Categories
Should We Talk About The Weather?

We’ve voided the warranty on the planet

Holy crap, guys.

It’s after 9pm.

The sun has gone down.

It’s dark outside.

It’s also nearly 90 degrees outside with a heat index of nearly 100 degrees outside. Right now.

If we don’t stop royally screwing this one up, they’re going to stop giving us planets.

Oh, wait. The planets will still be there. We, however, won’t be.

(If you’re wondering why you’re staring at something from the Weather Channel from the 1990s, fear not – that’s actually from tonight, and you’re probably new here. Go read this.)Read more

Categories
Funny Stuff Should We Talk About The Weather?

RageCast for April 13th, 2014

RageCast! A bold new idea in weather forecast stupidity in which I look at the probability map for an upcoming severe weather event and try to match its shape to that of an internet meme “rage face.”

I’ve got bad news for you, northeast Oklahoma. Mother Nature’s targeting you just for the lulz. … Read more

Categories
Gadgetology Should We Talk About The Weather? Television & Movies

A challenging emulation situation

O'Brien forecasts the weatherI recently had to put an insane amount of time and research into setting up a new emulator for an extinct computer system whose output I once relied upon to a great degree. I’ve set up complicated emulators before, all the way back to the earliest versions of MAME where there wasn’t much of a community yet and you really were on your own figuring it all out. And even that was simple compared to this.

Is it an emulator for a game system, or so I can play a game? No. It’s an emualtor that makes one of my computers generate a display like the Weather Channel’s local forecasts from the early 1990s. … Read more

Categories
Funny Stuff Should We Talk About The Weather?

Introducing RAGECAST!

Tornado Warnin'I had this idea last year, but too late in the lower midwest’s spring tornado season to implement it. That and the tornadoes that were happening were killing people – if I did start it last year, it’d be “too soon.” Ah, who am I kidding, it’s probably still “too soon”, but this is meant to lift spirits and incite laughter, not to poke fun at anyone’s grievous losses.

Tomorrow is my immediate area’s first day of 2014 in the cross-hatched bubble. Actually, back up – let me explain. … Read more

Categories
Should We Talk About The Weather?

A Song of Ice and Tires, Book Two: A Crash of Things

After yesterday’s 14+ hour long ice storm, the roads across Arkansas are basically poo. They’re slick as poo, and you’re pretty much guaranteed to poo if you try to drive on them, for there shall certainly be a crash of things. Repeating, for clarity: poo. (The city of Fort Smith was closed today. Not the schools. Not the courthouse. The whole city.)

Let’s watch again, in animated form, as the roads and highways in Arkansas resolutely refuse to improve in any meaningful way. … Read more