every browser has some good feature: it could be performances, it could be something "not standard yet", it could a feature ready for ECMAScript 5. vice-versa project aim is to bring good stuff from every browser into a single, cross-browser, lightweight, JavaScript file.
Unverse is a lightweight - absolutely tiny - collection of terse cross-browser javascript functions that perform common tasks, including a lightbox, ajax calls, animation and drag and drop. It implements DOMready.
"The jQuery Cycle Plugin is a lightweight slideshow plugin. Its implementation is based on the InnerFade Plugin by Torsten Baldes, the Slideshow Plugin by Matt Oakes, and the jqShuffle Plugin by Benjamin Sterling. It supports pause-on-hover, auto-stop, auto-fit, before/after callbacks, click triggers and many transition effects. It also supports, but does not require, the Metadata Plugin and the Easing Plugin."
This is one that really works and is genuinely easy to set up - no complex CSS like so many of these things. It also works very well with just text or other HTML structures.