I appreciate the smiley. Trust me when I say I cannot install modules in this environment. It's not physically impossible, it is forbidden by $management. I'm not going to risk my job over this. That said, I could probably sneak in a few dozen lines of horked code without too much repercussions.

That bit about "working with your manager" is particularly funny, because it isn't just a "manager", it's an entire bureaucracy.

Do you have a personal laptop?

Install perl. Generate some data that mirrors the nature and size of your work data. Write the program that throws it into an sqllite db and queries every which way using sql.

Show you boss. Tell him how long it took you. Tell him how long it would take you do it without the modules you used. Ask him to ask one of your colleagues to give a similar estimate.

I worked one place where I knew up-front such a demonstration would have been taken very badly and I wouldn't have tried it, but most places it stood a chance of making things better.

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With the rise and rise of 'Social' network sites: 'Computers are making people easier to use everyday'

Examine what is said, not who speaks -- Silence betokens consent -- Love the truth but pardon error.

"Science is about questioning the status quo. Questioning authority".

In the absence of evidence, opinion is indistinguishable from prejudice.

Thanks. For reasons which would not fit in the margin of this internet, I cannot do what you said. But your advice will, I'm confident, help another monk in the future. :-)