Every year since 2007, the Rails Rumble has thrown hundreds of starving Ruby devs into a Gladiator-style sand pit (called a “Hackathon”) and forced them to compete with their bare hands for the amusement of cruel, power-drunk, code-mad judges. With only 48 hours to develop a Web app, teams are then covered in fire ants and allowed caffeine.
The results of 2010? Not in yet. But along with Leatherbound, we found a few really cool and unusual apps that might help you find your way out of a desperate situation or two. Or into one, depending on how you use them.
First, we have to find a place to work. Need a desk and a place to plug in? Desksnearme (The Rad Warlike Annex) is the app that generations of roving gangs of laptop-laden, desk-seeking keyboard monkeys have needed for years. The app detects your location, then brings up a variety of coworking spaces nearby.
Next, get it together. Splendid Bacon (Kiskonians Dancing in Lab Coats) is a simple, straightforward project management app that looks like a tasty way to layer your BLT. Telling us that most project management software is like hunting butterflies with a shotgun, SB offers an ultra-lean app they deem “for hackers” but looks so easy to use it might even be great for kids and homework.
Motivation Dashboard (The Cow Pilots) is a snap-easy way to create a custom dashboard for a variety of thing you want to keep an eye on: data visualization of everything from analytics and support requests in Get Satisfaction, down to Twitter hashtags.
A hot rival to Movitvation Dashboard, Statefulapp (The League of Evil Coders) has a polished look and an on-the-go style.
When you’re done feeling all organized, it’s obviously time for a beer. Perhaps you may also want to send one to your favorite Ruby dev as she recovers from fire ant attacks – for this, Pint.me (BeerMe, Something WItty) is a dreamy app for buying someone a beer anywhere, anytime. In a perfect world, anyway.
Keep track of all the delicious beers you drink with Beer Check-In (Indiana Coders). Or just drink a whole lot more to wash the creep factor off after checking out StudGuru (StudGuru), the app designed for guys who want to fool women into thinking they care about things they actually don’t. We love to be tricked into thinking “You’re Thoughtful & Romantic!” And nothing says you care like automated relationship maintenance.
See also: My Favorites From Rails Rumble 2010 (Zach Holman)
