function _read_file($filename)
	{
		if ( file_exists($filename) && ($fd = @fopen($filename, 'rb')) ) {
			$contents = '';
			while (!feof($fd)) {
				$contents .= fread($fd, 8192);
			}
			fclose($fd);
			return $contents;
		} else {
			return false;
		}
	}