function makeRequest(url) {
		var http_request = false;

		if (window.XMLHttpRequest) { // Mozilla, Safari,...
			http_request = new XMLHttpRequest();
			if (http_request.overrideMimeType) {
				http_request.overrideMimeType('text/xml');
				// See note below about this line
			}
		} 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('Giving up :( Cannot create an XMLHTTP instance');
			return false;
		}
		return http_request;
	}