I really like the interface I stumbled across on the Evening Standard website. The version here on my page is just a static screen grab, but on the real site when you mouse over a title, the item drops open to reveal the photo and the caption… it feels far less distracting than a popup, the box opens gradually so you can see what happens, and if there’s already an item open, it closes, so that the menu stays the same size the whole time.

It’s really very elegant. It looks like it’s done with JavaScript and CSS.