Sun May 04 19:55:47 +0000 2008 803377064 @nonprofit_tech here's the perl version of I think what you're asking for: s/@(\w+)/&lt;a href="http:\/\/twitter.com\/$1"&gt;@$1&lt;\/a& ... <a href="http://www.quotably.com/" rel="nofollow">Quotably</a> true 803354166 14145912 false nonprofit_tech 12586 Ben Tucker btucker Brattleboro, VT developer @ GreenRiver.org http://a1.twimg.com/profile_images/499754542/DSC_0208_normal.JPG http://btucker.org/blog false 190 010913 000000 0000ff ece1a1 4f1c02 59 Wed Nov 15 19:38:35 +0000 2006 1 -18000 Eastern Time (US & Canada) http://a1.twimg.com/profile_background_images/3910262/DSC_0142_2.jpg false false false 530