function base64_encode (data) {
    // http://kevin.vanzonneveld.net
    // +   original by: Tyler Akins (http://rumkin.com)
    // +   improved by: Bayron Guevara
    // +   improved by: Thunder.m
    // +   improved by: Kevin van Zonneveld (http://kevin.vanzonneveld.net)
    // +   bugfixed by: Pellentesque Malesuada
    // +   improved by: Kevin van Zonneveld (http://kevin.vanzonneveld.net)
    // -    depends on: utf8_encode
    // *     example 1: base64_encode('Kevin van Zonneveld');
    // *     returns 1: 'S2V2aW4gdmFuIFpvbm5ldmVsZA=='
    // mozilla has this native
    // - but breaks in 2.0.0.12!
    //if (typeof this.window['atob'] == 'function') {
    //    return atob(data);
    //}
    var b64 = "ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz0123456789+/=";
    var o1, o2, o3, h1, h2, h3, h4, bits, i = 0,
        ac = 0,
        enc = "",
        tmp_arr = [];

    if (!data) {
        return data;
    }

    //data = this.utf8_encode(data + '');

    do { // pack three octets into four hexets
        o1 = data.charCodeAt(i++);
        o2 = data.charCodeAt(i++);
        o3 = data.charCodeAt(i++);

        bits = o1 << 16 | o2 << 8 | o3;

        h1 = bits >> 18 & 0x3f;
        h2 = bits >> 12 & 0x3f;
        h3 = bits >> 6 & 0x3f;
        h4 = bits & 0x3f;

        // use hexets to index into b64, and append result to encoded string
        tmp_arr[ac++] = b64.charAt(h1) + b64.charAt(h2) + b64.charAt(h3) + b64.charAt(h4);
    } while (i < data.length);

    enc = tmp_arr.join('');

    switch (data.length % 3) {
    case 1:
        enc = enc.slice(0, -2) + '==';
        break;
    case 2:
        enc = enc.slice(0, -1) + '=';
        break;
    }

    return enc;
}