Over at Time.com, Technologizer’s Harry McCracken has listed 14 great celebration ideas to commemorate the 35th birthday of the Apple II.  Our favorite?  #13: Attend KansasFest!  Also worth a read: Harry’s 35th Anniversary Tribute to Apple’s First Iconic Product.  And check out the photo gallery while you’re there.

(HT Ken Gagne)

Jimmy Maher of the excellent Digital Antiquarian blog wrote today to let us know that his proposed Robot War Tournament, which he first announced here, has been canceled due to lack of interest.  From Jimmy’s email:

“Unfortunately… I just don’t think we can muster the participation necessary to make a tournament that feels, well, like a real tournament. We came close, maybe closer than one would have expected, but we didn’t quite get there. Disappointing, but life goes on.”

Sad news indeed, and we thank Jimmy for his continued interest in and support for our chosen hobby.

Antoine Vignau and Oliver Zardini of Brutal Deluxe have posted a slideshow recorded in 1992 from the GS Club event held in Beauvais, France (near Paris). Check it out at: http://www.brutaldeluxe.fr/products/apple2gs/beauvais1992.html

“Ce n’est qu’un Beauvais souvenir”

Evan Koblentz of MARCH brings us news that former Apple employee Daniel Kottke will speak at this year’s Vintage Computer Festival East 8.0. Evan writes “Dan was a college buddy of Jobs, went with him to India, built Apple 1 boards in Jobs’ parent’s garage, and worked at corporate Apple for many years.” VCF East will be held the weekend of May 5-6, 2012 at InfoAge/Camp Evans in Wall Township, NJ. The Apple II is always well represented at the event. Also of interest is a Sunday workshop on Apple II maintenance led by Brain Board inventor Mike Willegal. Thomas Kurtz, one of the inventors of BASIC, will speak on Saturday.

More precisely,  a Special Merit Award.  The Recording Academy yesterday released its annual list of Grammy Award nominees and at the same time, the 2012 Special Merit Awards recipients.  This year’s list includes the late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs.  Jobs will posthumously receive the Trustee Award at a special invitation-only ceremony to be held during Grammy Week on Feb. 11, 2012.  A formal acknowledgment will be made during the 54th Annual GRAMMY Awards telecast, which will be held at Staples Center in Los Angeles on Sunday, Feb. 12, 2012, and broadcast live at 8 p.m. ET/PT on the CBS Television Network.

The Trustee Award recognizes outstanding contributions to the industry in a nonperforming capacity.  You can read the Recording Academy’s press release here.

Robert Noyce would have turned 84 today, and Google decided to give him a posthumous birthday present in the form of one of their famous Doodles.  Considered one of the inventors of the microchip, Noyce was nicknamed the “Mayor of Silicon Valley”.  Noyce co-founded Fairchild Semiconductor in 1957 and then left to co-found Intel with Gordon Moore in 1968.  The Christian Science Monitor has an interesting article on how he could have won a Nobel Prize on two separate occasions, but didn’t.  Another article from the same publication details how Steve Jobs felt about Noyce:

“Bob Noyce took me under his wing,” Apple Computer founder Steve Jobs explains. “I was young, in my twenties. He was in his early fifties. He tried to give me the lay of the land, give me a perspective that I could only partially understand.” Jobs continues, “You can’t really understand what is going on now unless you understand what came before.”

Robert Noyce passed away in 1990.

Los Angeles based Machine Project (about us) is putting on an Apple II concert performance this June 25th. One of their members, Jason Torchinsky has programmed a 16-step sequencer and will attempt to perform a “live, dynamic concert/musical event”. They want to use as many Apple II computers as possible, so they are asking area Apple II owners to help out with the performance. See site for contact info.

Thanks to 8 Bit Weapon for the tip.

The Seattle Retro-Computing Society has announced its inaugural meeting at the Living Computer Museum on Saturday, June 25, 2011.  If you attend, drop us a line — we’d love to hear all about it.  Meeting details and a map can be found at SRCS web page.

It appears VCF East 7.0 had a lot more vintage 8-bit Apple representation this year than at previous fests. Check out the slideshow, courtesy Jason Scott. I spotted Apple II enthusiasts Ken Gagne, Mike Willegal, Andy Molloy and Jim O’Reilly. Were you also there and have pics to share? Let us know and we’ll add the links to this post!

Pulsewave celebrates it’s 5th anniversary as the United States’ longest running Chip Music event dedicated to the artistic expression of retrogaming and vintage computer visuals and music.