1. In a computer system including a display screen comprising an area displaying a user interface, a method for presenting a unified interest layer, comprising: detecting a first trigger event for activating a unified interest layer; responsive to the first trigger event: temporarily inactivating the user interface; and displaying, in the area of the display screen, a unified interest layer comprising a plurality of layer elements; detecting a second trigger event for dismissing the unified interest layer; and responsive to the second trigger event: dismissing the unified interest layer; and reactivating the user interface; wherein at least one layer element comprises one selected from the group consisting of: a flight tracker element; a movie listings element; a rental queue management element; a translation element; a unit conversion element; a weather element; and a stock quote element.