function slideSwitch() {

	var $active = $( '.visual div.active' );

	if ( $active.length == 0 ) {
		$active = $( '.visual div:last' );
	}

	// use this to pull the images in the order they appear in the markup
	var $next = $active.next().length ? $active.next() : $('.visual div: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}, 500, function() {
		$active.removeClass( 'active last-active' );    
	});        
}


$(function() {
	setInterval( 'slideSwitch()', 3000 );
});