var duration = 1250;  /* 1000 millisecond fade = 1 sec */
var steps = 100;       /* number of opacity intervals   */
var delay = 5000;     /* 5 sec delay before fading out */

function fade3(id){

	for (i = 0; i <= 1 + (1 / steps); i += (1 / steps)) {
    setTimeout("setOpacity(" + i + ",'" + id + "')", i * duration);
  }
  setTimeout("fadeOut()", delay);
}



function setOpacity(level,id) {
  var element = document.getElementById(id); 
  element.style.opacity = level;
  element.style.MozOpacity = level;
  element.style.KhtmlOpacity = level;
  element.style.filter = "alpha(opacity=" + (level * 100) + ");";
  element.style.filter = "progid:DXImageTransform.Microsoft.Alpha(opacity="+ (level * 100) + ");";
}