Yes, believe it or not, I've found a truly adware free, spyware free weather applet that fits snugly in your toolbar, and is basically what I've been looking for.

It's called Weather Pulse, and you can pick it up from Tropic Designs.  It's a litte rough around the edges, and there are a number of blocking internet calls, but they don't take but a few seconds to resolve themselves if you're on a broadband connection, and there are active support forums if you run into larger problems.

Of course, I wouldn't point you to anything was wasn't 100% free, and I'm not changing that policy here.  Weather Pulse is currently freeware - the author just wants you to send a note if you find the program useful.

Go check it out - remove Weatherbug and the other adware/spyware weather applet ilk from your lives!

- G

Let's see:

1. Set inital price range for IPO - check
2. Crash web service - check
3. Fix web service

So far so good...

- G

[Update - maybe details, maybe a flamewar on Slashdot]

In this entry, Scoble points us to WeatherBug, a handy dandy little applet that runs in your taskbar notification area and provides weather information - ok, great, nothing special.  I hadn't used one of these in a few years, I figured I'd give it a shot, see how the “weather on your desktop” genre has come along.

Apparently, it's still just another way to get adware on your box - shame on me for forgetting that, and shame on Scoble for letting his fondness for Steve Rubel overshadow the fact that people trust him more than the average marketing drone.

In any case, as WeatherBug installs, it comes to a screen that has two optional pieces - one piece was something I decided I didn't need (can't remember what it was), and I deselected it.  The other piece was a browser add-in that allowed “quick access” to “all major search engines”, right in your browser.  What's that at the end?  Powered by MySearch?!?!  Well, I certainly have no need for a browser hijacking, popup popping, adware serving toolbar, so I decided to deselect that as well... well, I tried.  No folks, you *have* to install it - they put a little checkbox next to the toolbar, but were also careful to disable it - no adware free computing for you!

Bah.  Next, Next, Finish - open Add/Remove Programs - removed the search bar, removed WeatherBug... good riddance.  Scoble, you should know better.

Oh, one more thing - in the comments of Scoble's entry, Mr. Rubel has already tried to defend the product he's pushing (WeatherBug) by posting a few links that basically state that Weatherbug != spyware/adware.  That's most likely true - WeatherBug isn't, but the MySearch browser add-in that you *have* to install to get WeatherBug most certainly is spyware.

Mental note: marketing people are marketing people, no matter what form their media comes in.

Meet the new overpriced gadget du jour, same as the old overpriced gadget du jour.

So Mr. Jobs went and created himself a new version of the same old thing... good for him.  I *still* can't see plunking down that much money for a device that does the same thing as similiar devices that support more features, file formats, and PC-end applications, when those similar devices cost half as much.

I mean honestly... if I didn't have my wife standing between me and Best Buy, I'd have house full of things I don't remotely need, and I haven't, not for a second, been able to justify buying an iPod.  Even if I somehow managed to do so, I still wouldn't get it because of the useless piece of crap software that you wind up locked into.

Really, at this point all I need is a good size MMC card to put into my new Nokia 3660, and I will have successfully smooshed my iPaq, MP3 player, and cellphone into one cohesive unit.

On that note - someone at Microsoft needs to get off their butt and start pushing the manufacturers to produce useful, viable PocketPC smartphones that after rebate are totally free.  I've yet to pay a dollar for a cellphone, and I don't think I ever will - why is it I can get a Symbian phone, valued at $300, for $0 (actually, $25 back after rebates), when the only Windows phone that comes close is an aging MPx200 that's slated to be replaced, um, eventually?  I wanted an MS phone, I really did... I just couldn't shell out the $ for something that I could get for free with another OS.

God, did I just say that?

- G

My MSDN Subscriber Download RSS feed tells me that ISA Server 2004 Standard Edition has been released.  That's all well and good, but my first thought went towards SBS 2003 Premium Edition - will those folks be able to take advantage, or are they out of luck?

From the Windows Small Business Server 2003 FAQ:

Q. When will the Windows Small Business Server 2003 Service Pack 1 be available?
 
A. Windows Small Business Server 2003 Service Pack 1 will be available shortly after the Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1 ships, and will include all of the service packs for the Windows Small Business Server server components (Exchange, Outlook, SharePoint, Windows XP, and ISA 2004 (for premium edition only)). The Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1 is scheduled to be released at the end of 2004.
 
Q. Will Windows Small Business Server 2003 Service Pack 1 including ISA Server 2004 be made available free to existing premium edition customers?
 
A. Pricing and packaging for Windows Small Business Server 2003 Service Pack 1 has not yet been determined. The individual service packs for Windows Small Business Server 2003 components (Exchange, Outlook, SharePoint, and Windows XP) will be available for download free of charge; they can also be installed directly on Windows Small Business Server 2003 without waiting for the release of Service Pack 1. More details will follow shortly before Service Pack 1 is released.
 
Q. How can I obtain ISA Server 2004 before Windows Small Business Server 2003 Service Pack 1 ships? 
 
A. Windows Small Business Server 2003 Premium Edition customers will be required to purchase a separate ISA Server 2004 license. We recommend that you wait until the details of Service Pack 1 become available later this year, however, when timing, pricing, and delivery for Service Pack 1 will be available.

I'm glad to see that the powers that be went against their original decision that SBS 2003 folks were out of luck... now they just need to be patient and wait until the end of the year for SP1.

- G