There is still time to join Richard Garriott and Rebecca Heineman in playing Nox Archaist and get your hands on all the awesome feelies! http://kickstarter.noxarchaist.com “I greatly look forward to exploring this realm!” –Lord British, Creator of Ultima “I can’t wait to play this game on my Apple IIgs!” –Rebecca Heineman, Creator of Bards Tale III Click here to back Nox Archaist today and help make this project a reality!
As you may recall, I released my first self-published e-book, Working Smarter for Mac Users back in February and was touched to receive many reviews like these: Then, a few months later, I released my first online course, Working Smarter for Mac Users—Improve your Efficiency, which is based on the first section of the book—Improve Your Efficiency—and was even more touched to receive reviews like these: But… as good as I think the Working Smarter for Mac Users—Improve Your Efficiency course is, it’s only Part I…
Mike Westerfeild, curator and owner of the ByteWorks and all related titles has announced the immediate availability of the Source Code for ORCALib and ORCA/C. The GitHub Repository for the two titles contains all of the source code and is freely available for download and replication. According to the Facebook posting, this particular project was a long time coming and is “An Early Christmas Gift to all”. You can download the libraries at: https://github.com/byteworksinc
6502 Workshop, LLC announces the launch of a Kickstarter campaign for Nox Archaist on September 16, 2017! http://kickstarter.noxarchaist.com Nox Archaist is an Ultima inspired 8-bit fantasy role-playing game with a classic Apple II look and feel, set in a world ruled by sorcery and swords. Players will explore a robust storyline within a non-linear world containing numerous castles, towns, dungeons, and NPCs. Nox Archaist features skills-driven character development and strategic turn-based combat scenarios which integrate with the game’s storyline. Nox…
The latest issue of Call-A.P.P.L.E. Magazine has been posted. It is available to all A.P.P.L.E. Members, however, you will need to log into the system in order to view the magazine issue. If you have not joined the users group yet, feel free to join using the button in the upper right corner of the screen.
This month on Open Apple, the part of Quinn Dunki is played by RCR Podcast co-host Carrington “Fake Quinn” Vanston. A post-KansasFest Mark Lemmert of 6502 Workshop returns to the show to promote the new Nox Archaist Kickstarter. You should contribute because it’s awesome to support those still developing for the Apple II and not just because you get cool stuff when you do (though that’s a thing that happens too!). There’s lots of news to cover and Carrington has…
Thomas Fox has announced the details of his Apple II gs memory card project on the Hack-A-Day website. The project details using old 1M x 4-bit FPM DRAM chips to create a 4mb memory card for the Apple II gs. For more, check out the project page at: https://hackaday.io/project/27231-apple-iigs-ram-card
Jeremy Rand has announced the release of a build environment for the Apple II gs. According to his post to the Kansasfest list, During my lightning session at KFest 2017, I demonstrated a build environment for Apple //gs development which used Xcode. At the time, I said it wasn’t ready for public consumption but would be available in two weeks. To paraphrase Spock from Wrath of Khan, “weeks could seem like months” and here we are at v1.0 about two…
After 16+ Years of Nearly Continuous Development, My New Online Course — Working Smarter for Mac Users: Improve Your Efficiency — is Now Open for Enrollment! After more than 16 years of nearly continuous development, I’m proud to announce that my first video training course — Working Smarter for Mac Users: Improve Your Efficiency — is now open for enrollment. It would be an understatement to say I’m proud of Working Smarter for Mac Users: Improve Your Efficiency. I’m more than proud — I’m ecstatic….
by Rick Sutcliffe September 2017 unless it reflects reality All real world activity generates observable data, and such data is the necessary starting point for information. The term “fake data” is an oxymoron, for alleged data not rooted in real wold activities and events simply isn’t. In his long and hopefully not too misspent life, the Spy has occasionally encountered people who believe they possess data that is no more than their imagination working overtime. Even by people who…
MacTracker, the App which tracks all of the Apple hardware has been updated. According to the MacTracker website, the following items have changed in 7.6.6.: Version 7.6.6 – Adds iMac (21.5-inch, 2017), iMac (Retina 4K, 21.5-inch, 2017), and iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, 2017) – Adds MacBook Pro (15-inch, 2017), MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2017, Four Thunderbolt 3 Ports), and MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2017, Two Thunderbolt 3 Ports) – Adds MacBook (Retina, 12-inch, 2017) – Adds MacBook Air (13-inch, 2017) – Adds iPad Pro (12.9-inch)…
The Gryphel Project has announced the availability of a new version of Mini vMac, macintosh emulator. Mini vMac 3.5.7 allows users to emulate a Macintosh Plus on a variety of platforms including Mac OS X, Windows and Linux. A number of ports to other platforms are also available via the Grypel Project links page. According to the posting on the Grypel Proroject website by Curator, Paul Pratt, “Mini vMac 3.5.7 is now officially released. That is, it is now declared…
Brutal Deluxe Software have announced that Bitsy Rip, a new low-level copy program for the Apple II is now available. According to the announcement by Antoine Vignau of Brutal Deluxe Software: Bitsy Rip is a low level disk imaging software using an Apple IIgs and a standard 5.25″ disk drive, no extra hardware is required! This 0.4 version is pre-alpha and really more proof-of-concept than a usable product. It requires 4 MB of ram and stores the disk nibble data…
A posting to the Kansasfest group has announced the dates for the 2018 edition of Kansasfest. According to the posting by committee member, Sean Fahey, Mark your calendar for KansasFest 2018, July 16th (early-early arrival) through July 22nd, at Rockhurst University, Kansas City, Missouri. for more information about Kanasfest, check out the organization’s website at :www.kansasfest.org
This month on Open Apple, we run the annual group megapodcast that is recorded live at KansasFest! This is a four-year-old tradition whereby all the attending retro podcasters get together and do one big silly show together. It’s clunky, it’s pointless, and the audio quality is terrible because we’re all crowded one microphone in a grungy old basement chapel. Yet it’s one of our favorite things to do every year, so we hope you enjoy listening! Around the table this…
August 2017 Of Technology are relative to an individual’s “normal”. Just now, the Spy has finished his annual task of pressure washing the house, then put some water on the squash and cucumber patch. To someone living in Western society, small engine machines like pressure washers, string trimmers, generators, chain saws, lawn mowers and tractors are low technology–even to a city slicker who may not have heard of, much less used any of these. Seen in use, all would be…
Seattle, Washington — July 21, 2017 — Apple Pugetsound Program Library Exchange (A.P.P.L.E.) and Kevin M. Smallwood are proud to announce the immediate availability of the book GBBS Pro Bulletin Board System: Version 2.2 and the software update that accompanies it. GBBS Pro is a user-friendly, highly-modifiable Bulletin Board System (BBS) for communications and entertainment. It has advanced features that can be configured by a novice, yet challenge advanced programmers. Originally released between 1980 and 1993 for Apple II computers,…
I hope you enjoy this short film by yours truly (Bob “Dr. Mac” LeVitus)… It explains why you SHOULD NOT BUY the softcover version of my latest book, Working Smarter for Mac Users, and why the eBook version is so much better.
Have you ever upgraded your Mac OS X and just absolutely missed your previous version of the desktop wallpaper? Well, now you can have the best of both worlds thanks to our friends over at 512Pixels. Every version of the wall paper has been up-scaled to 5K and is now available for download from their website: https://512pixels.net/projects/default-mac-wallpapers-in-5k/
Way too late for June, but just in time for KansasFest! This month on Open Apple, we sit down with KansasFest committee member and lifelong Apple II user Peter Neubauer. We talk lots about the upcoming KansasFest, of course, but also Peter’s own experiences with the machine. He has a passion for Logo, and a special place in his heart reserved for the Apple IIc Plus. I think many of us can relate to that. We talk KansasFest, KansasFest, and…
