Re: KFest 2011 Report

[Kirk Mitchell <kirkmitchell@gmail.com>]

Many KFesters have gone on a Steak and Shake run (I don't need the
additional calories, so I'm staying in), so it's strangely quiet and
spooky now.  A good time to get this report in!

First, an apology...  I spaced reporting on Eric Shepherd's product
announcement, even though it was one I didn't "rest my eyes" during.
Version 2.3 of the Sweet 16 Apple IIGS emulator was released, as was a
new version of SideClick.  Of course, shortly after he put it online
to download, Carl Knoblock found a bug that slipped past us Beta
Testers, so you should see 2.3.1 of Sweet 16 shortly.  Improved sound
routines, and other improvements and bug fixes make this a jewel!

Today, the first session after breakfast was Steven Weyhrich's (A2-
Historian) Tour of an Apple II+, built in the game of Mindcraft!
Steven has posted a video of this accomplishment on YouTube a few
months ago, but he's made some improvements since then.  It's
stunningly impressive!

Next, Peter Neubauer gave a session on "LOGO:History and Programming"
that revisited a few of the different versions of LOGO available for
the Apple II, from Terrapin, to Apple LOGO and Apple LOGO II, to
Byteworks 3D LOGO.  Known mostly for it's Turtle Graphics, LOGO has
many more features rarely explored!  And it brought back memories from
a couple of decades back.  Which stung a little because that means I'm
getting old!

David Schmenk stunned us with his session on conceiving and
implementing a 2 & 1/2 D game for 8 bit Apple II's called "Escape from
the Homebrew Computer Club".  Done in Lores mode, it's remarkably
playable and does a phenomenal job of expanding what we've come to
expect from our Apples!

After lunch, Jason Scott moderated a panel consisting of Steven
Weyhrich, Bob Bishop, and Geoff Weiss where the discussion was "What
was the Golden Age of the Apple II?"  The insights and opinions of the
panel members were informative and entertaining, and Jason did a great
job leading the discussion.

Geoff Weiss then demonstrated two methods of using disk images on
Apple II's, MountIt by Brutal Deluxe for the GS (why the heck haven't
I installed this yet!), and a device by Cedric Peltier called
SmartportVHD which plugs into an Apple's Smartport and allows a
variety of USB devices to deliver disk images to be used as regular
volumes!  It's wonderful that we have such savvy hardware folks still
developing wonderful new toys like this!

Vince Briel has been very busy running around helping folks to
diagnose and fix broken Apple II's, but he took time off to hold a
workshop on building his latest kit, a card for the Apple II that
plays MP3's loaded on a USB memory stick!  He'd demonstrated this
product ... two years ago?  but had kits available, and taught newbies
how to solder, or watched over the more competent as they worked.
Proudly, he ended up with a 100% record, and several folks went home
with new skills, and a nifty new product!

I hosted the next event of the evening, the Ryan Suenaga Memorial
Krispy Kreme Night.  Ryan was killed in a hiking accident in April.
He'd been my KFest roommate since 1999, missing KFest only last year.
We'd had great times over the 55 days and sleepless night here at
KFest, and many of us considered him a valued friend.  Ryan started
the Krispy Kreme Night years ago while he was still editor of
Juiced.GS, and continued doing so even after he'd passed the torch to
Ken Gagne.  We had a donation jar for those who wished to contribute,
with 100% of the proceeds going towards a scholarship fund in his
name.  I don't know WHY he directed that this scholarship go towards
educating another social worker since he griped about his job so much,
but he always was a character!  In any case, KFesters contributed a
very substantial amount, and I thank them!  I will continue to host
this calorie ladened tradition.  Ryan, I raise my plastic cup of milk
to you.

Afterward, the KFest Planning Committee held our meeting.   There's a
lot that goes on behind the scenes to make a successful KFest, and of
course I'm the slacker of the group.  B-)  It's great to work with the
other members in any case!  We plan to do this for a long time, and
would certainly appreciate suggestions on how to improve the
experience, or what it would take to get YOU to come next year!  The
number of participants this year was larger than we've had in quite a
few years, and we'd love to see new folks join us to share their love
or even just fondness for the Apple II.  *Blatant Pug complete*

If I get reports of the usual high jinx about what those kids did
during the Steak and Shake run, I'll report it tomorrow.  B-)

Kirk