about 7 years ago
Announcing the winners
The votes are in! Go to the gallery to congratulate the winners and check out all of the excellent submissions.
Even though the competition is over, you don't have to stop hacking. Use your portfolio to keep your project up to date and get feedback from fellow hackers.
about 7 years ago
Last call for votes!
If you haven’t cast your vote yet for your favorite weather data app, there’s still time. The polls will remain open until 5pm ET on February 21. Spread the word and tell your friends & family to vote for you!
Questions?
We’re here to help. If you have any questions about the hackathon, post on the discussion forum or email support@devpost.com and we’ll respond as soon as we can.
about 7 years ago
Public voting is now open
The public voting period for Sparkathon: It’s Raining Data has begun. Browse the Submission Gallery and vote for your favorites!
If you’ve entered a submission, be sure to spread the word through your social networks.
Thanks,
The Sparkathon: It’s Raining Data team
about 7 years ago
Final call: Submissions close on Wednesday!
Just a final shout-out that you have four days remaining in the IBM Sparkathon. Submissions are due February 3 before 5pm ET. Find out what time that is in your city.
Questions?
We’re here to help. If you have any questions about the hackathon, post on the discussion forum or email support@devpost.com and we’ll respond as soon as we can.
about 7 years ago
One week to go – the deadline is almost here!
Whew, it’s the home stretch! There’s only one week left to submit your weather app to the IBM Sparkathon. Submissions are due February 3 before 5pm ET. Find out what time that is in your city.
Questions?
We’re here to help. If you have any questions about the hackathon, post on the discussion forum or email support@devpost.com and we’ll respond as soon as we can.
about 7 years ago
Two weeks to go – submit early!
There are two weeks left to build weather apps using Bluemix Analytics for Apache Spark. Submissions are due February 3 before 5pm ET. Find out what time that is in your city.
If you haven't started a submission yet, please do so now. And if you've just recently joined the hackathon, explore the quick-start guide and draw some inspiration from the competition resources.
Submission checklist
Before you say "ship it!", make sure you run through this list:
- Have you explained how your app analyzes one of the suggested weather data sets (or a weather data set of…
about 7 years ago
Three weeks to go — start your submission now! (new deadline: Feb 3)
There are three weeks left in the IBM Sparkathon! Beat the deadline rush by getting your submission ready early. Submissions are due February 3 before 5pm ET. Find out what time that is in your city.
If you haven’t already started a submission, you should do it now. And if you’re just getting started, read the official rules and follow the quick-start guide.
Questions?
We're here to help. If you have any questions about the hackathon, post on the discussion forum or email support@devpost.com and we'll respond as soon as we can.
about 7 years ago
Spark primers + open data conference invite
Just a brief check-in to let you know we’ve added an additional resource to the hackathon site. Our partner DZone has a library of Refcardz (cheat sheets / tool intros), and they’re loaning us their Spark and Hadoop cards. Check them out on the resources page.
We’d also like to extend an invitation on behalf of Sparkathon partner Open Data Science Conference (ODSC), who are kicking off 2016 with the ODSC East conference in Boston from May 20-22.
ODSC is focused on bringing together the global data science community to encourage the growth of open source software. The…
about 7 years ago
Sparkathon deadline extended by 2 weeks
Happy new year, data wranglers! We’re kicking off 2016 with some good news: you’ve got two additional weeks to work on your Sparkathon submission. The new deadline for submitting a project is February 3, 2016.
In addition to being naturally generous, we thought it would be fair to extend the deadline given that many of you had trouble gaining access to Analytics for Apache Spark on Bluemix during the first few weeks of the submission period. We’re hoping this additional time will allow you to see your projects through to completion in the way you’d like.
over 7 years ago
One month left – start your submission
There’s one month remaining in the IBM Sparkathon! Submissions are due January 20 before 5pm ET.
Starting a submission is a good way to make sure that your app meets the requirements. There’s nothing worse than getting to the deadline, only to realize that you’re missing a key component. Remember: once you submit a project, you can keep editing it as needed at any time prior to the submission deadline.
Prepare your video
Don’t forget: your submission must include a video showing your app. Too often, participants leave this video to the last minute without…
over 7 years ago
Making a great submission video
We know you’re focused on your Spark-powered weather app right now, but don't forget about your submission video. It's often the first (and sometimes only) thing that judges and voters review.
A good video tells the story behind your submission, providing a clear and concise explanation of what your app is and does. Here are some tips and a list of screencasting tools:
- Establish your elevator pitch. In the first few seconds of your video, explain why your app is awesome. You can get into the details of how it works later on in the video, but treat…
over 7 years ago
Using Bluemix’s Insights for Weather service in your apps
How’s the weather over there? Not sure? Yeah, it’s a little unpredictable at our headquarters in New York, too. But one thing we can give you is some technical background on how to integrate IBM’s Insights for Weather service into your Sparkathon apps.
The Bluemix crew put together a pretty handy blog entry about using the service last week. They walk you through a sample app, including architecture flow, an overview of the weather service API, and how to render the weather data.
Hope this helps! If you need other assistance, or want us to track down some answers for…
over 7 years ago
Fast data’s evolution, bootcamps, & datasets everywhere
Absorb some Spark wisdom. We’re psyched to have Dean Wampler, Typesafe’s big data architect, office of the CTO, on the Sparkathon judging panel. Typesafe has deep roots in the Spark ecosystem, and has partnered with both Databricks (the creator of Spark) and with IBM on bringing their Spark initiative to life.
Before getting into server-side programming and big data, Dean was a physicist, as well as an early advocate for Scala — he wrote the first and second editions of the O’Reilly Programming Scala.
You can read Dean’s take on the fast data movement here, and…
over 7 years ago
Sparkathon’s sky just opened up w/ more weather data
Guess what, Sparkathoners? We've got two great new climate data resources lined up for you. With your extended Bluemix trial, you can now access IBM Insights for Weather to incorporate data from The Weather Company into your Analytics for Apache Spark applications. And, our awesome promotional partner UrtheCast is granting free access to its Earth APIs for all Sparkathon registrants (that’s you!) for the duration of the hackathon.
Sweet! How do I get started with IBM Insights for Weather on Bluemix?
You can add weather observations and forecasts from The Weather Company to your Bluemix application and display weather data for an area…
over 7 years ago
Object storage now available + Rules update
Hi Sparkathon participants,
We’re happy to announce that Object Storage is now available with our free Bluemix trial for up to 5GB of data. To add Object Storage to your Analytics for Apache Spark Instance, follow the steps below:
- Sign up for Bluemix and upgrade your trial via the provided promotional code.
- On the Bluemix Dashboard, click on the "Data & Analytics / Work with Data" box.
- On the left sidebar, click into "Analytics" -- this will take you to the Analytics for Apache Spark page.
- Click "New Instance" and then set up your instance using the "Free" object storage…
over 7 years ago
Object Storage is coming!
Sparkathon participants, we heard you! After some fine tuning, Object Storage will be available with our free trial for up to 5GB of data soon. We’ll send another note out once the Object Storage is available with instructions on how to access it.
We apologize for any delay in hacking, and hope starting next week you can move forward with your projects.
Sincerely,
Your Sparkathon Team
over 7 years ago
How to extend your Bluemix trial for Sparkathon
Hey there! Thanks again for registering for Sparkathon. We want to make sure you have all the tools you need to get started on your weather data projects, so we made a short video (below) explaining how to sign up for your extended Bluemix trial. This will give you free access to Analytics for Apache Spark.
All Sparkathon participants will receive an extended free Bluemix trial for the duration of the hackathon, through February 29, 2016.
Here's how to extend your trial.
Still having issues? No worries. Reach out to us at support@devpost.com, or post to the…
over 7 years ago
Quick-start guide
Thanks for joining the IBM Sparkathon! You're officially registered now, and we’ll be sending you regular updates throughout the competition.
Here’s how to get started on your project today. Submissions are due January 20, 2016, at 5pm ET.
- Plan your attack. Visit the resources page for tips on using Analytics for Apache Spark and suggested weather data sets.
- Get a head start on your submission. Fill out the basic fields on the application form; this will give you a good idea of what you'll need to put together. You can edit your submission as many times as you like…