diff --git a/project.properties b/project.properties
index fafceaf..3d65818 100644
--- a/project.properties
+++ b/project.properties
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
-#Sat, 21 Sep 2013 02:27:46 -0500
+#Sun, 21 Sep 2014 03:05:17 -0500
 name=jdb-util
-version=2.2
+version=2.3
 lib.local=true
 
-build.number=8
+build.number=9
diff --git a/src/main/com/jdbernard/net/HttpContext.groovy b/src/main/com/jdbernard/net/HttpContext.groovy
index fbe3162..34e31ba 100644
--- a/src/main/com/jdbernard/net/HttpContext.groovy
+++ b/src/main/com/jdbernard/net/HttpContext.groovy
@@ -4,6 +4,10 @@
 package com.jdbernard.net
 
 import java.net.Socket
+import java.net.URLEncoder
+import javax.net.ssl.SSLSocket
+import javax.net.ssl.SSLSocketFactory
+import javax.xml.bind.DatatypeConverter
 import groovy.json.JsonBuilder
 import groovy.json.JsonSlurper
 
@@ -15,19 +19,34 @@ public class HttpContext {
     public String host = 'vbs-test'
 
     /** The port number.*/
-    public int port = 8000
+    public int port = 80
 
     /** A cookie value to send in the request. This value will be automatically
       * set from any `Set-Cookie` header in the request response. */
     public String cookie
 
+    /** HTTP Basic Authentication information. If this is a string, it will be
+      * Base64 encoded as-is. Otherwise it may be an object with "username" and
+      * "password" properties. The username and password will be concatenated
+      * with a colon in between. The result will be Base64 encoded. */
+    public def basicAuth
+
+    /** Set this to `true` to use HTTPS. Otherwise, HTTP will be used. */
+    public boolean secure = false
+
+    /** The default Content-Type that we will send with our requests. This can
+      * be overridden using the different method overloads. */
+    public String defaultContentType = "application/json"
+
+    private SSLSocketFactory sslSocketFactory = null;
+
     /** #### makeMessage
       * Make and return an HTTP request for the given HTTP method and URL. If
       * `request` is not null, it is expected to be an object which will be
       * converted to JSON and included as the request body. The `Host`,
       * `Cookie`, and `Content-Length` headers will be added based on the
       * `host` and `cookie` fields and the `request` object. */
-    public String makeMessage(String method, String url, def request) {
+    public String makeMessage(String method, String url, String contentType, def request) {
         StringBuilder message = new StringBuilder()
         message.append(method)
         message.append(" ")
@@ -46,24 +65,60 @@ public class HttpContext {
             message.append(cookie)
             message.append("\r\n") }
 
+        if (basicAuth) {
+            message.append("Authorization: Basic ")
+
+            if (basicAuth instanceof String) message.append(
+                DatatypeConverter.printBase64Binary(
+                    (basicAuth as String).bytes))
+
+            else message.append(
+                DatatypeConverter.printBase64Binary(
+                    "${basicAuth.username ?: ''}:${basicAuth.password ?: ''}".bytes)) 
+            
+            message.append("\r\n") }
+
+        if (contentType) {
+            message.append("Content-Type: ")
+            message.append(contentType)
+            message.append("\r\n") }
+
         if (request) {
-            def jsonRequestBuilder = new JsonBuilder(request)
-            String requestBody = jsonRequestBuilder.toString()
+            String requestBody
+            if (contentType.startsWith("application/json") &&
+                request instanceof Map) {
+                def jsonRequestBuilder = new JsonBuilder(request)
+                requestBody = jsonRequestBuilder.toString() }
+
+            else if (contentType.startsWith("application/x-www-form-urlencoded") &&
+                request instanceof Map)
+                requestBody = urlEncode(request)
+
+            else requestBody = request.toString()
 
             message.append("Content-Length: ")
             message.append(requestBody.length())
             message.append("\r\n\r\n")
-            message.append(requestBody) }
+            message.append(requestBody)
+
+            message.append("\r\n") }
+        else message.append("\r\n")
 
-        message.append("\r\n")
         return message.toString()
     }
 
+   /** #### send
+      * A wrapper around `makeMessage` and `send(String message)` to create a
+      * request, send it, and return the response. This version allows you to
+      * specify the request's Content-Type.*/
+    public def send(String method, String url, String contentType, def request) {
+        return send(makeMessage(method, url, contentType, request)) }
+
    /** #### send
       * A wrapper around `makeMessage` and `send(String message)` to create a
       * request, send it, and return the response. */
     public def send(String method, String url, def request) {
-        return send(makeMessage(method, url, request)) }
+        return send(makeMessage(method, url, defaultContentType, request)) }
 
     /** #### send
       * Send a message to the host specified by the object's `host` and `port`
@@ -79,7 +134,18 @@ public class HttpContext {
       */
     public def send(String message) {
         Map result = [headers:[], content: null]
-        Socket sock = new Socket(host, port)
+
+        Socket sock
+        
+        if (secure) {
+            if (!sslSocketFactory)
+                sslSocketFactory = SSLSocketFactory.getDefault()
+
+            sock = sslSocketFactory.createSocket(host, port)
+        }
+        
+        else sock = new Socket(host, port)
+
         def startTime
 
         sock.withStreams { strin, out ->
@@ -164,4 +230,18 @@ public class HttpContext {
       * `send(String method, String url, def request)` with `method =
       * "POST"`. */
     public def post(String url, def body) { return send('POST', url, body) }
+
+    /** #### post
+      * A wrapper to perform a `POST` request. This calls
+      * `send(String method, String url, def request)` with `method =
+      * "POST"`. This version also allows you to set the request's
+      * Content-Type. */
+    public def post(String url, String contentType, def body) {
+        return send('POST', url, contentType, body) }
+
+    private String urlEncode(Map m) {
+        List<String> parts = m.collect { k, v ->
+            "$k=${URLEncoder.encode(v.toString(), 'UTF-8')}" }
+        return parts.join("&") }
+
 }