function slideSwitch() {

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

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

    // uncomment below to pull the divs randomly
    // 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');
        });
}