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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!
[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.
KansasFest regular and committee member Sean Fahey, host of A2Central.com, is graciously offering a treasure trove of Apple II hardware, software, and publications to KansasFest attendees. The details are as follows:
Thanks to the generosity and good will of former Apple II users and the hard work of friends (especially James Littlejohn), I will have an assortment of parts, machines, books, software, used disks, etc. for KansasFest attendees to pick over and haul off if they have a need. It's not all junk; I've just taken in way too much Apple II gear, and sharing with the community gives me warm fuzzies.
The usual terms apply:
If I got it for free, it will be freely given to someone else.
I'll accept donations, but I certainly don't expect them.
Take what you need. Just don't take something and then turn right around and put it on eBay, or worse, sell it at the vendor fair.
If you're after something special, let me know ahead of time so I can put your name on it.
I'm not giving away premium items (accelerators, RAM cards, etc). I might consider selling, though — ask if you're looking something special.
That's it. Hope to see all of you at KansasFest. Apple II Forever!
Thank you, Sean, for making KansasFest 2010 a must-attend event for all Apple II aficionados!
JULY 7 UPDATE from Sean:
Instead of a trip to my garage, the garage will be transported to Rockhurst, thanks to James Littlejohn's big green bus. We'll be loading totes full of misc. gear, disks, books and whatever else we've managed to scrounge and bring it with us.
We may need to ask for a few volunteers for the following tasks:
Help unload the bus, and then reload what isn't taken back into the bus.
Help sort loose sets of disks. I'm afraid that during the "keep it or give it away" phase of the packing, some sets of things like Publisher, Print Shop and operating system disks were chunked into the totes loose. They need to be matched up. Think of it as a Apple II themed memory game.
Registration for KansasFest 2010 is now open! The 21st annual Apple II convention will be held at Rockhurst University of Kansas City, July 20-25, 2010. To sign up, please visit our registration page, where you will find this year's prices, a PDF you can print and mail for offline registration, and a form for registering right on our Web site (credit cards and PayPal only).
New this year is our "bring a friend" promotion. Veterans of the event are invited to bring a first-time attendee; if each indicates the other's name on the registration form, both will receive a $25 referral rebate at the event. Such a deal!
Currently among this year's scheduled events are several excellent sessions:
A tutorial of Structured Applesoft, Ivan Drucker's approach to BASIC programming
Floppy disk drive maintenance and hardware color restoration with Tony Diaz
Ken Gagne's review of Macintosh games inspired by the Apple II
Programming in Macrosoft with Peter Neubauer
A closer look at the Apple III by Mike Maginnis
Martin Haye's introduction to his Super-Mon utility and NakedOS
The latest on the iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad by Rob Walch of the Today in iPhone podcast
HackFest, an annual programming challenge open to hackers of all skill levels
More sessions and announcements will be made on this site as we approach the date, but don't wait too long — registration prices go up after May 31st. Register today! (And sign up for our Facebook event, while you're at it!)
KansasFest registration is right around the corner — and what better way to tempt you than a sneak preview of several sessions!
Ivan Drucker will present "Slammer: A New Way of Using Machine Language from Applesoft". Peter Neubauer gives us "Magic with Macrosoft: Machine Language Speed for Applesoft Programmers". Mike Maginnis dives into the Apple III with "Apple III: A Closer Look". Ken Gagne continues his series from last year with "Classic Gaming Inspirations, Part Deux". We'll also have a return visit from Rob Walch, creator of the long running Today in iPhone podcast, who will give us tips, tricks and news on the latest iPhone, iPod Touch and, yes, the iPad!
We'll report on additional sessions as we get closer to the event. We'd love for you to present a session on your favorite Apple II topic. Fill out the session form today!
KansasFest attendees make a concerted effort to capture as much of the organized KansasFest experience for sharing online. But Internet company Google Inc. recently did us one better by spotting a KFester in the wild.
Google's fleet of camera-equipped cars regularly scours the Earth, shooting digital panoramas that are then shared via Google Maps with Street View. While recording the country roads of England last summer, they happened to have caught this scene:
Ewen in his natural habitat. Click for larger view.
The above image was first posted to the KansasFest email list by the pictured peripatetic, KansasFest alumnus and former logo designer Ewen Wannop, famous for his Apple II telecommunications programs and essays. "I discovered by accident today that my village was now on Street View," explained Ewen. "Then I remembered the car passing me last year while I was out walking."
The region featured above can be found on Google Maps, where it can be zoomed in for an even better view. Google uses a sufficiently high resolution for its images that Ewen's shirt is surprisingly legible when enlarged.
Where else can KansasFest be spotted? Send us your pictures, or come to KansasFest 2010 to witness the originating site itself!
The KansasFest 2009 schedule filled up so quickly that we're giving you an early chance to submit your sessions for 2010!
While the evenings and nights of KansasFest are renowned for their spontaneity, the mornings and afternoons are reserved for sessions spanning a variety of uses, extensions, and applications of the Apple II family. Just as varied as these sessions are the good people who volunteer to present them. If you have a topic you'd like to present, fill out the session proposal form.
Or do you have a topic you would like to see presented, even if you aren't the one to do it? Email us your idea.
Past sessions have included hardware, software and game demonstrations and tutorials; integration of the Apple II with other devices; emulators; programming; Apple II history; or any subject that would be of interest to Apple II users. We are especially interested in, and priority will be given to, sessions that focus on Apple II-related topics. If we have room in the schedule, we also love Mac, iPhone and a stray Windows or UNIX session or two.
Sessions are typically 30 to 60 minutes in length and are held at various times throughout the daytime hours.
If you've never done a session and would like ideas for topics or formats, check out our archive of past presentations.
Rob Walch, host of the Today in iPhone podcast and frequent presenter at KansasFest, will be returning to the event in 2010. This year, not only will he be updating attendees on the state of the iPhone — he'll also be presenting Apple's latest creation: the iPad, the tablet computer announced this week.
Of course, Apple II users are no strangers to Apple tablets, and we'll have one of these classic devices on-hand for comparison, courtesy Tony Diaz. Who will win this showdown of retro vs. modern tech?… Need you ask?
Rob Walch, host of the