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How can I use Python (2.7) to read Windows notifications?

Is there a way to read in Windows system notifications (the bubble dialogs in the lower right hand corner of the screen) using Python? I am trying to read in the text of the notification as well as the time at which it was generated, but I've been unsuccessful in locating any information on how to do this.
I have found several resources over how to generate these notifications, such as this question: How to create a system tray popup message with python? (Windows), but nothing on how to read these popups if they are generated outside of Python.
Thanks in advance for your help!

How to create a file browser in wxpython

I am developing the GUI for my application using wxpython and have most of the features down, except in the main frame/window I want to have a box for choosing a file (in this case, the input will have to be an excel file). Something similar to the standard filebrowser that is accessed whenever you choose "open" from a menu.
Below is an image to show exactly what I want...

You probably want a wx.FileDialog. It provides access to the default file dialog of the OS your app is running in. You can see an example of how it's used in the wxPython demo package. This tutorial also has some screenshots and sample code:
http://www.blog.pythonlibrary.org/2010/06/26/the-dialogs-of-wxpython-part-1-of-2/
The screenshot you show appears to be an interface to actually open the dialog. You can easily create that using sizers and basic widgets. Then just bind the open button to a handler that will show the dialog.
You might also want to take a look at the FileBrowseButton from wx.lib.filebrowsebutton (also in the demo).
There are a few other related widgets which you might be interested in too: wx.DirDialog, MultiDirDialog or wx.GenericDirDialog.

Assuming you know the basics of wxPython you can use wx.GenericDirCtrl and wx.ListCtrl to make nice browser

Automating Flash Program with Python using Pywinauto

I am trying to send a couple basic text commands to a flash program running in Firefox on Windows 7, but I am unable to get pywinauto working for me.
Right now, I have just been able to accomplish the very basic task of connecting to Firefox plugin-container by directing it to the path using the following code:
from pywinauto import application
app = application.Application()
app.connect_(path = r"c:\Program Files (x86)\Mozilla Firefox\plugin-container.exe")
The next step seems to be something to the effect of:
app.plugin-container.Edit.TypeKeys('Text')
However, I can't reference the plugin-container window using '.plugin-container', or any combination of those words. I have tried adding a title variable to the connect_() function and I have tried everything I can think of to find out how to type the command.
The example I am basing this off of is the notepad sample:
from pywinauto import application
app.start_(ur"notepad.exe")
app.Notepad.Edit.TypeKeys(u"{END}{ENTER}SendText d\xf6\xe9s "
u"s\xfcpp\xf4rt \xe0cce\xf1ted characters!!!", with_spaces = True)
It doesn't matter to me if I use pywinauto or Firefox. If it is any easier to do this using a different module or Internet Explorer, I'm on board for whatever accomplishes the task. I am using Python version 2.7.2 and would prefer it over any version changes.
Any help at all is appreciated. I am pretty lost in all this.

As the author of pywinauto - I think you are going to have a hard time. pywinauto only really helps with standard windows controls, and I don't think that flash controls are implemented as standard windows controls (Buttons, Edit boxes, etc).
OFf the top of my head - I would think Sikuli may be a better starting point (http://sikuli.org/).
Another option may be 'http://code.google.com/p/flash-selenium/' - I just googled for "automating flash input" - and it turned up in one of the first articles I clicked.
Thanks for trying pywinauto - I just don't think it is best suited for Flash automation.

How do I get the selected text in desktop application using python-dbus?

For example, I open a pdf file or a web page in gnome, use mouse double click some text, so a word is selected, how can I get this word in a background running daemon written with python-dbus?
Some simple but working piece of script is appreciated greatly.
Thanks!

You don't need D-Bus, simply listen to changes for the middle-click (Selection) clipboard with for example Gtk:
import gtk
def _clipboard_changed(clipboard, event):
text = clipboard.wait_for_text()
clip = gtk.clipboard_get(gtk.gdk.SELECTION_PRIMARY)
clip.connect("owner-change", _clipboard_changed)

Gnome Do has a few plug-ins that use the selected text. I'm not sure how it is implemented (and if it uses DBus), but the code should reveal all. :)

Python Desktop Integration - Drag and drop

I have a pygame window that I want to know when a file has been dragged and dropped onto it. I only need to be able to fetch the name of the file. How can this be accomplished?

Here's a forum thread that might be what you're looking for.
And another forum.
And a link to the msdn page. You'll probably want the pythoncom library.

one option for a similar effect is is to use pygame's scrap module so you can copy-paste into the window, your program would just need to look for ctr-V events.
On this XFCE desktop I'm using
If I hit ctrl-C with a file selected, the file name shows up when I type
pygame.scrap.init()
types= pygame.scrap.get_types()
print dict(
[type,pygame.scrap.get(type)]
for type intypes
)