(Photo: Onswipe)

Hey you, what are you doing next weekend? Would you like to flex your HTML 5 and Javascript skills with the potential to win some sweet prizes? If the answer is yes, Onswipe has a hackathon for you! If the answer is no, what's your problem anyway?

On October 19th, Onswipe is holding its first ever 48-hour hackathon at the company's Union Square-based HQ. The startup assures us, in bolded font, that there will be beer. The theme of the hackathon is HTML5--unsurprising given Onswipe's own underlying code infrastructure.

According to a post soon to be published on the Onswipe blog:

We know that [HTML5] covers a broad range of web apps, libraries, and general hackeries. That's the point! We're looking forward to creating cool HTML5 stuff with you, whatever it is you can think of.

Keep in mind you'll have Onswipe's arsenal of 30+ touch devices available for you to develop on, if you want. We have everything from iPads, to Galaxies, to Kindle Fires. In general you'll have the whole Onswipe office at your disposal, plus a bunch of Onswipe's best hackers.

The hackathon is a leadup to Empire.js, an event that will feature speakers and projects from New York's Javascript community. Hackathon winners will have the chance to win tickets to Empire.js, as well as some sweet iPads. You might even get to meet Onswipe's adorable office dog, Johnny.

"We've wanted to do a hackathon for a while and figured now was the right time to do it," Onswipe CEO Jason Baptiste told Betabeat. "Apps are clearly still bullshit and we think an HTML5 hackathon is a great way to get passionate engineers to build some awesome things for the web. Onswipe was originally started as a weekend hackathon-like project and maybe the next Onswipe will come out of this hackathon."

Interested participants can register here.

You get what you pay for. (Photo: Killer Hip Hop)

Microsoft invited a rapper named "Machine Gun Kelly" to performer at one of its stores and then got butthurt when he acted like someone named "Machine Gun Kelly." [BuzzFeed]

Here comes that mini iPad. [Wall Street Journal]

When the TODAY Show asked Zuck if he wears the same thing everyday he responded, "I have one drawer. Like men everywhere. Like men everywhere." Smoke then began to rise from his neural computer as it neared malfunction. [TODAY]

Here's what it would be like if Hemingway wrote Javascript. [Svbtle]

Oh good, here's that Microsoft phone nobody wanted. [WP Central]

Codecademy is a service that hopes to teach users to program over the web. They graduated from Y Combinator and raised $2.5 million from an impressive group of investors.

Today they introduced a new feature pegged to New Years. It's called Code Year, and it's a year long cycle of lessons that arrive in a weekly email. It will expand the services current curriculum, which right now is limited to an introduction to programming and working in Javascript, so that by the end of 2012 users can create both web sites and web apps, which will require more than JS.

"What we had up till now was very self-directed. The biggest problem with that is motivation. The email gives people a way to direct their learning so that they know what they have to do and by when," said Codecademy co-founder Zach Sims. "We are also hoping to tell people a little bit more about why we are doing what we are doing," Mr. Sims said. The new site makes reference to Douglass Rushkoff's book, Program or Be Programmed, which lays out am argument about why coding is a new form of literacy and the importance of knowing how computer programs work, even if you don't intend to work in the industry.

Ok, since we started more than 1,000 new people have signed up to learn how to code this year. We'll update in the morning with some fresh stats and perhaps some more thoughts from Mr. Sims and the community at Hacker News. For example, this gem from entrepreneur Aarlo Fish:

"Something cool to think about...coding well takes a certain type of mind that most people don't have. Code is, as Fred Brooks says, 'pure thought-stuff.' You need to be able to build and understand multiple layers of abstract stuff all at the same time.Coding is like having a vivid dream in that you're occupied with something entirely mental and disconnected from your physical reality. But unlike real dreams, it's coherent and rigidly structured, and fits in your conscious mind.Some people can think this way. Most people can't, even if their mind is advanced in other ways. I don't think most people, even the ones who are interested in Codeacademy, realize this. That said, I think it's useful for people to try to learn to code to understand the basics. And surely lots of people out there could code, but haven't learned yet. But most people will not be able to build complicated apps and websites."

UPDATE: Day 2 and nearly 60,000 people have signed up. There continues to be some mild pushback from engineers. Foursquare's Harry Heymann joked on Twitter, "Make 2012 the year you learn to be a lawyer with 1 interactive lesson emailed to you each week! http://lawyear.com."

Codecademy founder Zach Sims isn't bothered. "We're not saying that it's magic. It still takes a lot of work." He also shared a link to Peter Norvig's classic post, Teach Yourself Programming in Ten Years, which highlights that there is always someone offering to teach you in less time, be it years, months, weeks or days.

Mr. Squires.

"That's our support team and investor," Mr. Squires told Betabeat. "Our team is so agile I was able to pivot our support team into a Javascript boy band in six hours last Friday. But that wasnt working out, so we pivoted back to node.js hosting."

Check it:

The Stack Trace Boyz - Sexy Script by marak

Rough transcript of lyrics:

im on our standup right now
yo nodejitsu in the building
sexy script and we making a killing
i got millions with will-millionaire
yo i really dont care
throw the money in the air
when we writing that code
write that shh down we write it in node
when i hit your server ill make it explode
OH MY GAWD THAT LEET SOURCE CODE

it aint like no script you ever seen before
its the sexiest script that you ever saw
they call it sexy script because its sexy yall
the sexiest script that you ever saw
assembles to byte code yoo ( uhh ) its raw
its used by facebook google gmail and all
bringing sexy back to javascript owhhhhh
it aint like no script you ever seen before

yo my script be the leetist around
you know around town they know how the investor get down
i like to drop the petal of my beemer to the floor
crack the windows light my L and we be ready for y'all

Bonus! An old video, CouchDB man:

Marak Squires

"I started a project to learn javascript and node.js through rap," Nodejitsu co-founder and New York expat Marak Squires told Betabeat over Gchat. Mr. Squires has a well-established tradition of rapping about Javascript. Nodejitsu is a hosting platform for apps that use node.js, which allows for server-side use of Javascript, normally a browser-side language.

"Cause it's the java-to-the-script / doing this since '96 / Peace to Brendan Eich for making it exist," the rap starts. "Node.js allows for real-time sockets / over http, its socket.io and you cannot stop it / Guerimo from Learnboost blowing up like a rocket / just go to the Github for the source (if you wanna cop it!)" The rap goes on to explain some basics of Node.js, punctuated by call-outs to pivotal Javascript figures and Mr. Squires's friends.

Marak - The Node.js Rap by marak