Easy Query String in JavaScript

One feature that is missing from both core JavaScript and jQuery is the ability to parse data from the query string. I include (and use) this function in nearly all of my applications.

function Q$(name) {
    var reQs, val;
    reQs = new RegExp("[\\?&]" + name + "=([^&#]*)", "i");
    val = reQs.exec(parent.location.search);
    return (val) ? unescape(val[1]) : "";
}