//the ajax object
	function ajaxObject(url, callbackFunction) {
	  var that=this;      
	  this.updating = false;
	  this.abort = function() {
		if (that.updating) {
		  that.updating=false;
		  that.AJAX.abort();
		  that.AJAX=null;
		}
	  }
	  
	  //the update function which makes the call
	  this.update = function(passData,postMethod) { 
		if (that.updating) { return false; }
		that.AJAX = null;                          
		if (window.XMLHttpRequest) {              
		  that.AJAX=new XMLHttpRequest();              
		} else {                                  
		  that.AJAX=new ActiveXObject("Microsoft.XMLHTTP");
		}                                             
		if (that.AJAX==null) {                             
		  return false;                               
		} else {
		  that.AJAX.onreadystatechange = function() {  
			if (that.AJAX.readyState==4) {             
			  that.updating=false;                
			  that.callback(that.AJAX.responseText,that.AJAX.status,that.AJAX.responseXML);        
			  that.AJAX=null;                                         
			}                                                      
		  }                                                        
		  that.updating = new Date();                              
		  if (/post/i.test(postMethod)) {
			var uri=urlCall+'?'+that.updating.getTime();
			that.AJAX.open("POST", uri, true);
			that.AJAX.setRequestHeader("Content-type", "application/x-www-form-urlencoded");
			that.AJAX.setRequestHeader("Content-Length", passData.length);
			that.AJAX.send(passData);
		  } else {
			var uri=urlCall+'?'+passData+'&timestamp='+(that.updating.getTime()); 
			that.AJAX.open("GET", uri, true);                             
			that.AJAX.send(null);                                         
		  }              
		  return true;                                             
		}                                                                           
	  }
	  
	  var urlCall = url;        
	  this.callback = callbackFunction || function () { };
	}
	
	function getStyleObject(objectId) {
		// cross-browser function to get an object's style object given its
		if(document.getElementById && document.getElementById(objectId)) {
		// W3C DOM
		return document.getElementById(objectId).style;
		} else if (document.all && document.all(objectId)) {
		// MSIE 4 DOM
		return document.all(objectId).style;
		} else if (document.layers && document.layers[objectId]) {
		// NN 4 DOM.. note: this won't find nested layers
		return document.layers[objectId];
		} else {
		return false;
    	}
	}