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> Why "PirateWeather"? I've always thought that the HRRR model was pronounced the same way as the classic pirate "ARRR". Also, there is one company out there th

> Why "PirateWeather"? I've always thought that the HRRR model was pronounced the same way as the classic pirate "ARRR". Also, there is one company out there that thinks APIs can be copyrighted, which might apply here. This answers the first question I had upon seeing the name, which was, is it free, open, documented and legal? Based on the above the answer seems to be "probably". Very commendable effort, and I hope the project can last. It seems to be very difficult to maintain a free and reliable weather API so hopefully the dev is not biting off more than he can chew.

kxrm 4y ago
> is it free, open, documented and legal? I think it says something that we live in a world where NOAA data could be seen as an underground or less than legal means of getting the weather. Perhaps AccuWeather has been successful in their campaign to keep free weather data as obscure as possible.
- bonestamp2 4y ago
  I wish the NOAA API was reliable. I'd pay for it if they could make it reliable (and they could probably make it reliable if they charged for it).
- qup 4y ago
  I think it's more about it having "pirate" in the name that makes one question its legality.
  - aliqot 4y ago
    Perhaps the author has a peg leg, a parrot, or a penchant for API plunder.
    - 867-5309 4y ago
      or they charge $3.14k/hr
      - aliqot 4y ago
        great, now that song is stuck in my head all day long. well played.
- wallfacer120 4y ago
  [dead]
jacurtis 4y ago
I agree, PirateWeather seems like a misbrand here. When I read it, i thought it was stealing weather data or something. On the web, the term "pirate" generally doesn't mean good things. This name almost implies that it is illegal or something. I'm imagining designing a software product around this and presenting it to a C-Level, explaining that we use "PirateWeather" and I think I'm going to get grilled with lots of questions and concerns based on the name alone. This is a good service and should be "branded" with a better name. Maybe a play on the whole DarkSky name like LightSky or "Sunset" which works exceptionally well since DarkSky was sunset by Apple. Maybe StarrySky, LateSky, NewSky. I am usually someone who says that names don't matter as much as people think they do, but PirateWeather just seems like a huge hit in the wrong direction. But the product is solid so maybe it can survive despite the name.
- ferdek 4y ago
  Weatharrr!
- lawtalkinghuman 4y ago
  > I'm imagining designing a software product around this and presenting it to a C-Level Alternatively, imagine what the world would be like if we spent less time thinking about what C-suite executives think.
- jameshart 4y ago
  I guess at least it’s a step up from the time someone was trying to brand a grassroots weather data collection effort and decided to name it after a terrorist organization. I’m a massive fan of - and indeed contribute data to - the weather underground project, but the naming has always made me a little uncomfortable.
- holoduke 4y ago
  Maybe most of the good products come out of places without too many C level types :)
- alexander0042 4y ago
  I'm the dev for this, so can shed some light on this! Weather Underground was a pretty out there choice- I guess the kind of people who like putting together weather APIs aren't great at naming things. I considered "Bright Ground", and still have the domain name for it, so maybe it'd be worth spinning up another API endpoint/ branding that uses that and has a more commercial focus, keeping Pirate Weather as the free and open source branding.
alexander0042 4y ago
I'm the dev behind this, so always great to hear things like this! I really struggled to try to come up with a name. My first thought was "Bright Ground" (opposite of Dark Sky), but that seemed a little too on the nose. Luckily, the legal aspect of this (I'm in the clear!) was pretty well settled after the final Oracle v. Google case, but at the time was a big enough deal that it seemed relevant, and the HRRR model was another plus. I should update that README though, since it's now very definitely legal!
- calebegg 4y ago
  Lol I named my version "Bright Earth" as an opposition to dark sky (brightearth.app)
  - wumms 4y ago
    Error after receiving permission to get location: Firefox: brightearth.app:6:4322 XML Parsing Error: mismatched tag. Expected: </input>. Location: https://brightearth.app/ Line Number 6, Column 4322: 2 fetchWeather.ts:31:31 Uncaught (in promise) TypeError: l.querySelector(...) is null g fetchWeather.ts:31 Safari: App.tsx:46 [Error] Unhandled Promise Rejection: TypeError: null is not an object (evaluating 'l.querySelector("creation-date").textContent') (anonymous function) (index.2994085b.js:139:2367) asyncFunctionResume (anonymous function) promiseReactionJobWithoutPromise promiseReactionJob
    - calebegg 4y ago
      Sometimes the NOAA APIs don't return data according to the usual structure. I can't consistently reproduce it. If you can please let me know!
- dt3ft 4y ago
  I’m out of the loop. Why would this not be legal? Are you using Oracle technology?
  - 4y ago
paxys 4y ago
> Based on the above the answer seems to be "probably". Why do you draw that conclusion? It seemed to be making a joke about the fact that APIs are NOT copyrightable and considered fair use. The site is pretty clearly fully legal.

kxrm 4y ago

> is it free, open, documented and legal? I think it says something that we live in a world where NOAA data could be seen as an underground or less than legal means of getting the weather. Perhaps AccuWeather has been successful in their campaign to keep free weather data as obscure as possible.

bonestamp2 4y ago
I wish the NOAA API was reliable. I'd pay for it if they could make it reliable (and they could probably make it reliable if they charged for it).
qup 4y ago
I think it's more about it having "pirate" in the name that makes one question its legality.
- aliqot 4y ago
  Perhaps the author has a peg leg, a parrot, or a penchant for API plunder.
  - 867-5309 4y ago
    or they charge $3.14k/hr
    - aliqot 4y ago
      great, now that song is stuck in my head all day long. well played.
wallfacer120 4y ago
[dead]

jacurtis 4y ago

I agree, PirateWeather seems like a misbrand here. When I read it, i thought it was stealing weather data or something. On the web, the term "pirate" generally doesn't mean good things. This name almost implies that it is illegal or something. I'm imagining designing a software product around this and presenting it to a C-Level, explaining that we use "PirateWeather" and I think I'm going to get grilled with lots of questions and concerns based on the name alone. This is a good service and should be "branded" with a better name. Maybe a play on the whole DarkSky name like LightSky or "Sunset" which works exceptionally well since DarkSky was sunset by Apple. Maybe StarrySky, LateSky, NewSky. I am usually someone who says that names don't matter as much as people think they do, but PirateWeather just seems like a huge hit in the wrong direction. But the product is solid so maybe it can survive despite the name.

ferdek 4y ago
Weatharrr!
lawtalkinghuman 4y ago
> I'm imagining designing a software product around this and presenting it to a C-Level Alternatively, imagine what the world would be like if we spent less time thinking about what C-suite executives think.
jameshart 4y ago
I guess at least it’s a step up from the time someone was trying to brand a grassroots weather data collection effort and decided to name it after a terrorist organization. I’m a massive fan of - and indeed contribute data to - the weather underground project, but the naming has always made me a little uncomfortable.
holoduke 4y ago
Maybe most of the good products come out of places without too many C level types :)
alexander0042 4y ago
I'm the dev for this, so can shed some light on this! Weather Underground was a pretty out there choice- I guess the kind of people who like putting together weather APIs aren't great at naming things. I considered "Bright Ground", and still have the domain name for it, so maybe it'd be worth spinning up another API endpoint/ branding that uses that and has a more commercial focus, keeping Pirate Weather as the free and open source branding.

alexander0042 4y ago

I'm the dev behind this, so always great to hear things like this! I really struggled to try to come up with a name. My first thought was "Bright Ground" (opposite of Dark Sky), but that seemed a little too on the nose. Luckily, the legal aspect of this (I'm in the clear!) was pretty well settled after the final Oracle v. Google case, but at the time was a big enough deal that it seemed relevant, and the HRRR model was another plus. I should update that README though, since it's now very definitely legal!

calebegg 4y ago
Lol I named my version "Bright Earth" as an opposition to dark sky (brightearth.app)
- wumms 4y ago
  Error after receiving permission to get location: Firefox: brightearth.app:6:4322 XML Parsing Error: mismatched tag. Expected: </input>. Location: https://brightearth.app/ Line Number 6, Column 4322: 2 fetchWeather.ts:31:31 Uncaught (in promise) TypeError: l.querySelector(...) is null g fetchWeather.ts:31 Safari: App.tsx:46 [Error] Unhandled Promise Rejection: TypeError: null is not an object (evaluating 'l.querySelector("creation-date").textContent') (anonymous function) (index.2994085b.js:139:2367) asyncFunctionResume (anonymous function) promiseReactionJobWithoutPromise promiseReactionJob
  - calebegg 4y ago
    Sometimes the NOAA APIs don't return data according to the usual structure. I can't consistently reproduce it. If you can please let me know!
dt3ft 4y ago
I’m out of the loop. Why would this not be legal? Are you using Oracle technology?
- 4y ago

paxys 4y ago

> Based on the above the answer seems to be "probably". Why do you draw that conclusion? It seemed to be making a joke about the fact that APIs are NOT copyrightable and considered fair use. The site is pretty clearly fully legal.