UBD/eG.InC Community Outreach Programme

COP Poster.jpg

I was lucky enough to be involved in the organisation of the community outreach programme held at UBD recently.  They had the idea of a challenge which is similar to a hackathon/hack day. I tried to keep things similar to how they do things at Random Hacks of Kindness (RHoK) and consolidated the problems faced by each of the organisations at communityoutreach.bruneigeekmeet.com

Some media coverage of the event and the last link about one of the organisations at the event itself

The day itself saw some teams being bestowed with prizes:

  • Micronet: worked on a database solution for Care and Action for Strays (CAS) (Website / Facebook)
    • managed to get a working prototype using Access
  • Laksamana College for Business: worked on a database solution for the Brunei Darussalam AIDS Council (Facebook / Twitter)
    • managed to implement an Android app prototype
  • Maktab Duli: working on solution for Orang Kurang Pendegaran (OKP)/Association for the Hearing Impaired as part of a skill / mentoring app (Facebook)
    • provided some good ideas and some interface designs for the app

Some notable mentions on my end where:

  • Projek k-3: with a great delivery of their presentation but also a great idea of upcycling existing clothes gathered and to use the youth to help out with the creation of upcycled products
  • The team that created a short video which felt like it was very on-point with regards to trying to raise awareness of volunteering

While each organisation hand some specific issues unique to there, there were a common issues faced by many of these organisations:

  • lack of a volunteer database / communication system so they can reach out to volunteers when running events
  • lack of a personal database to keep track of the things and to run reports
  • lack of public awareness of the organisation or events run by the organisation
  • the need for financial assistance

All in all, I feel that it was a good first step in there being more events such as this to work on actual real world problems rather than the typical business plan competitions that I usually see around. Brunei Geek Meet will try its best to help foster these kind of projects, especially after the event itself, as a part of giving back to the community but also as a way for the general public to get involved, to participate and learn.

Moving on from here, I’ll be consolidating the presentations/solutions provided by the teams and to liaise with the individual non-government organisations on how best they want to proceed with their projects. Once settled we’ll probably have more frequent Brunei Geek Meets with some days particularly catering for hack days or specific projects.

So if you’re interested in helping out, do get in touch by

  • leaving a comment
  • or emailing me at tim_AT_thewheatfield.org
  • or joining us at the next Brunei Geek Meet

Brunei Map – Mukims & Kampongs

As part of Brunei Geek Meet’s Data Hackathon

  • Managed to gather data from the Survey Department http://survey.gov.bn/web/survey_department/map
  • To map out kampongs and mukims in Brunei
  • Webapp allows you to search for kampongs / mukims and explore the neighbourhood around any selected area

brunei_map

Demo: http://thewheat.github.io/brunei_map/
Repo: https://github.com/thewheat/brunei_map

“EmberJS” and “Hardware Hacking”

As part of Brunei Geek Meet on 4th March, 2016

ember_slides

https://slides.com/thewheat/emberjs

 

hardware_hacking_slides

Link to “Hardware Hacking” slides

EmberJS and Lightning Talks

Friday, Mar 4, 2016, 7:00 PM

Au Lait
Ground Floor Seri Q-Lap Mall, Kg Kiulap Bandar Seri Begawan, BN

5 Geeks Went

We start off this year with more Javascript and a new segment catered to lightning talks. These lightning talks are aimed to be short (under 5 minutes) and will give you an opportunity to share something you’ve done or learned.You can also suggest lightning talk topics in the comments and we’ll try cover them if there is time 😄(P.S. If you have s…

Check out this Meetup →

“Is that a Vagrant in your Computer?” and “Computer Whaling” (Using Vagrant/Docker to set up your environment)

This is essentially an intro to Vagrant and an intro to Docker slide decks combined into one. These slides were prepared for GDG DevFest 2014 but was cancelled last minute. Best not let the slides go to waste.

Is that a Vagrant in your Computer? (Using Vagrant to set up your environment)

http://cornergeeks.github.io/vagrant-docker

Is that a Vagrant in your Computer - Using Vagrant to set up your environment - slide front page

Computer Whaling (Using Docker to set up your environment)

http://cornergeeks.github.io/vagrant-docker/#16

Computer Whaling - Using Docker to set up your environment - slides front page

Is Brunei Mobile Data Really that Expensive?

I’ve heard complaints that DST, one of the Brunei mobile telcos, rip people off with regards to charging for data. Let’s see if that’s true.

So I compared Brunei’s cellular data from DST and Progresif Cellular to different telcos in 4 countries

And I’ve come up with this spreadsheet.

On a cursory glance, it seems that

  • UK has pretty good prices in all data tiers
  • we have one of the worst excess data charges
  • DST pricing isn’t that great when data usage is under 5GB
  • with plans using more than 5GB of data (and especially > 10GB data), DST is actually very good so long as you stay within the quota amount

Hope to do more in-depth look soon

New Telbru Internet Plans (eSpeed / High-Speed Broadband)

new telbru internet rates

new telbru internet ratesThe Telbru eSpeed/High-Speed Broadband (HSBB) Internet rates have arrived and price wise they are going in a good direction, quota wise not so much, but here are the facts that you need to know.

  • Base monthly rates have been reduced
  • Some plans have quotas
  • If you exceed the quota you will get throttled but you pay no extra (you will still have an Internet connection, just slower speeds)
  • Throttled speeds are “about 20% of the subscribed plan package”
    bandwidth throttling
  • Extra quota top-ups can be purchased if you exceed your quota which will restore your speed
    quota topup
  • Price caps are only for those who purchase multiple extra quota top-ups
    price cap
  • At the switch over, you will get the same speed but at the new reduced monthly price (and quota’s if applicable)

How to check your data usage

Notifications can be sent to you via your preferred communication channel (e-mail/text message) when you have used 50%, 80% and 100% of your quota volume

https://www.telbru.com.bn/page.php?c=193

Read more on Telbru’s site

Possible Issues

  • Is the data metering real time?
  • Are both uploads and downloads counted?
  • Best effort Internet: which sounds very similar to the eSpeed problems on yesteryear

My bandwidth at home cannot even reach 1Mbps, is there a rebate?

There will be no rebate given on your rental charge or quota. Our broadband service is best effort service. If your average broadband speed is low (approximately one megabit per second or less) we do not recommend you to purchase higher bandwidth or quota packages.