WeatherBug
From Freepedia
WeatherBug is a piece of software for Microsoft Windows which displays the current temperature in the windows status bar and alerts users to any severe weather warnings issued by the National Weather Service. The program also offers radar images, forecasting, and seasonal features such as coverage of hurricanes and winter storms. WeatherBug has also launched a Mobile version of its product for cell phones across many North American wireless carriers.
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Popularity
WeatherBug claims to be the most popular source for online weather information on the Internet, with an average of 21 million unique monthly users (comscore Media Matrix, March 2005).
Spyware, adware, and other concerns
In a report by Spyware Warrior, most major spyware detectors list one or more pieces of software bundled with WeatherBug as spyware or adware. One detector, CtrSpy, lists the product itself as "low risk adware". [1]
WeatherBug has drawn concern from repair technicians that it and software included with it can be difficult to remove from a computer.
In response to spyware concerns, the company developed a page to address the issue and offer free downloads to many spyware detectors. [2]
Coverage
WeatherBug states, that unlike other weather programs, they have 8000 exclusive stations (which includes the 1000 U.S. government stations available through most other ad-supported weather products) and that their stations update weather information live, whereas government stations update as little as once an hour and are mostly at airports, while their stations are in neighborhoods, mostly at schools.
The free program is only for U.S. cities, however other versions of the software offer international locations.
Support FAQ
In response to a question, their customer support team (support@weatherbugsupport.com) replied that:
Our data is: - viewed by over 80 million households a month, both on-line and off-line - accessible to The Department of Homeland Security for live, real-time plume modeling and weather data, in the event of an attack on our country, and our weather stations are at 15 Coast Guard bases, the US Naval Academy, Quantico Marine Base and USAF Academy - used by dozens of city, county and state emergency managers in assessing the impact of current weather conditions on hazardous situations and natural disasters, - in 8,000 schools and universities across the US, helping teach math and science along with our WeatherBug curriculum which won a Smithsonian Laureate and was selected by Media & Methods Magazine as 2002’s “Education Technology of the Year,” and chosen by District Administration Magazine as a Top 100 product (2003); - used by meteorologists at over 100 TV stations to bring “neighborhood” weather forecasts and conditions to communities every day.
