Dim request As HttpWebRequest
        Dim response As HttpWebResponse = Nothing
        Dim reader As StreamReader
        Dim result As String

        Try
            ' Create the web request   
            request = DirectCast(WebRequest.Create(connectionString), HttpWebRequest)

            'Get response   
            response = DirectCast(request.GetResponse(), HttpWebResponse)

            ' Get the response stream into a reader   
            reader = New StreamReader(response.GetResponseStream())

            ' Read the whole contents and return as a string   
            result = reader.ReadToEnd()
            reader.Close()

        Catch e As Exception

            If Not response Is Nothing Then response.Close()

            Return 0
        End Try

        response.Close()
        reader.Close()
        response = Nothing
        request = Nothing

        Return result