A few years back there was a utility program that I found indispensable, and one of a few reasons I took so long to upgrade from OS 9 to OS X -- the utility was called Desktop Resetter.
It's function was quite basic, it had the ability to hide selected files and folders on your desktop. I used this program a lot when I wanted to hid all files/folders and clear my desktop. It also came in handy when I would use my 14" PowerBook and then switched to a larger monitor, like a 19". Sets could be setup so that if you took your PowerBook to work, then all your work files/folders/files could be visible whilst your personal ones be hidden -- it would put all hidden files/folders in a folder in the root directory of your hard drive.
The author of this program is no longer around. I would like to know if anyone knows of a utility that can do the same thing?