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2. FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions concerning AMIGA aktuell International)

The AMIGA-aktuell-International-FAQ

Preliminary remarks

The AMIGA aktuell FAQ (FAQ = frequently asked questions) is intended to preserve the sanity and save the time of the editorial staff of AMIGA aktuell International, and of course to answer your questions as quickly and as simply as possible.

Hence before you send a question to Carsten Schroeder or to me, please read this document first. It contains some questions which have never been asked before. But in my opinion many of those "invented" questions deserve to be asked and answered, too.

If you believe that important questions and answers are missing in the FAQ or if you have ideas on how to improve it, please send a message to Christian Aichinger <christian@aakt.de>. The FAQ will immediately be extended.

1. General questions

Q: What is AMIGA aktuell International?

A: AMIGA aktuell International is the English translation of the German Amiga infotainment magazine AMIGA aktuell, which is mainly concerned with the "Amiga" computer platform (http://www.amiga.com). In AMIGA aktuell news, workshops, test reports and much more are published. On occasion additional AMIGA aktuell Specials are released. AMIGA aktuell International appears as an HTML version in the English language. Both editions are available free of charge to interested readers. AMIGA aktuell is published monthly and normally is released in the first week of each month. AMIGA aktuell International appears approx. three weeks later.

Q: How can I obtain AMIGA aktuell International?

A: There are several ways to get AMIGA aktuell International. The two most important are:

*. From the homepage (http://www.aakt.de). Here you will find the online edition of AMIGA aktuell International. The latest edition can be downloaded as an LhA archive, and there is an archive of the older editions, too.

*. From the Aminet: In the directory docs/mags there are most of the editions of AMIGA aktuell International. The latest editions are uploaded as soon as possible to the Aminet server.

In the AMIGA aktuell International section "Internal/Distribution" additional methods of distribution and information about subscription can be found.

2. Questions about writing articles

Q: I'd like to write an article. Must I master HTML or AmigaGuide?

A: No! If you write an article, the text should be in ASCII format. The conversion of the text to HTML and Amigaguide is done by diligent members of the AMIGA aktuell staff. If you want to ease the life of those people a bit, you can take care to let the lines be no longer than 75 characters.

Even better: Let each paragraph be in just one line (unlimited number of characters per line and paragraph). After you finish your article, please check the spelling again. The best way is to leave your work for a day, then read the text again, or ask a friend/relative to proof-read it. In most cases you will find some additional mistakes/typos. Of course, further proof-reading is done by the editor's staff.

Q: May I write/translate my texts for the international edition in any language?

A: No! Unfortunately the AMIGA aktuell team only has translators with skill in the English and German languages. We regret that articles by authors in other languages cannot be taken into consideration.

Q: I'd like to illustrate my article with several graphics. Which format should I save the graphics to?

A: Pictures in highcolor and truecolor format (15/16/24 bit) must be available in JEPG format. The quality should be decreased to 75 - 80 percent. Other graphics (<=8 bit) must be saved to PNG format. The resolutions shouldn't be higher than 800x600 pixels. If several screenshots are used, they should be numbered in the relevant sequence, (eg. ArtEffekt1.jpg, ArtEffekt2.png, etc.).

Q: Are there some things I must include?

A: Yes! If your article is about a program which is shareware or a commercial software, you should state the price in Euro and/or DM and/or US dollars. Besides that, a European and/or international distributor should be named, if known.

3. Questions about Subscription

Q: Is it possible to subscribe for the AMIGA aktuell Specials, without receiving the magazine itself?

A: No! The subscribers list for the magazine and for the Specials is not managed separately. Please consider the Specials as a kind of a bonus.

Q: My e-mail program has problems decoding the AMIGA aktuell (International) archive. What is the reason?

A: You use an older e-mail program, which does not support "base64" coded data. Get yourself a more up-to-date version or use another e-mail program. If you do not want to do that, you can find several tools in the Aminet, which make it possible to read data coded in "base64".

Q: But why don't you use an Amiga format for encoding the Amiga aktuell (International) archive?

A: There is no Amiga format for data coded in this way (not any more than there is a PC or Macintosh format). It depends upon the version of the e-mail program you currently use. Every newer (Amiga) e-mail program is able to decode e-mail messages in "base64" format.

If such problems occur, talk to the author of the program.

Q: On my PC I do not have an LhA unpacker. Are the AMIGA-aktuell-(International) archives available in ZIP compression?

A: Not until now, because LhA is the standard Amiga compression format. But there are several LhA unpackers for Windows, among other platforms on the Aminet.

4. Miscellaneous Questions

Q: I just loaded AMIGA aktuell International, but I cannot view any graphics. What am I doing wrong?

A: The graphics, which are in an extra archive, have to be installed. For example, the Amiga aktuell International edition 1200 (December 2000) needs the graphics copied to the directory "international/edition1200/img/". If you use an older webbrowser for viewing, it is possible that the datatypes system of the Amiga is used for the display. No datatypes, no display. In this case download a datatype for JPG graphics and another one for PNG graphics from the Aminet (e.g. util/dtype/WarpJPEGdt and util/dtype/WarpPNGdt).

Q: What, the FAQ ends here? I still have an important question, which hasn't been answered yet. Whom may I ask?

A: Please send a mail to me <christian@aakt.de> or Carsten Schroeder <aakt@aakt.de>.