function Set_Cookie( name, value, expires_hours, path, domain, secure ) 
		{
			// set time, it's in milliseconds
			var today = new Date();
			today.setTime( today.getTime() );
			
			//	if the expires variable is set, make the correct 
			//	expires time, the current script below will set 
			//	it for x number of days, to make it for hours, 
			//	delete * 24, for minutes, delete * 60 * 24
			
			if ( expires_hours ) {
//				expires = expires * 1000 * 60 * 60 * 24;
				expires_hours = expires_hours * 1000 * 60 * 60;
			}
			var expires_date = new Date( today.getTime() + (expires_hours) );
			
			document.cookie = name + "=" +escape( value ) + 
				( ( expires_hours ) ? ";expires=" + expires_date.toGMTString() : "" ) + 
				( ( path ) ? ";path=" + path : "" ) + 
				( ( domain ) ? ";domain=" + domain : "" ) +
				( ( secure ) ? ";secure" : "" );
		}
			
		
		// this fixes an issue with the old method, ambiguous values 
		// with this test document.cookie.indexOf( name + "=" );
		function Get_Cookie( check_name ) 
		{
			// first we'll split this cookie up into name/value pairs
			// note: document.cookie only returns name=value, not the other components
			var a_all_cookies = document.cookie.split( ';' );
			var a_temp_cookie = '';
			var cookie_name = '';
			var cookie_value = '';
			var b_cookie_found = false; // set boolean t/f default f
			
			for ( i = 0; i < a_all_cookies.length; i++ ) {
				// now we'll split apart each name=value pair
				a_temp_cookie = a_all_cookies[i].split( '=' );
				
				// and trim left/right whitespace while we're at it
				cookie_name = a_temp_cookie[0].replace(/^\s+|\s+$/g, '');
			
				// if the extracted name matches passed check_name
				if ( cookie_name == check_name ) {
					b_cookie_found = true;
		
					// we need to handle case where cookie has no value but exists (no = sign, that is):
					if ( a_temp_cookie.length > 1 ) {
						cookie_value = unescape( a_temp_cookie[1].replace(/^\s+|\s+$/g, '') );
					}
					// note that in cases where cookie is initialized but no value, null is returned
					return cookie_value;
					break;
				}
				a_temp_cookie = null;
				cookie_name = '';
			}
			if ( !b_cookie_found ) {
				return null;
			}
		}				
		
		// this deletes the cookie when called
		function Delete_Cookie( name, path, domain ) 
		{
			if ( Get_Cookie( name ) ) 
				document.cookie = name + "=" +
					( ( path ) ? ";path=" + path : "") +
					( ( domain ) ? ";domain=" + domain : "" ) +
					";expires=Thu, 01-Jan-1970 00:00:01 GMT";
		}
		
		
		function testCookie()
		{
			// remember, these are the possible parameters for Set_Cookie:
			// name, value, expires, path, domain, secure
			Set_Cookie( 'test', 'it works', '', '/', '', '' );
			if ( Get_Cookie( 'test' ) ) 
				alert( Get_Cookie('test'));
		
			// and these are the parameters for Delete_Cookie:
			// name, path, domain
			// make sure you use the same parameters in Set and Delete Cookie.
			Delete_Cookie('test', '/', '');
			if ( Get_Cookie( 'test' ) ) 
				alert( Get_Cookie('test')) ;
			else
				alert( 'it is gone');
		}