but i forgot how to create a new thread...

If you want to ask a new question, unrelated to this thread, go to Seekers of Perl Wisdom.

what does this mean? print qq{$1}

Read Quote and Quote like Operators. qq is like using double-quotes. So it is similar to

print "$1"
[download]

Double-quotes allow interpolation of variables. So, if the variable $1 has the value "foo", then "foo" will be printed. $1 is a special variable which is set upon a successful regular expression match (see perlre).