By Michael Voss
BBC News, Havana

The first legalised home computers have gone on sale in Cuba, but the ban on home internet access remains.

This is the latest in a series of restrictions on daily life which President Raul Castro has lifted in recent weeks.

Crowds formed at the Carlos III shopping centre in Havana, though most had come just to look.

The desktop computers cost almost $800 ($400), in a country where the average wage is under $20 a month.

But some Cubans do have access to extra income, much of it from money sent by relatives living abroad.

Since taking over the presidency in February, Raul Castro has ended a range of restrictions and allowed Cubans access to previously banned consumer goods.

In recent weeks,thousands of Cubans have snapped up mobile phones andDVD players.

But only now have the first computer stocks arrived.

Internet access remains restricted to certain workplaces, schools and universities on this communist island.

The government says it is unable to connect to the giant undersea fibre-optic cables because of the US trade embargo.All online connections today are via satellite which has limited bandwidth and is expensive to use.

Cuba’s anti-American ally, Venezuela’s President Hugo Chavez, is laying a new cable under the Caribbean.

It remains unclear whether, once the connectionis completed, the authorities will then allow unrestricted access to the world wide web

Yahoo’s German-listed shares plunged 17% after software giant Microsoft dropped its three-month-old bid to buy the internet firm.

Analysts expect Yahoo’s US shares to fall by a similar margin when Wall Street begins trading later.

The deal collapsed recently because the two sides could not agree on an acceptable sale price.

Microsoft boss Steve Ballmer formally withdrew the offer in a letter this weekend to Yahoo’s head, Jerry Yang.

In Frankfurt, Yahoo’s shares were down 17.56% at 14.93 euros ($23.17) in early trading.

“Mr Yang is certainly under a lot of pressure now,” said Roland Hirschmueller, an equities trader at German brokerage Baader.

“His days are numbered, if he doesn’t manage to come [up] with an alternative strategy,” he added.

Legal action

Yahoo’s New York shares closed at $28.67 on Friday. They are listed on the technology-dominated Nasdaq index.

The stock had gained around 50% since Microsoft announced the unsolicited bid on 1 February.

Mr Ballmer, Microsoft’s chief executive officer, said the firm had raised its original offer from $44.6bn to $47.5bn (£24.1bn) - $33 per share.

But he added that Yahoo had insisted on at least $53bn, or $37 a share - which was more than Microsoft was prepared to pay.

Analysts said Yahoo could face legal action from shareholders after rejecting the bid.

‘Distraction’

Microsoft had wanted to do a deal to be able to compete with Google, which dominates the lucrative market for internet advertising.

This market was worth $40bn in 2007 and is predicted to double to $80bn by 2010.

In his letter to Yahoo’s chief executive Mr Yang, which was posted on the Microsoft website, Mr Ballmer said: “We continue to believe that our proposed acquisition made sense for Microsoft, Yahoo and the market as a whole.

“Despite our best efforts, including raising our bid by roughly $5bn, Yahoo has not moved toward accepting our offer.”

“After careful consideration, we believe the economics demanded by Yahoo do not make sense for us, and it is in the best interestsof Microsoft stockholders, employees and other stakeholders to withdraw our proposal.”

Mr Ballmer also told Yahoo’s boss that he would not pursue his original plan B of launching a hostile takeover battle, because Mr Yang would “take steps that would make Yahoo undesirable as an acquisition for Microsoft”.

Mr Ballmer told his own employees that Microsoft could achieve its goals without Yahoo, albeit at a slower pace.

Yahoo maintained that Microsoft had offered too little to buy the company.

In a statement issued after Microsoft’s withdrawal, Yahoo chairman Roy Bostock dismissed the unsolicited bid as a “distraction”.

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A free-to-view satellite television and radio service from the BBC and ITV is being launched across the UK.

Freesat is available to 98% of homes with a satellite dish, including those who are currently unable to receive Freeview television.

It broadcasts 80 digital TV and radio channels including the main ones, and will rise to 200 by the end of 2008.

Users make a one-off payment for a dish, set-top box and installation, but will not pay a monthly subscription.

HD boost

Emma Scott from Freesattold BBC Radio 5Live: “It’s got 98% coverage across the UK and it’s only homes that really don’t have a clear line of sight to the satellite that can’t get it, or certain listed buildings.

“But unlike Freeview you can receive Freesat across the country, which means that in those areas that at the moment can’t get access to free digital television this is the first time that you can get free digital TV.”

Freesat will also carry high-definition (HD) programmes.

The BBC’s media correspondent Torin Douglas said the BBC and ITV are hoping the new service would increase interest in HD television.

It is thought that around 10 million homes in the UK now have a television set capable of carrying HD, but most do not have a receiver or subscription.

The BBC Trust has said that Freesat is guaranteed to remain subscription-free.

Set-top boxes will be available from electrical outlets which will also arrange installation.

Sky also offers a service which is free to view once the equipment has been purchased

We’ve covered the bizarre love/hate affair that NBC Universal has had with YouTube. It actually helped get YouTube its first burst of serious publicity in demanding the SNL “Lazy Sunday” clip be taken down off the site. It then went back (setting up its own YouTube channel) and forth (blaming YouTube for company problems) on whether or not it liked YouTube, before eventually announcing its own competing offering (in partnership with News Corp.) called Hulu. Soon after doing so, it pulled the official NBC channel on YouTube, which made little sense. Even if Hulu were fantastic, the actual eyeballs were at YouTube. It had built up a huge community. NBC Universal was making the classic content owner’s mistake of overvaluing the content, and undervaluing the platform. It figured that if it hosted the content itself, the crowds would come.

Apparently, that’s not what has happened. While Hulu surprised many critics with a well-designed site, it appears that Hulu hasn’t been able to generate the type of traffic executives expected. So, despite it being a YouTube competitor, Hulu has tucked its tail between its legs and set up its own channel on YouTube. Apparently, the “build it and they will come” philosophy of NBC Universal’s execs didn’t work quite as well as planned.

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While the RIAA has been sending threatening notices to colleges about student file sharing for a while now, it seems to have recently stepped up the attack. Various colleges are reporting a rather massive increase in these notices, despite no discernible change in file sharing activity. In some cases, they’re suddenly getting as many notices in a day as they used to get in a month. Some universities are also pointing out that they don’t see any corresponding activity in their log files that would indicate that industry insiders had actually checked to make sure these files were infringing.

One interesting theory is mentioned in the Wired article above. The RIAA has been using the number of such notices as some sort of indicator of how much piracy is occurring — and even lobbying for laws that would require any university that got over a certain number of notices to install special filtering/monitoring software. So, by showing an increase, the RIAA can try to show how “necessary” this is, even if the notices are totally bogus. As one person points out in the article, it does not seem at all reasonable to judge how much piracy is occurring (or what actions need to be taken) based on an arbitrary number that is totally under the control of the RIAA.

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In the latest of many arguments about the various rights and payments companies need to pay for streaming music online, a district court has ruled that AOL, Yahoo and RealNetworks most likely owe millions to ASCAP for songs that they streamed to users between 2002 and today (and continuing on to 2009). This has nothing to do with the record labels — ASCAP represents the songwriters — but is yet another extraneous “license” where the terms are hardly clear, but basically serve to make it more difficult for anyone to play music. It was never in question that these sites would need to pay some kind of royalty — the question was how much. The odd part of this ruling, though, is that the rate set by the judge is likely to be higher than the rate that traditional terrestrial radio pays. If there ever were a formula for making companies less interested in streaming music online — this might be it. Of course, it’s quite likely that this ruling will be appealed, so it’s far from over.

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Yahoo is introducing new technology to its search engine which will warn users if they are about to click on a website that hosts viruses, spyware and spam.

SearchScan uses security firm McAfee’s SiteAdvisor technology to warn users about “potentially risky sites”.

The service, which is switched on by default, produces an on-screen alert.

“Our goal is to protect users by allowing them to make a more informed decision about the sites they visit,” said Yahoo’s Priyank Garg.

Rival firm Google introduced similar technology in 2006.

Yahoo’s service will warn users about three types of risk:

• Browser exploits: Sites that can harm a user’s computer or install malware simply by visiting the site. Any such sites or pages included in McAfee’s data will be removed from search results automatically.
• Dangerous downloads: SearchScan will display warnings next to search results for sites that offer potentially dangerous software, such as viruses, spyware or adware.
• Unsolicited e-mail: SearchScan will alert users to scanned sites that send unsolicited e-mails or inappropriately share e-mail addresses with third parties.

Viruses, spyware and adware programs are often “hidden” inside innocuous-looking programs such as screensavers and toolbars.

Industry analysts IDC estimate that 67% of all computers have some form of spyware installed without a user’s knowledge

The newest installment of the ‘Grand Theft Auto’ came out Tuesday, drumming up unprecedented excitement among gamers. Industry experts talk to the AP about the game and its cast of characters. (April 29)

© 2008 The Associated Press

When it comes to chronicling a trip with digital photos, getting everything organized for presentation can be somewhat of a challenge. AP’s Nick Jesdanun put Google Earth to the test to see how well it handles organizing and viewing. (May 1)

© 2008 The Associated Press

Have you ever wanted to control your computer with your mind? I have. And come next December maybe we will. It’s been almost a year since I first talked about Emotiv Systems and the company’s EPOC headset. They’ve stayed somewhat secretive since then (crypticness and stealth that also extended to my email correspondence with them). But last February 19th they came out of the cave at the GDC’08 conference with a brand new bone, the latest version of their consumer based brain-computer interface that is quite frankly geeking me out. The headset will be marketed for the game industry and is expected to go for $299. Read on for what to expect. The features are, well, pretty unbelievable.

I’ll start off by noting that there was not one, but two companies demoing brain-computer interfaces at GDC this year. Emotiv Systems & the EPOC neuroheadset, which we’ll be focusing on here, and NeuroSky. The latter is planning on selling their sensors and technologies to partners and will not be developing a specific headset on their own (they had a demo unit at GDC just to show the functionality of their systems).

What Are Brain-Computer Interfaces and the EPOC Neuroheadset?

If you’ve read Think Artificial before, you’re probably somewhat familiar with BCIs. Brain-computer interfaces. Devices that allow us to control machines using only our minds.

The key technology is called electroencephalography (EEG). A device monitors your brain’s electrical activity via sensors on your scalp. It’s been used for medical purposes for years — and the futuristic image on the side here depicts setup for a musical brainwave performance at the Deconism Gallery in 2003, for example. The audience of a concert hooked up to the EEG devices to affect music and lighting.

However, monitoring the waves is different from detecting their patterns and using them reliable “triggers”, like Emotiv Systems’ EPOC device and software does. For this to work, two things are essentially required: The user has to practice producing a repeating, recognizable pattern. But there’s always noise (because it takes practice to be able to visualize the same image, or sequence), so the second thing is that the software deciphering the electrical activity must learn to recognize trigger waves.

Naturally, EPOC is not an invasive kind of BCIs — you won’t need a drill and pliers to use it.

But you’ll still have to shave your head (just kidding).

The Emotiv EPOC Neuroheadset uses a set of sensors to tune into electric signals naturally produced by the brain to detect player thoughts, feelings and expression. It connects wirelessly with all game platforms from consoles to PCs. The Emotiv neuroheadset now makes it possible for games to be controlled and influenced by the player’s mind. [link]

Emotiv Systems have been working 4 years on R&D, and have come up with their commercially viable BCI — and at a remarkably low price considering its capabilities and that this is the first time such technology hits the market for general consumers. Which brings us to its features.

What Emotiv’s Epoc Neuroheadset Can Do

Let’s start off with an easy-digest list of features expected to be bundled in the first release of EPOC:

• Wireless headset - 12 hour battery-life (playing time)
• Demo Game - Makes use of- and demonstrates the headset’s features
• Emortal - Access to an online hub that allows users to interact with photos and music using Epoc

The EPOC system is comprised of three main software components, each of which detects different kinds of brainwave activity.

The Affectiv suite can reportedly measure the emotional states of the user. Anger, fear, frustration. Emotiv puts forth the example that this could be used to have games increase or decrease the difficulty level depending on the player’s state of mind. The Cognitiv Suite is the control mechanism that allows players to control objects, and the Expressiv suite which measures and interpretes facial expressions of the user. The descriptions and demos are vivid, for example: You smile and thus your avatar smiles.

One of my earliest questions regarding EPOC was: can the system discern many patterns at the same time with any knowledge beforehand on what you’re trying to accomplish?

Most of what I’ve seen from their demos is task-and-turn based, where the player is moved between “phases”, each of which requires him to use one and only one specific action at a time. The Stonehenge Demo, for example, moves the player from stone to stone — but the player only applies one action to each stone (e.g. “rotate” or “lift”; not both).

Let’s elaborate. A user is inside Second Life and has created a plain box. My question is: Can the system handle rotating the box while the user is smiling/making the avatar smile? Or rotating the box, moving it a bit forward, then up — perhaps even rotating and lifting the box at the same time? Is all of this possible? Because if this were possible I’d be geeked out.

Keymap Your Brainwaves

I got mail yesterday. And I geeked out. The letter was from Emotiv reporting, amongst other things, more information on EmoKey — their software for mapping mental intention to keyboards (yes, meaning the Epoc headset will be connectable to virtually any application).

The descriptions almost sound surreal:

EmoKey Software - Use the Emotiv EPOC with your existing software

In our efforts to enabled our users, Emotiv has developed the EmoKey software application in conjunction with the Emotiv EPOC. EmoKey allows you to associate any of the Emotiv EPOC detections with keystrokes on your PC. EmoKey enables all of your existing PC software to be Emotiv EPOC compatible right out of the box! In practice, this means that you can link a “smile” detection to type the “smiley emoticon” in your chat application or link a thought, such as “rotate clockwise” to a series of keystrokes such as “a-w-d-s-a-w-d-s” to rotate your magic wand!

This appears to indicate that you can basically do any action, at any time, anywhere. Right? Well, almost. It’s not clear whether you can only “press” one button at a time (”a then w then d then s….”), or if you can press many buttons at the same time. It could even be a third case where you can press 3 buttons at a time — one from each detection suite (unlikely).

However, I can venture the guess that a feature of the EmoKey is to define a “virtual button” (if not, please spread the idea to Emotiv!). This could allow you to compose a series of virtual buttons. A specific thought could then be assigned to a series of them “ctrl+a, ctrl+w, …” instead of single physical buttons, thereby enabling you to press two buttons at the same time. Like enabling rotation of a something while smiling. This brings up the question of how many mappings there can be?

Now We Know How Santa Will Control His Robotic Reindeer Next Christmas

Regardless of questions and concerns, this is an incredible device that I would love to get my hands on. Granted, it is the first commercial edition, and we can expect that things may not run as smoothly as we hope. This video of someone trying the beta demo is actually the worst example I could find. I say actually because I don’t think that’s bad at all. The upload date & specific demo indicates this was at GDC’08, which means it’s probably a first time user.

Looking forward to seeing and hearing more about Epoc. In a recently featured article I talked about what great virtual reality gear could be; an important part being a non-invasive EEG device like Epoc for movement control.

Imagine making your avatar smile. Not via keystrokes. Simply by smiling yourself, walking towards that interesting monolith in the distance by seeing it happen in your mind.

Links & References

• REGEN3 - Image ©Regenerative Brainwave Music (DECONism Gallery)
• Emotiv EPOC Neuroheadset Images ©Emotiv Systems
• Another Epoc demo video at GDC’08
• A third company developing a BCI: OCZ Technology’s press release.