Category: COVID-19 Communications
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Clever guy.
I'm currently waiting for a response from Zapier to find out if a use case is possible.
Your comments inspired me to think out of the box about a problem I've recently been aware of in a technical challenge for this hackathon. I'll test it tomorrow.
day 3
Do some of the things I didn't do yesterday. We've all been there so don't cringe.
Call loved ones #checkin
Read a blog post about node.js app architecture. Thought it might be interesting. Certain implementation details seemed irrelevant, but the structure and content was good.
Plan on reading through a Twilio quick start guide before the sun goes down. Here in the UK we clap for our front line health care workers on a Thursday evening at 8pm #googleit
Going to spend some time reading through comments and entries. Looking forward to seeing what everyone is writing.
Need a 💇.
day 4
Read through a quick start guide for Twilio. Informative and pretty simple to implement.
Also looked at Zapier.com which is primarily an app service integration tool, featuring triggers and actions. E.g. if this happens in app A then do this in app B. Really useful but didn't solve a challenge I face. Then I dug a little deeper and found that it supports web hooks. So I plan on using that to solve a challenge I face.
Twilio support are pretty good. They resolved my issue in two days.
Planning on reading through the Twilio API for phone calls later today.
Will read through some comments now.
Happy hacking everyone 🏋️
day 29
After working on different projects. I found some time to check in with my hackathon entry and look at things that still need to be done.
I recommend that everyone read through the hackathon entry guidelines again and make sure you've completed all the requirements.
When I read through it again I recalled that I need to provide a comprehensive README.md. Not just a project with the README.md as it is.
I also found out that I had a file exposing some credentials.
Found a really handy script 🧙 online to remove it from GitHub. Which by the way left my GitHub refs in tatters. So I had to set up remote, pull down my repo' again. And well. Not what anyone would like to see in the morning before the submission deadline.
Link to the article ownyourbits.com/2017/01/18/complet.... #dontuseit
1 day left - it's so exciting....
day 7
I spent a good part of my evening hacking Twilio. The documentation is good. But I couldn't find a solution or information on how to solve a use-case 🗯️.
After reading and trying many times ⚔️, looking for 🐛. It was apparent that I hand 't made an error, I had simply not added an attribute to twilio-node client API call being made.
I found this challenging and very time-consuming. But I did manage to get it fixed. After joining the community support website, creating a ticket and waiting.....
Waiting..... Waiting..... 😫. So I reached out to the instant chat option and the support technician helped me sort it out.
And then there is Zapier. Didn't realise that I was using a free account 😮. Looks like an upgrade is needed 💳.
But with that being worked on, or completed. You can see what I've been doing and plan on doing here github.com/bernardbaker/twiliohack.... Check out the branches and the issues ⚡.
day 5
So today I plan to start hacking away at getting a website online using Netlify, creating a repo for the project. Setup GitFlow << info, run through a Twilio quick start, and look into linking a visitor's Google Calendar.
While I do that, it's always advisable to set up a project and issue tracking on GitHub. Follow the development here github.com/bernardbaker/twiliohack....
Made good progress with Twilio today. Got a conference call running and I'm able to add multiple people to the call.
day 20
I was very excited to get up and work on my project. I was literally up around 6 am. And the first thing I wanted to do was work on the UI 😻.
So what am I working on:
day 13
With a recent win in a covidglobalhackathon.com/projects/... being the highlight of my past week 🙋I feel that my efforts to fight COVID19 around the world are showing results.
And today I plan to configure Zapier to trigger calls for the Let's Connect project. Amongst other things like getting the app verified by Google, a privacy policy, terms of service, acceptable use, etc. There is a fair amount of work to be completed. Those areas have their challenges.
I'll also be doing some training, a CSS course to improve my skills 📗.
Checking comments, making suggestions and contributing to projects will fill part of my day ✌️.
So to everyone who is taking part. Keep the momentum going and update everyone with your progress 😜.
day 27
After grocery 🛍️ shopping and my experience of wealth 💸 with food plentiful and a number of people less than expected. I returned home, excited to work on my hackathon project.
I've added a basic attempt to reduce the malicious use of the API. And limited the length of time a person can hold a call with loved ones to two minutes. My reason behind this is that as many people as possible should be able to access this service. Not just a few people, at everyone else's expense ❤️.
With only a few days to go. I can't wait to spend an evening reading through the entries to see what everyone has created ⌨️.
day 14
I plan to continue learning from a course I am taking on CSS. It's long. And covers parts of the language that I already know, terminology, semantics and syntax and parts that I don't.
I've re-configured the ⚡at zapier.com. It triggers a webhook. And the calls are made.
There are a few bugs that I would like to address that I foresee happening. If someone doesn't answer 😕. If someone is called from Twilio while in another conference 📵. Maybe send an SMS?? But that's all to be considered at a later date 🤔.
So how is everyone doing? Please leave a comment if you read this.
day 1
Just signed up and created a Twilo account.
Quick and easy to do. Looking forward to connecting people during COVID-19.
day 17
Today I'll be updating the terms of use and policies 👩⚖️. Which is required as part of the Google app verification.
Pages that need to be updated:
I'll also be attending a remote React conference today remote.reactsummit.com 🧙🏽♂️.
day 16
Today I've got to do some updates to be verified by Google 🧰. Make a new page which has the Google Sign In 🍭, which will be a sweet bit of progress for me.
Legal pages need to be done as well. Which is a requirement of Google OAuth policy to be verified.
Heard back from zapier.com ⚡my use case isn't possible. But I've already put a solution in place. Which wasn't too hard, but did require some thinking outside of the box.
Thinking about quotas is relatively simple. I can check before-hand if a person has used the online service, but that has its edge cases 🕵️♂️.
Hope everyone is making progress. To hackinity and beyond 🚀.
GPW? Grand Prize Winner 🧚🤩🤸.
That would be amazing. And all from an idea to help people. Wow!
I saw your Google Code In '19 digital plaque. That's an achievement 🤩.
I read about the work you did here codein.withgoogle.com/organization....
Impressive work for the improving things in the 🌏.
day 8
Yesterday I put a demo site online. And went through the Google verification process. I'm still waiting to hear back from a service provider about an integration I want to set up. Haven't heard anything back yet. And sloppy trial and error configuration and coding isn't going to be productive.
And today I'll set up a Google sign in. I've got a package from NPM that I plan on using.
There are plenty of thoughts about how to hack through the different techs and integrations.
day 9
I plan on taking some time out today.
Got another hackathon project to work on.
And just to relax, meditate and enjoy the sunshine on my face. Through a window of course 😷 .
But with the excitement of the hackathon in my veins, it's easy to be lured back to the enjoyment of programming.
What I got done this morning. Setup Google Calendar access, so that events can be read.
What's next ⛱️... allowing the signed-in user to create an event, schedule it and add the phone numbers that they would like called.
day 19
After reading a reply to a comment from Will Cheung I thought of another feature that I could add to my hackathon project.
When a user uses Let's Connect, all the people that they want to contact receive an SMS message letting them know that someone will connect with them at a given date and time. Including the timezone difference if there is one.
And now, back to my daily ⚙️:
Events are being created in a Google Calendar using the Calendar API. And Zapier is looking for events in the calendar. And I'm now waiting for my phone to ring 🤞.
day 25
Whilst working through a list of things to do today. I did some work on my project for this hackathon and ran into the following problems.
1) UI user journey flow through the application. Fixed a few bugs.
2) zapier.com not firing webhooks. So I'm reaching out to the community for help.
3) Timezone offset for hours was wrong. Debugged the front-end where the date is created.
Hope everyone is really making the effort to help fight COVID19 by participating in this hackathon.
day 26
So I found out why my zapier.com zaps aren't working. Because a feature in the zap requires a level-up in my subscription plan. So I upgraded my subscription and I'll be testing shortly.
There are a few things that I want to configure with Twilio regarding making a conference call.
And with 4 days to go before submissions are entered. There is a lot of work to be done.
I hope everyone is making good progress.
And with further investigation I found out that two things were wrong with the project. The zapier.com Webhooks were not configured properly. And an API function was completing before a promise was resolving.
day 28
Had some good news from zapier.com.
"Hi Bernard, First, we wanted to let you know how much we appreciate what you’re doing to help fight COVID-19. Everyone at Zapier thanks you from the bottom of our hearts for keeping us all safe. We determined that you’re eligible for our Supporting COVID-19 Responders plan and adjusted your Zapier account to provide a free Starter (750) Plan until December 31, 2020."
With a full day of training tomorrow. I look forward to working on my hackathon project the following day 🧡.
day 2
Woke up, thought creatively about how I might put my idea together.
Things to consider; if an API isn't available, hack, hack, and hack some more.
What is the best channel to ask questions while researching online to find a plausible answer.
Read through APIs, think.... Think some more, ask questions + @ sum(point) setup public repo on GitHub 🧗
Read through comments on Hackathon page, got inspired, got angry, left comment. And I'm open for discussions.
day 18
Had a headache 😧💊💊today so I didn't plan on working on the hackathon. But I simply couldn't resist typing some code.
Or thinking 🧐 about solving a problem, and more importantly what I wanted to achieve by fixing the problem. Not simply wanting it to work.
Learnt a few things about IAM and Service Accounts. Which are 🧘 and make you feel 💆 about things.
Linking the different technologies together wasn't difficult, although reading the documentation.... always comes in handy. At the time I justified my ignorance by telling myself that it's a hackathon.
So now I've connected the React front end, to a Google Sign In. Which retrieves the user data. And the events are being scheduled by a backend service. It's currently writing to the calendar 🌿.
Next I'll update some web URLs. And after that work on the UI and add the features that allow a person to enter the phone 📞 numbers of loved ones and people that they want to get in touch with.
That's a good point. I only considered what it might be like to win. And went through all the prizes when you mentioned it to me. I did look at others like that 🌞.
Guess what?? I won in another hackathon.
Looking forward to seeing this come together Bernard!
Thanks!
covidglobalhackathon.com/projects/...
That's very nice of you 🤸. The concept seems simple. But it's been challenging Vladimir.
I update my daily progress, which everyone can read.
day 33
Just received an email from Google 😭. Contacted support 🧐. Problem solved 🤸.
Thank you 🌞