Re: KansasFest 2012 Report

[Kirk Mitchell <kirkmitchell@gmail.com>]

Day 3, but I managed sleep in and got 5 hrs.  I was in time for breakfast but missed part of the first session.

Ken Gagnes' session was "WordPress for Dummies", and I was totally ignorant about the subject so proved an excellent test case.  Ken runs a lot of websites using this tool, and did a great job demonstrating how to get it going for a beginner.  It still sounds like a heck of a learning curve, but I'm very tempted to give it a try.  I fear my brain has fossilized in HTML mode though.  I need something like this to shake things up a bit.  

Martin Haye gave a quick rehash of his software from last year, Super-Mon and NakedOS before demonstrating his latest creation, the programming language Short.  It's an interactive language like Basic in that it doesn't compile, but only uses 1 K of memory, and still allows inline assembly code to be mixed in.  It takes advantage of all the features of Super-Mon.  It's faster than AppleSoft while retaining the advantage of programming dangerously.

Try out the updated Super-Mon and keep an eye out for Short at:
https://bitbucket.org/martin.haye

Master Apple II Historian, Steve Weyhrich moderated a panel of the hosts of a variety of Retrocomputing Podcasters, David Greelish, Earl Evans, Ken Gagne and Carrington Vanston.  All witty and humorous sorts!  It was a great session where they discussed a bit of their history in podcasting, procedures that they use to be successful at their calling, and just a very good time.

After lunch, Wayne Arthurton gave a session on "The Apple II's Gaming Legacy" where he followed the evolution of games which started on the Apple II, then continued to be hits on other platforms.  While he was a bit concerned that John Romero had stole some of his thunder with some discussion of this topic in his Keynote, Wayne did a great job of showing how these game franchises had grown and improved from their Apple II roots.

Carrington Vanston added more material to the sessions from last year concerning Interactive Fiction (text adventures) gaming by demonstrating the building of a short IF game using Inform 7.  This is a surprisingly simple yet powerful tool that could potentially build very engrossing worlds to explore.  And we can run the resulting adventure on Apple IIs!

Earl Evan related his personal history concerning the myriad of 8-bit computers back in the dim and distant past, and while he didn't land in the Apple II camp in the end, he certainly understands the thrill that the Apple II brings to us, and proves to be an ally to our love of these machines.

In the news recently was the discovery and recovery of the source code to "Prince of Persia."  Instrumental to this task was our own Tony Diaz and Jason Scott, and in this session, Tony told us the story behind this successful venture. Very entertaining!

Our next event was the semi-formal Banquet.  By semi-formal, I mean that some wore ties, it that's what you want to call them.  The winner of the "Tie One On" contest was Eric Rucker, whose "tie" was an Apple IIc with a small monitor wrapped around his throat.  He had to hover near a wall socket to power this ensemble, which certainly endangered his cupcake dessert.  They were very tempting.  Sadly, I forget the other placings and prize winners.  I blame sleep deprivation.

The Door Decorations competition was won by Dan Kruszyna with three nifty ... ummm WTH are called?  Weavings?  Embroideries?  Cloth things that had the three Apple II prompts on them. ],* and ! Second place went to Ian Johnson with a door covered in Japanese obscenities.  At least that's what I choose to believe since I know no Japanese.

The coveted Apple II Forever Awards went to Ewen Wannop, Richard Bennett, Geoff Weiss, and posthumously to Joe Kohn.  Very nice plagues to folks that really did something important to keep the Apple II community connected and alive!

Ken Gagne did a great job as MC, and presented a nice show with pictures and video.  Steve Weyhrich added to the laughs with his hilarious video contribution as well.  And the news we always are waiting for...  Tony Diaz announced that there will be another KFest next year, dates to be determined!  We're thrilled that our numbers have been increasing the past few years, and continue to strive to keep this "Summer Camp for Geeks" continuing for as long as we can!

Afterwards, Loren Damewood got us together to take the annual group picture.  I don't know how I got placed in the middle of a bush, but there it is.

Back in the dorm, Carrington, David and Earl recorded a live podcast for Retro Computing Roundtable in front of a mostly live audience.  Again, the wit was flying!

Apparently, there was also a game of Star Saga One going on, and it still might be.  I'll check soon.  Most of the folks are gone for a Late Night Run to find goodies to eat.  Let's hope they don't attract the attention of the police this time.  B)

Now I leave you so I can get back to the action!  

Chow!