Howard Katz and Ryan Suenaga have released the latest issue of Apple II News & Notes, their freely-distributable newsletter for Apple II users..

The KFest committee released an announcement tonight warning that KFest is threatened by declining registration numbers and urging people not to delay registration. “Many folks who attend KFest… don’t send in their registration payment and form until the last day, if not the last minute. However, this KFest is different… we need your commitment, and we need it now. If KansasFest 2002 is going to happen, it’s time to put your money where your mouth is. If you register with payment now, we promise not to cash your checks or charge your credit cards until at least May 15th. But if we don’t know you’re coming, there may not be a KFest to come to.” Please register, folks. KFest is a valuable asset to our community! .

Rich Dreher is now taking orders for his new CompactFlash/IDE interface card for the Apple II. The standard version of the card is $100 (which does not include any media); other, slightly more expensive versions are available for hackers that want to mess with the firmware. Each board comes with a user’s manual, and it works in both ProDOS 8 and GS/OS on any slotted Apple II with a 65C02 processor (the enhanced //e and IIGS). The card comes with a 90-day money back return policy and a one year warranty against product defects. You can order online today, up to three units..

Roger Wagner of HyperStudio fame won the Vintage Computer Festival‘s auction of an Apple 1 computer, paying $14,000 for the highly collectible computer. According to C|Net news, Wagner will make the computer the centerpiece of his collection, and he plans to run it long enough to take some video of it in action before turning it off to preserve the now hard-to-find components..

It’s not exactly current news, but A.P.P.L.E. has resumed publication of the classic Call-A.P.P.L.E. magazine as a PDF-based distribution. For those of you new to the Apple II world, Call-A.P.P.L.E. was an extremely popular magazine in the mid-to-late 80s and early 90s, covering both basics and advanced topics. They’re currently at work on the second issue of the new magazine, which will be the June issue. Their web site is still undergoing development, but is shaping up gradually to be a helpful resource. .

The BAUG will not meet on the fourth Monday of April and May as usual; instead, the meeting will be at 6:30 PM on Monday, May 13, at 345 West 58th Street, Apartment 5L, in Manhattan, New York City, just west of Columbus Circle. You can take the A, B, C, D, 1, or 9 trains to Columbus Circle and 59th St. Jim O’Reilly will be conducting an online demonstration of A2Central.com and the Apple II forum on Syndicomm Online. .

Syndicomm announced yesterday that Juiced.GS Volume 7 Issue 1 has gone to press and will begin mailing to subscribers on Monday, April 22. If you’re not a subscriber but would like to be, or haven’t renewed yet, visit the Juiced.GS web site to take care of that right away! .

The VCF has announced that it will be presenting an original Apple-1 computer for auction from Friday, April 19 through Sunday, April 21. The computer is complete and functional and includes the motherboard, cassette interface, keyboard, power supply, manual, BASIC on cassette tape, and a 9″ monitor. This particular Apple-1 was given to the old Homebrew Computer Club in non-functional condition; the sold it to raise funds, and the buyer repaired it. Interested parties must register in advance of the auction in order to receive auction rules and participation details..

Jeff Fink announced today the impending release of version 7.4 of his popular role-playing game Silvern Castle. The new version includes vastly faster automapping as well as new preferences and a new mode to improve performance by reducing the drawing of the maze. The new version also includes some minor bug fixes. .

The March issue of Howard Katz’s and Ryan Suenaga’s A2 News & Notes is now available for download. A2NandN is a free news digest for the Apple II community. Newsletter editors are welcome to use its content in their publications; see the copyright notice in the newsletter for details. .