MISC news

[jfox@xxxxxxxx (Jeff Fox)]

Dear MISC readers:

We tried to make the July 8 .8u HP run at Mosis with a new F21
prototype this week.  We didn't quite make it and plan to submit
a chip to Mosis on Aug 19.  This will bring these chips back in November.
There is no change to the published F21c spec yet, just untested bug
fixes.

I must disagree with Penio a little bit.  In the last message he wrote:

>On Sun, 7 Jun 1998, Jeff Fox wrote:
>
>> The MISC mail list has bee so dry for so long that I have wondered
>> if it still existed.  
>
>It does.  But since MISC chips/kits are not available to the public, I
>guess this generates little interest. 

This statement is not exactly true.  MuP21 is a MISC chip.  It has
been available as a prototype since about 1993 and went through a
production run which returned chips in October of 1994.  P21 is a
MISC chip and has been available through Offete for years.  Offete
has offered various boards and software as well.  Of course most of
the mail I get is from people who want to buy Offete Enterprise
products from me.  I am setting some stuff at my web site so that
they can finally get those chips and boards via web shopping at my site.
I will also offer Ultra Technology software and ROMs for the Offete
products as well as prototype F21 chips, boards and software.

It is true that i21 and F21 have not been completed and have not
been available to the public.  I will offer some of the F21 prototype
chips and boards for sale but so far they have all had serious bugs
and are not finished designs.  The lack of new MISC chips has 
resulted in little interest by the public.

But as the article in Barron's said last year "consumers, Intel,
Microsoft, and PC makers" should notice this new technology.  Since
internet access and sub $1000 PCs is what is driving the consumer
market at the moment Barron's felt it was an interesting development
that iTV was making internet consumer devices where most of the hardware was
in a custom chip that could be mass produced for under $2.

>> iTV has setup a couple of website discussions
>> groups (since you can do email and web browsing on the itv products
>> you can only get into a news group if presented though a web interface.)
>> however I have yet to publish their address in MISC.  Joe
>> setup one on itv, one on P21 and one on F21 as I recall.  No one knows 
>> about them yet so no one has visited them. try:
>> http://blue.itvc.com:8080/~misc
>
>I did.  I have to admit that I don't get the idea of using a clunky web
>interface to something as trivial as a newsgroup.

The iTV handheld LCD internet appliance, the settop box, and the internet
ready TV all support email and web browsing.  A newsgroup presented via
the web interface is accessible to this kind of unit.  Anyway we don't
have a MISC newsgroup.  All we have is the MISC mail list and I don't
think it is as good of a media for discussions as a newsgroup even if
the newsgroup is presented via a web interface.   The MISC mail list
was at one time large enough that the members could vote in a MISC
newsgroup if they wanted it.

>On another note, my humble self graduated, which is reflected on my home
>page (http://venezia.rockefeller.edu/penev/ , if that matters).  That can
>well explain why I've been so inactive on the MISC front.

Congratulations Penio!

Jeff Fox