code: function standardizeCols(columns) {
  
  	/**
  	 * Gets the default column name
  	 */
  	function getDefaultFormatter(colName) {
  		return function(o) {
  			return o[colName];
  		};
  	}
  
  	/**
  	 * Gets the default column sorter
  	 */
  	function getDefaultSorter(colName) {
  		return function(a, b, dir){
  
  			var 
  				firstRec = dir == 'asc' ? a : b,
  				secondRec = dir == 'asc' ? b : a,
  
  				fA = firstRec[colName].toLowerCase(),
  				fB = secondRec[colName].toLowerCase();
  
  			// Handle numbers
  			if (fA<fB) return -1
  			if (fA>fB) return +1
  			return 0
  		};
  	}
  
  
  	for (var i in columns) {
  		var column = columns[i];
  
  		if (typeof column == "string") {
  			column = {name: column};
  		}
  
  		column.dir = column.sortDir || 'asc';
  		column.formatter = column.formatter || getDefaultFormatter(column.key || column.name);
  		column.sorter = column.sorter || getDefaultSorter(column.key || column.name);
  
  		columns[i] = column;
  	}
  	return columns;
  }
docs: Standardizes the column definitions
  E.g., if the user passes a string for a column def, fill out the defaults