WeatherBrief - "Your Personal On-Line Weathercast"
                         Copyright 1990 David Batterson

     The Software Toolworks has the knack for coming up with various unique
software, such as the Life and Death game which simulated surgery, and the
award-winning Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing!
     Their newest specialized program is WeatherBrief.  WeatherBrief is
published by MindScape, a company now owned by The Software Toolworks.
     There is more interest in the weather today than ever, especially
advance weather forecasting.  It is obviously serious business for farmers,
pilots, builders and outdoor recreation companies (theme parks, football
teams, water slides, etc.).
     But average citizens also want to know more about what the weather will
be today, next week or in a month.  That knowledge can help them plan their
work and play activities much better.
     TV weather reports today have very colorful, animated maps with the
latest radar, satellite and other weather maps.  These are downloaded to TV
station computers in a jiffy.
     Now the business or home PC user can access this same information, and
display the most up-to-date weather available.  That's because WeatherBrief
uses WeatherBank, the same online database used by TV and radio
meteorologists.
     Weather information is gathered from the National Weather Service,
Federal Aviation Administration, U.S. Forest Service and the U.S.  Military.
Using WeatherBrief, you'll be able to check to see if CNN's Flip Spiceland
told you the correct weather information!
     Some users might think dialing up a sophisticated weather database via
modem would be rather tricky, extremely expensive, and just not something
they would want to try.  Not to worry, because this is a very friendly
program, and it works like a charm.
     Unlike setting up a complex communications program or LAN (Local Area
Network), WeatherBrief's installation and configuration is quite painless.
The illustrated manual helps you every step of the way.
     Afterward, you are ready to select the information (weather items) that
you want to obtain from WeatherBank.  You do this by selecting up to 300
specified items, adding them to a menu called a Selection Group.
     You can have up to eight Selection Groups.  The reason for this is
to allow a different user on the same PC to have a separate group, or to
simply request different weather information.
     Don't think that 300 items will overwhelm you.  It's a large number
because there are subcategories of the major items.  You'll generally select
only a few items.
     For your needs, you might select such items as Current Weather
Conditions, Selected Major Metro Forecasts, Weather Forecasts, and National
and Regional Graphics.  You'd indicate more choices in each.
     For instance, under Current Weather Conditions you might choose
"California."  For your National and Regional Graphics, you might select
"Radar Maps," "Cloud Cover Maps" and "Jet Stream, Highs Lows and Fronts."
You'll want to experiment with your weather information retrieval, and then
adjust your Selection Groups accordingly.
     Next comes the fun part when you grab your preselected weather items
from WeatherBank.  Once you start the dialing process, all you have to do is
sit back as the weather information is quickly downloaded.  You have to pay a
per-minute cost for downloading, but it's quite affordable.
     NOTE: except for three advanced graphics, you are only downloading
data.  That's why downloads are fast, and don't cost much.  Typical items
are 3K bytes or less.  However, Manually Prepared Graphics (in .PCX format)
can be 20K to 60K in size.
     Displaying your info is a breeze too (sorry about that pun).  However,
there is a serious flaw with printing the maps.  WeatherBrief apparently
uses a generic printer driver, as you cannot configure the program for
different printers.  This makes no sense at all.
     In my tests, it would not print to an HP LaserJet III-compatible,
except in IBM ProPrinter emulation.  It wouldn't work with Epson EX
emulation either.  Hopefully, this shortcoming will be addressed ASAP.
Except for the printer problem, I like WeatherBrief very much.
     WeatherBrief lists for $49.95.  For more information, contact The
Software Toolworks, 60 Leveroni Court, Novato, CA 94949; 800-223-8665,
415-883-3000.
                                      #
     David Batterson reviews various PC products and online services.
Contact him via MCI Mail: 273-7218.