Hello: 

I have a few (very quick) getting started questions about Ruby.  

I've been doing a lot of web design (asp, javascript, etc...) for the
last few years and now I've reached a point where there is life after
the Internet.  I'm finding that I'm needing to create some faily
simple custom programs for use as stand alone applications under
windows.  Ie. stuff that does NOT run in a browser.  So here we go: 

#1 Is Ruby a good choice for a general porpose langarge that can build
stand alone apps under Windows? 

#2 I may be off the web but I still gotta have my data, does Ruby
support ODBC or some other way to connect to SQL server or an access
database? 

#3 What are your top two "most helpful" web sites for working with
Ruby. 

Thanks for any Input. 

Steve.