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| reply to Khellhound
Re: yes, WeatherBug is NOT SPYWARE what is GodKhaine smoking? WeatherBug in the event of another terrorist attack, is the only company in the USA with thousands of LIVE, LOCAL weather stations. PERIOD. THAT is why it is part of the dept. of Homeland Security Initiative. The National Weather Service (where many 'free' weather programs get their weather from) only has a few hundred, almost all are at airports, and they can update as rarely as once an hour. WOW GodKhaine, that sure would be useful if God forbid someone released some stuff into the air, like a chemical or biological agent. Gee, let's hope they released right near the airport and during the exact time each hour that the NWS sites update their data so we can tell which direction the wind is blowing.
OR for those of you who want to live, the Dept. of Homeland Security Initiative would instantly be able to track the wind direction and determine disperson based on one of the thousands of exclusive WeatherBug stations (yes, we also include ALL the NWS stations as well as our own 6500 or so sites).
As for me, I'll take LIVE and LOCAL wind instead of the wind direction an hour ago at the airport 30 miles from here.
what's next- is he going to say that because WeatherBug sends out Amber Alerts when a kid is kidnapped this is also spyware. give us a break.
Paul is alive. Elvis is dead. even conspiracy theorists need to check the facts. | |
DaemonPremium
join:2003-06-29
San Francisco, CA Reviews:
 ·Comcast
| Hey, as the OP, I thought I'd jump back in.
Weatherbug used to, or maybe still does, pop up those activeX 'do you want to install this great software! click yes!' popups that gator also uses. I hate those with a passion as they can be accidentally clicked if they happen to appear over a link you were going to click. it's also misleading as it's the same thing flash player uses to install itself, but weatherbug is not required for the website. It's guilt by association.
That turned me off to weatherbug.
Weatherbug also slowed a friend's computer quite noticably. Granted, it was an older version than now, but I've already lost faith.
When I originally posted, I assumed that AIM had you install weatherbug automatically without prompting, but it doesn't ,which is a step forward. What it doesn't make clear is that Weatherbug will deliver advertising to your computer. If you tell AOL to make that explicitly clear on the install page (NOT buried in a EULA), and they do it, I will remove my 'ugh' from the topic title.
--
-Ryan
Find me in the networking and Microsoft help forums | |
 TraftonSteve RocksPremium
join:2003-02-18
Tacoma, WA
1 edit | reply to weatherbugja
Sorry for what may amount to revival, but I wanted to reply to this.
said by weatherbugja:
what is GodKhaine smoking? WeatherBug in the event of another terrorist attack, is the only company in the USA with thousands of LIVE, LOCAL weather stations.
I know what you mean by this, but it still sounds funny if you don't know the background. 
said by weathbugja:
PERIOD. THAT is why it is part of the dept. of Homeland Security Initiative. The National Weather Service (where many 'free' weather programs get their weather from) only has a few hundred, almost all are at airports, and they can update as rarely as once an hour. WOW GodKhaine, that sure would be useful if God forbid someone released some stuff into the air, like a chemical or biological agent. Gee, let's hope they released right near the airport and during the exact time each hour that the NWS sites update their data so we can tell which direction the wind is blowing.
This is a useful service, but not any reason to put something on one's computer that does not contain spyware. Although I am all for this sort of setup with the DHS, usign WeatherBug does not make this program any better. Although this is nice of AWS to do, and generally they seem to be within the more ethical of companies whose software phones home, it still doesn't make their software spyware-free.
said by weathbugja:
OR for those of you who want to live, the Dept. of Homeland Security Initiative would instantly be able to track the wind direction and determine disperson based on one of the thousands of exclusive WeatherBug stations (yes, we also include ALL the NWS stations as well as our own 6500 or so sites).
As for me, I'll take LIVE and LOCAL wind instead of the wind direction an hour ago at the airport 30 miles from here.
WeatherBug does not maintain these stations, per se. Many are school sites which are accessable via other venues. AWS simply collects all the information together into one place.
said by weathbugja:
what's next- is he going to say that because WeatherBug sends out Amber Alerts when a kid is kidnapped this is also spyware. give us a break.
I have no idea what you mean by this. WeatherBug displays adds and supposedly phones information back home. This is a tad different than displaying Amber Alerts. That would not be spyware, but rather a useful service. Spyware is used for marketing purposes. You can't really compare the two uses.
said by weathbugja:
Paul is alive. Elvis is dead. even conspiracy theorists need to check the facts.
Paint me stupid, but who is Paul? I don't think it is any conspiracy theory. WeatherBug's usefulness should be weighed against its privacy implications. I can understand why some people would find that the pros of using it outweigh the cons. I personally find alternatives for any program that phones home if I can. Besides, WeatherBug's automated stations don't provide useful information such as sky conditions | |
| said by Trafton:
said by weathbugja:
Paul is alive. Elvis is dead. even conspiracy theorists need to check the facts.
Paint me stupid, but who is Paul?
Paul McCartney. You know, "Paul is dead" ... | |
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