With all of the talk about breaches of private personal information these days, the mere thought that Microsoft wants to read your, uh, thoughts should scare the crap out of anyone. Apparently, the folks in Redmond are attempting to secure a patent for a system that reads electrical signals directly from the computer user's brain, ostensibly in the name of designing better user interfaces

The system uses an electroencephalogram to read the impulses directly from sensors attached to the scalp, which is then compared with the operator's mouse and keyboard inputs to generate the required data. Just exactly who would be willing to allow a company famous for delivering software with security that's about as watertight as a submarine with a screen door to read their brain waves, was not revealed. — Michael Trei

New Scientist, via Rough Type