Using utf8 encoding in Ruby with MySQL 5.1 and 5.5

remember to require mysql gem first

require "rubygems"
require 'mysql'

with MySQL 5.1

db = Mysql.init
db.options(Mysql::SET_CHARSET_NAME,"utf8")
db.real_connect("localhost", "username", "password", "database")

with MySQL 5.5

db = Mysql.real_connect("localhost", "username", "password", "database")
db.charset = "utf8"

check the result:

puts db.character_set_name

If you got utf8, Congratulations!