1 MHz Apple II Podcast

The box is not really a box, and the chess board is not really a chess board. Can you get your head around that? If so, then you too might be ready to do (relatively) mighty battle in Archon: The Light and The Dark for Apple II.

A special episode where 1 MHz collides with the Open Apple podcast at KansasFest. Featuring Ken Gagne, Mike Maginnis, and the special guest voice of Melissa Barron. So many hosts, so much to discuss. It's like a steel cage match, except without the steel cage. Or the match. But otherwise, it's just like that. Let's get ready to rrrrrrecord!

1 MHz is back to shout a quick hello before KansasFest 2011. Meanwhile, Anthony Martino and Henry Courbis say their goodbyes as UltimateApple2 and ReactiveMicro both go on hiatus. But then Henry Courbis says hello again almost immediately by scanning the Apple Service Technical Procedures Manuals and tossing them to apple2scans.net for hosting. I also take a quick gander at AppleIIGo, a new Apple II emulator written in Java that can run on (among other things) mobile phones and modern web browsers. Then I go in search of the poetic and lyrical in video games with Chris Lepine's Artful Gamer. Finally, I get tangled in hilarious red tape with Douglas Adams and Infocom's oh-so-funny and oh-so-difficult game Bureaucracy.

There's a new Apple II podcast on the block, as well as a new podcast for vintage computer enthusiasts: I lend my ear to Open Apple, and lend my voice to the Retro Computing Roundtable. KansasFest 2011 registrations kick off with the announcement of a cool hands-on session to build your own Apple II MP3 card with the help of Vince Briel. Ewen Wannop reclassifies his aptly named NiftySpell NDA as freeware. And finally, I go In Search Of The Most Amazing Thing...twice!

Krue releases the TreeHugger GS/OS Printer Port driver, but will you dare to install version 0.0? The daredevilry continues as you risk blowing your mind when you view the Visual 6502 emulator. For less risky but no less enjoyable online ogling, check out Dr. Matt Barton's book excerpt about LucasArts adventure games called The Maniac in the Mansion. And then come with me on a journey to the post apocalyptic world of Wasteland where we'll fight mutants, build robots and learn to repair toasts. Finally, I track down the rare and elusive Wasteland Survival Guide for the Apple II, which just makes me want to play Wasteland one more time.

How much is a new, unopened IIc worth...and would you open it once you got it home? For Dan Budiac the answers are "more than $2,600" and "yes" respectively, which is why his purchase (and unboxing) of an Apple IIc made headlines this month. Also in this episode, a web server hosted on an Apple IIe, plus a list of servers on other ancient Apple hardware. Also, I reminisce about the AppleCat modem, and point you to a pair of Apple II articles by Ken Gagne for Computerworld. And just as I recorded this episode Reactive Micro announced a new service to upgrade your Transwarp GS to as fast as 18.75 MHz. Finally, I play the graphical adventure game The Curse of Crowley Manor, and I do indeed feel cursed while I play it.

A brief (for me) show this month as I rush to get ready for KansasFest. In this episode, I take a look at the announcement of two new ways to transfer disk images from a 'modern' computer to an Apple II: ADTPro software, which finally hits version 1.0.0 after a year in beta, and the BlueFlash card, which is vaporware at the moment but looks tremendously exciting. I also take a look at a way to make an Apple II act as a dumb terminal for Mac OS X. After that, I listen to some modern music made on a vintage Apple. Finally, I review the game Apple Panic, which gets a big thumbs down. Then it's time to pack up my new two wheeler and head towards Kansas City...slowly.

Another extended break, but now I'm back, I'm bad, I'm nation-wide. In this episode, I try to sort out when the Apple II really turned 30...and whether Retro Thing and Retrocomputing Times are going to have to wrestle shirtless to Star Trek fight music. Also, I take a gander at the new Apple ][ Incider game review column before giving a highly professional analysis (read: big bunch of made up nonsense) of the Jobs and Gates interview at the recent All Things Digital conference. The review this month is of a classic Infocom text adventure, Hollywood Hijinx, whose author was put on trial by his fellow employees for goldfish homicide. Finally, I ask your advice about what I should drive to Kansas next month.

February's episode brings the usual batch of news and reviews, but this time from a different location: a hotel room in Vancouver. I do my best to put together a show from my notes alone without internet access to lean on. I also mix some hotel recordings with at-home stuff from both before and after the trip, just to see if you can tell which is which. In the Apple II news section, I talk about Juiced.GS's call for both new scriveners and new subscribers, as well as Device Side Data's pending release of a drive that will let you mount vintage computer floppies on modern Macs and PCs. I also watch a 1984 video of Woz walking through the Time Tunnel of the Apple Historical Collection. As for reviews, I finally tell you about Black Magic, the action-adventure-RPG game by Peter Ward that's been kicking my butt for months. I also rip the shrinkwrap off another sealed vintage game, this time Undiscovered Galaxy from K-TEK Video Software (AKA K-TEL, the guys and gals behind Hooked on Classics and the Mini Pops). Finally, I wrap up the first episode of 2007 with 5 predictions for the Apple II in the coming year.

After skipping a month, 1 MHz returns with a vengeance. Well, maybe not a vengeance so much as an determined scowl. In addition to the scowl, I've also got a theme: failure. Failure to podcast, failure to review new software, and failure to mail out some overdue packages. But there's also some success to report on, even if it's not my own. A2Central has successfully launched both a new web site and a new BBS, and InTrec has successfully kept it's award winning ProTERM software alive for decades (now at a new low price with a spiffy new web site on the way). There aren't any software reviews in this episode (remember the theme?) there are a few Apple II related videos I can point you toward. You'll learn about a new fad called Electronic Mail (I remain unconvinced), brace your ears against Irene Cara singing the Apple theme song, and even see an Apple II up for grabs on the Price is Right.