Fort Worth Dallas

CD-Recorders as " killers," Internet service for Wilson had been Using My but in my opinion the true murderer, slow and unreliable. So in 2006, the or at least the final nail in the coffin, city built a fiber-optic ring that is the USB flash drive, being smaller, connected city facilities like City Hall,

June 2009 June Computers faster, larger capacity, and more parks and recreation and town I've mentioned now and again that I reliable than the average floppy disk. offices to super-fast broadband. have a wide range of machines that I It's also an extremely convenient way After requests from local businesses, use on a regular basis, largely for to move files between machines – the City Council voted to expand the different preferences and applications. except my USB-free . As a fiber network to the entire city. Brian My 2 running MorphOS is result, the Amiga wasn't used as Bowman is the public affairs my primary graphics machine. I much as it could have been, since manager for the City of Wilson. might be able to get more ability or shuttling files on and off the machine performance out of other systems I required a different, less convenient Brian Bowman: We went to have, but there's a level of familiarity method than my other machines, like Time Warner and to Embarq and comfort with the tools involved Zip disks or e-mailing files to myself. and said, we would love for you here, My Amiga 4000 takes up some Later, I was able to procure a Deneb to build a fiber-to-the-premise of the slack from the Pegasos, mainly USB card for my Amiga, which network in Wilson. Embarq said running the that opened things up and leveled the they wanted to work with us to doesn't run properly (or at all) playing field again. Each machine partner on that. Turned out it through the Amiga compatibility of gets its own rightful slice of my time, didn’t work out because we MorphOS. I also have the Mac Mini as it should be. I'm sure they're all couldn’t meet that middle and the Laptop, both of which happy about that. ground for both of us to work are primarily Internet machines with out. And Time Warner just said, some occasional productivity here By the way, the newsletter is being “No, we’re not going to do that and there. Since getting the laptop, it put together using the Amiga, in case right now.” So we said, “Ok, has taken the lion's share of web you'd like to know. we’ll do it ourselves.” browsing work, while the Mac does more creative work, usually centered …by Eric Schwartz Wilson’s network, called Greenlight, around specific applications like from the AmiTech-Dayton Gazette, is up and running, with connections iMovie or Comic Life, and stuff I April 2009 up to 100 megabits per second – can't currently do (at least not easily) which makes it among the fastest using the Pegasos or Amiga. service available in the country. The Ban Community city offers triple-play package of TV, How much each individual machine phone and Internet for $99 per gets used depends on what work month, every month. That beats needs to be done, and the Broadband? Time Warner Cable’s package that convenience involved. For a while Media Minutes, May 1, 2009 has fewer channels, slower upload the Amiga was falling out of favor the start. though I still needed to do work that required it. The reason for this was a Wilson, North Carolina, is a small city After less than a year in business, paradigm shift. In times past, the of 47,000, located TK miles east of Greenlight has already signed up floppy disk was the standard for Raleigh. It grew up with the tobacco more than 3,000 customers. And moving files between machines (sure, industry at the turn of the 20th that apparently has made Time I could try networking machines century. And while tobacco remains, Warner Cable, Embarq and AT&T together, but I didn't), but it's harder the boom years are in the past, and very nervous. They’ve backed a new and harder to find a machine with a the city is looking ahead to the new bill in the North Carolina state floppy drive anymore. People often information economy. legislature that would ban the use of cite things such as the Zip disk, or certain municipal funds to finance and maintain a broadband network which we believe our businesses Ÿ VirtualPC VHD dynamic and would cut off local communities need. And right now, we’re doing harddisk image support from receiving money for broadband it ourselves, we’re having good (Dynamic = empty hardfile is from the federal American Recovery results, and this law would very small, size grows and Reinvestment Act. essentially keep other cities in automatically when more data North Carolina from being able to gets written.) Brian Bowman: If this bill had do the same thing. Ÿ Custom chipset emulation been law when we started, updates, horizontally mixed lores Greenlight would not exist today. and hires modes work and more It simply sandbags the cities New WinUAE (for example Disposable Hero where it’s not possible or practical titlescreen is finally perfect, Oops to do it. That’s the effect of the Release Up ray colour issue) bill. Ÿ SuperHires supported in lores The latest version of WinUAE has and filtered lores modes. The bill’s sponsors are clearly taking been released. Following is a partial Ÿ 320x256, 640x512, 800x600, their marching orders from the cable list of changes and enhancements. 1024x768 and 1280x1024 always and phone companies. Bowman added to RTG mode list Ÿ describes a recent hearing. Very popular request: automatic (320x200 and 320x240 were display scaling/window resizing! already available previously) Brian Bowman: You know who’s (not compatible with all Ÿ Full drawing tablet support. in the room with you, and it is a programs) Option in Filter-panel. (must be wintab compatible) Ÿ handful of private-sector PAL/NTSC vertical size change Ÿ adapter providers who seem to be the emulated in filter modes. configuration added to Ÿ ones who were talking in the Transparent clipboard sharing Gameports panel (Much easier hallways to the sponsors. We saw between Amiga clipboard.device and quicker than using Input a person from Time Warner, in and Windows clipboard, both panel configuration) fact, hand a note to one of the Amiga to Windows and Windows Ÿ Input device type (mouse, digital sponsors during the meeting, and to Amiga supported. Text and joystick, analog joystick, lightpen the sponsor then spoke up, so all images supported. HAM6/8 etc.) selection added to you know officially is who the automatically converted to 24-bit Gameports panel. (Less need for sponsors are, but, you know, you image, EHB converted to 64- complex Input panel can see what’s happening in the colour image. Images with less configuration) room. than 256 colours converted to Ÿ WinUAE is now unicode standard IFF, higher color images Windows application, added full Bowman says that Wilson is one of converted to 24-bit IFF. Text unicode support to configuration those cities that doesn’t have the converted to plain text, formatting files. (backwards compatibility population density that makes it possible in future. still maintained) Ÿ attractive to private industry. "Interlace fixer," interlaced Ÿ Added support for Windows screens are now rock solid, all Recent Documents/Windows 7 Brian Bowman: If profit was interlace artifacts will be gone. Jump Lists. going to be the motive, we were (This feature isn't the same as going to be waiting, potentially, scandoubler or flickerfixer and is decades to get this critical service, not compatible with most games.) June Calendar

June 1 — Amiga-By-The-Loop Chapter June 1 — MCCC Board of Director’s Meeting 7:00 pm — South Grand Prairie Library Approx 9:15 pm — Location TBD 760 Bardin Road, Grand Prairie June 27 — Newsletter Deadline — 7:00 am MCCC 4418 Sharpsburg Drive Grand Prairie, Texas 75052 http://www.amigamccc.org