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by MrValdez
Its that time again when the Philippines Python group host their regular meetup. The previous meetups were dedicated to the beginners and intermediates. This time, the meetup is targeted at both the intermediates and experts.
A normal hackathon is an event where programmers are put into a room, with lots of food and drinks, and asked to make code revolving around a theme.
The Philippines Python hackathon is an event where programmers are put into a room, with lots of food and drinks, and asked to make code. The only difference is that the theme are random for each team.
* How do you make a program from 2 random nouns and 1 adjective? *
“GOOEY CONVERSATIONS MUPPETS” came out as one of the theme. So did “TEENAGE NINJA TURTLES”.
These words were randomly chosen using this program: https://gist.github.com/MrValdez/6093541
The goal of this hackathon is to simulate a programmer’s out-of-box thinking. Programming is not all about code. Creativity is just as important.
To promote creative thinking in a hackathon environment, each team must select 2 nouns and 1 adjective from a list. This unorthrodox ruling means that each team goes into the game without knowing what they should code. This element of surprise is important to simulate lateral thinking.
As practice, we gave “CLOUDY PHONES MESSAGES” a try. Cloudy could refer to the cloud. One suggestion is to put messages on the cloud from the phone. That turned out to be a simple program and it inspired the players to start brainstorming.
* Cheating as an incentive *
As an incentive to continue and not give up, our organizers explicitly encourage cheating. This doesn’t mean cheating by copying from their fellow players, but cheating in giving them the option to ignore and modify any of the rules.
Although, one team used this cheat mechanic, that doesn’t mean that no one else considered it.
* Brainstorming! *
It is only natural that in a creative environment, there will be a lot of brainstorming. Players took 20 minutes to come up with ideas. Teams keep pressing the enter key in the randomizing program until they found something that inspired them.
The following were the initial ideas:
OLD SCHOOL DUNGEONS DRAGONS
GOOEY CONVERSATIONS MUPPETS
CLOUDY PHONES MESSAGES
XKCD TIME GRAPHS
GOOEY CONVERSATIONS CONSOLE
XKCD HAT DRAGONS
* Slides *https://speakerdeck.com/pythonph/pythonph-july-2013-hackathon-intro-by-mr-valdez
* Presentation *
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WnlCxmI35Uo
* Judging *
The judges came from different skill levels but they all have something in common: they were impressed by what was built in 5 hours.
Each team went forward and presented their words and their program. Then, they started convincing the judges that their programs were developed with the words in mind.
The teams, their words and their online repository:
1. Team Samson Mars (XKCD TIME GRAPHS)
Mark Steve Samson and Marte Soliza
https://github.com/marksteve/xkcdtimegraphs
2. Team ManGui (GOOEY CONVERSATIONS CONSOLE)
Uri Gordon and MrValdez
3. Team Dilis (GOOEY CONVERSATIONS MUPPETS)
Dian Leithon Isidro
4. Team Large Hadron Colliders (XKCD HAT DRAGONS)
Chad Estioco
https://github.com/skytreader/pyph-july2013
5. Team Order of Sillywalks (DUNGEONS DRAGONS OLD SCHOOL)
Matt Lebrun and Micaela Reyes
https://github.com/cr8ivecodesmith/order-of-sillywalks/
* Hackathon Winners *
Photogenic (tied): Team Order of Sillywalks and Team Large Hadron Colliders
Friendship: Team Dilis
1st Runner-up: Team ManGui
Winner: Team Samson Mars
* Pictures *
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=oa.591802900869741&type=1
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