Will Rose
Comment #2 Tuesday, August 31, 2004 1:47 AM
Comment #2 Tuesday, August 31, 2004 1:47 AM
The others, of course, should have started at 10 as well! 
GhoS
Comment #5 Tuesday, August 31, 2004 4:15 PM
Comment #5 Tuesday, August 31, 2004 4:15 PM
These weather objects are by far the best I think in functionality and visually, just for many it isn't worth the overhead in resources to have such excellence.
My PC unfortunately cannot handle these very well. I still admire the hard work involved and those who have faster PC's should definitely be using this object.
My PC unfortunately cannot handle these very well. I still admire the hard work involved and those who have faster PC's should definitely be using this object.
Will Rose
Comment #6 Tuesday, August 31, 2004 7:25 PM
Comment #6 Tuesday, August 31, 2004 7:25 PM
Yes, the memory requirements are high. However, it's compounded by what appear to be memory-allocation issues with DX. On some machines, DX allocates 5-10 times more memory than it needs when loading this object, and on other machines it allocates only the correct amount. This makes the "affected" machine swap violently. For example, I have two machines here, both P4/2.6GHz with 512MB and running latest Nvidia drivers, both using DX 2.2 on XP-ProSP1, with basically nothing else running, and an empty DX theme. On one machine, after loading the object DX mem usage is at 46MB/46MB-peak. On the other DX mem usage is 171MB/352MB peak. There's no apparent reason for it. Other people's machines also have widely varying reactions. It is unclear why DX would behave so differently on the virtually identical hardware. Your machine sounds like one of the "unlucky ones". Other people have reported the opposite, that it runs like a dream and they have no performance hit. It's a mystery for now.
Will Rose
Comment #7 Tuesday, August 31, 2004 7:31 PM
Comment #7 Tuesday, August 31, 2004 7:31 PM
By the way, I was speaking of the full version below. This Ultra-Lite version should have greatly diminished memory requirements, as it omits the moon animation, which is quite large. But for some people every byte is precious. I always unload all my gadgets when I use PhotoshopCS, because it's a pig and needs every bit of memory it can get.
XX
Comment #8 Thursday, September 2, 2004 12:28 AM
Comment #8 Thursday, September 2, 2004 12:28 AM
Amazing creation!
I found one slight bug, however, if it's in mini mode (just weather icon and temp) and you click it more times than necessary (like 4 clicks when activation is 2 clicks). It will be confused and stay in mini mode but show window with nothing but window, no week icons and etc).
I found one slight bug, however, if it's in mini mode (just weather icon and temp) and you click it more times than necessary (like 4 clicks when activation is 2 clicks). It will be confused and stay in mini mode but show window with nothing but window, no week icons and etc).
Will Rose
Comment #9 Thursday, September 2, 2004 11:19 AM
Comment #9 Thursday, September 2, 2004 11:19 AM
XX: 2 or 3 people have reported this. I have been absolutely unable to replicate it. If such a problem exists, it would stem from the fact that the object must execute a certain number of lines of code to transition from one state to another, but there is no way to mark this block of code as non-interruptable in DX-Script, so therefore it is possible to interrupt one state change transition with another. The object is coded to be tolerant of these faults, which is why I cannot replicate the issue. I will treat it as a theoretical matter though and see if a code change exists that can provably prevent such a bug from manifesting. If such a bug can exist currently, I'm unsure if it can be completely prevented without changes to the DX-Script specification, but I'll look into it.
In the meantime: don't do that, then.
In the meantime: don't do that, then.
Will Rose
Comment #10 Sunday, September 5, 2004 3:33 PM
Comment #10 Sunday, September 5, 2004 3:33 PM
I just heard from Stardock about a solution to performance problems with LookingGlass. 
You should use Regedit and set HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Stardock\DesktopX\DynBitmapCaching=1
This turns on Dynamic Bitmap Caching. On the machines I have tested this on that had "memory allocation issues" with LookingGlass before, setting this value to 1 reduced DX memory usage by 60-85%. It makes a HUGE difference. One machine went from allocating 317MB to 46MB. If you are not having any such problems, it is probably because this is already set properly in your version of DX. I am told it will be turned on by default in the next release.
You should use Regedit and set HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Stardock\DesktopX\DynBitmapCaching=1
This turns on Dynamic Bitmap Caching. On the machines I have tested this on that had "memory allocation issues" with LookingGlass before, setting this value to 1 reduced DX memory usage by 60-85%. It makes a HUGE difference. One machine went from allocating 317MB to 46MB. If you are not having any such problems, it is probably because this is already set properly in your version of DX. I am told it will be turned on by default in the next release.
NascarNut1963
Comment #11 Sunday, November 28, 2004 1:21 PM
Comment #11 Sunday, November 28, 2004 1:21 PM
I really like this one. Great job. I would like to see you add des moines to your metro radar.
PaulAtreides
Comment #12 Tuesday, December 14, 2004 11:36 AM
Comment #12 Tuesday, December 14, 2004 11:36 AM
Here's a request: Is there any chance of providing a version that would work well in the upper left corner of the screen?
RMX0
Comment #13 Monday, December 27, 2004 1:21 PM
Best Weather Object i've ever seen!! 99/10!!
It would be great to find some service that would allow Weather Radars from all over the world, not just US.
Comment #13 Monday, December 27, 2004 1:21 PM
Best Weather Object i've ever seen!! 99/10!!
It would be great to find some service that would allow Weather Radars from all over the world, not just US.
bootnumlock
Comment #14 Saturday, January 8, 2005 2:44 PM
Comment #14 Saturday, January 8, 2005 2:44 PM
Will, these weather objects are simply amazing... i have encountered one new issue however. I am currently runnning the latest (alpha) for desktop x (2.40b[a].002) and the window resize function appears to be broken... when I double click on the resize button i get the settings dialog for background, etc.
Let me know if it is a code tweak i can make on my end or if this is something that needs to be addressed with the coming release of DesktopX
Great work!
Let me know if it is a code tweak i can make on my end or if this is something that needs to be addressed with the coming release of DesktopX
Great work!
pete griffen
Comment #15 Saturday, February 12, 2005 11:03 PM
Comment #15 Saturday, February 12, 2005 11:03 PM
Will if your still here. everything works except the radar map Any thoughts
mj_usa
Comment #16 Friday, April 29, 2005 11:47 AM
Comment #16 Friday, April 29, 2005 11:47 AM
VERY nice object! It would be nice if the font type
and size were configurable. However, maybe it's
just _my_ tired eyes that have a hard time reading
the small print of the forecasts and such.
and size were configurable. However, maybe it's
just _my_ tired eyes that have a hard time reading
the small print of the forecasts and such.
Will Rose
Comment #17 Monday, August 22, 2005 5:48 PM
Comment #17 Monday, August 22, 2005 5:48 PM
I haven't been here in a while, so I wanted to say thanks to everyone for their kind comments!
Regarding specific comments above:
11. Radar availability is set by Accuweather, not me.
12. I'd have to rearrange some things, and there are 6 versions already to cater to different people's needs. This change isn't planned, but mabey someday.
13. Thanks for your kind words. Regarding radar, see response for #11.
14. Thank you! Resize is working properly in current versions of DX.
15. It's working for others, and you don't provide enough information for me to make a diagnosis, sorry.
16. Thanks... As a geezer myself, I feel your pain, but making the fonts bigger would mean increased object size, or reduced amount of information. Both are unpalatable to me.
On another matter...
Despite having almost 6000 downloads and all of the comments here being extremely positive, very few people have given a rating to this object. This has allowed someone to give me a "ratings drive-by" and drop the rating on this skin from 5 stars to 1-1/2 stars virtually overnight.
If the person who gave this object 1 star or similar would care to leave a comment with some constructive criticism, rather than just bombing it anonymously, perhaps that would help me to make it better. As it is, I'm afraid that until more people participate and give it a rating, it will be filtered out of people's browsing of the site because of it's new low rating. It made it onto everyone's screen with 5 stars. Most people will not see it now that it has 1.5 stars.
Ratings with comments are helpful. Ratings without comments are not. Bad ratings without comments are destructive.
Cheers...
Regarding specific comments above:
11. Radar availability is set by Accuweather, not me.
12. I'd have to rearrange some things, and there are 6 versions already to cater to different people's needs. This change isn't planned, but mabey someday.
13. Thanks for your kind words. Regarding radar, see response for #11.
14. Thank you! Resize is working properly in current versions of DX.
15. It's working for others, and you don't provide enough information for me to make a diagnosis, sorry.
16. Thanks... As a geezer myself, I feel your pain, but making the fonts bigger would mean increased object size, or reduced amount of information. Both are unpalatable to me.
On another matter...
Despite having almost 6000 downloads and all of the comments here being extremely positive, very few people have given a rating to this object. This has allowed someone to give me a "ratings drive-by" and drop the rating on this skin from 5 stars to 1-1/2 stars virtually overnight.
If the person who gave this object 1 star or similar would care to leave a comment with some constructive criticism, rather than just bombing it anonymously, perhaps that would help me to make it better. As it is, I'm afraid that until more people participate and give it a rating, it will be filtered out of people's browsing of the site because of it's new low rating. It made it onto everyone's screen with 5 stars. Most people will not see it now that it has 1.5 stars.
Ratings with comments are helpful. Ratings without comments are not. Bad ratings without comments are destructive.
Cheers...
u078356
Comment #18 Monday, November 14, 2005 2:16 PM
Comment #18 Monday, November 14, 2005 2:16 PM
I really like this object. However, I am a realitively new user of DesktopX 3.1 and the widgets and objects that I can get with it. I have a problem with the LookingGlass Suite (Ultra lite and regular): I can't get it to save my settings. Nor can I find a way to minimize it to the tool bar if I need the desktop space.
What am I missing?
What am I missing?
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Comment #1 Tuesday, August 31, 2004 1:47 AM