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Q: What is the First Warning 6 Desktop Weather?
A: First Warning 6 Desktop Weather is a totally free, real-time weather and news headline application that resides on your desktop and keeps you posted on local current conditions, weather alerts, breaking news and the latest KRISTV.COM headlines. It provides live streaming local and national radar images that can be zoomed in and out.

With the First Warning 6 Desktop Weather you get immediate notification of weather warnings from the National Weather Service. You will be informed of the latest breaking news. You get the local temperature, wind speed, wind direction, barometric pressure, humidity, and dew point from reporting stations in your area.

Q: Can I choose the location from which I get my current conditions, such as temperature?
A: Currently, users may select to receive data from one of the following locations:

• Alice International Airport
• Brownsville/South Padre Island International Airport
• Beeville
• Bob Hall Pier*
• Corpus Christi International Airport
• Corpus Christi Marina (Downtown)*
• Corpus Christi Naval Air Station
• Falfurrias, Brooks County Airport
• Hebbronville, Jim Hogg County Airport
• Ingleside
• Kingsville Naval Air Station
• Port Aransas, Mustang Beach Airport
• Robstown, Nueces County Airport
• Rockport, Aransas County Airport
• Texas State Aquarium*

* Reporting stations are part of the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Texas Coastal Ocean Observation Network (TCOON) These stations do not report humidity or dew point readings.

Q: How often are weather conditions updated?
A: Conditions such as temperature, wind, etc. are normally updated by the reporting station once every hour. On some occasions a report may not be issued by the station every hour in which case the temperature will remain the same until that reporting station provides an updated report. (For example: NAS Kingsville does not man the weather office 24/7.) Warnings are issued immediately after release by the National Weather Service.

Q: Can I change my mind and select a different location later?
A: Yes, simply right click the temperature in your Windows task bar or click on the Menu link in the Current Conditions window of the First Warning 6 Desktop Weather. Then select options, and select the new location from the drop down menu.

Q: On the radar maps what does the dBZ mean next to the colors?
A: dBZ levels correspond to levels of precipitation intensity in terms of inches of rainfall per hour. The higher the dBZ level, the more intense the precipitation; they are directly proportional. "dBZ" stands for decibels of Z, Z being the reflectivity factor. The higher the reflectivity factor, the heavier the rainfall. This scale is logarithmic, so there is no factor one can use to multiply the dBZ level and arrive at the corresponding rainfall rate. Figure 3 shows approximate equivalents of dBZ and rainfall rates in inches per hour. Reflectivities in the range between 5 dBZ and 75 dBZ are detected when the radar is in precipitation mode. Reflectivities in the range between -28 dBZ and +28 dBZ are detected when the radar is in clear air mode.

Q: How often do you up update news stories?
A: News headlines are updated simultaneously with our Web site throughout the day. You can expect breaking weather and news delivered to your desktop with the same immediacy you expect from our local news site without having to do a thing but click on the News link and select a story to view.

Q: What are the system requirements for installing First Warning 6 Desktop Weather?
A. As a minimum you should have Windows 95/98. The First Warning 6 Desktop Weather also operates on Win 2000/NT4 SP6/XP. 6 MB hard disk space 64 MB RAM

Q: How large is the download for First Warning 6 Desktop Weather?
A: The download for the First Warning 6 Desktop Weather application is 2.96 Megabytes in size.

Q: How do I install First Warning 6 Desktop Weather?
A: To install the First Warning 6 Desktop Weather application simply Click Here. Submit the registration form and download the application to your desktop or other location you can remember. Once downloaded the installation should begin, if not, double click on the downloaded install file.

The installation software will guide you as you install the application on your desktop.

Estimated installation/download times:

• Cable Modem/DSL/T1 - 2 to 3 minutes
• 56k Modem - 9 to 10 minutes
• 28.8 Modem - 14 to 15 minutes

Q: The temperature in the Current Conditions display is wrong.
A: The First Warning 6 Desktop Weather requires that you be connected to the Internet. It does not require the use of a Web browser or e-mail program but the connection to the Internet must be made. Users with dial-up modems may want have to stop and start the application as they use the Internet on their computer for current information.

Q: How much of my Windows system resources will be used?
A: The Personal FutureTracker application will use approximately 12 Megabytes of your system memory.

Q: Does the First Warning 6 Desktop Weather take up a lot bandwidth?
A: Running the application for an hour uses about as much bandwidth as loading a single Web page.

Q: Does the First Warning 6 Desktop Weather use a lot of CPU power?
A: Running the First Warning 6 Desktop Weather for an hour in the worst-case scenario with full warnings and ad rotations in effect, and with the user clicking and zooming radar, the application uses about two-tenths of one percent of the total CPU time. It has normal spikes when performing complex tasks, such as startup and shutdown, but the overall use is extremely low.

Q: Does the First Warning 6 Desktop Weather contain spyware or adware?
A: The First Warning 6 Desktop Weather does not contain any spyware or adware, and does not install any applications that do. A full security document is available for further information. The First Warning 6 Desktop Weather does have advertising space, and will be sold to a trusted local advertiser.

Q: Will the First Warning 6 Desktop Weather slow down my office network if a lot of people run the application?
A: The First Warning 6 Desktop Weather has a built-in cache server that connects directly to the DIN and disseminates the updated data (only if new data exists) to other apps on the network therefore eliminating the "clogging" of the company's Internet connection.

Q: What do I do if I have problems with First Warning 6 Desktop Weather?
A: Simply click on the Menu Options link in the First Warning 6 Desktop Weather Current Conditions window and select Technical Support. Fill in the e-mail with your problem and someone will get back in touch with you as soon as possible. If you have problems before you complete your installation simply click here to send an e-mail to Technical Support.

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