title: Simple ajax call seems to be blocking
body: <p>Really simple question. I trying to test a Restful webservice that I am developing, and have this simple ajax call (using jquery):</p>
  
  <pre><code> &lt;script type="text/javascript"&gt;  
     $(document).ready(function() { 
       var url = '/index.php/gettest/reallyLongRequest';    
       $.ajax({
         url: url,
         dataType:'text',
         success:function(data) { $('#result').html(data);},
         error:function(xhr,err,e) { alert ("Error: " + err);}
       });                
    });
   &lt;/script&gt;
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>This runs when the page loads. As it's running, the page is blocking; i.e., (I can see the hourglass next to the mouse pointer) no other user actions can be handled. (Btw, this particular get request--intentionally--takes a very long time to return).</p>
  
  <p>Why is this? A(asynchronous)JAX right? Obviously I am making a beginners mistake. Any ideas, please?</p>
  
  <p>When I attempt this using plain javascript (no library) it works as expected. Does this have something to do with Jquery's handling of the xhr onreadystatechange?</p>
  
  <p>Thank you for looking.</p>
  
  <p>EDIT: multiple people have suggested setting async: true, which as it happens, is the default in jquery, and as such has no effect.</p>
  
  <p>EDIT: As previously mentioned, if I use plain javascript and start this with a timer, e.g., <code>window.setInterval(function() { startLongPoll(); }, 5000)</code>
  It updates as expected, without appearing to block. Ideas, anyone?</p>