title: Manipulating binary data in Python
body: <p>I am opening up a binary file like so: </p>
  
  <pre><code>file = open("test/test.x", 'rb')
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>and reading in lines to a list. Each line looks a little like:</p>
  
  <pre><code>'\xbe\x00\xc8d\xf8d\x08\xe4.\x07~\x03\x9e\x07\xbe\x03\xde\x07\xfe\n'
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>I am having a hard time manipulating this data. If I try and print each line, python freezes, and emits beeping noises (I think there's a binary beep code in there somewhere). How do I go about using this data safely? How can I convert each hex number to decimal?</p>