Are you interested in storing, organizing, and searching instant messaging conversations on your IMAP server? The Perl script in this month’s column can help you do just that.

Today’s digital multimeters can do more than measure current and voltage. Multimeters also measure capacity and temperature. An inexpensive multimeter can talk to your PC via the serial port, and simple Perl scripts let you read and visualize data in neat charts.

When tackling something complex, such as a foreign language or Vim commands, digesting small bits of knowledge might be more effective than consuming a super-sized meal of information. This month’s Perl column gives you a method of serving up knowledge snippets by email.

Computer game programmers apply physical formulas and special tricks to create realistic animations. Simple DirectMedia Layer (SDL), which is available as a Perl wrapper, provides a powerful framework for creating simple 2D worlds with just a couple of lines of code.

Let the nimble Perlbal web server keep your traffic in balance.

Linux lets users watch the kernel at work with a little help from Ptrace, a tool that both debuggers and malicious process kidnappers use. A CPAN module introduces this technology to Perl and, if this is not enough, C extensions add functionality.

We'll show you a Perl script that helps you draw area graphs to keep track of your portfolio's performance.

The annual developers’ conference FOSDEM will take place in Brussels on February 23 and 24, 2008. As a teaser, organizers of the open-source event have now placed interviews with some of the speakers online.