Microsoft has finally announced pricing for its Microsoft Surface tablets powered by Windows 8 Pro. There will be two different versions of the tablet with the 64GB model priced at $899 and the 128GB model at $999. Both come with the Surface pen using Palm Block technology, which allows the screen to recognize the pen as an input.

Both also support the Touch Cover for $119.99 featuring a flat, touch-sensitive QWERTY and the Type Cover for $129.99 which uses a more traditional QWERTY. The Pro is powered by a Intel Core i5 processor and has a 1,920-by-1,080 display.

Other features include a USB 3.0 port is on the device. Microsoft calls the Surface running Windows 8 Pro both a PC and a tablet. The Microsoft Surface Windows 8 Pro tablets weigh less than two pounds and are less than 14mm thick as w ... Read more »

University of Waterloo neuroscientist Chris Eliasmith has spent many years figuring out just how to build a brain. Using his own brain of course, which is far more clever than yours or mine. Now he has compiled his thoughts in a book that comes with instructions. Eliasmith’s team has created Spaun, which is described as "the world’s largest simulation of a functioning brain.”

That isn’t hype. It really is a simulation of a functioning brain. It can recognize numbers, take notes of lists and remembering them while writing them down. It can even pass some basic hurdles in an IQ test.

It took more than a year to build, and it can simulate many aspects of neuroanatomy, neurophysiology and psychological behavior. It will be interesting to see what becomes of this in say, five years.< ... Read more »