Changes to metservice site

[melja]

What do people think of the metsevice sit now they have made the changes For three days in a row now i cant get any forcasts for canterbury or chch or the warnings when issued in the morning before going to work and all i get is the overloading site and even if i do get the real pages to come up they only half load!

I think it stinks big time as this is my money that is paying for this and i cant even use it when i need it.
and i also think its about time they started thinking about getting rid of all those banner adds of the site and that will make it a dam site faster.

[Nev]

I don't often criticise MetService, but in this case I couldn't agree more.

Hardly an improvement - bloody third-world is what it is!

How could any other national weather service get away this?

[tgsnoopy]

I agree, I don't know what they are playing at, but the lack of forecasts in the morning before work is absolutely unacceptable.

It's bad enough they don't update their forecasts till 9-10am in a lot of cases, but no forecast is even worse.

Don't get me started on the no convection warning to high risk after the event started the other day

[gllitz]

Normally I am not one to criticize the M/S (at least, not recently), but in this case I will have to agree with the above postings...Met Service (Paul Mallinson - talk to your mates), sort it out...not only is it embarrassing, but extremely frustrating for your users, especially for those who pay for it! (Wait for it...would that be...the TAXPAYERS?!?!?)

[RWood]

You can probably blame their IT staff (or its management for trying to meet a tight deadline). But the whole IT industry in this country is pretty rank.

[gllitz]

.... But the whole IT industry in this country is pretty rank.

I can't just sit back on this one...be careful with your broad sweeping comment, RWood ...I am in the IT industry and I must say the people I have worked with over the past 8 years here in NZ are some of the most professional and best IT people I have come across during my career (15 years now). Yes, there are a few out there where I have no idea where they got their qualifications (or a job for that matter), but they are by far the minority.

To let something go to production, though, with the amount of bugs I have seen on the "new-look" M/S site is, quite frankly, shocking.

[Tornado Tim]

Its Doesn't look like there server can't handle that much traffic it seems.
Why don't they have more servers do deal with the traffic. Its not like NZ in terms of population is that big....
I not getting at metservice them selves but the people who operate the website could you make the site a bit more user friendly for the average kiwi sake.

[RWood]

.... But the whole IT industry in this country is pretty rank.

I can't just sit back on this one...be careful with your broad sweeping comment, RWood ...I am in the IT industry and I must say the people I have worked with over the past 8 years here in NZ are some of the most professional and best IT people I have come across during my career (15 years now). Yes, there are a few out there where I have no idea where they got their qualifications (or a job for that matter), but they are by far the minority.

To let something go to production, though, with the amount of bugs I have seen on the "new-look" M/S site is, quite frankly, shocking.

Not as sweeping as you say. I was in that zone for almost 40 years - in both public and private organisations. Sure, there are plenty of good people (mostly technical staff, and a small subset of managers) - and their value is diluted by the incompetents, stupid bureaucratic hierarchies and poor decision-making - political factors for govt. outfits and shareholder greed for large private ones impose unnatural constraints. That's why many of us who are present or former IT types think Dilbert is pretty close to being a documentary. I could reply to you via PM some time - I don't want to get sued by a large company by spilling some beans publicly.

I have been in regular email contact with a technical expert who has worked mainly on large systems, all over the planet, for the last 20 or 30 years. He's still waiting to find one that makes consistent rational decisions over technical issues (let alone anything else).

[tgsnoopy]

Interestingly, the adverts always load way faster than the pages.

Perhaps they need to talk to the host of the adverts about hosting their site for them as well?

As for the IT industry, I'm glad I'm no longer in it. Whilst there are some excellent skilled people in there, sadly there are also those who seriously let the industry down. I tired of going back to clean up the same old same old mess created by users who continuied their bad habits, ignoring instruction and blaming me for not doing my job right. That is not good for you, less stress where I am now by far.

Who prey tell, do we complain to in the Government about this Metservice website shambles? Enough is enough.

[RWood]

Quite right tgsnoopy. I have a couple of ex-colleagues who keep me up to date with the endless stream of idiocies perpetrated in their workplaces. Project managers who couldn't organise the proverbial in a brewery. Middle managers who keep their jobs and let capable tech. people lose theirs.

[Nev]

Who prey tell, do we complain to in the Government about this Metservice website shambles? Enough is enough.

As mentioned before, Simon Power is the Minister of State Owned Enterprises. However, the Govt directly funds the warnings issued by MetService, so maybe John Carter - Minister of Civil Defence or Heather Roy - Minister of Consumer Affairs (perhaps also Anne Tolley - Ministry of Education). Ultimately though, you might be better off with the good ol' 'Honourable' Rodney Hide - Minister for Regulatory Reform!

[Myself]

What do people think of the metsevice sit now they have made the changes For three days in a row now i cant get any forcasts for canterbury or chch or the warnings when issued in the morning before going to work and all i get is the overloading site and even if i do get the real pages to come up they only half load!

As annoying as it is I think in time it will sort itself out. Nothing can be 100% tested before going out to the public. The overloading website is an improvement, about a year ago that didn't even exist.

I don't see how you can't get the warnings when they are displayed on the overloading site.



SEVERE WEATHER WARNING.
ISSUED BY MetService AT 9:18 am 05-Mar-2009
MEDIA
ANOTHER PERIOD OF HEAVY RAIN AND GALES FOR SOME NORTHERN AND WESTERN
AREAS

MetService expects a large trough of low pressure over the Tasman Sea to
approach New Zealand today, Thursday, and link up with a new low from the
subtropics.
A very moist north to northeast airstream ahead of this trough is
likely to bring another period of gales and heavy rain to some
northern and western areas of both islands today and tomorrow.
The greatest amounts of rain are expected about northern areas of the
North Island, with 80 to 120mm likely, and up to 150mm about the
eastern hills of Northland north of Whangerai and also the ranges of
Coromandel Peninsula.
Heavy rain is now also expected in Nelson and Westland overnight
Thursday and during Friday with 80mm falling in a 15 hour period.
People should be prepared for streams and rivers to rise quickly.
Driving conditions are also likely to be hazardous at times.

Northeasterly gales over Northland are expected to rise to severe gale for a
time today with gusts of 120 km/h possible. Winds of this strength could damage
trees, powerlines and insecure roofs, and make driving hazardous for high-sided
vehicles and motorcyclists.

FOR THE LATEST WEATHER AND FORECAST CHARTS PLEASE GO TO

http://metservice.com

MORE DETAILED INFORMATION FOR EMERGENCY MANAGERS AND TECHNICAL USERS FOLLOWS:

HEAVY RAIN WARNING

AREA/S AFFECTED: NORTHLAND, AUCKLAND NORTH OF WHANGAPARAROA, GREAT BARRIER

ISLAND COROMANDEL PENINSULA KAIMAI RANGE BAY OF PLENTY WEST OF KAWERAU NELSON
WEST OF MOTUEKA RANGES OF WESTLAND SOUTH OF OTIRA

FORECAST:


NORTHLAND
Rain is expected to be heavy at times until early Friday morning. In
the 18 to 21 hours starting 9am today, 80 to 120mm of rain is likely,
but with 150mm expected in parts of the eastern hills north of
Whangarei. Rainfall rates are likely to peak at 20 to 30mm per hour
from late afternoon.

AUCKLAND NORTH OF WHANGAPARAOA AND ON GREAT BARRIER ISLAND
Rain should spread south over Auckland today and become heavy this
evening. In the 15 to 18 hours from 7pm Thursday, 70 to 110mm is
expected. Heaviest falls should be overnight Thursday and early
Friday morning with rainfall rates peaking at 20 to 30mm per hour.

COROMANDEL PENINSULA
Rain is expected to develop this afternoon and become heavy overnight.
In the 15 to 18 hours from 10pm Thursday, 80 to 120mm is likely, but
around 150mm is probable about ranges. The heaviest rain is expected
early Friday morning with rainfall rates peaking at 20 to 30mm per
hour.

KAIMAI RANGE AND BAY OF PLENTY WEST OF KAWERAU
Rain is expected to develop this evening and become heavy early
Friday morning.In the 15 to 18 hours from 1am Friday, 80 to 120 is
likely. Heaviest falls should be Friday morning, with rainfall rates
peaking at 20 to 30mm per hour.

NELSON WEST OF MOTUEKA
Rain is expected to develop this evening and become heavier overnight.
In the 12 to 15 hours from 3am Friday about 80mm is possible, mainly
about the hills and ranges where rainfall rates may peak at 20mm per
hour Friday morning.

RANGES OF WESTLAND SOUTH OF OTIRA
Rain is expected to develop overnight Thursday and become heavier
Friday morning.In the 12 to 15 hours from 6am Friday about 80mm is
possible. Heaviest rain is likely Friday morning with rainfall rates
peaking at 20mm per hour.

FREEZING LEVEL: About 4000 metres.

STRONG WIND WARNING

AREA/S AFFECTED: NORTHLAND

FORECAST:


NORTHLAND
Northeasterly gales over Northland are expected to rise to severe
gale with gusts 120 km/h for a time between 10am and 9pm today.

NEXT SEVERE WEATHER WARNING WILL BE ISSUED AT OR BEFORE

9:00pm Thursday 05-Mar-2009


Forecast prepared by: Gerard Barrow


A service provided through a contract with the Crown

Issued: 09:18am Thursday, 05-Mar-2009

I think it stinks big time as this is my money that is paying for this and i cant even use it when i need it.
and i also think its about time they started thinking about getting rid of all those banner adds of the site and that will make it a dam site faster.

Not sure it is your money, or mine.

What pays for their website? Probably the banner ads. The majority of forecasts on the site are not provided for by the MoT contract. Therefore, banner ads are necessary.

[tgsnoopy]

I'd like to know how you managed to get that forecast.

All my attempts either get no response or the overloaded message.

Pathetic. This could cost someone their livelyhood or worse a life.

[Myself]

I'd like to know how you managed to get that forecast.

All my attempts either get no response or the overloaded message.

Pathetic. This could cost someone their livelyhood or worse a life.

See attached. When I try metservice.com that's the first thing I see. Click on "Warnings" up the top and a new page comes up with the warnings. The direct link is
http://www.metservice.com/warning.html

I think it doesn't work when the normal website is working properly though.

[Michael]

It be like asking a radio station to lessen the ads to hear the news uninterupted.

I think it stinks big time as this is my money that is paying for this and i cant even use it when i need it.
and i also think its about time they started thinking about getting rid of all those banner adds of the site and that will make it a dam site faster.

[Peter]

See attached. When I try metservice.com that's the first thing I see. Click on "Warnings" up the top and a new page comes up with the warnings. The direct link is
http://www.metservice.com/warning.html

Just tried that link, and it took over a minute to load - at that's for a text page! In my opinion, the whole redesign of how the web page loads (when it's not overloaded) has been a backward step - the redesigned process has degraded service even when the weather is “quiet” – the load is slow, the graphics are less readable, and symbols are showing up in incorrect positions.

[Lacertae]

2 days ago, at 1:30am the website was overloaded, so imagine between 8 and 9am ...

[Vertigo]

and i also think its about time they started thinking about getting rid of all those banner adds of the site and that will make it a dam site faster.

banner ads are usually served by an external server, therefore wouldnt have much to do with the overloading of the site.

[Myself]

Just tried that link, and it took over a minute to load - at that's for a text page! In my opinion, the whole redesign of how the web page loads (when it's not overloaded) has been a backward step - the redesigned process has degraded service even when the weather is “quiet” – the load is slow, the graphics are less readable, and symbols are showing up in incorrect positions.

Trial and error wins the day

Try this: http://www2.metservice.com/index.html
And for the warnings: http://www2.metservice.com/warning.html

It loads very quickly with that 2 in there.

[Nev]

Not sure it is your money, or mine.

What pays for their website? Probably the banner ads. The majority of forecasts on the site are not provided for by the MoT contract. Therefore, banner ads are necessary.

Yes, forgot about the Minister of Transport (Steven Joyce), but they're more responsible for aviation and shipping forecasts.

Re the 'majority of forecasts', that would appear to be a gray area when it comes to actual 'warnings', all of which btw are currently base-lined with the words 'funded by the NZ Govt'.

Btw, you can also get the previously 'quoted' updated warnings on Newstalk-ZB's 'Weather' page.

[Peter]

Have just received a message from Paul Reid, CEO of Metservice re: the web site which is self-explanatory - improvement is just around the corner:

"Hi Peter, thanks and we know. The website has been under pressure for the last 10 months so we have just spent a lot of $$$ doing a full re-architecture of the back end. That went live last week, after extensive testing, and should triple the capacity, HOWEVER. There are a number of bugs that were not found during testing. A number of them relate to hardware. New servers will be installed and working by noon today. Hopefully the other problems are fixed by tonight. With an approaching weather front we will revert to the old system tonight if it’s not working. This will limit the amount of visitors we can handle and you will be redirected to the backup site with basic information.

I know this does not solve everything but hopefully the issues you have experienced will be fixed shortly. The next step is to redesign the front end to make it more user friendly, however this is at least 10 months away.

Feel free to use these comments on any weather forum you belong to.

Regards

Paul"

[Dale]

Hardware... that is the key word.. no pun intended to our PM.
Years I have been watching this unfold and after relocation all it boilt to was the archaic servers trying to capacitate users interested in wx and those whom rely upon..

Software was never the issue.. the mainframe required working upon.

[Myself]

Yes, forgot about the Minister of Transport (Steven Joyce), but they're more responsible for aviation and shipping forecasts.

Re the 'majority of forecasts', that would appear to be a gray area when it comes to actual 'warnings', all of which btw are currently base-lined with the words 'funded by the NZ Govt'.

Btw, you can also get the previously 'quoted' updated warnings on Newstalk-ZB's 'Weather' page.

I don't think the MoT contract has anything to do with aviation forecasts, it's Air NZ that would pay for those and also anyone else flying in and around NZ. It covers some of the marine forecasts (I think). And of course, warnings and watches, and the brief forecast and extended brief forecasts. Specific town, city or "rural" forecasts (which is what most of us are interested in most of the time) are not paid for by the government.

[Tornado Tim]

To relieve pressure on the website, I think Metservice should make a radio network Like NOAA radio and can give out the forecast that way and give out warnings ect through that service.
Please metservice think about this. It does not require power to run only batteries for the console.
If You did offer a radio service i would be first 1 to hop on to it.
Metservice could reply here so We can see where you are going with this?
Metservice radio please!

[Vertigo]

i might add, the changes might be an interim step to a more thorough redesign, which from the sounds of that email is whats happening.