var http_request = false;
   function makeRequest(url, parameters, callback ) {
	  document.getElementById('loadingDiv').style.visibility = "visible";
      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('Cannot create XMLHTTP instance');
         return false;
      }
//	  http_request.onreadystatechange = alertContents;	infoAlert
	  http_request.onreadystatechange = callback;
	  var date = new Date();
	  var timestamp = date.getTime();
      http_request.open('GET', url + parameters + '&UNIQUE=' + date + timestamp, true);
      http_request.send(null);
//	  document.getElementById('loadingDiv').style.visibility = "hidden";
   }
   function trim(stringToTrim) {
		return stringToTrim.replace(/^\s+|\s+$/g,"");
	}