At 12:00 AM on July 29th 2015, Microsoft began its roll out of Windows 10, its first new operating system in three years. The OS is being offered as a free upgrade to Windows 7 and Windows 8 and 8.1. Microsoft hopes that the move to offer its new operating system as a free upgrade will help to purge the memory of Windows 8. The Windows 10 download is being offer free for the first year and then $119 there after.
Those wishing to get their free upgrade of Windows 10 must first reserve a copy. Eligible users are those who are running Windows 7, 8 and 8.1 There should be a new icon in the right corner of your system tray. Click this icon and a new window will open that will explain how to reserve your free copy of Windows 10. If you've already reserved your copy, clicking the same icon will start your Windows 10 download. The file is 3.5 GB in size but downloads fairly quickly over a high speed connection.
Once the download is complete, a window will open and offer you the opportunity to choose when you wish to install your upgrade. When you are less than one hour away from your install you will be alerted again, and offered the opportunity to either start your install, install at a later time, or let the timer start the install as first scheduled. To install before the scheduled time, click the the new icon and the Windows updater will open and prompt you to restart your computer. The install will begin after your computer restarts and will take approx 40 to 50 minutes.
A progress screen will let you know how close you are to the completion of your installation. Once Windows 10 has successfully installed, you will be prompted to enter your user account password. From there you will be guided through a brief setup, followed by your new look desktop screen complete with the return of the now familiar start menu. All of your files and applications, as well as your settings should remain untouched.
Some of the most notable users in the tech world who have downloaded, installed, and are using Windows 10 are very pleased with the new look and the ease of its performance.
Wednesday, July 29, 2015
Wednesday, July 22, 2015
NASA Plans Return To The Moon
On July 20th 2015, NASA announced that it has plans to return humans to the Moon within the next 5 years. A new study conducted by NexGen Space LLC, and funded by NASA, says that a partnership between NASA and private companies could make it possible to send humans back to the Moon within 5 to 7 years for approximately $10 billion. The study further states that a permanent base could be built on the moon within 10 to 12 years after that.
According to Charles Miller, president of NexGen, by entering a private-public partnership with companies like SpaceX, Orbital ATK, and United Launch Alliance, NASA could cut its cost for establishing a human presence on the Moon "by a factor of 10." This could help NASA expand its plans for future missions without exceeding its estimated $4 billion a year space flight budget. The costs would be spread between the companies who would essentially place bids for various contracts.
Establishing a base or colony on the Moon would create an opportunity to mine for natural resources. Scientists believe that there is as much water on the Moon as there is in the great Salt Lake in Utah. The water is frozen at the Moon's poles, and rovers would be sent to the Moon to retrieve it and convert it into hydrogen. The hydrogen would then be sent into orbit around the Moon, where spacecraft would collect it.
The first robotic team could return to the moon as early as 2017. Rovers could search for hydrogen in 2018 while prospecting could begin in 2019 or 2020. Robots could begin building a permanent base in 2021, with humans landing on the Moon a year later.
According to Charles Miller, president of NexGen, by entering a private-public partnership with companies like SpaceX, Orbital ATK, and United Launch Alliance, NASA could cut its cost for establishing a human presence on the Moon "by a factor of 10." This could help NASA expand its plans for future missions without exceeding its estimated $4 billion a year space flight budget. The costs would be spread between the companies who would essentially place bids for various contracts.
Establishing a base or colony on the Moon would create an opportunity to mine for natural resources. Scientists believe that there is as much water on the Moon as there is in the great Salt Lake in Utah. The water is frozen at the Moon's poles, and rovers would be sent to the Moon to retrieve it and convert it into hydrogen. The hydrogen would then be sent into orbit around the Moon, where spacecraft would collect it.
The first robotic team could return to the moon as early as 2017. Rovers could search for hydrogen in 2018 while prospecting could begin in 2019 or 2020. Robots could begin building a permanent base in 2021, with humans landing on the Moon a year later.
Wednesday, July 15, 2015
New Horizons Spacraft Flys By Pluto
On July 14th 2015, NASA's New Horizons Spacecraft made history as it flew within 7,800 miles of the dwarf planet Pluto. The spacecraft passed by Pluto at 7:49 am EDT and remained silent until 8:52 pm EDT, when it made contact with mission controllers. At that time it informed them that it had completed the flyby and had performed all assigned tasks. The flyby makes the New Horizons Spacecraft the first to visit Pluto. The US has now visited every planet in the solar system.
The New Horizons Spacecraft was launched in January of 2006. It has spent the last 9 1/2 years traversing 2.97 billion miles in order to complete its historic mission. During the hours that the spacecraft was out of contact, it was busy preforming tasks and taking pictures, which it has begun to transmit back to Earth. The down link speed of transmission is about two kilobits per second and it take data 4 hours to reach the Earth from Pluto. At that rate, mission controllers expect that it will take 16 months to retrieve all of the data.
The first photos sent back by the New Horizons Spacecraft have yielded some surprises. The surface of Pluto has mountain ranges composed of water ice that are 11,000 ft high. Even more surprising is that, so far, there is no evidence of any impact craters. Pluto has five moons, the largest of which, Charon is almost the same size as Pluto. The photos have revealed that it has some puzzling features of its own. Charon has cliffs that run for hundreds of miles across and canyons that are four to six miles deep.
The New Horizons Spacecraft is reportedly already a million miles beyond Pluto on its way to its real mission objective which is to explore the Kuiper Belt.
The New Horizons Spacecraft was launched in January of 2006. It has spent the last 9 1/2 years traversing 2.97 billion miles in order to complete its historic mission. During the hours that the spacecraft was out of contact, it was busy preforming tasks and taking pictures, which it has begun to transmit back to Earth. The down link speed of transmission is about two kilobits per second and it take data 4 hours to reach the Earth from Pluto. At that rate, mission controllers expect that it will take 16 months to retrieve all of the data.
The first photos sent back by the New Horizons Spacecraft have yielded some surprises. The surface of Pluto has mountain ranges composed of water ice that are 11,000 ft high. Even more surprising is that, so far, there is no evidence of any impact craters. Pluto has five moons, the largest of which, Charon is almost the same size as Pluto. The photos have revealed that it has some puzzling features of its own. Charon has cliffs that run for hundreds of miles across and canyons that are four to six miles deep.
The New Horizons Spacecraft is reportedly already a million miles beyond Pluto on its way to its real mission objective which is to explore the Kuiper Belt.
Wednesday, July 8, 2015
A New Species Of Early Humans Is Found
On May 28th 2015, anthropologists on a dig in Ethiopia announced that they had discovered the fossilized remains of a previously unknown species of early humans. The remains have been dated to 3.3 million years old, which is older than Lucy, the Australopithecus Afarensis skeleton that was discovered in the same Afar region in 1974. Lucy is believed to have lived 3.2 million years ago.
The new species of hominid is being called Australopithecus Deyiremeda and is now being considered to be the earliest of modern human ancestors. The species' name is derived from the Afar language and translates as "close," and "relative." The find suggests that several different hominid species roamed Eastern Africa more than 3 million years ago, including Kenyanthropus Platyops which lived in what is now Kenya.
The current fossil evidence consists of an upper and lower jawbone. The remains were actually found in March of 2011. The bones were found so close to Hadar in the Afar region were Lucy was found, that the researchers guessed that the bones must have belonged to her species. But, upon closer inspection, they discovered that the lower jaw was beefier and the teeth were smaller than those of the Australopithecus Afarensis and Kenyanthropus Platyops species.
Yohannes Haile Selassie, of the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, and whose team made the discovery, said, "The question that is going to come up is which taxa gave rise to our genus." To make a stronger case for Australopithecus Deyiremeda, Selassie's team hope to link the jawbones to foot fossils of as as yet unidentified species that was also found during their Afar dig. Selassie said, "Then we will be in a better position to say that this is a new species."
The new species of hominid is being called Australopithecus Deyiremeda and is now being considered to be the earliest of modern human ancestors. The species' name is derived from the Afar language and translates as "close," and "relative." The find suggests that several different hominid species roamed Eastern Africa more than 3 million years ago, including Kenyanthropus Platyops which lived in what is now Kenya.
The current fossil evidence consists of an upper and lower jawbone. The remains were actually found in March of 2011. The bones were found so close to Hadar in the Afar region were Lucy was found, that the researchers guessed that the bones must have belonged to her species. But, upon closer inspection, they discovered that the lower jaw was beefier and the teeth were smaller than those of the Australopithecus Afarensis and Kenyanthropus Platyops species.
Yohannes Haile Selassie, of the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, and whose team made the discovery, said, "The question that is going to come up is which taxa gave rise to our genus." To make a stronger case for Australopithecus Deyiremeda, Selassie's team hope to link the jawbones to foot fossils of as as yet unidentified species that was also found during their Afar dig. Selassie said, "Then we will be in a better position to say that this is a new species."
Wednesday, July 1, 2015
Apple Music Has Arrived
On June 30th 2015, Apple released its long awaited music streaming service, Apple Music. The new service arrived as part of iOS 8.4 and will be free for the first 3 months. After that, those who like what they see and hear will have to pay a monthly fee of $9.99. Apple has taken the backbone of Beats Music, coupled it with their own version of features made popular by other streaming services, and created something that is uniquely Apple.
There are four basic parts to the new Apple Music streaming service. The heart of the service is Beats 1, which features live radio stations, as well as genre specific and user created stations. A new feature, is the curated playlists that feature new artists and new albums. There's a "For You," feature that recommends playlists that are based on a users artist or genre preferences or iTunes library. Last but not least, there's Connect, which is a social media site where artists and their fans can interact.
The Apple Music service seamlessly integrates with the music in a users iTunes library, allowing for the creation of mixed playlists that consist of songs that a users has bought, with those that they stream. Many of the curated playlists are done so by up to 300 human editors that include employees from Apple, Rolling Stone, Downbeat, and Pitchfork. There's also a family plan that offers somewhat of a price cut. For $15 a month, six people can be subscribers, with each of them having their own experience.
For those wishing to try Apple Music on their PCs, you will need to download the new version of iTunes, 12.2.
There are four basic parts to the new Apple Music streaming service. The heart of the service is Beats 1, which features live radio stations, as well as genre specific and user created stations. A new feature, is the curated playlists that feature new artists and new albums. There's a "For You," feature that recommends playlists that are based on a users artist or genre preferences or iTunes library. Last but not least, there's Connect, which is a social media site where artists and their fans can interact.
The Apple Music service seamlessly integrates with the music in a users iTunes library, allowing for the creation of mixed playlists that consist of songs that a users has bought, with those that they stream. Many of the curated playlists are done so by up to 300 human editors that include employees from Apple, Rolling Stone, Downbeat, and Pitchfork. There's also a family plan that offers somewhat of a price cut. For $15 a month, six people can be subscribers, with each of them having their own experience.
For those wishing to try Apple Music on their PCs, you will need to download the new version of iTunes, 12.2.
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