Chris

S is my boss, the director of security here.

X: This is why I bring these things to you--sometimes I'm all, "You're supposed to do it this way, but I like you, so lemme just bend this rule."
S: You need to follow the rules. I mean, we all need to follow the rules.
X: But what if it's a bad rule?
S: Well, if it's a bad rule, then I work to change it...
X: But you wouldn't follow it if it actively hurt people or processes.
S: Right.
X: So we have to use our own judgment to determine which rules are good; meaning, which are worth following.
S: No, you use my judgment.
X: Ah, and now we're back on comfortable ground.

Convos from a project team.

( PROG ROCK )

I work at a web-based company.  I have this one task that I need to do every so often, which is creating test accounts for one of our clients.  I need to do the same steps, with the same credentials, in three different environments.

Please tell me there's some simple way of making something do that for me.  It can be any given tool, so long as it's installable/usable on Windows.  (So, Javascript would be just fine.)

I'm looking for a quick way to convert certain Unicode characters to the nearest ASCII equivalent.  For example, converting 'ı' to 'i'.

This is in upload files to our system at work, specifically in the email domain parts and in the country names (e.g., "Indıa").  We don't allow those in email domain parts, and the country names are lookup values, not text fields.

I can write a cumbersome thing in Excel, but I wanted to see if there was an easier workaround until the devs have the time to fix the code.

Work is trying to expand more into the international market, which among other things means treating taxes appropriately.  Pre-tax and post-tax taxes, for example.  My personal problem is, I'm finding it surprisingly difficult to find sample product and service receipts online for non-US and non-Canada countries.

If you live in a non-US/non-Canada country, could you please send me a copy of a products-based receipt (e.g., clothing) and a services-based receipt (e.g., hotel stay)?  Feel free to note if there are even more ridiculously specific taxes applied, like food versus clothing versus sales taxes, but for the most part, services is important.

xtina[at]dreamwith[dot]org should work as an email address.  I may want to give these copies to my boss, as examples; if you send something in, please (a) black out identifying details and (b) let me know if I may send these upwards to my boss.

Danke schön!