My solution "count up" in jQuery.countdown

scripts.js

var elapse = true;
var element = $('.html_element');
var template = element.data('template');
var time = new Date(element.data('date') * 1000);
if (elapse){
    var finishDate = new Date().getTime();
} else {
    var finishDate = time.getFullYear() + '/' + (time.getMonth() + 1) + '/' + time.getDate();
}

element.countdown(finishDate, {
    elapse: elapse
}).on('update.countdown', function(event) {
    if (event.elapsed){
        var offset = getDateOffset((event.timeStamp - time) / 1000);
        var result = template;
        result = result.replace('%D', offset.days);
        result = result.replace('%H', offset.hours);
        result = result.replace('%M', offset.minutes);
        result = result.replace('%S', offset.seconds);
        element.html(result);
    } else {
        element.html(event.strftime(template));
    }
});

function getDateOffset(timeStamp){
    var seconds = parseInt(timeStamp, 10);

    var days = Math.floor(seconds / (3600 * 24));
    seconds  -= days * 3600 * 24;
    var hours   = Math.floor(seconds / 3600);
    seconds  -= hours * 3600;
    var minutes = Math.floor(seconds / 60);
    seconds  -= minutes * 60;

    return {
        days: days,
        hours: hours,
        minutes: minutes,
        seconds: seconds
    }
}