A2 News and Notes - July 2000

[mark.REMOVE.percival@videotron.ca (Mark Percival)]

A2 News and Notes
July 2000

INDEX

* Welcome!
* KansasFest 2000 Rocks Avila
** KFest Webcam Debuts
** KFest Session Recap
** KFest Announcement Wrap Up
* Sign Off

* Welcome!

Welcome to the first issue of A2 News and Notes!  My name is Ryan
Suenaga and I am a longtime Apple II writer.  This monthly electronic
publication is freeware and may be reproduced anywhere free of charge
provided that the copyright notice at the end of the issue is
included.  User groups may publish articles in whole or in part
without specific permission provided the copyright notice at the end
of the issue is included.

"Why A2 News and Notes?  Don't you have enough to do?"

Well, yes, I do, but the Apple II world seems to be in need of a
regular source of news that is freely available, so this will be it.
This publication will not include reviews, how-to articles, or
editorial content--well, okay, not much editorial content.  What it
will include is a smattering of tidbits from the Apple II universe.

We are in the process of setting up both a World Wide Web Home Page
and an email address for contacting us.  Comments are welcome.

Have a great Apple II month!  -R

* KansasFest 2000 Rocks Avila

KansasFest, affectionately known as KFest, recently concluded at Avila
College in Kansas City, Missouri.  More than 50 participants converged
on the small campus to stay up all night and have fun all day,
celebrating the Apple II like never before.

While there they saw a slew of new and updated products as well as a
few surprises and technological leaps.  Here are the highlights: 

** KFest Webcam Debuts

In the first of many pleasant surprises at KFest 2000, Eric "Sheppy"
Shepherd spearheaded a surprise effort to provide live streaming
broadcast of KansasFest events on the World Wide Web via the
http://www.a2central.com/ site.  The effort was a phenomenal success
and gave many Apple II users the world over a taste of what KansasFest
was like.  This just goes to show how quickly technology can advance:
five years ago, doing something like this was unthinkable; three years
ago, possible but unaffordable; and today, we're doing this.  All this
forward movement, and still the Apple II is in use. . .

** KFest Session Recap

In the more or less chronological order of the original schedule

Keynote address: Ryan Suenaga

Hey, that's me!  The keynote address focused on the importance of the
diversity of Apple II users and the togetherness that makes us a
strong community.  I was very touched by the Hawaiian print shirts in
the audience.  To show my gratitude, when it's Kirk Mitchell's turn to
do a keynote at KansasFest, I will wear jeans; when it's Howard Katz's
turn to do it, I will wear a beard and glasses; and when it's Russ
Alman's turn, I will offer to room with Ephraim Wall.  Thanks to all.

Howard Katz: Lost Classics

Howard, Director of the Lost Classics project, went in depth into the
steps involved in getting software reclassified.  He discussed the
lengths he goes to to insure that copyrights are observed and that
permissions are obtained, as opposed to the all-too-common practice of
outright piracy.  Howard also asked for assistance from the audience
in his effort.  Very informative and highlighted by the many successes
that he has achieved.

Jerry Cline and David Miller: ProTERM Mac Scripting, etc. 

Jerry and Dave showed off some of ProTERM Mac's advanced scripting
features, including many in the text editor.  They also gave some
examples of writing scripts and what ProTERM Mac can really do.  We
were also reminded that a ProTERM Mac script converted some of the
sound files used in Wolfenstein 3D for the Apple IIgs.

Max Jones: Desktop Publishing

Editor and Publisher of the premier Apple IIgs newsletter Juiced.GS,
Max used his own work as an example and showed off templates in
GraphicWriter III.  Max shared that he uses both a physical and
emulated IIgs in the publication process.  He also showed off some of
the accompanying software he uses, such as WordWorks Pro, The Manager,
and Transprog III.

Ryan Suenaga and Kirk Mitchell: Linux--the Apple II Cable Modem
Converter

Kansas and Hawai'i combined to show how to convert broadband
connections such as cable modem and digital subscriber lines for use
with an Apple II via a Linux-running computer and a null modem cable.
High Geek value, but by no means simple, no matter what the session
leaders had to say.

Tony Diaz: Accelerators

Longtime Apple II hardware guru Tony Diaz provided a history of
acceleration on the Apple II as well as technical information on
pushing your accelerator to its limits.  Tony also made it clear that
accelerator cards, being out of production, are expensive and hard to
come by, so take care of the ones you have.

Apple Computer, Inc.: Apple Presents

The Apple representative cancelled their appearance, again.  Unless
they had a G4 Cube running Bernie ][ The Rescue, we didn't miss much.

Eric Shepherd: Mystery session

Sheppy's mystery session consisted of three new software releases:
Network Printer Setup, a utility that helps you set up network
printers; DiskMaker, a disk image utility that turns disk images
(heavily used with emulators) back into physical disks; and Lemonade
Stand GS, a new version of the popular Applesoft game that dates back
to the days of the original ][ and cassette tape storage, updated with
sound, music, graphics, and new features.  In case you were wondering,
no, Sheppy doesn't suck.

Eric Shepherd and Ryan Suenaga: Bernie and Ernie

A surprise at the beginning, a surprise in the middle, and a surprise
at the end: through the magic of the Webcast and the Delphi chat room,
special guest Henrik Gudat was patched in to the Appleworks session
from his home in Switzerland to assist in answering questions about
the phenomenal IIgs emulator for the Mac OS.  Along with Shepherd, who
develops Sweet16 for the BeOS, a wide range of different emulator
topics were covered.

Our second surprise was the announcement of the first SarahSoft
program by Mrs. Sheppy, Sarah Shepherd.  Sarah's GS ROM Grabber
simplifies the job of creating a ROM image from your IIgs for use with
Sweet16, Bernie, and other emulators.

The final surprise of the session was the announcement of Bernie ][
The Rescue 3.0.  A list of features is included elsewhere in this
issue.  This was a bigger surprise than thought originally, as the
program was made available free of charge to all KFest 2000 attendees!
Now that's a great deal! 

Roast of Eric Shepherd 

Long time Apple II programmer Eric Shepherd, a.k.a. Sheppy, was the
victim of honor at this year's KansasFest Celebrity Roast.  The
persecution team consisted of Juiced.GS publisher Max Jones (who came
up with lots of original poetry attributed to the early years of
Sheppy), Gary Utter (snap, crackle, pop!), Ryan Suenaga (yet another
PowerPoint presentation), Kirk Mitchell (long suffering SheppyWare
beta tester), and Tony Diaz (I break everything after it's released).
Also featured was the live debut of the A2Central.commercial, a parody
on the hilarious discovery.com commercials.

BeOS, BeIA, and Clipper (including Sweet16)

Eric Shepherd changed into his Be, Inc. hat and showed off the amazing
multimedia BeOS, both on a desktop computer and on an Internet
appliance (IA) known as "Clipper".  While not released (and not
assured of release), Clipper certainly looks poised to compete in the
Internet Appliance arena which is being hailed as "The Next Big
Thing"(tm).  During his session, Shepherd also showed off Sweet16, the
Apple IIgs emulator for the BeOS.

Geoff Weiss: Spectrum Scripting 2000

Geoff Weiss admitted that a certain Juiced.GS ad spurred his Apple
IIgs product development for KFest, and Geoff proved he doesn't suck
either with updates to Spectrum Internet Suite, the Apple IIgs Web
browser and SCAP, his Portable Document Format creator for Spectrum.
Geoff also showed off SFTP, his in-progress File Transfer Protocol
program done in Spectrum scripts.  

Eric Shepherd: New hardware introduction

Finally, what we've all been waiting for: an Apple II Ethernet card
that isn't in the production run of one category.  Joachim Lange of
///SHH Systeme in Germany has announced the availability of a new
card.  While the card was en route to KFest, it did not arrive at
Avila until after the conference was over. He did send pictures and
some details.  More to follow as it becomes available.

** KFest Announcement Wrap Up

*** The Time in a Bottle CD collection of almost 15000 Apple II files
based on Syndicomm's libraries that were housed on Genie will be
available exclusively through Juiced.GS.  Details to follow.

*** Bernie ][ The Rescue 3.0, a new version of the Apple IIgs emulator
for the Power Macintosh, will be released within the next few months,
free for KFest 2000 attendees.  Not all new features have been
announced, but those that have been are:

all-new bit-enhancing VectorSound sound engine

sound capture 

all-new full-screen mode with menu access and more 

dozens of smaller interface changes including a new 'high-tech', more
interactive front-end

tons of internal changes & fixes (such as deselectable floppy drive
unit etc.)

*** Sarah Shepherd (a.k.a. mrs_sheppy) has released her first program!
GS ROM Grabber is a $5 shareware utility to capture ROM images of both
the ROM_01 and ROM_3 IIgs for use with emulators such as Sweet16 and
Bernie ][ The Rescue.  Available now at http://sarah.sheppyware.net/

*** Syndicomm and http://www.a2central.com/ have formed an alliance to
enhance Apple II online support.  Details are sketchy, but
http://www.a2central.com/ plans to greatly increase their scope of
services.  

*** Geoff Weiss announced three new or updated products:

SCAP 1.1, an update to his IIgs PDF maker;

Spectrum Internet Suite 1.1.1, an update to the Apple IIgs web
browser;

Spectrum FTP, a Spectrum script based FTP client.

Distribution and availability to be announced.

*** Ken Gagne announced Sedistic, a freeware set of Spectrum scripts
that perform find/replace on a set of text or Teach files.

*** Arachnid Preview Release 2, a new version of the work-in-progress
Apple IIgs web browser by Kim Howe of Australia.  Available
immediately at:

http://www.omninet.net.au/~khowe/arachnid/index.html

*** Tony Diaz released a new version of the Apple II software
collection on CD ROM, A2-ROMulan volume 1, edition 2.  Details in the
most recent issue of Juiced.GS.

*** Eric Shepherd had a slew of new releases.  In addition to the
previously announced new volume of The Complete Guide to SheppyWare
and the Totally SheppyWare CD ROM, three previously unseen titles were
released:

Lemonade Stand GS, a $15 shareware version of the classic Apple ][
(and I do mean Apple ][) Applesoft game updated for the Apple IIgs;

DiskMaker, a $5 shareware utility to create actual disks out of disk
images;

Network Printer Setup, a freeware utility to assist with setting up
network printers.

*** LANceGS, an Ethernet card for the Apple IIe and IIgs by //SHH
Systeme in Germany.  Unfortunately, the card did not arrive in time
for demonstration at KFest.  Availability, pricing, and details to be
announced.

*** Juiced.GS will be making a new version of _The Compleat Lamp!_
available.  This CD ROM collection of GEnieLamp A2, A2Pro, and _The
Lamp!_ will be current no matter when it is ordered.  Details to
follow.

*** Lyle Syverson and Ryan Suenaga have agreed to change the
distribution system of _The Lamp!_, a Delphi based electronic
newsletter.  Details within the next two weeks.

*** Contest winners:

Bite The Bag: Paul Zaleski
Door Sign: Ray Merlin
Roger Wagner Tie Contest: Jamie Hodges
GShisen: Steve Gozdziewski
HackFest: Geoff Weiss (with a Spectrum scripted version of Taipan)
          Special recognition to Ken Gagne for his incredible hoax
          named "Maxster" that had audience members puzzled, stunned,
          and rolling in laughter.  Ken gained second place.

*** Miscellanea

**** After six wonderful years, Cindy Adams has resigned her post as
The Big Cheese of KansasFest.  Her incredible work and tremendous
dedication is appreciated.  The new head honcho is Steve Gozdziewski,
known officially as The Grand Gouda.

We love you, Mrs. A!

**** http://www.a2central.com/ will attempt to provide downloadable
and streaming versions of digitally recording KFest sessions and other
events.  Watch http://www.a2central.com/ for more information.

**** Shawn Beattie of Iowa was not able to attend KansasFest this year
but his presence was greatly felt as he loaned a projector that was
used with many of the sessions.  Thank you Shawn for your tremendous
help!

**** Kansas City local Sean Fahey again opened up his garage of Apple
II hardware for participants who wished to fill their own garages at
home.  Thanks again, Sean.

**** The entire KFest committee of Cindy, Steve, Jerry Cline, Stan
Marks, Max Jones, and Allan Moore for all of their hard work and
dedication.  It literally couldn't have happened without you.

**** KansasFest 2001 information: Avila College, Kansas City,
Missouri, July 24-29, 2001.  Intrec Software will continue as the
sponsor.  Watch http://www.kfest.org/ for more information.

* Sign Off

A2 News and Notes is produced with real or emulated Apple II computers
using Appleworks 5.1 and Hermes with the occasional assist from
ProTERM Mac on the Macintosh.  Apple II Forever!

A2 News and Notes is (c) copyright 2000 by Ryan M. Suenaga, M.S.W.
All rights reserved.

Opinions expressed herein are those of the individual authors and do
not necessarily represent the opinions of the copyright holder and
publisher.  The publisher does not guarantee the accuracy or
suitability of any information included herein.  We reserve the right
to edit all letters and copy.

Material published in this edition may be reprinted free of charge
anywhere provided this copyright notice is included.

Mark R. Percival
Montreal, Quebec

An Apple II fanatic since 1979.