For the first one, I created a script to make fancybox work "a la"
facebook that you can see here
http://www.picssel.com/playground/jquery/fancyboxALAfacebook_26Mar12.html
Is not really half size window but you have space enough for your
description
For the second, there is not flip effect out of the box ... but if you
are good with jQuery you could customize it yourself (sorry, no
recipes)