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Maxious
1 Welcome to the GovHack toolkit. This page provides all the information you need to prepare hackfest entries.
2 These tools can be used to make entries like: mobile apps, web apps, data visualisations/infographics
3
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Maxious
4 # How to register and submit your entry
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5 ## registering your team
6 how to use website "Hacker Space" to register and find teams etc.
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7
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8 ## preparing your submission
9
10 record a 3 minute speech and mix images/text to accompany
11 http://www.screenr.com/ and other screencasting tools allow you to demo apps.
12 youtube video editor http://www.youtube.com/editor
13 or local software like http://www.videolan.org/vlmc/ or http://www.lwks.com/
14
15 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.
16 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.
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17
18
19 # General References {#general-data-hacking-and-programming-references}
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20
21 ## Who can be a hack day participant
22 - roles; coder, designer UX/graphics
23
24 ## Definitions
25 - definitions, open licence reuse permissive hacker hack data journalism data vis UX etc.
26
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27 ## The basics of being a data scientist
28
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29 * 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.
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30 * Find the people and tools you need to prove/show/find. This rest of this page will help with the latter.
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31 * Analyse and present results - were they what you expected? Do they help explain to others what you have found out?
32 Can present as a interactive data visualisation or a web/mobile application or just a infographic/motion graphics video that tells a story.
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33
34
35 [](http://www.govhack.org/wp-content/uploads/How-to-participate-in-GovHack_html_m6a65720f.gif)</dt>
36 Illustration from Data Journalism Handbook, CC BY-SA 3.0</dd>
37
38
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39 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
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40
41 [datajournalismhandbook.org](http://datajournalismhandbook.org/)
42
43 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
44
45 practical advice check out Data Analysis with Open Source Tools by Philipp K. Janert
46
47 For further reading in this space
48
49 [http://flowingdata.com/2012/04/27/data-and-visualization-blogs-worth-following/](http://flowingdata.com/2012/04/27/data-and-visualization-blogs-worth-following/)
50
51
52 **Statistics**
53
54 [http://greenteapress.com/thinkstats/html/index.html](http://greenteapress.com/thinkstats/html/index.html)
55
56 **Programming**
57
58 Programming is valuable skill for manipulating and displaying data.
59 Basic tutorials for a variety of languages are available for free online or you can learn
60
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maxious
61 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/)
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Maxious
62
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maxious
63 [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
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64
65 **Accessibility/User Experience**
66
67 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/)
68
69
70
71 ## examples
72
73 ## The Open Budget
74
75 ## WeatherTree weather API
76
77 ## PlanningAlerts
78
79 [](http://www.govhack.org/wp-content/uploads/How-to-participate-in-GovHack_html_2f0199ff1.png)Description: Planning Alerts takes data from local government development applications and sends alerts to users based on what applications are lodged in their area.
80
81 Programming Language: Ruby
82
83 Source Control: [Git](https://github.com/openaustralia/planningalerts-app)
84
85 Issue Tracking: [Atlassian JIRA](http://tickets.openaustraliafoundation.org.au/browse/PA/)
86
87 ## LobbyLens
88
89 [](http://www.govhack.org/wp-content/uploads/129-Screenshot-LobbyClue_-_Chromium.png)
90
91 Description: Displays connections between government contracts, business details, politician responsibilities, lobbyists, clients of lobbyists, political donors and the location of these entities.
92
93 Programing Language: PHP
94
95 Source Control: SVN (Subversion)
96
97 Issue Tracking: A whiteboard
98
99 ## Bus.lambdacomplex.org
100
101 [](http://www.govhack.org/wp-content/uploads/How-to-participate-in-GovHack_html_3789acae.jpg)
102
103 Description: Online Canberra Bus Timetables and Trip Planner.
104
105 Programing Language: PHP/Ruby
106
107 Source Control: Git
108
109 Issue Tracking: Github
110
111
112 ## Developer Tools For Your Computer {#developer-tools-for-your-computer}
113
114 server admin / technical tools
115 many projects will require some kind of internet presence, webpage etc.
116 - css framework like bootstrap or zurb foundation
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117 - css gauges http://www.larentis.eu/donuts/
118 - bootstrap themes, web fonts, css sprites, icon fonts
119 - http://designmodo.com/flat-free/ http://designmodo.github.com/Flat-UI/
120
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121 - http://ubuntu-tutorials.com/2008/11/11/relaying-postfix-smtp-via-smtpgmailcom/
122 - amon
123
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124 ### Source Control
125 Git / Subversion
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126
127 [](http://progit.org/book/)
128
129 [http://progit.org/book/](http://progit.org/book/)
130
131 [http://svnbook.red-bean.com/](http://svnbook.red-bean.com/)
132
133 [http://tortoisesvn.net/](http://tortoisesvn.net/)
134
135 [http://code.google.com/p/tortoisegit/](http://code.google.com/p/tortoisegit/)
136
137 ### Task Tracking -
138
139 Issue/task trackers allow you to outline the tasks required for your project and assign them to people to do.
140
141 [Trello](https://trello.com/) and [Workflowy](https://workflowy.com/) are free, lightweight project management tools suitable for a rapid project!
142
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143 ## Hosted Developer Tools {#hosted-developer-tools}
144
145 Can get many tools (source control, issue tracking) combined into one service cloud hosted so no setup required.
146
147 ### Github
148 Git obviously but svn/hg interfaces are possible. Provide their own GUI for Windows/OSX or use the variety of Git capable tools
149
150 ### Sourceforge
151
152 Subversion, Git, Mercurial, Bazaar, CVS, issue tracker, wiki, release file downloads. Unlimited free use for open source projects.
153
154 You can create your own Sourceforge project at [http://sourceforge.net/](http://sourceforge.net/)
155
156 ### Google Code Project Hosting
157
158 Git, Mercurial, and Subversion code. Issue tracker, wiki, release file downloads. Unlimited free use for open source projects.
159
160 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/)
161
162
163
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164 # API Development {#api-development}
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Maxious
165
166
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167 So an API isn't just an XML file 
168
169 A good web based data API:
170
171 * Is logically organised
172 * Can filter returned data
173 * Can return results in different open formats (CSV/JSON etc.)
174 * Is efficient and responsive by using caching and databases appropriately
175 * Handles errors gracefully
176 * Monitors and controls access (to show benefit realised of API and prevent abuse)
177 * Provides appropriate documentation with examples
178
179 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.
180
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181 Atlassian have a great page on what makes a good API https://developer.atlassian.com/display/REST/Atlassian+REST+API+Design+Guidelines+version+1)
182
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183 API
184 - howto.gov api tutorial
185 - http://shancarter.com/data_converter/
186 - http://training.sunlightfoundation.com/module/data-visualizations-google-docs/
187 - api documentation
188 - WSDL or http://swagger.wordnik.com/ or https://github.com/mashery/iodocs
189 - http://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
190 - https://github.com/elc/rapi_doc https://github.com/Pajk/apipie-rails
191 -
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192 http://amberonrails.com/building-stripes-api/