Mac OSX Finder has a search feature that darkens everything but the part that matches.
(source: justaddwater.dk)
Is there a way to emulate it via CSS? I was thinking about adding a semi-transparent black div with opacity 50. But how then do I cut a hole in it?? and possibly make the edge fuzzy?
Any suggestions?
Check out the Expose jquery plugin from the jQuery TOOLS collection. I think it will accomplish exactly what you are looking for. They even have a demo of styling the mask with a background image.