GSoC Proposal: Adopt-a

[pranjaldaga]

Hey, Firstly, I would like to congratulate Code for America for getting selected in GSoC as a mentoring organization again. I, PRANJAL DAGA, currently B.Tech Computer Science and Engineering student, am very inspirited to take up the project ”Adopt-a”, listed in your list of ideas on github. My interest lies in software and programming. I have worked on HTML, CSS, Ruby on Rails, PHP, MySQL, Javascript and also have a good amount of experience with frontend frameworks like JQuery, Twitter Bootstrap etc. As the famous notion goes, "Take care of the small things, and big things automatically fall in place."- the same idea which is driven in the Project Adopt-a is one thing which can lead to the betterment of the world, without straining any one person or organisation, every member taking part can just be a superhero. Also, the application of the project in Boston, i.e. Adopt-a -Hydrant captivated my attention and I strongly feel that the following key points must to be taken into consideration to improve the project:

1. The government cannot provide its resources to anyone who applies to adopt it. So, there must be three stages involved here: a. Resource available to be claimed (can be shown on the map with a RED pin) b. Resource claimed by a person (can be shown on the map with a YELLOW pin) c. Resource allocated by the Government (can be shown on the map with a GREEN pin)
2. For every person adopting a particular resource, one other person must be assigned who makes sure that in case of any emergency if the first person is not available then he may take the charge to complete the work. So, each resource must be adopted by 2 individuals. (This has to implemented in cities or towns with high population only)
3. http://adoptahydrant.org/ and http://sirens.honolulu.gov/ show only the map and pin the resources which are adopted or unclaimed. Menus regarding area and number of resources adopted as well as unclaimed resources can be included so that citizens have a clear list of resources left for them to adopt.
4. The work can be monitored and a statistical analysis can be carried out which will include graphs for the work done against certain constraints or parameters. Also better statistics regarding public usage of Adopt-a can be implemented.
5. Other activities like maintenance of garbage bins or planting and maintaining trees in a locality can be included to extend Adopt-a by a single but a very significant step.

The major thing that attracts me to take this project in GSoC is that the application of this project in real life will help the world in moving an inch forward towards the mission of making our planet a better place to live in.

I appreciate any suggestions on how to proceed with this application idea for GSoC 2013.

Best Regards, PRANJAL DAGA

[pranjaldaga]

@dthompson I have submiited my proposal for Adopt-a project for GSoC 2013. https://google-melange.appspot.com/gsoc/proposal/review/google/gsoc2013/pranjaldaga/1 Please have a look at it and suggest any modifications required. Thanks.

[mick]

@pranjaldaga

There are some things in our post above, and in your proposal that sound good, and some that concern me.

• I like creating an API. I think adopta should do a better job of allowing other applications to be built on top of it's API.
• I like adding a stats page, both a clear why of seeing how many things have been adopted / need adoption, but also maybe some usage graphs.
• Specifics of what to adopt shouldn't matter, it should be developed in such a way that new types of things to adopt should be able to be added easily
• Your proposal sounds like a lot of reimplementing things. the first milestone is vague "Build up a frontend framework using Twitter Bootstrap, JQuery etc", and adopta already uses all of those things.. so I dont understand what the action is.

Instead of trying to do a bunch of unrelated tasks, focusing on something like: Making it easier setup & deploy. provide an import utility, setup guide to set text / logos for city. Or focus on cities with mutiple types of things to adopt. Pick subset that doesnt involve redo a lot of the app, and focus on that.

[pranjaldaga]

@dthompson
Thanks for pointing out the pros and cons of my proposal. Creating an API for Adopt-a and Adding stats page including usage graphs may be considered highlights of the project.

1. Setting up a guide for assigning text/logos to cities is a really interesting job.
2. Also, a list of cities and a corresponding list of things to be adopted has to be included.
3. Easy addition of new type of things to adopt also needs to be incorporated.

I will be specific to the tasks required to be done and after including all the things you advised here, I will edit and submit my proposal again.

[pranjaldaga]

@dthompson I have tried to be specific and to the point. Here's the edited version of the proposal https://google-melange.appspot.com/gsoc/proposal/review/google/gsoc2013/pranjaldaga/1# .

Please review it and tell me if modifications are required anymore. Thanks