I participated in a 24hr hackathon over last weekend, and created Guidebnb – an app to find local guides. It is an Airbnb for local guides.

If you want to try out, head over to http://guidebnb.just2us.com.

The whole hacking session was fun, and here are some random things I would like to share.

Setup your servers first

The hacking started at 10am, and we didn’t write a piece of code until 4pm! For 6 hours, we were merely setting up our server and development environment. We have a plan of what to use, but things didn’t work out. This is what we did:

• The plan is to use Heroku PHP. However, Heroku does not support MongoDB! (they supported eventually, a few days after the hackathon)
• So we go for Amazon EC2. We setup the instance, installed Apache. However, MongoDB has a dependency which could not be installed. (probably our fault)
• So we go for Slicehost. PHP and Mongo driver setup successfully. However, their PHP version is an older version (5.1), which caused some headache with Facebook API.

In the end, we settle for EC2 with MySQL.

SQL database has lots of boilerplate code

I hate SQL database, because they need too much setup. You need to create database, create table, design schema, then write complex SQL statements. You need to use mysql commands.

And when you need to add a column, you need to write SQL to add the column to the table, and also change all your affected SQL statements.

I have done that many times before, yet I am doing it again, all because the NoSQL-MongoDB could not be installed..

Facebook API is not that easy

Facebook API is one of the widely used, yet also the also widely criticized API of all time.

It does give you problems, and high learning curve since there is a lot that you can do with it and you need to go figure it out yourself. They have non working examples too.

Hoiio & Expedia API are easy

We used 2 APIs

• Hoiio API for SMS and IVR (Interactive Voice Responses) services
• Expedia API for hotel search

Both are easy to use and do their stuff as intended. Took less than an hour to integrate the APIs.

I became a CSS ninja

I am a mobile developer, and API designer.

I don’t dwell with web development and CSS stuff. However, for the hackathon, I have to do quite a bit of CSS. I started with a template that help start things. I typed a lot of inline CSS to solve things quickly. I used chrome developer tool and inspected elements one by one. I learnt stuff like preventing CSS caching.

I can write, but it is not my cup of tea.

Don’t change MAMP password

Being quirky about security, I changed the default password of my MAMP’s MySQL’s password.

That is extra, and that wasted 1 hour. (run into problems and ended up reinstalling MAMP)

7 min presentation ain’t enough

When you have something cool and a lot to brag about, 7 min ain’t enough!

Five days ago, I posted what happens when you have a hackable voting system, and I decided to curl SG Blood to become an undisputed winner.

However, under pressure, e27 admitted their epic mistake and fixed their voting system. They employed Facebook’s like and Google’s +1.

With the voting system fixed, there is no way for me to curl SG Blood to become the winner

I know SG Blood is not a top 50 app candidate. . It was submitted to asiatop50apps merely because of the hackable voting system.

So my game halted. However, if you want to show support, please go ahead and vote SG Blood!

A couple of useful apps

There are a couple of good & useful apps, and I want to take this chance to highlight some that I cast my votes for:

1. Hoiio – Yeah, I do work for Hoiio, but our phone bill slashing app is definitely useful!
2. Gothere – The #1 app for finding your way around Singapore by bus, train or car
3. around! – Nice app for finding discounts around the island
4. movend – This is not really an app, but their payment SDK is a good work
5. SG Buses – Very useful for finding bus arrival times
6. Pigeonhole – Innovative real-time Q&A tool
7. Zopim – Add live chat to your website, like how I use it

So those are my selections, go cast your votes too!

Unfortunately, this happened to Asia’s Top 50 Apps nomination, presented by Singtel Innovation Exchange, and e27 as the organizer.

Interestingly, e27 community manager posted a blunt story about their flawed voting system.

I like how the story revealed things from an organizer perspective. However, he is admitting to his mistake, and yet not doing anything about it. Quoted:

Go ahead, do it. We probably won’t find out.  Keep it up, kudos to you. You’ll probably end up on the top of the list and be awarded the People’s Choice Award.

Since the voting system is not going to be fixed, there are only 2 possibilities:

1. No one cheated (because developers have integrity!)
2. Someone cheated

Since (2) is always a possibility, whoever turn out as the winner, will also turn out to be a cheater/loser..

I thought, since that is the case, I might as well submit my SG Blood and curl it to be the winner.

No one going to dispute a non-profitable app winning for a good cause, right?

I have always been curious over the number of developers in each country. Recently, out of a need to present this statistics for my work, I went deeper to search for an answer.

StackExchange provided me with data for a few countries. For example, US has a population of 300 million, and has 1 million programmers (that is 0.33%). 

I took a lower figure and estimated that around 0.1% of a population are active developers who work on web/mobile. With that, I estimate the number of developers in each country as such:

Quora also provided me a good answer, adding that around 10% of developers specialize in mobile development. That estimate does relate to the 40,000 iOS and 10,000 Android developers reported in appstorehq in 2010.

There are many online websites that helps SMS marketers send thousands of SMS. You have to upload an excel file containing the mobile numbers, then configure to run the campaign.

It was never easy finding and choosing a good web service that does that well.

However, running an SMS campaign actually do not need any web services. All you need is a Google Spreadsheet with all the mobile numbers and messages that you want to send.

I am introducing to you Google Spreader – A Google Spreadsheet app that helps you send thousands of SMS.

The benefits are:

• Use what you are familiar with in SMS Marketing – spreadsheet
• Send thousands, or millions, of SMS directly from the spreadsheet
• Use placeholders such as ${“NAME”} to customize the messages
• Create campaigns and get delivery report in the same spreadsheet
• And all other benefits that Google Spreadsheet brings you!

How to use?

To use, simple open up this spreadsheet template and make a copy.

To make a copy, go to File > Make a copy. If the options is disabled, logout and login with your Gmail account.

Enter the mobile number and SMS messages in the campaign sheet. Once you are ready to blast the SMS, press ACTIONS > Send SMS at the top menu.

It was recently revealed by 2 researchers that iPhone is secretly tracking where you go!

Download this Mac app, iPhone Tracker, which will read a file stored on your Mac when you sync your iPhone. Download it here, unzip and simply open the app to reveal.

It was kind of fun for me to see where I have been in the last 6 months. Basically everywhere in Singapore. Ah, but not Pulau Ubin.

App Store reviews play a very important role in a customer’s decision to download an app.

As such, it is very common for the developers to write “reviews” for themselves.

I was prompted to write this article when @mugunthkumar mentioned “the reviews looked like insider job”.

I took a look and is very sure it is fake reviews, generated by Singtel Idea Factory.

These are the characteristics of fake reviews that you will be able to identify with WheresApp SG:

• All ratings are 5 stars
• Number of reviews = number of ratings
• Reviews all on the same date and close to release date
• Suspicion reviews voted helpful
• Overdose of exclamation marks
• Same writing style eg. First letter uppercase, title style
• Mentioning functions similar to app description
• Reviewers have only reviewed that 1 app in their lifetime
• Reviewers gave a lousy 1 star review to competitor’s app

With those pointers in mind, you know not to trust the review when you encounter one. And not waste that $1.99.

All 5 stars, reviewed on same day (with no further reviews), lots of !!, title styles with “app”.

Reviewer only reviewed 1 app.

Reviewed gave M1’s My Movies (competitor to Singtel) a 1 star app (when the app averages 3.5 stars).

Disclaimer: As a developer myself, I admit I have written my own “reviews”, but mildly, and smartly.

The Developing World is a book by Fredrik Härén.

If you belong to a developed country, this book provokes you to “wake up!” and realize how fast the developing country is catching up.

If you belong to a developing country, this books shows you the advantage that you have over the developed country, and urge you to outrun them.

In the last pages of the book, there is a manifesto from the perspective of a developing world. Must watch!

Lifting one of the memorable paragraph in the book:

“I never plan” 
– Jack Ma, Founder of alibaba.com

If 2 people compete in a race and one is planning to get out of bed and put his shoe on, while the other is already running, then the person will come first.

I just mean that the orienteer who is forever looking at the map will not win.

The winner is the one who runs fastest in the right direction while looking at the map once in a while to make sure he is running in the right way.

I was out jogging the other day.

At the end of my run, I wanted to buy a drink, but I soon realized that I have forgotten to bring along cash with me! I have my iPhone with me, but can it pay for my drinks?

I started to think of solutions..

Thinking: If everyone is a mobile ATM, and I could use my phone to transfer money electronically to these mobile ATM, it will be great! As long as they could “dispense” the money, I would not mind paying a commission fee for the service.

Not bad an idea.. Hence I am submitting it for Paypal X Developer Challenge.

On a full page advertisement for Samsung Galaxy S in Straits Times today:

I am happy to find SG Toto as one of the app that works for the Android phone.

Great.

But wait, I don’t remember releasing the app for Android..