title: Using JavaScript to perform a GET request without AJAX
body: <p>Out of curiosity, I'm wondering about the best (easiest, fastest, shortest, etc; make your pick) way to perform a GET request in JavaScript without using AJAX or any external libraries.</p>
  
  <p>It must work cross-browser and it's not allowed to distort the hosting web page visually or affect it's functionality in any way.</p>
  
  <p>I don't care about headers in the request, just the url-part. I also don't care about the result of the request. I just want the server to do something as a side effect when it receives this request, so firing it is all that matters. If your solution requires the servers to return something in particular, that's ok as well.</p>
  
  <p>I'll post my own suggestion as a possible answer, but I would love it if someone could find a better way!</p>