function fade(divid, fadeInSpeed, currentOpacity, initialDelay) {
  document.getElementById(divid).style.filter="alpha(opacity="+currentOpacity+")";
  document.getElementById(divid).style.opacity=""+(currentOpacity/100)+"";
  currentOpacity+=1;

  // start to fade in the menu after the content has appeared - start doing this without any further dealy
  //if((currentOpacity==99) && (divid=="right")) fade('menu', 50, 0, 0);

  // if this is the first run of the script there might be a delay before starting to face the text in
  if(currentOpacity==1) setTimeout("fade('"+divid+"', "+fadeInSpeed+", "+currentOpacity+")", initialDelay);

  else if(currentOpacity<100) setTimeout("fade('"+divid+"', "+fadeInSpeed+", "+currentOpacity+")", fadeInSpeed);
}