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ignore hidden directory in bash completion (e.g. .svn)

date offset calculations
The date command does offset calculations nicely, handles concepts like "a month" as you'd expect, and is good for offsets of at least 100M years in either direction.

Find the package that installed a command

Replace space in filename
This commands removes space from all the files with specific extension. I've specifed *.jpg as an example.

Create an alias, store it in ~/.bash_aliases and source your new alias into the ~/.bashrc
This is useful if you use a shell with a lot of other users. You will be able to run "topu" to see your running processes instead of the complete 'top -u username'. Read more on alias: http://man.cx/alias

List files by quoting or escaping special characters.
Tested and works on Linux.

Which processes are listening on a specific port (e.g. port 80)
swap out "80" for your port of interest. Can use port number or named ports e.g. "http"

convert from decimal to hexadecimal
Use the standard calculator bc to convert decimals to hex

Edit a file in vim (at the first error) if it is not well formed xml.
Validate a file using xmllint. If there are parser errors, edit the file in vim at the line of the first error.

Draw a Sierpinski triangle
OK, not the most useful but a good way to impress friends. Requires the "display" command from ImageMagick.


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