Whether the Weather

Ladies and Gentlemen, it's hot in LA. And, as always, it's even hotter in the Valley. It's the kind of heat that feels like you're walking through a hot jell-o wall as soon as you go outside. Still, it's not as hot as the week Melissa and I moved here (and our AC promptly broke). And at least we have central air in our new place.

So why bring it up? Widgets. That's right, widgets. I recently started using the new Google homepage as my internet start page. It's pretty great. It shows my Gmail inbox, keeps track of my Google docs, shows my Google calendar (my God, I'm a Google whore!), as well as several non-Google related things. I can search Wikipedia, read one of my Cubs blogs, get news feeds, all kinds of stuff. Recently, I've noticed that the "official" Google Weather widget has been a little...well, off. So, I've started looking into alternatives. Basically, I have three options:

1. The Weather Channel widget
2. Apple's dashboard weather widget
3. Stick with what I've got.

So, in true American fashion, I'm holding a competition. Physically, they're all pretty similar (although the Weather Channel one is a little large, shows a radar, and kind of looks like an iPhone). I'm only interested in how they perform. Looking at their forecasts for today, picking a winner should be pretty easy. Weather Channel said it would be sunny with a high of 101. Apple said sunny with a high of 105. Google, on the other hand, said there was a high of 97 with a picture of rain and lightning. Now, just looking out my window, I haven't seen so much as a cloud, so that should tell you how reliable Google is right away. The "Current Weather" reading on all 3 stayed consistent throughout the day (though Google seemed to be about 15 minutes behind), so that's a wash. It all comes down to what the actual high temperature was. And with the mercury reaching 101, it looks like Weather Channel is the winner. As a fun side note, Google continues to post the high as 97 degrees, even when the current temp right above it says 101.

I'll give the test a few more days, but it looks like Weather Channel is far superior. I don't know why I care, anyway. Someone in my office building insists on keeping the thermostat somewhere in the mid-60s, so I won't feel anything either way.