Category: Software
Those of us in Canada are aware how our government keeps “shooting itself in the foot”. Those outside the country may not be aware just how silly and petty our government can get. For example they have this thing about promoting Canadian culture in the media. Not too bad on the surface of things right? Rather than encourage Canadians to produce our own material they de-regulate the media so they can purchase more American programming. Some of the stuff from…
The Free Tools Association has updated their ActiveGS plugin Apple IIgs Emulation system to version 3.5.750. The latest version is primarily to bring the plugin into line with the latest version of Firefox Browser and also to fix a a few issues with other browsers. The ActiveGS plugin is the primary emulator for Virtual Apple ][ (http://www.virtualapple.org), which is now run by the Gamezyte group (http://www.gamezyte.com). To load the latest version of the plugin, go to the Virtual Apple ][…
Egan Ford has once again updated the Apple ][ Game Server in what he describes as “hopefully the last update”. This particular updates adds a 3rd download option to the server -TRACK. The TRACK files are CD compatible WAV files (44.1kHz/16bit) with a modified loader for 11025Hz/7350Hz zeros and ones (8820 bps). Egan also has posted a video of usage of the Track files during the loading of a game utilizing an inexpensive CD player. To view the video, check…
The free game of the week from Donut Games this week is the hilarious but fun Icy Escort for the iPhone. Icy Escort is a game in which you play the mother penguin, working your way through a series of mazes, jumping from platform to platform, trying to get all your kids. When the mother penguin reaches a kid, it latches onto the mother and follows along to the next destination. At the end of the puzzle, you will have…
Brutal Deluxe has posted 27 more Apple ][ cassettes to their server, bringing the entire collection to 590 total. These cassettes were recovered from a donated collection and are now available for download from the Brutal Deluxe server at: http://www.brutaldeluxe.fr/projects/cassettes/other/
Egan Ford and Michael Mahon did a good bit of collaboration this week to effect the upgrading of the Apple ][ Game Server. The Apple ][ Game Server allows users to load games straight from the Internet onto their real Apple ][ computers via the cassette port and the audio port of their PC. The HIFI files have been sped up from 12kHz/6kHz 8000 bps to 12kHz/8kHz 9600 bps. LOFI continues to operate at the cassette interface default of 2kHz/1kHz…
More than 10 million Apple IIs were sold during the computer’s lifetime, but even with such a large user base spread around the world, some Apple II software fell off the radar after its heyday and has yet to be rediscovered in our archive-minded 21st century. Many users’ floppy disk collections were forgotten, given away, left in the attic or thrown in the garbage. Amongst the disappeared software until very recently was Dragon Fire, a 1981 dungeon maze RPG by…
In the waning days of the Apple ][, cassettes were used quite prevalently. This continued into the realm of the Apple ][ plus for a short time. Now thanks to purchases made of some of these collections by Apple ][ fans, many of the cassettes are being archived. One such fan who has archived materials from a good number of vintage computers is a New Zealand man living in Tokyo, Philip Lord. His tape collection ha reached levels unrivaled by…
Apple Computer Inc. has released an update to their Logic Express program. Logic Express is Apple’s consumer level version of their Music Mixing package which allows for the user to manage multiple sound streams and build songs in a professional manner. With its 36 instruments, the program is a very capable “little brother” to the professional version of the software, Logic Pro. It can handle up to 255 tracks of audio and has 83 plug in effects. The latest version…
Apple Inc. has released an update for both the Lexmark printers and the Brother printers. This driver updates fix some of the compatibility issues that people were having with the printers under Mac OS X Lion 10.7. Brother Printers supported are listed in the Apple Printer Support Document at: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3669#brother To Download the Brother Driver version 2.8, go to: http://support.apple.com/kb/DL894 Lexmark Printers supported are listed in the Apple Printer Support Document at: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3669#lexmark To Download the Lexmark Driver Version 2.7,…
Brutal Deluxe software has added four more cassettes to the Apple ][ Cassette website. The new cassettes, scanned and added by Antoine Vignau, brings the number of cassettes in the collection to 563 tapes. The Cassette was the main storage type for the initial Apple ][ Computers from the advent of the Apple ][ in 1977 until the first floppy disk drives were commercially available to consumers in 1979. They also continued to be used well beyond that time due…
In the 1979-1981 time-frame, floppy disks were quite expensive, yet cassette tapes were a dime a dozen. Dann McCreary had the idea of putting an entire disk on tape. Thus Tape-O-Disk was born. However, after the prices of floppy disks came down to a level where everyone could afford them, the program all but disappeared until re-discovered by Apple ][ collector Antoine Vignau. When Antoine replied to an correspondence inquqiry by Dann, he received back one of the most insightful…
Are you the type of person who has their entire life written down or are writing a book about it? If so, then you will want to look at the new version of Mariner Software’s MacJounral. Version 6.0 was released with over 100 improvements and changes to the journaling program. Complete with new blogging tools, MacJournal allows you to write and entry and share it with the world if that is what your life is about. MacJournal’s efficiencies are the…
These are the daily specials from the Electronic Arts website as specified by them at press time. Hot Deal of the Day: Spy Mouse – iPhone — Snack your way through the more than 70 levels and 6 different worlds, outwitting the cats as you move along munching on the snacks. Other Free Items: Restaurant City: Gourmet Edition — iPad / iPhone — Puts the user in charge of a gourmet restaurant and gives 30 gourmet dishes to serve. Pogo…
Apple has posted an update for their iTunes program with the release of version 10.5.2. This update addresses issues with audio distortion with playing and importing of CD’s into the iTunes library. Apple has also improved iTunes Match in this release although the song limit is still 25,000 songs. For more information about iTunes, check out the iTunes website at: http://www.apple.com/itunes/ Apple has posted a complete break down of the update at: http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1426
Microsoft has released their iPad version of their organizational management software OneNote. Version 1.3 of the OneNote software is a free download from the Apple App Store and allows the user to create up to 500 notes. After that mark, the user would need to purchase the full package of the OneNote program with the in-app purchase option. The full package of OneNote for iPad is $14.99. The package for the iPhone is $4.99. Changes between version 1.2 and 1.3…
It took a letter from a US Senator to get Apple to take down an App which allows users to create a high quality fake Drivers License. According to a story about the App in the LA Time, “Senator Bob Casey (D-Penn.) sent a letter to Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook requesting that the tech company immediately remove the “License” app from its App Store” claiming that the App had national security issues. While there have been many such novelty…
Donut Games has just released their free iPhone game of the week and this week’s game is the a very “just in time for Christmas” type game, Ruberth’s Kick n’ Fly. The game puts the player as Santa in the position of being kicked into the air by a reindeer. Using various platforms to bounce higher or bounce mushrooms to really get a kick, Santa much collect as many of the ornaments on the particular stage as possible. Each stage…
These are the daily deals from Electronic Arts as per their deals website: Today’s Hot Deal — Mirror’s Edge – iPad Free Games: Flight Control – iPhone Pogo — iPhone (Upgrade to Premium for $.99 or 70% off) Flight Control HD — iPad Mirror’s Edge – iPhone The above deals were available in the US store at the time of press.
This morning, Egan Ford posted a note to CSA2 announcing his online Apple ][ Game Server. According to the announcement, “I’ve completed my cassette port research and achieved gains of 6x (12x with compression). I did have an application in mind. Inspired by the Apple Game Server, I created a web-based version. There is a video tutorial if you just want to see it in action (single take, be kind).“ The game server allows you to connect your PC or…
