This issue features interviews with Jason Scott, David Greelish, Andrew Plotkin, Stephen Emond, Vince Briel, and others for whom crowdfunding sites like Kickstarter offer great potential for bringing retrocomputing projects to life. Also included are reviews of the book The Complete Historically Brewed and 8 Bit Weapon’s DMS Drummer software; an interview with AppleWorks legend Randy Brandt; the first in a three-part series on programming in Logo; and much, much more!
Although Juiced.GS is primarily a print publication, we understand the importance of having an online presence. Juiced.GS has had a Web site for more than a decade and over the years has grown its aesthetic and functionality. Most recently, in 2009, we switched our online publishing platform to WordPress. Shortly thereafter, we introduced a blog component. And a year later, we added an online index. All of these changes were important for their time, but in 2012, they are showing their age. It’s time for a new look!
Please enjoy this freshly remodeled Juiced.GS Web site. With rotating banner images and dropdown navigation, we expect the site to be the best-looking, easiest-to-use iteration of our site ever. We’ve also migrated to a new online store, where you can order subscriptions, back issues, and Concentrate PDFs and pay via cash, check, PayPal, Google Checkout (new!) (deprecated as of 20-Nov-13), or Dwolla (new!), all secured via SSL.
To commemorate this update, we’re having our first-ever online sale: all back issues are now 20% off! This sale runs March 1–31, 2012. International shipping fees still apply. If you encounter any issues with this promotion or our new checkout system, please contact us. (Orders placed the week of March 11 will ship the following week.)
Let’s not overlook two other changes. We’ve now published enough issues of Juiced.GS (64!) that our previous online index was bursting at the seams! After switching to a different tool, our index is once again available, providing more information than ever before about every page of every issue of every volume.
Finally, check out our staff roster. We’ve always been proud to feature the work of many members of the Apple II community, and this roster has been updated to include one more: Peter Neubauer, director of Juiced.GS advertising, is now a member of the editorial staff as well. This shouldn’t surprise anyone who’s read his many excellent articles about Macrosoft, the Apple-1, and more. Look for his articles throughout our 2012 volume.
Thanks to all the staff, as well as Steve Weyhrich and Karenanna Creps, for early feedback on the site’s design and functionality. Further thanks to every member of the Juiced.GS community, both online and off. We look forward to continuing to find new ways to serve you.
Modern society assigns everything a number. People are their Social Security Numbers; your money is a bank account number; the last book you read has an International Standard Book Number. It makes everything neat and tidy, easy to organize and track.
As of this past summer, Juiced.GS also has a number: 2162-7746. That is the International Standard Serial Number, or ISSN, that has been assigned to the publication by the Library of Congress. We requested an ISSN because of the many valuable benefits it brings to legitimate periodicals such as Juiced.GS. Over 80 countries coordinate and recognize ISSN assignments and can use ours for a variety of purposes:
A unique ISSN distinguishes Juiced.GS title from any other Apple II publication with which it might be confused.
Other editions of Juiced.GS, such as the Concentrate line, need their own ISSNs, allowing us to differentiate various formats of the same publication.
ISSNs help libraries and others who handle large numbers of serials to check in a title so it can get to users more quickly.
Scholars, researchers, archivists, and librarians can accurately cite serials by ISSN.
In the future, users may search and link to digital records, articles, and other files.
An ISSN also helps establish Juiced.GS‘s place in history. Although the movement to preserve a record of Apple II publications in a digital format is a valuable and necessary one, there is no substitute for the look and feel of print. Juiced.GS‘s ISSN is valid only for its print edition, which is the magazine’s original format and the way it was intended to be read. To that end, Juiced.GS has been actively reaching out to a variety of relevant non-profit organizations charged with ensuring the archive of and access to computer history. Several such institutions have accepted donations of the complete collection of Juiced.GS, currently starting with volume 7, and have added the magazine to their collection. Due to the cost of producing these back issues, we are not currently seeking further recipients. For now, you can now find Juiced.GS throughout the country and the world at these establishments:
Several of the above institutes have further indexed Juiced.GS with the OCLC WorldCat, a global library catalog. Many of the 72,000 libraries that participate in WorldCat offer interlibrary loan — so if you need to access Juiced.GS, be it individual volumes, issues, or even articles, chances are you can request it be sent from one of the above libraries to your local branch.
The best way to ensure the longevity of data is to put it in as many hands as possible — and no matter the issues involved with digital distribution, from file compatibility to DRM, print will always remain viable and accessible. The above archives will help preserve Juiced.GS as a part of computer history for generations to come.
The history of Juiced.GS is one that involves the names and faces of many Apple II users who over the years have contributed to its success and survival. But none of them would’ve had the opportunity if not for the vision and initiative of one man: Max Jones.
It was Max who in 1996 identified a need in the Apple II community for a regular publication to bring news, reviews, how-tos, and interviews to the masses. His background in the print industry made him the ideal candidate to create the product that would fill that vacuum:
Virtually unknown in the Apple II world, Jones used his page layout prowess honed through hours on the powerful desktop publishing program QuarkXPress to create his uniquely named publication… The reception the prototype Juiced.GS received from the Apple II world was the virtual equivalent of a standing ovation. Even experienced users of AppleWorks GS were stunned at the professional appearance of the prototype publication. From the very start, Juiced.GS had the look of a winner.
After six amazing volumes, Max passed the editorial and publishing reins of Juiced.GS in 2001 upon his promotion to editor-in-chief of Indiana’s Terre Haute Tribune-Star daily newspaper. Recognizing the opportunity this position would present to him but also the lack of time now available to dedicate to the Apple II, he graciously let Juiced.GS continue without his day-to-day involvement, allowing it to survive and thrive to this day. For this and more, Juiced.GS‘s readers and friends have thanked (and roasted) Max many times over the years
Tribune-Star editor Max Jones poses with his traveling award and the plaque he will keep.
Finally, Max’s talent and fame have been acknowledged by the wider newspaper industry as well. On Thursday, February 16, 2012, the 79-year-old Hoosier State Press Association presented Max with the 2011 Distinguished Service Award, its top award for service to the HSPA. Max earned the award through his work with and dedication to not only the Tribune-Star, but the readership it serves. At the awards ceremony, it was clear that the qualities Max brings to the Apple II are ones he shares with his local community as well:
“Sometimes a person shows up in leadership roles in so many different organizations, one takes it for granted he or she will be involved in the next large project,” said Tim Timmons, president of the HSPA board of directors who presented the award. “Max Jones is one of those people.”
Of course, this doesn’t come as a surprise to Juiced.GS‘s readers and staff. “Max is obviously a huge benefactor to the Apple II community, with his creation, Juiced.GS, still helping connect Apple II users to the latest news,” said Eric Shepherd, staff writer and former publisher of Juiced.GS. “But he’s also a heck of a nice guy. That’s quite a combination: major-league decency combined with great humor and helping our community grow and stay together over the years.”
We couldn’t agree more. Congratulations, Max! Your professionalism and contributions have made you a pillar of any community honored to count you as a friend. Thank you for everything you’ve done for so many.
The cover story on Juiced.GS‘s December 2011 issue is the Tiger Learning Computer. Released in 1996, this portable machine used licensed technology based on the Apple IIe, offering the promise of a new lease on life for Apple Computer Inc.’s longest-running product. Alas, the TLC never made it out of the test market phase, but a few units do exist in the wild — including in the hands of Juiced.GS associate editor Andy Molloy, who not only reviewed the hardware but also interviewed Kristi Petters, the former Apple employee who negotiated the license with Tiger Electronics (now part of Hasbro).
Andy shot many photographs before we settled on the one that graced our front page. If you’ve read his articles and want to see what was left on the cutting room floor, please enjoy these additional photos!
