Top News im Juli 2001

More News im Juli 2001

Hardware bargain for Atari users (06.07.2001 - 12:10 Uhr)

Atari users listen up: NewSell is currently offering hardware surplus items that can also be used with the Atari. For example, scanners from the Umax Astra series are available from DM 79. For the SCSI scanners (look for the "S" in the product name!) driver software is available from falkemedia - just call 04 31-27 365.
Just as interesting is the Wacom ArtPad II, an A6 graphics tablet formerly priced at DM 199, now available for only DM 50. The ArtPad II can be connected via the serial interface and can thus be used together with the freeware PixArt.
A little advice on the side: NewSell also sells the Mac clone "Umax Apus 2000" as barebones hardware. The computer is based on a 240 MHz PowerPC CPU (603e), has 16 MB RAM onboard and is equipped with a 12-fold SCSI CD-ROM and an HD disk drive. Graphics and sound are also onboard. So for an installation of MacOS plus MagiCMac, only an IDE hard disk is needed. Without the hard disk, the computer sells for only DM 250.
All the above offers are valid while stocks last. (tr, ag)

http://www.newsell.de/

Newsletter warning: Formal objection (06.07.2001 - 11:10 Uhr)

Die Berliner Kanzlei JBB-Rechtsanwälte hat heute einen förmlichen Widerspruch gegen die Eintragung des Vereins GSDI e.V. in die Liste qualifizierter Einrichtungen nach Paragraph 22a AGBG eingereicht. Die Eintragung berechtigt die GSDI, im Verbraucherinteresse Unternehmen bei Rechtssverstößen abzumahnen. Davon hat die GSDI in den vergangenen Tagen reichlich Gebrauch gemacht. Bis gestern Abend registrierte die Redaktion von Advograf.de 35 Webseiten, die GSDI wegen Datenschutzverstößen bei Newsletter-Angeboten abgemahnt hat.
Mit dem Widerspruch beim Bundesverwaltungsamt entfällt nach Auffassung der Berliner Anwälte die Abmahnberechtigung des Vereins GSDI. "Wegen der aufschiebenden Wirkung gemäß Paragraph 80 Absatz 1 Verwaltungsgerichtsordnung (VwGO) müsste die Eintragung in die Liste qualifizierter Einrichtungen zunächst als nicht erfolgt gelten, und zwar auch rückwirkend", erläuterte Rechtsanwalt Dr. Martin Jaschinski gegenüber heise online. Sämtliche Abmahnungen wären somit unbegründet; dies würde allen Abmahnopfern helfen.
Die Anwälte begründen ihren Schritt damit, dass der Verein GSDI nicht in der Lage sei, die Interessen der Verbraucher durch Aufklärung und Beratung wahrzunehmen. "GSDI ist ein so genannter Mischverein, der neben der Wahrnehmung von Verbraucherinteressen auch gewerbliche Interessen vertritt." So biete GSDI auf seiner Website ausdrücklich auch die Beratung von Unternehmen an. Allein aufgrund dieser offensichtlichen Interessenvermischung hätte die Eintragung nach Meinung der Berliner Anwälte nicht erfolgen dürfen. (c«t)

Quelle: heise online

Iomega Peerless Drive System (06.07.2001 - 08:10 Uhr)

The Peerless storage system from Iomega, which was presented for the first time at the Macworld Expo in San Francisco, is now also available in stores in Germany. One medium of the removable disk storage holds up to 20 GB of data. This is made possible by 2.5-inch hard disks that are plugged into a base station as portable units. This can be connected to the computer via SCSI, FireWire or USB bus. The complete hard disk electronics are hidden in the base station, which leads to a favourable price of the media. A base station with a 20 GB disk costs DM 1149, a 20 GB medium is available for DM 570, 10 GB comes to DM 450. USB versions are already available, SCSI and FireWire versions are to follow. The special feature: the interface modules are interchangeable.
The advantages of the new system are obvious: by separating the actual hard disk from its electronics, larger 2.5-inch disks can also guarantee larger storage media capacities. The price remains comparatively low.

http://www.iomega.com/europe/de/productoverviews/peerless/

(tr)

New low-priced 19 inch (06.07.2001 - 08:10 Uhr)

Quatographic has launched a new CRT monitor at a price of only DM 599 which, despite its low price, boasts attractive performance data. The "faqtor 19" can display resolutions of up to 1600 x 1200 pixels at 75 Hz. The pixel pitch is 0.21 mm. The faqtor 19 meets all radiation and ergonomic standards such as TCO-99 and comes with a three-year manufacturer's warranty including 24-hour on-site replacement. It is available immediately from specialist retailers.

http://faqtor.belmondi.de/

(tr)

LinuxTage 2001 opened (06.07.2001 - 08:10 Uhr)

The annual LinuxTage are opening today in Stuttgart. The event has become the largest Linux trade fair in Europe and runs until Sunday, 8 July. Major suppliers such as Hewlett-Packard, IBM and SuSe are sponsoring the event. Admission to the event at the Messezentrum Stuttgart is, as usual, free of charge.

http://www.linuxtag.org/

(tr)

AtarIRC 1.19 released (06.07.2001 - 08:10 Uhr)

Version 1.19 of the IRC client AtarIRC has been released. The update does not offer any new features, but some bugs have been fixed. AtarIRC requires Internet access with StiK or STiNG as the stack. (tr)

http://www.bright.net/~atari/html/atarirc.htm

(tr)

PD series of st-computer online (06.07.2001 - 06:10 Uhr)

Gerd Höller keeps an extremely extensive PD collection. You can request Atari PD disks by e-mail completely free of charge. To send them, Gerd Höller only needs your e-mail address, and the files will be sent to you by e-mail. Files up to 2 MB in size can be sent. If you want more, the contents will be burned on CD and sent at cost price.
An overview of the available series (including games) can be found at the URL below. Included now is the PD series of st-computer up to number 899. (tr)

http://www.gerd-hoeller.de/

(tr)

FirstMillion 4.6.0 (04.07.2001 - 12:10 Uhr)

FIRST_MILLION Euro for the Atari is now available for download in the updated version 4.6.0 on the Softbär homepage.
Summer prices with up to 32 % price advantage apply for new customers until 30.9.2001. FIRST_MILLION Euro costs DM 199.-- instead of DM 291.42 (EUR 149.--) The update is free for customers who have purchased the program within the last 6 months. All other customers receive an update key for EUR 25.-- (DM 48.90).
FIRST_MILLION is a comprehensive office solution in the field of accounting, customer administration, invoicing and merchandise management. A comprehensive test report of version 4.5.0 can be found in the 05-2001 issue of st- computer. The most important innovations in version 4.6.0 at a glance:

• new customer field mobile and placeholder
• new customer field eMail and placeholder
• decimal place for customer discount possible
• dialog box with edit field for number of printouts (extra storage of number for each form type)
• Invoices can be printed even if the articles are no longer in the article list
• Articles can be divided into 9 product groups
• Sorting by product group possible
• Sorting by actual and target possible
• Asterisk in the window indicates when a record has been changed
• New homepage Softbaer.g-b-r.de and Hartmann.aax.de in the Info Dialogue
• various optimisations

http://Softbaer.g-b-r.de/

(tr)

Apple discontinues the Cube (04.07.2001 - 12:10 Uhr)

No more MagiC cubed: Apple Computers has officially announced that production of the Power Mac G4 Cube has ceased. While there is a small chance that a successor model to the cube computer will appear in the long term, it is not expected in the near future. Commenting on the discontinuation of the underperforming computer, Philipp Schiller, Apple's vice president of worldwide product marketing, said: "Cube owners love their Cube, but most customers are more likely to choose our Power Mac G4 in a mini tower."
The Cube marks the end of a design period that Apple's CEO Steve Jobs ushered in back in the early 1990s with his Next Cube. Industry insiders cited the G4 Cube's inflated launch price, technical problems and lack of expansion options as reasons for its failure.
With its official declaration, Apple also removed the Cube from its online stores. So anyone who still wants to have the Cube can at most still succeed at an Apple dealer. (tr)

http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2001/jul/03cube.html

(tr)

Cease-and-desist notice for newsletter by Milan GbR (04.07.2001 - 09:10 Uhr)

On behalf of the GDSI Hanover, the law firm Klinkert & Kollegen has sent several providers of email newsletters a cease-and-desist declaration together with a cost notice for DM 1286.21. Among others, the company Milan Computersystems is affected, which asked for the name of the newsletter subscriber in addition to the pure eMail address in order to keep track. According to the GSDI, however, the Teleservices Data Protection Act (Paragraph 4, Paragraph 1 TDDSG) points out that as little personal data as possible should be collected and used. While the GDSI says it is dedicated to the fight for more data protection, thanks in part to the report in the trade journal C't, a counter-front of those affected is forming, which is considering a class action suit against the GDSI and its board member Felsmann as part of an association. It is currently being examined to what extent the warnings correspond to a collective warning (now fortunately no longer permissible in Germany) and the suspicion could arise from this that the GDSI could possibly have been founded out of this motivation. We are also interested in finding out whether other companies are affected by this series of warning letters so that we can keep you informed. Send your eMail to Ali Goukassian.

http://www.milan-computer.de

GEM GFA-Basic contest has a winner (04.07.2001 - 08:10 Uhr)

The programming competition for the programming language GFA-Basic has a winner. It is Vuk & Co. who submitted a lst2gfa.ttp conversion program. Information and results can be found on the website below. (tr)

http://www.bright.net/~atari/html/gfa_gem.htm

(tr)

News from Infogrames (04.07.2001 - 08:10 Uhr)

The rumours that Infogrames wants to make more use of the brand name "Atari" that it has purchased and perhaps even rename itself accordingly are growing stronger. The French company has now claimed the rights to the domain "AtariLabs.com". It seems only a matter of time before "atari.de" is also affected. Infogrames also seems to be planning the release of a compilation of 12 Atari classics for the PC to celebrate the birthday of the cult brand. Atari will be 30 years old in 2002. (tr)

http://www.de.infogrames.com/

(tr)

New strategy game in development (04.07.2001 - 08:10 Uhr)

A new group has formed on the Internet to discuss the development of a new strategy game in the style of "The Settlers" for the Atari. It is already clear that the game will require a resolution of at least 640x480 pixels with 256 colours and will run on Falcon, Milan, Hades and Medusa. The story will take place in a fantasy world. Magical creatures, wars, negotiations and a lot of non-human creatures like elves, dwarves, druids, vampires etc. are planned. The newly formed group is still looking for more members who would like to contribute their ideas and work as graphic designers or C-/ASM-coders. Of course, all other Atari enthusiasts who would like to contribute to the realisation of the project are also welcome. (tr)

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/atarihfstratgame

(tr)

Atari Copy Party (04.07.2001 - 08:10 Uhr)

Atari fans take note: Just in time for the summer holidays, the "Atari Copy Party" for all 16-/32-bit systems will take place in Poland in the city of Steszew from 20 to 22 July 2001. More information can be found on the Polish Atari News page. (tr)

http://kawecki.atari.org

(tr)

Henk Robbers in conversation with st-computer (04.07.2001 - 04:10 Uhr)

Henk Robbers is the driving force behind the freely available AES system XaAES for MiNT. Thomas Raukamp had the pleasure to have an interesting conversation with the computer veteran about his AES, the open source movement and the future and past of computing. You can find the really valuable conversation in the summer issue 07/08-2001 of st-computer. Here are already a few excerpts:

"We must not forget that Linux is really just a kernel. But it has the potential to become the 'mother of all kernels', if it is not already. Memory protection and virtual memory, however, are not inventions of the Unix people. These technologies have been around since the early 1950s. But a freely available kernel makes it possible for ancient technologies to survive without having to keep reinventing them."
"XaAES doesn't actually need to know whether a particular program is a desktop or not. Any GEM program can call shell_write and therefore perform desktop functions."
"The difference between N.AES and XaAES is simply that XaAES has a lot of time. The result of that is that exactly as much work is put into it as is needed and all the parts can be developed as compactly and transparently as humanly possible."
"I would like to see a system that works ten times as fast as my Atari TT and still starts up just as fast. I don't really care how this is achieved."
"The IBM PC threw the state of computer development back 35 years in 1985. They just shrunk a computer from the 1950s - and the worst one at that..."

Don't miss the upcoming st-computer if you want to read more of this interesting exchange of ideas! (tr)

http://members.ams.chello.nl/h.robbers/Home.html

(tr)

Tales Of Tamar makes progress (03.07.2001 - 08:10 Uhr)

As developer Rafal Kawecki reports, the Atari version of the client for the role-playing adventure "Tales Of Tamar" continues to make rapid progress. Testers have already been able to participate in the game for about 2 weeks. A first public version is expected before the end of the year. (tr)

http://www.tamar.net/

(tr)

News about the PDF reader (03.07.2001 - 08:10 Uhr)

Eric Reboux and Rafal Kawecki are the developers of a PDF reader that is to be published by invers Software or Application Systems Heidelberg. So far, however, neither a name nor a release date has been fixed. (tr)

http://ers.free.fr

(tr)

New IRC client in development (03.07.2001 - 08:10 Uhr)

In about 3 months a new IRC client for the Atari will be released. It will be programmed by the Polish developer Rafal Kawecki. STiK/STinG will be supported as a stack. MiNTnet support is also planned. A name does not yet exist, Rafal is open to suggestions. A homepage will be available when the program is published. (tr)

(tr)

RGFA development package version 4.2 (03.07.2001 - 08:10 Uhr)

The RGFA development package is a compilation of software products from RGF Software that revolves around the creation of executable programs. The package includes the following components:

• RGFA-Linker version 4.1
• LicomLIB version 6.0
• Licom GEMDOS file library LGLIB
• CBO version 8.0
• Licom version 2.0
• Compiler patch programme GCPATCH version 0.5
• Extensive and new documentation

The 290 kB package is available for free download on the RGF Software homepage. (tr)

http://www.rgfsoft.com/html/rgfa.htm

(tr)

Canadian Atari User Group is online (03.07.2001 - 06:10 Uhr)

Atari computers continue to have a loyal following in America as well. In Canada, the "Canadian Atari User Group" has now come together, a community that will operate online for the time being. International visitors are also welcome to participate in the discussions as "International Associate Atarian". So if you want to strengthen the Atari movement in Bengy Collin's home country, take a look at the CAUG homepage! (tr)

http://www.atari-users.net/caug/

(tr)

Prices for the Deesse card published (03.07.2001 - 03:10 Uhr)

In the current issue of st-computer we provide you with a multi-page interview with Oliver Kotschi from Frontier Systems on the new DSP card Deesse. To coincide with the publication of the issue, Frontier Systems has now announced the price of the PCI card. Including drivers, it will be available for DM 329. The price is not yet finalised and will depend directly on the number of pre-orders and the software package included. A software package (specifications still unknown) will probably also be available separately for DM 99. Complete with the software package, the price is expected to be DM 399. The driver interface will be freely available and will also support the original DSP of the Atari Falcon. All prices are based on a pre-order quantity of 100 cards initially. As more orders are received, the price will drop further. Frontier Systems is also accepting pre-orders online now. Pre-orders are non-binding. (tr)

http://www.frontier-systems.de/

(tr)