Linode Brings Data for Good to Toronto with the Launch of Their New Datacenter

When I first discovered programming, I was drawn to it because of its limitless nature. In the physical world we are bound by nature’s rules, restricted to operating within the capacity of our human body; in the digital realm, we are free. Free to roam, free to build without regard for the laws of physics, and free to reach the universe with a keystroke. As developers, each one of us has the power to make widespread impact – and in today’s world of open available data, I believe it is our responsibility to use that power to influence positive change.

Last month, independent cloud provider Linode opened its tenth datacenter, and its first one in Canada, in my hometown of Toronto. I’m thrilled to be partnering with Linode to celebrate the launch of their Toronto datacenter with a Data for Good challenge that is very close to my heart.

Since 2003, Linode’s mission has been to democratize cloud worldwide, for the hobbyist developer, the startup and the growing business alike. As of May, new Linodes can be created in Toronto, and existing Linode users can clone their resources from other regions to the Toronto datacenter as well.

The Linode team and I have partnered to bring you the #TrendyTechieLinodeChallenge, where we want you to use Jupyter notebooks in Linode’s Toronto datacenter, as well as the City of Toronto’s Open Data Catalogue, to propose a meaningful data-driven solution that will have a positive impact on our city. The top three submissions will receive Linode swag kits and personal notes from me, and the grand prize winner will also receive $100 in Linode credits for their own projects.

How to enter:

1. 1. Create a new account at linode.com using the promo code “TRENDYTECHIE19” for $20 credit
   2. Head to your Linode dashboard and create an instance with the community StackScript ‘docker-ubuntu’ by ‘subwiz’
   3. Log in via SSH and install a Jupyter notebook

      docker run -p 8888:8888 jupyter/scipy-notebook:17aba6048f44

   4. Copy this output and replace inside parentheses “(###)” with your IP

      http://(28cba009d083 or 127.0.0.1):8888/?token=21db4b95e3e5362fcaa8f8dd6fb9cfc7078069021319e6a4

   5. Connect Toronto’s Open Data Catalogue from https://www.toronto.ca/city-government/data-research-maps/open-data/open-data-catalogue/ and code your Jupyter Notebook.
   6. Share your journey and your submission on social media with the hashtag #TrendyTechieLinodeChallenge! Final submissions must be complete by Sunday, June 9 at 11:59pm ET, but we encourage you to share your progress as you go. The Linode team and I will be reviewing all submissions and will announce the winner on Thursday, June 13th via social media (this blog post will also be updated to reflect the winner).

If you have any questions about the contest feel free to comment on this post or DM me on Instagram or Twitter. Happy building!

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Big thanks to Linode for sponsoring this post on Trendy Techie! I take great care in selecting the companies and brands I choose to collaborate with. What stood out to me about Linode was their tech-for-good stance, and how they really want people to use their new datacenter to influence positive change in our city. I love seeing companies lead this way and I think it is this type of mindset that will keep us moving towards an empathetic future.

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