Terry's Computer Tips - Newsletter
July 18, 2005


Volume 1, Number 5 -- Monday, July 18, 2005
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3


6.  Hurricane Season - Information Sources
We're in an Internet-based world nowm, but every now and then Mother Nature reminds us there is a real world also.  If you do not already know about and have these two sites bookmarked for your storm-watching, check them out and set them up as Favorites in I.E. or Bookmarks in Opera and Firefox.

First is the NOAA - the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration - site.  NOAA is the weather reporting and forecasting arm of the US Government.  Their main site is http://www.noaa.gov.  They have been making drastic changes to the site lately.  To me, it is now extremely cluttered and, therefore, it's hard to spot the information I need. The information is there but you have to look harder.

The best use I have for the main NOAA site is as a reference for the future.  I'll use it to find "something," then bookmark that something so I can find it again.

The huge amount of information NOAA provides on hurricanes is located at the NOAA National Hurricane Center (http://www.nhc.noaa.gov).  A quick click on that link gives you a page with almost everything you might want to know about the current storms.  Most significantly, NOAA has charts of the 3-Day forecast cone, the 5-day forecast cone and the strike probabilities.  The main NHC page includes micro-charts, so you can get a quick feel for the the current status.  Clicking on one of the micro-charts pulls up a larger image and explanation -- and that the image itself is a link to an even larger version.

The other hurricane site that I like to use, in fact, it's the one I prefer to use because I can get to the information I want even faster than at the NHC site, is http://hurricane.terrapin.com.

This site started out as a hobby site and has become quite popular over the last few years.  The site used to have some information on how it came into being and why, but the author has taken that info down.  The site is a one-man operation.  In the past, and it's probably still true, the web server runs on automatic with very little action by the website owner -- it gets the data automatically from NOAA and reformats it for display.

If it is NOAA's data, why do I like hurricane.terrapin.com better?  Usability -- it is a cleaner site -- I can see instantly what is important and where to click.  I can see the most probable route of the hurricane, not the "cone."  I can see a track of where it has been, even a moving track showing how the storm has moved over time, and I can see where it is expected to go.

On the other hand, if you look at the margins of the pages, you will find some unusual links.  Want to know which storms came within 100 miles of a specific city?  There's a tool.  Want to know all the storms in a particular year?  Want to see them plotted?  Want to watch an animated storm plot?  Use those tools.

Check out http://www.nhc.noaa.gov and http://hurricane.terrapin.com before you need the information.  See what they have to offer and the links they have to other resources.  Don't forget to add them to your Favorites or Bookmarks so you can find them later.


7.  JUST FOR FUN - Keeping up with the Comics


Many newspapers provide their current news on their website.  Some of them even have the current day's comic strips available for viewing on the Internet.  This can be handy if you are travelling or if your local paper decides to drop one of your favorite strips.

Sometimes, the newspaper will require you to be a subscriber.  Other newspaper sites may require you to register for a free account.  And, of course, some strips, such as Dilbert, are even available at their own site.

My favorite newspaper site for comics is the Houston Chronicle.  They carry a large number of comic strips including a number that I enjoyed when I lived in Houston, such as the sports strip "Tank McNamara" and the family strip "Fox Trot."

At the Chronicle's main page, just click on Comics in the navigation bar on the left.  You can read today's individual black & white and color comic strips.  

They also have a neat feature called "Build your own comics page."  The link is above the individual comic strip links.  After you visit a few times, they will require that you register (free).

If you subscribe to the Houston Chronicle, you can also access their comic strip archives for strips back to 1998.

Back to Part 1   Part 2



Volume 1, Number 5 -- Monday, July 18, 2005
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

Copyright © 2005 Terry A. Stockdale.  All rights reserved.

 

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