Many people have declared the granddaddy of scripting, Perl, to be dead. A look at new items in the CPAN software repository, however, shows that the community is still quite active.
Linfo provides an alternative to the previously covered PhpSysInfo script. Install Linfo on a remote server, and you can quickly view essential info about the machine's hardware and software.
Although I use Pygmynote on a daily basis, I haven't tweaked it for a while. Over the weekend, though, I finally got around to implementing a couple of small features as well as cleaning and tweaking the code.
With a few lines of self-written firmware and a simple Perl script, Perlmeister Mike Schilli trains one of his Linux computers with a plugged in Arduino board to switch electrical equipment on and off using a relay. Enchanting.
When the Perlmeister is on the road, he likes to know what's going on at home. Armed with just two scripts, he draws on the Tumblr API to store snapshots cyclically from his home security camera.
It started off harmlessly enough with a few funny pictures of cats, but eventually it became the Internet phenomenon par excellence. It's no joke: Perl gives you some great tools for building and customizing memes yourself.
