The Staff of The Amiga Monitor

Editorial Staff
Michael Webb Publisher, Editor-in-Chief
103165.3700@compuserve.com
Samuel Ormes Senior Editor, Chief Correspondent
s.ormes@genie.com
Anthony Becker Executive Editor, HyperText Wizard
commodoreuser@juno.com
Contributing Editors



Greg Noggle



Telecommunications Editor, Hardware Guru




g.noggle@genie.com



Fred Ericksen



Music and MIDI Editor




103275.3447@compuserve.com



Bill Graham



Graphics Editor




w.graham6@genie.com



Charles Jefts



Games Editor




c.jefts@genie.com














Departments



Kyle Webb



Graphics Designer, Artistic Coordinator




c/o 
103165.3700@compuserve.com




Beth Wise


Associate Publicist



inky@mail.csrlink.net















Contributing Writers



Paul Somerfeldt




p.somerfeldt@genie.com




Danny Green




d.green7@genie.com




Jerimy Campbell




j.campbell72@genie.com




Sidewinder (Eric Gieseke)




sidewind@txdirect.net















How to reach us:

All business and concerns associated with The Amiga Monitor
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and a 
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Webb Site, http://ourworld.compuserve.com/HomePages/MikeWebb/

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The views expressed within this magazine are not necessarily those of the publisher, the
 
magazine itself, or of the organization comprising the magazine. The Amiga Monitor is 
an
independent publication, not legally or fiscally bound to the former Commodore or any of 
its
subsidiaries, ESCOM, Amiga Technologies, VIScorp, Phase5, PIOS, or any other 
company
or organization involved now or ever in the development or manufacture of the 
Amiga
personal computer.














Editor's Notes...




"And the dreams that you dare to dream really do come true..."


(a quote from the famous film, The Wizard of Oz...not the only reference you'll 
see to that movie in this issue)





Greetings, and welcome to the December 1996 issue of The Amiga Monitor. We 
had some scheduling difficulties this month, and as a result, this issue is out a little later than we had 
hoped, and we were not able to include the "Amiga Benchmark Comparison" feature this month. My 
apologies for any inconvenience that causes.



On the other hand, we have been busily at work improving the magazine itself. 
Check out the "Mirror Sites" page (referenced above) to see several new additions. Music and MIDI 
Editor Fred Ericksen's monthly article is now an actual column (department), and there's a contest to 
come up with a name for it (see his column...and no, we don't have a new A4000 for the 
winner, Fred :)). Executive Editor Anthony Becker now has an established monthly column known as 
"The Tone Byte" full of short descriptions of various Amiga happenings and software here and there. 
And we'd like to welcome a new member to the staff: Bill Graham, a noted Amiga graphics artist, has 
joined us as Graphics Editor. His first article is very informative, and I look forward to him working with 
us in the future.



And on the Amiga front...


A number of things have happened in the Amiga community in the last month. 
Rather than explain them all here, I would refer you to the News and Editorial section below. 
However, I can say that no, nobody has bought the Amiga yet...and thus the delay continues. One 
can only hope that the situation will be brought to a successful resolution, and soon. Too bad the 
Amiga is going to miss yet another holiday season...



On that note, I wish you all Happy Holidays and a prosperous New Year; and with 
that, we begin Volume 1 Issue 5 of The Amiga Monitor. And maybe...just maybe...something may 
finally have happened when we "meet" again, same time and same place, a month or so from 
now.



Only time will tell.



Michael Webb
Editor-in-Chief









TABLE OF CONTENTS




VOLUME 1, ISSUE 5, DECEMBER 1996








NEWS AND EDITORIAL



What on Earth is Going on Here?

By Michael Webb

Depending on how you see it, it's been a whirlwind of a month; it's difficult to keep track of everything 
that has been happening lately, and easy to become disillusioned (rightly or wrongly) or misled, and if 
you blink, you might miss a lot. We attempt to clear some of that up here.





The Sam Report: No Joy in Mudville

By Sam Ormes

To those who have been cruising Amiga sections of the internet in the last month, a number of 
potentially significant events have occurred. Here, in summary.







FEATURES


Archie

By Danny Green

So far, we've covered a lot of information about where to go and what to do on the 'net, but it's easy 
to get overwhelmed by the sheer amount of data out there. This month we take a look at a way to find 
the files you're looking for.





Government Involvement in Internet/Data Encryption

By Greg Noggle

There are many issues to consider when dealing with the internet these days, including international 
relations, laws regarding encryption, and your privacy.





Cross Platform Connectivity, or Don't Toss Your Amiga Just Yet

By Bill Graham

PC's have become much more powerful in recent years while the Amiga more or less stagnated, but 
there are still some things that it can do very well. Our new Graphics Editor takes a look at different 
animation formats, specifically the world wide web standard Animated GIF, and how your Amiga and 
PC can work together to produce the best and most efficient results possible.







REVIEWS



DiskSalv Version 4

By Michael Webb

We look into the latest version of this timeless disk repair and management program for the Amiga.





The mindEYE

By Anthony Becker

A fascinating device that converts music and sounds into onscreen images, shapes, forms, and 
animations.







SPOTLIGHT ON GAMES AND ENTERTAINMENT



Amiga Gaming Retrospective: Part 5 - Mind Walker

By Michael Webb

The Amiga Gaming Retrospective continues this month with a look back to 1986 when the Amiga 
was young, enthusiasm was high, and Amiga programmers went on flights of fancy that resulted in 
such timeless software as this, Commodore's only game for the Amiga.







DEPARTMENTS



Editors@HelpDesk

By the Editorial Staff

The staff of The Amiga Monitor tackles your problems and answers your questions, just like we do 
every night live on Genie.





Feedback

By you, the readers

The readers speak out about the Amiga industry, Amiga community, and The Amiga Monitor.





The Tone Byte

By Anthony Becker

Tone takes a quick looks at a number of current Amiga products.





Lame Humor Department

By Kyle Webb

A satirical, sarcastic, sardonic, and sometimes downright silly look at affairs in the Amiga 
community, and life in general...also known as The Amiga Monitor's comic page.





The Amiga Monitor MIDI Room

By Fred Ericksen

Fred the Amiga Music Man inaugurates his new department with more essential information for 
Amiga musicians, and some feedback from readers. Plus a contest to name this column, and no, you 
can't have my Amiga :)









COMING NEXT MONTH


Be sure to check out the January 1997 Issue of The Amiga Monitor


What you'll see in our next issue:









Look for Volume 1 Issue 6 in Early January


The Amiga Monitor: 1996, Excelsior Digital Publishing
The Amiga Monitor's home site is at URL http://ourworld.compuserve.com/HomePages/MikeWebb/