The E Tree

 

        The weather app on my computer has something called E-Tree. I noticed it earlier this year. You get a seed. Then you are given a set of tasks to do daily that feed the tree. Whenever you do a task or access the app at certain times during the day you get points and the tree grows. When you get to a certain number of points a real tree is planted somewhere and you start over with another seed.

        I know it's a ploy by the developers to get people to use the app more often. I'm not even sure if they really plant trees. The last pictures that show trees being planted were from over a year ago. Still I enjoy using the app and watching my E-Tree grow from a sapling into a proper little tree.

        There have been some surprising side  benefits to doing this. I find that I'm learning things. Here are a few things I like about my E-Tree.

        I discovered that North Dakota is not as windy as I thought it was. I lived in North Dakota when I was in college. I remember every day being windy. When I feed my E-Tree, one of the tasks I sometimes have is to find a place where the wind is blowing over ten miles per hour. Much of the time that place isn't North Dakota. 

        One of the tasks is finding someplace where the temperature is over 50 degrees or under 40 degrees. I could stick to North American continent and accomplish this task, but sometimes I like to look other places. I'll look in South America or in Europe. It's a little geography refresher.

        I know people who live in places outside of Minnesota. I like to look at the weather in those places. What's the weather in London? Is it raining in New York? How hot is it in Provo or in Arizona?

        The app also allows me to look at things like earthquakes. There's a lot more of them than I thought. There's information on wildfires, pollen count, dew point and sea level pressure. I don't know the what the impact of sea level pressure is, but it's an interesting graphic.

        My favourite graphic is the one that shows wind. There are different colours depending on the wind speed and lines that show the direction of the wind. I like seeing how the wind moves and how there are even a few spots where the graphic shows the wind moving in a circle like a tornado. 

        Sometimes I get a quiz question to answer. The questions are about types of storms, weather signs and clouds. So far I have more correct than incorrect answers.  

        One of my goals is to spend less time looking at screens, I think that this is a harmless habit that I'll keep. (Plus I already have four trees.)