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The Testing of POD to DocBook SGML Conversion

By Alligator Descartes <descarte@arcana.co.uk>

This is the very first paragraph detailing the exciting discovery of the fact that POD, or Plain Old Documentation, could be converted to the mind-destroying bogosity of DocBook SGML.

This is the second paragraph in which I shall begin detailing the tortuous route that led me to the brink of madness in my quest for the Holy Grail of POD to DocBook conversion.

This is the third paragraph in which I did actually lOsE my mind. Oh, by the way, you are right now reading "The Testing of POD to DocBook", aren't you?

    Ia shub Niggurath!

Cthulhu! Cthulhu! Rise up, O Great One!

Invocations are an extremely important part of the ritual magician's get-up. It makes you sound extremely important whilst sonorously and solemly intoning longs strings of meaningless gibberish that resemble regular expressions only on a superficial level.

The Lesser-Known Key Of Solomon
    Ol sonuf vaorasdasdaskjdalsjd
    $i++; pop @flapList;
    $gibberish = $_;
    perldoc DBI
The Slightly More-Known Goetia of Abra-Looney
    my $ohmy = "";
    print STDERR, "Groblegs!\n";
    push @off, $idiot;

Of course, there are a few things that you need to remember when invoking the Old Ones.

  • A pair of large capacity rubber underpants (see "The lesser-known Key of Solomon" for an explanation).

  • Some chalk (but don't confuse this with Aspirin)

  • Some Aspirin

  • Aspirin

    really is trademarked.

    1. Some nested lists will make you need Aspirin,too.

    2. (or try some sleep)

Without further ado, here's how to invoke something.

  1. Draw magic circle on the ground. Ensure that the circle is drawn on a solid surface. Sand is a good surface to die on. Ensure that the circle is completely closed

  2. Step into circle

  3. Throw head back and stick arms out in a dramatic pose.

  4. Chant appropriate incantation

  5. Stand well back...

At this stage, if all goes according to plan, something amorphous and be-tentacled should have appeared.