var is_ie = (document.all && document.getElementById);
function dropReflection(el, height, opacity, distance) {

	var img = document.getElementById(el);
	
	// create new container SPAN, and make the image we're dealing with it's child.
	var container = document.createElement('span');
	img.parentNode.insertBefore(container, img);
	container.appendChild(img.parentNode.removeChild(img));

	// copy the classnames and inline styles
	container.className = img.className;	
	container.setAttribute("style", img.getAttribute("style"));
	img.setAttribute("style", "");
	container.style.display = "inline";
	container.style.width = img.width;
	
	// make the distance from the image to the reflection
	img.style.marginBottom = (distance + "px");
	
	var msg = "";
	var effectiveHeight = parseFloat(img.height)*height; // effective height, in pixels

	for (i = 1; i < effectiveHeight; i++) {
		var perc = i / effectiveHeight;	
		var opac = (1-perc) * opacity;		
		
		// skip fully transparent lines
		if (opac > 0) { 
			var div = document.createElement('div');								
			div.style.background = "url('" + img.src + "') no-repeat scroll 0px -" + (img.height - Math.round(perc * img.height))  + "px";				
			div.style.height = "1px";
			div.style.overflow = "hidden";
			div.style.width = (img.width + "px");
			if (!is_ie)
				div.style.opacity = opac;
			else
				div.style.filter = "filter: alpha(Opacity=" + Math.round(opac*100) + ")";
			container.appendChild(div);
		}
	}
}