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Goodbye, Google Checkout; hello, Amazon Payments

Amazon Payments
Dwolla

Ever since the Juiced.GS online store launched in 2002, we have accepted payment for online orders via PayPal, a gateway preferred and used by the majority of our customers. But we realize one size doesn’t fit all, and insisting on PayPal deprives our customers of the freedom of choice. So when we remodeled our online store in 2012, we added two new online payment options: Google Checkout and Dwolla. Juiced.GS subscribers have since used both alternatives to make their purchases.

But the Google empire is constantly reassessing the viability of its services, and most recently, they turned their sights to Google Checkout and found it wanting. On November 20, Google Checkout was retired and is no longer available for use by any vendor. As such, it has been removed from the Juiced.GS store.

We continue to accept online payments via Dwolla, and not just because it charges the fewest fees; by subscribing to Juiced.GS, our customers are supporting the little guy, and we like to do the same. But Dwolla isn’t the most popular choice among our customers, and we still want to offer a mainstream alternative PayPal.

Amazon Payments

That is why, starting today, we now accept tender via Amazon Payments — the same gateway used by Kickstarter, the crowdfunding site featured on the cover Juiced.GS Volume 17, Issue 1. If you already have a credit card on file with online retailer Amazon.com, you can make your purchase in the Juiced.GS store without providing any additional billing information.

We hope the checkout process in our online store continues to prove convenient for all your Apple II periodical needs — whether you’re buying subscriptions, back issues, or PDFs. As always, if you have any feedback, suggestions, complaints, or concerns that can be used to better serve you, please let us know!

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Check out the new Juiced.GS site, store, and sale!

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.

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Friends for Life, back issue bundles, Concentrate, and sample issue

We’re pleased to announce several new products available today that make it easier than ever for Juiced.GS readers to complete their collections.

The Friends for Life CDs, previously available from Syndicomm, are once again available from Juiced.GS‘s publisher. FFL contains all the software that was originally distributed on the Shareware Spotlight disks that shipped with each of the magazine’s first 24 issues (1995–2001). Those six volumes of issues are also included on the CD as scanned GIFs. Friends For Life, which previously sold as two discs for $45, is now available as a single disc for $35.

If it’s your collection of print issues that needs completion, you can now purchase all 32 hardcopy issues from volumes 7 through 14 (2002–2009) in a single bundle at a 14% savings off buying them individually.

You can also get both of the above products — all our print issues and the Friends for Life disc — in a single comprehensive bundle. That’s every issue of Juiced.GS published 1995 through 2009 at 25% off!

If only specific topics from our exhaustive library interest you, the thematic Concentrate PDFs fit the bill. Released today is our fourth issue, covering copy protection. In this three-part series originally published in 2008, Antoine Vignau of Brutal Deluxe dissects the hardware and software techniques that make certain disks so challenging to preserve. As a bonus, Martin Haye’s walkthrough of his recent winning HackFest entry, a crack of Wizardry, is included.

Still not sure what to think? Download an updated sample issue PDF for free to read our coverage of KansasFest 2009, an interview with Apple R&D founding member Bob Bishop, and a review of the MicroDrive/Turbo interface card.