// *************************************************
    // Experimental javascript countdown timer (Splarka)
    // Version 0.0.3
    // *************************************************
    //
    // Usage example:
    //  <span class="countdown" style="display:none;">
    //  Only <span class="countdowndate">January 01 2007 00:00:00 PST</span> until New years.
    //  </span>
    //  <span class="nocountdown">Javascript disabled.</span>

    function updatetimer(i) {
        var now = new Date();
        var then = timers[i].eventdate;
        var diff = count=Math.floor((then.getTime()-now.getTime())/1000);

        // catch bad date strings
        if(isNaN(diff)) {
            timers[i].firstChild.nodeValue = '** ' + timers[i].eventdate + ' **' ;
            return;
        }

        // determine plus/minus
        if(diff<0) {
            diff = -diff;
            var tpm = 'T plus ';
        } else {
            var tpm = 'T minus ';
        }

        // calcuate the diff
        var left = (diff%60) + ' seconds';
        diff=Math.floor(diff/60);
        if(diff > 0) left = (diff%60) + ' minutes ' + left;
        diff=Math.floor(diff/60);
        if(diff > 0) left = (diff%24) + ' hours ' + left;
        diff=Math.floor(diff/24);
        if(diff > 0) left = diff + ' days ' + left
        timers[i].firstChild.nodeValue = tpm + left;

        // a setInterval() is more efficient, but calling setTimeout()
        // makes errors break the script rather than infinitely recurse
        timeouts[i] = setTimeout('updatetimer(' + i + ')',1000);
    }

    function checktimers() {
        //hide 'nocountdown' and show 'countdown'
        var nocountdowns = getElementsByClassName(document, 'span', 'nocountdown');
        for(var i in nocountdowns) nocountdowns[i].style.display = 'none'
        var countdowns = getElementsByClassName(document, 'span', 'countdown');
        for(var i in countdowns) countdowns[i].style.display = 'inline'

        //set up global objects timers and timeouts.
        timers = getElementsByClassName(document, 'span', 'countdowndate');  //global
        timeouts = new Array(); // generic holder for the timeouts, global
        if(timers.length == 0) return;
        for(var i in timers) {
            timers[i].eventdate = new Date(timers[i].firstChild.nodeValue);
            updatetimer(i);  //start it up
        }
    }
    addOnloadHook(checktimers);