import sql files

import all files matching *.mysql in current directory into database "db"

for f in *.mysql; do echo $f && mysql -u username -psecretpw db < $f ; done

echos the file name as it goes

match a word as long as another word doesn't appear before it

match 'haha' as long as 'example' doesn't come first

/^((?:(?!example).)*)(haha.*)$/

excellent post about *not* matching a word: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/406230/regular-expression-to-match-string-not-containing-a-word

recursive file list sorted by mod time

I end up bouncing from one project to another pretty often, and I don't like saving my workspace in my editor so that I can start with a nice, clean, blank slate. But it's nice to know what exactly I've been working on recently, so..

find . -type f | xargs ls -l 2>/dev/null | sort -r -k6,6 -k7,7 | most

hexdump

Quick little one liner for hexdump with some nice, versatile output. 1 byte per line, with
byte #[space]octal value[space]decimal value[space]hex value[space]default character set

hexdump -v -e '"%07_ad" 1/1 " %03o"' -e '1/1 " %03u"' -e '1/1 " %03x"' -e '1/1 " %_c \n"'

And in a bash script taking a file:

#!/bin/bash

hexdump -v -e '"%07_ad" 1/1 " %03o"' -e '1/1 " %03u"' -e '1/1 " %03x"' -e '1/1 " %_c \n"' $1

Example output when called on itself:

0000000 043 035 023 # 
0000001 041 033 021 ! 
0000002 057 047 02f / 
0000003 142 098 062 b 
0000004 151 105 069 i 
0000005 156 110 06e n 
0000006 057 047 02f / 
0000007 142 098 062 b 
0000008 141 097 061 a 
0000009 163 115 073 s 
0000010 150 104 068 h 
0000011 012 010 00a \n 
0000012 012 010 00a \n 
0000013 150 104 068 h 
0000014 145 101 065 e 
0000015 170 120 078 x 
0000016 144 100 064 d 
0000017 165 117 075 u 
0000018 155 109 06d m 
0000019 160 112 070 p 
0000020 040 032 020   
0000021 055 045 02d - 
0000022 166 118 076 v 
0000023 040 032 020   
0000024 055 045 02d - 
0000025 145 101 065 e 
0000026 040 032 020   
0000027 047 039 027 ' 
0000028 042 034 022 " 
0000045 063 051 033 3 
0000046 157 111 06f o 
0000047 042 034 022 " 
0000048 047 039 027 ' 
0000049 040 032 020   
0000050 055 045 02d - 
0000051 145 101 065 e 
0000052 040 032 020   
0000053 047 039 027 ' 
0000054 061 049 031 1 
0000055 057 047 02f / 
0000056 061 049 031 1 
0000057 040 032 020   
0000058 042 034 022 " 
0000059 040 032 020   
0000060 045 037 025 % 
0000061 060 048 030 0 
0000062 063 051 033 3 
0000063 165 117 075 u 
0000064 042 034 022 " 
0000065 047 039 027 ' 
0000066 040 032 020   
0000067 055 045 02d - 
0000068 145 101 065 e 
0000069 040 032 020   
0000070 047 039 027 ' 
0000071 061 049 031 1 
0000072 057 047 02f / 
0000073 061 049 031 1 
0000074 040 032 020   
0000075 042 034 022 " 
0000076 040 032 020   
0000077 045 037 025 % 
0000078 060 048 030 0 
0000079 063 051 033 3 
0000080 170 120 078 x 
0000081 042 034 022 " 
0000082 047 039 027 ' 
0000083 040 032 020   
0000084 055 045 02d - 
0000085 145 101 065 e 
0000086 040 032 020   
0000087 047 039 027 ' 
0000088 061 049 031 1 
0000089 057 047 02f / 
0000090 061 049 031 1 
0000091 040 032 020   
0000092 042 034 022 " 
0000093 040 032 020   
0000094 045 037 025 % 
0000095 137 095 05f _ 
0000096 143 099 063 c 
0000097 040 032 020   
0000098 134 092 05c \ 
0000099 156 110 06e n 
0000100 042 034 022 " 
0000101 047 039 027 ' 
0000102 040 032 020   
0000103 044 036 024 $ 
0000104 061 049 031 1 
0000105 012 010 00a \n 

ubuntu oneiric ocelot write desktop background image file

here is a script which takes in path to one or more directories containing images and writes a gnome desktop background file to show those images

#!/bin/bash

usage()
{
cat << EOF
usage: $0 -t transition_time -s static_time (-d dirs|-r recursive_dirs)

OPTIONS:
 -h      Show this message
 -t      required. time of transition between images, in seconds
 -s      required. time each image is show
 -d      comma separated list of directories containing images.
 -r      comma separated list of directories that contain images and
         other directories with more images

Either dirs, recursive_dirs, or both is required
EOF
if [[ -z $1 ]]; then exit 1; else exit $1; fi
}

set_img_paths()
{
 dir_path=$1
 find_opts=$2
 
 for file_path in $(find ${dir_path} ${find_opts} -type f)
 do
  mime_type=$(file --mime-type ${file_path})
  if [[ $mime_type =~ ^.*:[[:space:]]+image/(.*)$ ]]
  then
   img_paths[${#img_paths[*]}]=$file_path
  fi
 done
}

while getopts ":hd:r:t:s:" x
do
 case $x in
  h) usage 0 ;;
  t) transition_time=$OPTARG ;;
  s) static_time=$OPTARG ;;
  d) dirs[${#dirs[*]}]=$OPTARG ;;
  r) recursive_dirs[${#recursive_dirs[*]}]=$OPTARG ;;
 esac
done

if [[ -z $transition_time ]]; then usage; fi
if [[ -z $static_time ]]; then usage; fi
if [[ ${#dirs[*]} -eq 0 && ${#recursive_dirs[*]} -eq 0 ]]; then usage; fi

# array for our image paths
declare -a img_paths

# loop over directories to search non-recursively for images
for ((i=0; i<${#dirs[*]}; i++))
do
 set_img_paths "${dirs[$i]}" "-maxdepth 1"
done

# loop over directories to search recursively for images
for ((i=0; i<${#recursive_dirs[*]}; i++))
do
 set_img_paths "${recursive_dirs[$i]}" ""
done

# make sure we have some images
if [[ ${#img_paths[*]} -eq 0 ]]
then
 echo "Error: could not find any images"
 exit 2
fi

# randomize our array
random_order=$(seq ${#img_paths[*]} | shuf)
i=0
for r in $random_order
do
 randomized[$i]=${img_paths[$r-1]}
 i=$(( $i + 1 ))
done

# write our background xml file to stdout
echo ""
for ((i=0; i<${#randomized[*]}; i++))
do
 img_path=${randomized[$i]}
 echo -n "
 
  ${static_time}
  ${img_path}
 
"
 
 # transition to next image, or, if we are showing the last image, transition back to first image
 [[ $(( $i + 1 )) -lt ${#randomized[*]} ]] && next_img=${randomized[$i+1]} || next_img=${randomized[0]}
 echo -n "
 
  ${transition_time}
  ${img_path}
  ${next_img}
 
"
done
echo ""

oneiric ocelot 11.10 set background to xml file

gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.background picture-uri 'file:///path/to/file/background.xml' 

http://askubuntu.com/questions/67218/how-do-i-create-a-desktop-wallpaper-slideshow-in-oneiric

as best I can tell this property is stored in ~/.gconf/desktop/gnome/background/%gconf.xml

more to come on this in a bit

remove svn dirs

I'm sure this is out there on the internet already somewhere, but

find . -name ".svn" -type d | xargs rm -rf