function makeRequest(url, myObjectName) {

    var httpRequest;

    if (window.XMLHttpRequest) { // Mozilla, Safari, ...
        httpRequest = new XMLHttpRequest();
        if (httpRequest.overrideMimeType) {
            httpRequest.overrideMimeType('text/xml');
            // See note below about this line
        }
    }
    else if (window.ActiveXObject) { // IE
        try {
            httpRequest = new ActiveXObject("Msxml2.XMLHTTP");
            }
            catch (e) {
                       try {
                            httpRequest = new ActiveXObject("Microsoft.XMLHTTP");
                           }
                         catch (e) {}
                      }
                                   }

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

}

function alertContents(httpRequest, myObjectName) {

	myObjectStatus = document.getElementById(myObjectName+'_loading');

    if (httpRequest.readyState == 4) {

    	myObjectStatus.style.visibility = 'hidden';

        if (httpRequest.status == 200) {

        	myObject = document.getElementById(myObjectName);
        	myObject.innerHTML = httpRequest.responseText;

        }
        else {
            //alert('There was a problem with the request.');
        }
    }
	else {
        myObjectStatus.style.visibility = 'visible';
	}

}