WeatherPaper puts the weather outside on your desktop inside

GNOME users have long been left out in the cold when searching for a good looking & easily-themeable 'Weather Wallpaper' application. Over a year ago I ran down the Gnome-friendly alternatives to KDE's slick weather wallpaper plug-in and found, perhaps unsurprisingly, very slim pickings. A year on, is the forecast looking brighter? (Last weather-related pun, honest!)

WeatherPaper
Weatherpaper is a stylish, ever-changing and informative utility that sets your desktop wallpaper inside to an image conveying the weather outside.

A custom weatherpack I made for my desktop using photos from flickr

WeatherPaper has many plus points: -

• It's fully themeable - create and package your own wallpaper set
• uses data from weather.com
• can display various information on an overlay
• Choose interval for checking forecast
• Set preferred units for temperature

Create a 'weatherpack'
If the default look doesn't do much for you (and admittedly it probably won't) then creating your own custom weather pack requires only two things: patience and plenty of weather-related imagery. There's an excellent guide on getting up & running over on the WeatherPaper wiki: - 

• http://code.google.com/p/weatherpaper/wiki/CreateWallpaperPack

Download & installation
Want it? Follow this quick step through to get weather-based wallpaper draped over your desktop: -

• Download WeatherPaper here
• Extract the folder somewhere accessible
• Open a terminal, navigate to the extracted folder using 'cd 0.2.2-linux/'
• Now enter the following command to install: -
• sudo sh install.sh
• Head up to Applications > Accessories > WP Settings to enter your location & set you preferences before launching the app via  Applications > Accessories > WeatherPaper

Finding your location

Although WeatherPaper refers to using 'yahoo' weather this is, in fact, powered by weather.com. To find your weather.com location code head over to weather.com, search for your location and then paste the corresponding part of the URL into the settings window.

Continue reading

What’s in a weather indicator?

We at the Indicator-Weather project need you to do some forecasting for us. (World groans - ed)

Whilst we’ve got a pretty kicking preview that works but what we really need is to find out what you guys want  from a weather indicator. By having all our bases covered when it comes to features, options and cool stuff we can ensure we a super-awesome weather notification applet is freshly baked in time for October 10th and the release of the Maverick Meerkat into the wild!

Continue reading

Weather Indicator Applet: Genesis of an itch into an app (Updated with PPA)

The new Date Time indicator that is all-set to replace the Gnome Clock applet in Ubuntu 10.10 will certainly make your life easier: A slick interface combines easy access to set timers and events direct from the menu & integration with Evolution, resulting in no-more reams of menus to change an option or setting. It is, as Jono Bacon likes to say, going to rock.

One thing that it won't do, however, is tell you the weather.

Forecasting a change
In anticipation of this two plucky guys (from the OMG! Ubuntu! IRC channel! - Sebastian and Cullen) have begun work on creating a weather indicator applet. It's still in the early stages of development but if you are able to lend a hand it should be ready to warn you of hurried hurricanes, twisty tornadoes and light rain just in time for Maverick.

Weather Indicator
The indicator aims to be a "...comprehensive weather notification system, implemented using the indicator applet API." 

But how did it come about?
"I like to know the weather." project member Cullen says matter of factly when I asked why he specifically got involved in the project. "That and I like designing things. I really wanted [the applet] to look great so I decided to make some mock ups for Seb. He liked them and it went from there."

The design of the applet has a clear emphasis on keeping what works from the current design whilst also aiming to add one or two visual touches to make the passive informative role of the applet that little bit more helpful - such as the abilty to switch between locations from the menu itself.

A dedicated 'extended information' panel provides users with a more detailed summary and forecast.

The mocked-up preferences menu (though not yet implemented) shows a lot of promise. The aim is to afford users a wide range of customizability and decision in what, how and when their weather applet informs them.

Whilst not every feature of the applet or its preferences may be fully achievable lofty ambitions are much better

Why not a widget or a docklet? Expectation.
I asked Cullen why he thought an indicator applet would be a much better fit for a weather notification service than say a desktop widget or docklet: -

"Because a widget is either on your desktop and covered by a window, on top of your windows bothering you, or in a widget layer that requires a key press to view while an indicator is always right there on the panel just waiting for you quietly as it displays." 

The fact users, so frightened of change, may miss being able to enable weather updates in the panel certainly hasn't passed the two-man team by either and thanks to the flexibility of the Indicator API Sebastian has been able to turn his idea from an IRC conservation into a functioning panel applet in a very short space of time.

So far... so good!
The applet can be installed via PPA which will provide updates until the applet hits stable pre-alpha but be aware that, at the time of writing, it lacks advanced configuration options - but these are coming! You can set your location and see some info from it (in imperial measurements) but not much more.

The Indicator icon changes to an appropriate weather icon depending on the forecast - so knowing what's up (or about to come down) is never more than a glance away!

Your help
The application has advanced in a very short space of time thanks to the hard-work of Sebastian but it could do with a few more hands on deck (I've run out of weather puns) so if you know some python, are a dab-hand at bug fixing, etc and would like to help out then do! You'll find the project @ launchpad.net/weather-indicator


What would you like to see in a dream weather Indicator?
Hourly notifications?Ability to 'hide' certain stats from the menu? Wax lyrical in the comments.

Continue reading

Snow! Snow! Snow!

It's snowing in Britain!! PANIC!!!1 It's funny how Britain grinds to a halt when we get a few inches of snow. We don't get snow often so when we do it's almost like we revert backwards into some primeval panic zone where we need to make fires and stock up on baked beans. Planes grounded. Check. Buses and Trains cancelled. Check. Schools Closed. Check. Using your car 'not advised' unless urgent? Check. "Worst snowfall for ___ of years" uttered? Check. I love it. Seriously, feeling snow under my feet for the first time in.... well a long time is pretty sweet. Even the kitten Sheba was loving her first snow fall by jumping around in it trying to catch it! ^_^ Annnnnd it's rad to finally see the "snow" version of my Weather Screenlet! : -

Continue reading