A2 News and Notes
September, 2005

 INDEX
* Old Items Are New and Shipping
* Halfway There!
* Apple Ethernet
* The Sound and the Fury
* Software News
* Emulation News
* SignOff


-- GSE-Reactive have begun shipping their Mockingboard clone, and reports 
from early users are that the cards work as promised, and are well 
designed.  Other offerings from the website include a No-Slot Clock, a 
MicroDrive IDE controller with CompactFlash adapter, several 
pre-configured CF card options and a 4meg RAM card for the Apple IIGS.  
More information and ordering instructions can be found at:  
http://www.gse-reactive.com/


-- Rich Dreher has announced that he's at the halfway mark for the numbers 
of orders needed to produce another batch of his highly successful 
CompactFlash for Apple II card, with 100 orders placed. This new card will 
incorporate design changes that eliminate problems earlier users had with 
incompatibilities with some CF brands, and people who have CFFA's that 
have experienced such problems are encouraged to contact Rich to have 
their cards modified.  Information can be found on the CFFA website: 
http://spudboy.dreher.net/CFforAppleII


--  Glenn Jones has begun shipping the 2nd batch of his Uthernet card, 
which brings ethernet capability to any slotted Apple II.  Selling, for 
$89 + shipping, this card allows the Apple II user to connect to the 
Internet using the Contiki program suite.  (A Marinetti link layer 
compatible with this card is currently under development.)  More 
information can be found at:  http://www.a2retrosystems.com

--Software News:

  - Making music on an Apple II has always interested many users, which 
is one reason GSE-Reactive released the Mockingboard clone mentioned 
above.  Now two more reasons to dabble in Apple II audio are being made 
available:

    -- Simon Williams has begun an online archive of sound files playable 
on the Apple II, and most notably the IIGS. The archive, which is relying 
on user file contributions, and is working as an Apple II musician's 
on-line resource site.  If Apple II tunes are your interest, visit his 
site at:  http://8bitsoundandfury.no-ip.info/

    -- Michael Mahon, the creator of the AppleCrate synthesizer, has 
continued to explore the limits of sounds on the Apple II with the release 
of his RT.SYNTH software package.  This program contains a real-time 
wave-table software synthesizer and will run on both the Apple IIe and 
IIGS. The current release features 10 voices, real-time recording and 
playback as well as a "VoicePak" editor.  Extensive background information 
as well as the program itself can be found at:  
http://members.aol.com/mjmahon/RTSynth.html


 - Want to use or view some of the images you see on the web with your 
Apple II?  Robert Greene did, and decided to write his own encoder to work 
with Our Favorite Computer.  Available for download, the program will 
convert JPEG, PNG, and GIF images  into various Apple II formats including  
lo-res, double lo-res, and super hires. A "works in progress," this 
program can be downloaded from his website at:  
http://webpages.charter.net/greener/apple2/ 


 -- Apple II software designers have some old and some updated tools 
available to them again:

   - ProForth, the ProDOS-compatible port of the FORTH language has been 
rediscovered and made available for download to the Apple II community by 
Dr. John Matthews.  His website also contains information of interest to 
users of the programs, such as commonly used editing commands and resource 
links.  Check out what's available at:  
http://www.wright.edu/~john.matthews/a2/proforth.html

   - Ullrich von Bassewitz has released a new version of his cross 
development package for 65C02-based computer systems.  cc65 version 
2.11.0 includes a powerful macro assembler, a C compiler, linker,  
librarian and C and runtime library support for many of the 6502-based 
computers.  Download and other information can be obtained at:  
http://www.cc65.org/

    - Another old favorite of Apple II developers has resurfaced and been 
released:  Mike Harvey of NIBBLE magazine fame has re-released the 
MindCraft Assembler and Macrosoft package.  An assembly language and macro 
development program respectively. the two are available for sale at rates 
that the beginning programmer can afford.  Each program also contains a 
user's manual in PDF format.  More information can be found at:  
http://www.nibblemagazine.com/assmblr_macrosoft.htm


 --Emulation News

  - Terry Olsen has released a modem emulator that accepts standard Hayes
AT commands, can set it up to listen to a telnet port and connect the 
incoming calls to the serial port, and can be used with the Apple II 
telcom  "standard" ProTerm A2.  More information on Terry's program can be 
found  at:  http://boycot.no-ip.com/InternetModem/ , and ordering 
information for ProTerm A2 is available at:  
http://www.intrec.com/proterm-a2/


   - Using the Simple DirectMedia Layer (SDL) format, the SDDapple is a 
minimal Apple ][+ emulator for the Microsoft Windows environment.    The 
latest version, 0.08 contains some bug fixes and will also support Color 
HGR images.  All versions of the program can be found at:  
http://www.dosius.net:8080/sddapple/



* Sign Off
A2 News and Notes is produced with real or emulated Apple II computers
using AppleWorks 5.1. Apple II Forever!

A2 News and Notes is (c) copyright 2005 by Ryan M. Suenaga, M.S.W. and
edited by Howard Katz. All rights reserved.

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