William Martens is a computer engineer and magazine editor. He is primarily a programmer who dabbles in the hardware realm and enjoys writing science fiction in addition to writing articles for the magazine Call-A.P.P.L.E.

Call-A.P.P.L.E.

Call-A.P.P.L.E. Magazine is the monthly journal publication of the Apple Pugetsound Program Library Exchange . The magazine was published from 1978 until 1990 when it was discontinued; after a 12 year lapse publication was restarted in 2002...

, including the long surviving "Bytes from the A.P.P.L.E." a product introduction article. His invention of The Library 1.1 allows A.P.P.L.E to produce the software and document libraries in a matter of seconds covering the entire range of Apple

Apple Computer

Apple Inc. is an American multinational corporation that designs and markets consumer electronics, computer software, and personal computers. The company's best-known hardware products include the Macintosh line of computers, the iPod, the iPhone and the iPad...

 computer

Computer

A computer is a programmable machine designed to sequentially and automatically carry out a sequence of arithmetic or logical operations. The particular sequence of operations can be changed readily, allowing the computer to solve more than one kind of problem...

s.

Early life and inspiration

Bill's early years were spent traveling around the world with his father, Michael, a U.S. Army soldier. His early interests included Rocketry, space exploration, and flying. This may have been due to his stepmother, Betty Lou Miller, being a Westinghouse clean-room supervisor. From an early age, she began putting electronics kits, books on space and satellites and other science related items in his room. Bill built his first radio at age 9 from one of the kits Betty had provided.

Bill's first contact with a computer came in 1976 through a copy of Creative Computing

Creative Computing

Creative Computing was one of the earliest magazines covering the microcomputer revolution. Published from 1974 until December 1985, Creative Computing covered the whole spectrum of hobbyist/home/personal computing in a more accessible format than the rather technically-oriented BYTE. The magazine...

, a popular hobbyist magazine at the time. When Bill moved to Germany with his father in 1977, the school had a DEC PDP/11-4 series computer which had several teletypes attached. This is where his true talents came through. By 1979, Bill was spending more than 5 hours a day in the computer labs at Nuremberg American H.S., working on anything computer related he could. Always seen with his box of computer tapes, it was apparent that this would be his life.

In 1980, Bill returned to the US and once again turned to the computers and by summer of 1981, was working for Apple Pugetsound Program Library Exchange.

His life at A.P.P.L.E.

Bill joined A.P.P.L.E in Summer 1981. Under the expert tutelage of Michael Christensen and Joff Morgan, Bill began to take an interest in Pascal which was fast becoming the programming language of the modern programmer. In January 1982, Bill began work on the Pascal Anthology which became a mainstay product for A.P.P.L.E until 1988. In 1989, he moved to Japan to pursue his career in engineering. His first job in Japan was working for a Japanese electronics house designing and programming satellite tranceivers for ships.

In 1985 he created a language which allowed formatting of text and allowed user interaction. File Control Language was only released in small numbers and was soon made obsolete by the introduction of HyperCard

HyperCard

HyperCard is an application program created by Bill Atkinson for Apple Computer, Inc. that was among the first successful hypermedia systems before the World Wide Web. It combines database capabilities with a graphical, flexible, user-modifiable interface. HyperCard also features HyperTalk, written...

. The other thing which led to the quick demise of File Control Language was the fact that is was oriented around the Apple II Series computers and was not ported to any of the other computing platforms of the era.

In 1997, he invented the self producing web system for computer databases, The Library 1.1. This system was a mainstay of the MSCOM software library which has become the surviving system in A.P.P.L.E's efforts to create one of the largest Apple related software and documentation libraries on the internet today.

In 2001, he began to work on restoring A.P.P.L.E and Call-A.P.P.L.E

Call-A.P.P.L.E.

Call-A.P.P.L.E. Magazine is the monthly journal publication of the Apple Pugetsound Program Library Exchange . The magazine was published from 1978 until 1990 when it was discontinued; after a 12 year lapse publication was restarted in 2002...

. Magazine. By May 2002, this was a reality with the first newsletter/magazine issue since 1994. Today, the magazine has a distribution of about 14,000 copies per month and continues to enjoy a high percentage of readers who are Apple II specific readers. Bill currently serves as the President of A.P.P.L.E. and is in his second term as President separated by a one year period in which Mike Pfaiffer was President.

Other Exploits

William Martens is known in Japan as for his years as a football Player and as a television actor. As a Television actor, William has performed in numerous Japanese and Korean dramas, re-enactment dramas, Variety programs, commercials and promotional videos. He is currently starring in the Paul Carter directed film, "The Lost Man", which will be released fall 2006.

Football career

William has played for several clubs over the past 17 years. He joined the Harajuku Indians in 1990 and played and coached with them until the team folded in 1997. After a 5 year retirement due to an injury sustained when he was joining the Tachikawa Falcons of the JPFF, he returned to the Tokrozawa Outlaws in 2007 where he played for 2 years. He is currently playing with the Unisys Bulls of the X-League

X-League

The X-League is a professional American football league in Japan. It was founded in 1971 as the Japan American Football League. It changed its name to the X-league in 1997. There are four divisions between which there is promotion and relegation. Teams in the four-tier league are split into...

 top division.

Stats:

Ht: 6'4" (190 cm)

Wt: 260 lbs (118 kg)

Year	League	Team	Position	Number	Notes
1990	TFL	Harajuku Indians	TE, WR	83
1991	TFL	Harajuku Indians	TE, WR	83
1992	UFL	Harajuku Indians	DT, NG	56
1993	UFL	Harajuku Indians	DT, NG, K	56
1994	UFL	Harajuku Indians	DT, NG, K	56
1995	UFL	Harajuku Indians	DT, NG, K	56	Asst. Coach
1996	UFL	Harajuku Indians	DT, NG, K	56	Asst. Coach, Interim Head Coach
1997	UFL	Harajuku Indians	DT, NG, K	56
1998	JPFF	Hibarigaoka Moby Dicks	DT, OT, K	94
1999	JPFF	Fuji TV Steelers	DT, OT	13
2000	JPFF	Atsugi White Dolphins	C, OT, NG	70
2001					Injured in Camp
2002					No Record
2003					No Record
2004					No Record
2005					No Record
2006					No Record
2007	JPFF	Tokorozawa Outlaws	C, NG	56
2008	JPFF	Tokorozawa Outlaws	C, NG	56
2009	X-League X-League The X-League is a professional American football league in Japan. It was founded in 1971 as the Japan American Football League. It changed its name to the X-league in 1997. There are four divisions between which there is promotion and relegation. Teams in the four-tier league are split into...	Unisys Bulls	DT	58	Rookie / Oldest player in X-League

External links

• William Martens's personal site at Wazoom.com
• A Voice From The Minor Leagues - a blog of Bill's time with the Tokorozawa Outlaws football team