Black holes reveal more secrets

Scientists say they have unlocked some of the secrets behind black holes, the gravitational fields known for sucking up light and stars from the Universe.
In a report in the journal Nature, US researchers say they have worked out how black holes emit jet streams of particles at close to light speed.

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Human line 'nearly split in two'

Ancient humans started down the path of evolving into two separate species before merging back into a single population, a genetic study suggests.
The genetic split in Africa resulted in distinct populations that lived in isolation for as much as 100,000 years, the scientists say.
This could have been caused by arid conditions driving a wedge between humans in eastern and southern Africa.
Details have been published in the American Journal of Human Genetics.
It would be the longest period for which modern human populations have been isolated from one another.
But other scientists said it was still too early to reconstruct a meaningful picture of humankind's early history in Africa. They argue that other scenarios could also account for the data.
At the time of the split - some 150,000 years ago - our species, Homo sapiens, was still confined to the African continent.

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Microsoft unveils its web vision

Microsoft has lifted the lid on a new web service called Live Mesh, designed to connect a multiplicity of devices and applications online.
The service is seen by many as a key plank in the company's vision for the future of the web.
Live Mesh is designed to blur the lines between running software and storing data on a desktop and "in the cloud".
Microsoft's Amit Mital said Live Mesh would "connect and bring devices together... to work in concert".
Live Mesh pits Microsoft against companies like Amazon, Google and Salesforce.com which are already offering different varieties of so-called software-as-a-service systems.
It comes as Microsoft is engaged in a bid to buy rival Yahoo and emphasises just how important the web has become to the firm.

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Skype introduces 'unlimited' world calling plan

Maintaining its free computer-to-computer video, voice, and instant messaging, peer to peer telephone company Skype announced today an "unlimited" €8.95 monthly calling plan for connecting to international cell and landlines.

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New release of Linux kernel presents major changes

Linux expert Linus Torvalds announced in his blog on Wednesday that Linux kernel version 2.6.25 has been publicly released, with changes to WiFi support, file system management, and virtualization.

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Windows XP Service Pack 3 Released to Manufacturing

“Today we are happy to announce that Windows XP Service Pack 3 (SP3) has released to manufacturing (RTM). Windows XP SP3 bits are now working their way through our manufacturing channels to be available to OEM and Enterprise customers.

We are also in the final stages of preparing for release to the web (i.e. you!) on April 29th, via Windows Update and the Microsoft Download Center. Online documentation for Windows XP SP3, such as Microsoft Knowledge Base articles and the Microsoft TechNet Windows XP TechCenter, will be updated then. For customers who use Windows XP at home, Windows XP SP3 Automatic Update distribution for users at home will begin in early summer.

Thanks to everyone here who installed the public betas – you not only gave us detailed feedback but also helped each other out with timely troubleshooting. Through the beta program we found several important issues and were able to confirm some essential fixes. We couldn’t have done this without you.

We will still be monitoring this forum during the next few weeks in case you have more feedback about the release of Windows XP SP3.”

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