MAME 0.137b

MAME stands for Multiple Arcade Machine Emulator. When used in conjunction with an arcade game’s data files (ROMs, CHDs, samples, etc.), MAME attempts to reproduce that game as faithfully as possible on a more modern general-purpose system. MAME can currently emulate many thousands of classic arcade video games from the the very earliest CPU-based systems to much more modern 3D platforms.

The ROM and CHD images that MAME requires are “dumped” from arcade games’ original circuit-board ROM chips, hard disks, and CD-ROMs. MAME becomes the “hardware” for the games, taking the place of their original CPUs and support chips. Therefore, these games are NOT ports or rewrites, but the actual, original games that appeared in arcades, complete with all the bugs, glitches, slowdowns, and subtleties of the original game as it appeared in the arcade.

MAME’s purpose is to preserve these decades of video-game history. As gaming technology continues to rush forward, MAME prevents these important “vintage” games from being lost and forgotten. This is achieved by documenting the hardware and how it functions. The source code to MAME serves as this documentation. The fact that the games are playable serves primarily to validate the accuracy of the documentation (how else can you prove that you have recreated the hardware faithfully)?

Sixtis 1.12

A very customizable remake of Tetris with different play modes. You can set the direction of gravitation force. Shapes can fall through the field, and if you attempt to move them outside the field, they appear on the other side. You can start a custom game with your own set of rules or try out many interesting pre-defined settings.

Max Biaggi hopes to clinch manufacturers title for Aprilia in France

A week after claiming his first World Superbike Championship title , Italian Max Biaggi is looking to add the constructors title for Aprilia at the final round of the season at Magny-Cours circuit in France.

The veteran rider needs just nine points from the two races this weekend to land the title for Aprilia, only two years after the manufacturer entered the sport with the RSV4 machine.

Max Biaggi is now 39 years old and seems to have been around forever, for me it has been fantastic to see the Italian at last fulfill his promise and land the World title and it would be a personal triumph for the rider if he can claim the manufacturers prize for his team as well.

The 2010 World Superbike Champion Max Biaggi said;

“It would be truly exceptional to be able to place the manufacturer world title next to my rider world title. Most of all I think it would be a great reward for the guys on the team and the entire racing division who, together with me, have given a performance this season which will go down in the history of our sport. As always, we will be giving it our all.”

Meanwhile Britain’s Leon Haslam who was pipped for the title by Biaggi, will ride his last race for the Suzuki Alstare satellite team having secured a ride with BMW next season.

Fellow Brit James Toseland will also bid farewell to his current employers at Yamaha this weekend although he has yet to secure a ride for next year. Rumours are that he could rejoin the Ten Kate Honda team where he won his second World Superbike title in 2007.

Chris Vermeulen back on track in Kawasaki test

Kawasaki were the first of the World Superbike teams to get on the track in 2011 with a planned four day testing at Sepang where they will hope to iron out any problems with the new ZX10R.

Among the riders taken to Malaysia for the test outing was Chris Vermeulen, taking his first ride aboard a race spec bike since undergoing surgery on a knee injury sustained in the opening round of the 2010 season almost a year ago.

Vermeulen had the surgery later in the season in July 2010 and has spent the last six months recuperating, he said that he has only started walking in the last three weeks.

His test ride aboard the Kawasaki ZX10R cheered the rider no end, although rain hampered his progress during the afternoon and he will be looking forward to further testing today.

Pleased with his first impressions of the Kawasaki Vermeulen admitted that his knee still has some way to go before full recovery saying that although it had improved a lot over the last couple of weeks, he cannot bend the knee enough at present on right hand corners.

Kawasaki team mates Tom Sykes and Joan Lascorz were also on track in Sepang during the private testing, ahead of the official first test in Portugal at the Portimao circuit on January 26th.

Castrol Honda return to World Superbike

The official Castrol Honda launch took place in Berkshire this week at the Castrol Technology Centre, giving the media their first chance to see the Honda in its iconic Castrol livery.

The Castrol Honda team will be run by Ten Kate Honda and their riders for the upcoming 2011 season have been long announced as Jonathan Rea and Ruben Xaus.

The team and riders are currently in Aragon putting the new machine through its paces and checking out the new chassis components as well as evaluating the new electronics on the Honda.

It is eight years since the Castrol Honda livery was last seen in World Superbike, back in 2002 when Jonathan Rea was still a schoolboy and he remembers rushing home from a motocross competition to watch Colin Edwards beat Troy Bayliss at Imola that season in which Edwards won the World Superbike Championship.

The young rider will be hoping some of that magic rubs off for him this season, he has after all already shown that he has the potential to reach the top at this most competitive level of motorcycle racing.

Sharjah Cricket Stadium to come alive again

Sharjah - Sharjah Cricket Stadium may soon come alive again by becoming the venue for a Test match and One-day international. Plans are on to get the stadium ready for Pakistan’s Test and One-day series against Sri Lanka set to commence in October.

Speaking to Gulf News, Abdulrehman Bukhatir, who brought international cricket to UAE in the early eighties and went on transform this stadium into a venue, which hosted the maximum number of One-day internationals in the world, said: “It has been proposed to the Emirates Cricket Board to consider Sharjah as a venue during the Pakistan series and it is being discussed.”

Pakistan will host their Test and One-day home series against Sri Lanka in October and their series against England in January in UAE owing to security reasons.

”Sharjah is a venue which has hosted over 200 One-dayers and I feel it deserves to continue hosting international matches,” added Bukhatir.

The Pakistan’s series against Sri Lanka and England will comprise three Test matches, five One-dayers and one Twenty20 match. Sharjah hosted its last Test match in October 2002 between Pakistan and Australia.

The last One-day match between Test playing nations was held in April 2003. The tournament was called the Cherry Blossom Sharjah Cup involving Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe and Kenya. International matches came to a standstill after this venue staged 198 One-dayers. However, the venue crossed the 200 mark by staging two One-day matches between Afghanistan and Canada last year. Incidentally, Sharjah stadium is also the home ground of the Afghanistan team which is also unable to stage its matches at home due to security reasons.

Mazhar Khan, the secretary of the Sharjah Cricket Council and Administrator of the Emirates Cricket Board, said: “Everything will be done to make the stadium look as good as in the past. We will overhaul all the facilities including the seats for the spectators.”
Sharjah has a seating capacity of 27,000 though over 30,000 fans used to watch the action in the past.

“We are sure if the Pakistan matches are held here, the turn out will be excellent as we get a full house here even for our Ramadan matches. For the night matches we will repair some of the floodlight bulbs. It is mandatory that floodlights are available for even Test matches,” added Khan.

When asked whether International Cricket Council’s approval will be required for resumption of international matches between Test playing nations, Khan said: “The wickets are match fit because domestic tournaments are regularly played on it and Associate and Affiliate nations have also been playing matches on it. If we get the approval then we will keep aside wickets for Test and One-day matches from domestic matches.”

Sharjah's Score:
Sharjah Stadium was established in 1982.
It has staged four Test matches involving Pakistan, West Indies and Australia.
The last Test match was held in October 2002.
The stadium has staged 200 one-day matches.
The last One-day series involving Test nations was held in April 2003.
The highest Test score is Pakistan’s 493 vs West Indies in January 2002.
The highest One-day score is New Zealand’s 338 for 4 in 50 overs against Bangladesh on April 28, 1990. (K.R. Nayar)

Source: http://gulfnews.com

UAE to confirm entry into Asian Qualifiers

Abu Dhabi - Sitting comfortable with a 1-0 first leg win over DPR Korea, hosts UAE will be looking to confirm their entry into the league phase of the Asian Qualifiers for the 2012 London Olympics when the two teams meet in the return leg in Al Ain tonight.

The UAE team, which scored a 56th minute against the Koreans in Pyongyang last week, will be going in as the favourites to clinch a berth in the group stage.

Emirati Mahdi Ali, coach of the UAE team said his side will adopt the same approach and will be looking for a win.

"The team is in good spirits, we have no injury problems and we are confident of putting up a good show," the highly-successful Emirati coach said.

Ali's side boasts of some of the finest players which include Ahmad Khalil, Hamdan Al Kamali, goalkeeper Adel Al Hosani, Theyab Awana and Omar Abdul-Rahman.

Korean coach Jo In-Chol skipped the pre-match press conference and the team's media officer said the heat will be a disadvantage for the visiting side. "Though the players will find the climate a little too tough the players are all focused and keen to reverse the result. They are desperate to qualify and they will fight hard," he said.

The winner of this two-legged first round encounter will advance to a four-nation group, one of the three for the second round. The winner of the three groups will advance to the London Olympics while the three runners-up will play each other in a play-off. The winner of that play-off will play the fourth-ranked team from Africa in another play-off for a spot at the Olympic Games.

Wednesday's match: UAE vs DPR Korea, Al Qattara Stadium, Al Ain, 7.45 pm.

Iran v Iraq
Vietnam v Saudi Arabia
Kuwait v Japan
Jordan v South Korea
Oman v China
India v Qatar
Yemen v Australia
Hong Kong v Uzbekistan
Malaysia v Lebanon
Turkmenistan v Syria
Palestine v Bahrain
UAE v North Korea
(M. Satya Narayan)

Source: http://gulfnews.com

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