diegocg writes "Linus Torvalds has officially released the version 2.6.32 of the Linux kernel. New features include virtualization memory de-duplication, a rewrite of the writeback code faster and more scalable, many important Btrfs improvements and speedups, ATI R600/R700 3D and KMS support and other graphic improvements, a CFQ low latency mode, tracing improvements including a 'perf timechart' tool that tries to be a better bootchart, soft limits in the memory controller, support for the S+Core architecture, support for Intel Moorestown and its new firmware interface, run-time power management support, and many other improvements and new drivers. See the full changelog for more details."

An anonymous reader writes "Controlling computers with our minds may sound like science fiction, but one Australian company claims to be able to let you do just that. The Emotiv device has been garnering attention at trade shows and conferences for several years, and now the company says it is set to launch the Emotiv EPOC headset on December 21. PC Authority spoke to co-founder Nam Do about the Emotiv technology and its potential as a mainstream gaming interface." One wonders what kind of adoption they expect with a $299 price tag.

Several outlets are reporting on Microsoft's investigations into the possibility of hacking and fraud on the Xbox live service. After customer service complaints, rumours of hacked accounts, and allegations of mis-used credit card information, C|Net reports that the Microsoft has opened an investigation. At the very least, this will reassure frustrated customers. Kevin Finisterre has kept a log of his discussion with the 1-800-MY-XBOX folks and the service's ongoing problems. "Security researcher Kevin Finisterre was playing Halo on a recent night with several friends when some of their opponents threatened to steal their accounts, he said. 'Literally the next day my girl's account was locked out,' Finisterre wrote in an e-mail Tuesday. 'I received a message on my Xbox that said: "We are sorry we must log you out of Xbox Live because someone else is using your Gamertag."' The account was banned."

loid_void writes to mention The New York Times is reporting that Biologists are making a bid on the subject of morality. "Last year Marc Hauser, an evolutionary biologist at Harvard, proposed in his book 'Moral Minds' that the brain has a genetically shaped mechanism for acquiring moral rules, a universal moral grammar similar to the neural machinery for learning language. In another recent book, 'Primates and Philosophers,' the primatologist Frans de Waal defends against philosopher critics his view that the roots of morality can be seen in the social behavior of monkeys and apes."