science

Soulz at Zero

Soulz at Zero is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Soulz at Zero rather than just read about it. In short: Soulz at Zero (SAZ) was a lit group formed in 1994 by Jack Flack (Rob O'Hara) and The Stranger (Stephen Alba). SAZ released 25 monthly packs over a period of two years, beginning in September 1994 and ending in September 1996.

Key takeaways

Soulz at Zero belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Soulz at Zero to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Soulz at Zero from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Soulz at Zero (SAZ) was a lit group formed in 1994 by Jack Flack (Rob O'Hara) and The Stranger (Stephen Alba). SAZ released 25 monthly packs over a period of two years, beginning in September 1994 and ending in September 1996. The group took its name from a Souls at Zero poster Flack had in his bedroom at the time, with the trailing "s" in "Souls" changed to a "z". Soulz at Zero was so well known that their name was added to the "Elite Acronym List," which was used to separate "lamers" from "elite users." In the 1990s, several ANSI art groups began including "lits" (electronic literary art) in their packs. Expanding on that idea, Soulz at Zero became the first dedicated online lit group. Each Soulz at Zero pack contained several original horror-themed poems and short stories. Each pack also contained an issue of "The Death Certificate," an original nonfiction magazine which included horror-related news, articles, book and movie reviews, and interviews. Soulz at Zero's innovation was the addition of ANSI artwork, color, and VGA graphics, although the focus of the group was focused on original fiction. The packs were designed to be viewed with an included viewer, which no longer runs on modern operating systems. Soulz at Zero packs were distributed via BBS. Each month, readers could download new SAZ packs from either Where Shadows Wait (WHQ, run by The Stranger) or The Gas Chamber (US HQ, run by Jack Flack). As popularity of the group grew, so did its number of distribution sites. Before its demise, SAZ had member boards in over a dozen states and several countries including Canada and Portugal. With the introduction and growing popularity of the World Wide Web to the masses, Soulz at Zero slowly began to make the transition from the BBS world to the web. SAZ eventually added a web site and an FTP site to its official distribution points. In September 1996 Soulz at Zero released its last pack and disbanded, citing burnout and a general lack of public feedback/interest. In 2002, online lit group Candelabra (CND) released a Soulz at Zero spotlight that included new work from former members of SAZ, along with audio (mp3) readings, audio commentaries, and an audio history of the group as told by Jack Flack and The Stranger. The audio history was reused in the Soulz at Zero episode of You Don't Know Flack.

Packs Each Soulz at Zero pack consisted of four types of original files: poetry, short stories, multimedia files, and the Death Certificate. Poems were usually non-rhyming, horror themed, and contained ANSI color. Short Stories were also horror related, but usually did not contain any ANSI color enhancements. Media Files included VGA pictures and occasionally WAV files. This was done as an attempt to win cross-over fans from the ANSI art. The Death Certificate was The Stranger's monthly non-fiction horror newsletter, which contained reviews and interviews.

Members Soulz at Zero was founded by Jack Flack and The Stranger, who formed a friendship in high school over their common interests in heavy metal music and horror books and movies. Jack Flack (Rob O'Hara) was an original member of TBH405 (The Brotherhood of 405) and founded SiTH (Sick in the Head) e-zine. O'Hara has written articles for IGN, 2600: The Hacker Quarterly, the Cult of the Dead Cow, and contributed to the O'Reilly book Retro Gaming Hacks. Flack has self-published two books, Commodork: Sordid Tales from a BBS Junkie and Invading Spaces: A Beginner's Guide to Collecting Arcade Games. Flack blogs regularly at RobOHara.com. The Stranger (Stephen Alba) has self-published several books through Lulu and is currently a second grade teacher at Northridge Elementary in the Putnam City School District. The first of several SAZ packs consisted of only Jack Flack and The Stranger. The next two members to be added were Black Sunshine and Deranged.

External links Soulz at Zero Graveyard (complete online archive of all packs) Flack's home page Flack's book Commodork: Sordid Tales from a BBS Junkie (includes chapter about Soulz at Zero)

References

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Soulz at Zero

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Soulz at Zero claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Soulz at Zero before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Soulz at Zero ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Soulz at Zero

In research: Soulz at Zero appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Soulz at Zero in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Soulz at Zero is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Bulletin board systems, DIY culture, Horror fiction, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Soulz at Zero outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

Ask Teacher Smith questions about this articleOpens your AI tutor with a question about “Soulz at Zero” →

Affiliate

Preply — study more efficiently by working with a personal tutor. 50% off.

How to study Soulz at Zero in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Soulz at Zero means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Soulz at Zero out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Soulz at Zero in simple terms?

Why does Soulz at Zero matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Soulz at Zero?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Soulz at Zero.