“Here’s something for the DIY people, a home made mp3 player built into a mint case. Total (minimum) cost for parts: ~50$. At least it’s something different.” Slashdot [article] Very nice, I love to see people making inventive things, we get too much standard rubbish these days (which is why I love apple)

Microsoft’s Macintosh Business Unit has announced several updates to products at Macworld Conference & Expo on Tuesday, including MSN Messenger 5.0. Version 5.0 of MSN Messenger for Mac will be released in the first half of 2005, adding several new features, like improved security and the ability to add users listed in a company’s Global Address List (GAL) or corporate address book. It will also enable users to view both personal and corporate messaging accounts from one location. Other improvements remain unknown but we’re hoping there will be plenty. As you can...

“Enemy Territory Fortress (ETF), a port of the Quake3 mod Q3F is now available for Enemy Territory players. ETF is based off the Team Fortress concept: 10 unique classes and a ton of very cool weapons along with some killer maps. The mod includes many game types like CTF, Reverse CTF, Single Flag, Capture & Hold, Assault, King of the Hill and Duel. To play the mod, all people need to do is download Enemy Territory and the latest patch which are both free. You can find a list of download mirrors for ETF here.“ Slashdot [article] Seems cool, i’ll probably get it

The morgues at the hospitals of Baghdad are filling to capacity. At Yarmouk Hospital in central Baghdad, the three freezers reek of decaying bodies, despite the temperature. The smell rushes out at us as the doors are opened. I’ve smelled the burning bodies on the funeral pires in Nepal but this is different. This smell how do I describe it? But it never leaves me, long after we leave the hospital later. Dahr Jamail’s Iraq Dispatches [article cont] If you want to see how it’s really like…

The outgoing head of the US Department of Homeland Security has said torture may be used in certain cases in order to prevent a major loss of life. 01/15/05 “BBC” — Speaking to the BBC, Tom Ridge said the US did not condone the use of torture to extract information from terrorists. But he said that under an “extreme set” of hypothetical circumstances, such as a nuclear threat, “it could happen”. A spokesman for Mr Ridge said his comments were taken out of context and did not amount to approval of torture.` Mr Ridge’s remarks come a day after the US...

Florida’s office of the Washington-based Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-FL) today expressed deep disappointment over the government’s failure to charge as a “terrorist” a man who was actively plotting to bomb 50 Islamic centers and Muslim schools in that state. Robert Goldstein, 38, pleaded guilty Thursday to conspiracy to violate civil rights, attempting to damage religious property and a weapons possession charge. He faces a maximum of 15 years in prison. Goldstein was arrested last August when authorities found a large arsenal in his town house. That arsenal...

FORT HOOD, Texas (Reuters) – A military jury has found U.S. soldier Charles Graner guilty of abusing Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison in a scandal that badly damaged America’s worldwide reputation following the invasion of Iraq. A 10-member military jury found Graner, 36, a former civilian prison guard, guilty on 10 charges, many of which were documented by photographs of sexual humiliation of naked male prisoners that shocked the world after they were leaked last year. Graner stood to attention and looked straight ahead without any visible reaction as the verdict was read on Friday....

Neowin.net reports: Thanks to keratosis on BPN The company behind the format which brought music downloading to the masses has done it again. Fraunhofer has released its new MP3 Surround codec, allowing full 5.1 audio to be easily compressed and downloaded. And to encourage use of the new format, free encoders are being made available until the end of the year. The format has been released by Fraunhofer and Thomson, who co-invented the original format. Thomson’s Henri Linde said: “We asked ourselves, where can music go? It seemed that surround sound was the logical evolution for us.” Software...