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.

Linux versus Vista

Dear Perlmeister

“One or two years in the USA would be great,” Mike Schilli thought back in 1996. The “Perlmeister” has lived in San Francisco for 11 years now, and he’s been writing the regular Perl column for almost as long.

Version 3.00 of the free logfile analyzer W3Perl has just been released, and includes a number of enhancements. Among other features, the program now supports weekly and monthly statistics with the same granularity as daily reports, and can email the results if needed.

Armed with just a rescue CD and a Perl script, you can back up a client’s hard disk across the wire.

Testing complex web applications does not necessarily mean investing in expensive, proprietary tools such as Test Director or Silk Performer. Selenium is for free; it can remotely control any major browser, and it is programmable in Perl.

Spammers don’t just send email. They exploit discussion forums and blogs, posting pseudo-messages full of links to dupe search engines. A Perl script cleans up the mess.