CPAN
Or, use Andreas König's CPAN module to retrieve, build, and install any of the CPAN modules automatically. It's useful for upgrading current modules as well as installing new ones.
Make
A not-so-new module by Nick Ing-Simmons that implements the Unix make command in Perl. It can be used to parse Makefiles.
NNML::Server
The NNML::Server module, by Ulrich Pfeifer, implements a minimal NNTP (a.k.a. Usenet or Netnews) server.
Net::SSLeay
Sampo Kellomaki's Net::SSLeay module provides a Perl interface to Eric Young's implementation of the Secure Socket Layer.
PDL
PDL is the Perl Data Language, an extension for compact storage and speedy manipulation of large N-dimensional data sets such as images or movies. It's in late alpha, and development (mostly by Karl Glazebrook and Tuomas Lukka) is ongoing. Subscribe to perldl-request@jach.hawaii.edu for more information.
Tie::Watch
Steve Lidie's Tie::Watch module lets you place a "watchpoint" on any Perl variable. The watchpoint is a subroutine invoked whenever the variable is accessed.
VRML
The Virtual Reality Modeling Language is like HTML, but describes scenes instead of documents. When you visit a URL containing a VRML world, a file is downloaded to your computer. A VRML-enabled browser then interprets the file as a geometric description of a VRML world, letting you interact with it in real time. There's VRML 1.0 and VRML 2.0; Hartmut Palm's module provides Perl methods for both.
WWW::Search
A collection of Perl modules that know how to talk to certain WWW search engines: AltaVista, Lycos, and HotBot. WWW::Search requires LWP, which you should already have if you're a serious Web hacker. If not, see the next page!
If your module is of general interest to Perl programmers and is on the CPAN, let me know! Send a brief description to TPJ for inclusion in this column.