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Original marriage proposals

Man proposes using Harry Potter app created with Google Inventor

Igor Lansorena

01/26/2011

Jon C. Hodgson proposed marriage to his girlfriend, Meghan, by creating a cell phone application with Google's App Inventor and basing it on a subject she is obsessed with: the Harry Potter movies.

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When it comes to marriage proposals, many people still like the classic style of going down on bended knee. Others prefer interactive hobbies such as asking the question while skiing, during a romantic movie scene or while snorkeling underwater.

Some like to make it a public event and use the scoreboard at a game, have the question announced over the public address system or enlist a player to help pop the question. However, technology has provided us with new ways that some are willing to explore.

Jon C. Hodgson, a systems engineer living in New Jersey, proposed marriage to his girlfriend, Meghan, by creating a cell phone application with Google''s App Inventor and basing it on a subject she is obsessed with: the Harry Potter movies.

"She''s very perceptive and extremely difficult to surprise, so I knew I had to do something really clever to catch her off guard. I knew I had to first distract her with something she''s obsessed with so that she''d lower her defenses...and that led me to ''her Android Phone'' and ''Harry Potter''," Jon explains on his website.

He had recently received an invitation to the beta of Google''s ''App Inventor'', which allows you to create applications with little or no programming. In a few hours, he was able to create an app that looked like an official application promoting the latest Harry Potter Movie.

"The premise was that if you successfully completed a simple quiz, you''d win free tickets to the opening night of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows... The trap was set," Jon recounts.

Jon and Meghan went out for dinner and he casually mentioned that he had been told about an app with which she could win free tickets to see Harry Potter. "She fell for it hook, line &' || 'amp; sinker and immediately demanded that I install it on her phone," Jon goes on to say.

Once installed, Meghan went for the free tickets. The app started with a nice little page that played the Harry Potter theme music to set the scene. It was followed by a small explanation of the details of the contest and the legal terms &' || 'amp; conditions, something that all ''official'' apps must have.

The quiz started with a question about the name of Harry''s owl, followed with three more questions and finished with the final question, "Meghan, Will you marry me?".

"She was totally caught off-guard, and had an expression like what''s going on?!?," Jon explains.

Meghan of course answered yes. As soon as she said yes, the app automatically texted Jon with "Yes, I''ll Marry You!". Jon then whipped out the actual ring to seal the deal as the app showed a scene of Harry kissing Ginny coupled with the corresponding paragraph from the book.

And Meghan still got her opening night tickets.

Jon''s proposal soon hit the Internet and was mentioned on Google''s Research blog as their "favorite" "App Inventor" application so far.

It was even mentioned during a Google meeting. "A source inside Google informed me that Andy Rubin, the founder and creator of the Android OS, liked the story of the engagement app and how I created it with Google''s beta "App Inventor" tool. He shared the story at the Google company "all hands" meeting with all the employees," Jon says proudly.

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