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