in reply to Fuzzy matching to user's tastes?
Store and retrieve your datastructure(s) with Storable, freeze your data before storing, and thaw it after fetching from the store.
As for the other questions, I can't think anymore today, just an hour more, and I can call it a week...
regards,
tomte
Hlade's Law:
If you have a difficult task, give it to a lazy person --
they will find an easier way to do it.
In Section
Seekers of Perl Wisdom