I am often starting online-tipp-games under my friends due to several events (f.e. www.sugarmelon.com/euro08/), if there are elections or there are sport-events. Usually I am having special created “HTML-pages” with input-fields, checking, and this whole HTML-Request-Resonse-Registration-Thing. I created Awareness usually with E-Mail, Skype or other messaging-systems. I wanted to find other possibilities.

I created www.sugarmelon.com/twittipp

Avoiding media-breaks and staying in one medium.
I asked myself “Why having a ‘media-break‘?” and “Why jumping from an e-mail or a messaging-tool to a webpage?” I was searching for the shortest way in delivering and getting information within the same “medium”.

The solution was twitter: Request and Response in one medium.
I implemented a small application, based on twitter. I sent out a twitter-message, that user should send their result to “Germany-Spain” and tag it with #euro08, #twittipp or directly to @twittipp. This test was fullfilled within a small target-group in Vienna.

Implementation and some special cases: Avoiding double and impossible votes.
I used PHP, twitter-functions and summize, for filtering the responses. I tried to catch special cases like

• avoiding double-votes,
• impossible votes, which are >10 goals on each side and
• giving an overview about the average results/tipps.
• filtering tipps and automatically recognition of winning-team (f.e. 4-2 for spain will be transformed into GER-ESP 2:4).

One of my targets was also getting in dialog and touch with the user and send him a twitter-message back.

Twitter overtook the registration-process, I had access to username, etc. Twitter also managed datahandling and datamining. Twitter is working as a powerful multi-dimensional entry-field.

Resume: The test worked wonderful.
The test worked perfectly, although, not a lot of people attended this game (10). The filter via summize worked, although there was a breakdown for more than three hours sunday morning.

Twitter-User josue from Spain was amazed, that his tipp was filtered to sugarmelon.com/twittipp by fortune and noticed this on his twitter-feed:

There have been some questions, why I do not have implemented such a thing before and only at the last game. The answer is clear: I was afraid about spending too much time with twittipp during the Euro. I know myself… I would have spent day and night with this application…

Next time again. Thanks for testing and participating!

There are about 40.000 turkish people living in Vienna (ORF, Statistik Austria). Ottakring and the area around Brunnenmarkt is one of the most interesting areas where turkish people are living. In this area you can find a lot of very good turkish restaurants, shops, cafes and a perfect athmosphere. I like this area very much, although, I do not prefer the little area around “Yppenplatz” with the newer Cafes.

During the Euro 2008, I watched the turkish-football-games in this district. One match I watched in a small pub, the next one in another pub and the game Croatia-Turkey I spent on the street and in a croatian pub with a good “Karlovacko”.

I am currently doing a Euro08 Overflow project with videos, images, interviews, results, tippgames and other things on www.sugarmelon.com/euro08

It was very interesting and peaceful celebrating together with turkish fans on the street. Talking with them and getting involved in simply watching together a football game. I did not like the last game (CRO-TUR) very much, as too many people went “watching the Ottakringerstrasse” only due to this purpose and waiting until something is happening. This ist not my target.

I enjoyed the turkish celebrations a lot. It was more peaceful, no violence and no alcohol. Also an interesting fact.

Euro08. Overflow. Video-Playlist on youtube.com
Euro08. Overflow. Images on flickr.com

Turkey wins 3-2 against Switzerland in Cafe Sera

Turkey wins 3-2 against Czech Republik in Cafe Kent