function slideSwitch() {
    var $active = $('#slide_imgs IMG.active');

    if ( $active.length == 0 ) $active = $('#slide_imgs IMG:last');

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

function changeClass(theSlide){

document.getElementById("ss_1").style.opacity="0";
document.getElementById("ss_2").style.opacity="0";
document.getElementById("ss_3").style.opacity="0";
document.getElementById("ss_4").style.opacity="0";
document.getElementById("ss_5").style.opacity="0";
document.getElementById("ss_6").style.opacity="0";
document.getElementById("ss_7").style.opacity="0";
document.getElementById("ss_8").style.opacity="0";
//if you add any more slides just copy and past the line above and remember to change
//the id ("ss_8") to ("ss_9") and so on
document.getElementById("ss_1").setAttribute("class", " ");
document.getElementById("ss_2").setAttribute("class", " ");
document.getElementById("ss_3").setAttribute("class", " ");
document.getElementById("ss_4").setAttribute("class", " ");
document.getElementById("ss_5").setAttribute("class", " ");
document.getElementById("ss_6").setAttribute("class", " ");
document.getElementById("ss_7").setAttribute("class", " ");
document.getElementById("ss_8").setAttribute("class", " ");
//if you add any more slides just copy and past the line above and remember to change
//the id ("ss_8") to ("ss_9") and so on
document.getElementById(theSlide).setAttribute("class", "active");
document.getElementById(theSlide).style.opacity="1000";

}