[dottedmag@leibnitz:~]% python
Python 2.5.5 (r255:77872, Apr 21 2010, 08:40:04) 
[GCC 4.4.3] on linux2
Type "help", "copyright", "credits" or "license" for more information.
>>> int("0x17", 0)
23
>>> int("17", 0)
17
>>>