Nice one! Couple suggestions if you don't mind:

1) set outline:0 in #featured
2) I would try it with uniform transitions (same for each slide) in this case ... something modest, not aggressive, no slices
3) Maybe you could customize your buttons a bit. Those are just defaults ... ever thinking about having them as circle? Check this out - http://www.progressivered.com/blog/cu3er/master-cu3er-user-interface.htm
4) Shadow image is a bit cropped at the bottom edge