code: def _get_attr_list(self, attr):
          
          a = self._attrs.get(attr)
          if not a:
              return []
          if type(a) is list:
              r = [i.decode('utf-8', 'ignore') for i in a]
          else:
              r = [a.decode('utf-8', 'ignore')]
          return r
docs: Return user's attribute/attributes