Apple IIGS | Open Apple

Open Apple #77 (March 2018) – Kay Savetz & Carrington Vanston, Eaten By A Grue

Posted on Jul 17, 2018Feb 8, 2022 by Quinn Dunki

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:47:31 — 86.0MB) | Embed

This month on Open Apple, we sit down with Kay Savetz and Carrington Vanston of the Eaten By A Grue podcast. Eaten By A Grue is a game-by-game style of podcast where the intrepid hosts are playing every Infocom game. They both play the game, then discuss it in detail, with and without spoilers. They discuss the amount of cheating required, how mapping was done, the quality of writing and puzzles, and so on. The show has a very nice structure wherein they discuss the show with no spoilers to the halfway point, so that you can stop and go play it yourself if you are so inclined. If not, you can keep listening and hear gory details of all the puzzles.

Kevin talks about getting beasts into bed, and other reasons not to play these games on real hardware. Meanwhile Carrington gets his feelies on and brags about how he has so many original copies of Infocom games that he sits on them for fun.

Meanwhile Mike and Quinn debate dubious silicon valley histories, wedge computers, and competing with other 8-bits in BASIC. Tune in to hear us malign our guests, misremember important names, and get super pedantic about connector nomenclature for no conceivable reason. You won’t want to miss a moment of the drama.

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

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Open Apple #76 (January 2018) – Ken Gagne & Andy Molloy, Juiced.GS, Nukes

Posted on Feb 18, 2018Feb 8, 2022 by Quinn Dunki

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:40:51 — 84.7MB) | Embed

This month on Open Apple, we sit down with Ken Gagne and Andy Molloy of Juiced.GS, the longest running continuously published Apple II magazine (that you can still get in your mailbox to this day!). Juiced.GS is in its 23rd year, which has to be a record for magazines of almost any type.

Ken and Andy talk about the bloodless coup of the magazine, the long history of same, where things are headed, and why they hates trees.

Meanwhile, Quinn and Mike chat about FPGAs, nuclear weapons, and BBSes. What do you do when you need a mathematically provably correct piece of hardware to verify nuclear weapons compliance? Why, you grab your Apple II, of course! Duh!

Here’s a time sensitive news item that didn’t make it into the show- vote for Nox Archaist and Lawless Legends for your favorite Ultima-inspired indie games of 2017!

Stay tuned for a Tech segment where we follow up on last episode and go even deeper on fast IIgs graphics. There’s always more to know about the intricacies of squeezing performance out of this unique and beautiful machine.

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

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Open Apple #72 (June 2017) – Peter Neubauer, KansasFest, Last Jedi

Posted on Jul 16, 2017Feb 8, 2022 by Quinn Dunki

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:27:08 — 69.7MB) | Embed

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 more KansasFest. Then we talk about KansasFest, followed conversation about a fruit-based retrocomputing conference that takes place in Missouri every July.

We have plenty of regular news to catch up on as well, so stay tuned for updates from 6502 Workshop, NinjaForce, and more. We have graphics talk, Bluetooth talk, and exciting new accelerators from the mad Bulgarian.

It’s already too late to register for KansasFest, but if you’re going to be there, make sure to say hi! We love to meet our listeners.

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

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Open Apple #68 (February 2017) : Emulator Updates, EDD, Softalk #3

Posted on Mar 4, 2017Feb 8, 2022 by Quinn Dunki

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:53:33 — 82.5MB) | Embed

This month on Open Apple, Mike and Quinn sit down with each other and catch up on all the news they’ve been neglecting lately.

Mike and Quinn discuss the disappointing 8BitDo controller, get excited about remanufactured printer ribbons, and pretend to know anything about EDD.

Follow along as we review Softalk volume 1, number 3. The ads are always the best part! Meanwhile, we manage to sneak in one more Kay Savetz reference, and a Boo Atari in the same breath. That’s the Open Apple Way™.

You won’t want to miss this month’s Apology to Call A.P.P.L.E segment. We’re going to need a bumper for that (and the Australians) soon. Despite all this terribleness, please give us money. Because costs.

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

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Open Apple #64 (October 2016) : John Brooks, Tiger Learning Computer, Softalk

Posted on Oct 29, 2016Feb 8, 2022 by Quinn Dunki

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:31:37 — 67.3MB) | Embed

This month on Open Apple, we share an excerpt of an interview with John Brooks, courtesy of Juiced.GS. John talks about how and why he updated ProDOS, and his experiences getting back into the community.

Tune in to hear Quinn lose 20 years of time perception around the Tiger Learning Computer, then pretend to know stuff about power supplies. Meanwhile, Mike waxes nostalgic about high school computer labs and tries to unload his excess Apple IIs on unsuspecting community members.

We try out a new segment this month, and we hope you like it! No spoilers- you’ll just have to listen and see what we’re up to.

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

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Open Apple #63 (September 2016) : Kate Szkotnicki, ProDOS 2.4, KansasFest

Posted on Sep 25, 2016Feb 8, 2022 by Quinn Dunki

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:40:31 — 73.8MB) | Embed

This month on Open Apple, we sit down with Kate Szkotnicki, long time Apple II fan and new addition to the retro community. We chat about her first impressions as a newcomer to the community, and the big splash she made at her first KansasFest. Kate is a cosplayer and frequent attendee of anime and comic cons, so she brought a very fresh set of skills and perspectives to KansasFest. Her presentation on making plastic parts (and candy!) with silicone moulding was very popular. Throw away your 3D printers- this is easier and better.

We also talk lots about John Brooks’ excellent work on updating ProDOS, Quinn says a bunch of stuff about Commodore that probably isn’t true, and Mike falls on his sword for getting everything wrong about Australian Apple II gatherings. Mike gets a record number of Apple /// references into this episode, so be sure to tune in and ignore that.

Breaking news! Between us recording and releasing this show, John Brooks has updated ProDOS to 2.4.1. Also, we worked out that the MegaBeep ROM is in fact compatible with it, contrary to the opening of the show. Listener James reported an issue that we believe was actually a bad ROM. If you are a MegaBeep owner, don’t hesitate to use it with any version of ProDOS, including John Brooks’ excellent new 2.4 updates.

Thanks to Brian Wiser of Call A.P.P.L.E. for permission to use the interview clip with Mike Harvey and John Leake.

Happy 30th birthday, Apple IIgs!

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Open Apple #62 (August 2016) : Mark Pilgrim, Passport, Ancient Legends

Posted on Aug 24, 2016Feb 8, 2022 by Quinn Dunki

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:28:41 — 62.3MB) | Embed

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. The latter is very common with educational software, business packages, and other things that the old crackers weren’t interested in. Mark’s skills and perseverance are making it possible to use more and more Apple II software on sites like Archive.org and VirtualApple.

KansasFest 2017 will be July 18th-23rd at Rockhurst University!

Meanwhile, tune in to this show and listen to Quinn and Mike bumble through news of various festivals, discuss lots of new hardware, and utterly fail to be respectful of the passing of a computer science legend. We’re sorry, Mr. Papert- you will be missed, and Logo touched all our lives.

There are a record number of amazing announcements of hardware and software this month. You won’t want to miss Passport, Ancient Legends, 4soniq, CP/M Turbo 7, SD-MIDI, and more. It’s an incredible month for spending money on your Apple II.

Go download Passport and archive all your floppies. Start now, or you’ll be up very late.

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

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Open Apple #58 (April 2016) : Huibert Aalbers, IIGS Stuff, Taiwanese Ham

Posted on May 3, 2016Feb 8, 2022 by Quinn Dunki

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 2:07:21 — 99.0MB) | Embed

This month on Open Apple, we sit down with Huibert Aalbers, author of Soundsmith. It’s hard to overstate what a platform-defining piece of software this was for the Apple IIgs. Few people appreciated what the audio system in this computer was capable of, until Huibert unlocked it for the world to hear. Games and scene demos would use his tool for the entire life of the machine. Other music trackers came along in later years, but Soundsmith was always there. It turns out platform jealousy can be a powerful force indeed.

Meanwhile, we talk oranges, Taiwanese ham, dying young, and cramming IIc parts in your Franklin. We blow the lid off the French pirate sneakernet and complain about kids today and their disrespect for bytes.

After that, Mike finds beta ROMs, Quinn loses her sense of humor, and they both find GS RAM cards everywhere. It’s a IIgs themed episode- all the Ensoniqs and FTAs you can stand. If you’re an Atari user*, see if you can spot the backhanded compliment.

You won’t want to miss Huibert’s amazing project involving IIgs Epluché!

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

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