function show(id, b) {
    $(id).style.display = (b ? "" : "none");
}

function $(id) {
    return document.getElementById(id);
}

function $v(id) {
    return $(id).value;
}

function $h(id, h) {
    $(id).innerHTML = h;
}

function isValidEmail(e) {
    var re = /^[a-z0-9][^\(\)\<\>\@\,\;\:\\\"\[\]]*\@[a-z0-9][a-z0-9\-\.]*\.[a-z]{2,4}$/i;
    return re.test(e);            
    //" ignore this line it just corrects a syntax highlighting bug in TextEdit
}