Messages

1

TWC Today News / Re: Martin's passing and the future of TWC Today

« on: October 31, 2015, 09:18:29 PM »

I'm not sure who is still active here from the admin team, but I know I have some usernames/passwords to things stashed away somewhere. I'll help out wherever I can.

I'd also be willing to host the site, forums, and whatnot, in the event that the current hosting solution falls through. I know Martin would want to keep the site alive and well.

Truly tragic news. Rest in peace, Martin.

2

General Discussion / Re: The Pot Belly Stove

« on: October 30, 2015, 11:25:43 PM »

I'm sure that I'm not the only one who came here, after a multi-year hiatus, to see what happened with Martin.

I can't believe we're having to say good bye. I'm at a complete loss for words.

Rest in peace, buddy.

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General Discussion / Re: Weatherscan in Canada? Soon a reality.

« on: January 10, 2012, 12:43:43 AM »

Ah - you reminded me of two things I forgot!

1) The voiceovers will be fully implemented like they are on TWC's LOT8s, a full vocal local including current conditions and forecast readouts. Yes, AJ is helping me out on this one!

2) There is a full radar page that isn't in the rotation just yet as Environment Canada is still working on the custom radar data feeds for me. This is also the explanation for the small, un-animated radar box.

Appreciate the feedback!

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General Discussion / Weatherscan in Canada? Soon a reality.

« on: January 10, 2012, 12:26:45 AM »

Hello again folks!

For those who didn't catch the "I'm back" thread, hello again! I've truly missed hanging out around here, but as time progresses old habits sadly get lost, but let me remind everyone that my time spent here was quite enjoyable and the inspiration for my ongoing project would have never been possible had it not have been for this forum!

On that note, a lot of you know I've spent my time over the years trying to create a version of Weatherscan, but for broadcast in Canada. Who knew launching a television station independently could take so much work!

A lot of progress has been made over the past year, I'm at the point now where I'm in discussions with Rogers (Canadian version of Comcast) as to what the best 'launch plan' is for this service. In the coming months Rogers will be broadcasting my product "Weathercaster" during the evening, overnight and morning hours on a few different channels, this will allow us to get feedback and better prepare me for the full launch shortly down the road from that.

However, the most important feedback for me is what everyone here has to say. So many people have such creative mock ups, My inspiration for the project came from here, it seems only right to ask for everyone's feedback here.

So what does everyone thing? What should change? What do you like? What would you do differently? Let me know, I'll be taking all comments into consideration. I'd hate to launch a product that true weather channel lovers wouldn't approve.

Link:

KSMI Broadcasting - Weathercaster v6.8 RTM

Hope everyone is doing well!

5

General Discussion / It's been so long...

« on: November 14, 2011, 07:57:05 PM »

Hello folks,

Man - it's been a while since I've been here! I've been wanting to come and say hi for so long -- but time gets the better half of me lately.

I have no idea who's still active on here - I still keep in touch with some of you outside of the forums - but I just thought I'd come on and say hello, let everyone know I miss coming to these boards on a daily basis. I often reflect on my time spent around these boards, a lot of great people talking about a great passion.

A few of you know about my plans to start a Canadian version of Weatherscan, it's been a project in the works for over 5 years and I'm glad to say that things are looking promising for a launch sometime early next year. Spending time on this board has helped in ways never thought possible. There's the aspect that developers see, but it's awesome to hear what the actual viewers want to see; this has allowed me to create the best viewer experience possible.

I'll update everyone on the status of this, but thought I'd stop in and say hello to the forum that made my day for so long. Hope everyone is doing well.

Also - I've actually got a survey on the go right now - basically asking what your thoughts are on weather focused television channels - if anyone wants to take a few seconds to answer the 5 questions - I'd appreciate it!

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/TP2QRQD

I hope to be around here a bit more often!

6

Everything Else TWC / Re: New TWC Media Kit Website

« on: June 19, 2010, 12:15:29 AM »

Oh yeah - the ratings are the only reason I stick around...

7

Programming and Graphics / Re: Vortex2 2010

« on: March 28, 2010, 06:44:19 PM »

Hey folks, sorry I've been silent for so long. I've been keeping busy with work and my personal life. Nonetheless, I just wanted to pop on and keep you guys up to date on The Weather Channel's plans for Vortex2 this year.

Let's go over some of the changes and highlights...

• TWC will only be following the armada for the first 3 weeks, unless the last week is expected to heat up.
• There will be no live chat or streaming on weather.com, can't afford it this year.
• There will be very little, if any coverage in the outside of morning hours (weather permitting), coverage will be focused on the morning hours.
• The Green Machine will not have it's Blooomobile attached to it this year, as the satellite fees last year were too expensive.
• Because live and on the go uplink (Bloomobile) is not available this year, the actual live in the field coverage will be in SD and via cellular 3G broadband (roughly 30+ second delay) (There is no 3G coverage, see how this will cause problems?) The only HD feeds will be during the morning reports as they are not on the move and the standard HD uplink/satellite truck will be in use instead. It is impossible to operate a standard satellite truck while in motion.
• Instead of a crew of about 6 people this year, it is currently planned to have Mike, a camera operator and a satellite truck operator.

I'll post more information as it becomes available, but I just thought I should post this information now since I just got it.

8

General Discussion / Re: The Front Porch

« on: August 15, 2009, 05:17:36 PM »

From what I've seen from other people's stories and experience it is possible that twc's overprotective spam filters have black listed your email address... I'm not sure how to correct this.

TWCs email system wont seem to accept files over about 4mb.

I think it's 5MB, but none the less, I think that's only for iWitness weather and public accounts, etc...

9

General Discussion / Re: Packing up camp, and heading back to the US...

« on: August 14, 2009, 01:41:15 PM »

WFAA is an excellent station, so I could imagine work there is a little fun 

I'm still in talks with WFAA, I actually have preference of WFAA over TWC. I'd LOVE to work (and live) in Victory Park! I'm still waiting on the final word from them. WFAA has a neat setup, their studios are in Victory Park, meanwhile their control room, master control, newsroom and such is 1.2 miles away.

10

General Discussion / Re: The Front Porch

« on: August 14, 2009, 12:26:59 PM »

From what I've seen from other people's stories and experience it is possible that twc's overprotective spam filters have black listed your email address... I'm not sure how to correct this.

You have to be added to the "whitelist" which involves emailing a note to admin@weather.com requesting to be added to said list. Sadly, this is a human/manual process and usually takes about a week.

11

General Discussion / Packing up camp, and heading back to the US...

« on: August 14, 2009, 12:20:20 PM »

Hey everyone,

Sorry I haven't been very active on the boards lately.. I've been sorting through some fun life adventures, and been on the road quite a bit, and whatnot.

I was laid off from the station I had been at for about 5 years in June, and have been seeking jobs in Canada ever since. I've been doing a lot of freelance work with various stations, but nothing permanent. Things have become such a mess in Canada with not only my career, but also the industry itself that I have decided to pack up camp here in Ottawa, and make my way back to the US.

I've been in talks with several stations such as possibly returning to TWC as a Local Weather Producer, I'm also looking into WFAA, News 8 - Dallas Texas, FOX Atlanta, a few stations in Kansas (can you say tornado!) and possibly even somewhere in Florida, you know, for the Hurricanes and whatnot.

What do you guys think? Where should I go? I'm looking for a station that is well known for its severe weather coverage, and I swear, if you say TWC! But seriously, what's in your neighborhood? What do you recommend?

Of course, wherever I go you know I'll extensively blog and Tweet about whats going on.

12

Everything Else TWC / Re: General TWC Discussion

« on: July 24, 2009, 07:22:34 PM »

That's the camera on a circular track above the studio that's taking the wideshot seen just after the opener there.

That's not the first time I've seen the Tracam moving in another shot... Cute.

13

General Discussion / Re: The Front Porch

« on: July 09, 2009, 10:43:03 AM »

Correct, Canada does still run analog NTSC. We don't have many OTA stations, so where ever your going, plug into a cable outlet, you'll get channels 2 to 65. If you have a digital tuner, you will get all those stations plus Galaxie radio stations.

14

Everything Else TWC / Re: General TWC Discussion

« on: June 07, 2009, 05:17:26 PM »

Way to go Heather Tesch!  When she tried to pass the report over to Carl, she passed it over to "Kyle",their director..What an embarrassing moment.. 

Whoops...

15

Everything Else TWC / Want to know something about TWC?

« on: June 06, 2009, 02:38:03 PM »

Hey folks,

It's that time of the month again where I will be hosting an hour and a half, live, on camera forum on uStream. During this interactive hour, I'd like to open the floor to you guys and answer any questions you have about anything The Weather Channel.

The stream will be live on uStream @ 7pm ET / 6pm CT / 5pm MT

You can watch live and join the chat here: http://ustream.tv/channel/twc-qna. You can also watch from the myKSMI.com website at http://www.myksmi.com/live/

Here's how you can get your questions to me:

You can use these three methods to ask your questions before, and during the show:
1) Twitter: tweet your questions to @kylesmithmobile
2) AIM Messenger: screen name "ksmithtwn"
3) uStream Chat: ask your question on the uStream chat page

You can also email your questions before or just at the start of the show:
4) Email: your questions to news@myksmi.com

If you want to go really interactive, you can hit me up on Skype during the broadcast:
5) Skype: You can voice chat, text chat, or even video chat with us, screen name "wxmancanada".

5 ways to get your questions in, so think of whatever you can and send 'em my way, I hope you all tune in at 7pm et!

Who's gonna watch / join in?