TWC Today Forums
Present - The Weather Channel 2000 => Local Forecast => Topic started by: Lightning on March 21, 2012, 07:01:33 PM
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I have noticed that, at least with the IntelliStar flavors, nearly all of them are the same. The metro maps are used in almost every one of them. I wish there were more variety like when :28 and :58 were identical, as were :18 and :48 and :08 and :38.
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I agreed. I wish the regional map was used a bit more often instead of just :58 per hour.
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I agree, too. I don't even see my regional map anymore because the tides and marine forecast screens have priority over it. The local forecasts just seem shorter now than they used to be.
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There's a 2 minute flavor that I like on my IntelliStar that features the metro maps (now and/or " " forecast) and regional maps (now and/or " " forecast) along with the 4x4 cities observation page. I couldn't tell you it's always shown at 28 or 58 past because it seems to come up randomly, but when it does show I like to see it because it reminds me of how the Intellistar used to be configured before they started introducing traffic products.
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This should be the 28/58 flavor
Coastal
:28
Current Conditons > CC Metro > Radar > Radar/Satellite > Almanac > Marine > Tides > Daypart > Today/Tonight Metro > Regional Forecast > 36 hr Text Based Forecast > The Week Ahead
:58
Current Conditions > CC Metro > Radar > Radar/Satellite > Air Quality > Marine > Tides > Daypart > Today/Tonight Metro > Regional Forecast > 36 hr Text Based Forecast > The Week Ahead
Inland
:28/:58
Current Conditions > CC Metro > Regional Conditions > Radar > Radar/Satellite > Almanac > Air Quality > Daypart > Today/Tonight Metro > Regional Forecast > 36 hr Text Based Forecast > The Week Ahead
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There's a 2 minute flavor that I like on my IntelliStar that features the metro maps (now and/or " " forecast) and regional maps (now and/or " " forecast) along with the 4x4 cities observation page. I couldn't tell you it's always shown at 28 or 58 past because it seems to come up randomly, but when it does show I like to see it because it reminds me of how the Intellistar used to be configured before they started introducing traffic products.
:blink: Do you have a video of that?!
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No, but I'll see if I can catch it today or tomorrow. Like I said before it only seems to pop up occasionally at :28/:58 past.
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I've been thinking the same thing of the IS2 again. We were getting Climate Data (record highs/lows and/or precip amounts) and that doesn't show up anymore so it's the same exact thing over and over again now. I don't need sunrise and sunset with moon phase information every single time the LOT8's comes on and on the LDL.
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Here it is Mike, I made a mistake about the regional map, it's only shown for the now conditions, but everything else I said was right.
IntelliStar - March 22, 2012 7:58am (http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xpn06t)
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Here it is Mike, I made a mistake about the regional map, it's only shown for the now conditions, but everything else I said was right.
IntelliStar - March 22, 2012 7:58am ([url]http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xpn06t[/url])
I just wish there were a set time for this specific flavor, including the 4x4, both inland and coastal. The 4x4 was my very favorite thing about the IntelliStar. I miss it. :(
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Here it is Mike, I made a mistake about the regional map, it's only shown for the now conditions, but everything else I said was right.
IntelliStar - March 22, 2012 7:58am ([url]http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xpn06t[/url])
I just wish there were a set time for this specific flavor, including the 4x4, both inland and coastal. The 4x4 was my very favorite thing about the IntelliStar. I miss it. :(
Seeing how you dont have any coastal products on your STAR, you should be seeing them during live programming at :28/:58 right? :unsure:
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Someone on here mentioned that the coastal region should still get the regional map at either :28 or :58, but even with no extra screens like Weather Bulletin or Metro Radar, I still don't see my regional map EVER. The return of the daypart forecast shoved it out.
I miss the 4x4 screen, too. It's very nostalgic, and I liked seeing the wind speeds. I'm only one person, however.
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The regional maps will not show on coastal STARs :no: the LO screen will also show on coastal STARs only if there isn't an AQ screen present
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I miss the 4x4 screen, too. It's very nostalgic, and I liked seeing the wind speeds. I'm only one person, however.
I'm all for nostalgia, too, but as I pointed out a few months ago (or a year ago, or whenever), those screens are just a carryover from the "Latest Hourly Observations" page of the earliest WeatherStars. Back when there were no graphics, no maps, no icons - this was the only way to display that kind of information.
Despite advances in technology, a lot of old screens got copied almost verbatim from older Stars, despite new ways (such as metro maps) of showing this information. The Weather Network in Canada got very innovative when they upgraded their units from the WeatherStar III to the WeatherStar 4000, and even more so when they later upgraded to their own proprietary system. But The Weather Channel just keeps refashioning old screens again and again.
In fact, because the WeatherStar 4000 was designed to, essentially, copy the WeatherStar III (think to when the 4000 malfunctioned, and you could see the 4000's version of a III product before all the fancy graphics were drawn around/over it), its abilities just weren't tapped nearly as much as in Canada, where they used more attractive fonts, fades and wipes (the American 4000 could do this, too, but the feature was removed very early), and so on.
Backwards compatibility is a nice thing, but... by running so many systems of so many ages, TWC has boxed itself into a corner by needing to format outgoing information in only certain ways. And the lack of creativity (such as still maintaining an essentially text list of cities instead of displaying a more attractive-looking map) is inexcusable, considering what its Canadian cousin is capable of. While the IntelliStar is ahead of The Weather Network's system, back in the 1990s (American 4000 vs. Canadian 4000), the Canadian version won hands-down in terms of not only the products available, but the attractiveness of the system. (The major drawback, I thought, was that the radar and satellite images were static and small. But the American 4000 didn't even offer satellite.)
</rant> :smoke2:
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here's what my area saw on a good day (Marine Star)
08/38
January/Feburary 2012 Playlist Overnight 3 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TrW2dKu2FuY#)
18/48
January/Feburary 2012 Playlist Primetime 10 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fm9FLyuGlnc#)
28
January/Feburary 2012 Playlist Primetime 9 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qWgjS8MA_mA#)
58
January/Feburary 2012 Playlist Overnight 5 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=de1mmQo_bFg#)
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Rather than watch nearly 10 minutes of video, I'll settle for flavor lists instead. :)
But it's nice seeing Massachusetts on a Star again. :clap: