Year: 2009

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New price for 2010 wall calendar

Juiced.GS‘s first wall calendar was a successful product at both its KansasFest debut as well as this holiday season. We’re now looking to move our remaining stock and so have reduced the price from $16 to $12 — only a dollar per month! At the time of this writing, there are only four left, and no more will be printed, so it’s first-come, first-served.

The 2010 calendar was an experiment in using Juiced.GS content in new ways. If you bought one, what did you like about it? If you didn’t, what kept you from doing so? Would you like to see a 2011 calendar? If so, how can we improve this product for its second incarnation?

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Volume 14, Issue 4 now shipping

Volume 14, Issue 4 (December 2009)

The December 2009 issue of Juiced.GS has been mailed to all domestic and international subscribers — just in time to make its way into your stocking this holiday week! If the season is too busy for you to enjoy twenty pages of Apple II goodness, then place it on your coffee table and remember to read it during your vacation. And when you’re done, come back here, as the online issue links include exclusive companion content to this issue’s tech-torial.

The December issue is so packed with content from so many authors, we couldn’t fit many pictures. Since text suffers far less than graphics in a black-and-white medium, I hope you’ll find the lack of visual variety is offset by the in-depth news, reviews, and interviews.

This issue completes our 2009 volume, meaning all four issues can be purchased as a bundle for $16. If you haven’t renewed yet for 2010, subscriptions are available in our online store.

Questions, comments, suggestions, or concerns? Please email us!

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Letter to the Editor: Name that software

The following letter to the editor ran in Volume 14, Issue 3 (September 2009) of Juiced.GS. It has to date received no responses. If you have any suggestions on this topic, could you please comment on the blog or email the editor?

Dear Juiced.GS…

I’ve been trying to track down a game from my early youth that ran on an Apple II, and was wondering if you could help me.

Neither a game nor a drawing tool, this program was more like a Print Shop in which you build a creature (arms, legs, head, etc.), put it before a number of backdrops (such as a moonscape), then print it out. I encountered it in grade school, so it must’ve been an 8-bit program, circa 1988. In my quest to find this classic title, I’ve tried Creature Creator by DesignWare, Print Shop Companion, and Newsroom, all of which looked promising—but none of them was the program I remembered.

Asi Lang
via the Internet

Asi,

Unfortunately, this one doesn’t ring a bell among the Juiced.GS staff. Since you tried the program in school, maybe it was part of an edutainment compilation, like Scholastic’s Microzine, instead of a standalone application.

Do any readers recognize this title? Please email us if so!

–Ken Gagne

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Retro reviews vs. cutting edge

Juiced.GS often reviews hardware, software, and publications that are relevant to the Apple II community. With products like the GS RAM card, Nibble DVD, and Dungeons & Desktops book, there’s no shortage of new and exciting material for us to scrutinize.

But in focusing exclusively on the new, we may be overlooking the history that surrounds the Apple II. A staff writer came to me with an idea for a review of a piece of hardware that hasn’t been manufactured in about 30 years.  I was initially hesitant to pursue the topic, as the hardware has little modern application and may be hard for readers to find.  But he suggested we should go for the nostalgic, not practical, angle: “I love to read about cool products that I may have missed the first time around and wouldn’t mind having to troll eBay to seek out.”

He may have a point.  What do you think?  Should reviews prefer modern material?  Or would you like to see Juiced.GS cover classic/vintage tech as well?

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Call for interview candidates

When I became editor of Juiced.GS, one goal I set for the magazine was to have one interview in every issue, space permitting. As Jason Scott said in his KansasFest keynote, and as many of us have experienced over the years: it’s people, not computers, that drive the stories, history, and friendships behind this community. I want Juiced.GS to tell those stories, and reader feedback suggests that these features prove to be among the publication’s most popular content.

We already have a great interview lined up for the December 2009 issue, but I invite suggestions of folks you’d like to see profiled in the 2010 volume. Specific nominations are welcome, but I’d also like some general feedback about what kinds of individuals you enjoy reading about. Looking at the past four years of back issues, I think I can break down our past interviewees into three categories. We’ve written about folks such as:

  • Mike Harvey (Nibble) and Bob Bishop (Apple), who were active in the early days of the Apple II and created the hardware, software, and publications that drew us to the machine in the first place;
  • Michael J. Mahon (NadaNet) and Henry Courbis (ReactiveMicro.com), who are active in the community today, innovating and developing the tools and utilities we need to keep the Apple II alive in the 21st century; and
  • Jason Scott (BBS: The Documentary) and Seth Sternberger (8 Bit Weapon), who are not necessarily members of our community but who are doing things that are of interest to Apple II users.

Which of these categories do you prefer? What makes for an interesting interview? What does a candidate need to make him or her worth reading about? Please share your suggestions in the comments below; you might just lead us to our next cover story!