// Ajax Functions for the page

function getAjaxObject()
{
	var object;  // The variable that makes Ajax possible!
	try
	{
		// Opera 8.0+, Firefox, Safari
		object = new XMLHttpRequest();
	}
	catch (e)
	{
		// Internet Explorer Browsers
		try
		{
			object = new ActiveXObject("Msxml2.XMLHTTP");
		}
		catch (e)
		{
			try
			{
				object = new ActiveXObject("Microsoft.XMLHTTP");
			}
			catch (e)
			{
				// Something went wrong
				alert("This function requires the use of Javascript. Please enable Javascript from the Tools menu of your web browser. We apologize for any inconvenience.");
				return false;
			}
		}
	}
  if (object == null)
  {
      alert("Your browser does not support AJAX");
  }  
  return object;
} // end of getAjaxObject