function makeSlideshow(slideshow, interval) {
    f = "slideSwitch('" + slideshow + "')"
    //alert(f)
    setInterval(f, interval)
}

function slideSwitch(slideshow) {
    var $active = $(slideshow + ' li.active');

    if ( $active.length == 0 ) $active = $(slideshow + ' li:last');

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

    // 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}, 400, function() {
        $active.removeClass('active last-active');
    });
}