var common = {
    ieversion: function() {
        var version = 999; // we assume a sane browser
        if (navigator.appVersion.indexOf("MSIE") != -1)
        // bah, IE again, lets downgrade version number
            version = parseFloat(navigator.appVersion.split("MSIE")[1]);
        return version;
    },
    
    isIE: function() {
        var ie = false;
        if (navigator.appVersion.indexOf("MSIE") != -1)
            ie = true;
        return ie;
    }
}