The IRC (Internet Relay Chat) protocol lets you program bots as automatic helpers. In this month's column, we let a bot log a session and store the results in a database.

Mozilla's bug tracker Bugzilla is now available in version 3.4. and developers have worked hard on the major release to make life for the user a lot easier.

Although a USB toy such as a polystyrene rocket launcher only includes a Windows CD, it works fine on Linux with a spot of reverse engineering. With libusb, this doesn't even require compiling a device driver – Perl controls the device from userspace.

With the GIMP image editing program, and a little help from Perl, you can enhance your digital photos and transform a modern image into a nostalgic turn-of-the-century shot.

One panel has a neat collection of applets and another has spectacular looks – but a combination of the two is rare. Now help draws nigh for the desktop: PerlPanel is extensible with do-it-yourself widgets.

If you are a bargain hunter, you might enjoy this Perl script that monitors price developments at Amazon and alerts you if Amazon suddenly drops the prices on the products you have been watching.

The netstat utility reveals how your Linux box interacts with the local network. With a few Perl modules, you can develop a tool that displays the data dynamically, exactly the way top does.

The Netfilter team has long been mulling over rework of firewall code in the Linux kernel. Now team lead Patrick McHardy ends months of work by announcing nftables.