checkFlash = function() {
<!--
//check for Flash Player X

//check the navigator.plugins array exists, IE for Windows will fail on this.
if(navigator.plugins.length)
{

  //some variables
  //a counter
  var i;

	var header_var = document.getElementById('header');

  var alternateContent = "<blockquote><br><font face='Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif' color='#FFFFFF' size='3'>Macromedia Flash Plugin Version 6.0 is required to view this website properly. You can download the plugin at <a href='http://www.macromedia.com/shockwave/download/download.cgi?P1_Prod_Version=ShockwaveFlash&promoid=BIOX'>http://www.macromedia.com/shockwave/download/download.cgi?P1_Prod_Version=ShockwaveFlash&promoid=BIOX</a>.</font></blockquote>";

  //loop through all the plugins installed
  for (i=0; i < navigator.plugins.length; i++)
  {
       //put the plugin string in a variable
       var pluginIdent = navigator.plugins[i].description.split(" ");
       //The Flash Player identification string is ([] = the array index) [0]Shockwave [1]Flash [2]8.0 [3]r21

       //if less than Flash Player 8 is detected, run this code.
       if(pluginIdent[0] == "Shockwave" && pluginIdent[1] == "Flash")
       {
          //set a toggle to show that some sort of Flash Player (of versions 1-7) was found
          var isSwfEnabled = true;

          //an array of the Flash version number (major.minor)
          var versionArray = pluginIdent[2].split(".");

          if(versionArray[0] < 6)
          {
             //show alternate content
             header_var.innerHTML = alternateContent;
          }
          else
          {
             //Flash Player 8 or greater has been found, roll out the <object> tag.
          }

       //need to break this loop as some browsers may have two versions installed
       //eg my Firebird [20] release has r65 and r79 installed!
       break;

       }//end if pluginIdent

  }//end for

  //check if no Shockwave Flash was detected in the array (no Flash Player installed)
  if(!isSwfEnabled)
  {
     header_var.innerHTML = alternateContent;
  }//end if

}
}