December 21, 2005

Saddam trial hears graphic evidence of torture. BAGHDAD (Reuters) - The trial of Saddam Hussein on charges of crimes against humanity resumed on Wednesday and heard some of the strongest evidence yet linking the former Iraqi president and his co-defendants to torture. [Reuters: Top News] 7:33:30 PM

Weapons Cache found in Iraq: http://news.yahoo.co... ...the plastic around some of the rockets — of Soviet, German and French origins — appeared to be fresh and had not deteriorated as it had on some of the older munitions. Can someone remind me - which countries protested the US launching an attack in Iraq? 7:17:14 PM

Are you afraid that viruses and worms might chip away at your christmas computer fun?  Follow these tips. 5:16:30 AM

Digital-Lifestyles.Info Eh? iPod Earbuds Can Cause Hearing Loss InformationWeek - Dec 19, 2005 Earbud headphones, the type that rest inside the ear, can lead to permanent damage after just an hour of high-volume music in the 110-120 decibel range, equivalent to the noise level of a concert. 4:40:01 AM

Playfuls.com Trio Charged With Modifying Xboxes To Pirate Video Games InformationWeek - The game consoles were modified with a new control chip and a 250-gigabyte hard drive. The embedded software on the chip creates a new start menu to play any of a number of pirated games, authorities say. 4:37:48 AM

DivX on a dime: four versatile DivX players CNET - If you have a hard drive full of DivX video on your computer that you're just itching to import into the living room, get ready to scratch. DivX, the video compression technology widely used to distribute video over the Web, is now available in inexpensive DVD players. The four models below can play back DivX video files in addition to the full gamut of standard formats (DVD Video, CD, JPEG, MP3, and so on), and each represents an economical solution to the problem of TV-friendly content residing on the computer. For as little as $50, they'll play almost anything, but we'd bet you'll be buying them for the DivX.   Yahoo YDP-530 The good: Funky styling with dual analog front-panel meters; four-in-one card reader; solid DivX support; USB port, wireless IR headphone transmitter. The player is very easy to region hack with the remote control: OPEN tray, press STOP, press 2-3-7-9, choose region 0, press OK, press EXIT SETUP, and OK again. That's it! It will read discs from every region. The bad: Subpar 2:3 pull-down processing; poor anamorphic downconversion; no DTS support; no front-panel display. The bottom line: If you're not a stickler for video quality, this unique player packs a lot of features for a reasonable price. Yahoo YDP-530 4:32:10 AM