{"id":10435,"date":"2017-09-16T08:11:29","date_gmt":"2017-09-16T05:11:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.a-eon.biz\/blog\/?p=10435"},"modified":"2017-09-16T08:11:29","modified_gmt":"2017-09-16T05:11:29","slug":"stalins-tears","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blog.a-eon.biz\/blog\/index.php\/2017\/09\/16\/stalins-tears\/","title":{"rendered":"Stalin&#8217;s Tears"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/blog.a-eon.biz\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/chalogo.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-10463\" title=\"chalogo\" src=\"http:\/\/blog.a-eon.biz\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/chalogo-300x94.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"216\" height=\"68\" \/><\/a>Well <em>AmiParty 21<\/em> in Poland lived up to all my expectations and then some. \ud83d\ude42 The hospitality and warmth shown by Jeanot and the rest of the Chelm Amiga Legion team to David Pleasance, Amiga Bill and me was second to none. The strong Polish beer and aromatic home made vodka, known as Stalin&#8217;s Tears, wasn&#8217;t too bad either. I want to give a special shout-out to Leander who gave up his Sunday to give us a guided tour of historic Lublin. If you want to find out more, look out for my special <em>AmiParty 21<\/em> visit report in the next issue of <em>Amiga Future<\/em> magazine.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_10456\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-10456\" style=\"width: 270px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"http:\/\/blog.a-eon.biz\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/AmiParty21_GuruMeditation.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-10456 \" title=\"AmiParty21_GuruMeditation\" src=\"http:\/\/blog.a-eon.biz\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/AmiParty21_GuruMeditation-300x173.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"270\" height=\"156\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-10456\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">AmiParty21 roundup - GuruMeditation<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>It you can&#8217;t wait for the magazine you can always listen to AmigaBill and Anthony&#8217;s Guru Meditation <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=pHq7AGMTJrI&amp;feature=youtu.be\">AmiParty21 podcast<\/a><\/em> which covers the AmiParty and a lot of other cool Amiga news. AmigaBill has also posted a lot of photos from the event on the <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pg\/thegurumeditation\/photos\/?tab=album&amp;album_id=1573149626058299\">Guru Meditation Facebook pages<\/a><\/em> as has <a href=\"https:\/\/photos.google.com\/share\/AF1QipOIkoO5H9ZXCeEN9Co25fCXp6t6J8TMCp2F7CCb1tMwtISQ-O0RTBoSZB1b5gYH8A?key=THNKWDV1YTlQZnhKSXpxZnAwMl9EemRFN1JZVjd3\"><em>Jack Swidnik<\/em><\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/photos.google.com\/share\/AF1QipPkz2gOVLEndNWzJdSYWsjRKKnPLOXK-hm6c0N8p76IKCKvY3KVtrwx8xVkz1bLNg?key=MEt3RVZrME0tMThuV0RMbU1xZXZyT01YTjVwTUxB\"><em>Stonego<\/em><\/a>. If you only ever visit one Amiga show in Europe I can highly recommend the AmiParty event.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_10452\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-10452\" style=\"width: 164px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"http:\/\/blog.a-eon.biz\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Amiga32.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-10452    \" title=\"Amiga32\" src=\"http:\/\/blog.a-eon.biz\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Amiga32-211x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"164\" height=\"233\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-10452\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Amiga32 - Powered by A-EON<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Following my brief trip to Poland I arrived back in New Zealand with the inevitable jet-lag coupled with a heavy cold. Not really a surprise I suppose. International air travel between winter and summer with the temperature of 36C the day I arrived in Poland compared to the &#8220;balmy&#8221; 8C now I&#8217;m back in the New Zealand winter. Such is the life of an Amiga traveller but to be perfectly honest I wouldn&#8217;t have it any other way.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_10466\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-10466\" style=\"width: 185px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"http:\/\/blog.a-eon.biz\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/amiwest_2017.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-10466 \" title=\"amiwest_2017\" src=\"http:\/\/blog.a-eon.biz\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/amiwest_2017-300x150.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"185\" height=\"92\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-10466\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Celebrating 20 years of AmiWest<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Fortunately, I have about 6 weeks to recover before I make my way to Sacramento, California to attend AmiWest 2017 and then over to Neuss in Germany for the Amiga32 show, both of which I&#8217;m pleased to report are once again being sponsored by A-EON Technology.<\/p>\n<p><strong>A.L.I.C.E. revisited<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Talking about AmiWest 2017, it&#8217;s been a long time coming but I&#8217;m pleased to be able to report  that the A.L.I.C.E. laptop will be available for sale at the upcoming  Amiwest show in Sacramento.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_10488\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-10488\" style=\"width: 243px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"http:\/\/blog.a-eon.biz\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/ALICE_Logo.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-10488   \" title=\"ALICE_Logo\" src=\"http:\/\/blog.a-eon.biz\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/ALICE_Logo-300x111.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"243\" height=\"90\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-10488\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">A Laptop Incorporating a Classic Experience<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>If you are a  regular reader of my blog you will know that two prototype A.L.I.C.E.  laptops were stolen from the trunk of our car while we stopped for  coffee in Pinole on our way to the AmiWest show last year in Sacramento. I used the word trunk rather than boot since we were in the USA at the time. \ud83d\ude09<\/p>\n<p>Although the theft did  not stop the A.L.I.C.E. development effort, we delayed selling the Laptop until Ken Lester was satisfied that the A.L.I.C.E system recovery software was robust enough for general use. The delay in release of the commercial product has allowed Ken to incorporated a lot of new features and updates:<a href=\"http:\/\/blog.a-eon.biz\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/ALICE.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-10485\" title=\"ALICE\" src=\"http:\/\/blog.a-eon.biz\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/ALICE-300x300.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"121\" height=\"121\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<div id=\"_mcePaste\">\n<ul>\n<li>A.L.I.C.E. now supports screen resolution up to 1920&#215;1080 for both AmiKit &amp; AmigaOS 4.1 Classic (previously 1366&#215;768)<\/li>\n<li>AmigaOS 4.1 Classic OS4 now runs on top of WinUAE (rather than FS-UAE) and has native UAE graphics and access to the host system&#8217;s hard drive (thanks\u00a0updates to WinUAE by Toni Wilen)<\/li>\n<li>The host system for AmiKit &amp; OS4 is now Ubuntu 16.04 instead of the older Ubuntu 14.04 distribution<\/li>\n<li>AmiKit &amp; AmigaOS 4.1 F.E. are installed on Windows partition as well<\/li>\n<li>AmigaOS 4.1 has the latest officially released F.E. updates<\/li>\n<li>Now includes A-EON Technology&#8217;s Enhancer Software Enhancer SE pack<\/li>\n<li>In addition to the unique AmiKit <em>Rabbit-Hole<\/em> feature AmigaOS 4.1 Classic include easy access to the underlying Linux programs through the <em>Looking-Glass<\/em> (F11 button)<\/li>\n<li>A.L.I.C.E. now has a reliable restore system via a bootable flash drive in the event that the system needs to be re-installed for any reason.<\/li>\n<li>New A.L.I.C.E. wallpaper theme and icons<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<figure id=\"attachment_10505\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-10505\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"http:\/\/blog.a-eon.biz\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/ALICE_Laptop2.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-10505\" title=\"ALICE_Laptop2\" src=\"http:\/\/blog.a-eon.biz\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/ALICE_Laptop2-300x120.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"120\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-10505\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">A.L.I.C.E. 2.0<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>To whet your appetite, Ken has posted a <a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/AtCFhS34iqs\">quick video<\/a> of A.L.I.C.E. in action. Ken will be attending AmiWest along with Alex Perez of Inertial Computing who is the main distributor for A.L.I.C.E. laptop. So if you are visiting the show and want to a see A.L.I.C.E. in the flesh, come along and say hello. Even better, buy one of the A.L.I.C.E. laptops that will be on sale. \ud83d\ude09<\/p>\n<p><strong>Sitting on the fence?<\/strong><em> <\/em><\/p>\n<p>A few months back I was contacted by Charles Paek who wanted to borrow an AmigaOne X5000 to use in a futuristic film-set he was creating for an advert he had been contracted to produce. I checked Charles&#8217; professional background and discovered he is a successful award winning f<span style=\"color: #000000;\">ilmmaker   and storyteller. <\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_10569\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-10569\" style=\"width: 194px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"http:\/\/blog.a-eon.biz\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Setup2.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-10569   \" title=\"Setup2\" src=\"http:\/\/blog.a-eon.biz\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Setup2-300x265.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"194\" height=\"172\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-10569\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Staging the film set<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>He started as a lead designer   at CBS Broadcasting and later Digital Domain and over  the  past 12 years he worked as a Director, Visual  Effects  Supervisor, and Art Director on creative projects  for Lexus, Target, Acura, Infiniti, <span style=\"color: #000000;\">Marvel, Paramount, Tanqueray and many others, winning a <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.visualeffectssociety.com\/\">VES nomination<\/a><\/em> and a <em><a href=\"https:\/\/clios.com\/awards\">Clio award<\/a><\/em> in the process. All his projects sport a high end and photo-realistic design. <\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_10568\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-10568\" style=\"width: 171px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"http:\/\/blog.a-eon.biz\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Setup1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-10568  \" title=\"Setup1\" src=\"http:\/\/blog.a-eon.biz\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Setup1-293x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"171\" height=\"175\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-10568\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">A close up of the AmigaOne X5000<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">How could I turn Charles down? <\/span>To supply the hardware I enlisted the help of Bill Borsari, the driving force behind the highly successful Amiga30th Anniversary celebrations at Computer History Museum in Mountain View, California and the man behind the live streaming at <em><a href=\"http:\/\/amiwest.net\/\">AmiWest<\/a><\/em> every year. Bill, who is also an AmigaOS 4.x beta tester, shipped his AmigaOne X5000 beta system to Charles in Los Angeles for the filming project. A-EON Technology and Hyperion Entertainment gave their permission to use the AmigaOne X5000 and AmigaOS 4.1 in the advert and Charles did the rest. He used his now trademark <span style=\"color: #000000;\">high end photo-realistic design to create his <\/span><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/vimeo.com\/230639859\">video advert <\/a>featuring the AmigaOne X5000. <\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_10553\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-10553\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"http:\/\/blog.a-eon.biz\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Advert2.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-10553  \" title=\"Advert2\" src=\"http:\/\/blog.a-eon.biz\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Advert2-300x112.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"112\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-10553\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">AmigaOne X5000 beta (in an X1000 case)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">I must admit it was really good to see the AmigaOne X5000 and AmigaOS 4.x featured on screen in a mainstream advert from a talented producer whose <\/span><span style=\"color: #000000;\">impressive portfolio also includes<span style=\"color: #000000;\"> the likes of the <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=qBFoZNEYXJo\">Aston Martin \u2018Reverie\u2019<\/a><\/em>. After the shoot, Bill&#8217;s machine was safely returned to him and I thought that would be the end of the matter. It was only then I discovered that Charles was actually a secret Amigan and had ordered his own pre-built AmigaOne X5000 system from <em><a href=\"http:\/\/amigakit.amiga.store\/catalog\/amiga-shop.php\">AmigaKit<\/a><\/em> with some additional parts form <em><a href=\"http:\/\/amigaonthelake.com\/\">Amiga-On-The-Lake<\/a><\/em><\/span><\/span>.<\/p>\n<p>When he made the following post about his new AmigaOne X5000 on <a href=\"http:\/\/www.amiga.org\/forums\/showthread.php?t=72538\">Amiga.org<\/a>, <em>&#8220;To my surprise, the computer is absolutely amazing. My main purpose of   this was to avoid the habit of collecting a bunch of vintage machines  (I  own a 2000, 500 and 1200) and enjoy a bunch of games I played as a  kid  and not bother with setting up complicated emulators and conflicts  when  it comes to chipsets, kickstart versions etc. Basically, this  machine  has exceeded my expectations&#8221;,<\/em> I just had to contact him to find out more about his Amiga history. I will let Charles tell you himself:-<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_10564\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-10564\" style=\"width: 240px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"http:\/\/blog.a-eon.biz\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/cp2.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-10564 \" title=\"cp2\" src=\"http:\/\/blog.a-eon.biz\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/cp2-300x197.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"240\" height=\"158\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-10564\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Charles Paek with his AmigaOne X5000<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><em>&#8220;As an 80&#8217;s child, I  grew up with Sega Genesis, Turbo Graphix 16 and  the Super Nintendo.  During that time, I also had an Apple IIc for  school with a green  monochrome monitor. I didn&#8217;t discover the Amiga  until the day my mother  took me to the mall and I saw Flight Simulator  running on the Amiga 500  at frames that blew my mind. On the Apple IIc  it looked like was getting  around 4fps on Flight Simulator, and what I  saw that day was a full  color rendering of San Francisco that to my  young eyes looked completely  and utterly smooth. That was the day the  Amiga ruined my perception of  what a powerful computer was supposed to  be. A few months later, I  actually convinced my parents to buy me the  500 and for those few short  years when Commodore was still in business,  I was in heaven. I lived  for X-Copy and my friends and I would visit  strangers homes and trade  games for hours on end. Of course I would buy  games too, but copying was  our way of hacking and for middle school  kids at that time, we felt  like pirates. Then the PC revolution  happened. Voodoo, Sound Blaster and  the rest was history.&#8221;<\/em><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_10579\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-10579\" style=\"width: 216px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><em><a href=\"http:\/\/blog.a-eon.biz\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/CharlesX5000.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-10579  \" title=\"CharlesX5000\" src=\"http:\/\/blog.a-eon.biz\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/CharlesX5000-300x242.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"216\" height=\"175\" \/><\/a><\/em><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-10579\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Charles&#39; AmigaOne X5000 running AmigaOS 4.1 FE<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>I will\u00a0 leave the last word to Charles<em>, &#8220;If anyone is on the fence about the x5000, I would wholeheartedly   recommend a buy. A-EON, Hyperion, AOTL, AmigaKit have all pulled off the   impossible in my eyes. Trevor, (I)\u00a0 also wanted to say thanks for keeping the Amiga dream alive.  I&#8217;ve had  so much fun customizing my machine to bring back so many  memories I had  as a kid. There is no way aging hardware that is full of  compatibility  issues would bring me the same joy. Waiting for the A1222 and will  purchase on day 1.&#8221; <\/em>Thanks Charles, I could not say that better myself and a special thanks to Bill Borsari for supplying his precious machine for the filming.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Approaching Warp speed<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Those clever people at <em>EntwicklerX, <\/em>Thomas Claus and Frank Menzel,<em> <\/em>are making good use of the latest <em>Warp3D Nova<\/em> and associated <em>OpengGLES2<\/em> updates supplied with the<em> Enhancer Software<\/em> package.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_10595\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-10595\" style=\"width: 270px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"http:\/\/blog.a-eon.biz\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/SpencerWB.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-10595   \" title=\"SpencerWB\" src=\"http:\/\/blog.a-eon.biz\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/SpencerWB-300x168.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"270\" height=\"151\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-10595\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Spencer WIP demo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>They have released a new teaser video which demos <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=8iAJO-9BeMg\">Spencer<\/a><\/em>, a new <em>Warp3D Nova<\/em> based game they are working on. I asked Thomas and Frank for a brief progress update and they sent me the following message and images.<\/p>\n<p><em>&#8220;We send you some work in progress of our first small 3D  game focused on  Warp3D Nova. It will be a small platformer game,  inspired on Qwak  (Team 17). We  have not yet a release date because it is much work to get  running well  on Nova (workaround for missing features and shader  adjustments,  sometimes \u201cpoor\u201d performance if shader effects are used).  Also the  levels have to be finished. <\/em><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_10636\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-10636\" style=\"width: 240px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"http:\/\/blog.a-eon.biz\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Enemy2_wip.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-10636 \" title=\"Enemy2_wip\" src=\"http:\/\/blog.a-eon.biz\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Enemy2_wip-300x162.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"240\" height=\"130\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-10636\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Enemy - WIP<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><em>It will contain 5 Themes\/Rooms in a  house,  currently we have 7 Enemies but maybe we will add some more. We  hope to get it finished within the next 1-2 month, it should  really be a  smaller game to finish the 3D engine and get a first needed  3D game  because it is a new field for us (I had to learn Blender from  scratch ???? ).&#8221; <\/em>Thanks Thomas and Frank for the update. All your hard work certainly seems to be paying off!<\/p>\n<p>Hans de Ruiter, the talented developer who is working on A-EON Technology&#8217;s <em>Warp3D Nova<\/em> roadmap added:<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_10596\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-10596\" style=\"width: 270px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"http:\/\/blog.a-eon.biz\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/MiniGL.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-10596  \" title=\"MiniGL\" src=\"http:\/\/blog.a-eon.biz\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/MiniGL-300x168.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"270\" height=\"151\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-10596\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Spencer WIP demo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><em>&#8220;I see per-pixel lighting, ambient occlusion, soft cast shadows;  Entwickler-X are creating graphics effects that used to be impossible on  AmigaOS. <\/em><em>They also added <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=4lxgQVKKeKY\">depth-of-field<\/a> to their X-Engine just a few months  after I added the features they needed\u00a0 to do that (render-to-texture &amp;  depth-textures). It&#8217;s awesome to see Warp3D Nova&#8217;s new capabilities being used,  and I look forward to seeing more of this in future.&#8221;<\/em> Thanks Hans, so do we. Now get back to work on the next <em>Warp3D Nova<\/em> update! \ud83d\ude09<\/p>\n<p><strong>A new generation<br \/>\n<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Way back in 2002, the very first AmigaOne PowerPC next-generation system was released by <em>Eyetec<\/em>h as the <em>A1-SE<\/em> model. Since AmigaOS 4 was not available at the time, it was sold as a developer board and supplied with the Debian Woody Linux PowerPC distribution. The <em>A1-SE<\/em> was actually based on a modified Teron CX reference board created by <em>MAI Logic<\/em> to showcase its <em>ArticiaS Northbridge<\/em> chip. Unfortunately<em> <\/em>the <em>ArticiaS<\/em>, which also powered the <em>Pegasos I<\/em> and <em>AmigaOne<\/em> <em>A1-XE<\/em> motherboard, turned out to be very buggy and would eventually lead to MAI&#8217;s demise and <em>Eyetech&#8217;s<\/em> departure from the Amiga scene.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_10620\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-10620\" style=\"width: 270px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"http:\/\/blog.a-eon.biz\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/A1_SE.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-10620  \" title=\"A1_SE\" src=\"http:\/\/blog.a-eon.biz\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/A1_SE-300x210.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"270\" height=\"189\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-10620\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">My A1-SE<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>I have to admit I had not turned on my A1-SE system for a very long time until the other week when I received a plea for help from Olav Aanes Fagerlund, a Norwegian doctoral student attending the University of Tokyo in Japan. He had just acquired an A1-SE board and wanted to install the latest AmigaOS 4.1 F.E. update. He was experiencing memory problems and could not get the board to recognize a HDD attached to the on-board IDE port. Although he had no prior AmigaOS next-generation experience, I soon discovered he was a very capable individual. He started with an A500 as a youngster and, over the years, added a few other Amigas to his collection which now includes an A<span id=\"cch_f2ac97166eda9c8\" class=\"_mh6 _wsc\"><span class=\"_3oh- _58nk\">600 with Vampire v2, an A4000 equipped with a Mediator and PPC pci card and an<\/span><\/span><span id=\"cch_f2ac97166eda9c8\" class=\"_mh6 _wsc\"><span class=\"_3oh- _58nk\"><span id=\"cch_f2ac97166eda9c8\" class=\"_mh6 _wsc\"><span class=\"_3oh- _58nk\"> A1200 with an Indivision, accelerator and Wifi card. He also has a M<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><span class=\"_3oh- _58nk\"><span id=\"cch_f2ac97166eda9c8\" class=\"_mh6 _wsc\"><span class=\"_3oh- _58nk\">inimig and FPGA Arcade and <\/span><\/span><\/span><span id=\"cch_f2ac97166eda9c8\" class=\"_mh6 _wsc\"><span class=\"_3oh- _58nk\"><span id=\"cch_f2ac97166eda9c8\" class=\"_mh6 _wsc\"><span class=\"_3oh- _58nk\"> <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><span class=\"_3oh- _58nk\"><span id=\"cch_f2ac97166eda9c8\" class=\"_mh6 _wsc\"><span class=\"_3oh- _58nk\">MacMini G4 running MorphOS. I think he even has some Apple machines, but nobody&#8217;s perfect! \ud83d\ude09<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p>Anyway, I told Olav that the A1-SE was very picky about the RAM modules, that none of the<span class=\"_3oh- _58nk\"> on-board stuff really worked and to forget about on-board USB. I recommended he install an Audio, Ethernet and SATA PCI card and to help him I opened up my machine to see what actual PCI cards I had installed and provided him with the details. After that I powered up my A1-SE to show him the machine in action.<span class=\"_3oh- _58nk\"> I was really surprised when it booted straight into Workbench. <\/span><\/span><span class=\"_3oh- _58nk\"><span class=\"_3oh- _58nk\"><span class=\"_3oh- _58nk\">Not too shabby for a machine that is almost 15 years old! I guess we Amigans are used to preserving our cultural heritage with some of our Classic machines now hitting 32 years and still going strong. \ud83d\ude09 <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_10621\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-10621\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"http:\/\/blog.a-eon.biz\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/A_SE_Olav.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-10621\" title=\"A!_SE_Olav\" src=\"http:\/\/blog.a-eon.biz\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/A_SE_Olav-300x168.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"168\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-10621\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Olav&#39;s A1-SE<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Although the A1-SE did feel very slow compared to my AmigaOne X5000, I forgot how much fun it was using this piece of Amiga next-generation history.  I ran the Odyssey web-browser and downloaded some software using AMIStore. I sent Olav a copy of my Uboot firmware settings and left the rest to him. Within a couple of days he has sourced the relevant RAM and PCI cards and shortly after that he had AmigaOS 4.1 Final Edition installed and up and running on his 15 year old A1-SE. If you want to find out more information about Olav&#8217;s A1-SE experience check out my Soapbox article in the next edition of <em>Amiga Future<\/em> magazine. I will compare and contrast Olav&#8217;s A1-SE journey with that of <span class=\"_3oh- _58nk\">Michael Hayler (Outrun1978) who is a dedicated Amiga next-generation user who writes an excellent and very informative <a href=\"https:\/\/amigax5000.blog\/\">AmigaOne X5000 blog<\/a>. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>You&#8217;ve got a Friend (UP) &#8211; <\/strong><strong><span style=\"color: #000000;\">the world&#8217;s first open source virtual computer <\/span><\/strong><strong><span style=\"color: #000000;\"> <\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">One of the benefits of travelling to international Amiga events is you get to meet a lot of clever and interesting people who, if you are lucky, will buy you a drink or two! \ud83d\ude09 Joking aside, I&#8217;ve made some really good friends through my Amiga travels and one or two interesting investment opportunities as well. \ud83d\ude09<\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_10669\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-10669\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"http:\/\/blog.a-eon.biz\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/FriendFig1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-10669\" title=\"FriendFig1\" src=\"http:\/\/blog.a-eon.biz\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/FriendFig1-300x141.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"141\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-10669\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">FriendUP infrastructure - distributed network of computers <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>One of these new friends is Adam Spring of <a href=\"http:\/\/remotely-interested.com\/remotely-interested-podcast\/\"><em>Remotely Interested Podcast<\/em><\/a> fame. He has just written an intriguing and insightful article about <em><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/medium.com\/@RemotelyInterested\/the-friend-unifying-platform-and-connected-technologies-87701ad60e42\">FriendUP<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/em><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">, the Friend Unifying Platform. I&#8217;m the first to admit that, although I am a very minor investor in the <em>FriendUp<\/em> business, I&#8217;ve never really been able to easily describe what <em>FriendUp<\/em> core business model is all about. Sure, I could appreciate terms like <em>Liquid computing<\/em>. I&#8217;ve read the hype about <em>Web 4.0<\/em> <\/span><\/span><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><span class=\"fontstyle0\">and can<\/span> appreciate the raw potential of the <em>IoT.<\/em> I have even come to terms with <em>blockchain<\/em> and <em>cryptocurrency<\/em> but just how does <em>FriendUp<\/em> interconnects with all these emerging technologies? <\/span>After reading Adam&#8217;s article I think I now have a better grasp of where<em> FriendUp<\/em> sits in the evolving world of the internet and a clearer understanding of its potential application verticals. <\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_10666\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-10666\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"http:\/\/blog.a-eon.biz\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/FriendUP1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-10666 \" title=\"FriendUP1\" src=\"http:\/\/blog.a-eon.biz\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/FriendUP1-300x168.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"168\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-10666\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">FriendUp - first open source virtual computer<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Many of the <em>FriendUp<\/em> team have Amiga roots which has inspired the rich counter culture that they are developing. The company has just released a new <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=PX-74ooqino&amp;feature=youtu.be\">Welcome to Friend video<\/a><\/em>, which is narrated by Dan Wood and presents an excellent overview of the <em>FriendUp&#8217;<\/em>s features and capabilities. All I can say is, <em>&#8220;ain&#8217;t it good to know you&#8217;ve got a Friend(UP)&#8221;.<\/em> (<\/span><span style=\"color: #000000;\">w<span style=\"color: #000000;\">ith apologies to Carol King and James Taylor, and if you have to ask who they are you are just too young but I&#8217;m still pleased you are here! \ud83d\ude09<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>Lie, damn lies and statistics?<br \/>\n<\/strong><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_10693\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-10693\" style=\"width: 191px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"http:\/\/blog.a-eon.biz\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/AOTL_Shop.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-10693\" title=\"AOTL_Shop\" src=\"http:\/\/blog.a-eon.biz\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/AOTL_Shop-191x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"191\" height=\"300\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-10693\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Amiga-On-The-Lake<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>USA Amiga retailer, <em>Amiga-on-The-Lake (AOTL)<\/em> has a dual mission statement: <em>&#8220;We are here to grow the AmigaOS4.1 user base!!!  Sell and support the\u00a0AmigaOne line of computers from A-EON&#8221;.<\/em> The company, which<em> <\/em>bills itself as, <em>&#8220;The first &#8216;AmigaNG only&#8217; Reseller on Planet Earth!&#8221;,<\/em> is certainly selling a lot of new <em>AmigaOne X5000 systems<\/em>. Aaron Smith, <em>AOTL&#8217;s<\/em> CEO and co-founder, revealed an intriguing statistic to me about the customers who are buying the AmigaOne X5000 hardware he sells. According to Aaron, who personally chats to everyone who orders a system from his company, over 52% of the purchasers are new to <em>AmigaOS 4<\/em> and have never used an Amiga next-generation computer before and even more surprising, of those people, over half have never used an Amiga computer of any kind in the past! At first he thought his findings were skewed by statistical aberrations associated the initial small number of sales but, as his volume of <em>AmigaOne X5000<\/em> sales has steadily grown, the percentage of newly created Amigans has remained very consistent. Now that really is daring to be different. \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n<p><strong>AMIGAAA! (<\/strong><strong>Finnish Amiga Users Meeting in Oulu 30th September)<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/blog.a-eon.biz\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/amigaaa.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-10679\" style=\"margin-right: 6px; border: 1px solid black;\" title=\"amigaaa\" src=\"http:\/\/blog.a-eon.biz\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/amigaaa-300x90.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"170\" height=\"51\" \/><\/a>There&#8217;s me thinking that I had invented the AMIGAAA! battle-cry! Anyway if you are in Finland at the end of this month get yourself over to Oulu on September 30th to attend <em><a href=\"http:\/\/saku.amigafin.org\/yhdistys\/tapahtumat\/saku2017\/index.html\">SAKU 2017<\/a><\/em>, the\u00a0 Finnish Amiga Users Group (officially Suomen Amiga-k\u00e4ytt\u00e4j\u00e4t ry) annual Amiga Showcase.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_10687\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-10687\" style=\"width: 240px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"http:\/\/blog.a-eon.biz\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/saku2017.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-10687 \" title=\"saku2017\" src=\"http:\/\/blog.a-eon.biz\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/saku2017-300x212.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"240\" height=\"170\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-10687\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">SAKU 2017 Amiga Showcase <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The event usually attracts around 150 visitors but Tapio Koivuniemi is expecting around 200 this year. He will be displaying his <em>AmigaOne X5000<\/em> and games guru and OpenGL2 ES maestro, Daniel M\u00fc\u00dfener, has promised to supply the latest demo versions of <em>Tower57<\/em> and <em>Wings  Remastered<\/em> for the show. Tapio will also be demoing a range of <em>AMIStor<\/em>e software he has purchased, including <em>M.A.C.E.<\/em> from EntwicklerX, <em>AOrganiser<\/em> by Andy Broad and A-EON Technology&#8217;s latest <em>Enhancer Software <\/em>pack for AmigaOS PowerPC.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Have a break(out) have a Kitkat (lawsuit!)<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>If you think we have IP and trademark problems in our tiny Amiverse,  spare a thought for confectionery giant, Nestle. It seems that a KitKat  advert it ran on UK TV in 2016 has led to the company being sued by none  other that Atari. Yes apparently Atari still exists, although a mere  shadow of its former glory.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_10508\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-10508\" style=\"width: 270px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"http:\/\/blog.a-eon.biz\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/KitKat_breakout.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-10508 \" title=\"KitKat_breakout\" src=\"http:\/\/blog.a-eon.biz\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/KitKat_breakout-300x168.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"270\" height=\"151\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-10508\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">KitKat_breakout<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>In 2004, with its sales of KitKat falling, Nestle conducted research  which showed that although most people knew the famous 47 year-old  marketing slogan, <em>&#8220;Have a break, have a KitKat<\/em>&#8220;, it did not encourage them to buy the chocolatey snack. So, to counteract falling sales, the slogan was replaced by, <em>&#8220;Make the most of your break&#8221;<\/em> and since that time Nestle have released numerous ad campaigns based on  that general theme. The advert that Atari objects to, entitled <em>KitKat: Breakout<\/em>, shows a group of people sitting on a sofa playing a <em><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Breakout_%28video_game%29\">Breakout<\/a><\/em> style game during their work break. The traditional breakout bricks  have been replaced by horizontal fingers of chocolate KitKat which the  players have to try and break with their paddle and ball in typical  Breakout fashion.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_10511\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-10511\" style=\"width: 240px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"http:\/\/blog.a-eon.biz\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/KitKat_breakout2.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-10511 \" title=\"KitKat_breakout2\" src=\"http:\/\/blog.a-eon.biz\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/KitKat_breakout2-300x129.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"240\" height=\"103\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-10511\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">KitKat breakout closeup<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>In its legal complaint which it filed in San Francisco, Atari claim that Nestle hoped to exploit<em> &#8220;the special place [Breakout] holds among nostalgic  Baby Boomers,   Generation X, and even  today&#8217;s Millennial and  post-Millennial   &#8216;gamers'&#8221; and <\/em>that<em> the &#8220;KitKat: Breakout advert is so plain and blatant that Nestle  cannot claim to be an &#8216;innocent&#8217; infringer&#8221;<\/em>. In reply a Nestle&#8217;s spokesman said <em>&#8220;We  are aware of the lawsuit in the US and will defend ourselves strongly  against these allegations. This is a UK TV advert that ran in 2016. The  ad no  longer runs and we have no current plans to re-run it.&#8221; <\/em>Of course as we Amigans know, there are literally dozens of similar Breakout games and clones.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_10513\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-10513\" style=\"width: 270px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"http:\/\/blog.a-eon.biz\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Arkanoid.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-10513 \" title=\"Arkanoid\" src=\"http:\/\/blog.a-eon.biz\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Arkanoid-300x172.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"270\" height=\"155\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-10513\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Arkanoid by Taito<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>One of my personal favourites is<em> Arkanoid<\/em> by Taito which I remember playing for hours on my <em>Amiga 2000<\/em>. You can even play <em>Arkanoid<\/em> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.classicgame.com\/Arkanoid\">free of charge<\/a> online along with many other breakout type games, if you are willing to put up with the adverts.<\/p>\n<p>However, despite all these Breakout clones that are freely available,  Atari still hopes to gain by suing the confectionery giant for its <em>&#8220;blatant infringement&#8221;, w<\/em>hich only just goes to show that IP is only worth suing over if you  think you can get a sizeable cash pay out. Perhaps the new Atari has  taken a leaf out of the Jack Tramiel playbook, <em>Business is war!<\/em> I sometimes wonder why we Amigans are still at war with one another. Could it be for the sizable cash payout? Somehow I don&#8217;t think so. \ud83d\ude09<em> <\/em><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_10698\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-10698\" style=\"width: 216px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"http:\/\/blog.a-eon.biz\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Bowling_balls.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-10698  \" title=\"Bowling_balls\" src=\"http:\/\/blog.a-eon.biz\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Bowling_balls-300x245.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"216\" height=\"176\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-10698\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Spot the &#39;Bowling&#39; ball?<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><strong>&#8230;.and finally<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>The Boing Ball Image of the week!<\/strong><em> <\/em><\/p>\n<p>Seen while walking in Wellington CBD yesterday!<\/p>\n<p><em> <\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>next stop Sacramento for AmiWest 2017 and Neuss for Amiga32.<\/strong><\/p>\n<pre><strong>\n<\/strong><\/pre>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Well AmiParty 21 in Poland lived up to all my expectations and then some. \ud83d\ude42 The hospitality and warmth shown by Jeanot and the rest of the Chelm Amiga Legion team to David Pleasance, Amiga Bill and me was second to none. The strong Polish beer and aromatic home made vodka, known as Stalin&#8217;s Tears,&hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"http:\/\/blog.a-eon.biz\/blog\/index.php\/2017\/09\/16\/stalins-tears\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Stalin&#8217;s Tears<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10435","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.a-eon.biz\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10435"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.a-eon.biz\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.a-eon.biz\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.a-eon.biz\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.a-eon.biz\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10435"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/blog.a-eon.biz\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10435\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.a-eon.biz\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10435"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.a-eon.biz\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10435"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.a-eon.biz\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10435"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}