A new twist on weather radio

You’ve heard of weather radios before, but this is way cooler. A small company called WxWorx has a really cool weather radio: it uses the XM Radio satellite system (which I’m listening to right now) to download real-time NEXRAD radar and a host of other data, including stuff for pilots (METARs, PIREPs, winds aloft, SIGMETS/AIRMETS, etc) and boaters (buoy data, wave height and direction, etc.). Both varieties integrate with GPS units, so you can get a real-time plot of weather over a terrain map, route chart, maritime chart, or topo map. Very slick. All you need is a laptop or Tablet PC, their XM data receiver, and $50/month.