Hello,
Others have mentioned the Google Summer of Code program before, but as
we reach the point of picking projects, I wanted to start another
thread to open the floor for questions, concerns, and suggestions. If
you have any questions and such, then please reply here.
Now, the recruiting pitch. 
If you’re a university/college student of any sort (that means full or
part time, undergraduate/bachelor’s or graduate/master’s or
postgraduate/PhD) and want to spend your summer writing Ruby for $$$,
then PLEASE submit a proposal to Ruby Central’s Google Summer of Code
project here: Home | Google Summer of Code
You get paid $4,500, you earn Ruby Central $500, and you get to work
on ANY OPEN SOURCE PROJECT of your choosing for a whole summer (so
long as a mentor chooses it). How could you go wrong? It’s not a
free ride (Chad F. was my mentor when I was a student, and he was
tough! :P), but it’s a great way to get involved with OSS Ruby work,
work closely with an experienced Ruby programmer, and earn some cash
in the process.
Also, if you have any questions about being a student in the program,
feel free to contact me directly here or on IRC (my nick is
mrneighborly). I was a student last year and it was a great
experience for me and I think it yielded some really useful software
(one could say the same of Greg Brown’s project the year before, and
many others…).
–Jeremy
–
http://jeremymcanally.com/
http://entp.com
Read my books:
Ruby in Practice (Ruby in Practice)
My free Ruby e-book (http://humblelittlerubybook.com/)
Or, my blogs: