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Their site takes real surface wind data from the National Digital Forecast Database and creates a real-time visualization of the data. Although originally created as a personal art project by Fernanda and Martin (who currently lead Google’s “Big Picture” data visualization group in Cambridge, MA) I’ve found it a groovy way to visualize the progress of Hurricane Sandy across the east coast. Oh, and it doesn’t hurt that the data is quite beautiful as well!...

Export Dropbox for Android Files to SD It’s a pretty simple process, really; all it takes is the latest version of Dropbox for Android. Start by browsing your Dropbox in the Android app and finding the file you want to export to your SD card. Folders can’t be exported yet, but I’m sure the feature will be added sometime soon. When you’ve found the file, tap the action button next to it....

Users and experts on Slashdot and reddit strongly disagree with Genachowski’s stance, stating that it is only a ploy to increase telecom profits. It was also said internet service providers lack the necessary competition to be kept from gauging customers. Among other arguments were that such usage-based billing would change how the web operates as a whole. Cloud-storage companies like Dropbox wouldn’t be sensible under a metered bandwidth plan. Netflix, Hulu, and other streaming services would also be severely affected....

Windows 10 Blurry Fonts I noticed this right away on my Lenovo Flex 2, which has a resolution of 1920×1080. I went through the display settings exhaustively and didn’t find anything that works to clean up the text. The problem is if you have a screen with a resolution of 1920×1080 or higher, most users put the DPI scaling to at least 125% to make everything easier to read. We covered this issue in our article: Make Windows 10 Desktop Easier to See on High-Resolution Displays....

Please insert a disk into Removable Disk The other day I was trying to install Windows 8.1 with Microsoft’s Media Creation Tool, and the install failed on my new 64GB flash drive. After that, no matter what version of Windows I tried to use the drive on, I kept getting these errors indicating the drive wasn’t getting recognized. Note: In this scenario, I am using a drive that has no data on it....

Flipboard for the Desktop The company announced the move to the desktop on Tuesday this week. Not only is it available on the web, the desktop version contains unique features as well as a look and feel. It has responsive layouts for different screen sized, and a new scrolling interface. The company also includes interaction that are triggered by your mouse. Any changes you’d make on the mobile end of Flipboard would sow up on you other phone’s or tablets, and the desktop version is no different....

Using The Google Flu Shot Finder Site To use the new flu shot finder, visit www.google.com/flushot. The project is still in its early stages, so some of its information could be outdated. There also is no information on the site regarding availability, but just knowing where to go and who to call is the first step in getting vaccinated. This season has two different vaccines available; there is the standard flu shot that is typical for this time of year, and the H1N1 or swine flu vaccination....

Add a POP3 Email Account But hold on just a second; you probably check Gmail using IMAP, so why POP refresh? Gmail just so happens to have an import feature that will allow you to receive an email from any external email account with POP3 enabled. It’s a feature that allows you to check all of your email accounts from Gmail without setting up any forwarding or other troublesome services....

Even avid Android enthusiasts miss this not-that-obvious UI convenience. Just slide your finger over a contact from the to left or right. Now enter contacts through the contact app or by using your phone’s dialer and pressing the Contacts tab. Here’s a short video that shows you how you do it. This feature is not available for stock Android, sadly. While I’m at it, I might as well thank you all for the quality content you provide here on GroovyPost ;-) Thanks for the kind words and for reading!...

Since August of 2006, over 25 million people have switched over to Google Apps for business, education, and government. While this user-base was growing, Google has played it smart and kept things simple. For the past 4 years when a Google Apps user logged in they were only able to access Gmail, Google Docs, Google Sites, and a few other services for their domain. However, many found this was an annoyance since a regular “@gmail....

User Interface Updates Chrome 6 has a new look, and it might not be huge and noticeable but there are quite a few little things and they are worth counting. The little “Go” arrow in the address bar has been toasted, and now there is a star there to quickly bookmark your favorite pages. Print Selection has been fixed in Chrome 6 for Windows, we’re still awaiting User Interface support for this in the Mac and Linux version....

Wow… I think I’ve found at least 10 Google April Fools Pranks so I decided to start sharing them. My favorite I think can be seen on their front page (however, the google translator for animals below is possibly tied for #1). Yup, as of April 1, 2010, Google Topeka announced their new company name. The name, in fact, originated from a small Kansas city where the Mayor decided to do a name swap with Google....

You can wait to get the notification to update over-the-air, or install it manually — but that takes a custom recovery. Which is too much work for a minor update. Everyone should get it in the next 24 hours, according to Android Community. The most important fix in this update it solves the December issue in the People app. You didn’t have the month of December to add birthdays, for example....

Google has sent an email to those using the service. I still had it on a website’s feed although, by the looks of the revenue, I can understand why the company is closing it. The news is also on the Google support page. The note also says that if you’re using the service, you’ll still get earnings that will remain in your account until December 3rd. After that date, ads will no longer be served to feeds and that will be it....

What Is Green Riding Hood? This app is a retelling of the classic story Little Red Riding Hood. Spoiler: in this version, nobody gets eaten. Charles Perrault does the narration with a delightful Scottish accent. The characters here are progressive vegetarians who all work together in harmony. They even do yoga together! Each page of the book responds to touch and includes some games along the way. It’s not just a bedtime story, but it also engages the child....

Friday 2/21/2014, Apple released security update iOS 7.0.6 for its iPhone, iPad and iPod devices to fix a vulnerability which allowed an attacker to capture and modify secure web traffic from the devices. Yeah, not good. The update is available from your device via Settings –> General –> Software Update on iPhone 4 and later, iPod Touch (5th Gen) and iPad 2 or later. Apple also released iOS 6.1.6 for the iPhone 3GS and iPod touch (4th Gen) devices....

The Philips Hue Sync app lets you transform your smart lights into a truly immersive entertainment experience. Whether you’re listening to music, watching movies, or just using your computer, your Philips Hue lights can transform your room into part of that world. This is what the Internet of Things is all about! In this article, you’ll learn how to set up Philips Hue Sync and how to set up entertainment modes for everything you do....

Being a more advanced photoshop tutorial, I decided to start things off with a video screencast followed by the typical groovyPost step-by-step tutorial with screenshots. Let’s get started! Before you begin with Photoshop, you will need an image for the tattoo and a photo you want to add the tattoo on. Now, carefully remove the background from the tattoo image. Feel free to use the Magic Eraser Tool, Magic Wand Tool, Rectangular Marquee, Polygonal Lasso....

Instead of opening your browser each time, you can add a website to the home screen on your iPhone. This creates an app-like icon on your screen that you can tap to open the site directly. When you add a website to the home screen on iPhone, it behaves like an app. You can drag the icon to different locations on your screen or add it to a folder if you want....

What is a rich text signature? Before the update, Gmail users had only plain-text formatted signatures. This setting meant that you couldn’t customize any part of the signature except for the text characters that it contained. With rich text signatures, you can change the color, size, and font of the text. You can also add images, links, and formatting. If you’re using the latest desktop browser version of Gmail, you can edit and send messages with rich text signatures....