System and method for selectively displaying web page elements

1. A method comprising:

(a) identifying, via a computing device, an element of content to be visibly displayed, the element having a first name and a first address;

(b) storing, via the computing device, the first name and the first address;

(c) receiving, at the computing device, a display request to visibly display the identified element, the display request comprising information that identifies at least the first name or first address associated with the element;

(d) in response to receiving the display request, retrieving, via the computing device, content associated with the first address, at least a portion of the content comprising the identified element; and

(e) analyzing, via the computing device, the content to obtain the identified element, said analyzing comprising parsing said portion of the retrieved content to obtain the identified element via a document object model of the content and identify information that is updated based on the identified element, said updated information corresponding to the first name and first address of the identified element.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

(f) displaying the identified element in association with the updated information.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein step (f) is performed by a browser program.

4. The method of claim 2 wherein step (f) is performed by a client program.

5. The method of claim 2 wherein step (f) occurs in accordance with stored user preferences.

6. The method of claim 2 wherein step (f) occurs within a defined display region.

7. The method of claim 6 wherein step (f) occurs within a borderless window.

8. The method of claim 6 further comprising:

(g) adjusting at least one property of the display region.

9. The method of claim 8 wherein the at least one property adjusts a dimension of the display region.

10. The method of claim 8 wherein the at least one property adjusts the display region's opacity.

11. The method of claim 1 wherein steps (a) through (e) are performed at a client.

12. The method of claim 11 wherein step (a) occurs prior to performing step (d).

13. The method of claim 11 wherein step (a) occurs while performing step (d).

14. The method of claim 11 wherein the first name identifies at least one of a logical collection of elements.

15. The method of claim 11 wherein either or both of the first name and the first address are stored on a server.

16. The method of claim 11 wherein the display request identifies either or both of the first name or the first address.

17. The method of claim 11 wherein the first address is a URI.

18. The method of claim 17 wherein the content associated with the URI takes the form of a web page.

19. The method of claim 11 further comprising:

(f) receiving input from a user representing a selection of at least a portion of the content; and

(g) identifying the element based upon the selection.

20. The method of claim 11 wherein one instance of either or both of the first name and the first address of the element are stored on a client.

21. The method of claim 20 wherein a second instance of either or both of the first name and the first address of the element are stored on a server.

22. The method of claim 1 wherein the analyzing of step (e) comprises:

interacting with the document object model of the content to obtain the identified element.

23. A system comprising:

a plurality of processors;

(a) a identification module, implemented by at least one of said plurality of processors, that identifies an element of content to be visibly displayed, the element having a first name and a first address;

(b) a storage module associated with a computer-readable storage medium that stores the first name and the first address;

(c) a communications module, implemented by at least one of said plurality of processors, that receives a display request to visibly display the identified element, the display request comprises information that identifies at least the first name or first address associated with the element, and, in response to receiving the display request, retrieves content associated with the first address, at least a portion of the content comprising the identified element; and

(d) at least one of said processors analyzes the content to obtain the identified element by parsing said portion of the retrieved content to obtain the identified element via a document object model of the content and identify information that is updated based on the identified element, said updated information corresponding to the first name and first address of the identified element.

24. A computer readable storage medium tangibly encoded with computer executable instructions, that when executed by a computer, perform a method comprising:

(a) identifying an element of content to be visibly displayed, the element having a first name and a first address;

(b) storing the first name and the first address;

(c) receiving a display request to visibly display the identified element, the display request comprises information that identifies at least the first name or first address associated with the element;

(d) in response to receiving the display request, retrieving content associated with the first address, at least a portion of the content comprising the identified element; and

(e) analyzing the content to obtain the identified element by parsing said portion of the retrieved content to obtain the identified element via a document object model of the content and identify information that is updated based on the identified element, said updated information corresponding to the first name and first address of the identified element.