On Puppies, Kittens, Pandas and a 24 Hour Code Sprint Which Led to Awwsome, an Android App.

In the IT industry, "I have an idea, I am going to make an App about it" is similar to "I have an idea, I am going to write a book about it" for the rest of the world (Maybe not the whole world, but I couldn't find the right category).
Now, I have both those things on my bucketlist. And finally after a 24 hour coding marathon, one of them has been checked.

Download Awwsome on your Android.

The Story Behind Awwsome.
I have been visiting reddit quite often since the past few months. One of my favourite subreddits is r/aww. People post images of their pets, put catchy titles and all. It makes you go aww, legit.

Some of the pics are too awwdorable (pardon me). I often end up e-mailing them to people close to me, probably in the form of good morning messages. Them pups are ought to give a good jumpy start to the day. Instant mood lifters whenever you are feeling low.

That's what sparked the idea. An instant mood lifter. Awwsome is an android app which greets you with images of kittens, pups, squirrels, hedgehogs and everything nice on your phone. Plus, sharing with your closed ones is just a button press. Simple.

Download on Play Store.

So one night before going to sleep, I quickly drew on a paper the basic interface and jotted down the functionalities promising myself to work on it tomorrow. As I had mentioned earlier, I really wanted to make the most of these vacations.

Next morning, enter Panda aka Shantanu Jain. Panda is like this one stop android guru. On a normal day, he is always tinkering one thing or the other. He already has 5 apps to his name I think.  He is a proper machedu. And I am not going to plug an english translation to that. He is a machedu.

We decided to give ourselves a 24 hour deadline to finish this application and have it published on the Play store.


It was about 12:30 PM when we started. Both of us sitting in one corner of the rc.
We weren't going to host the images or the database on the clients app and instead put it up on server online. I was in-charge of that. A python based script to collect the content,  an online service to communicate with the application and the database which would hold all the content.
Panda was supposed to make Android part and its client side functionalities.

About 30 minutes later, Panda and other friends decided to watch Heropanti. After watching Xpose its been downhill for us. All of us our experimenting with such movies, for research purposes ofcourse. After Xpose, Main Tera Hero and Yamla Pagla Deewana 2, I realized I was about to cross the point of no return and stopped myself. Treated myself to Highway and came back to senses. But friends went ahead and watched Gunda and now Heropanti.

Anyway, so Panda left. I was left alone in the very same corner. I kept working on the data collection script and was done in an hour or so. The main barrier was to put that data up on appengine. There were 1000+ entries to be made. For uploading bulk data on appengine, they have this functionality called the bulkloader, but it didn't have enough documentation and SO didnt answer much.

I ignored that method, and tried thinking of some Jugaad. By 6 PM nothing moved and I decided to chuck it and play some football. I decided to resume work post dinner, by that time Panda would have also recovered from the movie.

Post Dinner I decided to ignore the jugaad and attack the problem through the proper way, trying to follow each step of the bulkloader method. Again by 2 AM nothing moved and I decided to give up that method.

I figured out another way in which I converted the csv as a txt and uploaded it. Used the interactive consolve to urlfetch the file, pass it through the python csv module and use each to row to fill the database. It worked. Such a relief.

After that I finished the service and added the random picture functionality. It was a breeze. My work was done.

Panda was still working on the app, the feature to share photos with friends wasn't working as expected. But a machedu he is, he got it figured out. A lot was left on his side, admob, favourites, client database etc.

Now, I don't code in Java. The last I coded in Java was in my second semester. Since then it has always been Python for me. Even my GSoC project is in Python.
I was pretty jobless, and hence started working on the write-up for the store, different promotional banners, twitter profile, facebook page, logo and the name.

We were supposed to do everything in those 24 hours.


We were pretty confused about the name. From the very beginning it was supposed to be DailyCute which would pave the path for such similarly themed apps by us in future. Sometime during the night, I thought Awwsome was a pretty rad name. But the very fact I could hardly find anything named on the internet made my doubt myself. Was it too shitty? How come nobody uses it? Must be shitty.

Anyway, after a lot of deliberating, we decided it would be Awwsome. We were making, coding, publishing Awwsome. See? Its such an awesome name. Hmm. Maybe.

By 8 AM in the morning I was done. With everything. Twitter. Facebook. Banners. Everything.

Panda was still coding the app. I wish I could help him. I was feeling pretty bad.

By 11:30 AM. Everything was done. We were testing it, adding small features and everything. Panda made the apk and uploaded it and went to the next bed and dozed off. I was supposed to fill in the write ups, screenshots and the various forms required  before publishing the app. We released the app in beta. It takes a fews hours before it goes live, and I decided to sleep as well.

I woke up at around 6 PM. Panda was already up. He couldn't sleep in the heat. He was already making minor changes and was ready to make the app live for everyone. He is such a workaholic. We made it live. Now Google takes a few hours to make it available. Soon, Awwsome was live :)

24 hours of coding, some dalwaddein, tons of images of puppies and kittens later, Awwsome was born. Published and live in the Play Store.

It is a very good feeling. It is exciting. Its an amazing feeling everytime some code you've written interacts with the world. Many people have absolutely loved the idea and the product.

What happens now?
The excitement dies slowly. Because its tough to get your word out there. Its tough to market. Its tough being shameless. I feel a little bit odd plugging the app in every conversation. But I know it is something good and it is worth it. I have to accept that marketing requires effort. A lot. I know if people would just download it once, they will like it. And I am not even taking credit for it, how can one not like puppies? Are you even human?

Well, if you like the idea, please give it a go :) It will definitely make you smile. Pakka. Promise.

How you can help us?
Download on Play Store. Rate and Review!(FYI. You can download an app in your phone from your laptop too. Open the Play Store Now.)

Like Awwsome on Facebook. We post aww images.

Follow @AwwsomeApp us on Twitter.

Spread the word, it will mean the world to us. Every download equals one tummy rub to us some puppy. Do it because one of the developer is named Panda. Ok? No? Hmm.

So anyway, if you have an idea for an app, just go for it, set a deadline for yourself, or best do a 24 hour coding marathon. It is tiring, but extremely satisfying. This blogpost itself is part of a daily one hour writing sprint. Now, I need to work on the second point on the bucketlist :)

Complete Guide To Summer Breaks In College.

What college students should do this summer vacations?

How to make sure you spend your summers in college effectively. A few things a college student could do during his/her summer break and how not to waste it away?

Okay. So your summer break is about to start or it has started already. You are really excited to do things. All those pre-exam bucketlists and amazing ideas you had night before the exam or even during the exams. It is time for them.

If you are in your first year, chances are that you are going to waste this summer. Most people do, and yes most people were as excited about it as you are right now. But they wasted it. Its too easy to do so. With the summer heat, the comfort of your home and newly acquired bundle of series and movies which are instant answers to your 'I am getting bored'. Don't let it be a summer in which you finish oh so many seasons and movies and did nothing else. At least don't let it be just that.

On College and Drawing Your Masterpiece Right

Small things trigger back nostalgia . It can be a good feeling or a bad feeling. The one I am talking about triggered guilt. Not that I did something bad back then, its about how i am now with respect to that time. I am talking about my first few days in college. The excitement, fear, drama, the feeling, being alone and independent. Every moment was so exciting. And it wouldn’t be exaggeration branding them magical.

The person I was then and the person I am now are miles apart. In my case, I am sure the former looks down upon the later. Are you really what you planned yourself to be?

Comic : What is Discreet Maths?

The truth about Discrete Discreet Maths.

It is exam time, and I am really bored.

This is my second comic, the first one was about placement sessions and their irony in college.

I have a different story for this one, but decided to stick to this. Will probably draw the other one post exam. It did seem funny in my head.

If you like it, please comment and click here to subscribe. Posts get sent to your mailbox. Technology. Please. It gets lonely at times :'|

Also, shhhhhh.

Here it is.

She is such a buzzkill.

So just after I posted the last post, this happened.

So anyway, that is Chinar. She is a thing. If you are from my college, you already know her. If not, you really need to know her.

Dejected

Tired from the world, he sought refuge.

Kept running from the invisible, gaining altitude while climbing a spiral staircase.
 
He knew once up there, everything would be fine.

One look at the stars, and he would turn invincible.

All his problems would disappear.

He paced. Faster and faster. Giving it his all, burning away all his energy, he jumped.

Jumped into the opening.

Only to find the sky clouded.

http://rebeccabarray.com/tag/stars/

Ps : Wrote this for a flash fiction thread on Reddit. Partly inspired from real life.

On Olay, Olay :D

So, I have a Coding Theory assignment and an OS code left to be done. But that can all wait.

Usual summer afternoons are completely unbearable. Waking up in sweat, looking up in despair only to find a cob web ridden ceiling, and the most worthless fan ever working at half its capacity. But today, I woke up at 5 to find a completely pleasant weather outside. Not the stark unforgiving blue, but something more pleasant. I figured I must have checked the time wrong, unable to think straight. Anyway, it was 5 PM and it was super cloudy. Tea and biscuits were had and I headed to the library, controlling my urge to go to CEP terrace. I felt like a Labrador :| Waiting for rains. Completely excited. A spring in my step. More like, "Its going to happen, yes it going to happen." 
The clouds were playing out different shades of yellow and grey, just when the sun was singing its swansong and winds were picking up speed. The stage was set.


It rained :D or rather hailed. Chaos. It became super windy! Trees started getting uprooted. You could hear the rain and all its entourage. Making a scene. It was amazing. With the winds blowing at your face at such speeds, washing your face with all the rain, ah :) Bliss.

Here is a video, a friend took from outside his room.

Of the many things that are awesome about Daiict, the one thing is, you keep falling in love with her again and again. You'll hate her at times, become indifferent to her, and then she plays her cards, carefully waiting for the right moments. You vixen! When it rains for the first time on campus, you fall hard of it. Its almost magical the way the campus transforms. The orange street lights and the fluorescent ones. Such high winds, with water vapours dancing away from one light to another, orange to fluorescent. Almost enjoying the spotlight, afraid to come to the ground and call it a night. Your minutes of fame.

Thanks for the photos Anuj, and mailing them as "Gujju Snowfall"

And then it hailed. Hailed in Gandhinagar, Gujarat. Tried picking up a hailfight, but eh. Failed.

Anyway, I am like really happy right now. And if you pass by me right now in library and give me a smile, I will give you a damn big grin with gleaming eyes, creep you out. Possibly ending our communication for the rest of the time I am still in college.

Life seems really clean and simple. Life is good. One of the best weekends of this semester for multiple reasons :)

On Placement Sessions, Personal Interviews and Irony.

Today was an institute holiday (Good Friday), but we were supposed to attend a session by one of the premier coaching institutes about writing our resumes and on giving good PI's. Even though the initiative meant well, I couldn't stop myself from being cynical about the presentation being given. Maybe, because it took the good out of my Friday morning.

I ended up doodling about it in my notebook. Here is the digital version. The irony was too high in this one.




















Also, this.

Ps. If you are offended by this, well. A good sense of humor is a must for getting selected into these premier institutes. Trust me. I know. A random-number-assume-any % of people who have had a good sense of humor got into IIM-A.

Ps. Any resemblance to any person or company in real is completely coincidental. I may have imagined about all this, um the sleeping guy in the pic.

Ps. Used the above disclaimer for the first time in my life. *excited*

Comment :)

On Why I Started Hating My Blog

So, I haven't really been honest with my blog lately. The last post hit it off on Reddit and got me a lot of views and I think that killed it for me. The blog wasn't personal anymore. To be honest, yes the last piece was humorous, but it wasn't me.I don't mind something going mildly famous, but then it has to be something which I really feel for, not a post I ranted out in an hour over some ants.

The blog probably felt like writing for CoolAge all over again. I started writing for CoolAge in my first year of college, but could never reach the minimum amount of articles to redeem payment. And you could count that threshold with your fingers. I was one or two articles short when I finally decided to ditch it. It was more like a report writing job. Write a 400-500 long (long?) article, and get easy money. Had it been freelancing or something I would have still done it. But that writing represented me. I remember what tripped the switch. I sent an introspective article about a change in sleeping patterns I experimented with during one particular set of exams. Sleeping through the day, reading all night in peace, having crisp Mendu Vada's in the morning, and then going to sleep again, evading the noise and confusion of everyday life. It was peaceful. I didn't do it for a day or two, but almost a fortnight. There was a lot of introspection, I will try to find the article again. Anyway, CoolAge rejected it saying, it was too personal. What?! I edited it a little and sent it back, getting the same reply. And I decided to stop writing. I wasn't going to do something I don't like just for the sake of money. Especially, not before I graduate atleast when money isn't a constraint. For me writing is essentially spilling out of my heart. I don't know fancy words, I usually don't go out of line to think of smart puns or anything, I try to write exactly what comes to mind. Its an outlet to the thoughts I have usually, and not thoughts that were cultivated just for the sake of the writing exercise. I am not sure if I am making sense.

Fuck, that was some detour. I was planning on a really short post.




The personal feeling and vibe this blog had for me walked away with the publishing of the ant post, dejected, walking away sadly, teary eyed, contemplating whether it should look back or not. 

Not that I haven't been writing, I am still working on the the Ladakh memoir, and I am proud of what it is turning into. By the end of this summer it will be done. Hopefully. Or it will be too late, and then it would turn into fiction.

Other than that, I was recently reminded of the pleasure of spilling out everything, like no censors, everything, not giving a flying f' about the world writing, by a pair of letters I exchanged with a friend. And here I am on my blog again.

Weeeeeeeeeeeee are getting back together. (Sing it like the Taylor Swift song, but like an outro, okay?)