function make_ajax_request($url, $parameters) {
    $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;
    }
    
    $http_request.onreadystatechange = show_result;
    $http_request.open('GET', $url + $parameters, true);
    $http_request.send(null);
}

function show_result() 
{
	if ($http_request.readyState == 4) 
	{
	    if ($http_request.status == 200)
	    {
			//alert($http_request.responseText);
		}
	    else
			alert('There was a problem with the request.');
	}
}