$.fn.equals = function( compareTo )
{
  var retval = ( compareTo && compareTo.length);
  if( retval && this.length == compareTo.length )
  {
    for( var i = 0; i < this.length; i++ )
    {
      if( this[i] !== compareTo[i] )
      {
        retval = false;
        break;
      }
    }
  }
  return retval;
}