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diff the same file in two directories.
This is useful when you're diffing two files of the same name in radically different directory trees. For example: Set $ path1='/some/long/convoluted/path/to/all/of/your/source/from/a/long/dead/machine' then $ path2='/local/version/of/same/file' then run the command. Much easier on the eyes when you're looking back across your command history, especially if you're doing the same diff over and over again.

exit if another instance is running
runs only one instance.

sort ip by count quickly with awk from apache logs
creates associative array from apache logs, assumes "combined" log format or similar. replace awk column to suit needs. bandwidth per ip is also useful. have fun. I haven't found a more efficient way to do this as yet. sorry, FIXED TYPO: log file should obviously go after awk, which then pipes into sort.

Recursively execute command on directories (.svn, permissions, etc)
The above command will set the GID bit on all directories named .svn in the current directory recursively. This makes the group ownership of all .svn folders be the group ownership for all files created in that folder, no matter the user. This is useful for me as the subversion working directory on my server is also the live website and needs to be auto committed to subversion every so often via cron as well as worked on by multiple users. Setting the GID bit on the .svn folders makes sure we don't have a mix of .svn metadata created by a slew of different users.

Suspend an ssh session.
This must be typed before any other characters have been entered on the line. Use fg, as usual, to resume the ssh session.

Turning off display
To turn off monitor: xset dpms force off To turn on, simply press a key, or move mouse/mousepad.

preserve disk; keep OS clean
if you use disk-based swap then it can defeat the purpose of this function.

Start a terminal with three open tabs
If you launch gnome-terminal manually, you can start with three open tabs

Output entire line once per unique value of the first column
Removes duplicates in the specified field/column while outputting entire lines. An elegant command for processing tab (or otherwise) delimited data.

Python extract json


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