May 1992 MAGazine Volume 8 Number 5

The MAY General Meeting of the Memphis Group will be held Saturday, MAY, 9 from 1:00 pm until approximately 3:00 pm in the New Auditorium on the campus of the State Technical Institute at Memphis.

The Art Contest:

• June 3D animation and artwork. Can be done with Imagine, Turbo Silver, videoscape, Pagerender 3D, and other 3D softwear.
• July Program generated animation and artwork. Can be done with digitized pictures, Scenery generator, Mandelbrot, Vistapro, etc.
• August Freehand animation and artwork. Can be done with Deluxe Paint, Digipaint, Disney studio, etc. Freehand art can only contain freehand drawing. Program generated and 3D art can mixed with freehand and other combined.

From the Presidents CLI

by Brian Akey

Don't forget our clubs "Art Contest" starting next June; we will be judging 3D animation and artwork. This month the club will be showing Structured drawing Programs, featuring two outstanding programs: XCAD and DynaCadd. To help speed up our presentations, the club will be using, for the first time - our new ICD hard drive. It will cut down on disk access time, making the demos run faster therefore more enjoyable.

In the coming months we will be showing how to use presentation software such as - Deluxe Video III, AmigaVision, Director, and Showmaker; also, how and why to use Arexx. We will compare scenery Animator to Vistapro, and see which one is the best.

VIDEOSPEAK BBS is now the official BBS of the Memphis Amiga Users Group (MAG), and will be run by David Spence, of SPENCE'S TRADING POST. The BBS will available to everyone, but only MAG members will have full access. The biggest benefit for MAG members, is that they will have the complete Fred Fish library available to them. Also, MAG members will be able to leave mail to the MAGazine editor for a new section in the MAGazine called "Notes to the Editor". The phone# is (901) 853-4804; call it and have fun.

Notes From the Editor:

by Larry Evans

Last month I talked about starting a WAR GAME sig. However, the response was not so good; only one person was interested - me. Anyway, so I can fuel my passion for such a violent past-time, I plan on saying the same thing again. Hopefully, this time someone who likes death and destruction as I do willread this. This will not be a group for people with weak stomachs, for example in Perfect General collateral damage can be very high; for you civilians, collateral damage means innocent women and children who accidentally got killed in the heat of battle (Hee Hee). Seriously this group would allow us to find others who enjoy war games, not just computer games but all types of war games. Remember anyone can beat the computer, the real fun is when you are up against another human. Call 383-1828 for more info.

Meeting Schedule

1:00	Start Meeting
1:15	Disk of the month
1:30	Break
1:45	Main Demo
2:15	Break
2:30	Split into 3 groups
3:00	Meeting Ends

MAG Meetings

The Memphis Amiga Group (MAG) holds general meetings the second saturday of each month in the Farris Auditorium on the campus of State Technical Institute at Memphis (see map at left).

There will be an officers lunch meeting at GRIDLEYS in the formal dining room beginning at 11:00am Saturday, MAY, 9 (before the general meeting). For more information call Brian Akey at (901) 377-1093.

Memphis Amiga Group Officers for 1992

President
Brian Akey
(901) 278-6354

Vice President
Donnie Webb
(901) 363-8025

Secretary
Raymond Ginn
(901) 353-4504

Treasurer
Micheal Cervetti
(901) 386-2584

Librarian
Ken Winfield
(901) 382-3339

MAGazine Editor
Larry Evans
(901) 383-1828

MAGazine Printing & Distribution
Terry A. Campbell
(601) 393-4864

Hardware Rentals

Frame Grabber - $6.00 per week
Super Gen - $6 per week
(Hardware rentals are for Members Only)
A variety of Amiga specific videotapes are also available, from the club's
hardware library for $3.00's a week.

Disk Sales

MAG Library and Fred FISH disks are $2 each.
($5 each for non-members)
Quality blank disks with labels are 65 cents each.
($1 each for non-members)
For all this and more contact club librarian
Ken Winfield (901) 382-3339
OR see Ken at the next MAG general meeting.

Changes or Corrections

Please help me get accurate information on all members. If you know someone on the members list that we don't have complete information for, please let me know. Send full name and address information, updates, or changes to:

Larry Evans
5754 Riverhead Ave.
Memphis TN. 38135

For Sale

MY WIFE
$1.00 or best offer
hurry, limited supply

Your Classified AD Here

Free of charge to members call, write, or see in person

Larry Evans
MAGazine editor
5754 Riverhead Ave.
Memphis TN. 38135
(901) 383-1828

Classified Ads will run for one issue of MAGazine and then, if you want your AD to run again, you will need to get in touch with the MAGazine editor either at the meeting, by phone, or by mail. Thank you for your continued support.

A PLAGUE OF VIRUSES

By Jim Meyer and Yury German

March 6, 1992 should have been nothing more than another pre-spring day. For owners of IBM and IBM-compatible computers, however, it was a day to worry. There was a virus in the air, and it was timed to go off on Michelangelo's birthday. Although it wasn't dangerous to people, at least not directly, it was deadly to the data contained on millions of hard drives, this latest in a series of weapons of electronic terrorism. Amiga owners, thankfully, had nothing to worry about. The "Michelangelo" virus was targeted specifically for IBM-type personal computers, and even they had plenty of warning. Bulletin boards, computer stores, newspapers, and television seized the story and carried it into virtually every household. Despite that warning, though, there were still reports from hapless owners who saw all the data on their hard drives obliterated. Could this happen in the Amiga community? You bet! Are you prepared? Read on...

Amiga virus-hunters, as well as some unfortunate souls, are families with names like SCA, Lamer, Xeno, Saddam, Byte Bandit, and more. They all have one thing in common: They are viruses. They have the ability to "infect" your disks, to reproduce, and even change or delete your data. Amiga viruses can be divided into two categories: Boot-block viruses and file viruses. The boot- block virus is the most common in the Amiga community. This virus gets its name from its place of residence: the boot-block, the first two sectors on a floppy disk. When a disk is "bootable" - like Workbench - these sectors contain information that tells the operating system where it should go to load AmigaDOS or custom code. When a virus takes up residence in the boot-block, it replaces the normal boot code with information that tells the operating system to load and execute the virus. If the boot-block contains a custom loader, as many games do, the virus will overwrite that code and render the game useless. File viruses are, thus far, rare. These viruses attach themselves to executable programs, in some cases replacing them, and wreak their havoc every time the program is executed. Each virus has its own identity. The Byte Bandit virus copies itself into your computer's memory, wedges its way into the vectors of the trackdisk.device, which controls disk I/O, and creates a Resident structure for itself so it will survive a warm reset. This virus writes itself to any bootable disk that is inserted. The Centurion virus inserts itself into the first program found in your startup sequence and becomes active each time you run your computer. The Australian parasite turns your screen upside-down after a certain number of disk accesses. The Lamer Exterminator virus, which is Targeted at a particular group of "pirates," picks a random data block and writes "LAMER!" throughout it. It is very easy to avoid virus infections. The first rule is "Practice safe computing!" You'll forgive me if this sounds like a Safe Sex sermon, but it's not terribly different. Almost all computer viruses are spread by "casual copying," pirating software and passing it around. When you put a disk into your computer, you'd better have a good idea of where that disk has been!

Backups - both of your data and of your original disks - will give you some measure of safety. You should make backups of your original program disks before you even use them, and you should keep the write-protect tab in the "on" position. (There's an open hole in the floppy's case when this tab is in the on position.) Your hard drive should be backed up regularly, but you should be warned that if you find a virus, it is likely that it is in the backup archive as well. You'll need to eradicate it. The first line of defense against viruses is the virus checker. Many are available in the Public Domain. The following virus checkers can be found in the *Star*Ship* library on GEnie: VIRUSX (File #8818) is a little old, but it still does a good job. Start it from your startup sequence and it checks both computer memory and any disk you insert into your drive. ZEROVIRUS III (File # 12272) lets you save custom boot blocks from any disk just in case that disk gets corrupted by a virus. Since some software manufacturers use the bootblock for copy protection, this is your only hope for keeping your favorite game from becoming a casualty of a bootblock virus. ZeroVirus III will also check the files on your disks, floppy and hard, as well as your memory, for any viruses. BOOT X (File #13226) is another virus checker that will check your boot-blocks, files and memory. Boot X, like Zero Virus III, will let you save your boot blocks from game and program disks. VIRUSZ (File #14406) is one of my favorite virus checkers. This program will check memory, files, and boot-blocks. The best feature of this program is that it decrunches packed and imploded files before checking them. It is also the only virus checker I know of that will check for Liberator Virus. This virus disguises itself as a .fastdir file. VirusZ will also load and save bootblocks. (Note: There are reports that VirusZ has erroneously reported the existence of the "EuroBomb Mail virus." - Ed.)

All of the virus checker programs mentioned will give you the option to remove a virus, if one is found. Take special care taken if you are using utilities such as Power Packer or Imploder. Unless you are using VirusZ, you will need to "decrunch" the files produced by these programs before you can check them for viruses. This is the method we use on GEnie to check files before they are approved for upload. Viruses are illegal in most of the countries around the world. Punishment for this crime can be as much as 5 years in jail, and rewards are offered to people who turn in virus-writing programmers. Unfortunately, this still does not stop some of them from writing these monstrous creations. If you have any questions, I can be reached on GEnie as BLUE-KNIGHT. I would love to answer any inquiries and help you understand and protect yourself from viruses.

SimAnt

by Bob Eller

Lewis Thomas, author of The Lives of a Cell, once said, "Ants are so much like humans beings as to be an embarrassment. They farm fungus, raise aphids as livestock, launch armies into war, use chemical sprays to alarm and confuse enemies, capture slaves, engage in child labor, and exchange information ceaselessly." He concluded, "they do everything but watch television." Mr. Thomas would have loved SimAnt, the electronic ant colony just released for the Amiga by Maxis, makers of SimCity.

SimAnt puts you in charge of an ant colony with the goal of taking over the back yard and adjacent home in order to drive the human resident out! The only way to reach this goal is to manage your colony so that it grows and thrives. While you directly control the actions of one ant, SimAnt lets you supervise up to 1500 black worker and soldier ants. Your colony's population is increased by doing the basic ant tasks of gathering food, digging new tunnels, and caring for eggs. Building the colony is also the key to overcoming the rival red ants, spiders, and ant lions who threaten your colony's survival.

SimAnt includes four levels of play. The beginning levels are Tutorials that teach the basics of the game, and a Quick Game pits your black colony against one red colony. In the Full Game you begin with one black and one red queen. As the colonies grow, they send out new colonies to battle for territory until one side emerges as the owner of the backyard and house. Finally, the experi aQuc Game.

The action is viewed in a cross-section of the underground nest, a surface view which shows the ants and other backyard inhabitants moving about their business, or in a global view of the backyard and house. Other information windows provide background on ant behavior and hints on playing the game.

SimAnt for the Amiga includes data disks for both a low (320X200) and high (6400X400) resolution display. A one megabyte Amiga is required to run the low-res SimAnt. The high-res version requires at least two megabytes of RAM and a deinterlacer, such as the FlickerFixer. Although not required, the high-res version plays best on an accelerated Amiga. If you have an Amiga 3000 running AmigaDos 2.0 KickStart instead of ROM you may, according to Maxis, have to run SimAnt in low-res. SimAnt is not copy protected and can be used either from floppy or hard drive, although a hard drive with 1.5 megabytes of free space is recommended. Also included is an extensive manual covering not only the game, but ant behavior and folklore as well. The specifics of the Amiga version of SimAnt are covered in an included addendum.

Maxis calls their products "Software Toys," which they define as simulations of living systems that let you learn and play in fun and imaginative ways. SimAnt certainly meets this definition. Will Wright and Justin McCormick, SimAnt's design team, have incorporated accurate scientific information on ant behavior into the simulation.

SimAnt is a large and complex program. As a result, SimAnt will tax your Amiga's resources. I found that even on a 68030 Amiga 2000 the high-res version suffered from a lag between user input and program reaction.This lag dropped on the '030 when running the lo-res version. However, even the lo- res version lagged a bit when run on an unaccelerated Amiga 500.

From your MAG Liberian:

By Ken Winfield

It has come to my attention that there are members of our group that don't know what the library contains or how to rent something. The following is a brief description of what we have and policy on renting it.

First of GOOD NEWS starting immediately we will be going to a weekly rate on all rentals, this will be more convenient for most members and will greatly reduce the cost of renting of equipment.

General Rules:

1. All rentals we be on a first come first serve basis, reservations will be accepted.
2. One Week rental is for 7 days, example monday to monday.
3. Longer than one week rentals will be accepted unless someone else is in line to rent.
4. RENTALS ARE TO MEMBERS ONLY.
5. Rented merchandise can be returned to any officer or next person in line to rent but liberian must be informed.
6. Person renting merchandise is responsible for deliver and pickup of rented property
7. Person renting merchandise will be expected to treat it with reasonable care.

TAPES ------ $3.00 WEEK

SUPER GEN--- $6.00 WEEK

FRAME GRABBER $6.00 WEEK

TAPES AVAILABLE......

1. Professional Techniques for DPAINT III
2. The DeluxePaint 4 Video Guide
3. Advanced Techniques for DPAINT 4
4. Amiga World/Animation Video Volume I
5. Amiga World/Getting Started with your Amiga
6. Digitizing for Effect Tape Three
7. Imagine-A Guided Tour
8. 3D Cookbook.Byte by Byte
9. Creative People on the Amiga
10. 1987 Aegis Desktop Video Contest Winners
11. Newtech Video Toaster Samples
12. AmigaWorld Desktop Video Volume One
13. AmigaWorld Amiga Graphics

HARDWARE AVAILABLE......

1. SuperGen Genlock
2. Frame Grabber

"FROM THE SECRETARIAL POOL"

By Raymond Ginn

Welcome to the 2nd issue of "From the Secretarial Pool". We had a real busy meeting last month. It went real well, I think! I was mighty busy and want to congratulate everyone for keeping me busy. What am I talking about? Disk sales, of course. I want to know that I could hardly keep up with your requests. But I will have my old buddy librarian Ken back this month to help me; so keep us busy. The officers are really trying to come up with some good disks. Last month I think we had 10 or 11 different disks prepared. (Lets here it for our leaders!) In order to help us process your orders quicker let us know what disk(s) you want before hand, by calling the librarian prior to the meeting. This way you won't have to wait. Last month we had about 48 people present. That's great, keep on coming to the meetings, cause I can't tell you everything that happens (just some of the highlights). Last month's meeting was on Productivity Programs and we reviewed Maxiplan, Microfiche Filer, Superbase 4, Pro Write and Final Copy. This month the meeting will center around Structured Drawings; So come as you are and be a part of the group. Also, don't forget the contests coming up! Turn your computer on and get busy creating. This is your secretary, sunning and swimming in "The Secretarial Pool".

Rumors and stuff

by Larry Evans

The following rumors are just that... rumors. Some say that I just make most of it up, but most of it comes from messages on GEnie. I often lift entire sentences and weave it all together, so that you get the most up-to-date, if not the most accurate of Amiga rumors. I would like to add that I will now be responsible for inaccuracies or mistakes. After all, this isn't Newsweek magazine you're reading.

It looks as if Migraph will be shipping their Hand Scanner and OCR software this Month. This combo, priced at $1000.00, permits scanning pics into monochrome and print into ASCII text.

Blue Ribbon SoundWorks has released three style collections for SuperJAM along with an upgrade to Bar&Pipes Professional (V1.0e). Also, SunRize Industries has shipped their 12-bit sound digitizing board at the cost of $595.

MicroSearch is shipping ChromaKey+ ($395) a device that provides the ability to superimpose a video signal over another one, or a computer-generated graphic like TV weather forecasts. ChromaKey+ is Toaster compatible, has a higher bandwidth and other enhancements.

HOLLYWARE Entertainment took over MicroIllusions products and is releasing two new games called: Hoi, Let's Play and Lords of Time (which is a Faery Tale Adventure). Also, the ever-popular Might & Magic III is on dealer's shelves now, too.

Commodore is slashing prices on the Amiga 3000UX (Unix). The complete system, with either A195 color monitor or A3070 tape drive, goes for $4998 -- down from $8495. Also the Amiga 600 model Commodore debuted last month in Germany will be premiered at the World of Amiga show this month. Unfortunately, Commodore has said that they will not ship the 500+ or the 600 to the States. The news floating around, is that if Commodore does not release the new machines here, the dealers in the US will get them from Europe and sell them here anyway. Hopefully this will leave Commodore no choice but sell the new machines in the States.

Amiga BBS Boards

Changes or Corrections

Please help me get accurate information on all BBS's. If you know of a BBS that we don't have complete information for, or a BBS you would like to add to our list, please let me know. Send full name of BBS, location, phone number, baud rate, updates or changes to:

Larry Evans
5754 Riverhead Ave.
Memphis TN. 38135

FROM THE MIDNIGHT REVIEWER

Product Considered	WorldCircuit Racing
Publisher	Microprose
Type	Sports Simulation

There have been many attempts at making the ultimate racing game on the Amiga. From Ferrari Formula One to Stunt Track Racer they each have many strong points and, unfortunately, some bad points as well. WorldCircuit comes closer to that ultimate racing game than anything Midnight has seen yet. The cars feel is real and control is excellent. The graphics are fast and move quickly to give you a realistic feel while driving. It has several inside and outside views from different angles, and a great instant replay feature that is active at all times. This game contains 16 "real" tracks from locations all over the world, many have buildings, bridges, trees, and hills to give it that real feel. The car can be edited by by changes the fins, tires etc. to make your car the fastest on each track. You can race the entire circuit against almost 30 other cars and score worldcircuit points for the championship at the end of the game. Before each race you must adjust your car for that track and qualify to earn a good starting position. The training mode is excellent with several features such as auto lining the car up after wrenches and auto gear changing. This game will run on all Amigas and under 1.3 and 2.04 and supports your hard drive (with an excellent hard drive install program). Microprose with recent releases of Greens and Knights of the Sky and now Worldcircuit has positioned themselves as the best game publisher on the Amiga. Worldcircuit, like these other games, is fast plays well and looks good. As a matter of fact Midnight has yet to find a flaw in this game, other than it is to hard to enter the pits, you can adjust detail levels to increase speed and it will even support a proportional joystick (And is out for the Amiga months before the IBM) Bravo! Microprose you receive the highest Midnight rating ever...

Midnight has spoken....

**Midnight rating...97**

MEMPHIS AMIGA GROUP MAY 9, 1992

Dues Notice

Dues must be paid at or before the General Meeting of your EXPIRE date. If paid on or before this time, the renewal rate is $15 for the year. If you wait past the General Meeting (second saturday of each month), you will be dropped and must renew at the new member rate of $20 for the year.

Please pay at the General Meeting or send dues to:

MAG Dues
c/o Michael Cervetti
(901) 386-2584

Financial Report for the Memphis Amiga Group MAY, 1992