[Baypiggies] friendly challenge

[Doug Hellmann]

Google is running a contest for middle and high school students  
called the Google Highly Open Participation (GHOP) contest.  The aim  
of the contest is to encourage young people to participate in open  
source projects.  The contest is structured around 10 open source  
projects, including the Python Software Foundation.  Contestants  
participate by completing tasks defined by the projects.  If a  
contestant completes a task, they get a t-shirt and certificate for  
participating in the contest.  For every 3 tasks completed, they get  
$100 (up to $500).  There are also 10 grand prizes to be awarded,  
which include a free trip to the Googleplex in Mountain View.

The contest is only about a week old now, and all of the tasks  
defined by the PSF have been claimed already!  We're the first  
project to reach that milestone, and we're really excited about the  
level and quality of participation from the contestants.  We are  
looking for more Python-oriented tasks to be completed by the  
contestants.



The Python Users' Group in Atlanta, PyATL, hereby challenges the  
BayPiggies to come up with more new task ideas than we do.  The  
winner retains bragging rights until the next GHOP.



What we need from you are *ideas*.  We can work out the specific  
details once we have  a general idea (though obviously the more  
detail you give, the easier it is for us).

Tasks need to be something which can be completed within at most 5  
calendar days.  They can cover areas like documentation, translation,  
testing, development, or outreach.  We've had some surprisingly  
talented kids participating, so don't worry about making the tasks  
too hard.  Each task should benefit an established open source  
project in some way.  The most important characteristic is to make  
sure there is a clearly defined completion criteria, so we can tell  
when the task is done.

For examples of the existing tasks, check out the issue list at:
http://code.google.com/p/google-highly-open-participation-psf/

Is there a module or project that needs help with documentation? Is  
there a plugin missing for a tool you use a lot?  Do you have a  
weekend project you've been meaning to write but never quite found  
the time for?  Tell us about it, and maybe we'll find someone to do  
it for you.

Doug

PS - Our meeting isn't until next week so you have a head start.  Use  
it well!  :-)