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Shell function to create a menu of items which may be inserted into the X paste buffer.
The function will take a comma separated list of items to be 'selected' by xsel -i: $ smenu "First item to paste,Paste me #2,Third menu item" You will then be prompted to choose one of the menu items. After you choose, you will be able to paste the string by clicking the middle mouse button. The menu will keep prompting you to choose menu items until you break out with Control-C.

Isolate file name from full path/find output
Quick method of isolating filenames from a full path using expansion. Much quicker than using "basename"

Copy a directory recursively without data/files

Unbelievable Shell Colors, Shading, Backgrounds, Effects for Non-X
I've been using linux for almost a decade and only recently discovered that most terminals like putty, xterm, xfree86, vt100, etc., support hundreds of shades of colors, backgrounds and text/terminal effects. This simply prints out a ton of them, the output is pretty amazing. If you use non-x terminals all the time like I do, it can really be helpful to know how to tweak colors and terminal capabilities. Like: $ echo $'\33[H\33[2J'

for newbies, how to get one line info about all /bin programs
Get simple description on each file from /bin dir, in list form, usefull for newbies.

Display calendar with specific national holidays and week numbers
NB when you run this gcal command in your shell, holidays are highlighted but this highlighting does not show in the sample output (above). To find full details on gcal options: gcal --long-help | less Example for United States, Pennsylvania: gcal -K -q US_PA 2009 # display holidays in USA/Pennsylvania for 2009 (with week numbers) Example for Hong Kong: gcal -K -q HK 2009 # display holidays in Hong Kong for 2009 (with week numbers)

convert all flac files in a folder to mp3 files with a bitrate of 192 kbps

Create a script of the last executed command
Sometimes commands are long, but useful, so it's helpful to be able to make them permanent without having to retype them. An alternative could use the history command, and a cut/sed line that works on your platform. $history -1 | cut -c 7- > foo.sh

Change SSH RSA passphrase
Protects your secret identity with a passphrase. OSX 10.6 automatically does key forwarding and can store the passphrase in the keychain. For other OSes, use ssh -A or set ForwardAgent in ssh_config to enable forwarding. Then use ssh-agent/ssh-add.

Output as many input
Output of a command as input to many


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