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Perhaps recently you’ve seen the ubiquitous news coverage of the oil spill southeast of New Orleans in the Gulf of Mexico? In response to the crisis, Google has launched its own version of the coverage in Google Maps. Using data and imagery from several sources Google has created an overlay for both Google Maps and Google Earth. The sheer amount of area that the oil has covered is remarkable. When you compare it to the nearby landmass, it easily outstretches Puerto Rico....

A Brief History of Shazam Shazam was developed in 1999 by Shazam Entertainment Limited. The company was founded by two college students at the University of California, Berkeley. In its early stages, Shazam was launched in the UK and identified songs through a phone call. When the call ended, the caller would receive the song title and artist’s name via text message. In 2002, Shazam launched in the U.S. on AT&T’s wireless network in a joint venture with Musicphone....

What causes a HDD to die? There are three major causes of hard disk drive failure. The most common culprit of this is known as a head crash. Under normal operating circumstances, there’s a small arm with an optical head on it that sits just nanometers above the surface of the actual hard disk platter. A head crash is the result of the small optical head rubbing against the disk itself....

First download Color Desker on your system. It’s a free download. Installation is straight forward following the install wizard. You’ll get the following popup message after installation. Color Desker will sync to the available wallpapers from their servers. After the sync is complete, the Color Desker UI open and changes the wallpaper right away. At the time of this article, it offers 280 different wallpapers. To change the wallpaper, right-click on one of the thumbnails....

According to Gabe Aul, it’s a hotfix rollup (KB3074674) and is available now. There aren’t any details on what the fix contains yet, but it is live and will automatically download and install. But if you want to get on top of the situation right away, you can grab it manually via Windows Update. — Gabriel Aul (@GabeAul) July 21, 2015 The Microsoft team is working hard to make sure everything is good to go for the big launch next week....

Windows 10 Cumulative Update KB3124200 According to the Microsoft Support page regarding this new update: As always you’ll get this latest update automatically, but if you don’t want to wait, you can grab it manually by going to Settings > Update & Security > Windows Update. Windows 10 Version 1511 updates are cumulative. Therefore, this package contains all previously-released fixes (see 3116900). If you have installed previous updates, only the new fixes that are contained in this package will be downloaded and installed to your computer....

However, if you’re happy with how everything is running after your update, you can clear it from your PC to save a considerable amount of disk space. I’ve installed the November update on a few different PCs and have been able to reclaim around 20 GB of space. We showed you how to free up drive space after upgrading to Windows 10 back in July, and it’s worth revisiting....

Windows 10 Redstone Build 14271 According to the blog post by Microsoft exec Gabe Aul, this week’s build provides improvements and bug fixes that are based on feedback provided by Windows Insiders. Gabe notes the following: Build 14271 for PC Fixes We fixed an issue where the window borders on apps would change from accent color to black after every upgrade to a new build.We have updated the music control icons that are shown in taskbar previews in music apps like Groove to look more crisp and clean at higher resolutions....

Search and Cortana Windows 10 search is powered by Cortana and Bing, and it displays web results when you’re searching for a simple setting, files, or apps. If you find that distracting or annoying, you can stop it from happening. But there is a caveat for fans of Cortana. When you launch the Cortana search feature, you’re presented with a splash page of your interests, local information, news, and more. A typical search in Windows 10 brings up web results by default....

Windows 10 Cumulative Update KB3118754 Here’s a look at what this update contains according to the Microsoft Support page: Of course, the update will come automatically to you, or if you want to get ahead of the situation, you can manually download the update now by heading to Settings > Update & Security > Windows Update. Windows 10 Version 1511 updates are cumulative. Therefore, this package contains all previously-released fixes (see 3105211)....

The price increase will apply to Windows 8 software upgrade. Of course if you purchase a new computer, the price will be included in with the device. Here’s a look at how much each version will cost after January 31st: Windows 8 Pro Download: $199.99Windows 8 “Core Version”: $129.99Windows 8 Pro Pack*: $99.99 *The Pro Pack allows you to upgrade Windows 8 “core version” to the Pro version, which also allows you to install Windows Media Center....

This is yet another addition to Microsoft’s growing collection of entertainment apps on the Xbox. It seems the company isn’t worried about keeping only its proprietary Xbox Music service on the console. Giving customers choice should help Microsoft’s goal to be the main set-top box in living rooms everywhere. I fired up my Xbox 360 and found it under Music Apps. If you don’t see it on the Xbox Dashboard yet, don’t worry, it’s rolling as rolling out to everyone and you should see it soon....

Xbox One April Update Here’s a list of all of the new features: If your Xbox One hasn’t updated automatically yet, which is the case if you enable power-saving mode, then fire up the console and go to Settings > System > Update console and start the process. • Game hub links – You’ll see activity feed items when any of your friends follow a game, and you’ll also be able to get back to a game’s hub from activity feed posts related to the game – including feed items about the game’s achievements, game clips and screenshots....

There are many online options if you’d rather not download and install a tool for creating diagrams and flowcharts. Microsoft Visio is one of those options, but if you’re looking for a tool that’s not from Microsoft, here’s a list of other options. 1. Lucidchart Lucidchart allows you to create diagrams and flowcharts without installing any software easily. It supports many diagrams and flowcharts, including network diagrams, basic flowcharts, process maps, and wireframes....

Here are the terms from Apple: This change essentially bans converted third party apps. This change includes the Flash to Iphone Packager made by Adobe. Needless to say, Adobe is pretty angry. Principal Product Manager Mike Chambers wrote an interesting article which was nothing short of hate mail, but he had a few good points. Officially he stated: The primary goal of Flash has always been to enable cross browser, platform and device development....

There are several new features in this major app update. Here is a look at the biggest changes. Are you using the new updated Kindle app on your iOS or Android device yet? Let us know what your favorite new feature is in the comment section below. Comment Name * Email * Δ Save my name and email and send me emails as new comments are made to this post....

The big announcement was an upgrade to the iPhone 4, called the 4S, which will be integrated with Apple’s iCloud service. Said Phil Schiller, Apple’s VP of Worldwide Product Marketing, “iPhone 4S plus iOS 5 plus iCloud is a breakthrough combination that makes the iPhone 4S the best iPhone ever… while our competitors try to imitate iPhone with a checklist of features, only iPhone can deliver these breakthrough innovations that work seamlessly together....

First head to iCloud.com and log in with your Apple ID. Click on your name. The Account screen comes up. Click Advanced. Click Reset Photo Stream. Then click Reset to the verification box. After clicking Reset, you’ll get a confirmation message. Click OK. Then to delete the photos from the Photo Stream section on your device(s), switch Photo Stream to Off. To do this go to Settings » Photos....

To delete email launch the mail app. In the left panel tap the Edit button. Then tap each message you want to delete. A red arrow icon will display next to each message. Now tap the red Delete button. To move the emails to another folder, tap the Move button. Your email folders open. Tap the folder you want to move the messages to. This tip lets you create a clean and organized inbox on your iDevice....

I’m not about to pitch my tent outside an Apple store just yet. But for the first time since my old iRiver MP3 player finally broke down in 2005, I’m actually considering buying an Apple iOS product. I didn’t wind up getting an iPod . It was too big a leap. I wasn’t ready to sell my soul to the company iTunes Store, either. But Apple chips away at me....