public static Object deserialize(String input) throws IOException, ClassNotFoundException {
  byte[] decoded=Base64.decodeBase64(input.getBytes("UTF-8"));
  return deserialize(decoded);
}

public static Object deserialize ( String input ) throws IOException , ClassNotFoundException { byte [ ] decoded = Base64 . decodeBase64 ( input . getBytes ( "UTF-8" ) ) ; return deserialize ( decoded ) ; }
base64 decodes a string into a decoded byte array , then deserializes the object .
