You can download applets like the ripplingLake effect from David Griffiths' homesite.
Part of the fun of a personal web page, is sticking bright bits all over it! Graphics, and especially photos, can add a spectacular WOW Factor, but they can also be the death of your site, if you don't reduce the massive file size they start with. The larger the file size, the longer it takes your page to load.
No matter how interesting your content, if people don't get to see it the first time, they're gone. Most people who've never seen your site before, will hit the STOP button if something doesn't load in less than 30 seconds.
This does not need to happen: you can get the same picture to a much smaller file size, without sacrificing quality. The photo on the left began at well over 100k. Now, after editing, it's 4k. This gives me scope to include David Griffiths' beautiful Lake applet (another 5k), and all the text I could want.
