function getCookie(name){

  var cookies=document.cookie;
  var start=cookies.indexOf(name+"=");
  var end=cookies.indexOf(";",start+name.length+1);
  if ((start > -1) && (end > start))
    return unescape(cookies.substring(start+name.length+1,end));
  else
    return "";
}



function setCookie( name, value, expires, 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 )
  {
    expires = expires * 1000 * 60 * 60 * 24;
  }
  var expires_date = new Date( today.getTime() + (expires) );

  document.cookie = name + "=" +escape( value ) +
    ( ( domain ) ? ";domain=" + domain : "" ) +
    ( ( expires ) ? ";expires=" + expires_date.toGMTString() : "" ) +
    ( ( path ) ? ";path=" + path : "" ) +
    ( ( secure ) ? ";secure" : "" );
}