Gerard Putter has released the latest update to his Virtual II emulator for Mac OS X. Virtual II is an Apple II Emulator which is completely standardized GUI and allows the user to experience both the sights and the sounds in addition to the actual functionality of the original Apple II Computer. Virtual II version 8.3 contains a bevy of updates and fixes including: Support for the “woz” disk image format. The woz format and implementation guide was created by…
Seattle, Washington — May 14, 2018 — Apple Pugetsound Program Library Exchange (A.P.P.L.E.) and John Blankenship are proud to announce the immediate availability of the book The Apple House: How to Computerize Your Home Using Your Apple II Computer. Originally published in 1984 by Pearson Education, Inc, the new 186 page book is completely remastered and re-typeset. Additionally, all of John Blankenship’s custom home automation software featured in the book has been retyped and made available on a free disk…
Apple Pugetsound Program Library Exchange (A.P.P.L.E.) released a new, expanded paperback manual for the popular Apple II machine language programming tool Big Mac: Macro Assembler. Originally published in 1981 by A.P.P.L.E. from author Glen E. Bredon, the new 128 page manual combines for the first time Big Mac, along with Big Mac.LC, Symbol Cross-Reference, and Symbol Symon that expand its capabilities. Availability Big Mac: Macro Assembler is available through the A.P.P.L.E. bookstore with production and fulfillment by Lulu.com. The programs…
May 2018 The Spy has oft noted the old proverb “He who dies with the most toys wins”, and responds with “Wins what?” But in any manufacturing space, and confined to this life only, the company making the most toys wins-at least for a while, at least for the immediate bottom line. At one time, this was IBM, but that venerable corporation, which could once have bought Apple Corp. for $1B, ditched its small computer line and tried to reinvent…
From Brian Court: The fourth edition of the Apple II Festival France will take place in early August 2018 (1st to 5th). The Silicium association, along with the Apple II France group on facebook, the Maska team and many enthusiasts prepare the meeting. For more information, go to https://www.apple2festivalfrance.fr/
Gerard Putter has released a new version of his Virtual II Emulator, an Apple II emulator with high quality interface and one of the most capable emulators for Mac OS X. The latest version, according to Gerard does not yet support WOZ files but is being released due to his desire to keep it functioning at near perfection: I decided to issue a bug-fix release. The new version also has an improved way for installing the ROM files – I…
David Schmenk has released a new Trival File Transfer Protocol (TFTP) server for the Apple II. The release is part of his PLASMA Programming Language for the Apple II release. To use the TFTP Server, boot the PLASMA System Floppy which you can download from the PLASMA Archive. Simply boot the floppy in your Apple II with Uthernet I or Uthernet II card installed. Once booted, you should see the PLASMA startup message. To run the TFTP server, type: +tftpd…
The RetroMacCast episode #465 has been released. This episode includes a preview of the upcoming Vintage Computer Festival Southeast 6.0 as well as James and John’s discussion on a variety of Macintosh related topics including: eBay finds: classic Mac iPad mini mount, Powerbook clock, and custom sneakers. John talks to Earl Baugh from the Vintage Computer Festival Southeast, and the news includes leaks, 32-bit saying good-bye soon and Mac OS 8 on iPhone. To check out the current episode, go…
For many years, Brutal Deluxe’s Antoine Vignau has been running the Apple II Cassette Repository, a site dedicated to gathering all of the Apple II software distributed on cassette tape. With the additions to the site this week, the repository has reached a whopping 670 entries. The latest addition to the site includes Confrontation by GRT Corporation. Antoine has also made a short how-to guide available which takes you through the steps required to recover the data from old Apple…
The Vintage Geek Blog has a nice write up on BBSing with the WiModem-232 OLED. If you were wondering about the WiModem 232 or how to get started, the Vintage Geek takes you through the gamut of the setup and connecting with a series of easy to understand photos. Check it out on the Vintage Geek Blog at: https://vintagegeek.wordpress.com/
In celebration of the 40th anniversary of Apple Pugetsound Program Library Exchange, we have decided to make the current issue of Call-A.P.P.L.E. Magazine available for free download. Some of the highlights of the issue include a variety of articles covering the history of A.P.P.L.E., the founding of The Apple Programmers and Developers Association (APDA) by A.P.P.L.E., full coverage of VCF Pacific Northwest, as well as detailed programming articles and retro Apple and Macintosh related items. Some of the authors featured…
Over the past year or so, Remy Gibert has been working on a multi-tasking operating system for the Apple II. The system, which appears to be much like Unix / Linux, is well into development with a good portion of the system completed. The goal of A2osX as Remy has named his fledgling operating system is to create: a cooperative, event-driven multitasking kernel (meaning it is applications that are responsible to give back control to kernel) Its principal goal is…
The latest release of the Applewin emulator is now available. Version 1.27.2.0 of Applewin includes a host of updates including: [Change #522] SSC: Support ACIA’s TX Empty interrupt for both COM and TCP modes. [Change #311] SSC: Support ACIA’s CTS/RTS. [Bug #308] Fixed TCP mode which was only generating an IRQ for first byte received. SSC: Fixed reading DIPSW registers. SSC: Support ACIA’s Program Reset (write to register 9). SSC: Improved logging for unsupported modes (Echo, Tx break signal). Changes…
The 462nd edition of the RetroMacCast Podcast has been released. In this episode, James and John discuss eBay finds: WWDC pins, original Apple logo banner, and Apple Pacific mug. John gets his Mac ROM-inator working, and news includes Hap’s prototype auctions, and Sosumi. To listen to the RetroMacCast episodes, check out their website at: http://retromaccast.ning.com/
Southern Stars released what is likely the best iOS satellite tracker available – Orbitrack, a successor to their Satellite Safari. It tracks thousands of orbiting satellites, including military satellites, and has detailed 3D models, facts, mission descriptions, and when satellites will be visible for one’s location. Southern Stars has been innovating astronomy software for many many years. I found it intriguing that one can see the perspective from the satellite’s view, complete with a 3D model, beyond seeing all of…
For those of you who havent heard it yet, the latest Eaten by a Grue podcast will give you a wonderful insight into the Infocom game, Bureaucracy. According to the posting on the main menu for this episode, To listen to this episode, fill out form GRU3 using a #2 pencil and send it by postal mail no later than 8AM yesterday. Be sure to submit all forms in triplicate, in person, and in ink. To listen to the latest…
In his latest exciting video, Chris Torrence shows you how to build a volume control that goes to 11 for your Apple II, II+, or IIe. Watch here!
Don’t have enough retro reading material? Never fear, the new Paleotronic magazine has you covered! Chris Torrence’s Assembly Lines podcast does a video review of the new magazine from down under. Watch here!
AgileBits has released a beta of 1Password 7 with a plethora of new features they have been working on for several years. Available now for Mac and Windows, this venerable password manager adds new features such as: a dark sidebar, drag and drop between vaults, nested tags, pop-out items, an integrated Safari extension, and running as a single process for the first time. Additional standout features include notes with rich formatting and hyperlinks, a new “Courier Prime Bits” font for…
The Spy notes and passes on verbatim with little comment (it is its own commentary) the following advertisement: Is your target audience completely persuaded? Let Vologda Analytica do it for you. Our extensive data sets and state-of-the-art algorithms can analyze any target population and build your campaign. Whether your product is political, household or industrial goods, or your services, our techniques have proven effective with a wide variety of clients and situations and will work in yours as well. We…
