Wind Data gripes

Well first let me start off by saying, any and all wind data is helpful….

I’ve been working with HRD going on 12 years now, and for most of that time (like the last 11) one of my main tasks has been data collections. This include collecting information about particular stations as well as the data itself. Every year before the start of hurricane season (June 1st for the Atlantic) I go through all my reference tables and check and add any new stations that have come online since the previous year (usually I do this a couple times a year, but always right before the season starts). So this year like all the past years, there are a number of new stations. First yay!, second…. ugh… Why I say ‘ugh’ well 1 it means that I now have to research new stations and collect information for them, and 2 it reminds me of how many stations, well how do I put it… are installed by … (this is a family safe blog), but I have to hope that the installer has no formal meteorological training.

But again I must say, all data is greatly appreciated. But when you install an anemometer on the roof of a building or house or near a tree, wall or anything that can change the flow of air to the anemometer… well lets just say that you basically make your data almost useless. When anemometers are installed they should be in clean air, that means a safe distance from any upwind obstacles. And no the roof is not a good place, unless you are going to install a tower tall enough to avoid the affects the roof actually cause, especially roof with a good steep angle. Depending on the location, winds can have increased values or in many cases where they are partially blocked, very low poor values. Also if you are wonder what a good height is… where the National Hurricane Center defines a surface wind at 10 meters, so if you can get you anemometer up 10 meters even better.

Now before all you amateur meteorologist start sending me hate mail… well let me state that the only reason I’ve writing this post is because these sites that I’m complaining about are installed by public sector groups, not private citizens. In most cases, I have no access to private data collected by home owners and amateur meteorologist, I only have access to data on the international feeds. So now do you see why I’m so frustrated with the installations….

All I ask is that you think before you install. And yes there are standards… take a look at http://www.ofcm.gov/siting/text/a-cover.htm if you are serious about this kind of thing.

But again, for all you out there providing wind data. THANKS! and yes I do mean it… any data is better than no data.

Wired: Garbage In, Garden Out: Inside the High Tech Trash Disassembly Line

Wired: Garbage In, Garden Out: Inside the High Tech Trash Disassembly Line

Now here is a concept… why we try to separate the two entities is beyond me… it is all ‘trash’ some is just more useful than others… actually it is all re-usable. Maybe the term shouldn’t be recycle and refuse centers… maybe is should be ‘waste reuse centers’ or something… anyways I like this plant… it separates recyclable material (materials that can be reprocessed and used again) and then makes use of other materials in what ever way it can, in particular energy generation, and not only for themselves but the neighboring grid. Now I know the price tag is pretty big, but somehow I just think that we’d see the benefit long before we saw the cost.

So anyone want to take bets on if we will ever see a plant like this in the US?

Yahoo Mail acting up: Error Code 5

I’ve been a Yahoo! Mail customer for years… probably as long as they actually had an email product…. Heck a few years ago, I even decided it was time to upgrade to Yahoo! Mail Plus…. again in support of a great product. But recently, coincidentally around the same time that Microsoft announce they buy out bid for Yahoo, my mail has been acting like shit. If I’m lucky, I can actually access my email 1 a week without getting this stupid ‘Error Code 5′ crap. If I could actually access my email I’d post a copy of the responses I’ve received when I’ve contacted them.

This is actually the full message I see when I try to long into my mail:

You’ve stumbled upon a temporary problem we’re having with Yahoo! Mail. Usually this problem gets resolved quickly, without you doing a thing. In fact it may be taken care of now.

• Try pressing the Reload or Refresh button on your browser, or logging out then back into your Yahoo! account. Hopefully that will take care of things.

If that doesn’t fix the problem, please be patient while we sort it out and try again shortly. The fact that you’re reading this page means we’ve been automatically notified of the issue, and chances are we’re working on it now.

• If you think you’ve been more than patient and tried the tricks above, feel free to contact Customer Care about Error Code 5.

Thanks,

The Yahoo! Mail Team

Sorry for the inconvenience.

You know temporary issues only last for a short time, and they should be happening every day for weeks at a time. From what I remember of the responses I’ve received from my contacting customer support, basically they said that it is typically caused because of an external reader issue, and that basically I must be accessing the email from either 2 computers or the Web and a client at the same time… okay then what is the point of offering POP access for plus members??? I use the POP support to check my email from my PalmOS Treo. Anyways… just to humor them, I disabled mail from my phone about a week and a half ago (mind you, I’ve been using a mail client on my phone for over 6months…), and the problem still remains….. well Yahoo! get your act together or I’m out of here…. you are quickly loosing a customer that has supported you for years….

Comments on: Ask The Readers: Best First Programming Language to Learn?

I was just commenting on the following post at LifeHacker:
Ask The Readers: Best First Programming Language to Learn?

So you can either scroll down and find my comment or just read it here:

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You name it, and I’ve probably coded in it. That all said every language has its pluses and minuses, it all depends on what you want to do.

Now if you are just simply looking to learn how to program I recommend Python. Python has lots of power like most languages, but at the same time has a real-time interpreter that allows you to see results as you type them. Check out [python.org] they have some good links and good tutorials to get you started.

Now if you are looking for a more generic programming experience try a language like C, don’t worry about C++ unless you really want to learn object-oriented programming and then I’d recommend Java. On the Java topic, Java is also great if you want to get into windowed programing (not Windows the OS, but application with GUI).

Now the three (4 if you include C++) I’ve listed are the 3 I primarily use since I develop for multiple operating systems at a time, so if you only care about a specific OS then, look at languages designed for that systems: VB or .Net possbily for Windows, or maybe AppleScript for Mac, etc. Also if you are looking to get into web programming start with something like JavaScipt and HTML.

Another thing, just because a language is a ’scripting language’ does not mean it is not a programming language.

And again decide what you initial goal is first, there is no reason to learn VB if you never plan on working on a Windows computer, like-wise for AppleScript, and C++ won’t help you much for web page programming. So as soon as you decide on your first project, then decide on a language. And after you learn one language, all the rest for the most part is just learning new syntax. That said, all programming is, is learning syntax.

Most of all have FUN! Coding can get tricking, be patient you can learn the basics quick but it will take a long time to be an expert so don’t start over your head, there is a reason why most books start with the ‘Hello World’ program…

Browser Support for HTML 5

I get a kick out of all this talk about the new draft of HTML5. Wired posted an interesting article about Browser support for HTML5, it give the lead to Opera. Well the truth of the matter is, ‘who cares’, by the time HTML5 is finalized all Browsers will support it and the bulk of web developers will still be programing in HTML4 and all its addons and server-side services. The only reason I say this is because for the most part, most web users will still be using older browsers in the beginning that either don’t fully support all the aspects of HTML5 or any at all. I have flash backs to the reason I quit developing web pages in the first place. When I was learning to develop web pages it was back in 1996/1997, back when HTML4 was released. Back then you not only had to deal with the new tags of HTML4 but also with completely different implementations between browsers and back them it was before Microsoft was playing ‘nice’ and they had their own set of tags. It was also the same time that Java was growing popularity and the whole write-once-run-anywhere idea was so appealing that the ideal of having to develop static pages with browser dependent tags was just crazy talk in my mind. Thankfully over the years the web has begun to standardize and it has become much easier for developers to reach broader audiences. Anyways… I’m partially diverging from topic.

My bigger question is not for which browsers will be made ready first but more in which developers will be ready first. I can easily see where many of the big names like Google, Yahoo, Microsoft and others it that level will be ready, but what about the other what 90% of developers and pages (no the 90% is not factual, but when you think of the size and makeup of the web… the big boys are really just search engines for the rest of us little guys out there). So my guess is by the time the bulk of developers make the move to HTML5, one it will only be after the version is finalized, and two, it will be after the browsers are ready to support it, so … does it matter who is first? I know to the browser developers it does, but to the users? I personally think what ever browser is considered the safest will be the browser most flock to and stay with.

Anyways… enough random blabbing…. just mostly thoughts in my head that really don’t matter. And besides the point… I’m really looking forward to HTML5 and I can’t wait till it is finalized. I’m in the process of re-teaching myself web programming, stating with Web-services and AJAX. So my hope is that my self-education keeps in pace with the finalization of HTML5 so that I’m ready as soon as it is released.

HTML 5 Support by Browser: Opera Continues to Lead the Pack | Compiler from Wired.com

Whether or not to upgrade to a beta

The next release of Ubuntu (Hardy Heron) is scheduled for release April 24th, but if you are really daring, you can upgrade from either 6.06 LTS or 7.10 straight to the beta version now out. Now here is the dilemma… I scanned the new features, and yes they look good, but here is the issue, I’ve got an older-ish system with a new-ish NVidia card (not a top notch state of the art card but much newer that the system as a whole) powering my widescreen LCD monitor. Every time there is any kind of change to the kernel, I run into issues. I know that I’ve got to recompile the kernel with the NVidia drivers and all, but it doesn’t always work… quite often I just try not to reboot in fear that the update will krap out. anyways… but I also like living and playing on the edge with tech… so my instinct is to say screw it and go for it with the upgrade… but today is my birthday and it would really suck if I killed my system today… so maybe tomorrow….

HardyUpgrades – Community Ubuntu Documentation

If you are curious enough to try out the latest beta and via the upgrade, let me know how it all goes….

Microsoft jumps on the open bandwagon

According to a wordy press release issued by the company, the Redmond giant will begin embracing an open attitude by publishing documentation for all of its “high-volume product” APIs free of charge, will detail patents it holds and applications that cover its protocols… at first thought “is it April first already”… but then again, they could be having the tech version of a mid-life crises.. they already have the sports cars…. so the next this to do is to jump in bed with open source… oh wait they did that too with the agreement/deal with Novell… I think the truth is that they are finally realizing there image problem after the fall out with the Yahoo announcement… the blogosphere exploded with dislike and distrust for Microsoft. Heck I’m one of them, I’ve already started migrating some of my services away from Yahoo. The other problem is that they are loosing developers to web apps since developers are tired of having to fight for information. In todays developer environment, if the docs aren’t open and available… we’ll look elsewhere for a solution… and solution there are and they are out there….

read more | digg story

Coincidental timing

Mixx To Cluster Related Stories – Digg Should Have Done This

The above link is for a story posted at TechCrunch about Mixx adding a feature that yesterday I complained didn’t exist in Digg. So I guess I’m not the person who had this complaint.

Well anyways… I took a swing by Mixx to take a look. While yes they now have the option to mark related stories, they are missing the main feature that is why I’ve stayed away from StumbleUpon and Reddit. The feature I like from Digg is the ‘Blog this’ feature. Basically rather than have to post to a share site and then post to my blog, I can choose to post from with in Digg. Now yes there could be improvements made to the blogging client, but it is there. Maybe they all have this feature, I just haven’t been able to find it. Oh well I guess no app is perfect….

Digg and story duplication…

As I’m sure you all can see, I’m becoming a regular user of Digg. Not to find new stories but to share stories I read about and to post them to my blog. I know I could simply link and blog news articles to my blog using the standard ‘BlogThis!‘ feature, but I feel with Digg, I can share with a larger audience. One of the features I like about Digg is that I can then also see who else is reading and sharing the same stories. This all said anytime you post a story, it first checks if anyone else has posted the same story and if not… it lets you post it and then it asks you to verify that it is not a duplicate. Now here is my ‘issue’ do you say it is ‘original’ since the particular story is not yet posted or do you say it is duplicate since a very similar story is already posted. Better yet, if you know a story was provided by the AP/BBC/Reuters/etc… but you read it on your local post or source, is it original or duplicate…. I guess this is one feature I’d like to see Digg incorporate… story ‘grouping’. Basically while a story may be ‘original’ since the particular link has yet to be posted but if it is the basically the same as another story, group them. I see this having two affects… 1: users will be able to find others that have dugg similar stories (or the same under a different name) and 2: help users find other news/information sources based on those that are ‘grouped’ to story they just read. Now this all said, I don’t think that Digg should combine Digg scores, I think the count at a particular source is valuable information, I just want to see other stories in my ‘group’.

Gripes about Blogger

While I don’t suspect I’ll ever migrate from Blogger (unless they really mess things up), I do have a few gripes. Actually these gripes are not about Blogger but about Google Authentication. For a company that promotes openness and standards, it would be nice if they worked with existing standard instead of pushing their own. I say this mostly because I’m tired of not being able to authenticate and post from services like Del.icio.us(of course I’ve migrated from them) and Ma.gnolia, or ‘claim’ my blog on Bloglines. Google is very bent on being almost like a microsoft of the web where users will have to either use only Google services or all services will have to conform to Googles standards. Well if standards already exist, Google why don’t you follow them. Or at least develop the bridge so that others can seamlessly connect to you like they would others using Standards. Now that said, I do seem many services working to join the same standards as Google, but in the meantime…. Anyways… enough of my complaining…. otherwise… keep up the good work.