code: public static boolean convertToBoolean(String s)
    {
      if(s == null)
        return false;
  
      if(s.equals("false") || s.equals("no") || s.equals("off"))
        return false;
  
  //    if(s.equals("true") || s.equals("yes") || s.equals("on"))
  //      return true;
  
      return true;
    }
docs: Converts the string into a boolean value. <code>true</code> or
  <code>yes</code> are considered to be <code>true</code>. <code>false</code>
  or <code>no</code> are <code>false</code>.
  
  @param s the string to convert
  @return a <code>boolean</code>