IBM to map the human brain

Using its most powerful computer, IBM along with the Swiss-based Ecole Polytechnique F?d?rale de Lausanne (EPFL) are setting out on a project which will one day map out the entire human brain. Known inevitably as the Blue Brain Project, researchers from both organisations plan to work together to map out the human neocortex. This area is thought to be the most complex and evolutionarily advanced part of the brain and is only found in mammals and is most developed in human beings. ...more

QuickTime 7 rolling on Windows

Apple has released a preview version of QuickTime 7 for Windows, claiming it to be the first mainstream software for H.264 streaming and playback of high definition (HD) video. H. ...more

Netvibes opens up the personalised portal

Netvibes is bidding to put the power to create all-you-need-to-know Web portals in the hands of individuals. Eighteen months ago, the Paris-based company pioneered the creation of personalised home pages with live news feeds that update instantly instead of the static, occasionally updated pages common on blogs, social networks and older Web portals. In its new incarnation, Netvibes is giving users, for free, the power to publish their home pages as personal Web portals. ...more

Microsoft denies WGA is 'spyware'

Microsoft has run into trouble over its Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA) programme. A researcher has discovered that a test version of the WGA Notifications component of the system communicates with the Microsoft servers every time the PC is switched on. WGA Notifications reminds users who fail validation that they are not running genuine Windows. ...more

European Commission targets Microsoft over competition lock out

The European Commission has ruled that Microsoft has broken European rules on competition and used its monopoly position in the operating systems to lock out competitors according to a report in the Financial Times. The dispute, which goes back over three years, is over the Microsoft Media Player bundled with Windows XP. Rival media player developers such as Real Networks have complained that Microsoft has used its dominant position with the operating systems to effectively lock out Real's rival player. ...more