//--------------------------------------------------------------------
	// filename: HttpRequest.js
	//--------------------------------------------------------------------

		var http_request = false;

		function makeRequest(url) {

			http_request = false;

			if (window.XMLHttpRequest) { // Mozilla, Safari,...
				http_request = new XMLHttpRequest();
				if (http_request.overrideMimeType) {
					http_request.overrideMimeType('text/xml');
				}
			} else if (window.ActiveXObject) { // IE
				try {
					http_request = new ActiveXObject("Msxml2.XMLHTTP");
				} catch (e) {
					try {
					http_request = new ActiveXObject("Microsoft.XMLHTTP");
					} catch (e) {}
				}
			}

			if (!http_request) {
				alert('Giving up :( Cannot create an XMLHTTP instance');
				return false;
			}
			http_request.onreadystatechange = alertContents;
			http_request.open('GET', url, true);
			http_request.send(null);

		}

		function alertContents() {

			if (http_request.readyState == 4) {
				if (http_request.status == 200) {
					$("response").innerHTML = http_request.responseText;
				} else {
					alert('There was a problem with the request.');
				}
			}

		}