Let's all Build a Hat Rack

Wound up here: "A Place to Hang Your Hat" and the #LABHR hash tag.

H/T to this post: "Building a Hat Rack."

This is a huge idea. I follow some folks from the Code For America group. The +Mark Headd  Twitter feed (@mheadd) is particularly helpful for understanding this movement. Also, follow +Kevin Curry (@kmcurry) for more insights.

Open Source contributions are often anonymous and the rewards are intangible. A little bit of tangibility is a huge thing.

My (old) open source Python books have a "donate" button. Once in a while I'll collect the comments that come in on the donate button. They're amazingly positive and encouraging. But also private. Since I have a paying gig writing about Python, I don't need any more encouragement than I already have. (Indeed, I probably need less encouragement.)

However.

There are unsung heroes at every hackathon and tech meetup who could benefit from some recognition. Perhaps they're looking for a new job or a transition in their existing job. Perhaps they're looking to break through one of the obscure social barriers that seem to appear in a community where everyone looks alike.

And. There's a tiny social plus to being the Recognizer in Chief. There's a lot to be said in praise of the talent spotters and friction eliminators.

Civic Hacking

This weekend: the HRVA Civic Hackfest.  http://guestlistapp.com/events/86160

Alt Daily coverage.

Some more references.

What's it all about?  Code For America.  Exploit the information we have to make civic improvements.  Ask any journalist who wrestles with government data.  There's transparency (i.e., lip service) and there's transparency.  Publishing information as a PDF based on scans of paper documents doesn't really do much for folks who are exercising their civic duty to analyze and correlate government actions with social  benefits.

Only you can make your government more responsive.  Voting is one way.  Civic Hacking is another.

Another way is doing good data wrangling to expose the depth of influence money has over politics.  Look at OpenSecrets.org for an example.