James Fallows takes a look at the intersection of public (taxpayer funded) and private (business) interests, specifically, weather data that we’ve already paid for. Some businesses, who have made a living recycling that data, would like to continue their gatekeeper role. [We have examples of this in Madison. Access Dane offers “subscription” access to data that we’ve already paid for]. Here’s a clip from Fallows article. Read it all.

some of the most significant innovations have been made where public and private efforts touch. In its first term, the Bush team made a few important pro-technology choices. Over the next year it will signal whether it intends to stand by them.
There is a long historical background to the administration’s choices, plus a variety of recent shifts and circumstances. The history stretches to the early days of the republic, and the idea that government-sponsored research in science and technology could bolster private business growth. Progress in farming, led by the land-grant universities, demonstrated this concept in the 19th century. Sputnik-era science, culminating in the work that led to the Internet, did the same in the 20th century.

Open source weather is available here.
Create your own weather site using the NOAA’s xml web service.