Microsoft has sent out pre-alpha code of IronRuby, its version of the Ruby language that will let developers write .NET programs in, well, Ruby and suggestively IE and the Safari browser programs using the soon-to-be Adobe Flash-like Silverlight 1.1. IronRuby will go to the RubyForge repository late next month under Microsoft's Permissive License so developers can tinker with the IronRuby code. When it hits RubyForge anybody will be able to contribute to the code though initially any contributions are limited to the libraries. IronRuby will eventually be integrated with Visual Studio. More info

Microsoft this morning made a $44.6 billion hostile bid for the floundering Yahoo, striking at a point when it has become evident to all and sundry that Yahoo doesn't have a pray of turning things around on its own let alone getting competitive. Yahoo's first official reaction was basically to say it'll think about it. It said it would evaluate the offer 'carefully and promptly in the context of Yahoo's strategic plans.' It did not give a timeframe for a response. Although it looks pretty boxed in, it could of course try for more money. More info

As per Charles Oliver Nutter, two core JRuby developers, Charles himself and Thomas Enebo, will become employees at Sun Microsystems this month. To me, this is a clear indication that Sun Microsystems is seriously evaluating where to go with Java: 1. Keep adding new features to Java, which in my opinion is wrong. 2. Create a new language using JVM as a foundation, which in my opinion is right. 3. All of the above Let's keep an eye on Charles Oliver Nutter's blog, but do not expect too much of a leakage there - he is now Sun's employee. Good luck Charles and Thomas! More info

15 months after the first public release, Rails has arrived at the big 1.0. What a journey! We've gone through thousands of revisions, tickets, and patches from hundreds of contributors to get here. I'm incredibly proud at the core committer team, the community, and the ecosystem we've raised around this framework. More info

Steven Baker is the one of the key figures in the Ruby community when it comes to agile software development. He is the creator and lead developer of RSpec, the Behavior-Driven Development framework for Ruby, and is a featured speaker on applying agile methodologies at many of the Ruby and Ruby on Rails conferences. Steven continues to collaborate with leaders of the agile and Ruby communities. He provides training and mentoring on how organizations can improve their productivity and efficiency through workshops and private sessions. More information on Steven, his writings, and his workshops can be found at http://www.stevenbaker.ca/. More info

Managed hosting provider MosaicGlobe announced on Thursday it has launched its hosted Web 2.0 content management system.The Web-based application enables users to implement HTML and CSS to customize their visual designs. More info

You've just finished writing your Ruby on Rails application, your test suite tests your models and controllers in depth, but you still can't tell from your tests if your RJS responses are functioning properly, or if a JavaScript error is happening in the browser, which means that your tests can still be improved. In this talk, the speaker will outline some options you have for testing your AJAX-powered Ruby on Rails application from both the client and server sides. The speaker will show examples illustrating how to test your RJS calls from the server-side with the use of some Rails plugins, and how to test the same calls in the client-side using with Selenium, a tool that allows you to write automated web application UI tests using any mainstream JavaScript-enabled browser. More info

In most cases I'm a patient and tolerant person. Once you get to know me, I'm easy to get along with, occasionally complex, but not very often. My patience and tolerance has pretty much gone out the window in the last week or so. It all stems from two technologies: Ruby On Rails (RoR) and AJAX. More info

Ruby on Rails is a new and emerging software development environment that offers developers greater flexibility and agility for building highly market-responsive websites. Rails is a full-stack framework for developing database-backed web applications according to the Model-View-Control pattern. 'Ruby on Rails is a breakthrough in lowering the barriers of entry to programming. Powerful web applications that formerly might have taken weeks or months to develop can be produced in a matter of days.' More info

Something should happen with a programming language to bring it to life. For example, Jesse James Garrett came out with an acronym AJAX, and JavaScript became popular. David Heinemeier Hansson created Ruby on Rails and Ruby became a household name. (On a side note...I'm wondering, should I also increase the length of my name to come up with something valuable? Something like Yakov Edson Arantes Do Nascimento Fain? Hmm... not too bad). More info