SIMPLE, secure user authentication

I'm looking for a good (simple) tutorial on user authentication. I want to create a login system that's secure, but I don't need all the features that PHPBuilder's "A Complete, Secure User Login System" scripts provide. (I don't need the the user to be able to register or confirm his account, change his email or password, etc.) Basically, I can/will set the usernames and passwords myself via MySQL. All I want the login system to do is securely check against the db and then create a session. That's the other problem. I'm a little confused about this cookie creation/session stuff. Am I correct in assuming that the way it works is that I should wrap every bit of PHP code around a isUserAuthenticated() function? I suppose what I need is a general tutorial on authentication, assuming the user of cookies, PHP4 and MySql. Any ideas?? (Thanks.) ...Rene --- Rene Fournier renefournier@yahoo.com