Trixology
General Category => Web-site/Forum news => Topic started by: WCDev on February 28, 2025, 07:47:20 PM
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Hello all,
It is with a heavy heart I have to announce that these forums will shut down on 16th March 2025 due to the UK’s 2023 online safety act.
This act puts in place rules and regulations that target all sites that allow user generated content.
I don’t have the resources to comply with this new legislation and there’s no guarantee that even if the work was done, it would be sufficient to pass possible vetting by the state sometime in the future which could result in fines up to £18 million.
I would like to thank everyone that has participated over the years, especially the ‘regulars’, but it seems the days of small, niche forums are over (at least in the UK).
More information:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/online-safety-act-explainer/online-safety-act-explainer (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/online-safety-act-explainer/online-safety-act-explainer)
https://www.theregister.com/2025/01/14/online_safety_act/ (https://www.theregister.com/2025/01/14/online_safety_act/)
https://www.ofcom.org.uk/siteassets/resources/documents/online-safety/information-for-industry/roadmap/2024/ofcoms-approach-to-implementing-the-online-safety-act-2024.pdf?v=383285 (https://www.ofcom.org.uk/siteassets/resources/documents/online-safety/information-for-industry/roadmap/2024/ofcoms-approach-to-implementing-the-online-safety-act-2024.pdf?v=383285)
Best regards,
Stu.
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Are there any other support groups for WeatherCat out there or will support become non existent?
And WeatherCat itself? What does the future hold?
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:'( Such a shame. You have been wonderful, Stu, as have all the WeatherCatters.
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Dear Stu, wx-watch, Blick, and WeatherCat faithful,
It is with a heavy heart I have to announce that these forums will shut down on 16th March 2025 due to the UK’s 2023 online safety act.
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So sorry to hear this. It is yet another example where common-sense has lost out to heavy-handed regulation.
Thank you Stu for having provided us with this venue to be a community and support WeatherCat.
I share your heavy heart . . . . :'(
Edouard
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Dear WeatherCat faithful,
I'm just brainstorming quickly here. One obvious thing WeatherCatters could do is regroup on some other forum. The obvious place is Macintosh Weather Software topic of WXForum.net (https://www.wxforum.net/i):
https://www.wxforum.net/index.php?board=114.0 (https://www.wxforum.net/index.php?board=114.0)
However, upon reading the descriptor of the online safety act, it appears that the British government would see to gain control over even websites hosted in foreign countries. I'll just toss out the idea for whatever it is worth: "could we seek refuge on WXForum.net?"
A curious mind wants to know. . . . .
Edouard
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Would it be worthwhile asking them if them if they would set up a dedicated WeatherCat section?
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I'm the admin of WXForum.net, and you all would be very welcome to join the forum to continue WeatherCat discussions.
WXForum.net has been around since founding in 2004. We are hosted in the USA, but honor both GDPR removal requests and will comply with OSA (UK) requests for removal of offensive materials too. I've only had to process 1 GDPR request for removal so far, so the duty does not seem too onerous.
I can also create a dedicated WeatherCat board and set up Stu or others you recommend as moderators for it.
I hope this helps...
Best regards,
Ken (admin WXForum.net, also saratoga-weather.org)
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So very to see this forum go, following the demise of the predecessors several of us belonged to. Thank you, Stu!
And thank you Ken for offering a refuge for the forum. Many years ago, I was a moderator on the Macintosh Weather Software sub-forum at WXForum.net, but it had next to zero activity.
Stu, please take Ken up on his offer to have you moderate/participate on WXForum.net
[EDIT] Huh, it appears that I'm still the Mac software forum moderator, but until today, I haven't been on there in years. A member with the username "Schwab", although not a moderator, seems to have been carrying the WeatherCat torch on that subform. Still, a dedicated WeatherCat forum would be a great idea.
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Many thanks to Ken for the offer. I would love to see Stu and Edouard as moderators.
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No issue adding boards/sub-boards for WeatherCat specifically, and with adding any current moderators/admins as moderators for the new boards.
Yes, Dr. Tom Schwab has been using WeatherCat and posting on WXforum.net quite a while :)
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Dear wx-watch, Ken, Blick, Stu, and WeatherCat faithful,
No issue adding boards/sub-boards for WeatherCat specifically, and with adding any current moderators/admins as moderators for the new boards.
. . . .
Thank you so much Ken for laying the groundwork for a new home for us WeatherCatters! ThU5:-)
I have started a thread to share our climate data:
https://www.wxforum.net/index.php?topic=48212.msg486323#msg486323 (https://www.wxforum.net/index.php?topic=48212.msg486323#msg486323)
Hopefully our community can move over with minimal disruption.
Thanks again,
Edouard
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Dear all,
This is bad news, although minor compared to what else is happening in the world. Thanks all, and Stu in particular of course.
Hope we can continue on the WXforum - I just registered.
Jos
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I have registered also
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I have registered also
Me too.
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Is there any means to relocate the Wiki files elsewhere? There are a *lot* of valuable contributions contained in those pages, and it would be a shame if they were all lost!
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I could host the Wiki if Stu agrees. I'd previously hosted the Cumulus Wiki when the main Cumulus website was shutdown.
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Thanks Ken for your further support!
I could host the Wiki if Stu agrees. I'd previously hosted the Cumulus Wiki when the main Cumulus website was shutdown.
I'm sure this is a very bitter pill for Stu and honestly, for all WeatherCatters really. Anything that can be done to reduce the loss is greatly appreciated.
Edouard
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I'm the admin of WXForum.net, and you all would be very welcome to join the forum to continue WeatherCat discussions.
Thank you Ken, that’s very kind, but please make sure you aren’t somehow affected by this rather over-reaching act.
As a further update, these forums will become read-only on the 16th, the wiki will remain, but again read-only and the main web-site will have commenting disabled along with the ability for a user to register. Effectively all read-only.
As a further change, for the time being WeatherCat is free - registration info can be found at https://trixology.com/get-license/ (https://trixology.com/get-license/)
Best regards,
Stu.
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Hi Stu,
I have looked over the act and I think that WXForum.net will be fine and compliant with the requirements.
The active discussion areas for WeatherCat are live on WXForum.net and some members have joined already. You, too, are welcome to join if you like. I stand ready to support your needs.
Best regards,
Ken
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Dear Stu, Ken, and WeatherCatters the world over,
. . . .
As a further update, these forums will become read-only on the 16th, the wiki will remain, but again read-only and the main web-site will have commenting disabled along with the ability for a user to register. Effectively all read-only.
As a further change, for the time being WeatherCat is free - registration info can be found at https://trixology.com/get-license/ (https://trixology.com/get-license/)
. . . .
I am especially sorry to hear about these changes. Perhaps I shouldn't admit it, but my first experiences with the Internet are now 45 years old. Back then it was a domain of "gentlemen" where civility was expected of the university staff, government workers and occasional private contractors who were permitted to be part of the then nascent network.
Today, the Internet is a reflection of the wider world and you cannot simply avoid "the bad parts of town." The bad people can come to you at the best of gigabits per second. Governments are hopeless ill-suited to cope with this sort of thing. After-all, they cannot reign in conventional crime for starters.
There has always been a difficult trade-off between the freedoms to act and the protections from those who act badly. I fear that our world is convulsing over the paradox.
In the end we have lost some of our innocence and will profoundly miss it.
Edouard
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I'm the admin of WXForum.net, and you all would be very welcome to join the forum to continue WeatherCat discussions.
Thank you Ken, that’s very kind, but please make sure you aren’t somehow affected by this rather over-reaching act.
As a further update, these forums will become read-only on the 16th, the wiki will remain, but again read-only and the main web-site will have commenting disabled along with the ability for a user to register. Effectively all read-only.
As a further change, for the time being WeatherCat is free - registration info can be found at https://trixology.com/get-license/ (https://trixology.com/get-license/)
Best regards,
Stu.
Before these forums become read only would it be possible for you to state unequivocally what the future holds for WeatherCat
Many thanks
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Dear Stu, Ken, and WeatherCatters the world over,
. . . .
As a further update, these forums will become read-only on the 16th, the wiki will remain, but again read-only and the main web-site will have commenting disabled along with the ability for a user to register. Effectively all read-only.
As a further change, for the time being WeatherCat is free - registration info can be found at https://trixology.com/get-license/ (https://trixology.com/get-license/)
. . . .
I am especially sorry to hear about these changes. Perhaps I shouldn't admit it, but my first experiences with the Internet are now 45 years old. Back then it was a domain of "gentlemen" where civility was expected of the university staff, government workers and occasional private contractors who were permitted to be part of the then nascent network.
Today, the Internet is a reflection of the wider world and you cannot simply avoid "the bad parts of town." The bad people can come to you at the best of gigabits per second. Governments are hopeless ill-suited to cope with this sort of thing. After-all, they cannot reign in conventional crime for starters.
There has always been a difficult trade-off between the freedoms to act and the protections from those who act badly. I fear that our world is convulsing over the paradox.
In the end we have lost some of our innocence and will profoundly miss it.
Edouard
Well said, mate!
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Dear WeatherCat faithful,
Time is starting to run short, so I am paraphrasing a posting I made on the new WeatherCatter's refuge (https://www.wxforum.net/index.php?board=146.0):
https://www.wxforum.net/index.php?topic=48252.msg486663#msg486663 (https://www.wxforum.net/index.php?topic=48252.msg486663#msg486663)
I am sure all of us who are loyal to WeatherCat continue to be in shock. Alas, the legal climate has changed, forcing Stu's hand. I assume that there is more to the story than what has been publicly said about the UK’s 2023 online safety act. Stu has always been extremely careful to protect his legal position and preserve his own privacy. He should have absolutely every right to do so. WeatherCat is simply a business conducted in Stu's free time and he has every right to charge a fair price for his labors.
Alas, that's the trouble comes in. The only reason Stu would take such a drastic step is to protect his legal position. All we can do is stand by Stu and WeatherCat, and hope somehow, that the legal situation is reverted to something sane. This isn't the first time this software has faced what appeared to be essential extinction. What saved it is this community standing by something we use and deeply enjoy having.
I'm calling all WeatherCatters to hang tough with Stu during these difficult times. Our new provisional home is here:
https://www.wxforum.net/index.php?board=146.0 (https://www.wxforum.net/index.php?board=146.0)
It is undeniably a huge step down from having a forum of our own. Nonetheless, it is still much better than losing all means of keeping in contact of each other.
If we truly want WeatherCat to continue, there isn't much else we can do.
Edouard
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Signed.
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I'm the admin of WXForum.net, and you all would be very welcome to join the forum to continue WeatherCat discussions.
Ken, can you remove me as moderator of the Macintosh Weather Software sub-forum? I'm never on there any more, and not at all up to date on the other software options.
Thanks
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Sure, I'm assuming your smorris id is the one on WXForum.net.
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Sure, I'm assuming your smorris id is the one on WXForum.net.
Oh, yea, sorry. That used to be my username here, too, so I forgot it was changed. Thanks!
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As this forum becomes read only this weekend, I want to thank all of you, fellow WeatherCatters, for your questions, answers, and contributions on the forum. I appreciate all I have learned here over the years. I am especially grateful for the "old timers" who came here from LWC. Specifically, Stu, Edouard, Steve, and Reinhard have bailed me out many times. Thanks to all of you.
I hope everyone will join us on the new sub forum on WXForum.net.
https://www.wxforum.net/index.php?board=146.0
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Dear Blick and fellow WeatherCatters,
As this forum becomes read only this weekend, I want to thank all of you, fellow WeatherCatters, for your questions, answers, and contributions on the forum. I appreciate all I have learned here over the years. I am especially grateful for the "old timers" who came here from LWC. Specifically, Stu, Edouard, Steve, and Reinhard have bailed me out many times. Thanks to a all of you.
Thank you very much for your heartfelt words!
I too would like to very much thank Stu for all his labors! What was very much a labor of love has increasingly become a herculean task as a result of a myopic attitude to be found in so many places. Let us all hope for a brighter future even there doesn't seem to be anything but dark clouds at the moment.
Edouard
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Before these forums become read only would it be possible for you to state unequivocally what the future holds for WeatherCat
Many thanks
Development continues. I'm currently working on V332 (see https://live.trixology.com/custom/ for the latest version on test) - the main aim of 332 is to fix a startup crash and add those two missing rain channels to the WLIP driver.
The reason I wrote first LWC (about a hundred years ago it seems :) ) and then WeatherCat is because I couldn't find anything to suit my needs - that continues to be the case.
As a further change, for the time being WeatherCat is free - registration info can be found at https://trixology.com/get-license/ (https://trixology.com/get-license/)
This is now rescinded.
As an additional personal note, I find this particularly annoying - I've kept these forums running through thick and thin (sometimes on extremely dodgy hardware and extremely dodgy connections) and now I'm done in by a somewhat overreaching act.
I do hope to be able to bring these forums back to full functionality sometime in the future, but for now, many thanks to Ken!
Cheers,
Stu.
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Many thanks for the encouraging update.
I wish you all the best and many many thanks
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Thank you Stu! WeatherCat is still the very best weather software for a Mac.
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Thanks for all your hard work - and thanks for letting me be part of the translation team. For future translations: I am ready and waiting! :)
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Dear Stu, wx-watch, Blick, Reinhard, and WeatherCat faithful,
Development continues. . . . .
Hurray!!! [cheer]
The reason I wrote first LWC (about a hundred years ago it seems :) ) and then WeatherCat is because I couldn't find anything to suit my needs - that continues to be the case.
And you know what . . . . . . Nothing suits my needs either . . . . I'm afraid I'm a WeatherCat [WCSmall] addict! . . [biggrin]
This is now rescinded.
As far as I am concerned anyway, this is good news!!
As an additional personal note, I find this particularly annoying - I've kept these forums running through thick and thin (sometimes on extremely dodgy hardware and extremely dodgy connections) and now I'm done in by a somewhat overreaching act.
I do hope to be able to bring these forums back to full functionality sometime in the future, but for now, many thanks to Ken!
By all means thanks for this forum and home for WeatherCatters! (https://www.canebas.org/WeatherCat/Forum_support_documents/Custom_emoticons/thanks_sign.gif) In the meantime, thank you Ken for giving us a temporary refuge until either sanity returns or . . . . it is the Second Coming! (https://www.canebas.org/WeatherCat/Forum_support_documents/Custom_emoticons/Angelic_smiley_small.gif)
At this point, which will come first is anything but a safe bet! . . . . (https://www.canebas.org/WeatherCat/Forum_support_documents/Custom_emoticons/eek-sign.gif)
Edouard