JAPHs are often obfuscation, and obfuscation is a way to "strut your stuff", much in the same way modules and articles and "op" status on a Perl channel on IRC somewhere is.

They're by no means a "rite of passage" into a secret "Perl Cabal^*". They're just fun ways to exploit Perl (either its loose syntax, or its bugs). That being said...

# my message should've started with this:

{ 
  $_ = q"I'm";
  * == \q;
  s/$/ Just Another Perl Hacker/;
}

s+(.).+$1+;
$_.=$= if $= !=~ s.\.\..\U$&.;
$= ==~ s=.+(o)+.=\U$1= or tr!Perilous / Treacherous Tracks\n!!d;
$= !=~ s/..$/q ... reverse $&/e and print;
[download]

The secret password is 'GRT'. You know the meeting place.

japhy -- Perl and Regex Hacker