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Easily convert XML data to a Python dict with xmltodict

September 1, 2019

I hate working with XML mainly because I find it difficult to read.

There's a popular Python package for parsing XML called lxml which is very flexible, but I found xmltodict much better suited and easier to use for what I needed to do.

We have a inventory management app for Shopify, EZ Inventory, and one of the features we've added recently is XML support. We have a few customers whose suppliers can only …

Gaming on Linux

July 28, 2019

I just finished playing Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age on Linux. In the 70 hours of playtime, the game ran flawlessly. I couldn't recall a single crash or slowdown.

And guess what? There is no native Linux port of this game! I played the Windows version on Linux thanks to Proton and Steam Play. No special tweaking required, just click "Install" and "Play." My Xbox One S controller was detected automatically, it feels …

Charlie Munger and Warren Buffett Quotes

July 14, 2019

Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger get quoted a lot, and for good reasons. They're very successful investors and businessmen and they've been around for a very long time (Munger is 95 years old and Buffett is 88). There's a lot of wisdom there so it's worth paying attention to what they say.

I've been noticing lately that many of the books I've been reading contain at least one quote from one of them. So I …

Dealing with datetime objects and time zones in Python 3

June 29, 2019

Working with datetime objects and time zones is one of those things I always struggle with when writing code in Python. I always have to look things up and double check the outputs (such as making sure daylight savings time was taken into account) to make sure I'm doing things correctly.

This blog post is really more of a reference for myself when making adjustments to datetime objects that involve time zones so I won't …

5 Podcasts for Bootstrapped Software Business Owners

May 26, 2019

Listening to podcasts is probably the main way I consume information nowadays. One of my favorite things to do is actually taking long walks in the late afternoon or evening while listening to podcasts. I find it both entertaining and educational, there's so much content out there.

While I listen to many podcasts about different topics, the ones I regularly listen to are mostly about running bootstrapped software businesses as they're very relevant to my …