Messages

481

Everything Else TWC / Re: General TWC Discussion

« on: July 05, 2012, 12:06:05 PM »

It probably won't be much longer before The Weather Channel joins all the other NBC networks and starts airing Olympic events instead of regular programming.

482

General Discussion / Re: The Front Porch

« on: July 04, 2012, 05:28:14 PM »

It's been that way since late yesterday.

http://w1.weather.gov/data/obhistory/KCQT.html

483

General Discussion / Re: CNN not doing so well

« on: July 01, 2012, 04:44:30 AM »

Friday was the last edition of John King, USA (one of their political shows). I'm guessing they canceled because of low ratings.

CNN has a fine line to walk.  If it's too cerebral, people likely won't watch.  (The cerebral set prefers PBS and NPR, anyway.)  Their attempts to recreate the "laid-back glitzy comfort" of Fox News (while toning down the propaganda as much as today's highly charged atmosphere will allow) haven't worked, either... and CNN just looks downright stupid while trying.

Whatever happened to the good old days?  CNN actually focused on real news, and Headline News was just what it said it was - a recap of all the main stories every half-hour.  Now, "HLN" is "cleavage and short skirt" mornings and hyped-up talk shows at night.

With the exception of local news, I just don't watch the news on television anymore.  It appeals to the lowest common denominator now in an attempt to gain extra viewers instead of attempting to inform and educate people about what's happening in the world.

484

General Discussion / Re: CNN not doing so well

« on: July 01, 2012, 04:39:00 AM »

Ah well. At least they still have Anderson Cooper, the man who's laugh sounds like he's crapping rainbows and unicorns. 

I still remember him from "Channel 1" back in the day (about a quarter century ago)... even before he went prematurely grey.  Lisa Ling and a lot of other prominent (and not quite so prominent) journalists got their start there, too.

alert...

For those who don't know, "Channel 1" is an advertising-supported (big scandal there) 15-minute classroom news program shown in middle and high schools throughout the United States.  My high school was one of the first 5 pilot schools back in 1989.  "Channel 1" pays for all of the necessary equipment (satellite dish, receiver, in-school transmission equipment, and a television for every classroom), as well as equipment for schools to create their own TV studios.  The caviat is that "Channel 1" must be shown every day (occasional exceptions are allowed under extenuating circumstances) - advertising included - and that nothing can take place in the school while it's being shown.  I was the king of the A/V nerds in school, and one of my "jobs" was to rat on teachers who turned the volume down, or, even worse, turned the TV off, so that students didn't have to pay attention.

485

General Discussion / Re: NWS website redesign

« on: July 01, 2012, 04:33:42 AM »

So is the new design just going to be for the forecasts and will revert back to the old layout for any local NWS office data?

So far I haven't even seen a hint of the new design anywhere except for the forecasts.  But it's still very early.  Maybe other NWS pages will be upgraded if the new design is a success.  But let's also keep in mind that the NWS isn't exactly awash with cash, and there's always the threat of budget cuts, so I'd rather they spend what money they do have on what really matters.  If they have a little left over, they can redesign their webpages, but they shouldn't make it a top priority.

486

General Discussion / Re: NWS website redesign

« on: June 30, 2012, 10:33:08 PM »

I like the new design.  It has all the necessary information in a clean, crisp, organized format.  No unneeded bells and whistles, but it's not as "dry" as the current design.

487

Everything Else TWC / Re: General TWC Discussion

« on: June 30, 2012, 09:16:41 PM »

OT: I will never understand how women can walk around in heels like Heather is wearing in that picture.

In the case of The Weather Channel these days, leg-revealing skirts and very high heels seem to be a requirement of the job now, so it seems like Heather has a choice: walk around in these shoes or find another job.

488

General Discussion / Re: Disliked Companies

« on: June 30, 2012, 12:48:21 PM »

Compared to Bright House Networks, Comcast actually seems like paradise.  I never once had equipment break down on me with Comcast, but I've gone through four cable boxes and two cable modems with Bright House in 11 and a half months.  One of the technicians who came to help me even admitted to me that the equipment breaks down all the time.

My negative opinion of Comcast is mainly based off of customer service. We've had some bad customer service experiences in the past. Plus they could be cheaper, but that's with any cable company anyway.

I've never had to deal with Comcast's customer service, but that's because everything worked all the time!  Of course, I have heard that their customer service department is quite unpleasant to deal with.  Fortunately, Bright House generally has a decent customer service team... although there was one technician I was ready to kick out of my home - that's how bad he was.

489

General Discussion / Re: Disliked Companies

« on: June 30, 2012, 12:46:46 PM »

Bright House is that bad?! I'll be avoiding them!

Also, their STAR coverage here sucks.

Bright House does have a couple of things going for them.  They don't charge extra for HD channels; you just need to upgrade to a slightly more expensive cable box.  (Comcast charges for both the HD box and the HD channels in a separate, and quite expensive, package.)  And, other than for a month-long outage, Bright House uses the IS2, while Comcast is still skirting around that whole issue.  Bright House's On Demand service has more content, though I preferred the content on Comcast better.  (Go figure!)

Those benefits aside, the quality of their service is just awful.  Equipment breakdowns all the time, intermittent outages, and, to be honest, even when everything is working it's still not very good.  Channel surfing is quite difficult when it can take upwards of 20 seconds to tune in a channel.  ("That's how the cable box works" is the best answer I can get from technical support.)

490

General Discussion / Re: The Front Porch

« on: June 30, 2012, 12:43:26 PM »

I assume most of you can see through internet scams, but just a heads up that a variation of the Nigerian Prince scam is now going around. This is just a portion of a letter I got in my inbox. Ironically, this guy was stupid enough not to change continents. 

I've resigned myself to believing that anyone who actually falls for such a scam deserves what he gets.  Or, in this case, loses.

491

General Discussion / Re: Disliked Companies

« on: June 30, 2012, 11:20:06 AM »

Compared to Bright House Networks, Comcast actually seems like paradise.  I never once had equipment break down on me with Comcast, but I've gone through four cable boxes and two cable modems with Bright House in 11 and a half months.  One of the technicians who came to help me even admitted to me that the equipment breaks down all the time.

492

General Discussion / Re: The Front Porch

« on: June 30, 2012, 11:17:53 AM »

I'm still receiving the malware warning on Chrome, but I'm glad you were able to decontaminate your site.  Sorry you had to go through that, though.

493

General Discussion / Re: The Front Porch

« on: June 28, 2012, 12:14:47 AM »

I admire your dedication! 

I started doing that one night when I had some terrible insomnia, but only for the 3 cities I've lived in. 

494

General Discussion / Re: Kevin Martin vs. NOAA/NWS

« on: June 26, 2012, 03:44:57 PM »

It's amazing.  His websites smack of amateurism, his "bulletins" and articles are written in such a way that portray him as the greatest weather forecaster the world has ever seen (and yet written at an 8th grade level), and he takes obvious pleasure in mocking the NWS and NOAA.

On the one hand, one would think that the NWS wouldn't even need to deliberately disassociate itself from such a ridiculous venture.  On the other hand, his constant attacks combined with people's gullibility make such an effort sadly necessary.

495

General Discussion / Re: Old School

« on: June 25, 2012, 09:54:02 AM »

Is anyone on here from the original boards?  Been a long time... good job guys!

~GNO 

You mean from "The Weather Channel Classic"?  I am.  I just recently took "twcc" out of my username.