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March 8
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cool hyper local weather app!
My Weather Concierge(R)
Developer: ROTN Co., LLP
Price: App is Free with content upgrade fees
Why rely on basic weather icons when you could select a local meteorologist to provide you with in-depth up-to-the-minute forecasts?
My Weather Concierge(R) is the next-generation weather app that gives you access to relevant and relatable weather forecasts from local weather forecasters.
There are currently 48 markets where My Weather Concierge(R) has partnered with forecasters. These forecasters are some of the country's top meteorologists. For example, in the New York Area, you could have Joe Cioffi as your Weather Concierge. Joe is an Emmy award-winning meteorologist who has spent the last 30 years forecasting for the New York metropolitan area. He currently can be seen on WPIX -TV (New York's Channel 11) and on Verizon FIOS 1 News for Long Island, New Jersey and the Hudson Valley. Joe has also worked on-air at WNBC-TV and News 12 Long Island.
The app itself is free. The free content allows users to read an excerpt of any forecaster's report.
If a consumer finds a forecaster they like, they can subscribe to that forecaster for $0.99 per month. The user then gets regularly updated forecasts (including long range forecast), alerts when a forecast is updated, or new forecast is available.
There is also the opportunity to 'chat' with the forecaster, via a subscriber messaging thread embedded in the forecast screen.
If a consumer would like a custom forecast from their forecaster, there is a one-time charge of $3.99 per custom forecast. This is a direct in-app dialog (but not a live chat) with the forecaster to answer any consumer question that can be affected by the weather. Most custom forecast requests are related to travel (flight delays, driving conditions), or attending/hosting an event (Will I need a tent? How should I dress for the weather?).
Why slack may be a bad thing!
Stick with your inventions!
On a cold and rainy day in 1902, Mary Anderson boarded a streetcar in order to make a trip into New York City. The visibility was poor, and trolleys at the time had no more than a strange, ineffective method by which to clear sight lines—a multi-pane window that allowed drivers to shove one pane to the side.
But shoving the window aside did nothing more than open the driver and front passengers up to the weather—a heavy sleet, in the case of Anderson’s trolley trip. The two options fit perfectly in the “pick your poison” category, it seems.
While she didn’t have to endure the ice and wind quite as severely—or often—as her trolley driver did, Anderson wanted to change the system. She began to draw up ideas while on that very trolley (which seems like an inconvenient time, considering the sleet flying through the front window and into the streetcar).
After a few tries, Anderson came up with an idea she saw fit for the wiping of windshields. Wood and rubber composed a set of moveable wiper arms, with a lever positioned near the steering wheel for driver access. FromHistory:
When the driver pulled the lever, she dragged the spring-loaded arm across the window and back again, clearing away raindrops, snowflakes or other debris. When winter was over, Anderson’s wipers could be removed and stored until the next year.
Anderson received a patent for the invention in 1903, according to History. But it didn’t catch on, at all—in fact, companies informed Anderson that the wipers had no practical value, would be distracting to drivers and were worth nothing monetarily. There were also few automobiles on the road at the time, resulting in a small audience for Anderson to work with.
The power of a smartphone for photo editing!
Google Internet balloons!
Last month, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg had his hopes of connecting India dashed when Free Basics, a plan offering free access to selected websites and apps, was banned by the country's regulators. Now, Google is stepping up to the plate to connect rural India.
Rajan Anandan, Google's managing director for India, told the Economic Times that Google has been in talks with telecommunication firms to collaborate on Project Loon, which sees high-altitude balloons beam speedy Wi-Fi down to remote areas in developing countries.
"The actual provisioning of the service is done by a local telco. So, we're talking to a number of local telcos," Anandan told the publication. "We can't do a Loon pilot without partnering with a local telco."
He described the project as "infrastructure in the sky," and added, "the government has been very supportive." Google has been contacted for further comment.
RELATED STO
India is the world's second largest country, but around 68 percent of its population -- 880 million people -- live in rural conditions or poverty. Facebook hoped to help those in remote areas with its Free Basics scheme, but it was banned last month due to violating the tenants of Net Neutrality, the idea that all Internet sites should be made equally available by service providers.
Free Basics, still available in over 30 other countries, would provide people with free access to a selected list of sites and apps, one of which was, of course, Facebook. This caused many to say that Free Basics provided companies with an unfair market advantage.
It's likely that Google won't encounter the same problem, since Project Loon's Wi-Fi provides equal access to all sites on the Internet. Google has yet to announce whether or not the connection provided by the project, announced in 2013, will be free, though it has stated that the goal of the project is to deliver Internet access to every corner of the world.
The Menlo Park, California-based company first began testing its Project Loon balloons in New Zealand, where they were able to stay in the stratosphere for several days and beam 3G Internet speeds down to receiver stations on the ground. It has since ironed out a lot of kinks, amped up balloon strength and extended field-testing in different countries around the world, like Brazil and the US. One of the balloons, Ibis-167, circled the globe in a record 22 days, and other balloons have been designed to stay aloft for more than 100 days.
MAC Virus starting but stopped for now!
It has finally happened, Apple customers have been targeted through ransomware for the first time ever according to cybersecurity researchers.
Over the weekend it emerged that Apple users were finally welcomed into the internet fold, with ‘KeRanger’ ransomware signing off on the initiation. Palo Alto Networks discovered the malicious software, saying it was the first “fully functional ransomware” to ever attack Macs.
Delivered through the Transmission application, which users download to facilitate peer-to-peer file sharing through BitTorrent, the company detected the ransomware within hours of its initial posting. It got through Apple’s security protocols with a valid Mac app development certificate but, with both Palo Alto and Apple moving fast, the cert has now been revoked and it’s being blocked on Macs.
Apple has also updated XProtect signatures to cover the family, and the signature has been automatically updated to all Mac computers now. As of Saturday, Transmission Project has removed the malicious installers from its website.
Google adds to online community!
It didn't take long for 4chan creator Chris Poole (better known as Moot) to find a new home after selling his brainchild. Google has hired Poole to take advantage of his 12 years of experience "building online communities." It's not clear exactly what he'll do. However, it wouldn't be surprising if he gives Google+ a boost, improving its recent focus on community and giving you more reasons to visit.
Either way, it's definitely a big change of pace. Poole established 4chan as the message board where almost anything goes, and indirectly helped launch Anonymous, legendary pranks and countless internet memes -- he's jumping from the internet's counterculture to the mainstream in less than a year. While it's not surprising given the incentives (Poole didn't make a lot of money from 4chan before the sale), the Google hire is bound to catch some of his admirers off-guard.
WINDOWS! Talk
SXSW
check out the social media channels!
SOCIAL MEDIA
SXSW Drones out and robots are in
Check this!
Are the hard copy newspaper days numbered?
Email isn’t that old!
Google adds more templates to docs and such!
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