[socal-piggies] Fwd: Code For A Cause - Seeking Python Help

[Grig Gheorghiu]

If anybody has the time to help David with this project, please do!
It's indeed code for a worthy cause, and a great opportunity to spread
the word about Python.

Grig

--- David Hodge <dhodge at usc.edu> wrote:

> Date: Sat, 15 Mar 2008 23:24:51 -0700
> From: "David Hodge" <dhodge at usc.edu>
> To: grig at gheorghiu.net
> Subject: Code For A Cause - Seeking Python Help
> 
> Hello Mr. Gheorghiu,
> 
> 
> My name is David Hodge. I'm the treasurer of University of Southern
> California "Association of Computing Machinery" (ACM) and a member of
> "Free
> Culture USC". I found out about you when I pulled up the "SoCal
> Piggies"
> when searching for a local python users group.
> 
> 
> ACM and Free Culture USC have partnered up and are hard at work
> preparing
> for an upcoming "Code for a Cause" programming event that is going to
> take
> place at USC in about a month. I think that given your experience
> with
> python and involvement in open-source software you might find it
> interesting.
> 
> 
> The last "Code for a Cause event", called "SS12" had students develop
> innovative, empowering software projects for disabled persons. This
> upcoming
> event will focus on the theory and the technology behind open-source
> software and the emerging "One Laptop Per Child" (OLPC) platform. In
> case
> you have not heard about the OLPC, it is the organization making  the
> famed
> "$100 laptop" that is being sent to the world's poorest children to
> give
> them a chance at education. The OLPC's "XO" laptop is itself based on
> open-source software and is set up to easily allow people to make
> software
> for it. As it turns out, python is the primary development language
> for this
> platform.
> 
> 
> Like in the SS12 event, we will attract students ranging from
> freshmen
> undergraduates all the way through Ph.D candidates and put them in
> mixed
> teams of about five people. After an in-depth introduction to the
> OLPC
> platform and a kickoff ceremony, student teams will be challenged
> over a
> week-long period to develop open-source software for the OLPC
> platform.
> Teams will be given guidelines for their projects, but be left enough
> discretion to leverage their own creativity to produce unique
> solutions.
> Software experts and OLPC hardware will be made available during
> office-hours throughout the week of the event. At the end of the
> week,
> students will submit their projects and receive prizes for their work
> at an
> awards ceremony. The goal of this event is to raise awareness for
> open-source software, to promote the OLPC platform, and to be
> educational
> and fun for all participants.
> 
> 
> We will have an orientation session on Wednesday April 9. The actual
> competition will start with a kickoff event and full day of coding on
> April
> 12. The "Office Hours" where students can test their code on actual
> XO
> laptops will take place for a few hours a day from April 13 to April
> 19.
> 
> 
> While our planning for this event is moving along well, we thought
> you might
> be able to offer us some additional help. Specifically, we're looking
> for a
> few python experts to have at the competition. Is there any way you
> could
> advertise this to fellow python experts through the "socal piggies"
> or other
> means? We'd love to have an expert present some python basics to
> students on
> April 12. Additionally we're hoping an expert or two could be
> available at
> each of the hours "office hours" session in the days that follow. I
> realize
> that this would be a lot to ask of one person, so we're hoping to get
> enough
> interest to divide it up well.
> 
> 
> I look forward to discussing this with you further. Feel free to
> shoot me an
> email at dhodge at usc.edu.
> 
> 
> Thank you!
> 
> 
> - David Hodge
> 
> 
> 
> P.S.
> 
> While the web site for this new event is under construction, you can
> visit
> http://ss12.info to learn more about our last event.
> 
> And, to learn more about the OLPC, visit http://laptop.org.
>