A2 News and Notes April, 2006

INDEX
* Happy 30th!
* Storage in the Works
* Compact Shipping
* Replica Redux
* Apple II Testing
* Nearer to Camp Geek
* Software News 
* Emulation News
* SignOff 


-- Apple Computer turned 30 on April 1st!  While many of us were around to 
witness that occasion (even if we didn't know it was happening at the 
time), a new generation of Apple (read: Macintosh) users aren't aware of 
the existence of Our Favorite Computer - unless they read the current Mac 
magazines.  Both MacWorld and MacAddict paid homage, even briefly, to the 
Apple II, with MacWorld calling the Apple II "awesome" for it's time.  (We 
didn't know that it wasn't STILL awesome!)  Happy Birthday to us all!


-- GSE-Reactive continues their work on helping Apple II users make full 
use of all the slots in their machines.  Currently, they're working on 
reverse-engineering both the Apple Rev.C and High Speed SCSI cards.  While 
not ready for production mode, they've kept users apprised of their 
progress.  Check out the photos of their work at:  
http://reactivecomputers.gotdns.com/Rev.%20C%20SCSI/


-- Rich Dreher has begun shipping out orders taken for round 4 of his  
popular CompactFlash for Apple II card.  As noted previously, the current  
incarnation of this solid-state storage device sports several design 
updates, and will keep your Apple II functional for years to come.   More 
information can be found at:  
http://spudboy.dreher.net/CFforAppleII


-- Vince Briel who makes up one-half of the GSE-Reactive team has 
announced that he's working on an new version of his Replica 1 Apple 1 
clone.  This new incarnation will sport a new microprocessor, an ATX power 
connector instead of an AT power connector making it easier for kit 
builders to find "modern" power supplies, and a USB port instead of a 
serial port, which will make it easier to interface with those computers 
that don't have serial ports.  More information can be found at Vince's 
website: http://www.brielcomputers.com/replica1.html


-- Apple II usage and the modern scientific laboratory?  Apparently there 
are still quite a few Apple II's being used in labs around the world, 
working non-stop doing scientific data-gathering.  One company still 
actively supports and sells sensors designed to work with the Apple II.  If 
you've got that experiment you've always wanted to test out, or a 
beer-'fridge to build, (yes, several of these have been reported using 
Apple II's!), check out Vernier Software & Technology's website at:  
http://www.vernier.com/legacy/apple/index.html


--  Summer Camp for Computer Geeks, aka KansasFest is progressing for 
2006, and registrations are now being taken for this Mecca of Apple II 
usage.  Anyone interested in  attending (as all Apple II fans should do at 
least once!) should check  http://www.kfest.org for updated information.  
KansasFest will again this  year be held at Rockhurst University in Kansas 
City.


--Software News
  
 - Syndicomm, the home of A2 News & Notes has released an Internet Starter 
Kit for IIGS users.  This single disk contains  the latest version of the 
Marinetti TCP/IP stack software, Kim Howe's Arachnid web browser, Geoff 
Weiss'  FTP utility, the VNCView GS VNC viewer program, as well as other 
useful utilities.  More information can be found as well as ordering 
information can be found at:  
http://store.syndicomm.com/product_info.php?products_id=241

 - xa 2.3.0, the latest version of Andre Fachat's 6502 cross-assembler 
package for 6502, R65C02 and 65816 based computers has recently been 
released.  Featuring an ANSI C user interface, this version contains 
mostly bugfixes as well as new manual documentation.  More information 
about the package can be found at:   
http://www.floodgap.com/retrotech/xa/



--Emulation News

 - Terence Boldt has added the source code for his Serial Virtual Drive 
project to his website.  The SVD allows the connection of an Apple II to a 
IBM-style  computer via a serial cable to allow the Apple II access to a 
hard drive  image hosted on the IBM.  More information about the project 
can be found at:  http://apple2.boldt.ca/?page=terserialdrive

 

* 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 2006 by Ryan M. Suenaga, M.S.W. and 
edited by Howard Katz. All rights reserved.  Contact the editor at 
a2.tester@gmail.com

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
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