From: gavin@... (Gavin Scott)
Date: 2000-10-30T09:40:02+09:00
Subject: [ruby-talk:5941] Hello

While browsing through Computer Literacy this afternoon, I came upon
the "Programming Ruby" book.  I thought "Oh, goody, another programming
language!" and as a result I'm busily attempting to port 1.6.1 to MPE/iX
(HP proprietary minicomputer OS) this afternoon.

Of course I have yet to write any Ruby code yet, but what I've seen so 
far looks quite promising.

One thing that Ruby seems to lack at the moment is a good source for 
metasyntactic variable names (and other in jokes).  Python has all the
Monty Python material to draw on (isn't 'spam' a reserved word by now?)
for example.

Anyhow, I thought I would point out the existence of a most marvelous
(and more than a little surreal) radio drama series produced by The
ZBS Foundation entitled "Ruby the Galactic Gumshoe", the original 
series of which can be listened to online at the ZBS web site:

   http://zbs.org/

I don't know how well the humor will translate into Japanese, but the
series has always been quite popular in the US on National Public Radio,
etc.

G.