Veterans Hackday kicks off on 'Nerd New Year'

Veterans Hackday 2011

By Helen A.S. Popkin

On Friday, much like Spinal Tap guitarist Nigel Tufnel's custom guitar amp, we go to 11. But? Nov. 11, 2011, isn't just Nigel Tufnel Day, Palindrome Day, Nerd New Year, a signal linked to 2012 Mayan prophecies of doom, and some superstitious reason to hurry up and get married and/or give birth. It is, most significantly, Remembrance Day, first commemorated for Nov. 11, 1918, when at 11 a.m. French time, the "War to End All Wars"?ended, officially at least.??

History proved otherwise of course, and Nov. 11 ? observed as Veterans Day in the United States ? now honors those who died in all wars. On Friday's unique date, LinkedIn and the White House launch Veterans Hackday. Hackers are asked to create projects "that can improve any aspect of a veteran's life.":

Anything that can make a veteran's life better is fair game. Think of ways you can help veterans find jobs, homes, education, deal with medical problems, build support networks, or even just a way for us to say thank you. Check out the ideas section and data section for more inspiration.

In California's Redwood City, 106 Miles ? a network of startup founders, engineers and friends ? kicked off Veterans Hackday with a Nerd New Year block party. Along with with live bands, food vendors and a bouncy house (for kids),?Nerd New Year includes a Veterans hackathon (held in the same location as the event's Robot Hackathon).?

Unemployment, homelessness, health care and trauma?span a wide range of issues that Veterans Hackday 2011 is dedicated to address. "The best reward is doing the hack itself: learning new things, working with teammates, and the pride of helping our nation's heroes," reads the Veterans Hackday website,?"but a cool prize doesn't hurt either." Awards for winning ideas include a Macbook Air, an iPad 2 and a $100 Amazon gift card.

Projects must be submitted online using the Veterans Hackday?website by Nov. 14, 2011, and will be judged by Sumit Agarwal (former deputy assistant secretary of Defense) Tim O'Reilly (founder, chairman and CEO of O'ReillyMedia, and Jeff Weiner (LinkedIn CEO).?

Related:

Helen A.S. Popkin?goes blah blah blah about the Internet. Tell her to get a real job on Twitter and/or Facebook.?Also, Google+.

Source: http://technolog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/11/11/8755368-veterans-hackday-kicks-off-on-nerd-new-year

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