Ryan Suenaga presents A2Unplugged, show #0035. In this episode, Ryan is joined by Eric “Sheppy” Shepherd (Syndicomm), Sean Fahey (A2Central), Ken Gagne, Andy Molloy (Juiced.GS) and Tony Diaz (16 Sector) to review the previous year’s developments and a look forward to what 2010 may hold in store for the Apple II Community.

A2Unplugged can be freely downloaded from the podcast’s web site, or subscribed to from the Apple iTunes store.

Antoine Vignau of Brutal Deluxe has posted high quality PDF copies of the periodical Sourceror’s Apprentice, a popular newsletter for Merlin programmers that ran from January 1989 through January 1990. It was later replaced by a new publication, named 8/16.

You can see the issues at Brutal Deluxe’s site:
http://www.brutal-deluxe.fr/documentation/thesourcerorsapprentice.html

UPDATE: issues of 8/16 spanning December 1990 to October 1991 have been added.

A relatively new iPhone app called iBASIC from AkeySoft Group brings several old Apple II games to the iPhone. Included are eight EAMON adventures, Life, Lemonade Stand, Hamurabi, and StarTrek. These are all text based games written in BASIC from the late 1970s to early 1980s.

The latest version 1.1 adds “the Apple DOS 3.3 command handler for BASIC programs, so that adventure games like EAMON can use DOS commands to access files like maps and other elements.” iBASIC is $1.99; there’s also a free version called iBASIC Lite.

Dr. Ken Buchholz wrote in to announce the launch of his new site, http://www.apple2online.com. Dr. Buchholz’s announcement is attached:

I just launched a new website dedicated to the Apple II family of computers:

www.apple2online.com

The site launched with Program, Documentation and Game Libraries, and a Periodicals Library and a Photo Library (with emphasis on peripheral cards) is planned for the near future. The photo library will hopefully be helpful to folks who stumble upon an unusual card and want to try to identify it.

A2OL is completely $FR.EE and open to all. The site is geared for those who are using Apple II computers, not emulators.

On behalf of the Estate of Joe Kohn, the Lost Classics Project brings you the entire collection of Shareware Solutions II.

SSII was published bi-monthly in newsletter form, with each issue packed full of tips, resources, tutorials and more, SSII is an invaluable reference for the new and experienced Apple II user alike, and now it is available in electronic form. Discover the Apple II like you never knew before, experience the legacy that started as a regular feature in the Apple IIgs Buyer’s Guide and continued on for three years as a feature in inCider/A+ when the IIgs Buyer’s Guide ceased publication.

While the content in the pages of these issues may contain contact information to vendors or individuals, it should be expected that the great majority of this is outdated, and presented purely for historical reference and completeness. These issues are presented here in platform independent native PDF format. They are 100% searchable and printable. The whole collection comes in at just under 6 megabytes.

22 issues of SSII were published from 1993 through 1998, each issue focuses on a theme but also builds on past issues.

Shareware Solutions II was created, edited and published entirely on the Apple IIgs primarily using AppleWorks GS. In doing so, Joe probably made AppleWorks GS do things in ways that the original programmers never thought about. Bringing SSII to you electronically and preserving it’s original look and feel was a bit of a challenge, more so than I thought it would be. I’m sorry it took significantly longer than I anticipated. It was worth every second spent on it, and the least I could do to ensure Joe’s legacy lives on and showcases each issue in the very best possible way for every new reader and discover new things about the Apple II. So, come join us on An Exciting Apple II Journey Into The Future.

Shareware Solutions II is available from the Lost Classics Project right now at http://lostclassics.apple2.info

Andrew Webber has posted pics of his completed stereo card for the Apple IIGS. Very soon now, the card should be available for sale to the public (pricing not yet announced). I know I’ll want one or two.

Update: pricing is established at £34.95, or about USD $54 plus shipping (although a discounted price of £30 for active comp.sys.apple2 participants has been offered). This run is about 20 cards — after these are gone, the next revision will have an onboard 3.5mm jack. I rather like the mounting plate myself; you don’t have to open up the Apple IIGS to disconnect the speakers.