I've been using a tool for years that I find so handy that I can't believe
nobody else has done it.  Or, perhaps they have.

The tool is called 'hi' and it's an optional part of this module, which is
ostensibly the two Term::ANSIColor extensions:

Term::ANSIColorx::ColorNicknames
  * some color nicknames, because the regular ANSI color names 
    don't make sense to me.

Term::ANSIColorx::AutoFilterFH
  * a special filtered filehandle that colorizes things as they pass