ewiles@netxcom.UUCP (Edwin Wiles) (08/06/88)
[I've redirected followups to comp.sys.amiga...]
LOOK OUT! WE'VE BEEN SPOTTED!
[Excerpted without permission...]
FEDERAL COMPUTER WEEK, Vol 2, August 1st 1988, No. 31
Page 25, "Amiga Arrives?".
When thieves recently broke into the office of the Strategic
Defense Initiative Oragnization - the group handling SDI
research - they stole a computer reportedly used to simulate
missle attack and defense scenarios.
The computer, with a 32-bit Motorola 68030 chip as its
CPU, had a sophisticated multitasking operating system that
could run 20 simultaneous tasks......
....It was a Commodore Amiga, a microcomputer still widely
perceived as a game machine for the pleasure of 12-year-olds.
Missle defense, however, is serious business, and SDI
researchers, like many others in federal agencies and
contractors, have found the Amiga to be a powerful and much
underapreciated computer. The Amiga has found increasing
acceptance in federal agencies that require its sophisticated
multitasking, graphics and animation capabilities in
applications from scientific research to desktop publishing
and video production, from computer-aided design and
engineering to inventory control in high-security
installations.
. . .
The article tells how many of a number of different kinds of software are
available for the Amiga. (It's quite impressive.) It also states that some
Amiga users describe Commodore's top managment attitude to be "brain dead".
But that the technical staff (You listening CATS? :-) ) have been devoted to
making it a success. The article describes the 2000 and 500, with a comparison
of the merits of each model. Talks about the OS and how 1.3 will allow
autoboot from a hard drive. All in all, it seems to be a well written and
definitely up-beat review of the Amiga. Hurrahh! We've been NOTICED!
Enjoy!
--
...!hadron\ "Who?... Me?... WHAT opinions?!?" | Edwin Wiles
...!sundc\ Schedule: (n.) An ever changing | NetExpress Comm., Inc.
...!pyrdc\ nightmare. | 1953 Gallows Rd. Suite 300
...!uunet!netxcom!ewiles | Vienna, VA 22180jdow@gryphon.CTS.COM (J. Dow) (08/06/88)
In article <940@netxcom.UUCP> ewiles@netxcom.UUCP (Edwin Wiles) writes: >[I've redirected followups to comp.sys.amiga...] > >LOOK OUT! WE'VE BEEN SPOTTED! > >[Excerpted without permission...] > > FEDERAL COMPUTER WEEK, Vol 2, August 1st 1988, No. 31 > Page 25, "Amiga Arrives?". > > When thieves recently broke into the office of the Strategic > Defense Initiative Oragnization - the group handling SDI > research - they stole a computer reportedly used to simulate > missle attack and defense scenarios. And Gary Bonham of Sparta is the person who has been generating much of that SDI scenario. He is the fellow behind some of the Aegis animation software. -- Sometimes a bird in the hand leaves a sticky deposit. Perhaps it were best it remain there in the bush with the other one. {@_@} jdow@bix (where else?) Sometimes the dragon wins. Sometimes jdow@gryphon.CTS.COM the knight. Does the fair maiden ever {backbone}!gryphon!jdow win? Surely both the knight and dragon stink. Maybe the maiden should suicide? Better yet - she should get an Amiga and quit playing with dragons and knights.
billd@crash.cts.com (Bill D'Camp) (08/07/88)
[]
It's nice that there is some publicity for government use of
the Amiga, back in April I remember seeing a notice from NASA
Ames asking for quotes on A2000 systems, in CBD as I recall.
I'm glad there are other places in the government that are
recognizing the capabilities of our machine.
--
_ /| Fundamentally Oral Bill
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Bill's Boards --- peripherals for the Amigamike@ames.arc.nasa.gov (Mike Smithwick) (08/07/88)
[] The feds had noticed us out here about a year and a half ago. In one of the buildings I work in, the Army is developing one of the most sophisticated helicopter simulators in this and parallel dimensions. The purpose of the simulator is to develop the man-machine interfaces for the next generation of 'copter cockpits. Specifically, they're first trying to answer the question "can we make cockpit displays so as not to overload a single pilot with information, or will we need two pilots". The cockpit uses such things as helmet mounted displays, voice recognition devices, touch-screens, etc. This represents a serious attempt at creating the fabled "glass cockpit", eliminating many of the discrete hardware displays of the past, and designing a whole new set for things such as real-time battle management, scrolling video-maps of the flight area, and video procedure checklists. The computer displays are driven by a number of pricey Silicon Graphics IRIS graphics computers. But, due to the unusual nature of the new displays, any pilots involved in the studies need a whole lotta training ahead of time. Since the simulator costs in the thousands of $$ per hour to run it would get very expensive if used merely as a training tool. Consequently, some bright souls stumbled upon the Amiga as a low-cost solution to this problem. They've currenly outfitted a pilot training room with 6 Amiga 2000s, loaded with all sorts of CSA turbo goodies, fat hardisks ,touchscreens, and helicopter joy sticks. One Amiga will display a simple helicopter out-the-window scene, while 2 others show different cockpit displays. This counts for 2 training stations. All in all, not bad for a "game machine", eh? -- *** mike (starship janitor) smithwick *** "Due to the Writer's Guild of Amierica strike, this signature is temporarily cancelled". [disclaimer : nope, I don't work for NASA, I take full blame for my ideas]
darin@taurus.laic.uucp (Darin Johnson) (08/09/88)
In article <940@netxcom.UUCP>, ewiles@netxcom.UUCP (Edwin Wiles) writes: > available for the Amiga. (It's quite impressive.) It also states that some > Amiga users describe Commodore's top managment attitude to be "brain dead". > But that the technical staff (You listening CATS? :-) ) have been devoted to > making it a success. Kinda sounds like the opposite of some 'unnamed' competitors... You know, the ones without much going for them software-wise, but plenty of marketing expertise. Darin Johnson (...pyramid.arpa!leadsv!laic!darin) (...ucbvax!sun!sunncal!leadsv!laic!darin) "All aboard the DOOMED express!"