Getting Qt 4.6.4 to Work with Ruby 1.9.3 On Windows 7

I had a lot of trouble getting Qt 4.6.4 to run with Ruby 1.9.3, even with some of the guides online. I had to take information from multiple sources and even then, it still didn't work. This is the full set of steps that I followed in order to get it set up on my two Windows 7 machines.

1. Install Ruby 1.9.3 from rubyinstaller.org
2. Install MinGW sufficient to install qt-win-opensource-4.6.4-mingw.exe. I installed the Qt SDK from the Web Installer.
3. Add MinGW\bin to your path.
4. Add Ruby193\bin to your path.
5. Install Qt 4.6.4 Libraries for Windows (MinGW 4.4) (qt-win-opensource-4.6.4.exe)
6. Run gem update --system
7. Run gem install qtbindings
8. Copy Qt\4.6.4\bin\Qt*.dll to Ruby193\bin
9. Run ruby yourprogram.rb

Your program's contents should be something like:
require 'rubygems'
require 'Qt'
app = Qt::Application.new ARGV
frame = Qt::Widget.new

frame.show
app.exec

Introductions

Welcome.

I've  been considering starting a blog for some time now, but I've been postponing the initial effort. My main excuse? That blogs should be focused, and I didn't think I had enough information to fill a focused blog with content about a single topic - particularly when one of the major topics that I considered writing about, LARPing, is being discussed in more appropriate detail at another blog, LARP Ohio.

That said, I don't have a single focus. I have a small list of topics I intend to use, but other than those topics being things that I think about regularly, there aren't many common features between them. That's what tags are for, right?

Here's a list of some topics I anticipate addressing:

• Creative Writing - Both pieces I've written and things I've learned while writing*
• Gaming - Board games, iPhone games, or computer/video games
• Lore - Either my thoughts related to existing lore or random pieces of mythology in a world I've created
• Music and Videos - Not really reviews so much as "this is cool, guys, check it out"
• Online and Technological Issues - Content Piracy, Patent Law, User Rights, etc.
• Product Reviews - Particularly any items associated with the other categories - anything from electronics to apps to book reviews
• Psychology - Quirky behavior, my explanations for it, and sometimes advice on how to deal with it
• Role-Playing - Mostly table-top, though I may include LARP-related posts as well
• Software or Web Application Design and Development - Issues I've overcome, quirks I've encountered, or cool** stuff I've made, likely in Ruby, .NET, or PHP/HTML/CSS
• Software Usability - Both of web apps and offline software - both outstanding problems or novel solutions
• Writing - Cool words or techniques, frustrations with grammar rules, new grammar rules that I've learned, etc

* - I'm not a published author (so I'll try to stay away from giving advice).
** - From my perspective, at least

A little about me:

• I graduated from Rose-Hulman with a Bachelor's degree in Software Engineering (and a minor in English Literature) back in 2009
• I'm the Head of Plot at NERO Indiana, a boffer LARP that runs weekend events 9-10 months each year
• I play NERO, mostly in Ohio since there aren't any other Indiana chapters
• I write fiction (mostly fantasy) for fun, but I have a horrible habit of not finishing stories that I start
• I'm also pretty bad at finishing games
• When I read stories, I almost exclusively read fantasy, but I'll (eventually) read anything that is well-written, has decent character development and a good story
• I love Ruby, regular expressions, Arcanum, Donnie Darko, and vim