Converting a JSON string date into a Ruby Time object

gistfile1.rb

  # Convert string of the form 2011-12-31T23:59:59+00:00 to a Ruby Time object
  # I'm sure there's an easier way to do this.
  def self.json_to_ruby_time(the_string)
    string_elements = the_string.split /[-T:+]+/
    string_elements.pop
    Time.new *(string_elements.map(&:to_i))
  end

Heh, just gave him the same response on Facebook @cauis