Jack hits jackpot with Oz app

WHEN most 13-year-olds are playing sport or socialising, Jack Solomon (pictured) is buried in a mountain of text books, mastering the art of website and app development. Building computer applications is a favourite pastime for the Melbourne Grammar School student, and luckily for him, it’s already raking in the bucks.

Solomon was hired by business advisory firm KWS Advisory to build the new iOS App ILoveOz, which was listed on the iTunes Top 10 New and Noteworthy Lifestyle apps list a few days ago.

The application was designed to lift the spirits of Australians on Australia Day and features a singing kangaroo that chants the iconic “Ozzy Ozzy Ozzy” tune in three different voices – Bruce, Sheila or Roo.

There’s also an Australian slang dictionary, which interprets the gamut of Aussie lingo ranging from common words and phrases including “bludger”, “servo” and “pull a sicky”, to the more obscure: “aerial ping-pong” (a derogatory term used to describe Aussie Rules football) and “amber fluid” (beer).

“Some kids play sport, to me, this is sport. This is what I do in my spare time … I program,” he told The AJN.

Director of KWS Advisory Gary Shapiro came up with the idea for the app, and while sorting through the 20 online applications for the job of building it, he selected Solomon.

“I work with a lot of software developers and his commitment, high level of response and his skill was better than most I have worked  with,” Shapiro said.

ILoveOz is the second app Solomon has created, following CFSHEalthCentre, which supports people suffering chronic fatigue syndrome with medical information about the illness, a goals’ page and a fitness calculator.

As for Solomon’s future, the sky’s the limit: “I would love to build something involving the buying and selling of social accounts. It would be like an eBay for social networking accounts, where you could post the account that you’re no longer using and others who want it could then place a bid on it. There’s nothing like that around. I’d like to be part of the best thing that’s going around, or even create it.”

TIMNA JACKS