Weatherbug

[Bob]

When I read this I de-intsalled the MS product.

http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,1749409,00.asp

Please allow users the capability to flag what is and
what is not spyware. Possibly add a user maintainable
list or check boxes in the signitures file. This
way 'grey items' like Weatherbug can be included or not
included at user discretion.

Weatherbug can be a detriment in a business/production
LAN but may fine for the home user.

Don't simply dictate.

 

[Bill Sanderson]

The criteria for inclusion are objective, and stated here:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/892340 Microsoft Windows AntiSpyware (Beta)
identifies a program as a spyware threat (Listing criteria and Dispute
process)

 

[Darren]

Everyone except you and AWS Convergence Technologies knows WeatherBug
is questionable. You uninstalled the wrong program. You should have
uninstalled WeatherBug.

 

[Greg R]

Everyone except you and AWS Convergence Technologies knows WeatherBug
is questionable. You uninstalled the wrong program. You should have
uninstalled WeatherBug.

Show me how weatherbug is spyware please.

Just a note spybot s&d and lavasoft adaware does not detect
weatherbug.

Greg R

 

[Guest]

WTF?

Weatherbug IS spyware and I do not allow it on any LANs I
manage. The link I posted shows MS will not flag it as
spyware and has bent under pressure from AOL. Therefore
MSAS is uninstalled and I'll continue to use Spybot SD,
AdAware and Scanspyware.

My post was asing for a way flag (or blacklist) items
that MS permits.

Cheers

 

[Greg R]

On Mon, 17 Jan 2005 05:17:14 -0800,

Weatherbug IS spyware and I do not allow it on any LANs I

Show me how weatherbug is spyware and how it collects personal info?
It does have to know your location to send you warnings and watches.
That all the data that is collected. Even signing up for hotmail
requires your address.

Greg R

 

[Skorpion]

Greg R regaled us with the following:

Show me how weatherbug is spyware and how it collects personal info?
It does have to know your location to send you warnings and watches.
That all the data that is collected. Even signing up for hotmail
requires your address.

Greg R

While Weatherbug may not fall into your specific definition of "spyware",
initial versions of the software gained a bad reputation for bandwidth
stealing and "phoning home"...

More importantly, it is/was simply a program that did not interact well on
systems; it is/was known to cause several problems if not outright system
failure. I have not tested the software in some years so I can not speak to
any improvements that may have been made. On the other hand, I see no valid
use for the software; if you want weather info, go get it from a weather
site.

You may be interested in the following:
http://axe-s.com/weatherbug/
http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,1749409,00.asp

 

[Guest]

2 things to note from my continuing daily use, inspection, and evaluation of
this product that became more apparent after reading this thread:

1. The exclusion of certain software(s) is part of an extension built on to
the published criteria for detection as spyware (as defined by Giant, and
aquired by Microsoft) but (obviously) not published. That extension is the
matter of financial influence regarding Microsoft's relationships with other
companies - that being said - misidentification of common files used by
competitors can lead to better business for Microsoft. The lack of
identification of other software also allows Microsoft to continue their
collection of information (for example- Windows Media Player) and
finincially benefit, and/ or ensure healthy relationships with partners,
collaborators, and/or subsidiaries.

2. Users do have a choice - Microsoft does not 'simply dictate' any actions
of their scans and subsequent suggestions. Users can Ignore (once), Ignore
Always, Quarantine, or outright Remove any of the items suggested in the
scan results window.

 

[Bill Sanderson]

The criteria for inclusion are published, and actions with regard to them
are intended to be objective and fair.

This Microsoft Knowledge Base article has the list of criteria, which I
believe is substantially the same if not identical, to Giant's published
list:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/892340 Microsoft Windows AntiSpyware (Beta)
identifies a program as a spyware threat (Listing criteria and Dispute
process)

 

[weatherbugjay]

WRONG- WeatherBug is NOT spyware

First, I'm a little confused as to why a UK based forum would be worrying about WeatherBug since our product is not compatable on foreign machines- we DO however have a web page if folks outside the US wish to check their weather- http://web.live.weatherbug.com

But, since some swipes were taken at us, allow me to correct the information.

We are ABSOLUTELY NOT SPYWARE in any way, shape or form.

Was our old version as good as the current one? of course not. Some of you mentioned you saw our product "years ago" probably when we were on version 1.0 or 2.0, and as you can well imagine, things have vastly improved since then. A 20 person company does not have the resources that a 250+ person company that we are today has. Heck, our QC dept. has 15 people- that was almost the same size as the entire company when we started the application 5 years ago (the educational side of our business has been around since 1992).

So it would behoove you to check out version 6.05 which is what we're on- I think MANY of you will be pleasantly surprised. We just attended Networld/Interop- the largest IT show in the US and were extremely well-received including some positive press and a lot of IT folks stopped by to see for themselves what our bandwidth usage was-
The bandwidth consumption is:
Foreground first 1 minute: up to 10kb/sec
Foreground after 1 minute or Background: 39bits/sec.
(that's from TestPros, an independent 3rd party lab, NOT from us)

Our formal spyware policy can be found at: http://www.weatherbug.com/aws/support/faq_spyware.htm
where you can find free downloads to what we believe are some of the most effective anti-spyware detection programs, as part of our commitment to end spyware. NOT A SINGLE ONE of the top 3 dozen spyware detectors calls us spyware.....not spybot, adaware, norton(which in the interest of full disclosure DOES call us adware b/c their definition of adware is anything with ads), mcafee, pest patrol, spy doctor, spy sweeper, counterspy, aluria, zero spyware, spyhunter, spykiller, spyblocs, etc. etc. etc.

NONE OF THEM CALL US SPYWARE- yet I realize the rumos are still out there- we will continue going to big IT shows so we can kill of these crazy rumors......

For the record, spyware tracks web surfing activity and sometimes reads what is on the user’s hard drive. WeatherBug is not capable of tracking your overall web use or deciphering anything on your hard drive. PERIOD. AMEN.

WeatherBug owns and operates the world’s largest network of weather stations and is one of the top 10 Internet properties in daily reach according to Media Metrix.

Our data is:
- viewed by over 80 million households a month, both on-line and off-line
- accessible to The Department of Homeland Security for live, real-time plume modeling and weather data, in the event of an attack on our country, and our weather stations are at 15 Coast Guard bases, the US Naval Academy, Quantico Marine Base and USAF Academy
- used by dozens of city, county and state emergency managers in assessing the impact of current weather conditions on hazardous situations and natural disasters,
- in 8,000 schools and universities across the US, helping teach math and science along with our WeatherBug curriculum which won a Smithsonian Laureate and was selected by Media & Methods Magazine as 2002’s “Education Technology of the Year,” and chosen by District Administration Magazine as a Top 100 product (2003);
- used by meteorologists at over 100 TV stations to bring “neighborhood” weather forecasts and conditions to communities every day.

Respectfully, I would submit that if the top branches of the US military, 8000 schools and MAJOR US universities, energy companies and many, many top companies all rely on our program, and all of them have an interest in keeping bandwidth hogs, spyware and other problematic things off their networks, than at the very least we deserve a 2nd look from some of you.

Oh and lastly, the 2 articles someone quoted - um, did you READ the articles- the one said that Microsoft was REMOVING us as potential adware within 48 hours of launching their spyware beta- gee, when was the last time Microsoft did ANYTHING in 48 hours- and the other said he didn't like our early version- 3.0, but admitted our newer versions take less bandwidth and uninstall cleanly.

PLEASE actually READ the articles you include in links- just because you google "weatherbug is bad" and get a link- you may wish to read it first.

If you have ANY questions about our program, please write me directly at (e-mail address removed)

Sincerely,
Jay Hoffman
Manager, WeatherBug Customer Support