Selenium is a software library that’s used to automate web browsers. It’s often used to run automated testing but can be used for anything involving a web browser. Since so much software is now running in the cloud and accessible via web interfaces Selenium is ideal for automating lots of manual tasks. There’s libraries available …
Author archives: Bob Peers
Multi-threading API Requests in Python
When making hundred or thousands of API calls things can quickly get really slow in a single threaded application. No matter how well your own code runs you’ll be limited by network latency and response time of the remote server. Making 10 calls with a 1 second response is maybe OK but now try 1000. …
Using Python with One Time Passwords (2FA)
Ever wanted to automate a process involving a vendor website and come across this. Me too 😔 One time passwords (aka MFA, 2FA, or two factor authentication as I’ll say from here on) are something everyone should use and are great for security, not so great for automation. Until recently I thought this was hard …
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Do What I Mean!
DWIM (do what I mean) computer systems attempt to anticipate what users intend to do, correcting trivial errors automatically rather than blindly executing users’ explicit but potentially incorrect inputs. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DWIM When I hear about the AI singularity and how no one will have jobs in 10 years I usually just laugh. Computers and software are really, …
Why are Logistics Carriers so Bad with Data?
Just to be clear when I say Logistic Carriers I mean UPS, DHL, DSV, GLS and many other three letter companies that deliver your Christmas presents, but in a business context they are also responsible for B2B deliveries of goods to shops and warehouses. I’ve previously worked in Logistics for many years and so have …
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Loading Private Python Libraries to Alteryx at Runtime
The python tool in Alteryx is a great resource that I often use but it can easily get very cluttered with lots of reusable code that could easily be moved out and imported as a library. Unfortunately by default you can’t just use the standard import statement since the location of your workflow at runtime …
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Converting xls to xlsx files in Alteryx
There are numerous threads on the Alteryx Community where people are asking how to covert xls files to xlsx. The solutions generally suggest one of two approaches, either Read the file in with an Input Data tool then output again in the new format Use the Run Command tool to use an an Excel component …
Jupyter Notebook Shortcut on MacOS using Anaconda
It’s not immediately clear on Mac OS how to start a Jupyter Notebook if you’re using Anaconda. The actual executable is located at /Users/*YOURUSER*/opt/anaconda3/bin/jupyter-notebook but it can be a pain to either type the full link or even worse start the Anaconda application first just to open a notebook. The easiest way I found is to …
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Brew Permissions Error
I recently installed Homebrew on my MacBook and immediately hit permissions issues (I’m running Catalina v 10.15.2 (19C57) and it seems permissions are an issue for many apps). Trying to install wget gave this error. If you look at the permissions on the .config folder you immediately see the problem. By default it’s owned by …
The Knowledge Curve
Having recently changed jobs to become a Consultant after working 15 years in the Retail Industry I think about this chart a lot. I’m personally at a stage where I think I know quite a bit but I’m mostly overwhelmed by how much more there is to know 🤯 I also need to become more …