Service disturbance around these days

I just discover that the failure a week ago (see recent update for detail) had created more than 6-7G error files which prevent normal operation of the service. I'm now clearing the files and things are expected to be normal at the next update, around 5h UTC today. To minimize the chance for an unintented failure, the administrator is purposing to move 7Timer! to an independent machine (again, see recent update for detail), the exact date of transfer is not enclosed yet, but I'll post a note here when more news come in and whether a temperary shut down is needed.

精密预报服务(PFS)瞄准狮子座流星雨和日环食

　　我很高兴地宣布，在有了长江日食的成功经验之后，精密预报服务的下两个目标已经被确定为今年的狮子座流星雨和明年1月的日环食。狮子座流星雨的预测规模将较小，预计仅在11月15日左右开始发布3-4次全国趋势预报；而明年1月的日环食将大致比照这次日全食的预报模式，预计大约在2010年1月2日开始进行预报。

　　本人在此深深感谢各位在日全食之前的紧张时段中给予的大力支持，希望在流星雨和日环食期间能再度为大家提供优秀的气象服务。

Precision Forecast Service targets at annular solar eclipse

I'm happy to announce that base on experience of the succeed July 2009 solar eclipse weather forecast compaign, PFS forecast for the forthcoming January 2010 annular solar eclipse has been scheduled, and shall be opened around January 2, 2010. Please visit the PFS page for the forecast bulletin at the countdown dates.

8月21-23日晴天钟故障

　　由于服务器故障，晴天钟在21-23日再度停运。目前没有证据显示这一故障与最近进行的升级有关。经管理员提议，近期内晴天钟可能会迁移到一台相对独立的服务器上，届时意外因素造成的停运应该可以减轻。最近多次停运给各位造成的不便，敝人深表歉意。

Service down on Aug. 21-23

Due to a server problem, the 7Timer! site was down again on Aug. 21-23. This problem was caused by inappropriate operation of another user on the server which finally led to extremely heavy workload and unavailability of the server. There is no evidence that the recently-made upgrade has caused the core dump.

Because of the occasional instability of the shared machine ("Cosmostation", firstly opened in 2002, is a free web space server provided by NAOC for amateur astronomers and organizations) and the popularize of 7Timer! (which had increased the workload of the machine), the administrator of National Astronomical Observatories of China (NAOC) has just purposed to move 7Timer! to an independent machine. This operation shall minimum the chance for 7Timer! to be affected by unintented operations and shall be done in near future. I'll keep you tuned about this.

Sorry again for the inconvenience.

8月17-18日服务器故障

　　服务器在17-18日出现了一系列故障，导致其无法正常工作。故障在19日上午得以解决。这些故障导致晴天钟在近几日无法正常工作，我在此表示歉意。目前自动更新程序已经手动启动，预计几个小时之内便会有更新。

7Timer! server down on Aug. 17-18

The administrator of National Astronomical Observatories of China (NAOC) informed me that the server had experienced a series of errors on Aug. 17-18, causing the server working improperly and eventually, being unable to start. The problem was fixed at around 3h UTC on August 19. The core dump had caused 7Timer! working improperly during the last three days, I am sorry for any inconvenience to you. The DIP run at 06Z today has been started manually and shall be completed in an hour or so.

APanel升级工作完成

　　经过一周的工作之后，升级工作已经调试完成，具体内容如下：

• 预报生成速度较慢的问题得以解决，生成速度提高了10倍（平均生成速度由过去的8秒提高到约0.8秒）；
• 升级了显示模式，引入了符号化显示方法，解决了相近颜色容易混淆的问题；
• 解决了自定义地点显示GMT+0.0的错误；
• 解决了错误更新时间的问题；
• 在地点列表中增加了首字母导航；
• 编制了一份详尽的使用手册。

　　统计显示，在成功预报日全食天气以后，本站的用户数量增加了近3倍。本人想在此感谢各位对晴天钟的支持，并希望这次升级工作能让大家的使用更便捷。

APanel upgrade complete

After working for a week, the necessary tests are down and the upgrade is now complete. There are following changes:

• Slow generating problem has been fix by re-write the execute codes, the average generating time has been reduced by 10 times (from about 8s to about 0.8s).
• The display mode is revised; symbolic display is introduced, makes it easier to distinguish different forecast conditions.
• Fix a bug of GMT+0.0 for all customize locations.
• Fix a bug of wrong next  update time.
• Add initial letter guidance on location lists.
• A much more detailed documentation with using guidance is now available.

There is a user boost (user groups is about 3 times larger than before) after the succeed forecast compaign of July 22 total solar eclipse. I would like to thank all of you for supporting 7Timer! and hope this upgrade has bring a more easy-to-use APanel to you.

APanel升级工作进行中

　　由于关于预报生成速度太慢的反馈越来越多，最近我正在对代码进行大规模修正以提高访问速度。由于有用户反映说不同色块之间不易区分，APanel的界面亦会得到修正。升级工作预计将在几日内完成。