Akalabeth | Open Apple

Open Apple #45 (March 2015): Mark Kriegsman, FastLED, Transwarp GS Clone, and Newsapalooza

Posted on Mar 28, 2015 by Quinn Dunki

This month on Open Apple, we sit down with Mark Kriegsman, author of Star Blaster, and a modern Apple II hacker. He has ported the awesome FastLED driver library to the Apple II, so you can drive many hundreds of 32-bit RGB LEDs with your Apple II.

Meanwhile, we browbeat people into attending KansasFest, we rationalize our shame at developing on emulators, we talk dead tree easter eggs, we make ~~terrible~~ awesome BASIC & Twitter puns, we talk about post-mortem collecting, and Mike generates hate mail. Just in case you’re not completely over movies about Steve Jobs, we talk about one of those as well. Yawn.

More importantly, help us convince Mark to build a lo-res display from FastLEDs and bring it to KansasFest.

Once again, in case you missed it, the dates for KansasFest 2015 have been announced. July 14-19! Go to http://www.kansasfest.org to register. Then pull up a comfy chair and enjoy this super-sized episode of Open Apple. Apologies for some audio quality issues in this month. Quinn had some equipment difficulties and Mike has been under the weather. Thanks for your patience. Stay tuned until the end of the show for a special treat (not just Mike’s usual cheeky outtake)!

More information on everything discussed in this episode after the jump.

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Open Apple #44 (February 2015) : Beagle Bros Reunion Roundtable, Andrew Roughan

Posted on Feb 28, 2015Feb 28, 2015 by Quinn Dunki

This month on Open Apple, we sit down with Beagles Bros Randy Brandt, Mark Simonsen Tom Weishaar, and Alan Bird. We share stories of Beagle’s development, poke lots of fun at each other, and check in on where everyone is now.

We spread the love for Oz KFest with Andrew Roughan, and amazingly resist the urge to make any upside-down jokes about Australia. Mike and Quinn are trying to be bigger than northern-hemispherism, and they like to think they’ve grown as people as a result.

We talk brain-imaging, we talk helicopter piloting, and we spread more IIgs love than usual. We search for amazing things, and sometimes we find them. Join us for another great month of Apple II brouhaha.

BREAKING NEWS: Dates for KansasFest 2015 also announced! July 14-19. More at http://www.kansasfest.org

More information on everything discussed in this episode after the jump.

Continue reading “Open Apple #44 (February 2015) : Beagle Bros Reunion Roundtable, Andrew Roughan” →

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Open Apple #43 (January 2015) : Happy New Year with Ben Heck!

Posted on Jan 22, 2015Aug 28, 2021 by Quinn Dunki

This month on Open Apple, we sit down with Ben Heck, one of our most-requested interviews. We talk about his Apple I replica, his Apple IIgs laptop, and Adam Sandler for some reason. Meanwhile, Mike and Quinn talk about Apple Porsches, Pinball Construction Set, and Western Design Center. In the comedy department, we get back to our roots (making fun of Wizardry).

There’s potato chips, there’s troll pits, there’s 3D printing, and all kinds of other wandering off topic this month, so be sure to stay tuned for none of that.

We’re looking forward to a great new year with the Apple II, so join us as we kick off what is sure to be an awesome 2015!

Wews!

More information on everything discussed in this episode after the jump.

Continue reading “Open Apple #43 (January 2015) : Happy New Year with Ben Heck!” →

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Show #17 (July 2012) eBay auction results

Posted on Aug 27, 2012Aug 29, 2012 by Ken Gagne

In the July 2012 episode of the Open Apple podcast, Mike and Ken reviewed several eBay lots. The results of those auctions are below.

Title	Starting bid	End date	# Bids	Sold
Apple IIe 8 MHz UltraWarp accelerator card	$1.00	Jun-18-12 19:05:36 PDT	35	$328.55 + $15 S&H
Apple IIe joystick controller	$29.99	Jul 02, 201204:47:05 PDT		5 sold
Bill Budge's Space Album auction	$60.00	Jun-11-12 19:32:07 PDT	2	$61 + $15 S&H
Akalabeth in a plastic bag	$100.00	Jun 11, 201219:17:45 PDT	27	$1285.13 + $15 S&H

Open Apple #17 (July 2012): Rich Dreher, Apple-1, Atari, and Robert Tripp

Posted on Jul 8, 2012Aug 2, 2014 by Ken Gagne

This month on Open Apple, Mike and Ken speak with Rich Dreher, developer of the CompactFlash For Apple (CFFA) card. The first batch of CFFA3000 cards sold out in 2011, and the second batch is now shipping with similar sales numbers. Rich takes us behind the scenes of the product’s success before dishing on other II hardware developers Vince Briel and Mike Willegal. We look at the astronomical numbers rare Apple-1 computers are fetching on eBay and at Sotheby’s and celebrate HyperCard turning 25 while Atari turns 40, though Mike objects to the latter. David Finnigan’s new book is out, and Robert Tripp is hot on his heels when an updated and digitized version of the classic What’s Where in the Apple — and we have the exclusive interview with Bob! All this content and all these guests make for our longest episode ever, perfect for listening to while you drive to next week’s KansasFest.

Click past the jump for links mentioned in this episode.

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 2:18:24 — 100.7MB) | Embed

Show #14 (April 2012) eBay auction results

Posted on Apr 24, 2012May 13, 2012 by Ken Gagne

In the April 2012 episode of the Open Apple podcast, Mike and Ken reviewed several eBay lots. The results of those auctions are below.

Title	Starting bid	End date	# Bids	Sold
Akalabeth on cassette	$0.99	Feb 18, 2012 19:00:04 PST	20	$1,325 + $6 S&H
Apple II game lot	$49.99	Mar 11, 2012 17:00:34 PDT	15	$244.27
Apple III in the box!		Mar 16, 2012 10:36:22 PDT		$799.99 + $75 S&H
CFFA3000	$0.99	Mar 26, 2012 13:57:52 PDT	18	$271 + $7.50 S&H
Apple IIGS watch	$399.99 (Buy It Now)			Still available
Open Apple	$400 (Buy It Now)			Still available

Open Apple #14 (Apr 2012): Brian Picchi, GameFest, Prince of Persia, and gadgets

Posted on Apr 5, 2012Aug 2, 2014 by Ken Gagne

This month on the Open Apple podcast, our hosts chat with world video game record holder and Apple II game critic Brian Picchi, whose YouTube channel showcases the best and worst of Apple II entertainment. It’s a good time to be a convention-goer: registration has opened for KansasFest 2012, the lineup for Vintage Computer Festival East 8.0 has been announced, 8 Bit Weapon played at the Smithsonian’s opening of the Art of Video Games, and Jordan Mechner is keynoting PAX East. Kickstarter continues to be popular for reviving classic franchises, Ewen Wannop updates SNAP and SAFE on a shoestring budget, and Jordan Mechner unearths his Prince of Persia source code. On eBay, we found a rarer-than-the-Apple-1 copy of Akalabeth on cassette, a rare Apple IIGS-specific wristwatch, and a potential CFFA3000 scalper. Finally, we look at some gadgets that are new to us, including old iPads, new iPads, and DSLR cameras.