lazylink.rb

#!/usr/bin/env ruby
# encoding: utf-8
# Marked 2 preprocessor
# Allows use of `*` link references where the next [*]: href defines the link
# Inspired by [tidbits][*]
# [*]: http://tidbits.com
if RUBY_VERSION.to_f > 1.8
   input = STDIN.read.force_encoding('UTF-8')
else
   input = STDIN.read
end

counter = 0

while input =~ /(\[[^\]]+\]\s*\[)\*(\].*?^\[)\*\]\:/m
   input.sub!(/(\[[^\]]+\]\s*\[)\*(\].*?^\[)\*\]\:/m) {
      counter += 1
      $1 + counter.to_s + $2 + counter.to_s + "]:"
   }
end

print input

x