AI to aid astronauts in search for life on Mars

NASA researchers are developing new tools to help them look for life on Mars. Scientists working in Spain are testing new sensors that will help future astronauts to look for the telltale signs of life. The BBC reports that the tools have artificial intelligence built in to explore the Martian landscape. ...more

Allchin says 'buy a Mac' comments taken out of context

Jim Allchin has said that reports that he told fellow Microsoft executives that he would buy a Mac have been taken out of context. Writing on the Windows Vista blog, the co-president of Microsoft's Platform and Services Division said that the comments, taken from an email he sent to Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer in 2004, were a rant intended to encourage a change in the way the company was developing Windows at the time. 'This email is nearly three years old, and I was being purposefully dramatic in order to drive home a point,' he wrote. ...more

Universal's subscription MP3 strategy

Analysts have panned Universal Music's new business model, which attempts to deal with Web-based music distribution. Universal is trialling its Internet subscription service, giving 5,000 users unlimited access to a database of 20,000 songs, for which it expects to charge $15 a month when it goes live. However, subscribers will only have access to material online and will be unable to download songs to their PCs. ...more

UK games chart: Hitman shoots its way to top of charts

Hitman: Blood Money (for PC, PS2, X360, Xb) has shot to number one in this week's ELSPA games chart. A new entry from Eidos, the action-shooter game once again features the hired-gun Agent 47, travelling through New Orleans, Los Angeles and Mississippi, and the dirty work of the ICA, which is definitely not the Institute of Contemporary Arts. The long-running previous number one, EA Sports' FIFA World Cup Germany 2006 (PC, PS2, Xbox and Xb360), drops down to two. ...more

UK businesses lose their way with Instant Messaging

UK businesses have been warned that they are failing to keep checks on a vast number of communications by their employees and risk falling foul of laws on data retention. A survey by Hitachi Data Systems has also found that UK businesses do not archive all email and instant messages, despite new corporate accountability rules that may require them to reproduce communications in the future. While 62 per cent routinely monitor email, only 22 per cent keep an eye on instant messaging, despite evidence that it is the fastest growing means of communication ever. ...more