var http_request;

function makeRequestAlias()
{
	makeRequest('ajax.php', doIt, "c=" + count, "POST");
}

function makeRequest(url, func, str, method)
{
	makeRequest(url, func, str, method, true);
}


function makeRequest(url, func, str, method, override) {
	http_request = false;

	if (window.XMLHttpRequest) {	//Mozilla, Safari...
		http_request = new XMLHttpRequest();
		if (http_request.overrideMimeType && override) {
			http_request.overrideMimeType('text/xml');
		}

	}else if (window.ActiveXObject) { //IE
		http_request = new ActiveXObject("Microsoft.XMLHTTP");
	}
	
	if (!http_request){
		//console.log('Error: http_request cannot be created');
		return false;
	}

	http_request.onreadystatechange = func;
	http_request.open(method, url, true);
	if (method=='POST')
		http_request.setRequestHeader('Content-Type', 'application/x-www-form-urlencoded');
	//http_request.send('name_given=' + name_given);
	http_request.send(str);

}

/* Example: define a function first */
function foo()
{
	if (http_request.readyState == 4){
		if (http_request.status == 200){
			var win = http_request.responseText;
			alert('Hobocomp has been up ' + win);
		}
	}
}


function status()
{
	makeRequest('http://hobocomp.com/status.php', foo, '', 'GET', false);
}