diff --git a/build/shared/examples/8.Strings/CharacterAnalysis/CharacterAnalysis.pde b/build/shared/examples/8.Strings/CharacterAnalysis/CharacterAnalysis.pde
index 602aa29fd..12baca9af 100644
--- a/build/shared/examples/8.Strings/CharacterAnalysis/CharacterAnalysis.pde
+++ b/build/shared/examples/8.Strings/CharacterAnalysis/CharacterAnalysis.pde
@@ -1,8 +1,7 @@
 /*
   Character analysis operators 
  
- Examples using the character analysis operators 
- from WCharacter.h, by Hernando Barragan.
+ Examples using the character analysis operators.
  Send any byte and the sketch will tell you about it.
  
  created 29 Nov 2010
@@ -11,8 +10,6 @@
  This example code is in the public domain.
  */
 
-#include <WCharacter.h>     // include the character analysis library
-
 void setup() {
   // Open serial communications:
   Serial.begin(9600);
diff --git a/build/shared/examples/8.Strings/StringToInt/StringToInt.pde b/build/shared/examples/8.Strings/StringToInt/StringToInt.pde
index e27fd26e2..a045ba327 100644
--- a/build/shared/examples/8.Strings/StringToInt/StringToInt.pde
+++ b/build/shared/examples/8.Strings/StringToInt/StringToInt.pde
@@ -13,9 +13,6 @@
  This example code is in the public domain. 
  */
 
-// include the character conversion functions:
-#include <WCharacter.h>
-
 String inString = "";    // string to hold input
 
 void setup() {
diff --git a/build/shared/examples/8.Strings/StringToIntRGB/StringToIntRGB.pde b/build/shared/examples/8.Strings/StringToIntRGB/StringToIntRGB.pde
index 8b36efbd0..342739db2 100644
--- a/build/shared/examples/8.Strings/StringToIntRGB/StringToIntRGB.pde
+++ b/build/shared/examples/8.Strings/StringToIntRGB/StringToIntRGB.pde
@@ -20,9 +20,6 @@
  This example code is in the public domain. 
  */
 
-// include the character conversion functions:
-#include <WCharacter.h>
-
 String inString = "";    // string to hold input
 int currentColor = 0;
 int red, green, blue = 0;
diff --git a/hardware/arduino/cores/arduino/WCharacter.h b/hardware/arduino/cores/arduino/WCharacter.h
index 9b3e7fca5..79733b50a 100644
--- a/hardware/arduino/cores/arduino/WCharacter.h
+++ b/hardware/arduino/cores/arduino/WCharacter.h
@@ -20,8 +20,7 @@
 #ifndef Character_h
 #define Character_h
 
-
-#include "WProgram.h"
+#include <ctype.h>
 
 // WCharacter.h prototypes
 inline boolean isAlphaNumeric(int c) __attribute__((always_inline));
@@ -117,8 +116,8 @@ inline boolean isPunct(int c)
 
 
 // Checks for white-space characters. For the avr-libc library, 
-// these are: space, formfeed (’\f’), newline (’\n’), carriage 
-// return (’\r’), horizontal tab (’\t’), and vertical tab (’\v’).
+// these are: space, formfeed ('\f'), newline ('\n'), carriage 
+// return ('\r'), horizontal tab ('\t'), and vertical tab ('\v').
 inline boolean isSpace(int c)
 {
   return ( isspace (c) == 0 ? false : true);
diff --git a/hardware/arduino/cores/arduino/WProgram.h b/hardware/arduino/cores/arduino/WProgram.h
index 5afecb48c..f73e760bb 100755
--- a/hardware/arduino/cores/arduino/WProgram.h
+++ b/hardware/arduino/cores/arduino/WProgram.h
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@
 #include "wiring.h"
 
 #ifdef __cplusplus
+#include "WCharacter.h"
 #include "WString.h"
 #include "HardwareSerial.h"
 
diff --git a/hardware/arduino/cores/arduino/WString.cpp b/hardware/arduino/cores/arduino/WString.cpp
index b13123b99..4de929616 100644
--- a/hardware/arduino/cores/arduino/WString.cpp
+++ b/hardware/arduino/cores/arduino/WString.cpp
@@ -437,16 +437,5 @@ void String::toCharArray(char *buf, unsigned int bufsize)
 
 
 long String::toInt() {
-  String temp = _buffer;
-  long value = 0;
-  
-  for (unsigned int charPos = 0; charPos < _length; charPos++) {
-    int thisChar = temp[charPos];
-    if (isdigit(thisChar)) {
-      value *= 10;
-      value += (thisChar - '0');
-    }
-  }
-  
-  return value;
+  return atol(_buffer);
 }