1---2title: 'Couple of quick python tips'3date: '2013-07-11'4published_at: '2013-07-11T15:56:00.001+10:00'5tags: ['handbrake', 'iPython', 'makemkv', 'python', 'raspberry pi', 'unicode', 'xbmc']6author: 'Gavin Jackson'7excerpt: 'Well, it''s been a while since my last blog posting - here are some quick links you may find of interest (completely random of course;). Please feel free to share your favourite python modules/raspber...'8updated_at: '2013-07-11T15:56:36.611+10:00'9legacy_url: 'http://www.gavinj.net/2013/07/couple-of-quick-python-tips.html'10---1112[](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1YF0PbXu-fQR5Ghx32B6gke3vjmaLvV5bn2s4T5wiFwMkOcFGJcDB5eXpRRlKEhl9TbcO-bKVOyfXMAKafqRi1It9qRKANZ6mpBOmSCR9YjEJmQKVn0uH8Q-z4aFIuP5emy40gipt5ko/s1600/raspberry-pi-python-1-580x358.jpg)1314Well, it's been a while since my last blog posting - here are some quick links you may find of interest (completely random of course;).** **Please feel free to share your favourite python modules/raspberry pi hacks in the comments section below!1516### **autoenv**1718autoenv is a simple tool for automatically executing shell scripts (or activating specific virtualenvs) when switching directories.1920[https://github.com/kennethreitz/autoenv](https://github.com/kennethreitz/autoenv)2122###2324### **q**2526q is a really simple quick and dirty debugging tool, basically logs to /tmp/q, a function decorator called @q can be used to show what parameters a function is called with. This can be handy when you don't have control of standard output or conventional logging mechanisms.2728[https://pypi.python.org/pypi/q](https://pypi.python.org/pypi/q)2930### **makemkv/handbrake**3132makemkv/handbrake - two free tools that make ripping DVDs quite easy.3334[http://www.makemkv.com/](http://www.makemkv.com/)35[http://http://handbrake.fr/](http://http//handbrake.fr/)3637### **Unicode in Python**3839Wow - who knew it was this bad I have been doing the encode/decode waltz for a while now, but this video makes it all crystal clear (I watched it twice):4041[http://nedbatchelder.com/text/unipain.html](http://nedbatchelder.com/text/unipain.html)4243### **iPython Notebook**4445At pycon, I saw plenty on talks that discussed the iPython notebook, a web based iPython interface that blends documentation and executable python code.4647The notebooks can also be shared and hosted on third party servers (there are also several plugins that produce PDF output, there is also a plugin that generates reveal.js presentations!4849[http://ipython.org/notebook.html](http://ipython.org/notebook.html)5051### **Raspberry Pi - XBMC edition**5253A few months ago I jumped on the Raspberry Pi bandwagon, I'm currently running the XBMC release as a home media server. Well worth checking out if you are after a low cost, low power, hdmi video/music streamer.5455[http://www.raspberrypi.org/](http://www.raspberrypi.org/)56[http://wiki.xbmc.org/?title=Raspberry_Pi](http://wiki.xbmc.org/?title=Raspberry_Pi)575859