Events

Mar 7 2012

Apple ][ Convention “KansasFest” Opens For Registration

KANSAS CITY, MO — March 7, 2012 — KansasFest, the 23rd annual convention dedicated to the Apple II computer, is now open for registration. Users, programmers, hobbyists, and retrocomputing enthusiasts are invited to Rockhurst University in Kansas City, Missouri, from Tuesday, July 17, through Sunday, July 22, for six days and five nights of sessions, demos, announcements, contests, and camaraderie.

The week kicks off with a keynote speech John Romero, co-founder of id Software and creator of Wolfenstein 3D, Dangerous Dave, and nearly a hundred other popular computer and video games. Romero will be available immediately afterward for a Q&A and autograph session.

The week then offers a variety of presentations and workshops, including but not limited to:

* The history of AppleWorks, presented by Randy Brandt
* Andy Molloy looks at the best of the Apple II demo scene
* Apple II Road Show — Tony Diaz shows you how to tell authentic hardware from a fake
* Build your own Apple II WordPress site with Ken Gagne
* Learn to program interactive fiction in Inform 7 with Carrington Vanston
* A Kickstarter brainstorming session
* HackFest, an annual programming challenge open to coders of all skill levels
* A vendor fair and exhibit hall for attendees and the general public to show off, play with, and buy and sell new or unusual hardware and software

Attendees are encouraged to share their knowledge by presenting their own hardware and software sessions, especially of the Apple II but including Macintosh, Windows, Linux, iOS, and others. All KansasFest sessions are presented by the attendees, who are known for unscheduled events and debuts, too. Whether it’s a behind-the-scenes look at new software, pre-order opportunities for new hardware, a live-action text adventure, a podcast recording session, GShisen and Dueltris tournaments, or an athletic round of Bite the Bag, there are experiences to be had and memories made at KansasFest that aren’t possible except in the company of surprising, brilliant, diehard Apple II fans.

Register before June 1 to guarantee a price of $375 for a double room or $445 for a single, which includes admission to all sessions as well as most meals. Official KansasFest shirts are extra and optional and must be ordered by May 31; registration for staying on-site closes July 8. Veterans of the event are invited to bring a first-time attendee; if each indicates the others name on the registration form, both will receive a $25 referral rebate at the event. To register, please visit the official Web site at http://www.kansasfest.org/

KansasFest sponsor 16 Sector invites any and all Apple II users, fans, and friends to attend the world’s only annual Apple II conference. For photos, videos, schedules, and presentations from past year’s events, to sign up for the email list and for inquiries, please visit the event’s Web site.

CONTACT:

Email: http://www.kansasfest.org/contact/
Register: http://www.kansasfest.org/register/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/kansasfest
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/events/382225585123061/

By admin • Events, General, KFest • 0 • Tags: , , ,

Feb 25 2012

8-Bit Exhibition, ERA domani, to take place in Trento, Italy

An 8-bit exhibition is scheduled to be put on by two Universita Degli Studi Di Trento professors from 18 April to 19 May in Trento Italy.  Professor Damiano Cavicchio and Professor Ugo Mase are the curators of the exhibition.  The exhibition will cover the entire history of the 8-bit computer, including the machines, the documentation, the advertisements and other related paraphernalia.

The exhibition will be held at the Biblioteca Universitaria del Polo Scientifico “Fabio Ferrari” in Trento and will run from 9am to 7pm each day.  For more information about the event, you can contact the professors at BibliotecaScienze (at) unitn.it

Source: 1000bit.it

By admin • Era domani, Events, General, Vintage • 0 • Tags: , , ,

Feb 6 2012

Spring-Time Retro Computer Convention Scheduled for May 25-27

Payton Byrd has announced a new Spring Time Retro Computer Convention for Clarksville, Tennessee in lieu of this years C4 convention.  The announement in CSA2 placed the convention at the Riverview Inn (http://www.theriverviewinn.com/rvstie/ ]) in Clarksville.

According to the announcement by Payton, “It would be the last weekend of May, (25-27) and we’d have the room for 48 hours.  It’s a very nice facility in a great location near the Cumberland River and just minutes from shopping, dining and recreation for the family. “At time of this posting, he had scheduled the room but most of the posts on the Facebook page were from retro buffs who were overseas.

If you are planning to attend the convention, you will need to RSVP on the Facebook page for the convention.  You can also RSVP by sending a private message to Payton.  For more information or to RSVP for the convention, go to:

http://www.facebook.com/events/104225689703035/

By admin • Events, General, Retro Convention, Vintage • 0 • Tags: ,

Jan 10 2012

Keynote Speakers for Vintage Computer Festival East 8.0 Announced

Vintage Computer festival East (VCF East) keynote speakers have been announced on the VCF website. VCF East is scheduled to happen May 5th and May 6th at the InfoAge Science Center in Wall New Jersey.  Considered the smorgasbord of vintage computing, VCF covers the gamut of vintage computing platforms. It also is the only remaining event of the VCF Festivals after the downturn in the economy.

The Saturday session will be headlined by the creator of the BASIC programming language, Tom Kurtz.  Tom created BASIC in 1964 while he was at Dartmouth University.

The Sunday session is scheduled to be headlined by the man known as Apple employee #12, Daniel Kottke.  Daniel was involved with Apple from a very early time and even traveled to India with Steve Jobs.

For more information about VCF East 8.0, check out the VCF website at:

http://www.vintage.org/2012/east/

By admin • Events, VCF • 0 • Tags: , , , , , ,

Sep 30 2011

John Romero to headline the 2012 version of KFest

A press release this morning from the KansasFest organization announces that John Romero, whose programming legacy is set over 97 titles, will be the keynote speaker at the 2012 Kansasfest.  The event which will run July 17 to July 22, 2012 is the annual gathering of Apple ][ enthusiasts, hobbyists, hackers and others.   Each year the event draws about 50 people and is always high spirited and full of computing surprises.

For more on this event, we include the press release below:

SEPTEMBER 30, 2011 — KansasFest 2012, the Apple II convention scheduled for July 17–22 in Kansas City, Missouri, comes just two months after the twentieth anniversary of Wolfenstein 3D, the first-person shooter that, when released for MS-DOS in 1992, defined a genre that is still popular today. Not only did the game, which was later ported to the Apple IIGS, use as its inspiration the Apple II game Castle Wolfenstein; Wolfenstein 3D’s creators got their start working at Apple II disk magazine Softdisk.

To commemorate that anniversary and heritage, KansasFest 2012′s keynote speech will be delivered by none other than Wolfenstein 3D co-creator John Romero.

Romero, whose Apple II credits include Dangerous Dave and Dark Castle, has been a pillar of the electronic entertainment industry for nearly as long as the Apple II has existed. Popular Apple II magazine inCider published Romero’s first program in 1984, with many more of his titles to appear in both inCider and Nibble. Romero later joined Origin Systems, publisher of the Ultima and Wing Commander games, as a programmer, after which he co-founded Inside Out Software. At both companies, he ported software to and from the Apple II and Commodore 64. With KansasFest 2008 keynote speaker Lane Roathe, Romero also co-founded software company Ideas From the Deep, where he developed the Apple II game Zappa Roidz as well as the InfoDOS operating system for Infocom’s Apple II games.

In 1989, Romero joined Softdisk, a stint that introduced him to three important people: John Carmack, Tom Hall, and Adrian Carmack. The four co-workers left Softdisk in 1991 to co-found id Software, which a year later revolutionized electronic gaming and demonstrated the potential of the shareware distribution model when they released Wolfenstein 3D, which sold 100,000 units in its first 18 months. Later id Software blockbusters, including DOOM and Quake, further cemented the company as an industry powerhouse. Romero has since been involved with many additional high-profile games, including Deus Ex, Daikatana, and Gauntlet: Seven Sorrows. He most recently co-founded social games company Loot Drop, developer of the popular Facebook game Ravenwood Fair, which currently has nearly five million users.

Despite such overwhelming success and a storied résumé, Romero has long celebrated his roots as an Apple II programmer. In 1998, he reunited forty Apple II programmers in celebration of the Apple II turning 20 the year before. So prestigious were Romero’s invitations that in attendance was Apple II inventor Steve Wozniak, KansasFest 2003′s keynote speaker. It was this event that later inspired Jason Scott, keynote speaker at KansasFest 2009, to begin production on a documentary of the 6502 processor, which powers the Apple II. Romero appeared in Scott’s text-adventure documentary, Get Lamp, and will support Scott’s upcoming 6502 film as well.

From Commander Keen to DOOM and Quake, Romero’s games — 97 to date — regularly become household names and spawn countless imitators. Romero’s reflection on the role of the Apple II in both his and the industry’s successes will captivate KansasFest 2012 attendees.

KansasFest is an annual convention offering Apple II users and retrocomputing enthusiasts the opportunity to engage in beginner and technical sessions, programming contests, exhibition halls, and camaraderie. KansasFest was originally hosted by Resource Central and has been brought to you by the KFest Committee since 1995. Any and all Apple II users, fans, and friends are invited to attend this year’s event. Registration details will be announced on the KansasFest Web site in early 2012. For photos, videos, and presentations from past KansasFests, please visit the event’s official Web site at http://www.kansasfest.org/

CONTACT:
KansasFest 2012

http://www.kansasfest.org/

http://twitter.com/kansasfest/

By billm • Events, KFest • 0 • Tags: , , , ,

Sep 16 2011

Kansas Fest 2012 Dates Announced

An announcement from Ken Gagne of the Kansas Fest committee on CSA2 Specifies the 2012 rendition of KFEST.

“KansasFest 2012 will be held at Rockhurst University in Kansas City,
Missouri, from Tuesday, July 17, through Sunday, July 22.

Note that these dates do NOT conflict with Comic-Con… they finally
realized the juggernaut they were up against and moved their event! :-
D  So any geeks interest in both events can have their cake and eat
it, too.

More details will be announced on the KansasFest Web site as they
become available.  You can sign up to receive occasional news alerts:

http://www.kansasfest.org/subscribe/

See you there!

-Ken”

 

By billm • Apple ][, Events, KFest • 0 • Tags: , , ,

Mar 31 2011

KFest Registration Now Open

KANSAS CITY, MO — March 30, 2011 — KansasFest, the 22nd annual convention dedicated to the Apple II computer, is now open for registration. Users, programmers, hobbyists, and retrocomputing enthusiasts are invited to Rockhurst University in Kansas City, Missouri, from Tuesday, July 19, 2011, through Sunday, July 24, for six days and five nights of sessions, demos, announcements, contests, and camaraderie.

The week kicks off with keynote speaker Bob Bishop, co-founder of Apple’s R&D lab alongside Steve Wozniak and creator of many popular Apple II programs and articles. Several sessions and workshops are scheduled throughout the rest of the week, including but not limited to:

  • Ivan Drucker’s tutorial for putting your Apple II on a LAN
  • Build your own Apple II MP3 expansion card workshop by Vince Briel
  • A look at the Apple III’s technical aspects and modern accessories, by Mike Maginnis
  • A live-action text adventure, hosted by Ken Gagne
  • A behind-the-scenes look at the Open Apple podcast
  • The latest on Apple’s iOS mobile devices by Rob Walch of the Today in iPhone podcast
  • A vendor fair that includes an exhibit hall for attendees to show off and play with new or unusual hardware and software
  • HackFest, an annual programming challenge open to coders of all skill levels

What the schedule can’t predict is the variety of surprises that are a hallmark of KansasFest. Recent years have seen the debut of a new, boxed Apple II game; the reclassification of Resource Central’s catalog; a “lunch and learn” session on Apple IIc disassembly; and many other announcements and demonstrations. Attendees are encouraged to share their knowledge by presenting their own hardware and software sessions, especially of the Apple II but also including Macintosh, Windows, Linux, iOS, and others.

Register before June 1 to guarantee a price of $365 for a double room or $435 for a single, which includes admission to all sessions as well as most meals. Official KansasFest shirts and Vince Briel’s MP3 workshop are extra and optional and must be ordered by May 31; registration for staying on-site closes July 10. Veterans of the event are invited to bring a first-time attendee; if each indicates the other’s name on the registration form, both will receive a $25 referral rebate at the event. To register, please visit the official Web site at http://www.kansasfest.org/

KansasFest sponsor 16 Sector invites any and all Apple II users, fans, and friends to attend the world’s only annual Apple II conference. For photos, schedules, presentations from past year’s events, and inquiries, please visit the event’s Web site.

CONTACT:

Email: http://www.kansasfest.org/contact/
Register: http://www.kansasfest.org/register/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/kansasfest
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=192182347486252

By billm • Apple ][, KFest • 0 • Tags: , ,

Mar 10 2011

Pwn2Own competition 2011: 1′st day (A third hand report)

The annual Pwn2Own competition has had it’s first day results come in. The idea behind the competition is to present some “hackers” with a series of web browsers on various machines. These machines are configured by various software manufacturers. The first hacker to generate a remote exploit on a particular machine gets to keep the machine plus $15,000.

Although armed with 62 last minute patches, Safari was the first to go down. It took only five seconds. Next to go down shortly after was Windows 7 (64bit SP1) running IE8 (Microsoft didn’t bother with any last minute patches). Apparently Google offered an additional $20,000 to anyone who could take down Chrome. Unfortunately the only two groups who were going to try did not show up.

Last years results were a little more detailed but pretty much mirrored those of this year as well as 2009. Last year after IE8 went down was Safari Mobile on an iPhone. Google Chrome was particularly difficult. Apparently nobody bothered with Opera. Last years total prizes were around $100,000.

By BlankMike • Events, Macintosh, Programming, Software • 0

Mar 5 2011

Conan O’Brien pokes fun at iPad2 Launch

Conan O’Brien has been known for his ability to have the latest and greatest in Apple gadgets and to poke fun at them at the same time.   While his iPhone skit was quite funny a while back, his new iPad2 commercial is absolutely brilliant in the manner it parodies the launch.   Stating “Apple is getting a bit cocky” in his monologue, he then turns to the following commercial to take the joke home.

By billm • Apple Inc., Events, iPad • 0 • Tags: , , , ,

Mar 2 2011

iPad 2 Revealed….and Steve was there to present it, what else can you ask for?

Apple introduced its new iPad 2 today at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco, California by none other than the master presenter himself, Steve Jobs. He mentioned that he could not let this historic announcement go by without showing up at the show, which is interesting because this presentation was a lot less historic than the iPhone coming to Verizon…. in my opinion anyway. Back to the iPad as it were, never owning an iPad myself and only drooling over it at my local Apple store I can only describe from my experiences with the first gen iPad and what I have seen online so far with the new machine.

When the most impresive thing to stand out to you when you see a new product is the cover, that should be a strong indication that the rest is not going to blow you away. That said, the new smart cover as they called it was quite an impresive piece. It magnetically connects to the iPad from the left side only and puts the iPad to sleep when covered. Once you lift the cover the iPad comes alive, and you can even use it as a stand for when typing.

 

Now for the main event, which is why everyone is gathered here today. Available on March 11th in either White or Black,  Wi-Fi and 3G, and ATT or Verizon, the iPad 2 is lighter (1.30# compared to 1.50#) than its predecessor as well as a few new bells and whistles to tempt any Apple fanboy’s palette:

  • Rear- and front-facing cameras for recording video, taking photos, and FaceTime video chat (Yawn, nothing inovative there but it was needed to keep up with the game of Tablets).
  • The new iPad also has a new A5 dual-core processor which offers up to 9 times faster graphics processing. Apple said the faster speeds of the new processor will not have any greater power consumption than the previous A4 processor.
  • A new accessory cable will also offer mirrored HDMI video out to HDTVs for 1080p high-definition output. The $39 cable allows users to charge their iPad while using the video out feature. (I would have liked to have seen this available without the cable, say bluetooth… that would have been impressive)
  • The new iPad 2 is one-third thinner, 33% as Apple totes on its site, than the first-generation model, just 8.8 mm thick, even thinner than the iPhone 4, which is quite impressive when you think about it.
  • I was also shocked to find that it will be available at the same starting price of $499 for the entry-level 16GB Wi-Fi-only model.

I would like to say that I was overwhelmed by this product and blown away at what was presented, but to be honest I was not.  That is why Apple has Steve Jobs and what Steve Jobs does best… makes you want this thing because of his amazing presentation skills. Makes you anticipate it with all the buzz and chatter, not revealing too much and then, wham!, comes out with it.  Eventually I will own my own and sing its praises all day and every day because I am a Mac Whore at heart, a convert if you will… and that just about is what owning an Apple product does for most people when they get their hands on one.

 

By pmsquillace • Events, iPad • 0 • Tags: , , , ,

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