//functions for countdowns and NEW indicators
            var montharray=new Array("Jan","Feb","Mar","Apr","May","Jun","Jul","Aug","Sep","Oct","Nov","Dec")

			// 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;
						cookie_value = unescape( a_temp_cookie[1].replace(/^\s+|\s+$/g, '') );
						return cookie_value;
						break;
					}
					a_temp_cookie = null;
					cookie_name = '';
				}
				if ( !b_cookie_found )
				{
					return null;
				}
			}				
        		

            function countdown(yr,m,d, prefix, suffix, spanClass){
                var today=new Date()
                var todayy=today.getYear()
                if (todayy < 1000)
                todayy+=1900
                var todaym=today.getMonth()
                var todayd=today.getDate()
                var todaystring=montharray[todaym]+" "+todayd+", "+todayy
                var futurestring=montharray[m-1]+" "+d+", "+yr
                var difference=(Math.round((Date.parse(futurestring)-Date.parse(todaystring))/(24*60*60*1000))*1)
                if (difference==1)
                    document.write(prefix + "<span class=\"" + spanClass + "\">"+difference+"</span> day " + suffix)
                else if (difference > 1)
                    document.write(prefix + "<span class=\"" + spanClass + "\">"+difference+"</span> days " + suffix)

            }
            
            //displays a NEW span if lastvisit cookie is less than yr,m,d
            function newMark(yr,m,d, spanClass){
                var lastVisit = Get_Cookie("LastVisit")            
                var postedstring=montharray[m-1]+" "+d+", "+yr

                if( Date.parse(postedstring) > Date.parse(lastVisit) )
                    document.write("<span class=\"" + spanClass + "\">NEW</span>")
            
            }
            //displays NEW image if lastvisit cookie is less than yr,m,d
            function newMarkImage(yr,m,d, imageUrl){
                var lastVisit = Get_Cookie("LastVisit")            
                var postedstring=montharray[m-1]+" "+d+", "+yr

                if( Date.parse(postedstring) > Date.parse(lastVisit) )
                    document.write("<img src=\"" + imageUrl + "\">")
            
            }