function slideSwitch() {
  var $active = $('#slideshow IMG.active');
  
  if ( $active.length == 0 ) $active = $('#slideshow IMG:last');
  
  // use this to pull the images in the order they appear in the markup
  var $next =  $active.next().length ? $active.next() : $('#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');
  });
}

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