Python file hack

  # Echo the contents of a file
  f = open('foo.txt', 'rU')
  for line in f:   ## iterates over the lines of the file
    print line,    ## trailing , so print does not add an end-of-line char
                   ## since 'line' already includes the end-of line.
  f.close()

The special mode 'rU' is the "Universal" option for text files where it's smart about converting different line-endings so they always come through as a simple '\n'. This is a really useful hack about reading files that have heterogeneous line formats!