(In response to chatterbox questions...)

To get the data back out from the bitfield, shift back to the right and use a logical bitwise AND to extract the relevant bits:

$as_bg    = $attribs       & 255;
$as_fg    = $attribs >> 8  & 255;
$as_u     = $attribs >> 16 & 1;
$as_bold  = $attribs >> 17 & 1;
$as_blink = $attrib  >> 18 & 1;
[download]

update: Corrected && to &.