Tuesday

KansasFest started early for me this year. James Littlejohn drove up Saturday and spent the entire weekend helping me sort and organize my Apple II collection in the sweltering Kansas heat. This is an ongoing project that I sometimes fear will never get done — I’ve simply hoarded collected too much stuff over the years, and some of it is hard to let go of. We rummaged through most of what I had and what I didn’t want to keep was loaded up on Littlejohn’s bus, bound for KFest. At last count, there were several boxes and at least 12 large plastic tubs for attendees to rummage through. I hope someone finds something useful. Next year, there will probably be more as I continue to downsize.

Tuesday arrived and it was finally off to Rockhurst. We arrived around noon, checked in and began unpacking. Although it’s not an “official” KFest day (no sessions), nearly everyone chooses to arrive early to move-in and get settled. It’s great to see old friends, and meet new folks as well. All down the dorm hallway, you can hear the beeps and disk clatter of Apple II computers booting up. I’m pleased to see that a lot of people brought real Apple II computers with them this year — the IIGS and //c are probably the most well represented but there are a few //e computers and at least one II Plus as well. Of course there are a lot of laptops (Macs, PCs), and even an Acorn PPC has been spotted (huh?).

This year, I was tempted to bring my IIGS but instead brought a nicely equipped ROM 04 //c. I wanted to spend part of KFest testing a Mockingboard D that I didn’t know if it worked or not (it does!), a serial to ethernet adapter (not tested yet) and the Guimauve 2000 (works superbly).

Many of the attendees made the trip out to a local restaurant, and afterwards spent the evening roaming up and down the hall, catching up with old friends and checking out each other’s gear and programming projects.

Wednesday

There were a lot of people sleeping in after staying up the night before. Some elected to pass up breakfast and just wait for the KFest Kookout, which again was prepared by chef Kirk Mitchell (thanks Kirk!). During the meal, Tony Diaz performed an impromptu demonstration on how to quickly (and correctly) “pop” open an Apple //c and covered basic troubleshooting and maintenance tips.

The highlight of Wednesday’s activities is the keynote. This year, Mark Simonsen joined us and spoke about his years with Beagle Bros, and how he got involved with computing and the Apple II. Mark’s keynote was easily one of the best I’ve ever seen, right up there with Woz and Jason Scott’s memorable keynotes. Ken Gagne shot the entire keynote, and it should be available online soon. When it is, we’ll post a separate story and link to it.

Later in the afternoon, Rob Walch brought everyone up to date on the latest developments on iPhone 4.0 and the iPad. Rob has his own podcast, Today In iPhone. Check it out.

Juiced.GS brought in massive quantities of Pizza and fed everyone, and that was soon followed by a revived tradition, Bite the Bag. We haven’t seen a BtB competition since our days at Avila so a lot of people were curious to see the ensuing shenanigans. The game is played with participants being able to only have one part of their body on the ground, usually a foot or knee, whilst trying to “bite” and pick up a bag from the floor with only their teeth — no hands allowed. Contestants are eliminated as pieces are torn off the bag, making it lower and harder to bite. The occasional face plant ensues but anyone with the balance, strength and flexibility can win a very nice prize. Ken Gagne won this years contest, defeating the prior reigning BtB champion Geoff Weiss.

Today also marked the beginning of HackFest, the extreme coding event where participants try to code something unique and interesting within the time constraints of the conference. I’m on the judging panel again this year and I’m looking forward to seeing the entries. We have several talented programmers attending this year, so the competition should be impressive.

I sat around watching people play old ColecoVision games on the big screen TV before heading back to the room to work on my projects. It’s going to be another late night of tinkering with the //c with occasional breaks to walk the hall and visit with other attendees.

Thursday’s KFest coverage will be provided by Andy Molloy.