I moved this summer, so I had a lot further to drive this year than in years past. I made good time, until I hit St. Joe and further south. Torrential rain, flooding roads and construction, oh my! Nice light show with all the lightning, though.
I barely made it in time to participate in the group trip to Sweet Tomatoes for all you could eat salad, soup, soft serve ice cream and great company. A good time was had by all.
I spent a large portion of the remaining evening shopping for the Kookout, but did manage to cruise the hallways visiting old friends, and introducing myself to the newbies this year. I think we have 7 first timers this year, and a fine group they are! Quite a few here for the second time too! We're a multinational collection this year, with the return of Jeff Blakney from Canada. His return from a long absence was appreciated.
Alas, my long time roomie Ryan "Poi Boi" Suenaga didn't make it this year, but Loren is a suitable replacement. B-)
I did manage to last until 2:00 am before my travels caught up with me. I'm not so young anymore. B-)
This morning, I did make it to breakfast, coffee and bacon. And more coffee. They have a new fancy coffee maker, which will make you an individual cup with varying flavors and strengths. I'll be putting it through it's paces.
I did more shopping, and when I got back, it was time to get the coals burning, and the hamburgers and hot dogs, and phake phlesh cooking. Fortunately, the rain had stopped, and it was just cloudy and muggy. Things went well, and no food poisoning reported, B-)
Tony Diaz did an impromptu demonstration on how to open an Apple //c, which was interesting. The remains of the //c remain strewn round the commons area. B-)
I made a quick jaunt to the Apple Store to get my dead Time Capsule replaced. They agreed to do so, even though it's out of warranty. Yay, Apple!
That did make me late for the first few minutes of Mark Simonsen's Keynote address. B-( What I did manage to hear was fantastic! Beagle Bros has always been my favorite computer oriented company... exceeding Apple even. Ken Gagne was videoing, so perhaps he'll get it online. Mark is a swell guy just to talk to, as well... He's truly an Apple II Geek like the rest of us KFesters.
Dinner was great, but I won't bother with menus here. B-) After we ate, we had a session with Rob Walch of the "Today in iOS" podcast. This has been Rob's 4th year keeping us updated on the happenings with iPhones, iPods, and now the iPad. Great session! Everyone check out his podcast as well. He's well informed and entertaining.
Around 9:00 pm, Ken Gagne of Juiced.GS fame provided our crew with pizza and refreshments. I about lost a hand, reaching for a piece of mushroom and spinach pizza. I'm surprised anyone is still THAT hungry here. B-)
BRB... OK, I'm back. Currently we're on round 6 of the classic Bite the Bag competition. I'm afraid this is for the young and limber members of the conference, but it makes for a great spectator sport. I've never seen so many face plants in such a short amount of time! Already, several participants feature rug burns on their foreheads and knees! When I left, there were still 5 "Baggers" still in the running. And I think I'll cut short my report and return with some bandaides. B-)
Thursday is the first day with a full morning/afternoon schedule of sessions, so it was very busy!
After breakfast, Peter Neubauer presented an overview of the Macrosoft program language that rests on Nibble Magazine's MindCraft Assembler. It allows the programmer to write using an Applesoft-like syntax, when then assembles to machine language code for extra speed. Back in the late '80s, the package sold for $100, but Peter will be offering it at the vendor fair for $23.95 for both the macro package and assembler, useable from DOS 3.3 and ProDos.
He wrote a short program that demonstrated it's features, and I'd say the program was 5x faster then its Applesoft equivalent. I'll be leaving KFest with a copy. Excellent session!
Eric Shepherd, aka "Sheppy" was unable to make it to KFest this year, but was still with us in spirit and streaming when he used iChat to present a session on iPad programming. He demonstrated how easy it was to take the project he'd shown last year for the iPhone, and port it to the iPad. I'm not very acquainted with the Xcode development system, but it was interesting, and I listened intently for the last 15 minutes... B-P
Sheppy's session was followed by a panel discussion over the subject "Apple's Growing Divide Between Users and Programmers" which featured Ken Gagne as moderator, and Panelists Ivan Drucker, Martin Haye, and Mike Maginnis. The brain power there caused the room to tilt a bit! Excellent points about how Apple's market shifted from the hobbyist/ programmer of the Apple II days, to the far less open, but probably unavoidable closed systems of the iPad and iPhones in today's market.
After Lunch, Martin Haye introduced his latest project, NakedOS, a new Disk II operating system usable on all Apple II's. It's a very tightly coded option for those who need to squeeze 4-5 KB more memory to use for their 8-bit programs, and additional diskette space as well. A very detailed session that covered the many details one would have to consider in using this totally free operating system. Still, it looks like a winner for those who would want to take advantage it!
Dagen Brock's session was on "Off-platform Apple II development", and stressed using the strengths of the many Linux/Mac OS/Windows development tools available, to enhance Apple II programs. He could have used much more time to cover all that's available.
Mike Maginnis presented an overview of the Apple /// , the //e's failure of a brother, complete with a brief look at it's history, and how it almost caused the death of Apple. He was well researched on its trivia and the resources still available to those who still love this stinker. B-) Tony Diaz then brought out a prototype ///+ for all to examine.
After dinner, Ken Gagne showed an hour clip of Jason Scott's two DVD documentary, "Get Lamp". It took me back to my college days when I'd be in the university computer lab, consuming vast quantities of fan fold paper playing "Adventure" on the teletypes. Interviews with the luminaries from Infocom, Scott Adams, and various gamers of text adventures and interactive fiction certainly struck a cord with me!
And to top it off, Jason Scott blew our minds when Ken told us that he was offering all KFest participants a free copy! A $40 value! All the DVD's come with numbered collectable dual tone coins expressing the high points of text adventuring. The DVD's aren't shipping yet, but we DID get the coins... I got #1003. B-)
As I type, Tony and Ken are on the run to Krispy Kreme that Ryan Suenaga and I used to do. Ryan couldn't make it this year, but he's still sponsoring our dose of donuts and milk. Thanks, Ryan!
Now it's time for me to wander the halls and push myself into the room with the most laughing Geeks. Wish you were here!
> Wow! Another KFest started! Number 14 for me! > > I moved this summer, so I had a lot further to drive this year than in > years past. I made good time, until I hit St. Joe and further south. > Torrential rain, flooding roads and construction, oh my! Nice light > show with all the lightning, though. > > I barely made it in time to participate in the group trip to Sweet > Tomatoes for all you could eat salad, soup, soft serve ice cream and > great company. A good time was had by all. > > I spent a large portion of the remaining evening shopping for the > Kookout, but did manage to cruise the hallways visiting old friends, > and introducing myself to the newbies this year. I think we have 7 > first timers this year, and a fine group they are! Quite a few here > for the second time too! We're a multinational collection this year, > with the return of Jeff Blakney from Canada. His return from a long > absence was appreciated. > > Alas, my long time roomie Ryan "Poi Boi" Suenaga didn't make it this > year, but Loren is a suitable replacement. B-) > > I did manage to last until 2:00 am before my travels caught up with > me. I'm not so young anymore. B-) > > This morning, I did make it to breakfast, coffee and bacon. And more > coffee. They have a new fancy coffee maker, which will make you an > individual cup with varying flavors and strengths. I'll be putting it > through it's paces. > > I did more shopping, and when I got back, it was time to get the coals > burning, and the hamburgers and hot dogs, and phake phlesh cooking. > Fortunately, the rain had stopped, and it was just cloudy and muggy. > Things went well, and no food poisoning reported, B-) > > Tony Diaz did an impromptu demonstration on how to open an Apple //c, > which was interesting. The remains of the //c remain strewn round the > commons area. B-) > > I made a quick jaunt to the Apple Store to get my dead Time Capsule > replaced. They agreed to do so, even though it's out of warranty. > Yay, Apple! > > That did make me late for the first few minutes of Mark Simonsen's > Keynote address. B-( > What I did manage to hear was fantastic! Beagle Bros has always been > my favorite computer oriented company... exceeding Apple even. Ken > Gagne was videoing, so perhaps he'll get it online. Mark is a swell > guy just to talk to, as well... He's truly an Apple II Geek like the > rest of us KFesters. > > Dinner was great, but I won't bother with menus here. B-) After we > ate, we had a session with Rob Walch of the "Today in iOS" podcast. > This has been Rob's 4th year keeping us updated on the happenings with > iPhones, iPods, and now the iPad. Great session! Everyone check out > his podcast as well. He's well informed and entertaining. > > Around 9:00 pm, Ken Gagne of Juiced.GS fame provided our crew with > pizza and refreshments. I about lost a hand, reaching for a piece of > mushroom and spinach pizza. I'm surprised anyone is still THAT hungry > here. B-) > > BRB... OK, I'm back. Currently we're on round 6 of the classic Bite > the Bag competition. I'm afraid this is for the young and limber > members of the conference, but it makes for a great spectator sport. > I've never seen so many face plants in such a short amount of time! > Already, several participants feature rug burns on their foreheads and > knees! When I left, there were still 5 "Baggers" still in the > running. And I think I'll cut short my report and return with some > bandaides. B-) > > Til tomorrow!
> Thursday is the first day with a full morning/afternoon schedule of > sessions, so it was very busy!
> After breakfast, Peter Neubauer presented an overview of the Macrosoft > program language that rests on Nibble Magazine's MindCraft Assembler. > It allows the programmer to write using an Applesoft-like syntax, when > then assembles to machine language code for extra speed. Back in the > late '80s, the package sold for $100, but Peter will be offering it at > the vendor fair for $23.95 for both the macro package and assembler, > useable from DOS 3.3 and ProDos.
> He wrote a short program that demonstrated it's features, and I'd say > the program was 5x faster then its Applesoft equivalent. I'll be > leaving KFest with a copy. Excellent session!
> Eric Shepherd, aka "Sheppy" was unable to make it to KFest this year, > but was still with us in spirit and streaming when he used iChat to > present a session on iPad programming. He demonstrated how easy it > was to take the project he'd shown last year for the iPhone, and port > it to the iPad. I'm not very acquainted with the Xcode development > system, but it was interesting, and I listened intently for the last > 15 minutes... B-P
> Sheppy's session was followed by a panel discussion over the subject > "Apple's Growing Divide Between Users and Programmers" which featured > Ken Gagne as moderator, and Panelists Ivan Drucker, Martin Haye, and > Mike Maginnis. The brain power there caused the room to tilt a bit! > Excellent points about how Apple's market shifted from the hobbyist/ > programmer of the Apple II days, to the far less open, but probably > unavoidable closed systems of the iPad and iPhones in today's market.
> After Lunch, Martin Haye introduced his latest project, NakedOS, a new > Disk II operating system usable on all Apple II's. It's a very > tightly coded option for those who need to squeeze 4-5 KB more memory > to use for their 8-bit programs, and additional diskette space as > well. A very detailed session that covered the many details one would > have to consider in using this totally free operating system. Still, > it looks like a winner for those who would want to take advantage it!
> Dagen Brock's session was on "Off-platform Apple II development", and > stressed using the strengths of the many Linux/Mac OS/Windows > development tools available, to enhance Apple II programs. He could > have used much more time to cover all that's available.
> Mike Maginnis presented an overview of the Apple /// , the //e's > failure of a brother, complete with a brief look at it's history, and > how it almost caused the death of Apple. He was well researched on > its trivia and the resources still available to those who still love > this stinker. B-) Tony Diaz then brought out a prototype ///+ for > all to examine.
> After dinner, Ken Gagne showed an hour clip of Jason Scott's two DVD > documentary, "Get Lamp". It took me back to my college days when I'd > be in the university computer lab, consuming vast quantities of fan > fold paper playing "Adventure" on the teletypes. Interviews with the > luminaries from Infocom, Scott Adams, and various gamers of text > adventures and interactive fiction certainly struck a cord with me!
> And to top it off, Jason Scott blew our minds when Ken told us that he > was offering all KFest participants a free copy! A $40 value! All the > DVD's come with numbered collectable dual tone coins expressing the > high points of text adventuring. The DVD's aren't shipping yet, but > we DID get the coins... I got #1003. B-)
> As I type, Tony and Ken are on the run to Krispy Kreme that Ryan > Suenaga and I used to do. Ryan couldn't make it this year, but he's > still sponsoring our dose of donuts and milk. Thanks, Ryan!
> Now it's time for me to wander the halls and push myself into the room > with the most laughing Geeks. Wish you were here!
I would LOVE to see the session notes/info on NakedOS!
> On 2010-07-22 23:13:26 -0400, Kirk Mitchell <kirkmitch...@gmail.com> said:
> > Thursday is the first day with a full morning/afternoon schedule of > > sessions, so it was very busy!
> > After breakfast, Peter Neubauer presented an overview of the Macrosoft > > program language that rests on Nibble Magazine's MindCraft Assembler. > > It allows the programmer to write using an Applesoft-like syntax, when > > then assembles to machine language code for extra speed. Back in the > > late '80s, the package sold for $100, but Peter will be offering it at > > the vendor fair for $23.95 for both the macro package and assembler, > > useable from DOS 3.3 and ProDos.
> > He wrote a short program that demonstrated it's features, and I'd say > > the program was 5x faster then its Applesoft equivalent. I'll be > > leaving KFest with a copy. Excellent session!
> > Eric Shepherd, aka "Sheppy" was unable to make it to KFest this year, > > but was still with us in spirit and streaming when he used iChat to > > present a session on iPad programming. He demonstrated how easy it > > was to take the project he'd shown last year for the iPhone, and port > > it to the iPad. I'm not very acquainted with the Xcode development > > system, but it was interesting, and I listened intently for the last > > 15 minutes... B-P
> > Sheppy's session was followed by a panel discussion over the subject > > "Apple's Growing Divide Between Users and Programmers" which featured > > Ken Gagne as moderator, and Panelists Ivan Drucker, Martin Haye, and > > Mike Maginnis. The brain power there caused the room to tilt a bit! > > Excellent points about how Apple's market shifted from the hobbyist/ > > programmer of the Apple II days, to the far less open, but probably > > unavoidable closed systems of the iPad and iPhones in today's market.
> > After Lunch, Martin Haye introduced his latest project, NakedOS, a new > > Disk II operating system usable on all Apple II's. It's a very > > tightly coded option for those who need to squeeze 4-5 KB more memory > > to use for their 8-bit programs, and additional diskette space as > > well. A very detailed session that covered the many details one would > > have to consider in using this totally free operating system. Still, > > it looks like a winner for those who would want to take advantage it!
> > Dagen Brock's session was on "Off-platform Apple II development", and > > stressed using the strengths of the many Linux/Mac OS/Windows > > development tools available, to enhance Apple II programs. He could > > have used much more time to cover all that's available.
> > Mike Maginnis presented an overview of the Apple /// , the //e's > > failure of a brother, complete with a brief look at it's history, and > > how it almost caused the death of Apple. He was well researched on > > its trivia and the resources still available to those who still love > > this stinker. B-) Tony Diaz then brought out a prototype ///+ for > > all to examine.
> > After dinner, Ken Gagne showed an hour clip of Jason Scott's two DVD > > documentary, "Get Lamp". It took me back to my college days when I'd > > be in the university computer lab, consuming vast quantities of fan > > fold paper playing "Adventure" on the teletypes. Interviews with the > > luminaries from Infocom, Scott Adams, and various gamers of text > > adventures and interactive fiction certainly struck a cord with me!
> > And to top it off, Jason Scott blew our minds when Ken told us that he > > was offering all KFest participants a free copy! A $40 value! All the > > DVD's come with numbered collectable dual tone coins expressing the > > high points of text adventuring. The DVD's aren't shipping yet, but > > we DID get the coins... I got #1003. B-)
> > As I type, Tony and Ken are on the run to Krispy Kreme that Ryan > > Suenaga and I used to do. Ryan couldn't make it this year, but he's > > still sponsoring our dose of donuts and milk. Thanks, Ryan!
> > Now it's time for me to wander the halls and push myself into the room > > with the most laughing Geeks. Wish you were here!
> I would LOVE to see the session notes/info on NakedOS!
None of us at KansasFest are saying TGIF... It means that our fun is rapidly coming to an end. B-)
Friday is the second day full of sessions, and I'm getting a bit blurry. Nothing more annoying than a blurry, excited Geek... After breakfast, Martin Haye presented the second half of his NakedOS/Super- Mon duo. This program adds more power to the built in machine language Monitor built into every Apple II... and I mean POWER! It makes it simple to list, edit and write in assembly language, including labels! I encourage those folks interested in assembly to follow http://bytebucket.org/martin.haye/super-mon/overview and at least check the sites links to features. It's worth your time!
Ken Gagne lightened the techincal nature with his session on how various Apple II games influenced titles written for the Mac, with a side by side comparison of 5 or 6 titles. Enjoyable session!
Wayne Arthurton couldn't make it to this years KansasFest, but that didn't stop him from paying us a visit via Skype, and giving us a session entitled "Optimizing Algorithms in AppleSoft Basic". He tested the effect that such things as variable allocation and loop construction and demonstrated how you could speed calculations up a significant amount. I was happy to see the results of his testing because some "hints" I'd always taken for granted in the past didn't really do anything to speed things up.
After lunch, Stavros Karatsoridis demonstrated how to use ADTPro to bootstrap Apple II's over serial connections to get system disks and other disk images to your Apple II, even if you just have blank disks at hand. He then used it to get Modem.MGR which he then used to set up a dumb terminal connection to his Mac, using a USB to Apple II serial cable, which opens up access to all kinds of Apple disk images. Impressive!
Geoff Weiss did the first KansasFest demonstration of the GNO/ME Unix- like extention for the Apple IIGS. Even at an hour and a half, it proved difficult touch on but a small subset of the features of this free, open source program... It can be downloaded w/ 18 800K floppies... Yikes! Participants expressed interest in working on updating features and bughunting. I bought this package ages ago, and loved playing with it. When Marinetti came out, though, the promise of a TCP/IP stack dwindled for GNO, and interest slacked off. I hold with Geoff's hope that we can get folks to polish this resource up again!
Melissa Barron demonstrated her hacked/modified version of the classic Oregon Trail game... changing in-game text to 1337, and other amusing features... Using tools that surprised most of us! An eye opening session! I didn't sleep through this one. B-)
The Dinner Banquet was next, and most of the crew dressed up an had ties on. If you could call them ties... They were for the Roger Wagner Tie one On contest, and judging was fun! Tony Diaz swept the field in the end. We had table clothes and crystal as well... fancy. It made the Chicken Cordon Bleu taste pretty darned good! We also welcomed Tom Vanderpool and Dennis Doms of Open-Apple/A2Central/ Resource Central fame as our special guests, where they, another members of that crew received plaques for their contributions to the Apple II world. Tony announced that all of the publications that flew under their banner had been offered freely by publisher Tom Weishaar... years of great reading will soon be available!
We wrapped up the dinner with a game of ""Action Castle"... Ken kicked some butt as MC for Life as well! Great job, Ken!
Later, we had our group picture take, and shortly afterwards, scattered to the wind. Some to visit the Apple Store, others to unload James Littlejohn's bus which was filled with the contents of Sean Fahey's famous garage. Equipment, cards, cables, floppy disks... all to be picked over by KFesters tomorrow morning. I can't wait!
Keep in mind, these aren't the high points of the day. Those come when we visit with each other, and share our knowledge and a few bad jokes and all. Which is where I'm headed now.
On Jul 24, 5:42 am, Kirk Mitchell <kirkmitch...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Melissa Barron demonstrated her hacked/modified version of the classic > Oregon Trail game... changing in-game text to 1337, and other amusing > features... Using tools that surprised most of us! An eye opening > session! I didn't sleep through this one. B-)
> On Jul 23, 1:09 pm, ]3ob <bob [ @ ] onemanband.com> wrote: >> On 2010-07-22 23:13:26 -0400, Kirk Mitchell <kirkmitch...@gmail.com> said > :
>>> Thursday is the first day with a full morning/afternoon schedule of >>> sessions, so it was very busy!
>>> After breakfast, Peter Neubauer presented an overview of the Macrosoft >>> program language that rests on Nibble Magazine's MindCraft Assembler. >>> It allows the programmer to write using an Applesoft-like syntax, when >>> then assembles to machine language code for extra speed. Back in the >>> late '80s, the package sold for $100, but Peter will be offering it at >>> the vendor fair for $23.95 for both the macro package and assembler, >>> useable from DOS 3.3 and ProDos.
>>> He wrote a short program that demonstrated it's features, and I'd say >>> the program was 5x faster then its Applesoft equivalent. I'll be >>> leaving KFest with a copy. Excellent session!
>>> Eric Shepherd, aka "Sheppy" was unable to make it to KFest this year, >>> but was still with us in spirit and streaming when he used iChat to >>> present a session on iPad programming. He demonstrated how easy it >>> was to take the project he'd shown last year for the iPhone, and port >>> it to the iPad. I'm not very acquainted with the Xcode development >>> system, but it was interesting, and I listened intently for the last >>> 15 minutes... B-P
>>> Sheppy's session was followed by a panel discussion over the subject >>> "Apple's Growing Divide Between Users and Programmers" which featured >>> Ken Gagne as moderator, and Panelists Ivan Drucker, Martin Haye, and >>> Mike Maginnis. The brain power there caused the room to tilt a bit! >>> Excellent points about how Apple's market shifted from the hobbyist/ >>> programmer of the Apple II days, to the far less open, but probably >>> unavoidable closed systems of the iPad and iPhones in today's market.
>>> After Lunch, Martin Haye introduced his latest project, NakedOS, a new >>> Disk II operating system usable on all Apple II's. It's a very >>> tightly coded option for those who need to squeeze 4-5 KB more memory >>> to use for their 8-bit programs, and additional diskette space as >>> well. A very detailed session that covered the many details one woul > d >>> have to consider in using this totally free operating system. Still, >>> it looks like a winner for those who would want to take advantage it!
>>> Dagen Brock's session was on "Off-platform Apple II development", and >>> stressed using the strengths of the many Linux/Mac OS/Windows >>> development tools available, to enhance Apple II programs. He could >>> have used much more time to cover all that's available.
>>> Mike Maginnis presented an overview of the Apple /// , the //e's >>> failure of a brother, complete with a brief look at it's history, and >>> how it almost caused the death of Apple. He was well researched on >>> its trivia and the resources still available to those who still love >>> this stinker. B-) Tony Diaz then brought out a prototype ///+ for >>> all to examine.
>>> After dinner, Ken Gagne showed an hour clip of Jason Scott's two DVD >>> documentary, "Get Lamp". It took me back to my college days when I'd >>> be in the university computer lab, consuming vast quantities of fan >>> fold paper playing "Adventure" on the teletypes. Interviews with the >>> luminaries from Infocom, Scott Adams, and various gamers of text >>> adventures and interactive fiction certainly struck a cord with me!
>>> And to top it off, Jason Scott blew our minds when Ken told us that he >>> was offering all KFest participants a free copy! A $40 value! All th > e >>> DVD's come with numbered collectable dual tone coins expressing the >>> high points of text adventuring. The DVD's aren't shipping yet, but >>> we DID get the coins... I got #1003. B-)
>>> As I type, Tony and Ken are on the run to Krispy Kreme that Ryan >>> Suenaga and I used to do. Ryan couldn't make it this year, but he's >>> still sponsoring our dose of donuts and milk. Thanks, Ryan!
>>> Now it's time for me to wander the halls and push myself into the room >>> with the most laughing Geeks. Wish you were here!
>> I would LOVE to see the session notes/info on NakedOS!
>> Melissa Barron demonstrated her hacked/modified version of the >> classic Oregon Trail game... changing in-game text to 1337, and >> other amusing features... Using tools that surprised most of us! >> An eye opening session! I didn't sleep through this one. B-)
This is written after an 11 hour drive home. I'm still blurry and bound to forget some point. Wow, what a great time!
Morning started with boxes and boxes of Apple II stuff from Sean's garage lovingly carried from James Littlejohn's Magic Bus to the lobby of the dorm. Soon, we were poking through the goodies and accumulating small piles of treasure to lug back to our rooms grinning from ear to ear. My Kensington System Saver died during a recent move, but what did I find? Its replacement! I have an Apple II+ with one Disk II. It has a second drive now. Good times!
Afterwards, Ken Gagne (golly, that boy is active!) reported on the state of the union of "Juiced.GS". Apparently, he has more subscribers than any year since he took over the publication! It's obvious why, Ken publishes a quality work. He announced another year of publication, plus something he called the "Juiced.GS Concentrate" where past articles of similar nature will be concentrated into ... Hmm... I can't remember how he was going to do this. I might have rested my eyes about then... Anyway, it's good news!
Ivan Drucker introduced some of his newer programming projects, one Nuinput, a revised Input command for Applesoft Basic which bypasses that "extra ignored" error that plagues us when folks add a comma or colon to input data. He also showed an ingenious method to include machine language routines in Applesoft programs... and no, it wasn't a bunch of pokes! He calls it "Slammer". Great work!
My former loser roomy who couldn't make it to KFest for the first time in 15 years, sent a movie file where he announced a send only email NDA. He's done several nifty projects like this, and I'm sure it adds power to the GS. Emily II should prove to be very handy!
Tony Diaz demonstrated the repair of a variety of disk drives. I'll admit I skipped this session as I've already seen it 4-5 times, and if I can't remember after that many times, I never will... Tony did a good job then, and I'm sure he was entertaining at this session as well!
At the New Product Demos session, we had a surprise visit via Skype by Bill Gates, aka Dr. Steven Weyhrich who announced a revision to his Apple II History website at http://apple2history.org It looks really nice! Great source of information! Unfortunately, any hardware announcements were postponed until parts suppliers actually get their wares to our developers.
The Hackfest projects were presented, and most were neat, amusing, unfinished... The winner was Martin Haye, who finally deprotected the 1981 classic "Wizardry"... I know of Wildcard cracks of the game, but I think this is the first time it's been totally deprotected by boot tracing and patching and all that. Whee!
The Swap/Vendor Fair wasn't as big as some in years past, but I found stuff I hadn't purchased before, and only got home before I realized I hadn't tackled Peter to get a copy of MacroSoft... grrr..
We went to Jack Stack BBQ for dinner, and I'll say right now, I'll never go there again. Sure, Saturday nights are busy, but I'm not going to stand around for 3 hours to get in. We went two doors down to a great Italian place and had a wonderful time! The horde split up, without about half going to the movies, while the rest of us went back to the dorm to play "Apple Jeopardy". No one won or lost because we were hitting the wall about then, but it was fun, and I learned that Woz's first wifes maiden name was Robinson... Or maybe that was a hallucination.
I actually went to bed before my new roomy...a first this KFest. Got up later than usual this morning, ate breakfast, drank vast quantities of strong coffee, packed, said goodbye, and an 11 hour drive later, am home and sorta sad, and sorta grateful that I can take a breather.
That's it for this year! Hope you can make it next year!
I'm new to this A/V stuff and surely could've done a better job had I known what I was doing. I'm told the end result is nonetheless worth watching, thanks primarily to Mr. Simonsen and his fantastic keynote.
Thanks also to Greg Nelson for compressing this video to under Vimeo's 2 GB upload limit.
I hope to upload more videos from KFest 2010 over the next month!
On Jul 29, 5:30 am, Ken Gagne <kga...@gamebits.net> wrote:
> I'm new to this A/V stuff and surely could've done a better job had I > known what I was doing. I'm told the end result is nonetheless worth > watching, thanks primarily to Mr. Simonsen and his fantastic keynote.
Well worth the watching the piece, IMHO, he really comes across as a seriously funny & down to earth guy.
I would also like to thank Ken (and those who helped him) for uploading the keynote speech by Mark Simonsen. I met Mark and the other programmers at one of the AppleFests, when Beagle Bros and the TimeOut series were extremely popular. I agree with Mark about the "elegance" of programming - and using - the Apple II.
I especially appreciated Mark's mentioning Chuck Newby, who started the Beagle Buddy program for user groups. Chuck had a lot to do with the success of the TimeOut series, as well as AppleWorks 3.0 and later versions, and I am glad to see him get credit.
Beverly Cadieux TEXAS II an International newsletter for users of AppleWork(R) 5.1
