function async_request(url, element) {
    xajax.config.requestURI = "http://www.tunnelers.com/" + url;
    ret_val = xajax_asynchronous_process(element);
    $("#" + element).find("script").each(function() {
        eval($(this).html());
    });
    return ret_val;
}

function sync_request(url, element) {
    xajax.config.defaultMode = 'synchronous';
    ret_val = async_request(url, element);
    xajax.config.defaultMode = 'asynchronous';
    return ret_val;
}