1/11 Cutter w/strong winds - snowbank demiser

[odwalla]

I'd be in favor of banning the posting or discussing of weatherbell map output.  It contributes substantially to dumbing down the quality of discussion around here.

It is worse than that.

 

The WX Bell maps actively contribute inaccurate information to the public discourse -- and, worst of all, this is how they make their money.

 

They release maps with inaccurate data of all sorts, simply because it makes people want to subscribe. They don't care whatsoever that the data is inaccurate -- they only care about the $$. And I'm seeing the impact of this all across the internet; people are liking and sharing maps that are blatantly incorrect, but they have no idea this is the case -- and WX Bell is reaping the profits.

 

So now you have what people feared would happen actually happening -- if you can recall, around 2006(ish) Bastardi made a concerted push to limit the NWS' funding, with the help of Santorum, with the end goal of shifting everything over to (competing) private weather companies. Obviously the NWS is still around, but tech has progressed to the point where Bastardi could start his own (terrible) company that has even lower standards than Accuweather; their output intentionally misles people.

 

Competition can be good, but in this instance, whoever's data is more impressive will get more eyes -- and Bastardi has realized this, which is why they release maps that are total BS.

 

WX Bell maps should not be treated as banter -- they should not be allowed on this forum, period. 

[Stormlover74]

It is worse than that.

The WX Bell maps actively contribute inaccurate information to the public discourse -- and, worst of all, this is how they make their money.

They release maps with inaccurate data of all sorts, simply because it makes people want to subscribe. They don't care whatsoever that the data is inaccurate -- they only care about the $$. And I'm seeing the impact of this all across the internet; people are liking and sharing maps that are blatantly incorrect, but they have no idea this is the case -- and WX Bell is reaping the profits.

So now you have what people feared would happen actually happening -- if you can recall, around 2006(ish) Bastardi made a concerted push to limit the NWS' funding, with the help of Santorum, with the end goal of shifting everything over to (competing) private weather companies. Obviously the NWS is still around, but tech has progressed to the point where Bastardi could start his own (terrible) company that has even lower standards than Accuweather; their output intentionally misles people.

Competition can be good, but in this instance, whoever's data is more impressive will get more eyes -- and Bastardi has realized this, which is why they release maps that are total BS.

WX Bell maps should not be treated as banter -- they should not be allowed on this forum, period.

But how do you REALLY feel?

[NorthShoreWx]

It is worse than that.

 

The WX Bell maps actively contribute inaccurate information to the public discourse -- and, worst of all, this is how they make their money.

 

They release maps with inaccurate data of all sorts, simply because it makes people want to subscribe. They don't care whatsoever that the data is inaccurate -- they only care about the $$. And I'm seeing the impact of this all across the internet; people are liking and sharing maps that are blatantly incorrect, but they have no idea this is the case -- and WX Bell is reaping the profits.

 

So now you have what people feared would happen actually happening -- if you can recall, around 2006(ish) Bastardi made a concerted push to limit the NWS' funding, with the help of Santorum, with the end goal of shifting everything over to (competing) private weather companies. Obviously the NWS is still around, but tech has progressed to the point where Bastardi could start his own (terrible) company that has even lower standards than Accuweather; their output intentionally misles people.

 

Competition can be good, but in this instance, whoever's data is more impressive will get more eyes -- and Bastardi has realized this, which is why they release maps that are total BS.

 

WX Bell maps should not be treated as banter -- they should not be allowed on this forum, period. 

 

I was not aware that WxBell was associated with Bastardi. 

 

I was aware that there are a number of people here making horrible posts and when confronted, they back it up with a strikingly pretty, but frighteningly inaccurate WxBell map.  Until we can wean those psoters off of that dependency, confining them to the vendor thread sounds like a good idea.