Netscape Navigator 9 was and still is in many respects my all-time
favorite iteration of the Mozilla/Gecko browser, and I continue to use
Navigator 2.0.0.5 on my OS X 10.4 "Tiger" machines, as does my
wife on her G3
iBook. It's fast, reliable, and rarely does one encounter a website
it can't handle.
Unfortunately, one little feature I really loved about
Navigator 9 - the WeatherBug weather monitor readout on the lower right
of the browser window that gave you a constantly updated snapshot of
temperature and weather conditions at the configured geographical
location - is no longer supported. It was formally removed from the
final, forever, finito, that's-all-folks version 9.0.0.6 of Navigator,
support of which was discontinued by corporate parent AOL, and it no
longer works with earlier builds either.
Happily,
there are alternatives for WeatherBug addicts. You can add WeatherBug
support to the Firefox Browser via a
free plugin, to your iPod touch or iPhone with the WeatherBug Web Application,
or to your OS X Dashboard in a
free widget.
WeatherBug, a provider
of weather information services, manages and operates a proprietary
network of over 8,000 WeatherBug Tracking Stations and more than 1,000
cameras strategically placed at schools, public safety facilities, and
television stations throughout the US and Canada. These
professional-grade weather stations generate live neighborhood level
reports every second (unlike other weather providers, whose data is up
to an hour or more old).
WeatherBug was developed with the purpose of delivering live local
weather conditions, forecasts, and life saving severe weather alerts
from its exclusive network of WeatherBug Tracking Stations. Today, the
mission remains the same. WeatherBug data is used by:
- Consumers: 19 million unique at-home and at-work visitors.
- Government: accessible to Homeland Security personnel for plume
modeling in the event of a biological or chemical attack and by over
100 government agencies at the state and local level.
- Schools and school districts: used in over 8,000 schools across the
US for teaching math, science, and geography with real life data.
- Broadcasters: used by meteorologists at over 100 television
broadcast stations like ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX, CW, and Univision, to bring
"neighborhood" weather forecasts and conditions to communities every
day.
Since its release five years ago,
WeatherBug is one of the top 10 Internet properties in daily reach,
with millions looking to their WeatherBug desktop application for live
local weather conditions, forecasts, and severe weather alerts. The
WeatherBug service is available at WeatherBug.com as well as via
partners - NBC, CBS, ABC, FOX, CW, and Univision television stations,
Netscape, Logitech, HP/Compaq, and America Online, to name a few.
In 2000, the WeatherBug desktop application was launched to consumer
and business users with the purpose of delivering live local weather
conditions, forecasts, and life saving, severe weather alerts; all
leveraging the existing WeatherBug Tracking Station network. Within
eight months of the initial launch, 1.5 million users had downloaded
WeatherBug to their computers. In addition, since 2002, WeatherBug's
application has come preinstalled on HP and Compaq computers, and with
Logitech peripherals. In 2004 WeatherBug and AOL brought millions of
people the "Instant Message that could save their life," through the
AIM cobranded WeatherBug partnership.
To date, WeatherBug has registered over 78 million users for the
free product.
WeatherBug Plugin For Firefox
A WeatherBug
plugin for the Firefox Web browser lets you get live, local weather
conditions in your browser window, featuring detailed forecasts, radar,
news, and severe weather alerts from WeatherBug's proprietary
network.
Installation Instructions
- Download the latest Firefox browser
- Launch the Firefox browser and go to the WeatherBug
Firefox Add-ons page.
- Click the "Add to Firefox" button on the WeatherBug Firefox Add-ons
page
- Follow the installer's prompts and instructions.
WeatherBug Web Application for iPhone and iPod touch
WeatherBug also offers a unique web app optimized so
iPhone and iPod touch users can access streaming neighborhood-level
weather conditions and view video weathercasts which are updated daily.
Listed as a staff pick on the Apple iPhone Web Apps Directory,
the WeatherBug Web application is also available at <http://weather.weatherbug.com/labs/iphone.html>
Features:
- Live temperature
- Live wind speed and direction
- Forecast
- Radar
- Live weather camera views
- A national weather outlook video
"The launch of our Web app means we have given iPhone and iPod touch
users a great new way to access WeatherBug information while on the
go," commented Chris Brozenick, vice president of WeatherBug mobile.
"With the ability to access live, local streaming weather and videos
the WeatherBug Web app is a first-of-its-kind and a breakthrough
service for consumer and professional users."
The WeatherBug Web app provides international weather information,
detailed views of the 7 day forecast, radar, and camera images from
WeatherBug's proprietary network of tracking stations. Additionally,
the WeatherBug Web app allows users to set a variety of locations for
multiple cities and scroll through current conditions, forecasts, radar
and live camera images for each one. No matter where someone is in the
world, they can access WeatherBug's unique live local weather content
and check on live conditions in multiple locations.
WeatherBug Mac Widget for Mac OS X Dashboard
A
WeatherBug Dashboard Widget is also available for Mac OS X "Tiger"
and was a runner-up in the AppleDesign Awards 2006 for the Best Mac OS
X Dashboard Widget.
The WeatherBug Widget for Macintosh lets you receive all the
benefits of live weather streamed to your Dashboard, plus extra
features. The WeatherBug Macintosh Widget is free.
Features
- Live, local weather conditions and forecasts
- Severe weather alerts
- NEW Live weather cameras
- NEW International weather data
- NEW Web search function
Installation Instructions
- Download the file from Apple's Dashboard Web site:
WeatherBug Widget for OS X Dashboard.
- The widget icon should show up on your desktop. Double-click the
icon to start.
- Click "Install" to place the widget into the Dashboard
environment.
- Click "Keep" to give the widget permission to run.
- Note - You can also download the widget directly from WeatherBug
servers: WeatherBug Widget for OS X Dashboard .
System Requirements
- Mac OS X 10.4 or newer
- Internet connection
