function slider(){
	var slideTimer = 10000; //time between slides (1 second = 1000), a.k.a. the interval duration  
	var transitionTime = 1250; //transition time (1 second = 1000)  
	var items = $('ranking').getElements('li');
	
	var slideFunction = new function(){
	
		var numItems = items.length; //get number of slider items
		var itemNum = 0; //initialize a variable to hold the current slide index
		var slideIt = function(){
		
			//get item to slide out
			var curItem = items[itemNum];
			
			//change index
			if (itemNum < (numItems - 1)) {
				itemNum++;
			}
			else {
				itemNum = 0;
			}
			
			//now get item to slide in using new index
			var newItem = items[itemNum];
			
			//set up our animation stylings for out and in motions (note:  Fx.Styles does NOT exist in moo 1.2, so we must use Fx.Morph or Fx.Tween)
			var item_in = new Fx.Morph(newItem, {
				duration: transitionTime,
				transition: Fx.Transitions.Quad.easeInOut,
				wait: false
			});
			
			var item_out = new Fx.Morph(curItem, {
				duration: transitionTime,
				transition: Fx.Transitions.Quad.easeInOut,
				wait: false
			});
			
			//we will set a beginning value here
			//this is so that it gives the illusion of continuous motion from one direction, even after the first cycle of items
			item_in.start({
				'left': [200, 0],
				'display': ['none','block']
			});
			
			//no beginning values needed, since we always want to push the old item out to the left
			item_out.start({
				'left': [0, 200],
				'display': ['block','none']
			});
			
		};
		
		//call the function, periodically  (note: the interval period is defined at the top of this file)
		slideIt.periodical(slideTimer, this);
	}
}