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Posts: 1,378 | Thanked: 1,604 times | Joined on Jun 2010 @ Göteborg, Sweden
#61
Originally Posted by Copernicus View Post
yr.no (a Russian-area site also used by OMWeather).
Actually, that is the official Norwegian weather service and for those of us who live in the western parts of Sweden, they are often the best forecasters. Even further afield in Europe so I am told.

A quality source in that respect.
 

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#62
One possibility is to emulate web browser and pull the HTML code from their sources, such as m.weather.com. This would be similar to playon LUA scripts that loads the web pages acting like browser and then extracts the necessary information from the HTML code using search strings looking specific keywords. I have done couple playon LUA scripts (One of them as an example is "All iLive channels" at http://www.playonscripts.com/).

The downside for the above method is that it may have large overhead of unnecessary data (packet data users may be concerned) due to loading everything what exists in real web page. Second issue is that if the providers keep changing the HTML web site layout it normally breaks these scripts.
 

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#63
Copernicus: If you decide to maintain Meecast, I can help you a bit with making it run on N900. I managed to do it a long time ago.

You need to tweak a little with the graphics system and use updated MeeGo Touch from my repo. I'll give you the details if you're interested.

/edit: and as for the paid APIs - what about simply adding an option to use one's own API key, just as in wolfram alpha?

/edit2: @all: what's the best weather source for Poland, in your opinion?
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#64
Originally Posted by Mara View Post
This would be similar to playon LUA scripts that loads the web pages acting like browser and then extracts the necessary information from the HTML code using search strings looking specific keywords.
Yeah, I've gotta admit I'm really not a fan of the "screen-scraping" concept. Not only is it fragile, it retrieves data in a way that the website owners really don't like -- you're bypassing their advertising (if they have any), and redistributing their data without their consent...
 

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#65
Originally Posted by marmistrz View Post
Copernicus: If you decide to maintain Meecast, I can help you a bit with making it run on N900. I managed to do it a long time ago.
I'll look into it, but I'm currently consumed with another little project of my own...

/edit: and as for the paid APIs - what about simply adding an option to use one's own API key, just as in wolfram alpha?
That would be an optimal solution in the current environment; essentially, it pushes the interaction with individual weather data consumers all the way back onto the original data provider (which kind of makes sense). I'm not sure how weather service providers are identifying individual API users right now, but if it's something like a parameter sent in with each request, that should be pretty easy to manage...
 

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#66
Originally Posted by Copernicus View Post
That would be an optimal solution in the current environment; essentially, it pushes the interaction with individual weather data consumers all the way back onto the original data provider (which kind of makes sense). I'm not sure how weather service providers are identifying individual API users right now, but if it's something like a parameter sent in with each request, that should be pretty easy to manage...
WA simply needed an API key which was different for each user. Don't know much internals.
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#67
Originally Posted by Copernicus View Post


That would be an optimal solution in the current environment; essentially, it pushes the interaction with individual weather data consumers all the way back onto the original data provider (which kind of makes sense). I'm not sure how weather service providers are identifying individual API users right now, but if it's something like a parameter sent in with each request, that should be pretty easy to manage...
Sounds crazy enough to work. If e.g., each user got a wunderground developer key and plugged it in themselves, 500 queries/user/day would be plenty. Whereas 500 queries/all applications users would be insufficient for a user base of more than 20 getting hourly updates for one location. Anyone using an N900 is practically a developer, right? I don't think that would be considered dishonest or abusive. Everyone here's at least written a one-liner shell script -- even if it's just to make a panic button to text the spouse in the event of alien abduction. It is a hacker phone, after all.
 

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#68
Originally Posted by robthebold View Post
I don't think that would be considered dishonest or abusive.
Ah, c'mon. Considering the current Maemo userbase, It certainly wouldn't be abusive, but it's obviously violating the spirit of these API licensing schemes. The whole point is make websites and apps pay for using their data in actual production; and, considering the resources and effort it must take to continuously generate, store, and transmit all that data, I really can't blame them...
 

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#69
Well, I guess that the spirit of the scheme is as follows - to stop people from making profit from not their own work. Or to limit unofficial apps (vide WA)
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#70
Originally Posted by Copernicus View Post
Yeah, I've gotta admit I'm really not a fan of the "screen-scraping" concept. Not only is it fragile, it retrieves data in a way that the website owners really don't like -- you're bypassing their advertising (if they have any), and redistributing their data without their consent...
Agree with the fragile statement but if you have the "screen-scraping" script built into the end user application then there is no redistribution data? Also the claim that it prevents you seeing the ads makes browser plugins such as pop-up blockers and adblockers illegal?
 

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