updating test_timeout to have a larger time margin so that the test does not fail on busy systems.  closes #129
Added exit_code attribute to SignalException and ErrorReturnCode exception classes.  closes #127
bugfix for unicode test cases on machine with ascii locale.  changed default
value of _decode_errors from "strict" to "replace".  closes #123
updating readme to be more accurate
Revert "bugfix for unicode test cases on machine with ascii locale.  changed default"

This reverts commit f4aa4bc423206cd38f6a0da41881e3fbc451ddb4.
Merge branch 'dev' into release-1.09
whitespace and formatting
fixing a ton of encoding errors related to ascii system encoding, closes #123
updates to changelog
adding test case for getting the exit code from the exception
enabling persist=True by default
documenting long_sep