How climate change dried up a…

April 18, 2017 —Last August, a small group of scientists set out for some routine fieldwork at Slims River, which feeds Kluane Lake, the largest glacially fed body of water in northwest Canada’s Yukon Territory. When they arrived at the site of the fieldwork, however, the 15-mile long river had all but vanished, with only a thin trickle of water remaining where 10-foot depths had been common only a month before.The scientists reviewed satellite data and other measurements and found that the river had vanished over a stunningly fast four days – between May 26 and 29 – in an unprecedented modern example of a geological phenomenon known as “river piracy.”The scientists determined that the climate-change related receding of the Kaskawulsh Glacier, the…
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Here’s how Steve Ballmer is building…

Former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer officially has launched a beta his latest venture: A US government data repository known as USAFacts. The accompanying USAFacts site, which went live on April 18 (federal tax day in the US) describes the project’s mission this way:”USAFacts is a new data-driven portrait of the American population, our government’s finances, and government’s impact on society. We are a non-partisan, not-for-profit civic initiative and have no political agenda or commercial motive. We provide this information as a free public service and are committed to maintaining and expanding it in the future.” Somewhat unsurprisingly, given his Microsoft roots (and major Microsoft shareholder status), Ballmer and team opted to build on top of Microsoft’s Azure cloud and SQL…
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How will Recep Tayyip Erdogan wield…

President Tayyip Erdogan addresses his supporters in Ankara, Turkey, on Monday.Umit Bektas/Reuters On Sunday, Turkish voters appeared to pass a referendum that granted new power to the country’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan. A recount has been demanded by members of the opposition and European election observers have cited the vote’s unfairness, but Erdogan, who leads the Justice and Development Party (AKP), seems poised to tighten his grip. Turkey currently has a parliamentary system, but Erdogan is the most powerful man in the country, and since a failed coup last year, he has purged opponents from government and important institutions. Before the referendum, he undertook a campaign of intimidation against opponents who warned a “yes” vote would only further entrench his…
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2017 Income Tax Deadline: How To…

TAMPA, FL — While early-bird filers in the Tampa Bay area may have already collected their income tax returns, the region’s procrastinators are running up against a hard deadline. April 18 is the last day to file, but there are ways to get that date pushed. If more time is needed to get taxes in order, the Internal Revenue Service has a procedure folks need to file. It’s important to remember that an extension to file your return that does not give you more time to pay any taxes due. April 18 is still the deadline for most to pay taxes owed to the government and avoid penalty and interest charges. You can find the appropriate form to fill out…
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How Kensington Palace is paying special…

This August marks the 20th anniversary of Princess Diana’s death, and the royal family has been and will be marking the occasion in several different ways. One such tribute is a “temporary, all-white garden,” which was unveiled Thursday at Kensington Palace, next to the visitor’s entrance in what is known as the “sunken garden.” The garden—which will remain open until September—has been named “the White Garden,” as it comprises about 12,000 white flowers (tulips, daffodils, hyacinths among them), as a means of celebrating “Diana’s life, her style and her image,” per a report from E! News. Additionally, there are 3,500 white forget-me-nots in the garden, which, according to Diana’s brother, Earl Spencer, were her favorite flower, the Daily Mail says….
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How to set up a new…

For every Windows expert, the clean install is a time-honored ritual, a way to wipe out years of accumulated cruft and restore an old PC to new life. I went through this process with a four-year-old PC last week, a Dell XPS 18 whose performance was dragging. It had 8 GB of memory, more than enough for basic productivity tasks, but the vintage 5400 RPM hard disk had become a serious bottleneck.Fortunately, the prices of solid-state storage devices have dropped dramatically in recent years, so I was able to pick up a new SSD for a fraction of what it would have cost when this PC was new. After backing up the old hard drive, I could have restored a…
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Lyrid Meteor Shower Peaks April 22…

The time of the year to watch the skies for the Lyrid meteor shower has come. It meteor shower on a low key note on April 16 and will last until April 25. For the 2017 edition, the peak will happen on the night of April 22 and the morning of April 23 and theoretically it will be through April 24. The dazzling spectacle of shooting stars playing out in the night sky is an enthralling delight stargazers look forward to every April. Skywatchers may get to see at least 20 meteors in an hour during peak hours. Those in the Northern Hemisphere, especially Europe, will see the light show vividly. Watching away from light pollution and when the sky is…
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How to enable Windows Sonic virtual…

The Windows 10 Creators Update comes packed with all kinds of little surprises. This tip covers a new feature that audiophiles will want to know about, as well as those who want to try and get a little bit extra out of their headphones and speakers. Ian Paul/IDG The Creators Update sonic for headphones setting. The Creators Update includes a feature called Windows Sonic for Headphones. It’s a spatial sound format that is supposed to make audio more immersive and give even the most bland pair of headphones a more 3D Audio feel.It appears developers have to enable this feature via some new APIs from Microsoft. To be honest, in my tests with a cheap pair of smartphone earbuds and…
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How to use Night Light in…

The Windows 10 Creators Update has a new feature that’s supposed to be easier on the eyes and help you fall asleep after a long night of web surfing. It’s called Night Light, and the feature restricts blue light emanating from your display by changing its hue.Studies have shown that blue light at night suppresses melatonin production more than other colors and shifts the body’s circadian timing, thereby disrupting the sleep-wake cycle. Prior to Night Light, users had to turn to third-party software such as the always popular f.lux to address this issue. Ian Paul/PCWorld Activate Night Light under Settings > System > Display. To activate Night Light, open the Settings app, and then go to System > Display. At the…
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Here’s how to watch Mark Zuckerberg’s…

Here’s how to watch Mark Zuckerberg’s keynote at Facebook’s annual F8 conference – Recode clockmore-arrow You can stream the keynote online starting at 10 am PT.
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