---
title: 'Rails Rumble Vision Quest '
teaser:
tags: news,web,rails
author: Jason Morrison
published_on: 2010-10-15
---

Participating in the 2010 Rails Rumble, but no app idea?  While there are a few
hours left to go on a Rails Rumble Idea Vision Quest (which I highly recommend),
I've done the work for you.  Here are some things that could be on the internet
by the end of this weekend:

## Battle of the Hunches

Hunch.com is like all those which Spice Girl are you? quizzes consolidated in
one place, but for grownups.

Battle of the Hunches would be an online boardgame that I play along with my
friends (online with Facebook or Twitter, or sitting around a magical and
revolutionary tablet) and guess my friend's preferences before they answer.
Check out the [Hunch API](http://hunch.com/developers/v1/).

## YelpLater

I often find a place on Yelp that I'd love to try — problem is, I won't
remember.  So I would sign up for YelpLater.com and give it my phone number and
Yelp account.  When I bookmark something in Yelp, I'll include one of the
following words in my bookmark: breakfast, lunch, dinner, drinks.

Then, at some point in the future, YelpLater texts me suggesting to try one of
my bookmarked places — say around 7:45AM I get a random breakfast
suggestion, or 4:45 on a Friday I get a recommendation for a drinks place.

Dig into the [Yelp API](http://www.yelp.com/developers/getting_started).

## BadgerBadgerBadgerBadger

Sign into badger4.com, then OAuth to all those sites where you've worked hard to
earn badges, and badger4.com/youraccount is now a big shiny trophy case sporting
the fruits of your game mechanics labor.

## Formicator

Compile Wufoo or Google Forms into client/server iPhone and Android apps.  Maybe
you just [convert Google
Forms](http://viatropos.com/blog/introducing-the-google-form-api) instead of
building your own interface. Maybe you compile the form into a [Titanium
Appcelerator](http://www.appcelerator.com/) or
[Rhomobile](http://rhomobile.com/) or whatever project and use one of those
tools to compile down to apps.  Somebody would use this, right?

## Diez Libros

There are book trading websites, sure.  But I want to design a personal
intellectual journey for complete strangers, and articulate it by assembling ten
books that are representative of a body of thought.  The website
[mathe]-[magically] [recommends] someone else's set of ten books that you should
read.

[mathe]: http://www.amazon.com/Programming-Collective-Intelligence-Building-Applications/dp/0596529325
[magically]: http://www.igvita.com/2007/01/15/svd-recommendation-system-in-ruby/
[recommends]: http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=i+dont+know+maybe+theres+an+amazon+api+for+recommending+stuff

You both swap, and are both the wiser.

## My Team's App Idea

Yeah right, like I'd spill the beans this early.  Forty-eight-plus-change hours
from now, though, you'd best don your Sunday best and get ready for
[our](http://rumbl.in/g/jason-morrison-s-little-death) entry!

## LooksLikeMyEx

Upload a picture of a person, and find the people in your Facebook network who
look the most like them.  Upload celebrities, long-lost family members, or exes.
Use the [Face.com API](http://face.com).

## RegretTweet

Sign up for the Twitter firehose, and figure out which tweets people later
delete.  Discard ones that are probably typos, they're less interesting.  Extra
points for a page where you just show regretted tweets with pictures attached.
This probably against some terms of service.  Get acquired by
[TFLN](http://textsfromlastnight.com).

## Trash talking in person is way better than on the internet

So don't forget, the [thoughtbot office is
open](http://rumble-workshare.wikispaces.com/) for much of the time (RSVP, s'il
vous plaît) to friendly Boston rumblers.

May the best team win!

![A belt](http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1012/1331794810_add79608ea.jpg)