function makeRequest(url) {
				http_request = false;
				if (window.XMLHttpRequest) { 
					http_request = new XMLHttpRequest();
					if (http_request.overrideMimeType) {
						http_request.overrideMimeType("text/xml");					
					}
				} else if (window.ActiveXObject) { 
					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);
			}