Open Apple #39 (September 2014) : Gary B. Little, New Segments, Apple IIc Cards

This month on Open Apple, we talk to Gary Little, prolific author of many technical reference books about various models in the Apple ][ line. In addition to writing great books that go deep on the hardware, Gary also wrote lots of great software, including such gems as AmDOS, and the popular Point To Point modem communication software.

We also catch up on all the news (there’s lots!) and take some cheap shots at other podcasters along the way. Join us as we talk about open source hardware, GS ports of great arcade games, the joy of redialing, and DClocks. So many DClocks!

More information on everything mentioned in the show can be found after the jump.

Links for Episode 39

• Halt and Catch Fire – AMC Drama series set in the golden age of 8-bit computing.
• ImageWriter II cameo in Halt and Catch Fire – The prop used to represent the “Protonix OccasionMaster”.
• Rocky’s Boots cameo in Halt and Catch Fire – A classic Apple ][ game made to appear to be running on the Cardiff Giant.
• The Mac speaks for itself – The Mac speech demo that Quinn totally didn’t think was real. Jobs demonstrates his early flair for showmanship.
• Dagen Brock’s IIgs video series – Episode 0 of Dagen’s series on learning to program the Apple IIgs.
• Easy 6502 – A hands-on Java-based tutorial for learning 6502 assembly language.
• Western Design Center – Watch this space for information on the upcoming 6502-based hobbyist development boards.
• Western Design Center on Facebook – For all the latest announcements from our favorite chip maker.
• DuoDisk 3.5 Prototype auction – A genuinely rare and neat Apple ][ artifact for sale.
• Earlier DuoDisk 3.5 auction – The first one of two that appeared, which sold for impressive money.
• RAM Express & DClock combo auction – An incredibly rare and desirable pair of peripherals for the Apple //c Plus.
• Another RAM Express & DClock auction – Amazingly, a second auction for these rare items (not the same ones!).
• AppleFritter thread on CKeeper and CDrive – Internal hard drive and RAMdisk for the Apple //c. Meet the inventor!
• Open source 4MB RAM card for the IIgs – Apply your own engineering and get a tricked-out GS.
• Tech Note on //c Plus memory expansion compatibility – A small window into the black art of //c Plus RAM expansion.
• Second run of Carte Blanche? – Discussion about the ultimate prototyping tool for Apple ][ expansion cards.
• Ivan Drucker updates A2SERVER & A2CLOUD – The easiest-to-understand pair of products that exist on the Apple ][
• Quinn’s eBay score – A lower-right-logo carrying bag for her beloved //c Plus. All the bits are there!
• Apple //c box photo – The one that Mike and Quinn both thought included the carrying bag
• Quinn’s Apple ][ development pipeline – One click build-and-run of Apple ][ code (C or assembly) on your Mac
• Sensei – An amazing port of Karate Champ for the GS.
• Sensei gameplay – Don’t have time to install the disk image? Watch some video!
• Level 29 BBS – Relive the glory days of (re)dialing into magical far away lands with your Apple ][
• Activision resurrections the Sierra On-Line brand – “Badge engineering” at its finest.
• Gary Little – Author of many great Apple ][ programming books
• List of Gary’s books – A complete library of Apple ][ knowledge
• Inside the Apple //e – The canonical low-level programming tutorial for the Apple //e
• Inside the Apple //c – A similar book, this time focused on the Apple //c
• The Binary II file format – Gary’s solution to binary file transfer, officially adopted by Apple
• Apple Tech Note on the official adoption of Binary II (PDF warning)
• AmDOS – Gary’s “Amateur DOS”, for using 3.5″ disks in DOS 3.3
• Gary’s Apple ][ Pintrest – This stuff still catches his eye, and who can blame him?
• Summary of Gary’s telecommunication efforts – Call-A.P.P.L.E. does a rundown of modem software

Correction: In the show, we mention Sean Fahey’s DClock. Quinn misspoke on this- the DClock in question is owned by James Littlejohn. Quinn regrets the error, and Mike is already interviewing new co-hosts.