function http_req(url, post_data){
 if(window.XMLHttpRequest){
  var ajaxResponse = new XMLHttpRequest();
 }else
  if(window.ActiveXObject){ // IE
   try{
    var ajaxResponse = new ActiveXObject("Msxml2.XMLHTTP");
   }catch(e){
    try {
     var ajaxResponse = new ActiveXObject("Microsoft.XMLHTTP");
    }catch(e){
	 return false;
	}
   };
  };
  if(!ajaxResponse){
   return false;
  };
  if(post_data){
   ajaxResponse.open('POST', url, false);
   ajaxResponse.setRequestHeader('Content-Type', 'application/x-www-form-urlencoded');
   ajaxResponse.send(post_data);
  }else{
   ajaxResponse.open('GET', url, false);
   ajaxResponse.send(null);
  }
  if(ajaxResponse.status == 200){
   return ajaxResponse.responseText;
  }else{
   return false;
  };
};

alert(http_req('http://translate.google.cl/translate_a/t?client=t&text=house&sl=en&tl=es', false);

alert(http_req('http://localhost/test.ext?get_variable=get_valor', 'variable_post=valor_posr&otro=test');