KansasFest 2018: Special Moments

The July 2018 KansasFest was the seventh I’ve attended and spoken at. Every year, there are so many friendly, knowledgeable and helpful people who stand out and make the event what it is. And that’s why I keep coming back – awesome people! I spent many long months before KansasFest working with Roger Wagner and Lane Roathe, while designing and editing the new “Apple’s Apprentice” and “Tome of Copy Protection” books, and enjoyed getting know them a bit better. Friends…

How to fix a Bad Apple

In his latest video, Chris Torrence shows how he fixed a rev 4 Apple II from the Media Archaeology Lab. The problem turned out to involve 6 different chips on the main logic board.

Total Replay on CFFA3000 on a IIGS

Want to run Total Replay on an Apple IIGS via the CFFA3000? Chris Torrence shows you how in his latest video:

Darkstar Unhinged for the Apple II Announced

Packard has announced the immediate availability of his new game for the Apple II computer, Darkstar Unhinged. According to the press release, You’re Deuce Darkstar, and you’ve saved the universe time and time again from alien invaders set to wipe out all the cute alien races who have pleaded for your help. They cheered you to victory, and stiffed you on your bill. Again and again. No more. You’re done. Let them burn…better yet, MAKE THEM BURN. You are Deuce…

Applewin Emulator Updated

The Applewin Apple II emulator has been updated. Applewin version 1.29.2.0 was released with a bevy of updates and fixes including: [Change #678] Hotkeys to change emulation speed: [Change #671] Register .woz extension with AppleWin. Updated AppleWin.chm & DELREG.INF. [Bug #685] Fixed support for French Touch’s “CHIP” demo (Mockingboard / multi-TIMER interrupt support). [Bug #677] Loading a save-state wasn’t restoring the pending IRQ. [Bug #672] For WOZ images: all even disk I/O read accesses will now read the data latch….

RetroChallenge RC2019/10

Greetings everybody! The RetroChallenge is now calling for entries in the RC2019/10 competition (1st-31st October, 2019). Time to get you thinking caps on and come up with a retro inspired project and join in the fun with other contestants blogging, tweeting, and generally having fun. If you haven’t joined in before, pop on over to http://www.retrochallenge.org/ and look at previous entries to get an idea of the wide scope of possibilities, and remember, you – yes you, set your own…

Applesauce FDC Client Updated

John Keoni Morris has announced the update to his Applesauce Floppy Disk Controller client software. Version 1.2.0 of the Applesauce FDC Client includes a bevy of fixes and enhancements. Some of the new features and changes included in Version 1.2.0 include: Massive amount of work in .woz generation for 5.25 disks. More improvements to 3.5. Detects the proper width of tracks so that protections like the EA fat track are now properly preserved. Support for locating data on half tracks….

Diskbrowser Updated to 1.0.38

Denis Molony has updated his java based Apple II Diskbrowser program. The free program which allows users to view a variety of disk images for the Apple II, has gone through a series of updates this month adding more accurate WOZ support for the application. Version 1.0.38 of Diskbrowser includes the following changes and improvements: Support for WOZ 2.0 format 3.5 Inch Floppies Display options for Applesoft and Assembler listings added. Diskbrowser also supports multiple flavors of Apple II floppy…

Mactracker App Updated

The Mactracker app has been updated. Mac tracker, a program created by Ian page, gives details of all the current and past Mac and Apple systems products and devices. Mactracker version 7.8.2 was released on 6 September and offers the following updates to the application. Adds details on the latest macOS releases. Update support status for apples latest vintage an obsolete products. A variety of other minor changes and additions to the application. You can download the Mactracker app for…

Virtual II Emulator Updated

The Virtual II Apple II Emulator for Mac OS X has been updated. Gerard Putter, curator of the Virtual II emulator, has released version 9.2 of his shareware emulator application. Changed and updates included in the version 9.2 release include: The application is now compatible with (the public beta of) macOS 10.15 Catalina. Fixed an issue in the Mockingboard card that could cause the sound quality to degrade after a few minutes of play. Corrected a memory-related issue in the…

Total Replay: 200 Apple II games on 1 SD card?!

Chris Torrence reviews the Total Replay game engine from 4am and qkumba. Watch now!

Applesauce Run-2 Available

John Keoni Morris has made a second run of his Applesauce Floppy Disk Controller available. The run is 20 units of the deluxe model and 5 units of the basic model. The Applesauce FDC allows users to make digital duplications of their floppy disks and store and use them on modern platforms. Applesauce FDC will duplicate Apple II, II+, IIe, IIc, IIgs, and Apple III floppies as well as Mac 400/800K floppies. For more information or to purchase a unit,…

RetroMacCast Releases Episode 500!

RetroMacCast, the long running retro Macintosh podcast hosted by James Savage and John Leake, has reached the 500th Episode. This episode is special to us here at A.P.P.L.E. as well, as it features our own Brian Wiser talking about the Lordlings of Yore project as well as the 2019 rendition of Kansasfest. James and John discuss eBay finds: Apple Computer Clubs membership kit, Fat Mac/coolerand reproduction signs. John interviews Brian Wiser to talk about his KansasFest experience, and news includes…

Orbitrack 2.2: Satellite Tracker

Orbitrack for iOS lets you explore spacecraft in orbit using augmented and virtual reality. From the original developer of the SkySafari apps, Orbitrack 2.2 includes new graphics, detailed 3D spacecraft models, illustrated mission descriptions, and a database of more than 8,000 satellites updated daily from n2yo.com and celestrak.com. Orbitrack includes many classified military satellites, and SpaceX’s new Starlink mega-communications-satellite constellation. Both visual and radio observers will appreciate Orbitrack’s up-to-date catalog, which includes frequencies and call signs for amateur radio satellites,…

Bit Coin Mining on the Apple II

Well, the mind of the Charles Mangin has once again come up with a project which will rock the world at its core. Bit Coin Mining on the Apple II. Yes, you heard right. Mining actual Bit Coins on the proverbial Apple II computer, the 1MHz wonder machine which has lasted 40 plus years now. While this project would have been almost a perfect April Fools project such as the now very real Java Virtual Machine for the Apple II…

Diskbrowser Updated

Denis Molony has updated his java based Apple II Diskbrowser program. The free program which allows users to view a variety of disk images for the Apple II, has gone through a series of updates this month adding more accurate WOZ support for the application. Coordinating effort with John Morris, creator of Applesauce and the WOZ format, Denis has added support for WOZ 2.0 format to the version 1.37.0 of the Diskbrowser program. Diskbrowser also supports multiple flavors of hybrid…

The Northern Spy — The Future – Not What It Used to Be

The Northern Spy

Technology News and Views Since 1983 The Future–Not What It Used To Be August 2019 The usual bunch of idiots will be no longer. Mad magazine, which gored everyone’s ox in ways that ranged from hilarious to despicable (depending on whose ox) but were always in exquisitely wretched taste will cease publishing new material. One supposes that after a few retrospective collections, the whole thing will fold up like a deck of jokers. “What has this to do with a…

ProDOS 2.5a2 Available

John Brooks has made another alpha of ProDOS 2.5 available for the general public. ProDOS 2.5 Alpha 2 is the latest release in the new production of ProDOS which began with the release of ProDOS 2.4. and has undergone a number of changes addressing bugs and capabilities in ProDOS. This latest release is primarily a public preview according to the lead programmer and will definitely have some caveats in its functionality. For more information about ProDOS 2.5 Alpha 2, check…

Applewin Apple II Emulator Updated

The Applewin Apple II Emulator has been updated. Version 1.29.1.0 was released with the following changes to the emulator: Fixed WOZ ‘Wizardry III’ not booting. Fixed WOZ ‘Space Quest I’ not booting reliably. Fixed PAGE2 not displaying correctly when in full-speed mode. Applewin is a Windows based Apple II emulator and should run on nearly every Windows platform. You can download the latest version of the Applewin emulator as well as all of the source code from the Github page…

All About DOS: Enhanced Edition

Seattle, Washington — July 19, 2019 — Apple Pugetsound Program Library Exchange (A.P.P.L.E.) has released their new book “All About DOS: Enhanced Edition.” As a guide to DOS 3.3 for the Apple II, All About DOS contains many useful programs and in-depth topics. This new Enhanced Edition, encompassing over 560 pages, is improved with a new design, art, glossary, and technical appendices. It includes a wide variety of references and how-to’s, making it a great reference for Apple II programmers….