I bet you’re wondering what Powermad Software has been up to.
There are many exciting projects I’m working on, and one of them is the next evolution of Weather Storm. I always meant that application to be the weather application I go to myself when I want to see what the forecast is like, or whether a storm is headed straight for me. So whenever I use it, I think about what’s missing.
The next release will have two things I’ve known were missing since its first release, but for one reason or another, were delayed.
One of those things is access to Neighborhood Weather Stations as well as airports. This is a much requested feature, and one of the core reasons people like to visit the web site of our weather data provider, wunderground.com. In the next release, they’re in, along with a visually cleaner station selection list to accommodate the large increase in options there.
Second thing is something I’ve been working hard to implement. It took quite a lot of resources and time, and is most of the reason for the delay in release – this feature must work correctly, and it involves a lot of different pieces working together in tandem. That feature is…Weather Alert Push Notifications.
I’m working at making the Push Alerts not only timely and as accurate as possible, but also as opt-in as possible. Weather Storm will require you to go through several steps to activate Push Alerts. This is necessary because there is a large number of people who consider push notifications to be a nuisance at best, a violation of their privacy at worst. So I want to make sure that if someone’s getting alerts, they really, really asked for them. There will also be a zero spam policy. The Push network for Weather Storm is going to be reserved for weather alerts only. I believe push advertising, no matter how innocuous, dilutes the serious purpose of the signature icon and sound of a Weather Storm weather alert.
Also on the schedule is a new edition of Lame Excuse that sends you an excuse via Push Notification, so get you out of meetings and social situations. Unlike with Weather Storm, those notifications are intended to be completely frivolous. There are some copycats of Lame Excuse out there now by the way; remember that our Lame Excuse is the original, and the only one with a photo of a cute dog. Accept no substitutes!
And finally, one secret project that I won’t reveal just yet, except that it’s a little cyberpunk, and will be good for playing with during liesure time.
- JF
