function slideSwitch() {
                var $active = jQuery('#slideshow IMG.active');

                if ( $active.length == 0 ) $active = jQuery('#slideshow IMG:last');

                // use this to pull the images in the order they appear in the markup
                var $next =  $active.next().length ? $active.next()
                : jQuery('#slideshow IMG:first');

                // uncomment the 3 lines below to pull the images in random order

                // var $sibs  = $active.siblings();
                // var rndNum = Math.floor(Math.random() * $sibs.length );
                // var $next  = $( $sibs[ rndNum ] );


                $active.addClass('last-active');

                $next.css({opacity: 0.0})
                .addClass('active')
                .animate({opacity: 1.0}, 1000, function() {
                    $active.removeClass('active last-active');
                });
            }

            jQuery(function() {
                setInterval( "slideSwitch()", 5000 );
            });