diff --git a/libraries/shared/src/ByteCountCoding.h b/libraries/shared/src/ByteCountCoding.h
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..4790fd20bb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/libraries/shared/src/ByteCountCoding.h
@@ -0,0 +1,168 @@
+//
+//  ByteCountCoding.h
+//  libraries/shared/src
+//
+//  Created by Brad Hefta-Gaub on 6/3/14.
+//  Copyright 2014 High Fidelity, Inc.
+//
+//  Distributed under the Apache License, Version 2.0.
+//  See the accompanying file LICENSE or http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0.html
+//
+//
+// TODO:
+//   * handle signed types better, check for - numeric_limits<type>::is_signed
+//   * test extra long buffer with garbage data at end...
+
+#ifndef hifi_ByteCountCoding_h
+#define hifi_ByteCountCoding_h
+
+#include <algorithm>
+#include <cassert>
+#include <climits>
+#include <limits>
+
+#include <QBitArray>
+#include <QByteArray>
+
+#include "SharedUtil.h"
+
+template<typename T> class ByteCountCoded {
+public:
+    T data;
+    ByteCountCoded(T input = 0) : data(input) { 
+        assert(!std::numeric_limits<T>::is_signed); // we don't yet support signed types
+    };
+
+    ByteCountCoded(const QByteArray& fromEncoded) : data(0) { decode(fromEncoded); }
+
+    QByteArray encode() const;
+    void decode(const QByteArray& fromEncoded);
+
+    bool operator==(const ByteCountCoded& other) const { return data == other.data; }
+    bool operator!=(const ByteCountCoded& other) const { return data != other.data; }
+    bool operator!() const { return data == 0; }
+
+     operator QByteArray() const { return encode(); };
+     operator T() const { return data; };
+};
+
+template<typename T> inline QByteArray& operator<<(QByteArray& out, const ByteCountCoded<T>& value) {
+    return out = value;
+}
+
+template<typename T> inline QByteArray& operator>>(QByteArray& in, ByteCountCoded<T>& value) {
+    value.decode(in);
+    return in;
+}
+
+template<typename T> inline QByteArray ByteCountCoded<T>::encode() const {
+    QByteArray output;
+
+    //qDebug() << "data=";
+    //outputBufferBits((const unsigned char*)&data, sizeof(data));
+    
+    T totalBits = sizeof(data) * BITS_IN_BYTE;
+    //qDebug() << "totalBits=" << totalBits;
+    T valueBits = totalBits;
+    bool firstValueFound = false;
+    T temp = data;
+    T lastBitMask = (T)(1) << (totalBits - 1);
+
+    //qDebug() << "lastBitMask=";
+    //outputBufferBits((const unsigned char*)&lastBitMask, sizeof(lastBitMask));
+
+    // determine the number of bits that the value takes
+    for (int bitAt = 0; bitAt < totalBits; bitAt++) {
+        T bitValue = (temp & lastBitMask) == lastBitMask;
+        //qDebug() << "bitValue[" << bitAt <<"]=" << bitValue;
+        if (!firstValueFound) {
+            if (bitValue == 0) {
+                valueBits--;
+            } else {
+                firstValueFound = true;
+            }
+        }
+        temp = temp << 1;
+    }
+    qDebug() << "valueBits=" << valueBits;
+    
+    // calculate the number of total bytes, including our header
+    // BITS_IN_BYTE-1 because we need to code the number of bytes in the header
+    // + 1 because we always take at least 1 byte, even if number of bits is less than a bytes worth
+    int numberOfBytes = (valueBits / (BITS_IN_BYTE - 1)) + 1; 
+    //qDebug() << "numberOfBytes=" << numberOfBytes;
+
+    //int numberOfBits = numberOfBytes + valueBits;
+    //qDebug() << "numberOfBits=" << numberOfBits;
+    
+    output.fill(0, numberOfBytes);
+
+    // next pack the number of header bits in, the first N-1 to be set to 1, the last to be set to 0
+    for(int i = 0; i < numberOfBytes; i++) {
+        int outputIndex = i;
+        T bitValue = (i < (numberOfBytes - 1)  ? 1 : 0);
+        char original = output.at(outputIndex / BITS_IN_BYTE);
+        int shiftBy = BITS_IN_BYTE - ((outputIndex % BITS_IN_BYTE) + 1);
+        char thisBit = ( bitValue << shiftBy);
+        output[i / BITS_IN_BYTE] = (original | thisBit);
+    }
+
+    // finally pack the the actual bits from the bit array
+    temp = data;
+    for(int i = numberOfBytes; i < (numberOfBytes + valueBits); i++) {
+        int outputIndex = i;
+        T bitValue = (temp & 1);
+        char original = output.at(outputIndex / BITS_IN_BYTE);
+        int shiftBy = BITS_IN_BYTE - ((outputIndex % BITS_IN_BYTE) + 1);
+        char thisBit = ( bitValue << shiftBy);
+        output[i / BITS_IN_BYTE] = (original | thisBit);
+
+        temp = temp >> 1;
+    }
+    return output;
+}
+
+template<typename T> inline void ByteCountCoded<T>::decode(const QByteArray& fromEncodedBytes) {
+
+    // first convert the ByteArray into a BitArray...
+    QBitArray encodedBits;
+    int bitCount = BITS_IN_BYTE * fromEncodedBytes.count();
+    encodedBits.resize(bitCount);
+    
+    for(int byte = 0; byte < fromEncodedBytes.count(); byte++) {
+        char originalByte = fromEncodedBytes.at(byte);
+        for(int bit = 0; bit < BITS_IN_BYTE; bit++) {
+            int shiftBy = BITS_IN_BYTE - (bit + 1);
+            char maskBit = ( 1 << shiftBy);
+            bool bitValue = originalByte & maskBit;
+            encodedBits.setBit(byte * BITS_IN_BYTE + bit, bitValue);
+        }
+    }
+    
+    // next, read the leading bits to determine the correct number of bytes to decode (may not match the QByteArray)
+    int encodedByteCount = 0;
+    int bitAt;
+    for (bitAt = 0; bitAt < bitCount; bitAt++) {
+        if (encodedBits.at(bitAt)) {
+            encodedByteCount++;
+        } else {
+            break;
+        }
+    }
+    encodedByteCount++; // always at least one byte
+    int expectedBitCount = encodedByteCount * BITS_IN_BYTE;
+    
+    // Now, keep reading...
+    int valueStartsAt = bitAt + 1; 
+    T value = 0;
+    T bitValue = 1;
+    for (bitAt = valueStartsAt; bitAt < expectedBitCount; bitAt++) {
+        if(encodedBits.at(bitAt)) {
+            value += bitValue;
+        }
+        bitValue *= 2;
+    }
+    data = value;
+}
+#endif // hifi_ByteCountCoding_h
+
diff --git a/libraries/shared/src/PropertyFlags.h b/libraries/shared/src/PropertyFlags.h
index b9253379c6..1c40e79655 100644
--- a/libraries/shared/src/PropertyFlags.h
+++ b/libraries/shared/src/PropertyFlags.h
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@
 //
 // TODO:
 //   * consider adding iterator to enumerate the properties that have been set?
+//   * operator QSet<Enum> - this would be easiest way to handle enumeration
 
 #ifndef hifi_PropertyFlags_h
 #define hifi_PropertyFlags_h
@@ -33,6 +34,8 @@ public:
             _trailingFlipped(other._trailingFlipped) {}
     inline PropertyFlags(Enum flag) : 
             _maxFlag(INT_MIN), _minFlag(INT_MAX), _trailingFlipped(false)  { setHasProperty(flag); }
+    inline PropertyFlags(const QByteArray& fromEncoded) : 
+            _maxFlag(INT_MIN), _minFlag(INT_MAX), _trailingFlipped(false) { decode(fromEncoded); }
 
     void clear() { _flags.clear(); _maxFlag = INT_MIN; _minFlag = INT_MAX; _trailingFlipped = false; }
 
@@ -41,9 +44,11 @@ public:
     
     void setHasProperty(Enum flag, bool value = true);
     bool getHasProperty(Enum flag);
-    QByteArray encode();
+    QByteArray encode() const;
     void decode(const QByteArray& fromEncoded);
 
+     operator QByteArray() const { return encode(); };
+
 
     bool operator==(const PropertyFlags& other) const { return _flags == other._flags; }
     bool operator!=(const PropertyFlags& other) const { return _flags != other._flags; }
@@ -142,7 +147,7 @@ template<typename Enum> inline bool PropertyFlags<Enum>::getHasProperty(Enum fla
 
 const int BITS_PER_BYTE = 8;
 
-template<typename Enum> inline QByteArray PropertyFlags<Enum>::encode() {
+template<typename Enum> inline QByteArray PropertyFlags<Enum>::encode() const {
     QByteArray output;
     
     if (_maxFlag < _minFlag) {
@@ -414,5 +419,14 @@ template<typename Enum> inline void PropertyFlags<Enum>::shinkIfNeeded() {
     }
 }
 
+template<typename Enum> inline QByteArray& operator<<(QByteArray& out, const PropertyFlags<Enum>& value) {
+    return out = value;
+}
+
+template<typename Enum> inline QByteArray& operator>>(QByteArray& in, PropertyFlags<Enum>& value) {
+    value.decode(in);
+    return in;
+}
+
 #endif // hifi_PropertyFlags_h