Denver Apple Pi | Open Apple

Open Apple #26 (Apr 2013): Earl Evans, Z80, Zephyr, and LucasArts

Posted on Apr 15, 2013Feb 8, 2022 by Ken Gagne

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:32:47 — 51.6MB) | Embed

This month on Open Apple, Mike and Ken chat with Earl Evans, Retrobits podcast host and Commodore 64 enthusiast — but we don’t hold that against him. Registration for KansasFest 2013 is open, and we all want to go, but Earl has another destination in mind. Tech history is being unearthed before our eyes, with schematics for operating systems and circuit boards appearing in museums (where the price is right) and art galleries (where it’s not). Brutal Deluxe is on a tear, releasing retroprogramming utilities for Windows and commercial games for the Apple II; we’re big fans! But not all news is happy news: the Steve Jobs film has been delayed, and LucasArts has closed its doors — will we ever get another Maniac Mansion game for the Apple II? Maybe not, but Richard Garriott’s successful Kickstarter gave fans a chance to pick up an original copy of Akalabeth. Better late than never!

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Introduction (0:00 – 9:20)

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Open Apple #19 (Sep 2012): David Schmidt, iOS games, Apple III, and IMSAI

Posted on Sep 3, 2012Feb 8, 2022 by Ken Gagne

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:42:22 — 58.3MB) | Embed

This month on Open Apple, Mike and Ken chat with David Schmidt, the programmer responsible for ADTPro. Beyond his own program, David has also contributed to the development of Davex, GSport, AppleCommander, CiderPress, OpenEmulator, DiscFerret, CFFA3000 — and much, much more. Collectively, the show’s hosts marvel at the deluge of Apple II games that are being ported to iOS, Apple’s mobile operating system … though we question the direction Jordan Mechner is taking the classic Karateka. Apple-1 computers continue to fetch exorbitant prices at live auctions, while iPads and IMSAIs fail to sell on eBay — though the latter may soon get a Kickstarter from Vince Briel. Finally, Ken quietly broods while Mike and David enthusiastically sing the praises of their favorite computer, the Apple III.

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Introduction (0:00 – 11:20)

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Open Apple #12 (Feb 2012): Michael J Mahon, chiptune, source code, and demodulation

Posted on Feb 6, 2012Feb 8, 2022 by Ken Gagne

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:57:57 — 59.7MB) | Embed

This month on the Open Apple podcast, Mike and Ken chat with Michael J Mahon, software and hardware developer extraordinaire and creative genius behind both recent DMS Drummer software and the ever-popular AppleCrate parallel processing computer. We talk about 8 Bit Weapon, the chiptune music scene, and the importance of commenting and documenting one’s code, whether it be commercial or open source. Michael’s not much of a gamer, but Ken and Mike are enjoying new versions of classic games, including Eamon, Choplifter, and possibly Rescue Raiders. We consider entering a Robot War competition, despite our poor showing at the RetroChallenge contest. Several new pieces of hardware to convert video signals are now available, which you can use with a pair of complete Apple IIGS systems, for sale and shipping for free from Bulgaria.

Congratulations to Bryan Letcher, who won a set of Microzine issues by completing our listener survey!

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Introduction (0:00 – 12:00)

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Open Apple #10 (Dec 2011): Rob Kenyon, HyperCard, IFComp, and authenticity

Posted on Dec 6, 2011Feb 8, 2022 by Ken Gagne

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:25:06 — 43.7MB) | Embed

This month on the Open Apple podcast, Mike and Ken are joined by Rob Kenyon, a two-time KansasFest attendee as well as a professional programmer and 30-year veteran of the Apple II. We talk about how great it is to be a part of the international community of Apple II users, even if none of us can afford to buy Apple’s founding contract in a Sotheby’s auction. Rob asks, did Steve Jobs purposely kill HyperCard to turn the Mac into a more closed environment? We congratulate Wade Clarke and Andrew Schultz on their showing in the 17th annual Interactive Fiction Competition. Plenty of original Apple II computers are selling on eBay, with Mike and Rob discussing how to distinguish an authentic classic from a modified one. We share our wishes for the holiday season, including for an affordable accelerator card and a CFFA3000, before signing off for the calendar year. Please take our listener survey, and see you in 2012!

[Please note: technical difficulties have resulted in a low volume on Ken’s track, and a loud volume for Rob. Our apologies for the inconvenience.]

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Introduction (00:00 – 7:08)

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Show #7 (August 2011): David Schmenk, KansasFest 2011, CFFA3000, and buttons

Posted on Aug 10, 2011Feb 8, 2022 by Ken Gagne

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:31:20 — 46.1MB) | Embed

This month in Open Apple, Mike and Ken keep the KansasFest vibe going with first-time attendee David Schmenk, getting his perspective on the greatest products, sessions, and experiences of last month’s Apple II convention, from the CFFA3000 to Sweet16 and more. Ewen Wannop’s publication of an online magazine archive leads to a brief discussion on the creation and consumption of PDF scans, after which we get Tony Diaz on the line to clarify a hardware matter. On eBay, we like pins, buttons, and games, before getting ready for a special guest at this month’s Denver Apple Pi user group meeting.

Congratulations to Antony Mauget, who named the game as Hard Hat Mack! He won a complete collection of 300 Baud magazine. Next month’s winner of the easiest Name the Game contest ever gets a $20 gift certificate to the Juiced.GS store.

Click past the jump for links mentioned in this episode.

Introduction (0:00 – 7:57)

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