FWIW: Here is a short discussion that showed me the light.

Melvin strict bugs me though. especially for short hacks like that one.
jcwren No no no. strict and -w are your friends. They keep you from chasing down stupid bugs (even in short code) written at 2am in the morning...
redmist or 5:00am without sleep
jcwren And, it ceases to be a 'short hack' when you post it. Now, it'll be around for eternity. So, not only should you appease the gods with use strict and -w, but you should make sure your name is plastered in there.
davorg agrees whole-heartedly with jcwren
jjhorner Melvin you never know when you may want to bundle all of your short hacks into a library of useful tools. As a matter of fact, I recommend starting that now!
Melvin thanks for the suggestions, the code has now been strictified and warnified. =)