Open Apple #51 (September 2015) : Mike Westerfield, Opus ][, The Byte Works, Merlin 32

This month on Open Apple we sit down with Mike Westerfield, of The Byte Works’ fame. We talk about his adventures writing assemblers & compilers for 8/16 bit computers, and we see what he’s up to nowadays. We talk about small-system compilers, Logo, the perils of open source, and where to go for Byte Works’ products. It’s a compiler and assembler-themed episode of the one-and-only Apple II podcast.

Tune in to hear Mike pine longingly for Lawless Legends, and hear Quinn achieve maximum Boo Atari Density (BAD). We find amazing new hardware and unauthorized museums. There are wacky Australians, wacky Russians, wacky Brazilians, and wacky Germans. There are Arduinos, headphone jacks, and realtime clocks, oh my! You won’t want to miss Mike dropping a Murphy Brown reference. Take that, Millenials!

Please support us by becoming a Patreon Patron.  The size of our audience means we have substantial bandwidth costs, and a few bucks from a few of you would really help us out. We have no advertisers and we run this show entirely on our own dime and our own time. Thanks for anything you can pitch in!

Stay tuned for a couple of genuinely weird games, an introduction to copy protection, and lots of user feedback. Some of you feel the show is too long. Does everyone feel that way? Email us at feedback@open-apple.net and let us know.

More information on everything discussed in this episode after the jump.

• The Byte Works – Mike still writes great languages.
• Byte Works Opus ][ – All The Byte Works’ software now available for purchase on Juiced.GS
• Make: Rockets – Mike’s latest book.
• Building iPhone and iPad Electronic Projects – Another great hobbyist read from Mike.
• The Great-Man Myth – Great things are built by teams (of all genders).
• Italian Apple Museum – What Cupertino won’t do. More info here, here and also here.
• New Lady Tut ending – You won’t want to miss the video of this never-before-seen ending.
• Plamen finally opens a store – Apple II nerds the world over rejoice and grab their wallets.
• Dave Jones tears down a IIc – Always entertaining, always upbeat. Good ole Dave.
• AGAT Soviet Apple II clone – Just when you think you’ve seen every clone…
• Unitron 2200 – One of the more nicely-executed Apple II clones
• KFest via Atari Podcasts – ANTIC, Inverse ATASCII, and Player Missile can’t stop talking Apple II
• Uthernet II available – You can also enter to win one. At least, you could. Sorry, monthly show.
• Apple I emulation on Arduino – The Apple I is a fun thing to emulate on tiny systems.
• CiderPress updated – Now in 4.0.1 glory.
• Merlin 32 in Visual Studio – Olivier builds a VSLS for Apple II programming.
• Paul Terrell interview – The original Byte Shop owner looks back.
• Spend time in Sudoku – A2Sudoku gets RTC support.
• Lawless Legends footage – New visuals on the coolest Apple II project around.
• Jobs is overrated – Woz speaks out.
• Cult Of Mac talks Charles – Mr. Mangin’s miniatures get some press.
• Headphone jack for your IIc Plus – A nice installation video.
• Headphone jacks for all – You can get one for whatever Apple II you have as well.
• BluRay Disk II – Another fun use for dead Disk II drives.
• M0100 USB mouse – Coming soon, for the ultimate retro experience.
• Matt chats with Becky – Matt Chat talks to Burger, twice!
• Apple II Festival France – Some great video from across the pond.
• Zany Golf cheats – Some great reverse engineering of everyone’s favorite GS game.
• 8-bit Generation – The documentary that almost wasn’t is back.
• IDEA2c – Ultimate Micro is bringing back THE coolest IIc accessory.
• Ramfactor Clone – Ultimate Micro reproduces one of the coolest RAM cards.
• Disk Image Nybbler – Rastan author John Brooks is back to his old tricks.
• Raster Blaster Reloaded – The Bill Budge classic has been cloned.
• Ultima IV turns 30 – You feel old now, don’t you?
• New Apple I auction – The prices definitely seem to have peaked.
• Apple II #0005 at auction – Apple I auctions are so last year. It’s in a Mac commercial!
• President Elect – Mike’s weird game.
• Zendar – Quinn’s weird game.
• Copy Protection 101 – A great intro by Big Mess O’ Wires, to help you understand 4am.

Please support us by becoming a Patreon Patron.  The size of our audience means we have substantial bandwidth costs, and a few bucks from a few of you would really help us out. We have no advertisers and we run this show entirely on our own dime and our own time. Thanks for anything you can pitch in!