Last weekend we were the headline sponsor for Hack24 – a 24 hour coding competition in the heart of Nottingham, hosted by Tech Nottingham. We also set a challenge for the coders to get stuck into on the day, and just like our APIs our challenge was simple: use Esendex in your hack.
There were loads of great entries, but ‘The Undesirables’ claimed victory with their Esendex-powered big-screen film quiz, which provided near real-time feedback as players text in their answers. They were rewarded with our impressive collection of prizes consisting of:
– Kano computer Kit
– Touch Board Inventors Kit
– Makey Makey
– Arduino-powered DIY Gamer Kit
A massive congratulations to all the guys in the team – we were really impressed with your solution to our challenge!
Our talented team of developers always jump at the chance to get involved in the developer community and Hack24 was no different! Our team spent their all nighter (fuelled by lots of coffee) working on the 7digital challenge – they were also crowned the winners!
Check out our quick interview below with Moreton Brockley, George Frost, Dave Wood and Neil Kilbride following their win at Hack24.
What was the challenge set by 7digital?
It was to spend the 24 hours building a context-based or thematic music application, service or store using not only the 7digital API but also APIs from at least one other source.
Talk us through your entry…
To create our application we used the 7digital, Twitter, and Esendex APIs which were all super easy to use. We made an intuitive web application that allows people to input, tweet or even text their moods.
People from all over the world can then join certain rooms via our app. This will then use the 7digital music platform to automatically find and play music that suits the overall mood of each specific room.
It allows a group of people to listen to music that suits them whether they are all in the same room or on the other side of the world. It’s perfect for parties, events or when you’re working remotely. Think of it as a radio station that plays music depending on how you and your friends are feeling at the time!
How did you decide on your idea?
We all had loads of ideas for things we could work on so we had lots of brainstorming sessions beforehand. Ultimately this idea seemed like something we would actually use if it existed today.
What do you think made your application stand out?
Our solution takes a collaborative approach to music streaming and makes it more social.
Have you been to any similar events before?
We like to try and attend as many developer focused events as possible! We’ve all attended Hack Manchester and a few other events.
What made Hack24 different?
We found that there was a great atmosphere throughout (even in the early hours of the morning)! Also, because we all live and work in Nottingham it was nice to go to a local hack event – they’re surprisingly hard to come by.
The venue was pretty special as well; Broadway in Nottingham is a creative space so it really facilitates events like this. It was also nice to be able to take a break and get stuck into a film in the cinema.
What’s more important, taking part or winning?
Definitely the taking part, although winning does help!
Well done to all the teams at Hack24, we can’t wait for next year.
