function serialize( mixed_value ) {
	// %          note: We feel the main purpose of this function should be to ease the transport of data between php & js
	// %          note: Aiming for PHP-compatibility, we have to translate objects to arrays
	// *     example 1: serialize(['Kevin', 'van', 'Zonneveld']);
	// *     returns 1: 'a:3:{i:0;s:5:"Kevin";i:1;s:3:"van";i:2;s:9:"Zonneveld";}'
	// *     example 2: serialize({firstName: 'Kevin', midName: 'van', surName: 'Zonneveld'});
	// *     returns 2: 'a:3:{s:9:"firstName";s:5:"Kevin";s:7:"midName";s:3:"van";s:7:"surName";s:9:"Zonneveld";}'

	var _getType = function( inp ) {
		var type = typeof inp, match;
		var key;
		if (type == 'object' && !inp) {
			return 'null';
		}
		if (type == "object") {
			if (!inp.constructor) {
				return 'object';
			}
			var cons = inp.constructor.toString();
			if (match = cons.match(/(\w+)\(/)) {
				cons = match[1].toLowerCase();
			}
			var types = ["boolean", "number", "string", "array"];
			for (key in types) {
				if (cons == types[key]) {
					type = types[key];
					break;
				}
			}
		}
		return type;
	};
	var type = _getType(mixed_value);
	var val, ktype = '';

	switch (type) {
		case "function":
		val = "";
		break;
		case "undefined":
		val = "N";
		break;
		case "boolean":
		val = "b:" + (mixed_value ? "1" : "0");
		break;
		case "number":
		val = (Math.round(mixed_value) == mixed_value ? "i" : "d") + ":" + mixed_value;
		break;
		case "string":
		val = "s:" + mixed_value.length + ":\"" + mixed_value + "\"";
		break;
		case "array":
		case "object":
		val = "a";
		/*
		if (type == "object") {
		var objname = mixed_value.constructor.toString().match(/(\w+)\(\)/);
		if (objname == undefined) {
		return;
		}
		objname[1] = serialize(objname[1]);
		val = "O" + objname[1].substring(1, objname[1].length - 1);
		}
		*/
		var count = 0;
		var vals = "";
		var okey;
		var key;
		for (key in mixed_value) {
			ktype = _getType(mixed_value[key]);
			if (ktype == "function") {
				continue;
			}

			okey = (key.match(/^[0-9]+$/) ? parseInt(key) : key);
			vals += serialize(okey) +
			serialize(mixed_value[key]);
			count++;
		}
		val += ":" + count + ":{" + vals + "}";
		break;
	}
	if (type != "object" && type != "array") val += ";";
	return val;
}

function unserialize(data){
	// %            note: We feel the main purpose of this function should be to ease the transport of data between php & js
	// %            note: Aiming for PHP-compatibility, we have to translate objects to arrays
	// *       example 1: unserialize('a:3:{i:0;s:5:"Kevin";i:1;s:3:"van";i:2;s:9:"Zonneveld";}');
	// *       returns 1: ['Kevin', 'van', 'Zonneveld']
	// *       example 2: unserialize('a:3:{s:9:"firstName";s:5:"Kevin";s:7:"midName";s:3:"van";s:7:"surName";s:9:"Zonneveld";}');
	// *       returns 2: {firstName: 'Kevin', midName: 'van', surName: 'Zonneveld'}

	var error = function (type, msg, filename, line){throw new window[type](msg, filename, line);};
	var read_until = function (data, offset, stopchr){
		var buf = [];
		var chr = data.slice(offset, offset + 1);
		var i = 2;
		while (chr != stopchr) {
			if ((i+offset) > data.length) {
				error('Error', 'Invalid');
			}
			buf.push(chr);
			chr = data.slice(offset + (i - 1),offset + i);
			i += 1;
		}
		return [buf.length, buf.join('')];
	};
	var read_chrs = function (data, offset, length){
		var buf;

		buf = [];
		for(var i = 0;i < length;i++){
			var chr = data.slice(offset + (i - 1),offset + i);
			buf.push(chr);
		}
		return [buf.length, buf.join('')];
	};
	var _unserialize = function (data, offset){
		var readdata;
		var readData;
		var chrs = 0;
		var ccount;
		var stringlength;
		var keyandchrs;
		var keys;

		if(!offset) offset = 0;
		var dtype = (data.slice(offset, offset + 1)).toLowerCase();

		var dataoffset = offset + 2;
		var typeconvert = new Function('x', 'return x');

		switch(dtype){
			case "i":
			typeconvert = new Function('x', 'return parseInt(x)');
			readData = read_until(data, dataoffset, ';');
			chrs = readData[0];
			readdata = readData[1];
			dataoffset += chrs + 1;
			break;
			case "b":
			typeconvert = new Function('x', 'return (parseInt(x) == 1)');
			readData = read_until(data, dataoffset, ';');
			chrs = readData[0];
			readdata = readData[1];
			dataoffset += chrs + 1;
			break;
			case "d":
			typeconvert = new Function('x', 'return parseFloat(x)');
			readData = read_until(data, dataoffset, ';');
			chrs = readData[0];
			readdata = readData[1];
			dataoffset += chrs + 1;
			break;
			case "n":
			readdata = null;
			break;
			case "s":
			ccount = read_until(data, dataoffset, ':');
			chrs = ccount[0];
			stringlength = ccount[1];
			dataoffset += chrs + 2;

			readData = read_chrs(data, dataoffset+1, parseInt(stringlength));
			chrs = readData[0];
			readdata = readData[1];
			dataoffset += chrs + 2;
			if(chrs != parseInt(stringlength) && chrs != readdata.length){
				error('SyntaxError', 'String length mismatch');
			}
			break;
			case "a":
			readdata = {};

			keyandchrs = read_until(data, dataoffset, ':');
			chrs = keyandchrs[0];
			keys = keyandchrs[1];
			dataoffset += chrs + 2;

			for(var i = 0;i < parseInt(keys);i++){
				var kprops = _unserialize(data, dataoffset);
				var kchrs = kprops[1];
				var key = kprops[2];
				dataoffset += kchrs;

				var vprops = _unserialize(data, dataoffset);
				var vchrs = vprops[1];
				var value = vprops[2];
				dataoffset += vchrs;

				readdata[key] = value;
			}

			dataoffset += 1;
			break;
			default:
			error('SyntaxError', 'Unknown / Unhandled data type(s): ' + dtype);
			break;
		}
		return [dtype, dataoffset - offset, typeconvert(readdata)];
	};
	return _unserialize(data, 0)[2];
}