code: def to_unicode(str_or_unicode, precise=False):
      
      if not isinstance(str_or_unicode, six.text_type):
          encoding = quick_detect_encoding(str_or_unicode) if precise else 'utf-8'
          return six.text_type(str_or_unicode, encoding, 'replace')
      return str_or_unicode
docs: Safely returns a unicode version of a given string
      >>> utils.to_unicode('привет')
          u'привет'
      >>> utils.to_unicode(u'привет')
          u'привет'
      If `precise` flag is True, tries to guess the correct encoding first.