Volume 14, Issue 3 (September 2009) of Juiced.GS, the last remaining Apple II publication in print, shipped today to all subscribers. This issue features coverage of both KansasFest and Mt. Keira Fest; a look at the Apple IIe card for the Macintosh; a review of music group 8 Bit Weapon’s latest album; and much, much more!

This is Juiced.GS’s third quarterly issue of 2009. Subscriptions are available for $19 for United States customers and $26 for international customers.

The premier 8-bit Apple II emulator for Mac OS X Virtual ][ 6.3.1 is out, squashing a nasty bug. David Schmidt updates (our favorite disk transfer tool) ADTPro to 1.1.3 and Ryan Suenaga gets the lowdown from Mt. KeiraFest via Andrew Roughan in the latest edition of A2Unplugged #0033.

The first batch of the highly anticipated Carte Blanche card is now shipping. Apple II enthusiasts who reserved a CB are being notified that their card is ready for shipment.

Carte Blanche has been completed and your remaining card is now ready for delivery. All cards have been fully tested, packed and are ready to go.

You will receive:

- Carte Blanche
- SVGA Adaptor Board and Cable
- Mounting Hardware Kit (hex nut and bolts to suit the Apple IIe/IIgs chassis)
- JTAG cable set
- Demo SD Card
- Bitstream SD card
- Molex connector (for developing a plug on board)
- Screw kit (Three screws for securing plug on boards to Carte Blanche)
- Shunt/Jumper (To enable/disable card features).

Carte Blanche is an open source comprehensive logic resource board for the Apple II. The hardware and software code loaded into Carte Blanche on shipping is an enhanced version of Alex Freed’s open source Pseudo Disk ][ called JAT (version 1). JAT v01 is the standard demonstration code that allows Carte Blanche to be used out of the box when you receive it.

JAT v01 Features:

- Standard VGA video interface for Apple IIe – supporting 40 and 80 col text, low and hi-res graphics (but currently not double hi-res)
- Software library storage based on SD cards using read-only Apple floppy disk emulation (one demo SD card supplied with examples)
- Apple II software is stored as .NIB images directly onto FAT formatted SD cards, manageable by conventional PC’s.
- Menu driven disk selection on boot up (optional with supplied jumper).

Other hardware, firmware and software examples, including diagnostics and open source resources will be made available on each of the Carte Blanche websites noted below in the following weeks. Schematics and gerbers will also be published.

On receipt of your card, please check: http://alexfreed.com/FPGApple/CarteBlanche1.html and http://www.applelogic.org/CarteBlanche.html for technical data and the latest information and examples for your cards.

A note of caution regarding compatibility of modern FPGA’s and the Apple IIe; Carte Blanche uses a Xilinx XC3S series logic device to provide a plethora of resources to plug in Apple II hardware designs. The FPGA’s only requirement is clean quick power. Carte Blanche has an onboard software selectable configuration delay of either 40ms or 220ms, allowing the power supply in the Apple II to reach regulation. It has been noted though, that with the aging of some Apple supplies (especially clones), they take longer to reach regulation when the capacitors of the supplies are dried out.

Payment requirements:

Each Carte Blanche is $US238.50, which includes courier delivery costs. For US residents only, payments can either be made via cheque, made out to “Freed Consulting” (for California Residents, a 9.25% sales tax applies). Or if you wish to pay via Paypal, a transaction fee of $8 must be included in addition, bringing the total to US$246.50 per card. Please make Paypal payments to: steveh @ postoffice . utas . edu . au with the serial number of your card(s).

Delivery: Your Carte Blanche card will be delivered to you via EMS couriers (international).

Thank you for your interest and support in Carte Blanche. If you have any suggestions or opinions, we very much look forward to your feedback.

With thanks,

best regards,
Steve and Alex

Jason Scott, creator of BBS: The Documentary, continues his work on his next project: a documentary of text adventures entitled Get Lamp. Media distribution has changed much in the four years since Scott’s last release, and he’s looking for his audience’s perspective on how they want this next documentary delivered.

To that end, he has created an informal survey on his blog, asking potential viewers how they’d like to get their hands on Get Lamp. Do you want a DVD or a digital download? Are the extras as important to you as the film? Help shape the course of this project with just a moment of your time.

Update: This survey was completed on September 20th. Thank you to all who participated.

Rich Dreher’s CFFA3000 prototype has made its public debut (at least an assembled version has). It doesn’t work yet; Rich says there is still much work to be done with the card’s logic before it’s ready… but if all goes as planned, the new card is projected to be completed by mid-2010.

Rich Dreher's CFFA3000 Prototype; with 4 LEDs, you KNOW it's serious.

In addition to the usual CFFA features we’ve grown accustomed to, the CFFA3000 is expected to include nibble-level floppy disk emulation, USB flash drive support (for holding .dsk images only) and possibly full DMA support — all of which makes it a worthy successor to the popular “classic” CFFA card.

Exciting news from David Finnigan for the Apple II Community.

Springfield, Illinois, September 09 2009 – Mac GUI, a web site originally focused on Mac interface customization, is proud to announce the availability of Mac GUI Vault, a comprehensive resource for retro Apple II and Macintosh computing spanning from 1978 to 1998. Mac GUI Vault includes software for, photos of, and text files on most every facet of vintage Apple computers.

D. Finnigan, the owner of Mac GUI says, “Retro computing is really becoming quite a hot topic these days, and it seemed as though there weren’t any comprehensive sources for the Apple. Mac GUI Vault contains roughly 29,000 files gathered over a period of 12 months. These files came from many different sources and part of the fun was tracking down the rarer ones. Now they’re all available in one place.”

Mac GUI Vault offers the following advantages over similar sites: a modern design, fully cataloged and searchable listings, in-depth archive, and a growing collection of Usenet discussions. “I felt it important to start archiving the Apple II Usenet groups and I’m glad that I did. They’re just another handy resource for the Apple user,” said Finnigan. “It’s great to have all of this information at one’s fingertips.”

Contributions to Mac GUI Vault are welcome in the form of photos for the museum, text files for the library, and software for the collection. Contributors and collectors alike may participate in Mac GUI’s discussion
forums where anyone may ask questions and give advice on all manner of Apple II and Macintosh computers. Both novice and experienced users will find suitable material for whatever interests them.

The complete Vault collection may be obtained on DVD, free of charge, and those with servers who wish to mirror the collection are also welcomed. There is no fee or any sort of limit on downloading from Vault. Everyone is welcome to use and redistribute the files. For further information, please see the Vault FAQ page or contact D. Finnigan.

Links:

Mac GUI Vault :: http://macgui.com/vault/
Vault FAQ page :: http://macgui.com/infobooth/faq/20/

Headquartered in central Illinois, Mac GUI was started in February of 2004 as resource for Mac user interface customization, but has since grown over the past 5 years to provide information on nearly every aspect of Apple and Macintosh computing. Mac GUI’s free membership includes a 1 GB email address, 200 MB of web space, forum, photo gallery, blog and much more. Mac GUI was showcased in the January 2007 issue of Practical Web Design Magazine, a UK publication.

The sixth annual Vintage Computer Festival East will be held September 12-13 at the InfoAge Science Center in Wall, New Jersey.

VCF is a public event celebrating the history of computers from the 1940s – 1980s.  Each day’s morning events include lectures and workshops, while the afternoons offer an open exhibit hall where classic computers are up and running for you to see and use. Among this year’s event highlights are a keynote address by Ted Hurewitz about RCA computers in the 1950s; an 8-bit musical concert; a BASIC programming challenge; and Vince Briel’s PockeTerm terminal-building workshop. A two-minute video montage of last year’s event showcases the hardware, software, and folks that make VCF great:

Tickets are $10 for one day or $15 for both days; attendees 17 and younger get in free. The event benefits the InfoAge Science Center, which is a 501(c)(3) non-profit.