What is Hack Day and what to expect if you're planning to hack
Hack Day is a celebration of developers and their ideas, where hackers take 24 hours to transform an idea into a working prototype and present it to their peers and a panel ofjudges in rapid 90 second demos.
Hack Days have been a company-wide tradition at Yahoo! since 2005, and Open Hack Day NYC 2009 marks our 9th Open Hack Day worldwide, where weinvite the public to celebrate hacking and innovation.
In the spirit of hack, we encourage you to go forth, express your creativity, code like crazy, learn something new, drink lots of caffeine, meet new people, and most of all, have fun!
How it Works
Learn about new Yahoo! technologies on Friday at various tech talks throughout the day. developer.yahoo.com/everything.html is also a good place to start. Gallery 8 will be set up for your hacking comfort starting after lunch, complete with power, collaboration space, snacks and drinks, and Yahoos on hand to help out. If you’re looking for a team, check out the wiki page:http://openhacknyc.pbworks.com/Join-A-Team
Our IRC channel is #openhackday on Freenode and Yahoo! staff in the Gallery 8 Hack Space will be around to point you to the Yahoo! developers who can help answer specific questions.
Hack into the night and register your hack to the system at http://developer.yahoo.com/hacku/register by 12pm Saturday. Feel free to register early, entries are editable after the fact. After you register your hack you will be assigned a number. Keep track of this number, it indicates your official position in the demo order and will need to be displayed prominently on your laptop while you present onstage. The list of hacks can be viewed at:http://developer.yahoo.com/hacku/show/2009/oct/hacknyc
How to Present
Hack demos begin on Saturday at 1pm sharp in the Hudson Theatre. Arrive early, pick up your hacker bib displaying your hack number at the registration/info table, and find your assigned seating near the stage. There will be Yahoo! staff in navy t-shirts who will help.
On stage, there are four stations for presenting. Listen for helpers on the floor calling out your hack numbers to set up at one of the stations. The stations will have VGA out, audio out and hard-line network (in case the WiFi acts up). Set your screens to demo at 1024x768. There will be a document projector (an elmo) available if you need to show a physical object (e.g., a cell phone) as part of your hack. . If your demo has other needs, email ericwu@yahoo-inc.com in advance so we can try to accommodate you.
Once you’re onstage ready to go, wait for the emcees to call your name and number and then it’s showtime. You’ll only have 90 seconds, so efficiency is key. Be sure to state your name and the name of your hack, briefly state the problem, and then jump right into showing your demo and how it solves the problem. Be concise, get your point across, practice, practice, practice, and don’t forget tohave fun!
Once all the hacks have been shown, the judges will leave the theatre to deliberate and return to announce the winners and award prizes.
More FAQs
1. How do I know who's in charge?
For technical assistance, emergencies or general help, look for Yahoos in the navy blue Open Hack Day NYC Staff T-shirts. Um, if it's a real emergency, please call 911!
2. How do I get on the wireless?
- Using your wireless management software, find the network named “OpenHack” or “OpenHack2” and connect to it.
- Input the password (or network key)”yahoo2009”.
- You should now be connected to the network.
- If you have any trouble with your connection, please find the onsite representative from Transbeam or a Yahoo.
3. Do you have official tags for online discussion sites like Flickr and Twitter?
Tag your Flickr photos, videos and Tweets with #openhacknyc. You can also follow us on Twitter at /ydn. For up to the minute coverage on all things Hack (high volume during Hack Days) follow us at /openhackday
4. It's a Hack Day so there must be an IRC channel, right?
IRC Channel: #openhackday on Freenode
Yahoos will be manning this channel throughout the hack, so jump in and let them know if you need a hand.
5. How much time do hackers get to develop their hacks ?
Official Hacking time at the venue is from Noon on Fri 9th to Noon on Sat 10th, but you can start working on your hack right now.
6. What is hacking?
For newbies to hacking here is a nice presentation on Hacking 101 by Chris Heilmann
7. Where do I submit my hack?
http://developer.yahoo.com/hacku/register
8. Will there be sleeping areas?
Gallery 8 opens at 1pm for hackers and stays open for 24 hours. We’ll provide plenty of food, drink, and diversion so you can hack all night long. There will be a quiet areas for naps.
9. Is it ok to use non-Yahoo APIs?
Yes! Use any APIs you like. This is also a good time for you to try your skills building an application for the new Yahoo! homepage , but we encourage you to be creative. Use the APIs that make you excited (but not too excited please...).
10. I want to hack on Yahoo! APIs but I don't know where to start!
Yes! Take a look at http://developer.yahoo.com/everything.html which has info and links to documentation on all our APIs and cool resources.
11. Can hackers present a sort of blueprint to a hack without actually having to implement it?
No, you will need to show a working demo of your hack
12. Can hackers form teams amongst themselves?
Yes please! Check out this link: Find A Hack Team
13. Should I be taking care of my own hardware needs, like a laptop?
Yes, BYOL (bring your own laptop). Planning hacking hardware? If so, be sure to bring that too!
14. Do I need to wear my badge all the time?
Yes. That's how we know who should be here and who should not.
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