Here's a quick note to let you know that we will be sponsoring two cool events this weekend (January 24/25): Static Showdown and Gopher Gala.

Both events invite people to write an application over the course of a weekend, using either a static website or Go. These are online, virtual competitions in which contenders are competing with developers from all around the world. Afterwards, expert judges will cast their votes for the best apps. Winners receive prizes and, of course, the everlasting respect of the community.

Transloadit is providing both events with great prizes: Parrot AR Drone 2.0 (Elite Edition) Quadricopters.

the Parrot AR Drone 2.0 (Elite Edition) Quadricopter the Parrot AR Drone 2.0 (Elite Edition) Quadricopter

We think this is the perfect prize for hackers to receive, and for us to give away. Our co-founder emeritus Felix Geisendörfer wrote both node-ar-drone, which allows you to control the drone with Node.js software, and godrone, which is firmware that can be used to flash the drone so it can even fly itself. 😄 In addition to that, co-founder Tim is one of the guys behind NodeCopter, which organizes drone hackathons all around the world, so you could say we have a special place in our hearts for this particular toy! 😄

Besides the drones, we are also providing free uploading and transcoding credits so contenders can build their cool new apps with the use of our service. To apply for this, register for a free 1 GB account and shoot a quick email to mailto:hello@transloadit.com. We will then upgrade your hackathon account to include a total of 25 GB.

If you have any questions during the events, we will be available on twitter and also keep a close eye on our support inbox. For Static Showdown contenders, you will find myself and Marius (a.k.a. Acconut, who is also competing) hanging out in the staticshowdown#backchannel from time to time. And if you are interested in using Transloadit for your app, you might find this old blog post useful: File Uploading Without a Server.

That's about it. Go have fun, and may the best hacker win!