debugging IE8 ajax requests

I want to get these merged to see if it's a cross domain thing locally. This switches to using the long hand `$.ajax()` request in place of `$.get()` so that we can set the dataType and contentType. I also moved a couple of calls around to play more nicely with IE8. I didn't catch any unintended consequences, but I'd love another set of eyes @wernerc or @akiany.