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Replace multiple file extensions with a single extension
The above is just a prove of concept based around the nested bash substitution. This could be useful in situations where you're in a directory with many filetypes but you only want to convert a few. $ for f in *.bmp *.jpg *.tga; do convert $f ${f%.*}.png; done or you can use ls | egrep to get more specific... but be warned, files with spaces will cause a ruckus with expansion but the bash for loop uses a space delimited list. $ for f in $(ls | egrep "bmp$|jpg$|tga$"); do convert $f ${f%.*}.png; done I'm guessing some people will still prefer doing it the sed way but I thought the concept of this one was pretty neat. It will help me remember bash substitutions a little better :-P

Compute the average number of KB per file for each dir
Shorter version using --tag

Runs a command without hangups.
The improvement is that you can re-attach to the screen at a later point.

Realtime lines per second in a log file
Displays the realtime line output rate of a logfile. -l tels pv to count lines -i to refresh every 10 seconds -l option is not in old versions of pv. If the remote system has an old pv version: ssh tail -f /var/log/apache2/access.log | pv -l -i10 -r >/dev/null

Turn On/Off Keyboard LEDs via commandline
Usefull as a light blink to remember events, mails, intrusions, etc... yet another output Since nobody ever uses the scroll lock function... Usefull to interface a linux system with some hardware, for example, opto interfacing the keyboard led to a relay to remotely reset, etc. ( a simple LDR glued over the LED will do the trick ) xset led 3 turns on the third led, ie, Scroll lock xset -led 3 turns it off xset led 1 turns on Numerical Lock led ( doesn t work on all computer ) xset led 2 turns on Caps Lock led ( idem ) Using it as a reset watchdog, the relay expected light pulses. Shall the computer hangs, the relay releases and reset the machine ( discharge of a capacitor ) ;-)

recurisvely md5 all files in a tree
Found this little gem here: http://info.michael-simons.eu/2008/10/25/recursively-md5sum-all-files-in-a-directory-tree/

Create Encrypted WordPress MySQL Backup without any DB details, just the wp-config.php
The coolest way I've found to backup a wordpress mysql database using encryption, and using local variables created directly from the wp-config.php file so that you don't have to type them- which would allow someone sniffing your terminal or viewing your shell history to see your info. I use a variation of this for my servers that have hundreds of wordpress installs and databases by using a find command for the wp-config.php file and passing that through xargs to my function.

Get decimal ascii code from character
the shortest command for character 'a' i know

sort a JSON blob
For situations where you keep JSON in a VCS and you want your diffs to be sane, such as within a Chef configuration repo.

Remove security limitations from PDF documents using ghostscript (for Windows)
#4345 also works under windows


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