On the last weekend of February, Boston.com and The Boston Globe sponsored a hack-a-thon aimed at improving the lives of Bostonians, the Boston Hack Day Challenge. Twenty-six teams of programmers, developers, designers, and coders competed against each other to see who could create the best mobile product or website. After 48 straight hours of work, two teams--KnowEssentials and Boston Green--walked away as winners.

The #bostonhack hashtag was frequently tweeted during the challenge, even becoming a trending topic in Boston for parts of Hack Day.

Teams presented projects and judges voted on the winners on the final day of the challenge.

Teams presented projects and judges voted on the winners on the final day of the challenge.

Teams worked around the clock -- with a break every now and then -- on the projects.

Teams worked around the clock -- with a break every now and then -- on the projects.

Hackers at work

INNOVATION ECONOMY Hack Day Challenge: A judge's view Globe correspondent Scott Kirsner, who judged the contest, described how the panel whittled down twenty-six projects into eight winners.

A closer look

The links below go to some of the websites that earned recognition in the Hack Day challenge. Please note that all sites are in Beta, and thus still works in progress.

Big News Boston A website that displays the most-popular stories on Boston.com right now.

Drunken Stumble Going on a pub crawl? This site allows you to plan your path and notify friends.

Can Haz Parking The geo-location app finds where you are and tells you if you can park on that street.