you might find these scripts which I created in python useful:
Web related
- checkUrl.py - add this script to your crontab with a list of urls to monitor and it will send an email to you when a url can't be loaded properly
DB related
- jdbc_grep.py - this is a jython script to grep for a string across a sql db using jdbc.
General
- rename.py - renames all files in a folder according to a numbering scheme. Useful for renaming files taken as pictures and movies from cameras.