Is there a Forecastfox alternative?

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NorrinRadd

Is there a Forecastfox alternative?

Unread post by NorrinRadd » 2021-06-07, 11:27

I used Forecastfox literally more than any other extension, but the latest usable versions have been recognized as illegal. Is there any alternative with similar functionality? I have "Forecast and Weather on the Side," but that really is not comparable. (Specifically, I like being able to just look at the toolbar and see five days' worth of forecast, and mouse-over a green dot to see the regional radar.) That seems to be the only "weather" extension at the Add-on site.

Once upon a time, there were several different (Firefox) extensions that provided similar functionality, but they all faded away.

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Re: Is there a Forecastfox alternative?

Unread post by New Tobin Paradigm » 2021-06-07, 19:49

Make a new one. But a lot of wxdata providers were bought up by IBM and others and remarketed as Big Data products you have to pay for. Free for use Public APIs are gone or well hidden and ForecastFox its self was NEVER open source. That S3 guy (and riiis later) violated copyright, intellectual property, and service terms of use with that shit.

You will have to find a pubic wx data source api and write a visual clone from scratch to get what you want. Do it cause others shall benefit greatly for a cleanroom or visual open source clone.

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sunstarunicorn
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Re: Is there a Forecastfox alternative?

Unread post by sunstarunicorn » 2021-06-07, 22:53

I cannot pretend to understand APIs or browser extension coding at the moment, but if many/most of the public weather sources are now considered propriety Big Data, perhaps a new weather addon could take advantage of NOAA weather?

Since it's a government site, it should be open to the public, as US taxpayers support it. Of course, when theory meets the real world, that's when the rubber meets the road.

Regardless, a quick glance at NOAA allowed me to find the current weather for where I live and it included a 7 day forecast and links to radar. I have no idea how to check if there's a public API that could be used, though.

NOAA: https://www.noaa.gov/
Internal weather page that let NOAA look up my location: https://www.weather.gov/
NOAA for Richardson, TX: https://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.p ... 2499999994
Aviation Weather: https://aviationweather.gov/

I hope some of this is helpful to developing a new 'ForecastFox'.

And yes, Tobin, I know that any new addon cannot be ForecastFox due to copyright, but saying 'ForecastFox' is easier. ;-)
Then I shall name you Tinúviel Beria uin Morchaint, which means 'Daughter of Twilight protecting from the Shadows' in Elvish.

Once a King or Queen of Narnia, always a King or Queen.

He is not a tame Lion...but he is Good.

Connect, Respect, Protect

Let's Keep the Peace!

New Tobin Paradigm

Re: Is there a Forecastfox alternative?

Unread post by New Tobin Paradigm » 2021-06-07, 23:00

Moderator note: removed unnecessary political statements.
The government has already taken steps to ruin the FUCK out of NOAA. I am already VERY pissed with their inferior html5 radar shit that don't fuckin work properly across the board. I sent them some extremely detailed and precise issues with it and all of them were ignored and performance degraded between the preview and release. They are even half-assing the animated gif dumps too.

I am VERY pissed. I can't stand when stupidity starts affecting my interests.. You don't cross the shitline and they crossed the god damned shitline one TOO many times.

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sunstarunicorn
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Re: Is there a Forecastfox alternative?

Unread post by sunstarunicorn » 2021-06-08, 00:26

That is a true shame. I was well-aware that anything 'government' isn't going to be the best quality, but I figured something might be better than nothing.

The idea that they've gone out of their way to degrade their own website makes me wonder if they did that to push people towards the propriety Pay-To-Play APIs...

Sorry my suggestion brought up some old aggravation without moving us any closer to a solution.

:cry:
Then I shall name you Tinúviel Beria uin Morchaint, which means 'Daughter of Twilight protecting from the Shadows' in Elvish.

Once a King or Queen of Narnia, always a King or Queen.

He is not a tame Lion...but he is Good.

Connect, Respect, Protect

Let's Keep the Peace!

NorrinRadd

Re: Is there a Forecastfox alternative?

Unread post by NorrinRadd » 2021-06-08, 00:50

New Tobin Paradigm wrote:
2021-06-07, 19:49
Make a new one.
I knew this would be your immediate suggestion. The days when I *might* have had the energy and ability to try that are about 30 years in the past, even if the "APIs" or whatever were readily available.

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Re: Is there a Forecastfox alternative?

Unread post by Moonchild » 2021-06-08, 09:58

Then pay someone to do it for you?
Stuff being free (as in beer) isn't a requirement for extensions, you know, especially if you want to use a weather service and similar things. You think your information supply chain doesn't cost anything?
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Re: Is there a Forecastfox alternative?

Unread post by sunstarunicorn » 2021-06-08, 13:58

Moonchild wrote:
2021-06-08, 09:58
Then pay someone to do it for you?
Stuff being free (as in beer) isn't a requirement for extensions, you know...
Hey, count me in! I know I personally do not have the time or knowledge required, but I am more than willing to help bankroll a new ForecastFox! I am even willing to sign up for a subscription if it turns out that the extension in question requires payroll-guarded APIs.

/puts tongue in cheek

Maybe we could call the new addon ForecastWolf, since Moonchild always seems to use a wolf avatar.
Then I shall name you Tinúviel Beria uin Morchaint, which means 'Daughter of Twilight protecting from the Shadows' in Elvish.

Once a King or Queen of Narnia, always a King or Queen.

He is not a tame Lion...but he is Good.

Connect, Respect, Protect

Let's Keep the Peace!

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Re: Is there a Forecastfox alternative?

Unread post by AndTheWolf » 2021-06-08, 23:41

Until there is a new weather extension it is possible to make Forecast & Weather on the Side a little bit more like ForecastFox. Of the 4 URL slots the extension supplied, I use one for Accuweather hourly, one for Accuweather daily (which shows the next eight days), and one for Accuweather radar map. Not quite as convenient as ForecastFox, but essentially the same information.

New Tobin Paradigm

Re: Is there a Forecastfox alternative?

Unread post by New Tobin Paradigm » 2021-06-09, 06:10

You realize unless one of YOU guys do it.. It ain't gonna get done.. Shit, I offered to fork extensions for money and not one person took me up on it... Moonchild did but he don't have no fuckin time to do any of it.. I don't either but I need money so I offered to expand my own library.

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Re: Is there a Forecastfox alternative?

Unread post by sunstarunicorn » 2021-06-12, 13:14

New Tobin Paradigm wrote:
2021-06-09, 06:10
I offered to fork extensions for money and not one person took me up on it...
Then let me be the one person who does take you up on it, assuming the offer is still open.

I'm sure I missed the original offer since I only come to the forum when I want something. Heck, I'm the idiota who didn't even know Pale Moon was finally going to 'pull the trigger' on Firefox extensions until I saw the announcement maybe a day or two before the update rolled out.

That said, Tobin, I agree with you that anyone with sufficient time, energy, and motivation can learn how to code a browser extension. Therein lies my problem - I work in production support all day and that drains my energy right down to the quick; I don't even want to look at code once I'm done for the day. I'm not saying this to garner sympathy, just explaining where I am coming from.

However, what I am more than willing to do is put my money where my mouth is and sponsor a new ForecastFox (ForecastWolf?). I'd prefer Paypal or GiveSendGo as I've never used GoFundMe, but if the last is your preference, I'm sure I can figure out how that site works.

I am also willing to Beta Test the new extension, although I admit that I haven't done much Beta Testing.
Then I shall name you Tinúviel Beria uin Morchaint, which means 'Daughter of Twilight protecting from the Shadows' in Elvish.

Once a King or Queen of Narnia, always a King or Queen.

He is not a tame Lion...but he is Good.

Connect, Respect, Protect

Let's Keep the Peace!

New Tobin Paradigm

Re: Is there a Forecastfox alternative?

Unread post by New Tobin Paradigm » 2021-06-12, 13:18

Well I can't fork ForecastFox. It is proprietary and I am not offering to create new extensions from scratch.

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Re: Is there a Forecastfox alternative?

Unread post by sunstarunicorn » 2021-06-12, 13:25

Copy that, Tobin.

I won't deny I'm disappointed, but it's your call on where you want to spend your own time and energy.

If any other Pale Moon/UXP extension developers would like to tackle the challenge of a brand-new weather extension in the style of ForecastFox, my offer of sponsorship remains open.
Then I shall name you Tinúviel Beria uin Morchaint, which means 'Daughter of Twilight protecting from the Shadows' in Elvish.

Once a King or Queen of Narnia, always a King or Queen.

He is not a tame Lion...but he is Good.

Connect, Respect, Protect

Let's Keep the Peace!

New Tobin Paradigm

Re: Is there a Forecastfox alternative?

Unread post by New Tobin Paradigm » 2021-06-12, 13:33

That is good to know. I just don't have any interest in such an extension my self.

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Re: Is there a Forecastfox alternative?

Unread post by LAR Grizzly » 2021-06-29, 14:52

As of today (June 29) Forecastfox for Pale Moon 1.1.0 is now fully functional. Accuweather must have been making some changes in the past few weeks. On my system, everything seems to be working fine.

BTW, Forecastfox (fix version) 2.4.8 is now working again in Firefox and SeaMonkey.
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Re: Is there a Forecastfox alternative?

Unread post by sunstarunicorn » 2021-06-29, 15:10

Well... It may be functional now, but there are two problems.
  1. Technically, ForecastFox for Pale Moon is illegal since the original is All Rights Reserved.
  2. There is going to be a day when ForecastFox for Pale Moon stops working and won't work again.
Given those factors, I would like to invest in the future of an alternative weather extension, one that is UXP, open source, and maintained.
Off-topic:
By the way, is there a guide somewhere for how to use some of the tags in the reply box? I couldn't figure out how to do Point 2 with the list function. It kept switching to a sublist instead...
Updated after Moonchild showed me how to do a list! :D
Last edited by sunstarunicorn on 2021-06-29, 16:23, edited 1 time in total.
Then I shall name you Tinúviel Beria uin Morchaint, which means 'Daughter of Twilight protecting from the Shadows' in Elvish.

Once a King or Queen of Narnia, always a King or Queen.

He is not a tame Lion...but he is Good.

Connect, Respect, Protect

Let's Keep the Peace!

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Moonchild
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Re: Is there a Forecastfox alternative?

Unread post by Moonchild » 2021-06-29, 16:16

Off-topic:

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"Sometimes, the best way to get what you want is to be a good person." -- Louis Rossmann
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sunstarunicorn
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Re: Is there a Forecastfox alternative?

Unread post by sunstarunicorn » 2021-06-29, 16:21

Off-topic:
:thumbup:
Thanks, Moonchild!
Then I shall name you Tinúviel Beria uin Morchaint, which means 'Daughter of Twilight protecting from the Shadows' in Elvish.

Once a King or Queen of Narnia, always a King or Queen.

He is not a tame Lion...but he is Good.

Connect, Respect, Protect

Let's Keep the Peace!

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Re: Is there a Forecastfox alternative?

Unread post by RealityRipple » 2021-07-01, 03:50

I just finished an extension called NowWeather. It's not remotely related to Forecastfox, it uses NOAA/NDFD, and it's extremely simplistic, but it's a weather widget.

Protip: If you want to change the website that opens when you left-click on the toolbar item, just drag a link, tab, or bookmark of the page you want into the toolbar button.

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Re: Is there a Forecastfox alternative?

Unread post by Night Wing » 2021-07-01, 09:42

Off-topic:
@ sunstarunicorn

Like you, I'm don't use weather widgets because I have 17 weather bookmarks/links. As an example I use the weather bookmark/link for Surfside, Texas since this is the primary place I use for sup/prone surfing.

https://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.p ... 1%2C%20USA

Since I use a desktop tower computer most of the time, I have a 27" external monitor so when it comes to weather radar, I use the bookmark/link for Rainviewer which the link to it is further down below.

Rainviewer is customizable. You can move the default screen to your location which I think is Richardson, Texas. Once on the main page, just click on "Live Map".

Then expand the map by clicking on the little square looking box at the right top of the small window. This will expand the map to cover most of your screen. Then move to your location by dragging the map using the touchpad for a laptop or a mouse for an external monitor. Click on "Settings" to customize it to your liking. There are zoom settings too.

Play around with it and I think you'll like it.

https://www.rainviewer.com/
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