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Paul

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Blog Entries posted by Paul

  1. Paul

    We're On The Move!

    By Paul,

    After several years with our current server hosts (Rackspace), we're on the move to a new company and brand new server setup which will suit us much better and give allow us a lot more flexibility as we continue to grow (at an increasingly rapid rate of knots!).

    Our new servers at Peer 1 have gone live today and we have already begun the process of migrating everything over to them with the aim to complete the move sometime in May.

    The main part of this process will be totally behind the scenes so until the day comes to make the final move over to the new setup there will be absolutely no impact on the site. When we make the final migration (we'll announce the date we'll be doing this in advance), there may be one or two very short periods where you may not be able access parts of the site, but in the main it should be a completely seamless move.

    We'll keep you up to date with progress and for the techies among you will also fill you in with some details of our new setup and the advantages it's going to bring!

    Paul
  2. Paul
    [color=#1C2837][size=4]It's been a little while since the last update on our blog (must do better!), so I thought now would be a good time to give an update on what we've been up to behind the scenes, and some info on what we've got planned as we close out the summer and move toward autumn and winter.

    The main thing we've been working on is a move to new servers, which barring a few bits and pieces is now complete. You may remember we also moved to new servers last year but unfortunately it didn't work out with the new company we moved as they weren't quite as reliable or responsive as we'd expected them to be, so we took the decision to move on again.

    For those who into the technical side of things, we're now with Rackspace again but on a brand new setup which is a hybrid cloud solution, what this means is that we have a handful of dedicated servers alongside some cloud based servers. This gives us a huge amount of flexibility to run additional servers within minutes when we get a spike in traffic (like on days when severe weather is likely) to keep everything running smoothly, it also gives us a lot more capacity to run new models, add new features and generally push the boundaries a lot more in terms of what we can offer.

    The major drawback of moving servers is the time it takes and the amount of work involved so to have done it twice in twelve months is not ideal, so we're certainly not planning any further changes like this again for the foreseeable future. The knock on effect it has had on our development schedule is also an issue - we are certainly behind where we wanted to be at this point of the year but once the last parts of the move are complete next week we'll be able to crack on.

    So, what do we have planned? Mobile apps are high on the agenda, a new look and layout on the site is also on the way (no eta on this yet though as it's a major job), updates to the radar will not be far away, we'll soon have additional written and video content, more weather and site related tutorials, a new summer holidays area will be live next week and among other things there's also a fairly major upgrade to the forum to come within the next few weeks.

    We're always keen to hear your views, so if you have any suggestions for features or improvements, or if you spot any issues with the site since we've moved to new servers please let us know!

    Cheers

    Paul[/size][/color]
  3. Paul
    As you may have seen in [url="http://www.netweather.tv/forum/index.php?showtopic=49142"]this announcement[/url], there have been some changes made to the netweather forum, including the addition of new community forums and groups. We're pretty excited about the possibilities and opportunities that this brings for the community, and already a few groups have been started, which you can take a look at [url="http://www.netweather.tv/forum/index.php?showforum=118"]here[/url]

    All groups are free and open for anyone with an interest in the subject to join and take part in, so you can get together with other like minded members of the community to discuss topics, create projects, arrange events or just socialise. The aim isn't to dilute the ongoing areas of the forum, so if for instance someone wanted to start a model watchers group, members of that group would still be encouraged to post into the main model discussion thread on the forums, then within the group they could perhaps discuss other aspects of the models, learn more about how they work, talk about interpreting the output and so on.

    The idea is that when a group is started, the group leader(s) will look after that group, will be able to setup topics, moderate as required (with the team's support) and look to bring people into their group and take the group forward in the direction they want - it's a real opportunity to make a part of netweather their own.

    On top of this, the blogging system has been changed to allow multiple editors of a blog, so a group could set up their own blog with several editors and use that as an extension to the forum areas. The blogs will also soon become much more customisable with a variety of skin and header options and even the option to design your own look and feel to them. (More on all of this will be posted in a 'how to' thread on the forum shortly).

    If you would like to start a group for social purposes, research, to organise an event, to get some like minded individuals together to discuss a particular subject or whatever else, please feel free to [url="http://www.netweather.tv/index.cgi?action=contact;sess="]contact us[/url] and we'll get it set up for you.

    Paul
  4. Paul

    Winter Approaches..

    By Paul,

    With the first signs of a cold snap on the forecasting models today, and the first sign of a frenzy building in the model discussion thread, it's clear to see that Winter is most definitely not far off!!

    To mark this fact, a number of new features will be going live on Netweather over the next couple of weeks. Firstly the Christmas forecast will be making it's comeback for 2010 this week, and that in turn will bring the full return of the Winter area for another year. At the same time Netweather Extra subscribers will have access to the full, in depth Winter forecast (the summary is freely available for all [url="http://www.netweather.tv/index.cgi?action=other;type=winter-forecast;sess="]here[/url]).

    Also in the pipeline is a major revamp for the ski centre, this year it'll include snow forecasts, snow reports, resort info, webcams and photos for virtually every mountain resort in the world.

    On the forum the regional forums will be online by the end of November, as will the 'excitometer' as was suggested by 'In the Vale' last year in [url="http://forum.netweather.tv/topic/60582-excitometer/"]this thread[/url].

    Keep an eye out too for some new videos - including a look at the winter forecast, and some handy hints on using the charts to forecast snow..
  5. Paul

    Winter Forecast Update

    By Paul,

    The winter forecast will be updated onto the Netweather site on Wednesday 26th November, but for the first time ever subscribers to our email newsletter will receive it 48 hours beforehand on Monday 24th.

    The newsletter is part of our MessageCentre service, which enables you to receive forecasts, alerts and weather news as well as our newsletter. It's free to sign up for and all email messages are totally free too. So if you would like to get your hands on the winter forecast before everyone else and haven't registered yet, please visit the MessageCentre at the link below:

    [url="https://www.netweather.tv/index.cgi?action=messagecentre;sess="]https://www.netweather.tv/index.cgi?action=...agecentre;sess=[/url]
  6. Paul

    Winter Forecast...

    By Paul,

    We've had some many people enquiring this week about the upcoming Winter and wondering when the Winter forecast is going to be released, it's clear that after last year there is an incredible amount of interest in whether this Winter will be cold again...

    The full Winter forecast will be made online very shortly now, and as last year it's been written by Stewart Rampling and the full, detailed version of it will be freely available for everyone to read. (These seasonal forecasts are generally only available to Netweather's commercial clients.)

    The first people to receive the forecast the moment it's released will be the subscribers to our email newsletter, if you're not set up to receive that as yet there is still time, just follow the link below to the Netweather MessageCentre:

    https://www.netweather.tv/index.cgi?action=messagecentre;sess=
  7. Paul
    [font=verdana,geneva,sans-serif]A couple of long range forecast related items to talk about today, as we've released our winter preview and also our summer review...[/font]

    [font=verdana,geneva,sans-serif][b]Summer[/b][/font]
    [font=verdana,geneva,sans-serif]Starting with the summer review, we know that our long range summer forecast didn't go to plan this year but we've never hidden away from that fact. We made an early announcement to let people know that it wasn't going to be as expected way back in June, and following on from that always intended to closely review the summer patterns to see what we could learn from the forecast.[/font]

    [font=verdana,geneva,sans-serif]As part of that we wanted to share our findings with you all, so Stewart Rampling (our long range forecaster) has put together a video reviewing how the summer panned out overall, and looking at where the forecast went wrong, along with some of the areas it actually went right. You can view the video here:[/font]

    [font=verdana,geneva,sans-serif][url="http://www.netweather.tv/index.cgi?action=summer-review-2011;sess="]http://www.netweathe...view-2011;sess=[/url][/font]

    [font=verdana,geneva,sans-serif][b]Winter[/b][/font]
    [font=verdana,geneva,sans-serif]Moving on, we're now closing in on Winter and although there's been a lot of hype about snow, the next ice age, months of sub-zero temperatures and so on - the truth of the matter is that at this stage it's too early to know what will happen from December to February. Our normal [url="http://www.netweather.tv/index.cgi?action=longrange;sess="]long range forecast[/url] (updated monthly) covers the next few months, but our full Winter forecast won't be issued until later in November.[/font]

    [font=verdana,geneva,sans-serif]There are some early indicators that can be looked into at this point though, and this is why Stewart has produced his Winter preview - this [b]isn't a forecast[/b] but does look ahead to winter, and Stewart gives his early thoughts on some of the factors he thinks may shape the UK's winter weather this year. You can watch the video here:[/font]

    [font=verdana,geneva,sans-serif][url="http://www.netweather.tv/index.cgi?action=winter-thoughts-2011;sess="]http://www.netweathe...ghts-2011;sess=[/url][/font]

    [font=verdana,geneva,sans-serif]That's about it for this blog entry - we'll be re-opening the winter area on the site on the 1st November, with (among other things) the return of the Santa Shaker in our Christmas forecast. More on this over the next few days though..[/font]

    [font=verdana,geneva,sans-serif]Paul[/font]
  8. Paul

    Winter Specials

    By Paul,

    With winter fast approaching and the second cold spell of the season on the doorstep, there are some great offers available for [url="https://www.netweather.tv/secure/cgi-bin/login.pl"]NW Extra [/url] subscriptions currently to help you stay completely up to date.

    Features within NW Extra include, detailed local and national forecasts, the weather type radar which is updated every 5 minutes and detects whether rain, sleet or snow is falling, a huge range of charts - including exclusive access to the hi-resolution NMM model for the UK, live weather information, strikestar lightning detection, regional snow risk charts, long range forecasts and maps, and much more.

    There really is no better way to ensure you're right on top of the weather this winter! [url="https://www.netweather.tv/secure/cgi-bin/login.pl"]Click here[/url] for more details.
  9. Paul

    Winter Updates

    By Paul,

    The build up to winter continues here at Netweather with a number of new items on the way over the next couple of weeks.

    Firstly this week the winter area goes fully live, including the Christmas forecast and the return of (a revamped) Santa Shaker! We also have massive upgrade to our SkiCentre on the way with weather, resort info, webcams, snow reports and a fair bit more for virtually every mountain across the world.

    The full, technical version of the Winter forecast will also be online shortly, initially to Netweather Extra subscribers, and this will be followed by a video discussing the forecast in more depth as well as answering any questions you may have.

    On the forum the regional forums will be back, a new support and site info area will go online and we'll also putting upgrades to the forum, gallery and blog software live soon so we're all ship shape ready for Winter...
  10. Paul
    Tonight see's the launch of a new competition on netweather, with the winner having the opportunity to have their winter outlook published onto Netweather as the 'official' alternative winter forecast. (the winner will also receive a 1 year subscription to Netweather Extra).

    To enter you don't have to be a forecasting expert or have loads of technical knowledge, you just need to have an idea as to how you will create your forecast and the methodology behind it. Put simply, your forecast could be based on anything from nature to pattern matching, to lunar cycles, to the QBO and NAO - in other words anything that you think is relevant no matter how technical or non technical it is.

    At this stage you don't need to produce your forecast, you just need to outline your method and give any other information you think is relevant, the closing date for this part of the competition is the 29th October (at 23.59). Once all of the entries are in, our forecasting team will create a short list of entrants, those on the shortlist will then go forward to a public vote on the forum which will start on November 1st.

    The winner of the public vote will then be invited to provide their forecast by the end of November, once written it will be displayed on the Netweather site throughout the winter with full credits to the author.

    The competition is open to everyone (except the forecast team here on Netweather), you don't have to be a member of the forum to take part, just click the link below to visit the entrance form:

    [url="http://www.netweather.tv/index.cgi?action=winterlrf;sess="]http://www.netweather.tv/index.cgi?action=winterlrf;sess=[/url]

    If you would like any more information, please feel free to comment into the blog or see the competition discussion in the Autumn forum.

    Good luck!
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