A2 News and Notes December, 2006

INDEX
* Don't Try This At Home!
* Letting Your Fingers Walk
* Software Source
* Apple Internet
* Up For A Challenge?
* Software News 
* SignOff 


-- Remember in school how fascinating it was to look at those "visible 
people" cutaways of the human body, and what things looked like inside 
you?  Well, if you happen to have access to a high-powered x-ray machine 
like Grant Stockly, you can take a peek inside your Apple IIe and see what 
it looks like in 300dpi see-through mode.  Of course most of us don't have 
one of these in the corner of the living room, so Grant's put images of 
what a IIe motherboard and a Disk II controller card up on the internet.  
For the motherboard, take a look at:  
http://www.stockly.com/images2/061228-Apple_II_80kv6ma35ms36SFD-Cut%20Edges.jpg 
and the controller card at: 
http://www.stockly.com/images2/061228-Disk_II_80kv6ma35ms36SFD-Cut%20Edges.jpg

Note that the amount of radiation needed to do your own peeking could 
cause permanent loss of ability to run your Apple II--or anything else for 
that matter.


-- Much as we wish it, nothing, including our Apple II computers last 
forever.  Vince Briel  noticed that he had a lot of computers with bad 
keyboard encoder chips, and is in the process of gauging interest in these 
replacements.  If you think you might need such a chip, contact Vince thru 
his webpage:  http://www.brielcomputers.com

Vince is also in the process of finishing up production, and taking 
pre-orders on a 3-slot expander for his Replica-1 clone of the original 
Apple computer.  This expander will add such features as cassette port 
emulation, as well as allow the user to plug in extra expansion cards.  
More information is available on the above website.



-- If you've got your Apple II connected to the internet, no doubt you've 
downloaded a program or two from an FTP site.  But is that software legal?  
Even though most development for the Apple II ended decades ago, a good 
number of software titles are still protected by copyright, and there are 
people who are still concerned about protecting developer's rights.  One 
FTP site worked diligently to make sure that it's contents were legally 
able to be shared was the Trenco archives.  After a revamp and rename, 
it's back on the internet and available for use, and you'll find titles as 
diverse as the entire Quality Computers software line, as well as most of 
the Beagle.Bros material available for use.  Check it out at: 
http://www.gno.org/a2archive 


-- Glenn Jones has begun sales of his new run of his 8-bit ethernet card, 
called the .  This card allows ALL slotted Apple II computers to hook into 
the internet via a standard ethernet connection, and allow the user to 
access via text-based screens common internet activities such as web 
browsing or IRC chat.  Ordering information when it becomes available can 
be found at:  http://www.2retrosystems.com


--  There's no prizes, and really no rules, but if you're interested in 
showing others something you can do with your Apple II that you think no 
one else has thought of before, or maybe just something in a new way, 
check out the Old Computer Challenge.  There you'll "compete" with 
Commodore, Trash--oops--TRS-80 and even a512k Mac users in demonstrating 
why vintage computers are still solid platforms.  For information, and the 
non-rules, check out:  http://ld8.org/OldComputerChallenge/


--Software News
  
 -- ADTPro, a software package used to transfer files from an IBM-style 
computer to an Apple II has added new features.  Version 1.31 is now 
compatible with both the SSC and the IIGS at 115.2 kps, has the ability to 
save itself with no Applesoft configurator need as well as some bugfixes, 
and works with the Uthernet card.  The current version can be downloaded 
at:  
https://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=170262&package_id=195018   


 -- IIGS users with an internet connection and running Marinetti should 
download Sir Ewen Wannop's latest version of SAFE2, a freeware FTP client.  
The new version allows both manual as well as automated download options, 
and directory manipulation not accessible in earlier version.  Available 
in both binscii and .bxy format, the program can be found on Ewen's 
download page:  http://homepage.mac.com/speccie/dwn.html  (and check out 
his other software there, too!)


  -- Want to chat on the newly revamped A2Central.com but you're stuck 
using a Windows-based machine?  Terry Olsen has come to the rescue with 
chat client that'll allow you to converse with your friends in the Apple 
II world.  A work-in-progress, Terry has continued to add standard chat 
features and commands to the program.  More information can be found at:  
http://boycot.no-ip.com/software/


* 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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