Here's food for thought:
One of the more intriguing types of algorithm is the genetic algorithm.
Genetic algorithms mimic Darwinian natural selection, where "fitness"
selects individuals for survival, breeding, and, hence, adaptive mutation.
"Genetic algorithms applied with Perl" covered the
These Perl articles are of the highest quality.
The complete developerWorks "Cultured Perl" series:
A programmer's Linux-oriented setup
http://www-106.ibm.com/developerworks/linux/library/l-plset/index.html?t=gr,p=PerlSetup
Application configuration with Perl
http://www-106.ibm.com/developerwo