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deep thoughts on weather

Weather

There seems to be two camps to weather knowledge:
Forecasting: predicting the future weather
www.ghcc.msfc.nasa.gov/GOES/
www.weather.com

and
Transferring: transporting your experience into another space.
www.wittich.nl/EN/applications/conventionalinstruments.htm

With forecasting the primary goal seems to be to maximize bodily comfort.
With transferring the main goal seems to be emotional comfort and recognition.

The method of data connection and the dissemination of that data also play a role in what type of information is available. It depends of course on what sensors are used but also what networks are used.

The main difference in origin of information seems to be between personal collection (weather stations, personal observations) and global collection (satellites). Personal weather stations act as communication systems linking individuals and filtering the weather through personal instance. The satellites on the other hand describe large trends and speak of the weather of nations. The interesting thing is if you look at the map of the personal weather stations
(http://www.wunderground.com/stationmaps/gmap.asp?zip=11237&wmo=99999)
they seem to be dense enough to give the same picture and weather information as a large-scale satellite observation.
(http://www.weather.com/outlook/homeandgarden/pets/map/11237?
name=northeastuscurrenttemps_large&from=36hour_map_large)
This shows how the act of personlized observations can turn into generalized information patterns without loosing specific information. With an inclusive weather station setup it would be possible not only to get the predictive weather of the west coast but to also feel the ambient conditions that another person is feeling in that particular space. This allows (with a recreation of weather variables in your house) you to link all the weather stations along a particular route and go for a drive up or down the coast without leaving your room. It also allows for the direct connection of weather to other personalized trends and activities. Being in the same place as someone has a large emotional impact in terms of bonding and experience. This might allow for people to hang out with the “right crowd” no matter where they are? Don’t know if that is good or bad.

hello world!!

Hello everybody!! This is where we will be posting our work for the thermometer project. More will be coming!