function trackArticle(action, arturl, headline, hash, premium) {
	// create it_xmlHttp - multi-browser
	// netscape.security.PrivilegeManager.enablePrivilege("UniversalBrowserRead");
	//alert('called');
	var it_xmlHttp;
	var it_compatible = true;	
	try {
		// Firefox, Opera 8.0+, Safari
	    it_xmlHttp=new XMLHttpRequest();}
	catch (e){
		// Internet Explorer
		try {
			it_xmlHttp=new ActiveXObject("Msxml2.XMLHTTP");}
	    catch (e){
	    	try {
	    		it_xmlHttp=new ActiveXObject("Microsoft.XMLHTTP");}
	    	catch (e) {
	        	// all else has failed - nothing else to be done
	        	it_compatible = false;}}} // end try
	
	if(it_compatible){
		
		var trackerurl = "http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/mostread/pagelog.cfm?action=" 
			+ action + "&arturl=" + arturl + "&md5hash=" + hash + "&headline=" + escape(headline)
      + "&premium=" + premium;
		//alert(trackerurl);
		it_xmlHttp.open("GET", trackerurl, true);
	    it_xmlHttp.send(null);
	}
} // end trackArticle