Today the Merlin Show Podcast was launched and Episode 2 features an interview between Merlin (43folders productivity guru) and Jonathan Coulton (Code Monkey).

I decided to take up Ruby on Rails (bit late, I know). First thing I noticed is that setting it up on a Mac beats setting up Django on a Mac. I haven’t really mastered it yet, but spend most of today trying to build a simple “grocery-list-manager” that would help me and my housemates to keep track of what is spend. I’m almost done and hope to post some screenshots soon.

For now I want to place some interesting links to get you started. First there is the Ruby on Rails homepage which has a few excellent screencasts to get you going. Don’t whatch them just once, because I noticed that even if you watch them after trying a project on your own you can still find new things. The other link is this quick overview of Ruby syntax and Rails by Patrick Lenz. Although not necessary, learning a bit of basic Ruby really helps you understand some things you would normally not be able to wrap your mind around. The last link is to RadRails (free), an Eclipse based editor with integrated browser and server. I think I prefer it above TextMate (not free) but I have just started.