London Hack Day rapidly approaching epic status
So…I’ve been offline for the past 2+ hours. Want to know why? Rhetorical question…of course you do.
The short version is that the palace has been hit by lightning…twice. It sounded like a bomb going off overhead, knocked out power, triggered the fire control systems and popped open the ceiling vents. Mind you, it was pouring rain outside when the vents opened, causing rain to pour into the hall. So they evacuated the hall (it was very controlled) and moved us to the hall next to it. We sat in there with no power, no WiFi…just whatever juice was in our batteries, some chairs, some beanbags and our imagination.
People quickly assembled into groups. Several were hacking even without connectivity. Some were engaging in more social activities. One group was bowling a tied up bag of wadded napkins into 10 pins of empty water bottles, keeping score on a whiteboard. Classic.
The hall has since been reopened, the WiFi is back, the power is flowing…hacking is underway. It really is amazing how quickly they got things back up and running given the extent of the damage and chaos caused by the lightning strikes. This building has burned down twice in past history…but not today. Even the wrath of mother nature won’t dare take down this building while such a cool event is underway.
Photo courtesy of jovike.
