---
title: Umbrella Today?
teaser: A new service for weather news.
tags: news,web,umbrella today
author: Dan Croak
published_on: 2008-08-27
---

The [Lone Star Ruby conference](http://lonestarrubyconf.com) is about a week
away. Chad, Jon, Matt, Tammer, Jared, and I will be running a training session
on Thursday.

Our approach to teaching [thoughtbot's Rails Best
Practices](http://lonestarrubyconf.com/speakers.html#trbp) is to go through our
development process for a real application called [Umbrella
Today?](http://umbrellatoday.com), which we began building two weeks ago. After
each 45 minute lecture, we'll give participants the chance to feel the process
in 15 minute hands-on workshops.

The concept of the app is simple: enter your zip code, get a yes or no answer to
the question Do I need an umbrella today?

Sign up to receive SMS alerts on days when you'll need an umbrella.

## Hidden complexity

Seems like a simple app, right? Famous last words. Simple enough to take from
concept to launch in a few weeks there's always hidden complexity until
development begins.

For Lone Star purposes, we're happy about the complexity. In addition to best
practices like [CI](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continuous_Integration), [
TDD](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Test-driven_development), [
MVC](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Model-view-controller), and [
TLC](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m-n-jZJhpT4), it gives us a chance to share
many small but collectively powerful topics such as:

* `attr_readonly`
* Rails template to get things like
  [FactoryBot](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4jKix2DFlnA) for free
* modules vs. classes
* [security
  bugs](http://weblog.rubyonrails.org/2008/8/23/dos-vulnerabilities-in-rexml)
* `shoulda_macros` directory
* timezones
* SMS
* rake tasks and cron
* confirmation codes that don't suck
* the importance of database indexes

## Lone Star to Boston

thoughtbot's [Ruby on Rails training](https://thoughtbot.com/upcase/rails)
formally kicks off October 14th in Boston. We'll be building upon our Lone
Star/Umbrella Today experience so if you can't join us in Austin next week, come
visit Boston, which is beautiful in the fall. I recommend making a week of it
and staying for the [Head of the Charles](http://www.hocr.org).

Note: register for Boston training by August 31st and get $100 off.

![Boston is beautiful](http://images.thoughtbot.com/ui/2008-8-1-boston_1.jpg)