code: public static Object decodeToObject( String encodedObject )
      throws java.io.IOException, java.lang.ClassNotFoundException {
          return decodeToObject(encodedObject,NO_OPTIONS,null);
      }
docs: Attempts to decode Base64 data and deserialize a Java
  Object within. Returns <tt>null</tt> if there was an error.
  
  @param encodedObject The Base64 data to decode
  @return The decoded and deserialized object
  @throws NullPointerException if encodedObject is null
  @throws java.io.IOException if there is a general error
  @throws ClassNotFoundException if the decoded object is of a
  class that cannot be found by the JVM
  @since 1.5