NWS MAY END TEXT PRODUCTS WITH ALL CAPS

[wxdata]

STARTING BACK IN THE DAYS WHEN THE OLD TELETYPE MACHINES SUUPORTED ONLY UPPER CASE LETTERS, the NWS has announced they care considering finally moving into the 21st century and send all text messages in mixed case:

NOUS41 KWBC DDHHMM
PNSWSH

PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT...COMMENT REQUEST
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HEADQUARTERS WASHINGTON DC
115 PM EDT FRI MAY 28 2010

TO: SUBSCRIBERS:
-FAMILY OF SERVICES
-NOAA WEATHER WIRE SERVICE
-EMERGENCY MANAGERS WEATHER INFORMATION NETWORK
-NOAAPORT
OTHER NWS PARTNERS...AND NWS EMPLOYEES

FROM: JASON TUELL
ACTING CHIEF...PERFORMANCE AND AWARENESS DIVISION

SUBJECT: Soliciting Public Comments Through September 15 2010
On Proposed Change To Mixed Case And Expanded
Character Set In All Nws Text Products

REFERENCE: SERVICE CHANGE NOTICE 10-28 ON USE OF UPPER AND
LOWERCASE LETTERS IN NATIONAL PUBLIC INFORMATION
STATEMENTS...SERVICE CHANGE AND TECHNICAL
IMPLEMENTATION NOTICES IN EFFECTIVE AUGUST 16 2010

BEGINNING MAY 28 AND CONTINUING THROUGH SEPTEMBER 15 2010...
NWS IS SEEKING USER FEEDBACK ON THE PROPOSAL TO CHANGE ALL NWS TEXT PRODUCTS TO INCLUDE UPPER AND LOWER CASE ALPHABETIC CHARACTERS RATHER THAN ALL UPPERCASE AS IS PRESENTLY DONE. ADDITIONAL PUNCTUATION AND OTHER CHARACTERS THAT ARE PART OF THE INTERNATIONAL REFERENCE ALPHABET NO. 5 WOULD ALSO BE PERMITTED.

MANY NWS PARTNERS AND USERS HAVE IDENTIFIED THE NEED FOR NWS TEXT PRODUCTS /WATCH /WARNING /ADVISORY /STATEMENT /FORECAST /ENVIRONMENTAL DATA/ TO BE PROVIDED IN MIXED CASE AND TO INCLUDE AN EXPANDED PUNCTUATION AND CHARACTER SET. THIS CHANGE WOULD MAKE TEXT PRODUCTS EASIER TO READ AND ALLOW USERS TO CLICK ON INTERNET LINKS DIRECTLY RATHER THAN CONVERTING THEM TO LOWERCASE OR MIXED CASE.

PLEASE SEE SERVICE CHANGE NOTICE 10-28 FOR DETAILS ON RELATED CHANGES TO PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENTS... SERVICE CHANGE NOTICES AND TECHNICAL IMPLEMENTATION NOTICES WITH THE WORLD METEOROLOGICAL ORGANIZATION /WMO/ HEADING OF NOUS41 KWBC AND AWIPS IDENTIFIER OF PNSWSH. CHANGES TO THOSE MESSAGES PROVIDE THE OPPORTUNITY FOR A RISK REDUCTION EFFORT IN A NON-OPERATIONAL ENVIRONMENT AND FOR VALUABLE USER FEEDBACK.

THE NWS IS SEEKING COMMENTS AND FEEDBACK THROUGH SEPTEMBER 15 2010 AT:

http://www.weather.gov/survey/nws-surve ... mixed-case

NWS WILL KEEP THE SURVEY AND COMMENT FORM OPEN INDEFINITELY TO TRACK USER ISSUES AND COMMENTS OF THIS TRANSITION. USER FEEDBACK WILL HELP NWS BETTER PLAN THE EVENTUAL TRANSITION OF ALL NWS TEXT PRODUCTS TO MIXED CASE AND EXPANDED CHARACTER SET.

ADDITIONAL NOTICES AND STATEMENTS WILL BE ISSUED AS USER FEEDBACK IS ANALYZED AND PROGRESS IS MADE IN PLANNING FOR TRANSITION OF OTHER NWS PRODUCTS.

IF YOU HAVE QUESTIONS... PLEASE CONTACT:

HERB WHITE
NWS DISSEMINATION SERVICES MANAGER
1325 EAST WEST HIGHWAY
SILVER SPRING MD 20910
HERBERT.WHITE@NOAA.GOV
301-713-0090 EXT. 146

NATIONAL PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENTS ARE ONLINE AT:

http://www.weather.gov/os/notif.htm

$$
NNNN

[wxman57]

The survey questions don't seem to fit the proposed change to mixed case.

[ThunderMan]

Personally, I like the all upper cased text.

[wxdata]

UPPER CAPS IS LIKE SOMEONE YELLING ALL THE TIME, ALSO mixed case is easier to read...

[ThunderMan]

To me, for whatever reason, reading the weather in all uppercased is easier on the eyes than mixed case. Not too sure why.

[wxdata]

Then why are newspapers, books, even this forum typed/printed in mixed case? Because it's easier to read..............

[ThunderMan]

Then why are newspapers, books, even this forum typed/printed in mixed case? Because it's easier to read..............

I said "Reading the WEATHER", lol. I also said "TO ME" At least on the internet it is. I didn't say reading newspapers, books, forums, etc. Maybe it's just because I'm so used to reading stuff from the NWS in uppercased? lol

[txflagwaver]

While mixed case may be easier to read, I don't know that proper case and punctuation would be applicable in this case...if it can be done easily with no time issues...then I have no objection...I just hope it does not turn into not sending something in a timely fashion simply because of letter case or punctuation...

[tjelliot]

It takes only a part of a second to hit caps lock and they may even have caps lock as a default setting so no need to hit any button. I think all caps are easier to read. I just wish there was a quick and easy way to look up abbreviations because I am a not a professional weather person, just an interested one.

[desiredwxgd]

It takes only a part of a second to hit caps lock and they may even have caps lock as a default setting so no need to hit any button. I think all caps are easier to read. I just wish there was a quick and easy way to look up abbreviations because I am a not a professional weather person, just an interested one.

There are a ton of books out there that you can use for acronyms. May I suggest a book that not only contains weather acronyms but one that also contains aviation acronyms. Often they are the same but with a book that contains aviation weather acronyms you can apply that to those forecast as well. Aviation Weather Services is a good book. Its put out by the Dept. of Commerce and the FAA.

[wxman57]

It takes only a part of a second to hit caps lock and they may even have caps lock as a default setting so no need to hit any button. I think all caps are easier to read. I just wish there was a quick and easy way to look up abbreviations because I am a not a professional weather person, just an interested one.

I think you must be a little young to remember why NWS forecasts were in all-CAPS from the start. Early computers and particularly teletype machines used to transmit the forecasts had no lower-case letters. That would have made transmission by teletype a bit too complicated. The NWS has continued typing in all CAPs because some offices, particularly in offices in less-developed countries still relied on such old technology to receive the forecasts. Incorporating lower-case letters into the forecasts would prevent some areas from receiving forecasts. These days, though, almost all areas have updated their equipment such that they could receive the forecasts even if they're typed using a combination of lower-case letters.

Back when I started out in 1980 we barely had "computers". We had a giant typewriter with a roll of heavy-duty paper about 1" wide. When we typed, the machine punched holes in the roll of paper for each letter. When we were done, we tore off the long strip of paper and fed it into a transmission device that read the holes and sent out the forecast to clients after we dialed in the phone number of their receiving machine. We could not use lower-case letters back then. The machines didn't even have lower-case letters. They just had letters.

Telex Machine:
http://colorjoy.com/weblog/archives/6804

[biggerbyte]

They must have fired Arizona Desert..

Lol