I have also given my Secretarial Program access to the Internet. I, represented by a secretary, go out onto the Web programmatically.
And one of the things that I do, is get the Weather Forecast. I need to be alerted if it is going to freeze, or rain, or snow.
And it is a perfect part of the job descript of an Aid and Secretary.
You can go to any site that you like. For months, I was going to my local airport to find out the current temperature and conditions.
Every hour I would retrieve the temperature from the Chico Airport, and compare it to my measured temperature from my Remote Control System.
It was just for fun, and I was proud of my accomplishment.
However, one day I received an Email from the Airport. Somehow they found out who I was, and told me that they normally do not allow automated access.
They said that they were willing to work with me if I told them more about myself.
But I did not want to inconvenience them or add to their Web Traffic Load.
So, I went over to another site that expects, and deals with, Automated Access. Here you do not have to do anything sneaky.
The site is OpenWeatherMap.org. Here, I get the weather forecast for the next four days.
Any three hour segment, wich is practically any hour, for any of the four days, for any place on earth.
I can also choose the Reply Language.
Here, I have chosen "HTML" Language. The format is not cryptic, and easy to parse. Also, for me, it is free. Large corporations have to pay money.
But all I have are three ditsey girl secretaries, that only serve one person; me.
I am not big, and the girls are happy to work for me for free. So, everything is free.
Here at the top of the page, I have put the raw data representing one paragraph of 48 paragraphs.
Then below, I have teased out the data that I want, and deemed relevent.
The girls use this to analyse for concerns, and to iterate and speak to me.
The information is gathered every hour, and the girls are told not to wake me up at night
unless the winds are going to blow the roof off, or it is going to be a hard freeze.
The criteria is soft and always evolving.
I have two candidates for the "Weather" type stuff.
Both candidates friendly. Both accommodating.
And neither ever get their information wrong. In principle, never a mistake.
I am impressed.
So, I will give the command, to go out and retrieve the local weather. And see who wins.
After viewing; Either girl knows her stuff.
But, you as the viewer, may be wondering of my criteria.
As supreme programmer, I do not have to explain my criteria. So, buzz off.
I have to give it to the Blue-girl because
the weather with rain and clouds have more "blue".
Only scorching red hot temperatures would give the nod to the other girl.
And that small percentage of time in the "weather" world would not justify it.
I like to tell the story at KHSL-TV, in the Engineering Department. My boss and I shared the same large office.
The large room showed two desks, both heaped over in paper work and open manuals. One day, I stopped and looked over the two disasters.
It only took a few seconds for a revelation to come over me. I could not contain the excitement of my solution.
I said: "Russ, we need a Secretary!" He said; "Yes, and you are not picking her out!"
