OzKFest | Open Apple

Open Apple #69 (March 2017) – Craig Peterson, KansasFest, Computer Show!

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

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This month on Open Apple, we sit down with Craig Peterson, who got involved with hardware and software development very early in the life of the Apple II. Craig integrated Apple II computers with a numerical control manufacturing system, producing G-code for the cutting machines in a factory. He was a pioneer in using the Apple II for what computers are actually good at- moving data around in an automated fashion and abstracting away sources of human error in a complex process.

Craig wrote technical articles for all the major Apple magazines, which led to him getting involved with Chinook. Craig wrote diagnostic and utility software for Chinook drives in the then exciting burgeoning new field of SCSI devices. Necessity is the mother of invention, and the need to precisely time SCSI drive interleavings prompted Craig to create a universal driver for the No Slot Clock.

KansasFest Early Registration is now open! Sign up now, because attendance is limited to 100 this year.

Meanwhile, listen as Quinn confirms that French people are from France, Mike spots the only Apple III in a hundred mile radius, and another boring Apple I auction happens. There’s double-hires, there’s outgoing preservationists, and there are lots of Australians. So many Australians.

A new episode of Computer Show! A new episode of Computer Show! A new episode of Computer Show! A new episode of Computer Show! A new episode of Computer Show! A new episode of Computer Show!

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 #47 (May 2015) : Jason Scott, Kaboom!, Infocom Secrets

Posted on May 28, 2015Feb 8, 2022 by Quinn Dunki

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 2:17:48 — 106.7MB) | Embed

This month on Open Apple, we sit down with Jason Scott, documentary filmmaker, historian, public speaker, and archivist.

We talk about the importance of a nuanced appreciation of history, the flavors of sadness in comment threads, whom not to trust with special data and the nature of humanity, and failing at life.

Don’t miss Mike Hate Sponge Delicate Snowflake Maginnis’s sigh to end all sighs. Join us to learn how to take care of your capacitors, how to count your cycles, and how to do TCP/IP on your 8-bit Apple II.

Want to troll your cable company, accelerate your IIe, or play Bomberman on your GS? Tune in and find out how! 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 8, 2022 by Quinn Dunki

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 2:09:10 — 97.5MB) | Embed

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.

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Open Apple #40 (October 2014) : Chris Torrence, Printers, Celebrating Lode Runner

Posted on Oct 19, 2014Feb 8, 2022 by Quinn Dunki

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:30:28 — 50.2MB) | Embed

This month on Open Apple, we talk to Chris Torrence, the new Roger Wagner Volunteer Archivist on behalf of Softalk magazine. Chris is a lifelong Apple II fan, and has recently undertaken the valuable effort of producing a book containing all of Roger Wagner’s Assembly Lines columns. This will include all of the articles included in Roger’s original book (Assembly Lines: The Book) as well as columns never before available in book form. He’s not just republishing the articles, he’s annotating, footnoting, and expanding on them as needed. It’s a terrific service for the community. We’ll dig into that, as well as Chris’ start in computing, and how he got to where he is today. We manage to get through an entire show without taking a cheap shot at Commodore, so you won’t want to miss this. Wait- no we don’t.

We also mark the passing of Lode Runner creator Douglas E. Smith, we talk about printers for some reason, and we talk about more eBay auctions on this show that doesn’t talk about eBay auctions. You won’t want to miss this month’s Weird Gaming, where we run the gamut from incredible educational games that didn’t get their due, to horrifying shareware games that can’t be forgotten quickly enough. We talk AppleSoft source code in Tech, and lots more. So drop your machine two inches, and let’s go!

More information on everything mentioned in the show can be found after the jump.

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Convention corrections for July 2013 episode

Posted on Jul 12, 2013Feb 8, 2022 by Ken Gagne

We hope everyone has enjoyed listening to the July episode of Open Apple. Unfortunately, we got a few facts wrong during the “II News” segment of that show. Since some of the affected events will be occurring before our August show airs, we want to issue the following two corrections immediately.

First, we discussed that none of the show’s hosts or guests would be attending Vintage Computer Festival Southwest 3.0. It turned out there’s a good reason for that: VCF Southwest 3.0 is not being held. VCF SW 3.0 occurred in August 2012, and there is no VCF SW 4.0. We did not realize that the information we were referring to was a year old. Our apologies to anyone we misled into thinking there is a retrocomputing event in Arlington, Texas, next month, when there is in fact none. Any Open Apple listeners who nonetheless try to attend will find little to report. Thanks to Michael Sternberg and David Greelish for the heads-up.

Second, OzKFest is occurring exactly as detailed in our episode, but we want to give credit where due. Andrew Roughan has done a great job promoting OzKFest, and as a result of his marketing efforts, we have associated his name with the event — but, as he points out, he is not the prime coordinator. OzKFest would not be possible without the leadership of Steven Kazoullis and the assistance of Alex Lukacz and Jon Co, as detailed on the site’s “About Us” page. Organizing such a gathering is a great undertaking, and every contributor deserves to be acknowledged.

Fun fact: OzKFest is being held in Brisbane — specifically, Kurilpa Hall. And Mt. Keira Fest, the gathering of Apple II users in 2009, was named after its venue, which also began with a ‘K’. That makes OzKFest the second Australian ‘K’ Fest!

We apologize for these oversights and extend our thanks to our eagle-eared listeners for keeping us accurate.

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