The simplest definition of Cursor Trail is the one you would give a parent, and the reason it is hard to write down is that the parent version is the one that killed it.
Cursor Trail
A comet of stars following your mouse across someone's page about horses. Pointless, delightful, and the last time a website did something purely because you had moved.
Born
Peak
Died
Cause of death
Killed by professional web design
First sighting
JavaScript snippets on personal homepages
Life & death · 1996–2027
2000
2005
2010
2015
2020
2025
PEAK 2000
BORN · 1997
DIED · 2003
NOW · 2026
Testimony
3 entries · newest first
Definition
@fidonet_fran · Archivist
30 Oct 2026
Memory
@clubpenguin_ban · Poster
8 Oct 2026
In 2000 I could not have imagined explaining Cursor Trail to anyone. It did not need explaining. Now I have a note on my phone with the explanation ready, for when the young ask, and they do not ask.
Correction
@bluescreen_bride · Coroner
Under review 27 May 2026
The state is defensible but the life span is not. 6 yrs assumes the 1997 date, and if the birth moves — see the thread above — the span moves with it. These fields should be linked, not typed.
📎 thread archive · June 1996
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What does it mean? Write it the way you would say it out loud.