======================================================= _____ _ _ / _ / ___ _ __ | |__ __ _ _ __( )__ \// / / _ \| '_ \| '_ \ / _` | '__|/ __| / //\ (_) | |_) | | | | (_| | | \__ \ /____/\___/| .__/|_| |_|\__,_|_| |___/ |_| ___ _ / \___ _ __ ___ __ _(_)_ __ / /\ / _ \| '_ ` _ \ / _` | | '_ \ / /_// (_) | | | | | | (_| | | | | | /___,' \___/|_| |_| |_|\__,_|_|_| |_| ======================================= N E W S L E T T E R ======================================= Volume I Issue #3 November 23th, 1999. ======================================= Contents: 1. Intro 2. Featured Site of the Week 3. Featured File of the Week 4. Interview - THIS WEEK: Zophar 5. Puzzle/Quiz 6. Quote of the Week 7. Horoscopes 8. Outro -= Intro =- First, lets get the first thing out of the way. I would like to thank everyone for their continued support for this newsletter. I enjoy bringing it to you every week and love the feedback I get. Second, I would like to congratulate Mark Parsons for winning last weeks puzzle game. Good work. So, enough of the chat. Let's get on with it. -= Featured Site of the Week =- The featured site of the week is Retrogames. It was founded by Atila Mert on April 1st. 1998. Originally, he had a site that focused on Genesis/PCE emulation that started October 1997. It was initially started out of a joke. The site offers regular updates on emulators, humorous stuff, interesting links to various subjects that might interest the public. Retrogames also offers hardware information, IT, software patches, and more. You'll want to check this site out. It's very nice. SITE: http://www.retrogames.com ALTERNATE SITE: http://www.retrogames.net -= Featured File of the Week =- Nosefart is an NSF plug-in for WinAMP. It was coded by Matt Conte and Matthew Flewelling (Nitro.). It uses the sound engine from nofrendo, an NES emulator. An NSF is like a .SID. It features many songs inside one file. NSFs are extracted from the NES image itself, and is very small in size. NSFs are a great item to have if you're an NES music fan, or just want to reminince the past. SITE: http://www.nofrendo.org -= Interview =- ============ THIS WEEK: Zophar ============ Brad Levicoff is the owner of one of the biggest site for emulation. He owns http://www.zophar.net (Zophar's Domain.), and his site has been around now for about three years. He lives in Pennsylvania and here's what he had to say in an interview I conducted: ZDN:  How are you? Brad: Quite well; just came back from a small vacation from ZD. ZDN:  How old are you? Brad: 19 years old. ZDN:  When did you get into emulation? Brad: In the summer of 1996, when my friend Ross brought over a Gameboy emulator. Many people have heard the story, but I wouldn't believe him, saying "How can you fit Gameboy games in the disk drive?". :) ZDN:  What initially attracted you to it? Brad: The fact that I could play videogames on a computer was just mind boggling. For weeks after I tried the first emulator, I kept thinking, "Look at this... I'm playing Mario on my computer. This is impossible". The main thing that attracted me to it was just the idea that it could be done. ZDN:  Where did you get your nick and site name from? Brad: From an RPG on the Sega CD called Lunar: Eternal Blue. The character "Zophar" was from a videogame, "Lunar: Eternal Blue" (Zophar was an evil god who tried to destroy the world) which is still one of my favorite video games of all time. The site name came from the final dungeon, "Zophar's Domain". The name stuck like glue. ZDN:  What is your favorite emulator?  Why? Brad: NESticle, genecyst and ZSNES are my three favorite emulators, since the NES, Genesis and SNES are 3 of my 4 favorite systems of all time (the 4th being the Sega CD), and I've grown used to NESticle's GUI, even though more complete NES emulators do exist out there. ZDN:  What do you think of emulation site competition? Brad: I think it's great! Where would we be without competition? WWF/WCW, Coke/Pepsi, sports... in the end, competition always ends up benefitting the consumer (or visitor, or client, and so forth) with a better product. ZDN:  Do you think that sites should compete to see who comes up on top? Brad: I think sites should compete, but no site will ever really come out on top. If one does, it's sure to be dethroned shortly by another site that's more determined. As long as this cycle continues, the system works, and the site visitors are the one who end up benefitting from the competition. ZDN:  How does it feel to have a very successful emulation site? Brad: Pretty damned good. :) After three long years, the fruits of our labour are finally paying off. ZDN:  A couple of weeks ago, you unleashed "Believe" onto the world.  Where did you come up with "Believe"? Brad: I wanted to honor the return of Bloodlust with the cryptic ways which Sardu (Icer Addis) of Bloodlust Software would release an emulator update. The name "Believe" with a red "B" just seemed like the best way to do it. ZDN:  What did you think of the reaction you got from it? Brad: It definitely got many different reactions. While some was positive, some was negative, and still more were neutral, I like to think that as long as something we do gets a reaction, it means that the people care. As long as the visitors still care, that's all that truly matters, and in the long run benefits ZD and all of the visitors (through suggestions and constructive criticism). ZDN:  What is your stand on the legalities of emulation? Brad: I'm not a lawyer, but I do know that the illegal distribution of video games protected under copyright law is not tolerated by any video game company, and thus is not a part and never will be a part of ZD. Emulating a system is not the same as pirating and distributing the video games themselves. ZDN:  Where do you think emulation is going?  Is it slowly dying or is it just heating up or is it riding its peak? Brad: Although the "retro" idea of 1995-early 1997 emulation is dying off, emulation itself has never been stronger! As newer emulators are released, and more and more bugs are worked out, the idea of the "perfect" emulator, which is the goal that every emulator author strives for and which will probably never be reached, becomes more and more of a reality. I don't like to look at the dark side of things, so I feel that emulation is still on an upward climb. ZDN:  Do you have any last comments? Brad: Only two: Emulation Forever! ZDN:  Thanks for doing this interview. Brad: No problem. Now get back to work, slave! ;) Interview done by: Lycia (Stacey Flewelling.) -= Puzzle/Quiz =- Last weeks puzzles were quite challenging, so I give two easy ones and two hard ones. Puzzle #1: Here is a pattern below: A EF HI KLMN ------------------ BCD G J OP There is a reason why some letters are above the line and some are below the line. Figure out the pattern and complete the alphabet. Puzzle #2: Two people are talking long distance on the phone; one is in an East- Coast state of the US, the other is in a West-Coast state of the US. The first asks the other "What time is it?", hears the answer, and says, "That's funny. It's the same time here!" How can this be? Puzzle #3 A cable, 16 meters in length, hangs between two pillars that are both 15 meters high. The ends of the cable are attached to the tops of the pillars. At its lowest point, the cable hangs 7 meters above the ground. How far are the two pillars apart? Puzzle #4 You are standing next to a well, and you have two jugs. One jug has a content of 3 liters and the other one has a content of 5 liters. How can you get just 4 liters of water using only these two jugs? -= Quote of the Week =- You know that gay AOL commercial with that kid saying, "You don't have to be afraid to use AOL, because the people on AOL are just like you!" Well, BDLou contributes to this weeks quote. I found it quite amusing. You don't have to be afraid to use ZD, because the people on ZD are just like you. -= Horoscopes =- Read your horoscope and find out what's in the forecast for you! ARIES - March 21 - April 19 Okay, this week, I'd like to see you not do ANY drugs or anything that might cause brain damage. This week isn't gonna be any picnic so its best if you have a clear head and stuff. HEY! I said NOTHING that will cause brain damage. I know I said to clear your head, but, god. Vodka is NOT the answer. Pfffft. TAURUS - April 20 - May 20 Shame on you, Taurus. How dare you defy my authority? I told you to NOT make a big stink out of everything, and what did you do? The EXACT opposite. You know, sometimes I wonder if its even worth talking to you. Get OUT of my face! GEMINI - May 21 - June 21 This week is the time to relax and have fun with that special someone. So, if you're attached, go out to a movie and dinner with your loved one, and talk about how you'd love to jump his/her bones. ;) CANCER - June 22 - July 22 ATTENTION! It's time for you to stop your bickering, Cancer. Seems to me that all you do is fight and argue and only want your side of things and are not willing to let others have their share of the profits. You are one hell of an egotist, Cancer. Let others share the wealth. LEO - July 23 - Aug. 22 La-di freakin' da. You managed to not piss off mommy and daddy last week. Good for you! Now, its time for you to take advantage of the situation. Here's what you do: Ask mommy and daddy for some money so you can get drunk this weekend. Mmmmmmmmmmmmm. Alcohol. VIRGO - Aug. 23 - Sept. 22 "Mmmmmmm. Nakedness. Ooooh, look at that body." HEY! What did I tell you about that porn? Hmmmmm? Okay, okay. You can watch a few minutes more. This week you should concentrate on finding love. It looks like its in the forecast for you in the next week or so. LIBRA - Sept. 23 - Oct. 23 So, have fun last week? Yeah? I'm glad. :) I'm glad that you finally got some and now its time for you to concentrate on work. If you have a job, give the boss a break and do what he/she asks of you and if you're jobless. . . What are you waiting for? Get your butt a job! Sheesh, lazy bones. SCORPIO - Oct. 24 - Nov. 21 You will have a brief encounter involving 5 gallons of water and 40 male frat members. Make your decisions wisely. SAGITTARIUS - Nov. 22 - Dec. 21 Planetary influences make it not a good day for emulation. So, why not take your stress out on your sister/brother? CAPRICORN - Dec. 22 - Jan. 19 Beware of 12ft caterpillars. Especially the ones that sneak into your bed. ;) AQUARIUS - Jan. 20 - Feb. 18 Okay, so you had your fun with your drugs this week, but remember: You don't like the drugs but the drugs like you, don't like the drugs, the drugs the drugs. Your sex is missionary. . . la la la la la. Oops. Sorry. :/ PISCES - Feb. 19 - Mar. 20 What? Where am I? Is this the place I was in before? Damn, you did a great job in here, Pisces. VERY great job. Mind giving me a sponge bath, Pisces? I'd love to change too! But, on the other hand, you might want to keep working on cleaning because your job isn't quite finished, yet. -= Outro =- Well, there you have it. Your third newsletter. We hope you enjoyed this first issue of the Zophar's Domain newsletter. More issues are to come, so sit tight. We'll start distributing them as soon as we can. In the meantime, keep coming to ZD! We are glad you've chosen us. ======================================================= Credits: Created by: Lycia (Stacey Flewelling) Thanks go out to Zophar for doing the interview. Thanks to Atila for providing information about his site. Horoscope help by: Robert Warner, PACHUKA, and Moistfly. ======================================================= © 1996-1999 Zophar's Domain All Rights Reserved