Little Bits
By Andrew Roughan
Copyright (c) 1994 Apple Users' Group, Sydney
Republished from Applecations, a publication of the Apple Users' Group, Sydney, Australia.
o As mentioned last month, Vitesse is shipping an Apple //gs version of Ultima I at US$39.95 + p&p.
Ultima I is a fantasy roll-playing game that allows you to enter the ancient world of Sosaria, a once beautiful realm now scourged and plundered by evil, bloodthirsty beasts and creatures. At the root of all this wickedness is Mondain the Wizard, who unleashes his terror unceasingly upon the land. You must aid the inhabitants of Sosaria by slaying the evil Mondain.
Ultima I features: Six new original songs previously unavailable, All new art and graphics, New digitized sound effects, Full on-line help, Beginner level, Fast game play, System 6 aware, Save game/Restore game.
Contact Jeff at II Series Software (02) 606-9343
o The long awaited AppleWorks 4.3 update is now available for downloading from the Apple II BBS and from the public domain library.
o GEnie is on a membership drive to gain the Apple II users of America OnLine which has announced that they will no longer support the Apple II platform. The only cost effective way for Australian subscribers to connect to GEnie is via the internet. Internet access is not capable of handling file transfers with GEnie. If you have internet 'telnet' capability, you can receive the special GEnie "Apple II Forever" signup offer by following these steps:
Enter "telnet hermes.merit.edu"
You should see the "Which host?" prompt
Answer: "sprintnet-313171"
At the "U#=" prompt, type "JOINGENIE"
At the offer code prompt, current AOL subscribers should enter "DHG528" to get this special offer.
When asked where you are calling from, Australian users should enter PDN. You will then be asked for your street address and billing information. PDN subscribers can pay with Visa, MasterCard or American Express.
GEnie subscribers are charged a standard US$8.95/month GEnie fee, which includes four hours of non-prime time access. Any additional non-prime time hours are charged at a rate of US$3.00/hour. SprintNet adds a surcharge of US$2.00/hour for all time that you are connected using the internet gateway.
Users who sign up using this offer will receive a $50 credit, which can be used anywhere and at any time on the GEnie system. This offer, made in the wake of America
OnLine's cancellation of Apple II software support, expires 12/31/94.
o DSP is alive! Ken Poppleton is still slogging away at a Digital Signal Processor for the Apple //gs. He recently posted these specifications of what could be available in the near future:
DSP processor board with a 40Mhz Motorola dsp56002 processor, pads on the board to add connectors to external devices for the full processor bus and the serial ports. Possibly a RS232 interface chip. A memory mapped 8 bit Apple II interface through the dsp56002 host port. This interface would NOT support DMA. All dsp memory is internal to the chip. Targeted price US$150.
An alternative option with a higher cost and longer development time would be to complete the Apple II interface with full DMA support.
Ken issued a questionnaire to gauge customer response, needs and intended usage. His full message is available for downloading on the Apple II BBS.
o The new WDC 65816 chips are reportedly running successfully in ZipGS accelerators at 14Mhz and 15Mhz at the standard 5 volts. Cameron Brawn is organising orders to meet the US$100 minimum purchase, contact him directly if you are interested.
o Apple II BBS update: Have you used the Apple II BBS lately? Did you know that the filing cabinet holds most of the latest information from the GEnie and Internet Apple II areas? Tip of the month: To reduce your connection time, turn on your communications program capture buffer, then enter "R L" from the main menu prompt and answer 'N'o to the "Reply question after messages (Y/n)" prompt. All the latest messages since your last call will be captured in the capture buffer. You can then logoff and read them at your leisure.
o Apple II emulators seem to be the current craze of electronics and computing university students. "Stop The Madness" (STM) for the Macintosh has been tested for at least four months now by a wide user base and has an extensive software preservation theme. "AppleWin", a 32-bit Windows application for the 486 platform, has just gone into beta-test. It is aimed at the forthcoming 'Chicago' and 'Daytona' operating systems so is understandably sluggish under Windows 3.1. Work on an Apple II emulator for the Power Macintosh is also rumoured. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Apple II really is forever.
o The Apple IIgs desktop communications program, Spectrum will have an update shortly. Version 2.0 is in beta test now.
o A new video card for the Apple IIgs is rumoured to be available very shortly from a reputable third party company. It apparently features a 256 colour pallete from a range of 16.7 million and can drive a standard IBM-type VGA monitor.

THIS CONTENT COPYRIGHT © 2007, APPLE MACINTOSH USERS' GROUP, SYDNEY
Permission has been obtained to make this material available on the Internet.

Permission is hereby granted for non-profit user groups to republish this content.
PLEASE CREDIT THE AUTHOR AND THE SOURCE: Applecations, publication of the Apple Users' Group, Sydney, Australia

THIS PAGE COPYRIGHT © 2007, ANDREW ROUGHAN