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KansasFest 2010 wrap-up

kgagne — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 20:16:04 +0000

KansasFest 2010 is less than a week behind us, with some attendees still slowly making their way home. Those that have arrived are reporting more motivation and inspiration than ever for Apple II projects. Whether they're dusting off old computers, continuing their HackFest projects, or submitting their ideas for publication, KansasFest alumni find the experience is one that recharges its participants and lingers until they reunite in Kansas City a year later.

It's no surprise that KansasFest was a huge success. The event drew more than three dozen attendees, including Resource Central alumni Dennis Doms and Tom Vanderpool; former Beagle Bros president Mark Simonsen; numerous alumni, including Jeff Blakeney, our one international representative, returning to KansasFest for the first time since 2002; four returning first-timers from KansasFest 2009; and seven attendees who experienced their first KansasFest in 2010. There were also sessions presented remotely by absent alumni Eric Shepherd, Ryan Suenaga, and Steve Weyhrich, and even one by Wayne Arthurton, who promises that 2011 will be his first KansasFest!

Many of these sessions and others are available in the KansasFest file archive, with other media also available for those catching up on the event. Live reports were posted by Kirk Mitchell to comp.sys.apple2, while Andy Molloy, Mike Maginnis, and Sean Fahey reported for A2Central.com. First-time attendee Eric Rucker has written about his experience on his blog, while Ken Gagne is slowly uploading video recordings of the week's events.

Look for further updates on this site as well as everyone slowly recovers from a week of sleepless nights that will last a lifetime!

HackFest 2010 begins

kgagne — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 15:31:58 +0000

All KFest 2010 attendees are invited to participate in HackFest, which began at 7:00 AM today and ends at 10:00 AM on Saturday.

HackFest is a programming contest in which entrants compete to create the coolest Apple II program in the limited time of KansasFest. Programs need not be complete to be considered cool! View the complete HackFest rules for more details.

Prizes include, but are not limited to:

FC5025 floppy disk controller card (with floppy drive from 16Sector)
Replica-1 unassembled kit
Focus IDE card
iPod Shuffle (2GB / black / engraved)
$50 cash prize (courtesy Ryan Suenaga)

The judges, who this year consist of Sean Fahey, Ivan Drucker, and Ken Gagne, will review the entries on Saturday, with public demonstrations and awards at 4 PM.

Our thanks to Eric Shepherd for creating this tradition!

All the KansasFest news that's fit to print

kgagne — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 13:00:36 +0000

KansasFest begins tomorrow! While the attendees will be busy giving and attending presentations and enjoying each other's company, chances are some will find time to offer online reports through which other members of the Apple II community can experience the event vicariously. Here's an outline of the variety of official and unofficial news outlets through which you can learn more about the week's activities:

Join our email list for all the chatter before, during, and after the event.
Follow our blog posts here on KansasFest.org.
- Subscribe to our blog via our RSS feed.
- Get our blog posts via email…
- or even on your Kindle!
Twitter

Follow us on this microblogging service at @kansasfest.
See the twenty latest tweets about KansasFest right here in our live stream.
Use the #kfest hashtag in your own tweets to join the discussion!

Read daily reports from Sean Fahey, Andy Molloy, and Mike Maginnis at A2Central.com.
Read reports from Kirk Mitchell in the comp.sys.apple2 Usenet newsgroup.
Join the discussion in A2Central.com's chat room on IRC.
See our session schedule:
- as a PDF;
- on our Web site;
- or in your favorite calendar program

Have something specific that you'd like to see? Drop us a line!

Event calendar now online

kgagne — Sun, 18 Jul 2010 15:46:31 +0000

KansasFest starts this week, bringing with it dozens of sessions, presentations, movies, meals, and opportunities to meet and greet your fellow Apple II users. The entire schedule of all these events is now available online. You can browse the events chronologically (dates and times are in red) or subscribe to them in your personal calendar, such as iCal, for automatic updates.

The simplest way to subscribe to the schedule is to click here and let your calendar program, such as iCal, automatically detect the schedule. Here are some alternatives:

With Google Calendar, find the "Other calendars" section and click "Add by URL." Then, type or paste http://www.kansasfest.org/?ec3_ical. You can also click that link in your Web browser to download an .ics file that you can import into Google.
With Apple iCal on OSX 10.6, select the "Calendar" -> "Subscribe" option in iCal. Then enter http://www.kansasfest.org/?ec3_ical
On the iPhone or iPad (iOS 4), start the "Settings" app then select "Mail, Contacts, Calendars." Select "Add Account", select "Other", and then select "Add Subscribed Calendar". Finally, type or paste "www.kansasfest.org/?ec3_ical" for the "Server".
In Thunderbird's Lightning add-on, select the "Events and Tasks" -> "Calendar" menu option. Right-click on the "Calendar" list pane. Choose "New Calendar," select "On the Network," and click "Continue." Finally, select "iCalendar" and enter "webcal://www.kansasfest.org/?ec3_ical" for the location.

Inevitably, some last-minute changes will occur as sessions are added or moved around. This online calendar will be updated throughout the week, and all the above approaches will automatically update your calendar program as well.

A hardcopy version of this schedule is distributed when you arrive at KansasFest, but the current state of technology does not allow us to offer similarly dynamic updates in that format. However, you can get a sneak peek at this welcome packet by downloading the session schedule PDF from our file archive.

See you soon!

A treasure trove of prizes at KansasFest 2010

kgagne — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 15:08:04 +0000

Each KansasFest attendee goes home with more than they brought. The memories and friendships made at KansasFest last a lifetime, and the lessons and experiences learned from fellow Apple II enthusiasts, both within and without the structured sessions, lead to even more enjoyment of our favorite platform.

But what about more tangible mementos? How about some fantastic swag?

Increase your Apple II's storage capacity for free by winning this card!

When you pack for KansasFest, leave room in your luggage, as every person at KansasFest has the opportunity to go home with prizes that will make you a true Apple II power user. Among this year's selection are hardware, software, and magazines that you won't find at any other computer convention:

FC5025 floppy disk controller card (with floppy drive from 16Sector)
Replica-1 unassembled kit
Simply Softdisk G-S and Softdisk Supreme CDs (courtesy Syndicomm)
Focus IDE card
iPod Shuffle (2GB / black / engraved)
Assembler/Macrosoft software package (courtesy Nibble Magazine)
Juiced.GS one-year subscription (courtesy Gamebits)
8 Bit Weapon's Electric High EP CD (courtesy Gamebits)
$50 cash prize (courtesy Ryan Suenaga)

How does one win such fabulous prizes? There are several ways:

Enter the HackFest. This programming contest challenges you to create a cool Apple II program in a limited amount of time. Your entry doesn't need to be practical or even complete to win!
In honor of Roger Wagner, attendees (men and women!) are invited to "Tie One On" and wear outrageous or ugly ties to the Friday night formal banquet. The person with the best (or worst!) tie will be decided by a member of the planning committee.
Attendees staying on-site in Rockhurst University dorm rooms may decorate the door to their room. Posters, signs, knick-knacks, and other accessories are all fair play, as long as they can be safely removed at the end of the conference. The best door sign may prove worthy of a prize!
Show up! Just for being at KansasFest, we guarantee you'll go home with more than you expected.

Other potential prize venues include playing games such as GShisen or Bite the Bag. These prizes are in addition to whatever gear you haul from Sean's garage or buy at the vendor fair. Our thanks to all community members and vendors who have contributed to this year's offerings. So come enjoy the people, activities, and prizes of KansasFest!

Sharing rides to KansasFest 2010

kgagne — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 13:00:40 +0000

Your rides, powered by the Apple II community.

KansasFest starts two weeks from today! With no official sessions on the Tuesday schedule, the first day of the event is your opportunity to arrive, unpack, unwind, and meet-and-greet with your fellow Apple II enthusiasts.

In the spirit of the community, KansasFest attendees often share rides between the airport and Rockhurst University, coordinated by Carl Knoblock. If you need or can offer a ride, please fill out the Peikop Endropov travel form. We'll match your availability with other travellers to get everyone where they need to go. It's an excellent opportunity to extend the duration of KansasFest by putting you in each other's company ASAP!

Note that this is a volunteer-run service. Contributions to your driver to offset gas and car rental costs are not expected but are appreciated.

If you're driving from farther away, such as Chicago or Denver, consider looking for a carpool buddy on the KansasFest email discussion list.

KansasFest & Juiced.GS combo

kgagne — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 15:00:52 +0000

The KansasFest Early Bird registration rate expired on June 1st, but for those who have not yet signed up to attend this event, there's an additional incentive: Anyone who registers before July 14th at the currently advertised rates gets a free 2010 subscription to Juiced.GS, the last remaining Apple II publication still in print. Such a deal! No need to jump through hurdles or apply discount codes; just register per usual, either online or off, and your first two issues will be waiting for you in Kansas City. (Offer not valid to current subscribers.)

If you've already registered for KansasFest and are not a Juiced.GS subscriber, the magazine's publisher, Gamebits, will be taking orders at the event's vendor fair.

KansasFest 2010 session update

kgagne — Wed, 26 May 2010 15:57:08 +0000

The KansasFest 2010 session lineup, first posted last month, has grown to include several more presentations, courtesy several volunteers willing to offer their insights and expertise to KansasFest attendees:

Stavros Karatsoridis will describe how to set up an Apple II to act as a "dumb terminal" for the Terminal application in Mac OS X.
Ivan Drucker will debut his original programming utility: Slammer, which allows machine language to be inserted into a standard Applesoft program with practically no performance, dependency, or stability issues.
Sometime this summer, KansasFest 2009 keynote speaker Jason Scott will be releasing GET LAMP, his two-disc documentary of text adventures. A special one-hour cut of this film, made exclusively for convention audiences, will be screened at KansasFest.
Eric Shepherd, who in 2008 gave a presentation on iPhone programming, will this year introduce us to iPad programming. More than just "a giant iPhone", the iPad is a unique development environment, and Sheppy will review the differences between writing apps for the two devices.
Ken Gagne of quarterly magazine Juiced.GS will make several announcements about the past, present, and future of the world's longest-running Apple II publication.

Formal sessions are an integral element of the KansasFest experience, offering Apple fans new ways and environments in which to use their favorite machines. The other half of the equation is the camaraderie offered by attendees and presenters: nothing recharges a retrocomputing enthusiast's batteries as fast as the energy of fellow hobbyists. With less than a week until the Early Bird registration deadline, you should sign up today to enjoy the sessions and friendships that are a hallmark of KansasFest!

KansasFest 1992 celebrity roast

kgagne — Fri, 14 May 2010 20:03:49 +0000

Antoine Vignau of Brutal Deluxe Software recently unearthed a lost classic: a recording of the fourth annual A2-Central summer conference — aka KansasFest 1992. The video was originally assembled by Steve Disbrow, publisher of GS+ magazine, and opens with Tom Weishaar's telephone interview of Steve Wozniak, commemorating the 15th anniversary of the Apple II's release. Much of the remaining video is dedicated to the Friday evening formal dinner, including the annual "Tie One On" contest and the celebrity roast, in which "amusing stories, anecdotes, and just downright falsehoods" are told about Roger Wagner.

Now you too can relive this historic occasion, as Antoine has made this video available online. The entire film runs two hours and 17 minutes, is divided across 16 YouTube videos, and can be found in this playlist:

This video is one of many multimedia recordings of KansasFests past, linked to from our photo and video gallery.

It's amazing to see that so many traditions have stayed alive longer than its 1992 participants could've imagined — KansasFest, the tie contest, celebrity roasts, and more. You too can be a part of history at KansasFest 2010. Register today!

It's gotta be KansasFest!

kgagne — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 16:00:30 +0000

[Note: this blog post was originally published on RetroMacCast by Robert Kenyon and is reposted here with his permission.]

Earlier this month, I started firing up my Apple IIGS as a little diversion. It was nice to see that it booted first time and was nicely silent and fast thanks to my CFFA (Compact Flash expansion card). It was nice to have it boot because some of my last Apple II Plus memories revolve around whether or not it was going to boot today. (Loose socketed chips are a nightmare!)

The day after, A2Unplugged popped up with a new episode — I think it was the year end/upcoming year episode he does every year with people from the Apple II community. This got me thinking about all the stuff that has gone on over the last few years since I got back into this hobby, and just how much neat stuff and new people and new products are being created to keep our old machines going.

Then I hear about the new Java VM for the Apple II. I too ask "Why" and think why would I put java on a 2 when the darn class files are larger than RAM? And then it hits me… Because I Can.

I get a tweet from @KansasFest announcing registration is open — and it's cheaper if you sign up now by like $60…

The weekend rolls around. Another Saturday night and somehow I ended up out on eBay. Yeah, a mistake. Two "instant buys" and four pending bids later, and I have programming books, a IIc, a broken IIGS, TWO full GS systems, and an apple wrench in danger of being shipped to my house. What the heck was I thinking?

This morning at 3 a.m., I pull out the phone and look for airline tickets to Kansas City in July. Crap. They're cheap enough — under $300.

Today I asked KansasFest.org what time I should fly in on July 20th and when should I fly out on July 25th, if I were crazy enough to go.

I even told the ex that I'd be out of town that week (so she doesn't ship me the kid that week). I asked first, so I win, right?

Darn it, I may have just run out of excuses. It looks like I'll have to go to KansasFest 2010.