function slideSwitch() {
        var active = $('#slideshow div.active');
        if ( active.length == 0 ) active = $('#slideshow  div:last');

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

        active.addClass('last-active');

        next.css({opacity: 0.0})
            .addClass('active')
            .animate({opacity: 1.0}, 2000, function() {
                active.removeClass('active last-active');
            });
    }

    setInterval( "slideSwitch()", 6000 );