//original code: 

	//http://developer.apple.com/internet/webcontent/xmlhttpreq.html

	//http://developer.apple.com/internet/webcontent/XMLHttpRequestExample/example.html

	//modified by calvin lough

	

	// global flag

	var isIE = false;

	

	// global request and XML document objects

	var req;

	

	// retrieve XML document (reusable generic function);

	// parameter is URL string (relative or complete) to

	// an .xml file whose Content-Type is a valid XML

	// type, such as text/xml; XML source must be from

	// same domain as HTML file

	function loadXMLDoc(url) {

	    // branch for native XMLHttpRequest object

	    if (window.XMLHttpRequest) {

	        req = new XMLHttpRequest();

	        req.onreadystatechange = processReqChange;

	        req.open("GET", url, true);

	        req.send(null);

	    // branch for IE/Windows ActiveX version

	    } else if (window.ActiveXObject) {

	        isIE = true;

	        req = new ActiveXObject("Microsoft.XMLHTTP");

	        if (req) {

	            req.onreadystatechange = processReqChange;

	            req.open("GET", url, true);

	            req.send();

	        }

	    }

	}

	

	// retrieve text of an XML document element, including

	// elements using namespaces

	function getElementTextNS(prefix, local, parentElem, index) {

	    var result = "";

	    if (prefix && isIE) {

	        // IE/Windows way of handling namespaces

	        result = parentElem.getElementsByTagName(prefix + ":" + local)[index];

	    } else {

	        // the namespace versions of this method 

	        // (getElementsByTagNameNS()) operate

	        // differently in Safari and Mozilla, but both

	        // return value with just local name, provided 

	        // there aren't conflicts with non-namespace element

	        // names

	        result = parentElem.getElementsByTagName(local)[index];

	    }

	    if (result) {

	        // get text, accounting for possible

	        // whitespace (carriage return) text nodes 

	        if (result.childNodes.length > 1) {

	            return result.childNodes[1].nodeValue;

	        } else {

	            return result.firstChild.nodeValue;    		

	        }

	    } else {

	        return "n/a";

	    }

	}