Tag: mike maginnis

This month on Open Apple, we sit down with Huibert Aalbers, author of Soundsmith. It’s hard to overstate what a platform-defining piece of software this was for the Apple IIgs. Few people appreciated what the audio system in this computer was capable of, until Huibert unlocked it for the world to hear. Games and scene demos would use his tool for the entire life of the machine. Other music trackers came along in later years, but Soundsmith was always there….

This month on Open Apple, we sit down with legendary Apple II programmer, Bill Budge. In addition to being an icon of Apple II gaming and graphics, he is the number-one-requested guest by listeners of the show. Mike and Quinn are very excited he was able to make some time to talk to them, and hope you agree it was worth the effort. Bill is, of course, the author of such seminal classics as Raster Blaster, Pinball Construction Set, and…

This month on Open Apple we sit down with Peter Lount, co-developer of Gemstone Warrior and Gemstone Healer for the Apple II. Canadian programmer Peter and his partner Trouba broke new ground in video games by combining fast action combat with procedurally generated caves and dungeon content. Gemstone Warrior doesn’t get credit for being the predecessor to Blizzard megahit Diablo, but it should. Peter talks about tuning his rendering engine, including rewriting huge chunks of it overnight to meet a…

This month on Open Apple we sit down with Henry Courbis, co-proprietor of Ultimate Micro, serial entrepreneur, and Open Source guy. Henry is boldly going where no hobbyist has gone before, by making Apple II hardware his real day job. If anyone can do it, Ultimate Micro can! We talk massive modem phone bills, phreaking, warez, and statutes of limitations. You know… for a friend. Henry talks about how hardware first appealed to him, and how he has leveraged his…

This month on Open Apple we sit down with David Schroeder, author of classic Apple II games such as Crisis Mountain, Dino Eggs, and Short Circuit. We talk about the randomness of our passionate brand-loyalty, the logistical realities of early Apple II development, and the magical era of “one-person, one-game”. We get into a lot of the technical details of Crisis Mountain and Dino Eggs, so you might pick up some tips for your own Apple II projects! David also has great memories of…

This month on Open Apple we sit down with Robert Bowdidge, one of three interns at Berkeley Softworks who ported GEOS to the best line of 8-bit computers. We talk about what a great place Berkeley Softworks was, along with the power of good tools and proper software engineering. Robert has great memories of the culture there, the GUI technology they had built, and the brilliant people who built it. Apparently GEOS existed for some other 8-bit computer as well, but we imagine…

This month on Drop /// Inches, Paul’s Apple /// has trouble connecting with the world outside, so he speculates on possibilities for WiFi connectivity, and Mike’s Apple /// has trouble connecting with any worlds at all. So, we turn our attention to literature, including the full Apple /// patent, a survey of Apple II users, an early interview with Trip Hawkins, and books on the Apple ///. Paul’s gotten himself a Cursor /// and some late-era PFS software, and unexpectedly managed…

This month on Open Apple we sit down with Mike Westerfield, of The Byte Works’ fame. We talk about his adventures writing assemblers & compilers for 8/16 bit computers, and we see what he’s up to nowadays. We talk about small-system compilers, Logo, the perils of open source, and where to go for Byte Works’ products. It’s a compiler and assembler-themed episode of the one-and-only Apple II podcast. Tune in to hear Mike pine longingly for Lawless Legends, and hear…

This month on Open Apple, we sit down with Rebecca “Burger Becky” Heineman. Becky is a legendary Apple II developer (not to mention many other platforms), and was the keynote speaker at KansasFest 2015. We discuss Becky’s KansasFest experiences then and now, how the community has changed, and what she’s up to now. She has a lot of Apple II gold archived away, and we’re starting to see more and more of it as a result of the continued warmth…

Mike Maginnis has announced the availability of the 49th Episode of the Open Apple Podcast This month on Open Apple, we sit down with Laine Nooney, researcher of early computer and software companies. She has been digging into the history of such greats as Brøderbund and Sierra On-Line. In particular, she has done some awesome research on the infamous Soft Porn Adventure, including behind-the-scenes details on the infamous advertising photo. We talk about broken microfilm projectors, we talk about printer…

Mike Maginnis, host of the Open Apple Podcast announced the release of the 45th edition of the podcast.  According to his posting, This month, we sit down with Mark Kriegsman, author of Star Blaster, and a modern Apple II hacker. He has ported the awesome FastLED driver library to the Apple II, so you can drive many hundreds of 32-bit RGB LEDs with your Apple II. Meanwhile, we browbeat people into attending KansasFest, we rationalize our shame at developing on…

The Apple II Scans website (http://www.apple2scans.net) has posted two new AppleSource Newsletters/  AppleSource was an Apple dealer centric newsletter produced by Apple Computer Inc. The latest additions include the AppleSource 24 and the non-numbered AppleSource issues. You can download all of the available issues from the Apple II Scans AppleSource page at: http://www.apple2scans.net/magazines/applesource/

Mike Maginnis, the curator of the Apple II Scans website (http://www.apple2scans.net) has made available all of the issues of the Apple /// related Open Apple Gazette online.  The Open Apple Gazette was the newsletter produced by the San Francisco based Apple ///’rs, an Apple /// centric users group. You can download all nine of the issues of the Open Apple Gazette as well as the Promo edition from the Apple II Scans website at: http://www.apple2scans.net/magazines/open-apple-gazette/

According to a posting on Facebook from Mike Maginnis, “Open Apple #38 is published (still August – just made it. Whew!). If you’re a subscriber, it should be appearing in your favorite RSS reader or iTunes shortly if it hasn’t already. This month on Open Apple, we go deep on Lawless Legends with most of the team building it. We’ve managed to corner Seth Sternberger (of 8-bit Weapon fame), Martin Haye, and Brendan Robert (Dave Schmenk, we’re coming for you…)…

The Open Apple Podcast, run by Ken Gagne and Mike Maginnis features Bill Martens of A.P.P.L.E. this month.  Discussions about the latest news in the Apple world, Apple II software, preservation and other related topics took place.  Brian Wiser also joined the trio of long time Apple II afficandos to discuss his and Bill’s WOZPAK Special Edition release as well as other forthcoming projects. You can listen to the podcast in its entirety on the Open Apple website at: http://www.open-apple.net/2013/11/02/show-032-martens-history-founders-wozpak/

This month on Open Apple, Mike and Ken chat with David Schmidt, the programmer responsible for ADTPro. Beyond his own program, David has also contributed to the development of Davex, GSport, AppleCommander, CiderPress, OpenEmulator, DiscFerret, CFFA3000 — and much, much more. Collectively, the show’s hosts marvel at the deluge of Apple II games that are being ported to iOS, Apple’s mobile operating system … though we question the direction Jordan Mechner is taking the classic Karateka. Apple-1 computers continue to fetch…

Apple ][ Scans has completed scanning the entire Obsorne / McGraw Hill Guide to Your Apple /// available on their website. According to Apple ][ Scans Curator, Mike Maginnis, the original scan had “the first two chapters of this book and made it available online.  It had some great notes from Dave Ottalini inserted in the PDF, but for whatever reason, it wasn’t the whole thing.  This new scan is the complete book and is higher quality than the first…

Ken Gagne and Mike Maginis’s Open Apple Podcast issue #13 is now available on the Open Apple website.  This month’s issue includes a discussion with Marinetti curator Andrew Roughan.  They discuss a host of issues int he Apple ][ world including the forthcoming Kansasfest as well as Brian Fargo’s current attempt to re-create the Wasteland franchise with a kick starter project.   Other topics include the Uthernet, Lim Thye Chen’s Apple ][ programmin iBook and Kim Howe’s software reclassification. You can…

The Open Apple Podcast, produced by Apple ][ fans Mike Maginnis and Ken Gagne, is now available on the Open Apple Poscast website.  This is the 11th edition of Open Apple and features guest host David Greelish of the Retro Computing Rountable Podcast. This month Ken and Mike run through a host of news items including Steve Jobs’ passing, the 175,000 Apple-1, the 1.6 million dollar apple document, and the John Scully Interview done by David Greelish, as well as…

The only Apple ][ related podcast currently available is now in its 10 edition.  The December version of the show has been posted to the Open Apple website according to this note from Mike Maginnis: This month on the Open Apple podcast, Mike and Ken are joined by Rob Kenyon, a two-time KansasFest attendee as well as a professional programmer and 30-year veteran of the Apple II. We talk about how great it is to be a part of the…