gistfile1.rb

#!/usr/bin/ruby

require 'ostruct'

syslog = '/var/log/syslog'
lines = File.read(syslog).split "\n"

rows = lines.map do |line|
  fields = line.split(' ', 6)
  o = OpenStruct.new
  o.time = Time.local( Time.now.year,
                       fields[0],
                       fields[1],
                       *fields[2].split( ':' ) )
  o.host    = fields[3]
  o.service = fields[4].split(/\[|\]/)[0]
  o.pid     = fields[4].split(/\[|\]/)[1]
  o.message = fields[5]
  o
end