This is an update of a previous blog post about setting up free dictation on your Mac. It’s slightly different in macOS Sierra than in previous versions of macOS, so please enjoy this delightful little ditty I like to call: How to become a Mac Dictator (Sierra edition) Have you always wanted to become a dictator? Not that kind! I meant the kind who dictates text to their Mac rather than typing. If you don’t like to type, or you…
New version: ProDOS 2.4.2 is available here. Today, the 30-year anniversary of the Apple IIGS, a new version of the ProDOS operating system has been released. ProDOS 2.4 adds new features for all Apple II computers, including the 1977 Integer ROM Apple II. Apple IIGS features of ProDOS 2.4 Preserves GS/OS dormant state – Now multiple ProDOS games or programs can be booted and still return to GS/OS. New ‘Bitsy Boot’ utility allows programs to quit to the 8-bit…
The Spy like everyone else still breathing, is always learning new things–or re-learning old ones–especially so as a new crowd of students (and many more old ones) is about to descend on campus. El Capitan falls into both categories, for it has a few extremely annoying bugs that he has not had to deal with for several OS X iterations. One of the worst is the tendency to forget it has ever heard of Bluetooth. The menu bar icon turns…
This month on Open Apple, we sit down with Mark Pilgrim, one of the most active software preservationists in the Apple II community. Mark has been spending his free time working on Passport, an automated cracking tool. It automatically detects and defeats copy protection schemes on Apple II disks, producing copyable disks that are otherwise completely intact. This is a boon for preservation of software that has only been (poorly) cracked by hoodlums of the past, or is previously uncracked….
I had the pleasure of interviewing Mike Harvey of Nibble magazine at KansasFest. Wanting to give the interview the broadest audience possible, I invited my good friend John Leake from the RetroMacCast podcast to participate. The interview audio can be heard on RetroMacCast episode 413. Mike Harvey, the founder and publisher of the long-lived Nibble magazine, has career that spans major companies in the computing and financial realms. Through those years Mike studied management philosophy, systems, and methods voraciously and developed…
This month on Open Apple, as is tradition, we present the megapodcast recorded live at KansasFest. Most of your favorite retrocomputing podcasters attend KansasFest each year, and we all get together in a basement room to record a giant group podcast. This year’s recording includes, in no particular order: Quinn Dunki of Open Apple Paul Hagstrom of Retrocomputing Roundtable and Drop /// Inches Michael Mulhern and Carrington Vanston of Retrocomputing Roundtable Kevin Savetz of Antic Rob McMullen of Player/Missile Ken…
Seattle, Washington — July 22, 2016 — Apple Pugetsound Program Library Exchange (A.P.P.L.E.) and David H. Ahl are proud to announce the immediate availability of the book The Colossal Computer Cartoon Book: Enhanced Edition – “The best collection ever of computer cartoons from the 1970’s!” Produced in coordination with legendary editor and publisher David H. Ahl and originally published by Creative Computing in 1977, this Enhanced Edition features a cover by Ned Sonntag from the first printing, 117 pages…
Seattle, Washington — July 22, 2016 — Apple Pugetsound Program Library Exchange (A.P.P.L.E.) and Robert Tripp are proud to announce the immediate availability of the book What’s Where in the Apple – Enhanced Edition: A Complete Guide to the Apple II Computer. And now on November 23, 2020, due to popular demand, What’s Where in the Apple is available in additional versions and formats! First and foremost, our “Enhanced Edition” has more design readability enhancements, a few small corrections, and…
Seattle, Washington — July 22, 2016 — Apple Pugetsound Program Library Exchange (A.P.P.L.E.) is proud to announce the immediate availability of the classic book The Apple II Monitor Peeled by William E. Dougherty. Last published by A.P.P.L.E. in 1979, this release returns the book to print and for the first time in Hardcover. Writing programs for an Apple II computer is simplified by having a useful reference for the Apple II Monitor that describes how to make use of a…
Pokemon Go is a Huge Security Risk by Adam Reeve is well worth reading if you are even thinking about playing the new Pokemon Go iOS app. If you choose to play, at least the way it’s currently set up, Pokemon Go will have full access to ALL OF YOUR GOOGLE ACCOUNT INFO. Which is to say the makers of Pokemon Go can: Read all your email Send email as you Access all your Google drive documents (including deleting them) Look at your…
ManilaGear, a new Apple II hardware maker, is readying his new 4soniq 4-Channel Sound Card, a beautiful and functional sound card for the IIgs. The 4soniq gives you four separate channels of sound for your Apple IIgs, instead of the usual one. Each of the 32 oscillators available in the Apple IIgs’ Ensoniq Digital Oscillator Chip (DOC) can be assigned to play on any one of 8 output channels. One 4soniq card unlocks 4 of those channels. Pair it with a second…
A new web store with on demand printing has opened, check it and fulfill your retro wearable! Update: New products added: picasso style graphics, vintage games! http://store.apple2faq.com
I’m trying something new and will be hosting my first “Ask me anything,” a live streaming event, on Sunday July 3 at 7PM Central. You can post questions here in advance (your best bet): Click here to visit the Ask Me Anything page Or wait and ask them during the event (not such a good bet). Click here to join the live event (Sunday July 3 at 7PM Central) Here’s the official trailer: I hope to see you there Sunday night!
The Apple II computers are still very popular among retro hobbyists, but one of the problems some people face is the availability of video display options when their CRT fails. There are still some TVs that accept composite video, but sometimes the display is fuzzy or the colors are inaccurate. Then 80 column display becomes a nightmare, as much of these screens are not clear enough. A2Heaven sent me a pre release of their new product: the Apple II VGA…
I recently got one of the new RamFactor compatible cards from A2Heaven.com. The card is a modern clone of Applied Engineering’s RamFactor memory card. This new version is made with modern 8 MB SRAM, which uses less power and has extra features: a holder to add a small CR2032 type battery to hold the memory state just like the old RamFactor used to. It has a display that will show the current memory bank selected and RAM status. Although it…
This month on Open Apple, we sit down with Sean Fahey of A2Central, major league collector, and member of the KansasFest Committee. It’s not too late to register! Go to kansasfest.org right now. If you listen to this show, you should definitely be there. The Garage Giveaway will be larger than ever this year. You won’t want to miss the amazing pile of free Apple II gear. The other classic traditions keep getting better as well- the cookout will be…
This is an excerpt from my upcoming e-book, Working Smarter for Mac Users. It’s about setting up free dictation on your Mac, and while the book’s still in beta (coming this fall), this piece is pretty much done. So please enjoy this delightful little ditty I like to call: Who Wants to Be a Dictator? Have you always wanted to become a dictator? Not that kind! I meant the kind who talks to their Mac instead of typing. If you don’t like…
A quick update that we have some new items now listed in the UA2 Store – The RAMWorks IIII Kit v1.0. This Kit is mainly designed and meant for the SolderFEST part of KFEST to help add to the show. We will however ship to users since there is a demand for the board and a fun “kit” project for the Apple II. KFEST Delivered Kit: https://goo.gl/SH6NUZ Shipped Kit: https://goo.gl/nc86dZ All details and pics are listed on the item’s page…
Three new memory cards have been announced from Bulgaria’s A2Heaven. The cards, for the Apple II family, add 8 Megabytes of memory and other features: Addon 8MB for Ramworks III Ramworks III expansion to 8MB card , also emulates original Applied Engineering piggyback 2MB card and 512 KB memory extension form Applied Engineering. This card also supports 80 column mode. The display on the card shows the current memory bank selected. RamFactor compatible card (…
This entry is all about the Toolbar and Sidebar in Finder windows, but don’t worry—I won’t bore you a feature-by-feature description of every Toolbar and Sidebar feature. Instead, I’ve written a delightful little ditty about making the Sidebar and Toolbar work smarter, a tantalizing little tale I call: Why the Hell Haven’t You Customized Your Toolbar and Sidebar??? I’m teaching a class on Mac basics at University of Texas Informal Classes and It freaks me out that not a single…
