When I was a kid, I spent a lot of time writing and not enough time working my Applesoft.

It was February 26th, 1986, Third Period Computer Basic Class. This
was the day I would write my greatest Applesoft program ever.  What it lacks in
actual program content, it more than makes up for in setting the stage
for the antagonistic relationship I was developing with the instructor.
I only had to print it a few times for debugging purposes to seal the
deal for the rest of the semester.

 1  REM  *********************************************************
 2  REM  *                                                       *
 3  REM  *                   Copyright (c) 1986                  *
 4  REM  *    Xanith Diskette Company and/or its affiliates.     *
 5  REM  *                   All rights reserved.                *
 6  REM  *                                                       *
 7  REM  *  Redistribution and use in source and binary forms,   *
 8  REM  *  with or withoutmodification, are permitted provided  *
 9  REM  *  that the following conditions are met:               *
10  REM *                                                       *
11  REM * -Redistributions of source code must retain the above *
12  REM *  copyright notice, this list of conditions and the    *
13  REM *  following disclaimer.                                *
14  REM *                                                       *
15  REM * -Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the    *
16  REM *  above copyright notice, this list of conditions and  *
17  REM *  the following disclaimer in the documentation and/o  *
18  REM *  other materials provided with the distribution.      *
19  REM *                                                       *
20  REM * -Neither the name of Xanith Diskette Company or the   *
21  REM *  names of its contributors may be used to endorse     *
22  REM *  or promote products derived from this software       *
23  REM *  without specific prior written permission.           *
24  REM *                                                       *
25  REM * THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND*
26  REM * CONTRIBUTORS "AS IS" AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED       *
27  REM * WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED*
28  REM * WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A       *
29  REM * PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED.  IN NO EVENT SHALL *
30  REM * THE COPYRIGHT OWNER OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY *
31  REM * DIRECT, INDIRECT, *INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR *
32  REM * CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING,BUT NOT LIMITED TO,  *
33  REM * PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF  *
34  REM * USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOW- *
35  REM * EVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN*
36  REM * CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING        *
37  REM * NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE*
38  REM * USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSS-    *
39  REM * IBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.                               *
40  REM *                                                       *
41  REM * The SUMS program impliments an application that simply*
42  REM * allows a third party (hereby referred to as "user") to*
43  REM * assign numeric values to variables, which are held in *
44  REM * memory, called upon, and used to calculate a total    *
45  REM * sum.  No claim of ownership will be brought against   *
46  REM * the user values and such intent is neither implied or *
47  REM * expressed for the term in which the user values are   *
48  REM * contained in memory.                                  *
49  REM *                                                       *
50  REM *                                                       *
51  REM *                     SUMS                              *
52  REM *                                                       *
53  REM *                      by                               *
54  REM *               Daniel McLaughlin                       *
55  REM *                  Third Period                         *
56  REM *               February 26, 1986                       *
57  REM *                                                       *
58  REM *                   STARRING                            *
59  REM *                     The                               *
60  REM *               DECLARED VARIABLES                      *
61  REM *         A$ as User Numeric Input No. 1                *
62  REM *         B$ as User Numeric Input No. 2                *
63  REM *                                                       *
64  REM *********************************************************
65  INPUT "INPUT THE FIRST NUMBER => ";A
66  INPUT "INPUT THE SECOND NUMBER => ";B
67  C = A + B
68  PRINT  
69  PRINT A;" + ";B;" = ";C
70  FOR I = 1 TO 2500 : NEXT I
71  TEXT  : HOME
72  END

I’ve had to slow it down a little, my friends.  I’ve been getting a lot of hangout time with the Apple IIgs, lately.  In fact, I have had so much hang out time that my wife has put the kabosh on it while she’s around.  Oh well, I suppose I was getting a little obsessive.  I can’t help it as it is a new platform to me, and one that on some levels I am intimate with, but on other levels I am not at all.  It’s exciting to me and has taken me down some good paths.

This weekend I decided to primp up my CF image I am booting from.  I wanted some software, but I really have not a clue what the spectrum of quality is for different offerings.  It’s a complete trial by error methodology that I am implementing, and I like it that way, because the surprises to me are infinitely entertaining.  The first big surprise for me was SheppyWare.  I hadn’t spent much time there, because of my self-imposed 8-bit limitations of time gone past, but, I am happy to report that it is great, at least what I have experimented with so far.  You know, no actually meeting people, and only knowing of them from pieces you can glean from articles, chat rooms, text files, pod casts and the like, only really let you see them from a small crack of a door.  I have chatted with Sheppy a bit, but never looked closely at his offerings.  I can read a bit more about he man but the programs he’s written and I was impressed.  Granted, this impression is not of one who know the details, but by reading the docs, you can see the Sheppy identified a problem that irked him, and created the code to work around the problem, all in an effort to make the IIgs more like it should have been.  Yeah, that’s right.  You just read me getting excited about nearly 20 year old shareware.  The best part about reading the descriptions, hand choosing what I needed and putting them on my image (via the KEGS emulator, mind you) was that a few times I was referred to software that I didn’t know about such as Signature and Twilight II, that provide custom sound for events and a impressive screen saver.  I was also prompted to get a copy of Merlin16 on my drive as well as Wolfenstien 3D and a word processor or two.  If you are running  a IIgs and haven’t checked Sheppy’s site out, you are delinquent.

In addition to tweaking up the GS, I also began some reasearch int to the Apple-Cat II, entirely for my own edification, of course.  I came across a great page that if you have had an interest in the Apple-Cat I you probably have come across before.  I took a very close and discerning look this time and downloaded some of the files that the author had made available.  I was hoping to be more successful with reconstituting these files but I was not successful.  I do see some more Apple Cat time in my future and have been thinking aobut how I can create a setup that is optimal for how I want to explore the with the Cat.  That may be some weeks away.

I have a IIgs RGB monitor coming in a day or few, and need to reorganize the set up to support the room I need for it.  I am also going to reorganized the card  distribution inside the machines as well.  I haven’t the optimal plan as of yet, but am working on it.  Until I get a secondary CF Drive, I am limited to using CF images one machine at a time.  My GS is mot accelerated, and despite the cost I am highly interested in acceleration, but I am second thinking that.  I have a IIe that is accelerated, I love it, but I may be able to get by without on the GS by using the emulator when I need it fast.  That is kind of a lo-res way of looking at it, but I think I can get by.  I know I need more clock cycles on the GS before I have a good grasp of what counts and an opinion that means anything about it, but I am really liking the experience.  There is something about this experience that fits a quirk I have in my personality.  I don’t know if there is a word for it, but it probably should have it’s own Sniglet.  I will try to describe it.  When I was on a submarine, it was only a matter of time before you were only way to familiar with damn near everybody on board.  Familiar enough to write a biography.  So, to offset that, I desperately tried not to meet anyone new that came on board.  The goal was to have a stranger on board the boat when we were underway.  It was great to look over, see some face, and have no idea who they were or (rarely) what they did.  Somehow that made the experience better.  I think the same is true with the IIgs experiment.  There are a ton of expert human resources I could call on, who know the best way, but I already know that I am going to give there minds a break, because I am having a lot of fun experimenting with the system like it’s the first time.  Because it is.  As I proceed on that route I am constantly catching myself being impress with the capability of the machine.  And because of that, I keep wondering just how far I am likely to take it.