Counting down...

In a week from now if all goes well I should be back where I am now,  drinking beer and fending off a greedy cat with a great love of crisps.   Between now and then are the last few days of preparation and then Space Apps Challenge Exeter!  If you haven't heard about this (where have you been?) check out the Met Office blog http://metofficenews.wordpress.com/2012/04/13/met-office-to-host-nasa-space-apps-challenge/ and NASA blog http://open.nasa.gov/blog/2012/04/13/an-invitation-to-participate-in-spaceapps/

Thanks to the fantastic support and help from Second Muse, NASA and all my colleagues at the Met Office it's just possible that we haven't missed anything important . And now thanks to some London hackers we now have an extra checklist at http://hackdaymanifesto.com/  - if our PiratePads, UStream and the like all work out we'll be linking up with some at #nhtg12 on Saturday and also with our fellow Space Apps locations at ISIC Oxford and the rest of the world.

For those who haven't been to a hack day before, and I know there are many, because I've been pestering some really cool scientists and others to join us for weeks now, here's a useful blog post http://thenextweb.com/dd/2012/04/14/hackathon-survival-guide-9-things-to-make-the-most-of-a-hack-event/
To which I should add,  there are a couple of affordable hotels within walking distance of the Met Office building - so if you don't live locally it might be worth getting a room.  However we won't throw you out if you want to stay all night - well unless you upset the Chief Forecaster.  Remember you're hacking inside an operational weather service -  it's quite likely the is the first time this has been done anywhere in the world.  It's certainly the first time in over 150 years in the UK. Wow, we've broken another century plus record!

Keep an eye on these pages for more updates -
http://spaceappschallenge.org/location/met-office
http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/conference/space-apps-challenge