aberant space

h = Hash.new {|h,k| h[k] = Hash.new(&h.default_proc)} h["foo"]["bar"]["baz"] = 42 h["foo"] #=> {"bar"=>{"baz"=>42}}

note that there is a print and not a puts in that code.  IO#print with no arguments prints $_ which is the last line fetched by a gets or readline.    

an amazingly detailed description of the linux system calls triggered when you run "ls".

i could give this guy a hug for neatly summing up problems with mock based testing

apparently, given a long enough looped tape, you can convert machines as simple as Zuse's Z3 into a universal Turing machine

i recently stumbled across an interesting class in the ruby 1.9 standard library - ripper.  it generates an abstract syntax tree for a given bit of ruby code.  here are a couple examples of how to use it.

simple-measures lets you describe units of measurement such as weight and volume. in testing out other similar libraries, i was surprised when they were able to convert cubic angstroms to hogsheads, but failed miserably at converting gallons to liters. simple-measures is my response to these overly complex and non extendable libs.

simple steps you can take to adopt a more functional coding style

lately i've been trying to update my fork of midiator to be compatible with SnowLeopard and send/receive sysex messages. this is a really rough example of how to use ruby to send sysex, but it's somewhere to start. i'm eventually going to incorporate this into midiator.