Hack for LA

Hi Hackers -

For those of you interested in the Demand Media Health and Fitness App Challenge, here's an introduction to the Livestrong API from Jim Grady, Director, Software Engineering, LIVESTRONG.COM:

LIVESTRONG is providing access to its calorie tracking app that allows user to monitor their calorie intake and burn through an extensive library of foods and exercises. Developers will have access to the full library.

The LIVESTRONG.COM Calorie Tracker offers:

• Easy to use interface for tracking
• The largest database of food and restaurant items (more than 1.3M)
• Personalized daily calorie intake based on your goals
• Weight tracking with easy to read progress chart
• Motivational community that will inspire you to stick with your goals
• Water tracking to help you ensure you are staying hydrated
• Daily reminders to keep you on track to hitting your weight goal
• Full support for use on iPhone and iPad

The LIVESTRONG.COM Calorie Tracker is a diet coach, nutritionist, calorie counter and food planner at your fingertips.

http://www.livestrong.com/thedailyplate

Here are a few basic API calls to get everybody started. To keep it simple for everybody during the hackathon, we’ll open the api on the urls below and won’t require authentication for them over the weekend.

Food search:

https://service.livestrong.com/service/food/foods/?query=cheese

https://service.livestrong.com/service/food/foods/?query=cheese&limit=100&fill=item,item_title,cals

https://service.livestrong.com/service/food/foods/?foodId=38553

Fitness search:

https://service.livestrong.com/service/fitness/exercises/?query=run

https://service.livestrong.com/service/fitness/exercises/?query=run&fill=exercise,description

https://service.livestrong.com/service/fitness/exercises/?query=run&fill=exercise,description&limit=100

Activity feed (selection of recent conversation comments plus food, fitness, and water tracking, along with related livestrong.com content if available).

https://node.livestrong.com/activity/feed

https://node.livestrong.com/activity/feed?limit=100

https://node.livestrong.com/activity/feed?after_guid=0ece5b2f9988d4bff6e6e92ae003069103c

(The node feed is fast enough to be polled frequently for realtime apps – pass the most recent guid you’ve received as “after guid” so that you only get new data, not what you already have. The feed is also available over plain http while the food/fitness search require https)

 Please attend the Livestrong API workshop on Saturday morning to get more info!

We've got an update on our location for December 7-8; we're going back to Boyle Heights! While we loved the venue at Occidental College, it turns out that our event conflicts with some planned facilitaties usage for finals week, and we'll hopefully be working with them on a future event.

We're excited to be holding the December 7-8 event at the Variety Boys and Girls Club in Boyle Heights, 2530 Cincinnati Street, Los Angeles, CA, 90033.  Convenient to public transportation (close to the Soto Station on the Gold Line), this recently renovated facility has space for our opening and closing events, and lots of great locations for hacking during the day.  And did we mention there are pool tables??!?

Holding our event at the Varsity Boys and Girls Club is consistent with one of our core goals for Hack for LA; making sure that young people from all of LA's diverse communities are thinking about careers in technology, engineering, and design. We can't wait to see everyone back in Boyle Heights.

Hack for LA Official Rules 2014

• No submission may win more than (2) prizes.

•Hack for LA is a place where people freely share ideas and concepts. By participating, you acknowledge and agree that if you share an idea, suggestion, or concept you are working on that others may use your idea, suggestion, or concept and integrate it into an application that they are working on now or in the future, and you waive any and all claims and lawsuits against the organizers or sponsors or participants that may use or incorporate that idea, suggestion or concept, into an application, service, or product.  If you can’t agree, you can’t participate.

• The Hack for LA Mobile App Hackathon Contest (“Hackathon”) is sponsored and administered by i.am.angel Foundation ("i.am.angel”), c/o Santa Barbara Foundation, 1111 Chapala Street, Suite 200, Santa Barbara, CA 93101.  Additional local sponsors, partners and organizers have also participated in the creation of this event, including, but not limited to, New Economy Campaigns and the City of Los Angeles.

• By participating in this Hackathon contestants agree to be bound by these Official Rules as well as all decisions of the Hack for LA judges and I.AM.ANGEL which are final and binding on all aspects of the Hackathon.

• Unless otherwise specified in the Official Rules, Hackathon contestants (team leaders) must be 18 years of age or older and legal residents of the United States in order to be eligible for prizes. Employees, officers and directors of I.AM.ANGEL, Hack for LA sponsors, Administrator, any prize supplier, and their respective parent companies, subsidiaries and affiliates and their advertising, promotion, and fulfillment agencies (the “Contest Parties”) are not eligible to enter or win. Immediate family members and household members of such individuals are also not eligible to enter or win. “Immediate family members” shall mean parents, step-parents, legal guardians, children, step-children, siblings, step-siblings, or spouses. “Household members” shall mean those people who share the same residence at least three months a year. Subject to all applicable laws. Void outside the U.S. and where prohibited.

• Hackathon contestants compete in teams. Contestants can recruit people to join a team or teams may be formed or assigned at each event. During the competition, each team will be asked to create a mobile or web application or data visualization that is sustainable on a tablet or Smartphone device, along with a business plan for their app (“Submission”). Each team will be given the opportunity to demonstrate their Submission and provide an oral presentation to the judges describing why their Submission would be successful. All coding for the Submission must be during the Hackathon. Any additional requirements concerning Submissions will be specified in the Official Rules or provided during the Hackathon.

• Submissions and oral presentation of Submission will be judged by a panel of judges based upon the following equally-weighed criteria for the both tracks: (1) Originality of Idea and importance for the community; (2) Ability to clearly articulate the details of the application (3) sophistication of technologies used in its creation (4) potential community and civic benefit. In the event of a tie, the winning team will be determined by the judges based on the highest score for originality of idea. Each member of a winning team, along with all Submissions, is subject to validation by I.AM.ANGEL and/or the judging organization, whose decisions are final and binding in all respects. Each contestant and each member of a winning team may be required to sign and return, when requested, an affidavit of eligibility, and a prize/publicity release. WINNERS MUST BE PRESENT TO ACCEPT PRIZE OR PRIZE WILL BE FORFEITED.

• UNLESS OTHERWISE STATED IN THESE OFFICIAL RULES, ALL PRIZES OR ANY PRIZE COMPONENTS WILL BE AWARDED TO THE WINNING TEAM AS A WHOLE AND NOT TO EACH INDIVIDUAL MEMBER OF A WINNING TEAM. I.AM.ANGEL  is not responsible for any disputes among team members concerning prize or prize components.

• All taxes and any other expenses not stated herein, including meals, gratuities, transportation and other incidentals, are sole responsibility of winners. No substitutions or transfers of a prize, except in I.AM.ANGEL’s discretion. Coordination of any and all travel and any other expenses is the responsibility of the Winner Team members. Only the stated number and components of prizes in Official Rules will be awarded.

• Participation in the Hackathon shall constitute and signify each member of a winning team’s agreement and consent that I.AM.ANGEL, event organizers, Hack for LA, sponsors and their designees may use each member’s name, city, state, likeness, and the team’s Submission and/or prize information in connection with the Contest for promotional, advertising or other purposes, worldwide, in any and all media now known or hereafter devised, including the Internet, without limitation and without further payment, notification, permission or other consideration, except where prohibited by law. Except as expressly provided herein, nothing in the General Terms and Conditions or Official Rules may be construed as transferring any rights of ownership or license, by implication, estoppel or otherwise, of either party’s products, technology or intellectual property, including but not limited to, such party’s marks.

• GENERAL CONDITIONS/INDEMNIFICATION: By entering, contestants warrant and represent that their team is the sole creator of the Submission and that they have obtained permission from all persons or copyright or trademark owners whose likeness, work or mark are depicted in Submission and all permission necessary for I.AM.ANGEL to publish or use their Submission in any media worldwide and agree to confirm any of the foregoing in writing. Further, by participating in this Contest and/or by accepting any prize, contestants agree that I.AM.ANGEL and the event organizers and I.AM.ANGEL's parents, affiliates, subsidiaries, officers, directors, employees, successors, representatives and assigns shall not be liable for any and all actions, claims, including any third party claims, injury, loss or damage arising in any manner, directly or indirectly, arising from or relating to the Hackathon, including entry and participation, or the acceptance, possession, use or misuse of any prize. By participating in the Hackathon and/or accepting any prize, contestants agree to fully indemnify event organizers sponsors and I.AM.ANGEL and its parents, affiliates, subsidiaries, officers, directors, employees, successors, representatives and assigns from any and all such claims by third parties without limitation. Contestants authorize event organizers, sponsors, and I.AM.ANGEL to use their name, voice, likeness, biographical data, city and state of residence and entry materials in programming or promotional material, worldwide in perpetuity, or on a winner's list, if applicable, without further compensation unless prohibited by law. I.AM.ANGEL is not obligated to use any of the above mentioned information or materials, but may do so and may edit such information or materials, at I.AM.ANGEL’s sole discretion, without further obligation or compensation. Event organizers, sponsors, and I.AM.ANGEL shall not be liable for: (i) late, lost, delayed, stolen, misdirected, postage-due, incomplete, unreadable, inaccurate, garbled or unintelligible entries, communications or submissions, regardless of the method of transmission; (ii) telephone system, telephone or computer hardware, software or other technical or computer malfunctions, lost connections, disconnections, delays or transmission errors; (iii) data corruption, theft, destruction, unauthorized access to or alteration of entry or other materials; (iv) any injuries, losses or damages of any kind caused by participation in this Contest or resulting from acceptance, possession or use of a prize; or (v) any printing, typographical, administrative or technological errors in any materials associated with the Contest. I.AM.ANGEL disclaims any liability for damage to any electronic device resulting from participating in, or accessing, uploading or downloading information, I.AM.ANGEL API(s) in connection with this Contest, and I.AM.ANGEL reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to cancel, modify or suspend the Contest should a virus, bug, computer or phone problem, unauthorized intervention or other causes beyond I.AM.ANGEL's control, corrupt the administration, security or proper play of the Contest.

• Event organizers, sponsors, or I.AM.ANGEL may prohibit certain contestants or teams from participating in the Hackathon or winning a prize if, in its sole discretion, it determines that a contestant or team has attempted to undermine the legitimate operation of the Hackathon by cheating, hacking, deception, or any other unfair playing practices of intending to annoy, abuse, threaten or harass any other participants or I.AM.ANGEL representatives.

• CAUTION: ANY ATTEMPT TO DELIBERATELY DAMAGE THE CONTEST, THE CONTEST WEBSITE OR UNDERMINE THE LEGITIMATE OPERATION OF THE CONTEST MAY BE IN VIOLATION OF CRIMINAL AND CIVIL LAWS AND SHALL RESULT IN DISQUALIFICATION FROM PARTICIPATION IN THE CONTEST. SHOULD SUCH AN ATTEMPT BE MADE, I.AM.ANGEL RESERVES THE RIGHT TO SEEK REMEDIES AND DAMAGES (INCLUDING ATTORNEY’S FEES) TO THE FULLEST EXTENT OF THE LAW, INCLUDING CRIMINAL PROSECUTION.

• Contestants acknowledge that event organizers, sponsors, and I.AM.ANGEL engage, have engaged and will in the future engage in the development, preparation, production, acquisition and dissemination of creative, educational, artistic and other material (collectively, the “Materials”), including without limitation Materials that are similar or identical to a Submission. Contestants also acknowledge that other persons, including employees of I.AM.ANGEL, may previously have originated and may hereafter originate Materials that are similar or identical to a Submission. Contestants agree that they will not be entitled to any compensation because of the use by I.AM.ANGEL of any such similar or identical material. Without limitation of the foregoing, I.AM.ANGEL may use, without any payment or other obligation whatsoever to any contestant, any part of the Materials, and any idea or concept contained therein, that (a) is similar or identical to, or contains significant elements encompassed in, a concept that is under consideration or in development by sponsors or I.AM.ANGEL before or at the time of entry, (b) is not unique, novel, original, and concrete so as to be entitled to protection under applicable laws, (c) has been made public by anyone at the time of its submission to I.AM.ANGEL or otherwise is in the public domain, (d) would be freely usable by a third person if it had not been accepted as a Submission or the subject of any agreement, (e) is not protected by United States copyright law, or (f) is similar or identical to, or contains significant elements encompassed in, an idea, concept or material that is independently created by I.AM.ANGEL or any third party.

• Contestants agree that organizers' sponsors' or I.AM.ANGEL’s development, preparation, production, acquisition, dissemination and/or exploitation of Materials similar or identical to a Submission or containing features, ideas, material and/or elements similar to or identical with those contained in a Submission shall not entitle any contestant or team to any compensation or other right or remedy. As an inducement to organizers, sponsors, and I.AM.ANGEL to accept each Submission for entry into the contest, contestants hereby waive any claim or right of action against I.AM.ANGEL or its successors in connection with the I.AM.ANGEL’s use of any Materials (or any portions thereof) whether or not such Materials are similar or identical to a Submission or contain any features, ideas, material and/or elements that are similar or identical to those contained in a Submission. Acceptance by I.AM.ANGEL of a Submission is not an admission by I.AM.ANGEL of the novelty or originality of the Submission.

We couldn't have produced our June 2013 National Day of Civic Hacking event without help from our sponsors, partners, and the National Day of Civic Hacking team.

Local and national businesses and organization collaborated to create the first Hack for LA event. AT&T provided foundational support for this event through its AT&T Developer Program and expertise in hosting Mobile App Hackathons. will.i.am’s i.am.angel Foundation, along with New Economy Campaigns and many members of Tech4Garcetti worked together to create the event. Google, Scopely, Chase Bank, CGI, memBRAIN, ESRI, SoftLayer, Factual, Amazon Web Services, and NuoDB provided additional support for prizes and event production and getting their technology staff involved in the event. In addition, local tech companies and organizations including NASA JPL, USC, Nationbuilder, Topspin Media, Sealight Enterprises, Citysearch, Beachbody, Lootsie, Datapop, CitySourced, Zukini Mobile, Girls Scouts of LA, the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce’s Bixel Center and Carbon5 provided developer volunteers to serve as coaches and mentors throughout the weekend of hacking. Staff from the White House/ General Services Agency/ Data.gov, the Los Angeles City Information Technology Agency, Los Angeles County Chief Information Office and local Census Bureau representatives were on hand to promote use of public data for innovation. Patrick Koppula and Catherine Geanuracos funded our afterparty at East Side Luv.    We look forward to working with these organizations (and many more) on future events!

Hack for LA is leading the civic hacking and technology movement in LA. It’s a great example of how we can harness technology and our city's creativity to solve everyday problems. We started as part of the National Day of Civic Hacking, an event that launched on June 1-2, 2013. LA residents, students, city departments, software developers, sponsors and entrepreneurs came together to build, create and solve challenges that drive meaningful technology-based solutions for LA.

At the Boyle Heights Technology Center in Los Angeles, we had 450 people; created 40 apps; and gave away $25,000 in prizes. We're looking forward to our December 7-8 2013 event being even better!

We are looking for a social media intern to work with the Director of New Media to assist in developing the social media campaign for the overall project and the event. Work will begin immediately and continue for up to six months and possibly longer. Most of the work will be done remotely with a one hour in person meeting every week. Weekly hours will vary depending on upcoming events in the community but generally 5 hours a week will be required.

The intern will:

• Help build our Twitter and Facebook profiles – add targeted followers/likes
• Post on Twitter and Facebook
• Research target audiences
• Research media outlets for press coverage
• Research prospective sponsors
• Assist in writing press releases and media alerts
• Maintain and update our email list
• Create Google doc spreadsheets to share information
• Gather contact info and images of participants at our events for social media sharing
• Create media lists for events
• Assist with preparing analytics spreadsheets for social media and website
• Create sign in sheets for events
• Sign people into event

Our interns are creative, problem-solvers with a DIY ethic and dynamic spirit. Knowledge of current and upcoming tech and civic engagement events throughout Los Angeles and nationally is a definite plus. Strong interest in developing apps to increase civic engagement is required. Knowledge of Macs, IOS7, iPhone, Samsung Galaxy, iPads, digital and manual cameras, Photoshop, Adobe Creative Cloud, Google docs and spreadsheets, Excel, PowerPoint, Hootesuite, and multiple apps will be useful.

Please contact: Hilary White, Director of New Media, [email protected]

Thanks to everyone who came out on Monday to the Hack for LA Social Media Week panel.  We had great representation from multiple departments of the City of Los Angeles, including the Information Technology Agency and from the Arts and Culture team.

We were excited to announce that we've set the date for the next Hack for LA event - December 7-8, 2013.  We'll be announcing a venue soon.  Hack for LA will help kick off Computer Science Education Week in LA, a national effort to get millions of high school students coding

Our discussion at our Social Media Week panel touched on potential topics and areas of focus for our next event - but we'd love to get feedback from our whole community, whether or not you were able to attend.  Please complete this short (2 question!) survey about where we should focus our efforts as we plan our next event.

Join us for a discussion of civic tech in LA as part of Social Media Week! Civic Hacking in Los Angeles is finally coming into its own; the inaugural Hack for LA event in June was one of the largest National Day of Civic Hacking events in the country, with over 400 people participating and more than 35 apps developed during the weekend.  The hackathon and makerfaire offered government agencies, businesses, nonprofits and civically engaged individuals the opportunity to work together to move into a new era of solving complex social problems through technology innovation.

We're bringing our Hack for LA spirit to Social Media Week Los Angeles, happening from September 23-28th.  Please come to our session, which will take place from Monday 3-5 PM at General Assembly in Santa Monica.  We’ll talk about why we chose to host the first Hack for LA event in Boyle Heights, and why we’re committed to bringing civic hackathons to neighborhoods throughout the LA region.  We’ll hear from the organizers of the first “Code for LA” Code for America Brigade which is launching in Santa Monica this month!

This session will explore some of the key issues of focus for civic hacking in our region and some of the challenges we face accessing data at the city and county levels.  We’ll also showcase some of the best apps that came out of the June 2013 Hack for LA event.  The first half of the event will be a panel discussion, but the second half will be an active conversation to involve participants in an ideation/ planning session to help determine the focus and goals of the next Hack for LA, coming in December 2013.

Please join us and join in the growing civic hacking movement in Los Angeles!

Please complete our Hack for LA planning survey! We are gathering feedback from our last event, and planning for our next event in December.

We want your suggestions and ideas for our next event.  Please complete this quick survey - it's only 10 questions long - and one is a yes/no question!  Please complete this whether or not you were able to attend our June event!

Complete the survey now!

Thanks very much, the Hack for LA team!

Thank you so much to everyone who made Hack for LA an incredible success, and who helped create the momentum that brought Hack for LA representatives to DC! About 150 people from across the country were invited to the White House on Wednesday July 23 to be recognized for their efforts in promoting open government and civic hacking. This included seven "champions of change" who were recognized for their work as civic hackers, and over 20 projects who were recognized by being invited to attend and participate, including our very own Urban Fruit.ly!

The first part of the event was a morning session where we heard from DC leaders including Todd Park, the White House’s Chief Technology Officer.  In the afternoon participants split up into smaller groups for workshops on topics ranging from scaling local innovations to other cities to the role of mobile technology in civic innovation. One team member from Urban Fruit.ly wandered into the Office of the First Lady to suggest collaborating on urban gardening apps!

Intel made an exciting announcement at the event - they will be starting an Innovation Pipeline to support the development of selected projects started by civic hackers at the National Day of Civic Hacking, with the aim of helping turn them into viable businesses and applications through access to coaching, analytics, funders, and more. Intel is partnering with SecondMuse on this effort, who will be reaching out to dozens of projects over the coming weeks! Projects will be selected based on a variety of criteria that is currently being refined and will be announced as well.

Hack for LA organizers Lilly Kam (i.am.angel Foundation) and Catherine Geanuracos (New Economy Campaigns) as well as one of our sponsors, Shevy Magen from CGI, also participated in the event. We met civic hackers from across the country, and are already working on some ideas to bring civic apps from other cities to LA, and share our ideas with other cities.

You can watch the video of the morning event here.

We're thrilled that the great work happening in civic technology in Los Angeles has gotten noticed in Washington, D.C.! Check out how LA is listed first on the list of participating Mayors on this White House blog post.

On July 23, the White House is hosting a "Champions of Change" event to recognize civic hackers from across the country and celebrate the innovations that have emerged from the National Day of Civic Hacking.

One of our Hack for LA winners, UrbanFruit.ly, has been invited to the event, and Hack for LA organizing partners i.am.angel and New Economy Campaigns will be participating as well.

Stay tuned for a report-back from the White House!