function getCookie(key) {
	var cookieValue = null;

	if (key) {
		var cookieSearch = key + "=";

		if (document.cookie) {
			var cookieArray = document.cookie.split(";");
			for ( var i = 0; i < cookieArray.length; i++) {
				var cookieString = cookieArray[i];

				// skip past leading spaces
				while (cookieString.charAt(0) == ' ') {
					cookieString = cookieString.substr(1);
				}

				// extract the actual value
				if (cookieString.indexOf(cookieSearch) == 0) {
					cookieValue = cookieString.substr(cookieSearch.length);
				}
			}
		}
	}

	return cookieValue;
}

function setCookie(key, val) {
	if (key) {
		var date = new Date();
		
		if (val != null) {
			// expires in one year
			//date.setTime(date.getTime() + (365 * 24 * 60 * 60 * 1000));
			// 3 hours
			date.setTime(date.getTime() + (1 * 3 * 60 * 60 * 1000));
			document.cookie = key + "=" + val + "; expires="
					+ date.toGMTString();
		} else {
			// expires yesterday
			
			date.setTime(date.getTime() - (24 * 60 * 60 * 1000));
			document.cookie = key + "=; expires=" + date.toGMTString();
		}
	}
}