function aali_cookies_getCookie(name) {

   var value;

   value = (new RegExp(name + "=([^;]+)")).exec(document.cookie);
   return((value != null)? unescape(value[1]) : null);
}

function aali_cookies_setCookie(name, value, minutes) {
   document.cookie= name + "=" + escape(value) + ";expires=" + (new Date(new Date().getTime() + minutes * 60 * 1000)).toGMTString();
}