2013-03-24 05:01:56
Alex Sadleir
1
#GovHack Toolkit
2013-03-01 01:11:15
Maxious
2
Welcome to the GovHack toolkit. This page provides all the information you need to prepare hackfest entries.
2013-03-24 05:01:56
Alex Sadleir
3
These tools can be used to make entries like: mobile apps, web apps, data visualisations/infographics.
4
This toolkit is open source, licenced cc-by and improvements are encouraged ...
2013-03-01 01:11:15
Maxious
5
2013-03-06 04:05:46
Maxious
6
# How to register and submit your entry
2013-03-24 05:01:56
Alex Sadleir
7
## Registering your team
8
Coming Soon: how to use the website "Hacker Space" to register and find teams.
2013-03-01 01:11:15
Maxious
9
2013-03-24 05:01:56
Alex Sadleir
10
## Preparing your submission
2013-03-07 22:18:14
Maxious
11
2013-03-21 11:02:25
Maxious
12
You should record a 3 minute speech and mix images/text to accompany.
2013-03-07 22:18:14
Maxious
13
http://www.screenr.com/ and other screencasting tools allow you to demo apps.
2013-03-21 11:02:25
Maxious
14
To mix together clips, you can use youtube video editor http://www.youtube.com/editor or local software like http://www.videolan.org/vlmc/ or http://www.lwks.com/
2013-03-07 22:18:14
Maxious
15
2013-03-21 11:02:25
Maxious
16
You also need to submit your "source material". For an application this may be source code, for another work it might be your notes or prototypes.
2013-03-07 22:18:14
Maxious
17
The key thing here is that your source material demonstrates to the judges that some of the end result was your own work and that it is possible for another person to replicate that work.
2013-03-06 04:05:46
Maxious
18
19
20
# General References {#general-data-hacking-and-programming-references}
2013-03-07 22:18:14
Maxious
21
22
## Who can be a hack day participant
23
There are many roles you can play; coder, designer UX/graphics
24
25
## Definitions
26
- definitions, open licence reuse permissive hacker hack data journalism data vis UX etc.
27
2013-03-01 01:11:15
Maxious
28
## The basics of being a data scientist
29
2013-03-03 10:00:40
maxious
30
* Have a hypothesis - even if you're making a tool/api that helps people with their questions too, remember what the objective of that is.
2013-03-01 01:11:15
Maxious
31
* Find the people and tools you need to prove/show/find. This rest of this page will help with the latter.
2013-03-07 22:18:14
Maxious
32
* Analyse and present results - were they what you expected? Do they help explain to others what you have found out?
33
Can present as a interactive data visualisation or a web/mobile application or just a infographic/motion graphics video that tells a story.
2013-03-01 01:11:15
Maxious
34
2013-03-24 05:01:56
Alex Sadleir
35
[![](img/How-to-participate-in-GovHack_html_m6a65720f-300x199.gif "Data Journalism Diagram")](img/How-to-participate-in-GovHack_html_m6a65720f.gif)</dt>
2013-03-01 01:11:15
Maxious
36
Illustration from Data Journalism Handbook, CC BY-SA 3.0</dd>
37
2013-03-03 10:00:40
maxious
38
The best high level reference is the 'Understanding Data' and 'Delivering Data' chapters of the Data Journalism Handbook which is available online for free at
2013-03-01 01:11:15
Maxious
39
[datajournalismhandbook.org](http://datajournalismhandbook.org/)
40
41
You can learn the technical skills from scratch in Visualize This: The FlowingData Guide to Design, Visualization, and Statistics by Nathan Yau or for more advanced
42
practical advice check out Data Analysis with Open Source Tools by Philipp K. Janert
43
For further reading in this space
44
[http://flowingdata.com/2012/04/27/data-and-visualization-blogs-worth-following/](http://flowingdata.com/2012/04/27/data-and-visualization-blogs-worth-following/)
45
46
47
**Statistics**
48
[http://greenteapress.com/thinkstats/html/index.html](http://greenteapress.com/thinkstats/html/index.html)
49
50
**Programming**
51
52
Programming is valuable skill for manipulating and displaying data.
53
Basic tutorials for a variety of languages are available for free online or you can learn
54
2013-03-03 10:00:40
maxious
55
interactively with websites like [http://www.codecademy.com/](http://www.codecademy.com/#!/exercises/0). for JavaScript or [http://www.learnpython.org/ ](http://www.learnpython.org/)or [http://tryruby.org](http://tryruby.org/)
2013-03-01 01:11:15
Maxious
56
2013-03-03 10:00:40
maxious
57
[https://developer.mozilla.org/en/JavaScript](https://developer.mozilla.org/en/JavaScript) - especially for web applications and visualisations, you'll need a basic understanding of JS. Common libraries like prototype or jQuery can help
2013-03-01 01:11:15
Maxious
58
59
**Accessibility/User Experience**
60
61
WCAG guidelines not only make a web app accessible but make it a better experience for all users! Even if not making an app, good to consider these things to do and not do: [http://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG/](http://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG/)
62
63
64
2013-03-24 05:01:56
Alex Sadleir
65
# Developer Tools For Your Computer {#developer-tools-for-your-computer}
66
No matter what kind of application you have for the data, there are many tools you can use to better collaborate and manage your project.
2013-03-01 01:11:15
Maxious
67
2013-03-03 10:00:40
maxious
68
### Source Control
69
Git / Subversion
2013-03-01 01:11:15
Maxious
70
2013-03-24 05:01:56
Alex Sadleir
71
[![](img/Screenshot-at-2012-04-29-172132-300x235.png "Git Screenshot")](http://progit.org/book/)
2013-03-01 01:11:15
Maxious
72
73
[http://progit.org/book/](http://progit.org/book/)
74
75
[http://svnbook.red-bean.com/](http://svnbook.red-bean.com/)
76
77
[http://tortoisesvn.net/](http://tortoisesvn.net/)
78
79
[http://code.google.com/p/tortoisegit/](http://code.google.com/p/tortoisegit/)
80
81
### Task Tracking -
82
83
Issue/task trackers allow you to outline the tasks required for your project and assign them to people to do.
84
85
[Trello](https://trello.com/) and [Workflowy](https://workflowy.com/) are free, lightweight project management tools suitable for a rapid project!
86
2013-03-01 03:43:59
Maxious
87
## Hosted Developer Tools {#hosted-developer-tools}
88
89
Can get many tools (source control, issue tracking) combined into one service cloud hosted so no setup required.
90
91
### Github
92
Git obviously but svn/hg interfaces are possible. Provide their own GUI for Windows/OSX or use the variety of Git capable tools
93
94
### Sourceforge
95
96
Subversion, Git, Mercurial, Bazaar, CVS, issue tracker, wiki, release file downloads. Unlimited free use for open source projects.
97
98
You can create your own Sourceforge project at [http://sourceforge.net/](http://sourceforge.net/)
99
100
### Google Code Project Hosting
101
102
Git, Mercurial, and Subversion code. Issue tracker, wiki, release file downloads. Unlimited free use for open source projects.
103
104
You can host your Google Code project and get access to developer tools, APIs and documentation at [http://code.google.com/](http://code.google.com/)
105
2013-03-24 05:01:56
Alex Sadleir
106
# Applications of data hacking
107
108
## API Development {#api-development}
2012-09-29 13:05:38
Maxious
109
110
2013-03-03 10:00:40
maxious
111
So an API isn't just an XML file ![;)](http://www.govhack.org/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_wink.gif)
112
113
A good web based data API:
114
115
* Is logically organised
116
* Can filter returned data
117
* Can return results in different open formats (CSV/JSON etc.)
118
* Is efficient and responsive by using caching and databases appropriately
119
* Handles errors gracefully
120
* Monitors and controls access (to show benefit realised of API and prevent abuse)
121
* Provides appropriate documentation with examples
122
123
Some people like sensis [http://](http://developers.sensis.com.au/)[developers.sensis.com.<wbr>au</wbr>](http://developers.sensis.com.au/)[/](http://developers.sensis.com.au/) use a provider like[http://](http://mashery.com/)[mashery.com](http://mashery.com/)[/](http://mashery.com/) or [https](https://apigee.com/)[://](https://apigee.com/)[apigee.com](https://apigee.com/) or [http://](http://apiaxle.com/)[apiaxle.com](http://apiaxle.com/)[/](http://apiaxle.com/) or [http://www.3scale.net/](http://www.3scale.net/) which handles making a good API for them.
124
2013-03-07 22:18:14
Maxious
125
Atlassian have a great page on what makes a good API https://developer.atlassian.com/display/REST/Atlassian+REST+API+Design+Guidelines+version+1)
126
2013-02-28 04:29:45
Maxious
127
API
128
- howto.gov api resources about choosing SOAP vs. REST etc. http://www.howto.gov/mobile/apis-in-government
129
- http://training.sunlightfoundation.com/module/data-visualizations-google-docs/
130
- api documentation is important too.
131
- WSDL or http://swagger.wordnik.com/ or https://github.com/mashery/iodocs
132
- Many web app frameworks can generate the documentation for you. For example Symfony for PHPhttp://symfony.com/ https://github.com/FriendsOfSymfony/FOSRestBundle http://williamdurand.fr/2012/08/02/rest-apis-with-symfony2-the-right-way/ https://github.com/nelmio/NelmioApiDocBundle better apis https://github.com/liip/LiipHelloBundle
133
- or for Rails https://github.com/elc/rapi_doc https://github.com/Pajk/apipie-rails
134
-
135
http://amberonrails.com/building-stripes-api/
2013-03-01 01:11:15
Maxious
136
example WeatherTree weather API
2013-03-24 05:01:56
Alex Sadleir
137
2012-09-29 13:05:38
Maxious
138
139
## Infographics and Data Visualisation {#data-visualisation}
2013-03-24 05:01:56
Alex Sadleir
140
2013-02-27 10:12:02
Alex Sadleir
141
Infographics try to contextualise charts and graphs to tell a story. Data vis builds on this to find new ways to design insight.
142
143
Most of the categories to follow have visualisation tools specific to their purpose.
144
145
You can find some data visualisation tools below:
2013-03-03 10:00:40
maxious
146
147
[http://www.visualisingdata.com/index.php/2011/07/part-6-the-essential-collection-of-visualisation-resources/](http://www.visualisingdata.com/index.php/2011/07/part-6-the-essential-collection-of-visualisation-resources/)
148
149
Also check out [http://thejit.org](http://thejit.org/) & [http://www.senchalabs.org/<wbr>philogl/</wbr>](http://www.senchalabs.org/philogl/) (contributed by Matt Adcock)
150
151
Have to use visual art concepts, good color schemes http://www.r-bloggers.com/the-paul-tol-21-color-salute/
2013-03-01 01:11:15
Maxious
152
153
2013-03-01 04:32:26
Maxious
154
- https://graphics.stanford.edu/wikis/cs448b-12-fall/ data viz theory
155
- http://drawingbynumbers.org/toolsandresources
156
157
examples - http://sunfoundation.tumblr.com/
158
## The Open Budget
2013-03-24 05:01:56
Alex Sadleir
159
160
tools - http://selection.datavisualization.ch/ data viz tools catalog
2013-03-01 04:32:26
Maxious
161
162
## Web Applications
2013-03-24 05:01:56
Alex Sadleir
163
164
With the rise of HTML5 technologies it is easier than ever to make a web application for engaging use of data.
165
166
- css framework like bootstrap or zurb foundation
167
- css gauges http://www.larentis.eu/donuts/