiga market, and they will ask where they can buy it. If we tell 
them they cannot buy it right now and need to wait until the hardware 
is available, then this will take away a lot of momentum that the 
release will generate. Hence we decided to postpone the release until 
such time as a hardware platform IS available."

 You can read the entire set of transcripts at www.amigaworld.net.
 Let's hope the situation with hardware availability can be set right 
soon. What a great event for the new year it would be if we could see 
the release, finally, of OS4!
 Happy New Year to all our readers where ever you are, and good Amiga 
computing to you as well!
 Brad Webb,
 Editor
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

 E 3 B ,   I N D I V I D U A L   C O M P U T E R S   C A N   S E L L 

 20 December, 2005

The best news at the beginning: E3B and individual Computers continue 
selling hardware in the EU. We want to thank everyone who sent us 
eMails with suggestions, mostly trying to circumvent the new law, but 
also with information on how to start a company in another country. 
Unfortunately, all this doesn't help, because the law also applies to 
companies outside Germany who want to sell their products in Germany.

To fully comply with the law, E3B and individual Computers founded the 
label "ConBridge" which is now registered with the Stiftung EAR, 
despite legal problems that are not fully resolved. Read more on the 
common webseite www.conbridge.de (German language only).

New advertising partner

We have supported the "Amiga plus" magazine for a long time with our 
adverts. Since the Amiga plus is not available any more, we have been 
looking for a new magazine with the same high quality of articles. 
What we found is the Austrian magazine Lotek 64: It's made by 
enthusiastic hobbyists, and stands any comparison with high-standard 
professional journals. You can either read the magazine online for 
free, or you can make a donation and have the mag sent to you in 
printed form. The magazine is in German language only.

For the current december-issue we want to point out an article by 
Dr. Rainer Buchty, which deals with the technology of the C64-DTV2. 
The Commodore 64 in a joystick is also known as "PAL-DTV", and is 
derived from the C-One. However, individual Computers was not involved 
in the DTV project, so our high production standards were not applied. 
The article describes how you can correct the low (nearly unreadable) 
colour contrast with a little skill and a soldering iron.

http://ami.ga/indexe.htm
----------------------------------------------------------------------

              B E T A   T E S T E R S   W A N T E D ! 

31 December, 2005 

Screenshots of the current version:
http://tamar.4players.de/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=6717

The first step towards the new 3D map has been made! Tales of Tamar
can now run at a higher resolution and give the project a whole new
look, thanks to a new GUI and handling.
Instead of the old 640x480, the program can now run in 1024x768 in 16,
24 or 32 bit.

Rewriting took over three months and we hit the boundaries of the
different Amiga models several times. Bugs in the graphics drivers,
lacking performance and missing features like actual double-buffering,
just to mention a few.

But now it is done, and we are proud to present this pearl to a wider
audience. As always, we release these new features on the Amiga first.

The whole ToT team wishes you a Happy New Year. May the Amiga stay
with us for years to come, in one form or another.

About the project:

We are looking for 30 active beta testers to test the new features on
different Amiga systems. Testers play for free and only need to bring
enough time and motivation to find and report bugs.

In order to continue to the next step, the actual 3D map, the new and
updated client needs to be thoroughly tested to find and fix as many 
bugs as possible. We depend on the help of the community for this. 
Let's build a solid foundation for the ongoing development of the 
client for the Amiga!

The features:

- 640*480/8bit and 1024*768/16/24/32 bit support
- OS4 support
- MOS support
- Amithlon support
- UAE support
- PPC support
- CD, Paula & AHI support
- animated weapons, armor, goods and buildings in 8/16/24/32 bit
- figure animation in 8/16/24/32 bit
- more than 30 screens
- massively multiplayer strategy via email or TCP/IP
- multiple language support
- multi platform (Amiga, PC, Mac, Linux, Browser, Java)
- online chat
- 8 minute animated intro

Here are the new screenshots:
http://tamar.4players.de/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=6717

Greetings,
Your ToT team

Tales of Tamar is a turn based, massively multiplayer strategy game
similar to Kaiser or Civilization and is being developed by Eternity.

{No URL was provided with this information other than the ones shown 
in the story. You can perhaps contact the company at www.tamar.net. 
Brad}
----------------------------------------------------------------------

     M E D I A T O R   P C I   B U S B O A R D   U P D A T E 

28 December, 2005 

*The Mediator UP 3.10 update for Mediator PCI busboards
<http://eu-shop.elbox.com/cgibin/shop?show=2BB> has been released. The
update is free of charge for all registered Mediator users.*

The update includes new versions of:
* pci.library
* Voodoo.card
* Virge.card
* MedConfig

Changes:

pci.library ver. 6.5
- many internal changes

Voodoo.card ver. 4.26
- the first common Voodoo.card version for MM CD and no-MM CD users
- support for hardware de-interlacing in overlay added
- VodooGuide Italian translation by Arturo Franzin

Virge.card ver. 1.8
- support for Mediator PCI 1200LT and LT4 added

MedConfig ver. 1.4
- bug fixes
- French localisation by Philippe Bovier

Info on current versions is available in the DOWNLOADS Mediator
<http://elbox.com/downloads_mediator.html> section.
The current list of supported PCI cards is available in the *Mediator
Driver Guide* <http://elbox.com/mdg.html>.
The info about Mediator-related sources you will find in the 
COMMUNITY
<http://elbox.com/community.html> section.
----------------------------------------------------------------------

      T U N E N E T   A U D I O   P L A Y E R   F O R   O S 4 

24 December, 2005 

*TuneNet V0.70a (Audio Player) has been released for OS4, highlights
include:

* Playlist editing / sorting and searching.
* Seekable Song Position.
* Full Skinable Docky Interface.*

Special thanks goes to Russell Glover for the docky graphics, fonts,
animations, testing and feedback!

Enjoy this release - 
Available at http://os4depot.net/
or the TuneNet site
http://www.tunenet.co.uk 
----------------------------------------------------------------------

           W H D L O A D   H A S   N E W   V E R S I O N  

20 December, 2005 

 WHDLoad is the AmigaOS Harddisk-Install package. WHDLoad makes it 
possible to install many demos and games, which were originally 
designed to run only from floppy disks, to your harddisk.

*The new version is available at this URL:
<http://www.whdload.de/>

Registered users should have no problems with the new updates.


The release notes are as follows....

*** 16.5 (15.12.2005)

- new: check for CyberGraphX/56KHZAUDIO added (David Roeskamm)

- new: commands PL_ORB/W/L added for patch lists (Psygore)

- chg: if XPK decompression fails during preload WHDLoad shows the
missing sublib name too

- fix: kickemu correctly updates IO_ACTUAL on trackdisk accesses 
  (JOTD)

- chg: russian translation reworked (Manbiker)

- new: display promotion added to kick31emu, with that WHDLoad options
DblPAL and DblNTSC become working in conjunction with installed
games using kick31 emulation and supporting it

- fix: stackcheck modified to avoid complaining if first long word of
stack is trashed (e.g. when using WarpOS-XPK-Sublib and running
from Workbench)

- chg: bubble help for bplcon* registers added to WHDLoadGCI

- fix: improved startup code for kickemu and _bootdos in kick13.asm

- fix: disassembler for negative absolut word addressing fixed 
(Psygore)

- chg: improved error messages on resload_Patch(Seg)

- new: slovak translation added, thanks to Jan Zahurancik and Martin 
Durik

- new: ukrain translation added, thanks to Andrey Molchanov

- chg: improvement on resload_ProtectSMC, instructions modifying the 
sr no longer break the SMC check, autodocs fixed, disabling trace is
no longer required with SMC check (JOTD)

- chg: text explanation added to register dump for attnflags and 
setcpu

- chg: Snoop on 68060 now allows change of bit #6/7 of ciaa.ddra which
is used on accessing/detecting joypad

- new: if WHDLoad is started without an slave argument from the CLI it
shows a short help for all options and some raw key codes

- chg: improved speed on preload for resload_Examine, now uses 
dos.ExAll and memory pools (when running on v39+)

- chg: kick31emu got a new option called JOYPADEMU, formerly included 
in INIT_LOWLEVEL now separated to support GetLanguage without joypad
emulation, also the joypademu has been improved, now the keys
used are user configurable using the Custom option

- chg: options ExecuteStartup and ExecuteCleanup are now local and
- chg: file PreLoad improved, uses now dos.ExAll, memory pools (if
running under v39+ and more than 4MB free fast available),
asynchronous decrunching of XPK files

- new: supports also the kickstart images supplied with Cloantos Amiga
Forever CDs, kick130.rom or amiga-os-130.rom must be renamed to
kick34005.A500, kick310.rom or amiga-os-310.rom renamed to
kick40068.A4000, images together with the rom.key must be
installed under DEVS:Kickstarts, some older installs require a
kick40068.A1200 image these installs wont run with Cloantos roms

- new: norwegian translation added which is not complete but better 
than none, thanks to Herman Andresen
----------------------------------------------------------------------

      D E S E R T   R A C I N G   G A M E   A N N O U N C E D 

20 December, 2005 

*Today we release the new APC&TCP-Game Desert Racing.

A Demo version (over 200 MB) from the game found you on the next 
CoverCD (58) from the Amiga Future and on the Info/Update/Demo CD from 
APC&TCP.

With Desert Racing of Bardos we'll show you a racing game that you 
have never seen on the Amiga before. Use different components for your 
car depending on your money, drive through amazing animated landscapes 
and bring your AGA Amiga to boil. In the single or multiplayer modes 
you'll not only have the possibilty of tuning the performance but also 
other things...

We take the meaning of tuning very strict because the you will need 
the different weapon systems to succeed in the dirty desert races.

To get into the pleasure of Desert Racing of Bardos your Amiga has to 
be equipped with an AGA chipset or a graphicsboard. A 68030/25 is 
minimum. 1,5MB ChipRAM and 28MB FastRAM are the requirements but more 
is always better.

Get Desert Racing of Bardos and experience an exiting arcade racing 
game without getting envious of the PC world....

System requirements:

Minimum: Amiga with AGA or graphicsboard, 68030 CPU, 2MB of ChipRAM 
and 32MB of FastRAM, harddrive, CD-ROM drive A better CPU is 
recommended.

http://www.apc-tcp.de/support/0020e.html

http://www.apc-tcp.de
----------------------------------------------------------------------

            A M I K I T   1 . 0 . 3   A V A I L A B L E 

24 December, 2005 

AmiKit is the compilation of the best Amiga (free/shareware) programs 
around. To be brief, AmiKit is all you need if you want to experience 
a high-end Classic Amiga system. It contains many expansions and 
add-ons (more than 20.000 files are included in AmiKit!) that turn the 
default AmigaOS installation into a completely renewed and fresh 
environment. This pre-configured package is designed for immediate 
use. Moreover, it contains an exciting surprise for the whole Amiga 
community, see the features!        


  Features

The most exciting feature of AmiKit is:

* Directory Opus Magellan II v5.82*

used as a Workbench replacement!!! This commercial software has never
been freely released to the public before. If you do not know anything
about this excellent piece of software, you should check it out NOW!
You're going to love it. Here are few words from Andreas Loong
(GuruMeditation <http://www.gurumeditation.se>), who has kindly given
permission to use DOpus Magellan II in the AmiKit project: "We 
acquired the full rights to Dopus Magellan late 2004. We've agreed to 
include the trial version on this distribution to let people have a go 
and tinker with it as much as they like. We're closing in on a new 
release, updated with various features that will come towards the end 
of 2005. If you find the version here worth your time, I hope you will 
check out the version we're making for AmigaOS 4!"

Next exclusive features of AmiKit:

* AmiStart* (v0.66)  Darius Brewka has created a special version for 
AmiKit

* GlobalTrash* (v1.5a1)  Oliver Blumert has created an exclusive 
AmiKit preview version

* ReqChange* (v3.15)  Magnus Holmgren has created a free keyfile for 
AmiKit

* ShowAmiga96* (v2.3d)  Heiko Mueller has created a special version 
for AmiKit

* FullPalette* (v40.23)  Massimo Tantignone has sent me his updated 
version

Even more features:

* KensIcons*  complete set of icons, some painted exclusively for
AmiKit by Ken Lester!

* KensOS4*  two visual themes exclusively created for AmiKit by Ken 
Lester!

* microgolded*  the best text Amiga editor around has been licensed
<microgolded.htm> for AmiKit!

* MorpheuZ*  tool that allows you to easily change the design of 
system windows in AmiKit!

AmiKit Launcher - easy to use graphical user interface created by 
Rex Schilasky

Other major features:

    *
      *User-friendly interface* that helps you to manage all your 
      files in an easy way!
    *
      *Internet browsing, mailing, chatting and downloading* using
      various programs like AWeb, IBrowse, YAM, SimpleMail, AmIRC,
      AmiTradeCenter, AmiGift
    *
      *Reading PDF, M$, RTF* and other document formats with the help 
      of APDF, EvenMore, Antiword
    *
      *Manage your time and account* with the help of Daywatch and
      HomeBank.
    *
      *Music software, net streaming, MP3 creating and sample editing
      software* like AmigaAMP, AmiNetRadio, EaglePlayer,
      SymphoniePlayer, LAME, TheMPegEncGUI, SampleEditor
    *
      *Displaying (even in thumbnails) and editing pictures* with the
      help of PicShow, Thumb, MysticView, FroggerNG, PerfectPaint Or
      enjoy the fractal world through ZoneXplorer!
    *
      *Easy handling of archives.* They are opened like every other
      drawer. Or some external programs could be used instead 
      (VooDoo-X, MUIUnArc, XPKatana)
    *
      *Massive FTP support* through OpusFTP module. It has a full GUI
      for the Address Book and operational parameters.
    *
      *Software for burning and copying the CDs* (MakeCD), for 
      mounting       virtual CDs (VirtualCD).
    *
      You can make your AmiKit password protected. Just don't forget
      your password ;-)
    *
      *Pre-configured recognition and processing of many file formats*
      (through the DOpus filetypes)
    *
      *Various system tools* like SysInspector, SnoopDos, Q-Device,
      ShowPatches
    *
      *Antivirus software* effectively checks the system files, memory
      and archives for viruses.
    *
      *Emulation software* like ASp for retro ZX gaming
    *
      *Great taskbar software:* AmiStart (for those who do not like 
      the taskbars on Amiga, simply remove AmiStart from WBStartup. 
      Easy!)
    *
      Most advanced Amiga recycle bin software: GlobalTrash
    *
      *Visual enchancers and system enchancers* like VisualPrefs,
      Birdie, TitleShadow, BoingBall, MagicMenu, MCP
    *
      *Warp3D compatibility* thanks to QuarkTex software
    *
      Adjust PC keyboard to your Amiga needs with the help of 
      MMKeyboard software solution!
    *
      Yes, some games are included as well ;-)

Hardware:

    *
      A PC computer, a rather fast one. At least 256MB of RAM is 
recommended (otherwise decrease the RAM size in WinUAE config). AmiKit 
was created on AthlonXP 2500+ where the boot process of AmiKit takes 
about 12 seconds (or 10 seconds more with unregistered Directory Opus 
Magellan II, see limitations). I've also tried an AthlonXP 1800 and 
the speed of AmiKit was still acceptable.
    *
      Gfx card capable of displaying 32bit screenmodes.

PC software:

    *
      WinUAE, the Windows port of the UAE Amiga Emulator. Version 
1.1.1 is already included in AmiKit package, however if a newer 
version is found in your system, AmiKit will automatically use it.

Amiga software:

    *
      The source of AmigaOS3.x system files. AmiKit installation 
archive DOES NOT contain any copyrighted Amiga system files because 
AmigaOS3.x is still available (fortunately!). These system files will 
be copied from the original CD to AmiKit during the installation 
procedure. Come on, support the Amiga and buy the CD, if you haven't 
done so yet!
    *
      AmigaOS ROM file (v3.1). You can obtain this from your real 
Amiga with the help of ROM ripper/grabber software (see Aminet). 
Another possibility is to buy the Amiga Forever package which includes 
the ROM file.

http://www.amikit.amiga.sk/
----------------------------------------------------------------------

          A M I P O D D E R   N O W   D O E S   V I D E O 

10-Dec-2005 15:31:43

Video podcasts come to the Amiga with AmiPodder 1.4! With the release 
of iTunes 6 and the new iPod video many podcasters are including video 
clips in their podcast feeds. AmiPodder now recognises video episodes 
and can play them back in the video player of your choice (MPlayer and 
Frogger have been tested, not all video podcasts will play on Amiga 
players due to the codecs used). If you have a portable device capable 
of playing video, AmiPodder can sync the movies to it too.



Also in version 1.4 are a number of improvements and bug fixes 
including:

* Option to prompt for the sync directory making it easier to use 
AmiPodder with multiple portable players or players using removeable 
media cards.

* New status of "Played", so if you use AmiPodder as a "jukebox" you 
can see what podcasts you've already listened to.

* File name length limitation, handy if your Amiga filesystem or music 
player only accepts short filenames.

* Many more changes.

AmiPodder 1.4 is freeware and runs on OS 3.x, OS 4 and MorphOS.

Download the new version from:
http://www.amipodder.com
----------------------------------------------------------------------

     O N Y X S O F T   R E L E A S E S   F I V E   U P D A T E S

17 December, 2005 

OnyxSoft is releasing five software updates so you have something to 
play with over Christmas! {Or thereafter. Brad}

(Our homepage will be updated in a few days. All files are current 
though even if the download page says otherwise.)

Updated programs
Annotate v2.3 - (OS4) A very comprehensive text editor with a lot of 
functions. These are the major updates: ReAction, UTF-8, Tab chars, a 
lot of new config options, new and fixed hotkeys.

8SVXtoXXX v1.4 - (68k) Converter for IFF-8SVX samples to various audio 
formats. Fixed reading of some files which could have crashes 
8SVXtoXXX. Added CLI support.

BackUp v1.44 - (68k) Backup program that mirrors a directory 
structure. BackUp no longer creates empty directories for dirs in the 
skiplist. Better CLI support. Fixed a possible crash when pausing a 
backup process.

MPlayer-GUI v1.32 - (OS4) GUI for MPlayer. Added p96_vmem and 
cgx_vmem_scale video modes and the new SIL devices to VCD/DVD 
choosers.

DigiConverter v1.2 - (68k) Developer tool to convert between decimal, 
bex, binary, float and ASCII. Added buttons for copy and paste and 
made a few fixes.

http://www.onyxsoft.se/
----------------------------------------------------------------------

        A M I G A S Y S 3   F O R   W I N U A E   U S E R S 

28-Dec-2005 22:04:22 (360 reads)

*Few days late, but AmigaSYS3 has been released on 28th December, 
aftersome hard months of work!*

- Amiga OS 3.0/3.1 support.
- Amiga OS 3.9 ( Amiga Forever 5/6/2005/OE , AmigaOs 3.9 , Amiga OSXL)
support.
- A lot of new fix, programs , features , scripts, ideas.
- 5 fantastic Themes.
- New AmigaSYS Additional pack!
- Beneath A Steel Sky AmigaSYS pack!
- And more... and more...and more info , see AmigaSYS page!

http://amigasys.fw.hu
AmigaSYS is a pre-installed full Amiga OS for WinUAE, like AIAB.
For install, you need a valid KickstartROM 3.0/3.1, and the image file 
of Workbench and Extras Disk 3.0/3.1.

The new AmigaSYS 2.0 needs KickROM 3.1 and optional a valid OS 3.9 CD 
for full features. 
----------------------------------------------------------------------

             F R E E P O P S   F O R   M A I L E R S    

{From the excellent site www.amigaworld.net. Brad}

*Description: * FreePOPs
<http://os4depot.net/share/network/email/freepops_lha.readme>
*Download: *    freepops.lha
<http://os4depot.net/share/network/email/freepops.lha>    
*Version: * 0.0.96
*Date: *    28 Dec 05
*Author: *  Various - AmigaOS4 port by Andrea Palmatè
*Submitter: *   Andrea Palmatè
*Email: *   andrea/amigasoft net
*Homepage: *    http://www.freepops.org/en/
*Category: *    network/email
<http://os4depot.net/index.php?function=browse&cat=network/email>
*License: * GPL
*Distribute: *  yes
*FileID: *  1469


FreePOPs is an easily extensible program, which allows access to the 
most varied resources through the POP3 protocol.
Mainly, it can be used to download mail from the most famous webmails, 
but it could also be used as an aggregator for RSS feeds and much 
more. This way it is possible to get all your messages in your 
favorite email client.

----
Look at site's manual. The program is simple to configure.

just run it (or add it to user-startup). It will bind on port 2000.
On the email client configure your account to use port 2000 and as 
server localhost (or 127.0.0.1).

PLEASE READ MANUAL TO CONFIGURE YOUR MAIL ACCOUNT (and if it is 
available)

Look at this page: http://www.freepops.org/it/viewplugins.php to see 
if your domain is supported.

http://www.amigasoft.net
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
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 12th publication year. 
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Copyright 2005 by Brad Webb.    Freely distributable, if not modified.
======================================================================
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  U P D A T E  /__\\   | \  / ||    ||  || ___  /__\\    U P D A T E 
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