Author Topic: WU/API update information *for those who need it*  (Read 2541 times)

jennajon

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WU/API update information *for those who need it*
« on: December 13, 2018, 01:52:46 PM »
Taken in part from this reply: https://apicommunity.wunderground.com/weatherapi/topics/end-of-service-for-the-weather-underground-api
Victoria Gardiner, Official Rep:

"...I said that PWS owners would be a protected class "for now" because once they are the only class, they are all protected by default.  I have no information whatsoever of PWS owners being shut out in the future. 

PWS owners who are uploading their data will have uninterrupted access to their data, and a limited range of additional items.  They will be able to access up to 1000 calls per day and 30 calls/minute.  (This reflects an increase over what I mentioned before, which was the base level for the WU API.)  When the API for the PWS uploaders is ready, we will provide a transition period to switch from the WU API to the new API.  For PWS uploaders, the Weather Underground API will not close down on December 31.

For everyone else, and yes, this includes the many people with developer keys, the Weather Underground API will close down on December 31, 2018, unless they have made a prior contractual arrangement with IBM/The Weather Company."

Although (once again) they are grandfathering in all PWS reporters, i am seeing a trend that WU is no longer interested in PWS reporting. So be it.

 [interesting]

xairbusdriver

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Re: WU/API update information *for those who need it*
« Reply #1 on: December 13, 2018, 02:22:27 PM »
I suppose it's my fault for not accessing WU more than when something about them pops up in these forums. [banghead] And even when I do access their site, I rarely do anything other than check my own data. Not exactly a 'click count' booster for IBM/The Weather Company. [rolleyes2] I assume my uploads are counting. Oh well... at least I'm getting what I pay for. :P
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Blicj11

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Re: WU/API update information *for those who need it*
« Reply #2 on: December 13, 2018, 07:50:35 PM »
As I have stated in several other threads on this forum, in my opinion, WU is well on its way into the process of a long, drawn out death spiral. Too bad, but change happens. Every change they have introduced for months now has made their platform a little less useful and they are making it very clear they really don't care about the PWS uploads as much as they did when they were independent. So, over time, when it becomes too obnoxious to endure, I assume most of us WeatherCatters will simply stop uploading to WU, as some already have.
Blick


elagache

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Where IBM entered this twisted plot. (Re: WU/API update information)
« Reply #3 on: December 13, 2018, 10:45:04 PM »
Dear Jenna, X-Air, Blick and WeatherCat technology observers,

It is worth remembering the apparent reason why IBM bought the Weather Channel in the first place.  At the time rumors circulated that IBM bought the Weather Channel precisely to get access to the Weather Underground data.  The claim was that they intended to use their Watson artificial intelligence system to make more accurate forecasts than are presently possible using existing models.

Having a BA in Physics and having started PhD intending to use artificial intelligence to develop educational software, I find all of this extremely curious.  The existing computational models for sort term weather and long term climate forecasts are attempts to actually model the atmosphere.  This is extremely difficult to do, but at least seems like a plausible way to forecast the future state of the atmosphere.  At least as described, IBM was apparently trying to throw the Weather Underground data directly at the Watson system without any modeling of the physics.  No matter how sophisticated Watson may be, attempting to "learn" from so much data is likely to overwhelm the technology.  The alternative is even more difficult, attempt to build a hybrid AI physical model of the atmosphere has never been done.  Either way, it hardly looks like the sort of profit-making venture that companies really need in our tough economy.

If this rumor wasn't the ultimate motivation for IBM's acquisition of the Weather Channel, could anything else represent a better match?  After all, the Weather Channel is a cable TV channel and IBM stands for International Business Machines.  These businesses could hardly be more different economically or culturally.  Admittedly I'm far on the outside of such matters, but it does trouble me that major corporations somehow manage to make decisions that seem absurd when viewed from just about any angle.

Oh well, Edouard   ???

xairbusdriver

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Re: WU/API update information *for those who need it*
« Reply #4 on: December 13, 2018, 11:28:30 PM »
Quote
it does trouble me that major corporations somehow manage to make decisions that seem absurd when viewed from just about any angle.
Surely you aren't referring to Apple's announcement of a 133 acre "campus" in Austin TX. Even as they plan to set aside 50 acres of "preserved open space". [rolleyes2]
THERE ARE TWO TYPES OF COUNTRIES
Those that use metric = #1 Measurement system
And the United States = The Banana system


elagache

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Just my chance! (Was: WU/API update information)
« Reply #5 on: December 14, 2018, 11:11:31 PM »
Dear X-Air and WeatherCat users always seeking to further their "education" . . . . . .

Surely you aren't referring to Apple's announcement of a 133 acre "campus" in Austin TX. Even as they plan to set aside 50 acres of "preserved open space". [rolleyes2]

[wink] . . . . Why would I have a problem with that?  Everybody knows that a "campus" is a place where you put a university, and I can't wait to send in my application for a Professorship in Philosophy!! . .  lol(1)

Cheers, Edouard  [cheers1]