code: public static String HTTPGetRequest(String url) {
          HttpClient httpClient = new DefaultHttpClient();
          HttpContext localContext = new BasicHttpContext();
          StringBuffer stringBuffer = new StringBuffer();
  
          HttpGet httpGet = new HttpGet(url);
  
          try {
              HttpResponse response = httpClient.execute(httpGet, localContext);
              InputStream instream = response.getEntity().getContent();
              BufferedReader bufferedReader = new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(instream));
  
              String buffer;
              while ((buffer = bufferedReader.readLine()) != null) {
                  stringBuffer.append(buffer);
              }
  
          } catch (ClientProtocolException e) {
              QuickUtils.log.e("ClientProtocolException", e);
          } catch (IOException e) {
              QuickUtils.log.e("IOException", e);
          } catch (IllegalArgumentException e) {
              QuickUtils.log.e("IllegalArgumentException", e);
          }
  
          return stringBuffer == null ? null : stringBuffer.toString();
      }
docs: Does a GET request to a given url
  <p/>
  Note: Please use this method on an AsyncTask in order not to freeze the
  application unnecessarely
  (http://developer.android.com/guide/practices/responsiveness.html)
  
  @param url given url
  @return the string output of the GET request or null if something went
  wrong