sub get_date {
      # --------------------------------------------------------
      # Returns the date in the format "Mmmm dd, yyyy hh:mm ".
      # Warning: If you change the default format, you must also modify the &date_to_unix
      # subroutine below which converts your date format into a unix time in seconds for sorting
      # purposes.
        my ($time) = @_;
        ($time) || ($time = time());
                                      
        my ($sec, $min, $hour, $day, $mon, $year, $dweek, $dyear, $daylight) = localtime($time);
        
          ($day < 10) and ($day = "0$day");
          
         $mon += 1;
     ($mon < 10) and ($mon = "0$mon");                               
                                       
        $year = $year + 1900;
             
              if ($min < 10) {
                  $min = "0" . $min;
                 }
                 
              return "$mon\/$day\/$year $hour:$min:$sec";
                                       
         
          }


sub date_to_unix {

                my ($date) = @_[0];
		my ($time); 
                
                my ($mon, $day, $year) = split(/\//, $_[0]);  
                my ($hour, $min, $sec) = split(/:/, $_[0]);
                unless ($day and $mon and $year)  { return undef; } 
                                           use Time::Local; 
                                           eval { 
                                               $mon = int($mon) - 1; $day = int($day); $year = int($year) - 1900; 
                                            
                                            $time = timelocal($sec,$min,$hours,$day,$mon,$year); 
                                           }; 
                                           if ($@) { return undef; } # Could return 0 if you want. 
                                           return ($time); 
                                       }