Replace the server alias with a function that optionally takes an argument specifying the port number

Inspired by @padolsey’s https://gist.github.com/1525217#gistcomment-71652.

.aliases

@@ -25,6 +25,8 @@ alias undopush="git push -f origin HEAD^:master"
 alias ip="dig +short myip.opendns.com @resolver1.opendns.com"
 alias localip="ipconfig getifaddr en1"
 alias ips="ifconfig -a | perl -nle'/(\d+\.\d+\.\d+\.\d+)/ && print $1'"
+
+# Enhanced WHOIS lookups
 alias whois="whois -h whois-servers.net"
 
 # Flush Directory Service cache

.functions

@@ -3,6 +3,13 @@ function md() {
 	mkdir -p "$@" && cd "$@"
 }
 
+# Start an HTTP server from a directory, optionally specifying the port
+function server() {
+	local port="$1"
+	[ -z "$port" ] && port=8000
+	open "http://localhost:${port}/" && python -m SimpleHTTPServer "$port"
+}
+
 # Test if HTTP compression (RFC 2616 + SDCH) is enabled for a given URL.
 # Send a fake UA string for sites that sniff it instead of using the Accept-Encoding header. (Looking at you, ajax.googleapis.com!)
 function httpcompression() {