July 2009
1 post
Hacking Umbrella Today →
Connect to UT via Prowl to get iPhone notices.
April 2009
1 post
umbrellatoday on the desktop! →
Jeremy Herbert hooks up UT to an LCD monitor.
March 2009
1 post
API Issues
We’re having some isses today with the new international API, which may be leading to “Location not found” errors on places that are very common and should be found right away. We’re working on it.
February 2009
4 posts
“How can something so simple be so useful? You can get either text or email...”
– Umbrella Today? — only like the coolest website ever made
Umbrella Today in your email →
API changes and wrong reports
As part of deploying our international support release last week, we also updated the API that umbrella today uses behind the scenes. The old API proved pretty reliable on most days, but was not super specific. The new API is even more specific about weather conditions - so much so that we don’t even have every possible weather condition included in our code yet!
Over time, this will make...
Happy Umbrella Day →
January 2009
3 posts
“Guess what? There is the most amazing website–UmbrellaToday.com. What does it...”
– You Can Stand Under My Umbrella-ella-ella. Umbrella Today! No One Can Rain on Our Parade!
“Umbrella Today? is the greatest weather site on the internet. It answers one...”
– Umbrella Today?
“[…] here is a fine quote from one of it’s happy users: “It’s like totally...”
– A Website You Can’t Live Without (or you’ll get wet)
December 2008
4 posts
“The site is simple and easy to use and even has an umbrella etiquette section,...”
– Umbrella Today?
Slight change to message format
In addition to adding snow support, we recently added the chance of precipitation and the location you are subscribed to to the SMS text you receive from umbrella today.
That way if you travel a lot you can subscribe to multiple cities and make sure you know you’re reading the right report. Example:
“You should bring an umbrella today (54% chance of precipitation in Boston...
Delayed arrival of SMS messages from Umbrella...
A lot of people have reported that they consistently receive their SMS messages from Umbrella Today much later than they’d wanted to. For example, if you have your message time set to 7AM on the site, you might receive the message at 7AM 50% of the time, but the other 50% of the time you’re getting it between 2 and 5 hours late.
Here’s what happens…
* We send the...
“Umbrella Today now has snow support!”
– Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots
October 2008
3 posts
“In today’s confusing times, it seems everyone could benefit from a little...”
– Librarian of the Internet: Site of the Day: Umbrella Today?
“If Natalie Merchant had had access to a site like “Umbrella Today?” when she...”
– KIller Startups
“I recently came across a website which is simply beautiful. One of those ideas...”
– incutank: umbrella today: simplicity is beauty
September 2008
15 posts
“Simplicity is a good things generally, and Umbrella Today? aims to hit the mark...”
– luther college: This Week in LIS - 26 September 2008
Bailing out your boat full of water
A number of people (including some of us!) received their umbrella notices with a significant delay this morning (like, 3-4 hours late). We’re guessing one of these things happened…
* There’s a timezone issue on the server
* There’s a non-timezone issue on the server, or with the email sending process (we send emails which becomes sms messages)
* We did everything...
“Enter your zip code and the handy site will tell you with a simple yes or no if...”
– daily candy: The Weekend Guide
“On FriendFeed today, I was alerted to Web 2.0’s version of the Pet Rock by...”
– Mashable: Million Dollar Idea: Umbrella Today?
OSX Dashboard Widget
A lot of people are asking us for Mac OSX umbrella today dashboard widgets.
Well, we don’t have one, and probably won’t make one (aspiring Mac developers - make one and we’ll link to it!).
BUT - with Safari 3 it’s very easy to make your own dashboard widget out of any web page. Just go to umbrellatoday, and enter your zip. On the very next page which shows the...
“High pressure fronts, low pressure fronts, hurricanes, tornados, wrath of...”
– post advertising age: Umbrella Today?
SMS Config update
If you have had issues getting umbrellatoday to send you text messages correctly over the last 48 hours or so, please try again today.
Because of the unexpected popularity of umbrellatoday (and the subsequent volume of text messages we’ve been sending out), we were being throttled by our upstream provider. We believe this is resolved now, and messages should be flowing again.
“Umbrella Today? es una sencilla web que lo que haces es, al ingresar tu código...”
– tre cool: Umbrella Today? :: pronóstico de lluvia, o no
“Umbrella Today will even let you sign up for mobile alerts. Give ‘em your...”
– whats the diff?: UmbrellaToday.com is simply the DIFF
“Umbrella Today’s layout is simple, and since the only input field is the...”
– app scout: Umbrella Today: Simplest Weather Report Ever
“I like to know weather basics - like if it’s going to be hot or cold and...”
– download squad: Umbrella today?
“Umbrella Today? is a super simple weather reporting service that lets you know...”
– laughing squid: Umbrella Today? A Super Simplest Weather Report
“By coincidence, today is the first day my area has seen any rain in a couple of...”
– neatorama: Umbrella Today?
“Wondering if you should take an umbrella with you on the way out the door today?...”
– lifehacker: Umbrella Today? Answers That Question
“Umbrella Today is a refreshingly simple service that helps you figure out...”
– cnet news: Umbrella Today keeps you dry, informed about moisture