function MakeAjaxRequest(url, callback_function, return_xml) {
    var http_request = "", response = "", i;

    var activex_ids = ['MSXML2.XMLHTTP.3.0', 'MSXML2.XMLHTTP', 'Microsoft.XMLHTTP'];

    if (window.XMLHttpRequest) { // Mozilla, Safari, IE7+...
        http_request = new XMLHttpRequest();
        if (http_request.overrideMimeType) {
            http_request.overrideMimeType('text/xml');
        }
    } else if (window.ActiveXObject) { // IE6 and older
        for (i = 0; i < activex_ids.length; i++) {
            try {
                http_request = new ActiveXObject(activex_ids[i]);
            } catch (e) { }
        }
    }

    if (!http_request) {
        alert('Unfortunately your browser doesnt support this feature.');
        return false;
    }

    http_request.onreadystatechange = function() {
        if (http_request.readyState !== 4) {
            // not ready yet
            return;
        }
        if (http_request.status !== 200) {
            // ready, but not OK
            // alert('There was a problem with the request.(Code: ' + http_request.status + ')');
            return;
        }
        if (return_xml) {
            response = http_request;
        } else {
            response = http_request;
        }
        // invoke the callback
        callback_function(response);
    };
    http_request.open('GET', url, true);
    http_request.send(null);
}