[real-eyes] Review, Greg Epley's Weather Gale
- From: "Reginald George" <sgeorge@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: <real-eyes@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 17 Oct 2006 12:19:12 -0500
This is a really fun program for unobtrusively receiving basic weather alerts
and advisory information or just keeping track of your forcast and current
conditions in multiple locations at the same time. Don't know why I didn't try
it sooner. The user interface is uncluttered and eligant. The main window
contains ten controls one can tab through including a button for the locations
manager, the list of the locations you are monitoring, an update button, an
options button, the help button, a program information button, an
disable/enable button, an exit button, and a box to read the current
conditions, forecast, or the current advisories.
The contents of this box is controled by a set of radio buttons. The sounds on
start up and updates are pleasant and totally customizeable. The interface is
completely accessible by tabbing to the different buttons. When you close the
main window with alt f4 the program minimizes to the system tray. The weather
updates can be enabled or disabled on the fly with a customizeable hot key to
save band width. The four options available on right click or context key
include show main window, disable, exit, and help. Under the options button in
the main window there is a simple drop down combo box with six pages of
choices. These are general, startup, sounds, updating, accessibility, and
debug/log. You can then tab through the options associated with that page.
The help documentation is fantastic. There are many features that are unique
to this program. See below. Greg is a blind programmer who monitors this
list. A lot of attention has been given to intuitively prompting the user
during set up and first run to select the correct options.
Features I would like to see in future versions include prompting the user to
press space to select multiple locations when you enter the location manager,
the ability to select by county at least in the US and Canada, and
customizeable alerts through an alerts manager, . This would provide the
ability to customize what alerts are announced or sounded, specific sounds for
different types of alerts, and to set the priority of alert notifications.
Adding this level of complexity to the program might justify breaking the
program into a free basic and paid professional version. These alerts could
cover conditions such as polin count, ozone, high winds, tornado, flood,
thunderstorm, and others so you don't get too many advisories for the same
things. Also a sound and animation letting one know the alert has expired
would be nice. Below is information taken directly from the Thinkzo Systems
web site.
http://www.thinkzo.com/products/WeatherGALE.htm
Thinkzo: WeatherGALE
WeatherGALE, free weather software for your Windows computer!
Key Features
NOTE: Features marked with a * (star) were known to be unique to Weather Gale
during initial development. However, it's always possible a beta tester violated
their non-disclosure agreement with Thinkzo Systems -or- another developer
shared the same insight independently and unknowingly provided a similar
feature.
Easily select up to 30 locations to monitor from a global database.
* Customize the colors and data format for each location.
WeatherGALE's system tray icon will use the colors and data format, Imperial or
Metric, you select for a location to display the current temperature. If
you're monitoring all defined locations, Orlando, Florida could be displayed in
sunny colors, such as orange text on a yellow background in Imperial format,
while Anchorage, Alaska could be displayed in icy colors, such as blue text on
a white background in Metric format.
* Customize various sound events for audible notification of what's going on.
WeatherGALE offers complete flexibility for customizing various sound events
for audible feedback on startup, shutdown, connection errors, weather advisory
alerts and much more. Default sounds are included, or you can use any standard
Windows wave audio file anywhere on your computer.
* Monitor one or all defined locations.
WeatherGALE allows you to monitor your first defined location, or select a time
interval and watch as WeatherGALE cycles through each defined location to
keep you informed of weather all over the world.
* Customize the audible weather advisory alert notification interval.
WeatherGALE can provide audible weather advisory alert notification only when a
statement has changed or for as long as a statement is posted.
* Define a system wide hotkey that instantly displays the main user interface
for quick and easy management.
You're working on a document. You hear your weather advisory alert sound play
or notice the visual weather advisory alert symbol in your system tray. A
quick press of your chosen hotkeys and the WeatherGALE Main Window appears,
ready to help you quickly get the detailed information you need.
* Define a system wide hotkey to enable and disable connectivity without having
to change startup options or exit the software.
You want to play a game, watch a streaming movie or chat with a friend with
full audio and video - demanding tasks that require the most bandwidth you can
squeeze out of your internet connection. A quick press of your chosen hotkeys
can disable WeatherGALE so it doesn't keep trying to use your internet
connection.
Later, another quick press of the same hotkeys and WeatherGALE immediately
collects the most current data and resumes normal operation - no clumsy options
to change - and WeatherGALE even remembers the current connectivity state after
you exit the software so you don't need to keep changing it on each startup.
Displays Current Conditions - temperature, humidity, pressure - and many others
for all locations worldwide.
Displays extended textual forecast and textual weather advisories for locations
in the United States.
* Audible and visual weather alert advisory notification.
WeatherGALE provides both audible and visual indicators for weather advisory
alerts, so those with hearing impairments don't miss out on the information
they need.
* Lots of options to help you customize the software to your liking.
Main Window background color, run at Windows startup, full control over Main
Window Action at startup, connect delay at startup, various updating control
options and lots more. The emphasis here is to offer you as much flexibility
over how you want to use the software - not limit you to a select few, or
no, options.
Includes a Mini-QuickStart to show you the basics and a full help guide that
clearly explains all you need to know to use the software.
* One of the most accessible weather softwares ever developed - great for
anyone with most any kind of disabling condition.
WeatherGALE was developed by a blind programmer, so those with some type of
disability or impairment can rest assured their needs were considered, rather
than be ignored by a team of sighted and able programmers who have no concept
of or compassion towards disabled users.
* It's free, no ads, no spyware, no catches, no gotchas.
At Thinkzo Systems, it's felt that something called "free" should be just that.
Other developers say their software is free, then include some hidden "gotcha"
in order for you to gain the full benefit of the software. Other developers
claim their software doesn't include any spyware or adware when in fact they
do. There are no ads or spyware in WeatherGALE - there are better ways to
obtain information from you other than spying on you to get it or harassing you
with ads. There's also no fee for WeatherGALE - you're under no obligation to
donate unless you personally feel like doing so.
Click here to read Thinkzo Systems idea of what "free" is (and should be)...
To subscribe or to leave the list, or to set other subscription options, go to
www.freelists.org/list/real-eyes
Other related posts:
