(function ($) {
$.fn.cross = function (options) {
	return this.each(function (i) { 
		// cache the copy of jQuery(this) - the start image
		var $$ = $(this);
		
		// get the target from the backgroundImage + regexp
		var target = $$.css('backgroundImage').replace(/^url|[\(\)'"]/g, '');

		// nice long chain: wrap img element in span
		$$.wrap('<span style="position: relative;"></span>')
			// change selector to parent - i.e. newly created span
			.parent()
			// prepend a new image inside the span
			.prepend('<img>')
			// change the selector to the newly created image
			.find(':first-child')
			// set the image to the target
			.attr('src', target);

		// the CSS styling of the start image needs to be handled
		// differently for different browsers
		if ($.browser.msie || $.browser.mozilla) {
			$$.css({
				'position' : 'absolute', 
				'left' : 0,
				'background' : '',
				'top' : this.offsetTop
			});
		} else if ($.browser.opera && $.browser.version < 9.5) {
			// Browser sniffing is bad - however opera < 9.5 has a render bug 
			// so this is required to get around it we can't apply the 'top' : 0 
			// separately because Mozilla strips the style set originally somehow...                    
			$$.css({
				'position' : 'absolute', 
				'left' : 0,
				'background' : '',
				'top' : "0"
			});
		} else { // Safari
			$$.css({
				'position' : 'absolute', 
				'left' : 0,
				'background' : ''
			});
		}

		// similar effect as single image technique, except using .animate 
		// which will handle the fading up from the right opacity for us
		$$.hover(function () {
			$$.stop().animate({
				opacity: 0
			}, 500);
		}, function () {
			$$.stop().animate({
				opacity: 1
			}, 500);
		});
	});
};

})(jQuery);

// note that this uses the .bind('load') on the window object, rather than $(document).ready() 
// because .ready() fires before the images have loaded, but we need to fire *after* because
// our code relies on the dimensions of the images already in place.
$(window).bind('load', function () {
$('img.fade').cross();
});