Hi - a newbie with a question about serial

[Alex Lardner <me@tomatosalad.net>]

Hiya,
I thought I'd introduce myself, I'm rather a newcomer to Usenet and the 
Apple 2 community.

A few years ago I picked up an enhanced Apple //e that came with 
ProDOS, DOS3.3, some promo floppies, AppleWorks, a Duodisk, and a *ton* 
of original manuals, references, guides, receipts, invoices, and other 
paperwork. I also picked up 100 5.25 inch disks for cheap.

I've never done much with it, mostly played around in Basic and shown 
it to friends.

I have 2 questions: 1. What is the absolute cheapest way to get started 
with serial? I have no cable, no adapter, and no card and I'd like to 
start transferring disks / using it as a terminal -- ADTPro over audio 
is *slow* and 2. Is there a good programming reference? I haven't found 
one yet, and I'm sure some have survived.

Thanks!