afghanistan

Pardon our dust, 404 video viewers! We're right in the middle of a grand studio makeover! The 404 clubhouse is getting all new gear, including wide-angle lenses and a brand new HD tricaster so you can see our radio-friendly faces in high-definition! Actually, we'll let you determine whether that's good or bad, but bear with us for the next few days as we finish setting everything up.

To make it up to you (and in honor of our favorite holiday), we're giving away original 404 art courtesy of the incredibly talented Blake Stevenson! If you just started listening to the show, Blake is the unofficial artist of The 404 that donated his talents to our official logo as well as many of the posters you see in our studio! He recently created the Halloween poster you see on this page and we're really excited to give it away! To enter, all you have to do is follow Blake on Twitter and RT this message:

"RT this & follow @blakestevenson to get some original @the404 ink! http://goo.gl/1XXG"

...and that's it! You have all weekend to do that for a chance to win some awesome art from your favorite podcast; we'll announce the winners next week--good luck!

Now onto today's stories. The first one is almost NSFW so I'll skip that for now, but the next one raises controversy about the recently released first person-shooter game, Medal of Honor. The EA reboot is a gritty take on the current conflict in Afghanistan, and the prerelease even let you play as Taliban soldiers attacking the U.S. Special Forces.

EA has since renamed the Taliban the "opposing force," but the post-censorship becomes a divisive issue for The 404. Jeff doesn't have a problem with it, Wilson thinks it's just "too real," and I'm stuck in the middle like a preteen begging his parents to stop the madness. Tune into the first half to get the full story!

After the break, we hit another milestone for the show: our first ever listener-submitted VIDEO VOICE MAIL! As you know, listeners usually call in and leave an audio voice mail that we play on the air, but Blazer from Cincinnati had the genius idea to post a YouTube link to show us a skateboard trick he created and named after the show!

It's a no-comply pressure flip that he calls The 404 Flip, and we'll definitely show Tony Hawk when he returns to the show next Friday! In the meantime, we'd love to receive more video voice mails, so upload your best messages to YouTube and send us a link at the404(at)cnet(dot)com. Of course we understand that not everyone has access to a video/Web camera, so audio voice mails will certainly be accepted as well--the number's the same: 1-866-404-CNET. Have a great weekend, and we'll see you back here on Monday for the triumphant return of Ms. Natali Del Conte!

Electronic Arts isn't wavering in its support of game developer DICE's decision to let gamers play as Taliban members in the upcoming Medal of Honor.

"At EA we passionately believe games are an artform, and I don't know why films and books set in Afghanistan don't get flack, yet [games] do," EA Games President Frank Gibeau told game developer publication Develop Online this week. "Whether it's 'Red Badge of Courage' or 'The Hurt Locker,' the media of its time can be a platform for the people who wish to tell their stories. … Read more

All is fair in love and war. And those who love war games enjoy their sheer fairness. Even if the Taliban wins.

Such a scenario will soon be possible with EA's newest and most contemporary Medal of Honor multiplayer game, which launches in October. In the words of EA's Medal of Honor Web site: "Players will step into the boots of these warriors and apply their unique skill sets to a new enemy in the most unforgiving and hostile battlefield conditions of present day Afghanistan."

There is no question that gamers need new enemies. They must … Read more

The U.S. State Department has denied asking other countries to open criminal investigations into Wikileaks co-founder Julian Assange.

"We have not approached any country to encourage them to do anything," Philip Crowley, assistant secretary of state, told CNET. The main Wikileaks.org Web site is located in Sweden.

Crowley acknowledged that U.S. officials have "had conversations with a variety of countries" about Wikileaks, but said those discussions were limited to expressing "concerns that we've had."

That conflicts with a report earlier this week on TheDailyBeast.com, which said the Obama administration … Read more

The U.S. State Department on Monday said investigators were trying to uncover the source who provided Wikileaks with tens of thousands of classified military dispatches from Afghanistan.

Philip Crowley, assistant secretary for public affairs, said there is an ongoing criminal investigation, but provided few additional details

"We have not identified a particular--a single source or a particular source for this leak. There is an ongoing investigation, as you are aware, and so we're trying to determine if this is related to that ongoing investigation or a new--a new leak," Crowley told reporters during Monday's briefing. … Read more

The U.S. copyright office now says that there are instances in which you may hack, fold, spindle, or mutilate copy protection, but just a few, and don't go breaking any other contracts while you're at it. Also, Microsoft wants its employees to build Windows 7 phone apps... for free!

The Italian Army has ordered 81 Hitrole Light remote controlled weapon stations for its Iveco Lince vehicles in response to increased IED attacks in Afghanistan, according to the Italian Ministry of Defense.

Italy has struggled to live up to its NATO commitments in the face of wide spread domestic opposition to the war in Afghanistan, and has gone to great lengths to keep casualties to an absolute minimum. One way to do that is to stay buttoned-up.

The Hitrole is one-man, electrically powered machine gun turret, manned by a gunner ensconced safely below. The gunner aims and fires using a … Read more

Last November, citing bandwidth and security reasons, the military launched TroopTube, a video-sharing social Web site designed for service members, as the alternative to YouTube. Apparently, it now has had a change of heart.

According to the Associated Press, the U.S. military in Afghanistan is launching a Facebook page, a YouTube site, and Twitter feeds as part of a new communication effort. Officials said this would help the military reach those who get their information online rather than via printed materials.

For now, the military's Facebook and Twitter sites in Afghanistan are still in a testing phase. Officials … Read more

Afghanistan is a rugged country. How rugged is it? It's so rugged the U.S. Army has commissioned special pants for soldiers fighting there.

The new Army Combat Pants are designed to take whatever Takur Ghar and other Afghan mountain ranges have to hand out, according to the Army.

The new pants feature built-in hard knee pads that adjust up or down and side to side. They are made from 7.3-ounce, fire-resistant twill, (compared with the 6.5-ounce stuff soldiers are wearing now) and sport a reinforced, stretchable seat, perfect for glissading after the jihadis. Larger cargo pockets … Read more