Juiced.GS, the longest-running and last remaining Apple II publication in print, will continue its historical streak for another year, with subscriptions for the 2012 volume now being accepted.
"2011 marks the fourth consecutive year when our subscription base has not shrunk, not stabilized, but actually grown," says Ken Gagne, the magazine's editor and publisher. "With so much interest in a thirty-year-old computer, and so many stories still to tell, there's enthusiasm among both readers and writers to keep Juiced.GS going for as long as possible."
Subscriptions to the 2012 volume, which will include the traditional four quarterly issues, cost $19 for customers in the United States, representing no change in price. International customers will experience a $1 price increase, up to $27 per year, the first price hike after nine years at $26, in which time international postage went up $1.35. Back issues and other non-subscription products will also incur an international shipping fee, discounted from the standard United States Postal Service charge.
Juiced.GS's library of digital products, launched at KansasFest 2010, has also grown with the addition of a new Concentrate. The File Transfer PDF consists of five articles that were originally printed in Juiced.GS from March 2010 through March 2011, describing a variety of methods for extracting files from an Apple II onto a modern computer, as well as exchanging files in the opposite direction and translating them to ensure accessibility and usability. The 27-page File Transfer Concentrate costs $14.
Finally, Juiced.GS is expanding its services to target vendors. Apple II businesses have always been invited to advertise in Juiced.GS, but few have had their own ads available to be submitted for publication. With Juiced.GS now offering full-color back-page ads, as most recently demonstrated by the KansasFest flyer, Juiced.GS is helping any and all vendors take advantage of this opportunity by offering full-service advertisement design, courtesy of Peter Neubauer, artist of the aforementioned KansasFest ad as well as the album artwork for the Open Apple podcast. Fees in addition to advertising rates apply, with the vendor receiving the final ad for use in other marketing materials; please contact Juiced.GS publisher Gamebits for full details.
"Every year since the discontinuation of the Apple II presents a new challenge for the community that has developed around the machine," says Gagne. "These changes will make Juiced.GS the robust and agile publication it needs to be to continue to serve this amazing audience and give them the best magazine they deserve."
Inside this 24-page issue is an interview with Don Worth, author of Beneath Apple Manor and Beneath Apple DOS; a review of modern-day word processors that re-create the AppleWorks environment; a tutorial for using the Apple II as a dumb terminal; a guide to restoring and equipping an 8-bit Apple II; a behind-the-scenes look at how Melissa Barron hacked Oregon Trail; and much, much more!
Juiced.GS publisher Gamebits is pleased to announce that it will be attending the Vintage Computer Festival East 7.0 in Wall Township, New Jersey, USA, this Saturday, May 14, 2011. Both editor-in-chief Ken Gagne and associate editor Andy Molloy will be present, with the former representing Juiced.GS and the latter exhibiting an Atari 1040ST.
Come to the vintage computing market and peruse our wares! Photo by Brendon Chetwynd.
Any and all retrocomputing enthusiasts are invited to attend VCF East 7.0. Registration occurs at the door and costs $10 per day or $15 for the entire weekend.
[Editor's note: Ryan Suenaga submitted this post, titled "Apple IIGS development is alive, well, and living in Kane'ohe" to the Juiced.GS blog on April 20, 2010. As it had no apparent connection to the publication, I suggested he instead publish it on his Apple II software site, where it seemed more relevant. In his usual, obstinate fashion, Ryan rejected that idea without explanation, leaving the post unpublished. The post proved to be a teaser for his Apple IIGS send-only email NDA, codenamed Melissa and officially named Emily II, which was demoed at KansasFest 2010 but never released. I now publish this post so that we might have a bit more of Ryan to remember. –Ken Gagne]
Apple IIGS development is still alive and well if moving slower than it did some years ago. Fortunately, in contrast to the decreasing amount of time many coders have to spend on code, the speed at which technology advances is escalating, and despite the fact that the projects they work on are for a computer frozen in time at 1, 2.8, or 4 MHz, the Apple II series continues to benefit from technological advances.
One of the advances that make Apple II development faster is the increasing speed of computer processors. I can't speak for my fellow programmers, but I continue to write code for the Apple II on an Apple II, except it's an emulated Apple II, also known as Sweet16 on my MacBook. Fortunately, the big benefit here is that emulation makes for faster coding because, as always, the newer a computer is, the faster the emulated Apple II is — and computers are faster than ever before. Testing a program, making a change in a single line of code, compiling, retesting, rewriting, recompiling, retesting — a cycle that would take hours in the past — now have compiling times that are reduced to minutes, sometimes seconds.
Another way the Apple II has benefited from advances in technology include the continued maturation of the Internet and the explosion of mobile devices — meaning mobile phones with Internet access. Web-based application programmer interfaces (outlining ways to work with Web sites), combined with the Marinetti TCP/IP stack, helps those of us interested in keeping the Apple IIGS as current as possible to develop new applications. Demand for access on mobile devices helps to keep the use of screen real estate down and the amount of data transferred back and forth to a minimum — both helpful when working with a computer as technologically limited as the Apple IIGS.
All of these things are what lets someone like me work for a couple of weekends on a crazy New Desk Accessory like Fish:
Yes, all Fish does is let the user check on whether or not Abe Vigoda — "Fish" from Barney Miller — is still alive.
This might be silly (well, no "might" about it), but it helps me test code and concepts for further projects.
So indulge me in this little program. It might be useful to absolutely no one, but the bits of code that it helps me perfect will be part of a future program that might be a little more useful.
When Max Jones, founding editor of Juiced.GS, was no longer able to continue publishing the magazine, he thought that'd be the end of his Apple II publication. The entire run would've spanned six years and two dozen issues.
His readers and writers wouldn't hear of it. They rallied to carry the torch, headed by publisher Eric Shepherd and editor Ryan Suenaga, an arrangement that lasted another sixteen issues, shaped the future of Juiced.GS, and allowed it to continue to this day.
Sadly, Juiced.GS must now continue without one of its greatest advocates. Ryan Suenaga, an eclectic athlete, was hiking in his native Hawai'i yesterday when he suffered a fatal fall. He leaves behind a mother, aunt, sister, niece, and many, many friends.
Ryan did not attend KansasFest 2010. The last time I spoke with him was June 16, 2010, when he recorded a podcast with me and Max Jones. All three editors of Juiced.GS reminisced about the magazine's founding and evolution and their hopes for its future. The podcast was published on July 4, 2010, and now exists as the last episode of the A2Unplugged show ever. A link to it was not previously published here due to the promise of "show notes to follow." That is now one of many voids left in our community.
