This month on Open Apple we sit down with Peter Lount, co-developer of Gemstone Warrior and Gemstone Healer for the Apple II. Canadian programmer Peter and his partner Trouba broke new ground in video games by combining fast action combat with procedurally generated caves and dungeon content. Gemstone Warrior doesn’t get credit for being the predecessor to Blizzard megahit Diablo, but it should. Peter talks about tuning his rendering engine, including rewriting huge chunks of it overnight to meet a…
Or, “How I learned to get stuff done after learning I have Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).” I’m tryin’ to think, but nothin’ happens.—Curly Stooge So here I am, trying to write the first piece for my new Working Smarter for Mac Users blog and newsletter. But, as Curly Stooge was so fond of saying, “I’m tryin’ to think, but nothin’ happens.” Then, the little voice-inside-my-head starts in with, “Just play a little Real Racing 3 and your creative juices will flow like wine.” Once…
David Greelish has released his 2014 compilation of the Historically Brewed / Classic Computing newsletters as a PDF. Historically Brewed was a 1990’s publication that was published by The Historical Computer Society. The book contained all nine issues of the Historically Brewed and the premier issue of Classic Computing. This book offers an interesting look back at the history of some of the biggest names in the computing revolution including Altair, Xerox, and Byte and contains items from Apple community…
FEBRUARY 2, 2016 — KansasFest 2016, the 28th annual Apple II convention, is now open for registration. Users, programmers, hobbyists, and retrocomputing enthusiasts are invited to Rockhurst University in Kansas City, Missouri, from Tuesday, July 19, through Sunday, July 24, for six days and five nights of sessions, demos, announcements, contests, and camaraderie. Mike Harvey, a business executive, salesperson, technologist, project manager, entrepreneur, programmer, and best known in the Apple community as the founder and publisher of Nibble magazine, will…
Why is it that supposedly hard-headed evidence-based fact-found business and IT decision makers seem so driven instead by emotional and personal considerations? Take the stock market, for instance. The one predictable thing about it is that it always overreacts, whether on the up or down side. Never has this been more apparent than lately, where every titbit of “news” sends it on a wild gyration, up several hundred points one day, down likewise the next, with no time or effort…
This month on Open Apple we sit down with Henry Courbis, co-proprietor of Ultimate Micro, serial entrepreneur, and Open Source guy. Henry is boldly going where no hobbyist has gone before, by making Apple II hardware his real day job. If anyone can do it, Ultimate Micro can! We talk massive modem phone bills, phreaking, warez, and statutes of limitations. You know… for a friend. Henry talks about how hardware first appealed to him, and how he has leveraged his…
Brutal Deluxe Software has added four new cassette tapes to the Apple II Cassette collection. The new tapes include titles from Creative Computing, ITT, Heuristics Inc, and SoftTape. There are now a total of 638 tapes in the collection. For more information, check out the Brutal Deluxe Apple II Cassettes Collection at: http://www.brutaldeluxe.fr/projects/cassettes/
from the KFEST Comittee JANUARY 12, 2016 — KansasFest 2016, the 28th annual Apple II convention, is scheduled for July 19 – 24 in Kansas City, Missouri. Mike Harvey, a business executive, salesperson, technologist, project manager, entrepreneur, programmer, and best known in the Apple community as the founder and publisher of Nibble magazine, will join us with a keynote presentation. Harvey started his career as a salesperson for IBM and continued with various roles at other major technology companies, including…
Marina, the newest TCP/IP project for the Apple II series, is now fully compatible with the new Uthernet II card from a2RetroSystems. The January 2016 edition of Marina, available today, adds an Uthernet II driver, improvements to the Berkeley Sockets API, and many other changes and improvements which are noted at the end of the Marina user’s manual. In addition, several advances toward a working TCP implementation are in this new edition of Marina, and it is hoped to have TCP fully working…
FROM THE CSA2 This message to advise the community that an update of Peersoft has been posted on my Web site. This is version 1.5.6 which is a preview of version 1.6 due to be released this autumn^H^H^H^H^H^H^Hwinter^H^H^H^H^H^Hnext^H^H^H^Hthis year ;-). The download ilnk is http://bgilon.free.fr/apple2/Peersoftv1.5.6.zip . Two domains have been covered within this release: a) enhanced syntax and semantics: a.1) with a new integer subtype (byte) and the introduction of optional unsigned integer arithmetic; a.2) a new loop construct syntax…
This month on Open Apple, we round out the year with our annual tradition of sitting around a virtual table with some friends of the show, discussing whatever comes to mind. Mike and Quinn are joined by Randy Brandt of Beagle Bros fame, Charles Mangin of RetroConnector, and some guy named Carrington Vanston. We talk about connecting old things to other old things, connecting old things to new things, and how to pluralize German surnames. Mike manages to make several…
Dear A.P.P.L.E. Here is the final version of the Program Launcher “SQUIRT”. This version has some additions, corrections and added a launcher when you type “BYE”. The previous version was called just “FileSelector.po”. SQUIRT directions Squirt can navigate directories with ease and minimum keystrokes. Squirt can launch system, binary and Applesoft programs. Squirt can view text, source and Mousetext screen files. Squirt can view bitmap fonts. Squirt can view hi-res and dbl-hi-res graphics screens. Squirt can automatically recognize the difference…
Vintage Micros, a North Carolina vintage computing company, has made a new connector for the Apple-1 Computer. The connector allows Apple-1 owners to connect an Apple II keyboard to their machines making it possible to use the Apple II case to house their Apple-1’s. The converters are available for $35 and comes complete with cables for each side of the conversion. You can purchase the card on EBay at: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Apple-1-to-Apple-II-Keyboard-Connector-with-Cables-NEW/141863275792
Dear A.P.P.L.E, Here is a pretty nifty file selector you can add to your website. It does all of the following. Launches system, binary and applesoft programs, even though Basic.system is not installed. Navigates in and out of directories with ease View text, source and mousetext screen files View Hi-res and Dbl-Hi-res graphic images. The program has been tested with Applewin, Sweet 16 and a real Apple II computer. The caps lock key needs to be off. Also when viewing…
A2Heaven has announced the immediate availability of the Software Automated Mouth board for the Apple II. A2Heaven.com, owned by Pamen Vayssilov, has made a number of the boards available for $45.00 USD. The S.A.M. board allows for voice output by the Apple II and can be controlled by a software binary and Applesoft. For further information about the S.A.M. board, check the A2heaven website at http://www.a2heaven.com. A2Heaven has also made a video demonstrating the board:
Apple has announced that Swift is now Open Source as had been promised by Tim Cook. According to the posting on the swift blog (https://developer.apple.com/swift/blog/ ), Apple has set up a new GITHUB account specifically for Swift source code. The features of this new open source movement includes: A bug reporting and tracking system Mailing lists A blog dedicated to the engineering of Swift Community guidelines Getting started tutorials Contributing instructions Documentation on Swift Developer and API design guidelines You…
December 2015 At long last The Spy’s series The Throne is starting to see the light of day. The first book, Culmanic Parts was published in June. Now, the second, Rea’s Blood or Navy Girl is available from publisher Writers Exchange. See the URLs below. The third book Tara’s Mother is in publishers’s editing as we write, and the fourth The Paladin is undergoing second proofing before being made available to the Spy’s volunteer reader/correctors. These books are background…
Ultimate Micro has announced via their blog that they will be making a second run of the ever popular Mockingbird 1A for the Apple II. According to their website, no date has been set sales of the boards to begin, however, they say it will be soon. For information about availability and pricing, check out the Ultimate Micro website at: https://www.ultimateapple2.com/
This month on Open Apple we sit down with David Schroeder, author of classic Apple II games such as Crisis Mountain, Dino Eggs, and Short Circuit. We talk about the randomness of our passionate brand-loyalty, the logistical realities of early Apple II development, and the magical era of “one-person, one-game”. We get into a lot of the technical details of Crisis Mountain and Dino Eggs, so you might pick up some tips for your own Apple II projects! David also has great memories of…
A.P.P.L.E. is announcing a reduction of the price of The WOZPAK Special Edition just in time for Black Friday. The WOZPAK Special Edition is a complete restoration of the original WOZPAK from A.P.P.L.E. and has additional material not included in the original WOZPAK. The price reduction applies to both the Softcover and the Hardcover version of The WOZPAK Special Edition. The Softcover edition is reduced 25% and is now available for $37.46 with the Hardcover edition going for $53.95. The reduction in price will last…
