Hubert Sumlin Dead at 80

Hubert Sumlin, the longtime collaborator with Howlin' Wolf  whose playing on such songs as "Wang Dang Doodle," "Spoonful" and "Backdoor Man" influenced generations of guitarists died Sunday in New Jersey. He was 80.
Sumlin was ranked number 43 on Rolling Stone’s list of the 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time and was a mainstay of the Chicago blues scene. He was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 2008. Sumlin influenced Keith Richards, Jimi Hendrix and Frank Zappa, among others.
Hubert Sumlin was born in Mississippi, raised in Arkansas and moved to Chicago to play with Howlin' Wolf. After Wolf's death in 1976, Sumlin continued to play with the rest of Wolf's band under the name The Wolf Gang.
He was diagnosed with lung cancer in 2002 and had a lung removed. In recent years Sumlin continued to perform when his health permitted.
Related
• 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time: Hubert Sumlin
• 500 Greatest Albums: Moanin in the Moonlight, Howlin' Wolf

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Admin 03:31  

Heath comments 'unacceptable'

The Democratic Alliance on Monday said it was considering launching a legal bid to overturn President Jacob Zuma's appointment of Willem Heath as the head of the Special Investigating Unit (SIU).

On Sunday, the City Press newspaper quoted Heath saying former president Thabo Mbeki was responsible for the charging of Zuma's former financial advisor Schabir Shaik with corruption.

He also claimed Mbeki initiated rape charges against Zuma.

Zuma was acquitted of rape, while Shaik was convicted of bribing Zuma in relation to arms deal contracts.

The DA's Debbie Schafer said Heath's comments were problematic.

"I do find it very strange and quite unacceptable," she said.

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Admin 03:30  

How to keep Mac OS X's safe downloads list up-to-date

Did you know that Mac OS X includes some very basic protection against malicious downloads?

When you download an application via Safari or an attachment in Mail and then try to open it, Apple checks the file against its "safe downloads list" (sometimes called "XProtect.plist" after its file name) to ensure it doesn't contain any known Mac malware.

Mac OS X is supposed to check for updates to this malware definitions list daily, but you can force an update using one of the following techniques.

The first method is to click on the Apple menu and select "System Preferences..." and then from the main window click on Security, then click on the General tab, and then uncheck and re-check the box next to "Automatically update safe downloads list" (note that you may need to click on the lock and type an administrator password first). If you don't see this checkbox, you should make sure you're running either Lion (v10.7 or later) or the latest version of Snow Leopard (v10.6.8).

Although this is the simplest solution, it doesn't give any indication of whether the update has actually completed, which is why I prefer to use the following alternative instead.

The second method is to download and install Safe Download Version, a freeware app created by Adam Christianson of The Mac Observer.

When you run Safe Download Version, it tells you the version of your currently installed definitions and their release date, lets you check for updates, and notifies you whether you already have the latest version installed or if a new update has been applied.

You can also check for updates by running XProtectUpdater via a Terminal command, as described in this article.

Although it's nice to know you have the latest version of Apple's malicious download definitions, don't let it give you a false sense of security.

Mac OS X currently only detects a limited number of specific malicious downloads from about ten different types of Mac malware. Apple's built-in protection does not defend against a wide range of threats including (but not limited to) malware copied over a network share or from an external drive, malicious JavaScript code embedded in Web pages, Microsoft Word or Excel macro viruses, malware downloaded with an application that doesn't utilize Apple's safe downloads protection, or malware that already exists on your hard drive.

Apple's download scanner also doesn't offer any protection against malware for other platforms such as Windows, so you'll have no way of knowing whether that flash drive you used at work or on a friend's PC might be carrying an infection.

To step up your own Mac's defenses, I recommend installing the free Sophos Anti-Virus for Mac Home Edition. You can see how it works compared with Apple's safe downloads protection in the video below.

_{(Enjoy this video? Check out more on the SophosLabs YouTube channel and subscribe if you like.)}

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Admin 03:29  

Top 10 Expected PC Games of 2012

So we all know what 2011 has in store for us, there are some great titles up there. Elder Scrolls Skyrim; Portal 2 and Star Wars the Old Republic are just some of the titles waiting to be unleashed upon gamers this year. But since we know what 2011 has to offer, we can look ahead to 2012, and if you’re not too worried about the impeding Mayan doom we can start to dig a little deeper and see what we can find.

10. Warhammer 40k Dark Millennium

The new MMORPG from developer Vigil games which is a shooter based on the Warhammer 40k universe which promised huge fire-fights as well as player formed squads and flanking and cover mechanics. MMO shooters have not been faring well over the past year – with games like APB going offline within the first 3 months and is now coming back as a free to play MMO.

But Vigil does have some RPG experience behind them with games like Darksiders. And if it fairs better than its predecessor Warhammer Online it could even be a Wow beater.

9. Fallout Online

A few years back the company Interplay which was behind the Fallout 1 and 2 titles licensed Fallout from its current owner Bethesda Softworks to create an MMO on the series. Speaking to Edge Magazine, Interplay president Eric Caen said, “We have 90 people working on it. Even in January 2009, you were already able to move across the world.” The game is scheduled to begin beta testing in 2012.

Caen then went on to say:

An MMOG must be a lot deeper than a standalone game. It’s not a shooting game we’re making. You can shoot, but it’s a very small portion of the game. The game itself is about reconstructing the world. What is unique about our project is how we’re trying to get it into many communication systems.

This is a big problem for World Of Warcraft, because the fantasy universe is not compatible with modern communication systems. It would be odd to receive an SMS from a troll. But in a post-apocalyptic world…

But would the desolate apocalyptic world like the one in Fallout feel the same if it was crawling with another 30,000 or so people.

8. Saints Row 3

THQ recently announced that they would be putting out a brand new chapter into the series with a release date due in Fiscal 2012 and is being developed by Volition Inc.

Danny Bilson of THQ stated, “When you see Saints Row 3, it’s the visual quality of the GTA IV universe. It goes up there. It still has the wacky, insane stuff. It’s going to get really big and really loud in December. And as soon as you see the assets, the gamers will go: ‘Oh, I know what they invested in. The technology.’

7. Modern Warfare 3

This will surely be a game that millions will buy even though it may turn out to be a little bit disappointing just like the last instalment has been for me. Activision seems to try too hard to rush to get the games out every year and don’t really seem to take into consideration the quality of their games. They seem in too much of a hurry to milk the money out of millions of fans.

However, I may be wrong. The online gameplay is certainly addictive. And if developed right it could be the best of the CoD series yet.

6. StarCraft 2: Heart of the Swarm

Blizzard has recently announced that they plan to release at least two games by the end of 2012. There’s is still some speculation to what the games may be but the biggest contenders are Diablo III and the StarCraft 2 expansion Heart of the Swarm.

5. Diablo III

“We’re developing Diablo III to be the definitive action role-playing game, and a true continuation of the Diablo series.” – Blizzard

The next instalment of the series features exiting new classes like the witch doctor and returning classes like the barbarian have been completely revamped. A new graphics engine also promises to display characters in a beautiful, fully 3D environment.

4. Battlefield 3

EA and Dice’s latest ‘trailer’ of the game has to be a little bit of a disappointment to me due to the fact it didn’t reveal much at all about the game. However that’s not to say that that the game won’t be great, the series really has produced some excellent games and I am a much bigger fan of the series than I am of the CoD franchise.

Dice have been busy over the past year providing us with Bad Company 2, BFBC2: Vietnam and the new medal of honour so hopefully now they have turned their full attention to BF3.

3. BioShock: Infinite

The third game in the BioShock series breaks away from its underwater environment and takes the player to a floating city held up by dirigibles called Columbia.

The game is set in 1912 and players play as Booker DeWitt who is a former private detective. Strange things start to happen as the city disappears into the clouds. Be prepared for some spooky encounters just like those in the first two BioShocks.

2. Deus Ex: Human Revolution

One of the best games ever is back and looks better than ever with its stunning new graphics. The game takes place in the year 2027 which is 25 years before Deus Ex. Gameplay will feature mechanical augmentations instead of nanotech augmentations. The Mechanical augmentations will be divided into 4 types: Combat, Technology, Stealth and Social. So a player who specialises in both stealth and Social can play through the whole game killing bosses.

And that’s what we love about Deus Ex – the fact that we can play it over and over and have a different outcome every time.

1. Half-Life 2: Episode 3

First announced in 2006….I’ll just let that sink in a moment and provide enough time for you to ask, “why the hell has it taken them over 6 years to get this game out!” And let me remind you, this is no entirely new game, it’s a sequel which usually only take about 2 or 3 years.

However, if they have put 6 years into this game, I think it’s pretty much of a given that this will be a game which will be remembered.

Read more: http://www.hardwareinsight.com/top-10-expected-pc-games-of-2012/#ixzz1fetTYyWM

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Admin 03:26  

How to hack a 250gb or 320gb sata drive to work in the Xbox 360 and Xbox 360 Slim

As of the 20/09/2011 a 320GB security sector has been dumped, this will allow you to make your own 320gb hard drives. Just follow this tutorial and use the 320gb security sector, instead of the 250gb security sector if you wish to make a 320gb drive

After having a 20gb drive for the last 4 years and getting annoyed about having to constantly delete stuff I did something about it. I purchased a nice 250gb laptop hard drive for £30 and used hddhackr on it to enable the 360 to use it.

I think doing your own drive is the way to go as Microsoft charge £89.99 just for the 120gig drive here in the UK, at that price I could make 3x 250gig drives for the same price!

This guide will show you how I did that, its worth mentioning that you can also hack a 20gb, 60gb and 120gb drives, however i think doing a 250gb is the best value for money.

If you have an Xbox 360 slim you can also hack a hard drive using this guide and connect it directly to the console, have a look at the end of the guide for information on how to connect your hacked drive to an Xbox 360 slim.

Ok lets get started, first you will need to buy a hard drive to use in the Xbox 360.

Hddhackr will only work with the following Western Digital Drives:
- WD Scorpio Series BEVS/BEAS
- WD Scorpio Blue Series BEVS/BEVT/BPVT
- WD Scorpio Black Series BEKT/BJKT
- WD VelociRaptor Series
- WD AV-25 Series BUDT

As of version 1.30, Hddhackr now works with all sizes and versions of the Western Digital Scorpio Series.
You can not use another make of hard drive for this hack, it has to be one of the supported Western Digital drives.

I purchased a 250gb WD Scorpio Blue Series drive (WD2500BEVT) for around £30 at CCL Computers.
For those of you who live in the States, you can get the same drive for around $47 at Newegg.

I would highly recommend you also purchase a Western Digital Scorpio Blue Drive, you have nothing to gain by buying a more expensive drive.



The first thing you will want to do is create a bootable USB drive, for this I used a tool called Bootable USB Drive Creator Tool.

Download Bootable USB Drive Creator Tool

Unzip and load the program, be sure to right click and run as an administrator.

Select your USB drive
Set the file system as FAT
Tick quick format and Create bootable drive
Select the box with 3 dots and choose the USB Drive Boot Files\MS-DOS folder as the location.
Hit start and you will have a bootable usb drive within a few seconds.



Now Download Xbox 360 320GB Hard Drive Security Sector

Or the Download Xbox 360 250GB Hard Drive Security Sector and Download HddHackr v1.30 Build 20110303

For anyone who wants to hack a diffrent size drive here are the security sectors that can be used for a:
20gb drive
60gb drive
120gb drive

Unzip both to the USB drive you just made bootable

Be sure to rename the HDDSS_250GB.BIN to HDDSS.BIN if you are hacking a 250gb drive or HDDSS320.bin to HDDSS.BIN if you are hacking a 320gb drive.

The end result should be something like this, don’t worry you will not have an UNDO.BIN yet.



You will need to shut down your pc now, I would advise you disconnect all the other hard drive in your computer just to stop you accidently hacking the wrong drive!

Now connect the hard drive you want to hack to your computer



Power your computer back on, before you carry on it might be an idea to enter you bios configuration and ensure the SATA operation mode is set to ATA or disable AHCI depending on the options you have. On some motherboards this can also be called legacy or enhanced, if you are presented with this you want to set it to legacy. This will vary depending on your motherboard / bios.

The above appears to be the most common cause for people not been able to flash there drives.

Now tell your computer to to boot from the usb drive, this will be different depending on your motherboard, on my pc I have to press F11 then select the drive I wish to boot from.

You will find yourself at a dosprompt, type hddhackr and press enter.



All been well hddhackr will have listed all the drives in your system, in my case the drive I want to hack is number 5.



After entering the number you will be asked if you want to dump, flash or restore the firmware, select F to flash.

Type in the name of the security sector you want to flash, this will be HDDSS.BIN if you have followed this tutorial.

You will get a message saying that the information in file HDDSS.BIN does not match the drive’s firmware info. Do you want to flash the Xbox 360 compatible firmware.

Say yes to this:



You will then be asked if you also want to create partition 0/2/3

Again say yes to this, you drive should now be hacked, congratulations!



An UNDO.BIN will have been saved on your USB drive, keep this safe as you will need it for if you ever want to restore the drive back to normal.

Opening the 360 drive enclosure

Now you need to open your Xbox 360 hard drive, you will need a Torx T6 screwdriver to do this.



You can now remove the top, the mechanism to lock/unlock the HDD-bay on your Xbox 360 console might fall out… don’t worry it’s easy enough its put back together, just look how it is in my photo below.

Now you have 4 more screws to remove, these require a Torx T10 screwdriver, you can then remove the metal case.



Now you can unplug the power and sata cable from the drive, then slide it out pulling the drive gentily up as you do so.



You should now have your original drive



If you want to restore the Xbox 1 emulator to your newly hacked drive or your save games you will need to connect your old 360 drive to your computer and boot windows.

If you dont have an old hard drive or simply want to save some time you can download a copy of Hoffmans partition 2 which he uploaded here

Download Xplorer 360 Extreme.

Now unzip and right click and run it as administrator.

Select Drive > Open > Harddrive or Memorycard



We are going to backup the Xbox 1 emulator so you will still be able to play Xbox 1 games on the 360.

To do this select Drive > Backup Partition 2 and save the backup.



If you want to backup your profiles, saves, arcade games, demos, dlc and videos you basically want to dump your Partition 3 > Content folder, I had to dump a few folders at the time because Xplorer 360 had random crashes for me.



Now shutdown windows, disconnect your original 360 drive and connect the hacked 250gb drive.

When windows has loaded up again load Xplorer 360 Extreme again, remembering to run it with administrator rights and select Drive > Restore Partition 2 and select the backup you made from your old 20gig drive.



It is important you just close Xplorer360 after that, massing about with anything else will corrupt Partition 3.

Now Download Xplorer 360 250gb Edition, this works fine with Partition 3 on 250gig drives, however trying to modify anything on partition 0 or 2 will just corrupt the drive!! Trust me save yourself some time and don’t do it.

If you are hacking a 320gb drive then you want to Download Xplorer 360 320gb Edition.

Also don’t use Xplorer 250gig edition on any other sized drive either, it will just corrupt the drive, same with the 320gig edition.

If you do corrupt you drive just connect it to your Xbox 360 and format it.

After you have restored any content you can now shut your pc down and put the 250gig drive in your 360’s drive enclosure, it might be an idea to test everything is working correctly before re assembling the enclosure.

The hacked drive:



Connecting to the Xbox 360 slim:

It is also possible to use your hacked drive in the new Xbox 360 slim, with the slim you are not required to insert the hard drive in any enclosure, you can simply connect it to the console.

If you want to buy an enclosure for it have a look on Deal Extreme at the HDD Hard Disk Drive Case for Xbox 360 Slim, if not just read below and connect the drive directly to your 360 slim.

First open the panel at the side, the entry way is on the right side as you look at the Xbox. If you look towards the end of the right side of the Xbox you can see 3 vents you can pull to remove the cover.



If you have the 4gb model, there will be no hard drive in this area. This is the Western Digital Scorpio Blue 250gb hard drive inside the Xbox. Be sure to make sure it’s seated. It may take some time to get it perfectly fit.



The Sata and power connections inside the slim you need to connect the drive to



A Western Digital Scorpio Blue 250gb installed in a 4gb Xbox 360 Slim:



The new 4gb Xbox 360 slim with a nice 250gb hacked drive installed:



Credit to Digiex member Nsab3001 for the slim information and photos.

Hopefully I have covered everything you should need to know to do this hack yourself, if not feel free to ask and I will try and help.

FAQ:

HDDHackr doesn't work for me:
99% of problems are caused by the SATA chipset on your motherboard or BIOS configurations such as Legacy IDE not been enabled, AHCI been enabled or Raid been active.

If you still have problems try using another computer with a different SATA chipset. It might also be an Idea to check the official Hddhackr release thread on Xbox Hacker too.

HDDHackr still doesn't work for me, can i try anything else?
You can have a look at Harcrofts tutorial on How to Flash Your HDDSS.bin in Windows. Read the tutorial very carefully and do so at your own risk.

Some of my save games no longer work:
The easy solution to this is to move the save game on to the memory card from the old hard drive, if it will let you. Not all saves let you move them between storage devices.

DrDrrae has posted a solution that doesn't require a memory card, Link.

I have attached CONcept and Hash Block Calculator which he says are required. Ive not tested that myself as all my game saves appear to work, fine however people have stated it works perfectly.

I restored my data back however the Xbox 360 doesn't see it?

Have a look at my post here, that explains where your files likley ended up and a solution to get them in to the folder you want.

I want to be able to drag and drop files with Xplorer 360

UAC has to be switched off for this to work, simply running the program with admin rights doesn't work.
To do this in Windows 7 go to Control Panel\User Accounts and Family Safety\User Accounts and select "Change user account settings" Now slide down to never notify and hit ok. You might need to re start your pc for the changes to take effect. Remember to enable UAC again when you are finished.

I lost my undo.bin, do you have one i can use?

Using an Undo.bin from someone else is very risky, your drive must be the exact same as the drive the undo.bin is from, otherwise you risk bricking it. Member Robide has found a collection of undo.bin files for various drives: Download Western Digital Undo.bin collection.

Attached Files

• HddHackr_v1.25_Build_20101114.rar‎ (27.2 KB, 19429 views)
• HddHackr_v1.30_Build_20110303.rar‎ (29.7 KB, 21231 views)
• undo.bins-wd.zip‎ (36.5 KB, 2089 views)
• Bootable_USB_Drive_Creator_Tool.rar‎ (302.0 KB, 65786 views)
• Xplorer 360 Extreme.zip‎ (57.5 KB, 28090 views)
• CONcept 0.3.zip‎ (1.52 MB, 10611 views)
• Xbox 360 Hash Block Calculator.zip‎ (205.5 KB, 9648 views)

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Admin 03:21  

Afghan conference opens with pledge for long-term help

BONN: Germany’s foreign minister on Monday opened a major conference on Afghanistan's future, vowing that the international community won't abandon the country after NATO combat troops pull out in 2014.

"The goal of this conference will be to lay the groundwork for a free, secure and prosperous Afghanistan," Guido Westerwelle told about 1,000 delegates from around the world gathered in the western city of Bonn.

"We send a clear message to the people of Afghanistan: we will not leave you alone, you will not be abandoned. Afghanistan and its people need a clear and reliable commitment to a long-term engagement for the next decade beyond 2014."

Westerwelle said 10 years after the September 11 attacks on the United States, the world had a vested interest in a "stable and peaceful Afghanistan which does not pose a threat".

A previous conference in Bonn in December 2001 established an interim government for Afghanistan after US-led troops ousted the Taliban, which had offered safe harbour to Al-Qaeda.

Westerwelle noted there had been "setbacks" in the decade of NATO-led operations, adding that the world had learned there would be no "military solution" in Afghanistan.

"Not all our objectives and expectations have been realistic. And yet, we have achieved a lot," he said. "Most Afghans now enjoy more freedom, peace and security than at any time in the past 30 years."

He said that to ensure the transition to Afghan sovereignty in 2014 is "irreversible", Kabul "must focus on strengthening public administration, reinforcing the rule of law and fighting corruption."

Westerwelle said the conference would also send the message that political support for Afghan reconciliation must be maintained.

"Despite severe setbacks, reconciliation is the path to durable and inclusive peace," he said.

Finally, he said Afghanistan's allies aimed to outline their long-term engagement on the basis of "mutual credible commitments".

"This means continued civilian reconstruction, support for the Afghan national security forces for as long as necessary, and helping the country unlock its enormous economic potential," he said.

"The international community must stand ready for continued practical and financial support."

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Admin 03:17  

Camp Victory

On 2 December 2011, US officials handed over Camp Victory to Iraq after officials from both countries signed the necessary paperwork. There was no formal handover ceremony.

Camp Victory is the US Army base situated on the airport grounds. From Camp Victory near the international airport, it's about a 15-minute drive by Humvee to downtown Baghdad. Camp Victory is five kilometers from Baghdad International Airport. Iraqi workers are working on buiding up Camp Victory's brand new Tent City with a population 12,000 soldiers from dozens of nations, including the USA. In mid-September 2004, as part of an Army-wide effort to give its facilities around Baghdad friendlier connotations, Camp Victory was also given the Arabic name translation of "Camp Al-Nasr".

Al Faw Palace on Camp Victory is where the Army is now headquartered. Some of the villas were still being built as of mid-2003. Coalition hired construction crews around the lake to finish the job that Saddam had started. Military units use most of the marble-clad facility. An Australian army unit has one side of the palace's ground level and US Army legal officials have part of the second floor. A few soldiers also call the palace home. The soldiers -- 30 to a room -- sleep there, hanging their underwear and socks on the windows to dry.

Missouri National Guard members stationed at Camp Victory, Iraq, spent their July 4th holiday competing in a 5k run. The 1st Battalion, 152nd Infantry of the Indiana National Guard, is responsible for ensuring that Saddam Hussein's former Al Faw Palace on Camp Victory stays in good repair and keeps its presidential charm.

Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld said "amazing progress" had been achieved in Iraq during the past four to five months with the creation of city councils across the country and a national governing council. Briefing reporters at Camp Victory in Baghdad 05 September 2003, Rumsfeld said the next step for Iraq is to set a date for a convention to draft a constitution. He said the Coalition Provisional Authority intends to stay in Iraq only as long as necessary.

Mosquitoes, flies, and rats got the (combat) boot from the 714th Medical Detachment. Shortly after arriving at Camp Victory, the 10-member team from Fort Bragg, NC, which provides preventive medicine for V Corps, Combined Forces Land Component Command and Baghdad International Airport, went right to work. Investigating a rat-infested living area, they found rat droppings in dozens of locations, inside and out. They laid traps throughout the area and taught the soldiers there how to properly clear and reset them. In less than a week, nine rats were killed. During a typical week, a team from the 714th inspects living and work areas here for rodents and sets mosquito light traps around sites with large concentrations of standing water. Later, team members collect the light traps and refrigerate them to ensure all mosquitoes are dead.

The US Army is working on improving living conditions for the troops while Operation Iraqi Freedom progresses. One of the larger projects is the revamping of the Camp Victory base. The soldiers of C Company, 389th Engineer Battalion from Dubuque, Iowa clear the thick wild fields surrounding Camp Victory. The first thing that has to be done is to proof the land - clear and level the grounds scheduled for construction. Most of the land on Camp Victory is covered with wheat fields that need to be burned and trees that need to be torn down. The soldiers of C Company also have to clear the area of any possible landmines or improvised explosive devices on at least sixty acres. The 389th En. Bn. cleared the whole west side of BIAP (Baghdad International Airport). In October 2003 they were doing the same thing here. This is probably a bigger area. Next the soldiers level the ground and layout gravel for vehicle traction and to decrease dust levels from the fine-grain sand. This is necessary because the water tends to sit over the sand rather than soak into the ground. After the ground has been leveled, the job of construction will go to KBR (Kellogg, Brown, and Root). KBR will truck in modular buildings and install electrical wiring and plumbing. The buildings will be fully operational living, dining, and administrative facilities.

Iraqi contractors and American soldiers shared the heat, sweat and asphalt in a recent joint paving project at Camp Victory. The 94th Engineer Battalion, 130th Engineer Brigade soldiers teamed up with the Iraqis in mid-September to pave a 40-foot-wide road with 854 tons of asphalt in order to reduce traffic congestion in the center of the camp.

Camp Victory is home to the Pegasus Dining Facility and also sports a short-order grill, salad, pizza, sandwich and ice cream bars. A Burger King stand, operating out of two mobile tractor-trailers is located outside the Camp Victory's PX which offers a wide variety of products ranging from televisions, gas grills, A/C units, microwave ovens, women's thong underwear and condoms. As of June 2004, that Burger King had the distinction of being Burger King's sole Iraq location. In addition, the base offers Internet cafes, weight rooms and basketball courts.

The large man-made lake between Camp al-Tahreer and Camp al-Nasr was once stocked with fish as part of Saddam Hussein's private hunting reservation, and has since become one of the largest overseas American military bases built since the Vietnam War. Though the lake is no longer stocked, the 1st Cavalry Division soldiers stationed here have found that fishing season is still open. The division's fishing fanatics and amateurs who fish this lake received a boost when an Alabama sporting goods company collected hundreds of rod and reel combos and thousands of fishing accessories for donation to the soldiers. The gear started arriving June 2004 when the parents of 1st Lt. Kevin Black, executive officer for 1st Cavalry Division Headquarters Company, contacted Simmons Sporting Goods Co. of their hometown of Birmingham. When company officials heard soldiers in Iraq had a place to fish, they immediately donated about 20 rod and reel combos along with around 200 lures from their shop.

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Admin 03:35