Entity metadata wrappers to the rescue - Drupal 7
This wrapping class is provided by the Entity API module, which I would highly recommend you run (more than likely you already are as it is required by some other modules).
Convert a date using php
The easiest way to convert a date in php I find is to use the php date and strtotime function.
Chop out part of a movie or video with ffmpeg
This command will chop out from start ss for t time a bit of video.
Add the commit hash to zsh and oh-my-zsh on Ubuntu linux
If you haven't heard of it zsh is a bash alternative and oh-my-zsh is an awesome set of customizations.