Cumulus Support

Like most users of this Forum, I like to sometimes just read postings without having a specific problem or thought. I enjoy trying to understand various aspects of weather software and website development. Very useful info is available here. And it is ALL FREE!!!! Recently I've been a little disturbed to hear that some are actually "abusing" Steve with questions and comments. Look people, this is FREE software(donations kindly accepted!) and with the dedication and willingness of Steve,its inventor and supplier, is simply incredible in its simplistic yet customizable application. Steve spends countless hours on this Forum trying to assist. When is the last time you got "Personal" attention from ANY other software provider? When was the last time you could actually have input into the next release of software? We should all be very thankful we have a software provider that is so dedicated to his craft. Please remember this!! Thank you any and all who have helped me in the past and especially to Steve for the many times he has personally helped me thru a problem.

This may seem a rambling effort to others, but I just wanted to express my thoughts.......

Thanks, Bob. I should make it clear that it's a not a huge number of people who send me the abusive stuff. I'm certainly not talking about the 'cut-and-thrust' that happens from time to time on the forum. I did delete some stuff on the forum recently (the very first time I've ever deleted anything other than spam) which wasn't related to the thread and was simply a personal attack on me.

I don't understand the point of some of the emails and PMs I get; the software is there to use if you want. If you don't like it, or don't like the direction I'm taking, don't use it. Some people seem to need to tell me what they think of me before they stop using it. Or even, while they continue to use it! One particular person seems to have some kind of vendetta against me, but still seems to be using Cumulus. It's very odd.

bnwrx wrote:Like most users of this Forum, I like to sometimes just read postings without having a specific problem or thought. I enjoy trying to understand various aspects of weather software and website development. Very useful info is available here. And it is ALL FREE!!!! Recently I've been a little disturbed to hear that some are actually "abusing" Steve with questions and comments. Look people, this is FREE software(donations kindly accepted!) and with the dedication and willingness of Steve,its inventor and supplier, is simply incredible in its simplistic yet customizable application. Steve spends countless hours on this Forum trying to assist. When is the last time you got "Personal" attention from ANY other software provider? When was the last time you could actually have input into the next release of software? We should all be very thankful we have a software provider that is so dedicated to his craft. Please remember this!! Thank you any and all who have helped me in the past and especially to Steve for the many times he has personally helped me thru a problem.

This may seem a rambling effort to others, but I just wanted to express my thoughts.......

I couldn’t agree more!!

Tonky wrote:

bnwrx wrote:Like most users of this Forum, I like to sometimes just read postings without having a specific problem or thought. I enjoy trying to understand various aspects of weather software and website development. Very useful info is available here. And it is ALL FREE!!!! Recently I've been a little disturbed to hear that some are actually "abusing" Steve with questions and comments. Look people, this is FREE software(donations kindly accepted!) and with the dedication and willingness of Steve,its inventor and supplier, is simply incredible in its simplistic yet customizable application. Steve spends countless hours on this Forum trying to assist. When is the last time you got "Personal" attention from ANY other software provider? When was the last time you could actually have input into the next release of software? We should all be very thankful we have a software provider that is so dedicated to his craft. Please remember this!! Thank you any and all who have helped me in the past and especially to Steve for the many times he has personally helped me thru a problem.

This may seem a rambling effort to others, but I just wanted to express my thoughts.......

I couldn’t agree more!!

As a "new" user of Cumulus I haven't had the time to read through any of the posts which may have been critical or less than complementary. All I can add to this is I had a minor issue that Steve responded to almost instantly. As it turned out it was a user problem and had nothing to do with Cumulus. Took less than five minutes total to get the situation resolved. Took me longer to put on the Dunce Cap!

I do have to comment that I seriously wonder about some of the physical equipment installations of users as I review and compare readings from stations on Weather Wunderground's Wundermap. Some of the data displayed tends to indicate improper locations with respect to buildings, trees, and even height and circumstances of temperature reading devices. So I guess I would have to say before one complains about what the program is displaying it might be wise to verify the physical installation of equipment is not likely to result in garbage compared to actuality. Mine is located on a free standing pole over 50 feet away from structures or trees which could alter wind direction and speed readings. The temperature is being read at a bit over six feet from the ground, which is grass covered. The rain gauge is positioned on the pole so as to not get drips or suffer from obstruction by other instruments on the pole. Now all we need is rain; a rather scare commodity this year as we've only seen roughly 7 inches since January 1st.

I would also add that no one using the program without having supported it monetarily really has a right to complain about anything. I would strongly suggest that if you use the software you should support it monetarily! If I have rubbed anyone the wrong way, you probably deserved to be rubbed the wrong way.

Jim (aka CountryGuy)

CountryGuy wrote:posts which may have been critical or less than complementary.

(Constructive) criticism is fine - Cumulus is far from perfect - and I don't even mind 'less than complementary'. A few people go far beyond that, though.

But anyway, back to the weather and the software...

I am new here so I won't try to act as if I know what goes on, but I will say Steve took a lot of time and patients with me over the past few days with my lack of knowledge, and he was persistent til I was up and running. I just made a small (Not to me, but to most I am sure!) donation to Steve for his kindness in helping me, as well as the work he puts into this site, and the software he so generously gives out to us for our personal joy. (Or in my case the last few weeks, misery! to be fair with Steve only the past 3-5 days was I using his software)

The good news is, there is a whole lot of people grateful for Cumulus.

Randy