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A few of my favorite Widgets

by Victor Agreda, Jr. Nov 21st 2006 at 6:00PM

favorite widgetsWhen my machine was a rickety little 800 MHz iBook, crusted with too many hacks, apps and utilities, I just gave up on Widgets. Dashboard was a system hog on an already dog-slow machine, and I just killed it off.

My MacBook Pro is another story. While I've eschewed the volume of Widgets a true power-user may install, I have my fair share. Of course, until we're able to safely and securely swap our sets of Widgets around, I just keep a certain set loaded. Yes, I've tried MultiDash, primarily to swap around when I plug in to my 24" external monitor. I would have included a link to the MultiDash page, but going there today either crashed Firefox or made Safari eat up processor. Gotta love that...Anyway, as a Widget, it was too wonky for production use, so here's what I've settled on for daily use:

  • Apple's own calendar, weather, iTunes, calculator, and search Widgets (Dictionary, White Pages, Yellow Pages, and Address Book). The unit converter is tucked behind the sticky note
  • Google search-- pretty much never use it since Google is built-in to every browser but Flock, although sometimes I use the Blogger one too
  • Radar-in-Motion-- massive kudos to the poor developer who makes this, as NOAA keeps changing the protocols, formats, etc. I love this thing, but I love weather.
  • WeatherBug-- this one has a bunch more features, but ironically doesn't work as well as R-i-M
  • iClipLite-- what would I do without this? Very handy for storing form letters, the very ones I use every day
  • iStat nano-- surely everyone is using this or its older sibling by now, right? Often I use it to check my IP address, but I really wish I could have it quit bugging me about updates, that is really annoying
  • Slothcam-- I have it always tuned to the TGIFriday's camera in Times Square, great for people-watching! (You will see me on there once in a while too)
  • Web Translator widget (uses Google)-- handy for quick language lookups, as my Spanish vocab stinks sometimes
  • Airport Radar-- handy for checking signal strength
  • PackageTracker-- from Monkey Labs, where they make a terrible TV Tracker... only terrible because every week they want me to update it, but it never gets faster or better, yet PackageTracker never bugs me about it
  • iCalEvents-- super-fantastic for glancing at my hard schedule for the day
  • Backpack widget-- from Chipt.com, this Widget has saved me so many times it is scary. If you are a serious GTD nut, you must have a Backpack widget for simple ticklers, and this does the job better than almost anything. Plus, I can access my Backpack reminders from anywhere via web, so I have a constant backup. Combined with floating reminders via Growl, and you can really tame your to-do list.
  • an obligatory digg widget-- because I'm addicted, I'll admit (where's that Netscape widget?)
  • Veronica Belmont-- she's not a Widget, but a spunky tech pundit for CNet
  • and of course, I have a TUAW widget!

So what's in your Dashboard?

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When my machine was a rickety little 800 MHz iBook, crusted with too many hacks, apps and utilities, I just gave up on Widgets. Dashboard...
 

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32 Comments

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M

despite having a mbp with 2 gig of ram I still find dashboard a big memory whore. I have loaded only a few...
Dictionary
Convertor
Calendar
6 Post-its
Calculator
ip Stat
Unix timestamp calculator
Currently a Christmas tree

December 02 2006 at 12:42 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
sean wilson

i tried out the radarinmotion, and it was cool, BUT it wouldn't open up properly after the first initial opening (just a black screen) and it also ate up cpu (istatpro said it was consistently getting "100") and halving my battery life (only said 1:40 on a month old mb). i ditched it and the battery life jumped back to 4:09 and the browser was a lot faster. below average widget.

November 23 2006 at 11:42 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
James

There is a much better digg widget here : http://www.apple.com/downloads/dashboard/news/dugg.html

November 23 2006 at 12:55 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Bob

I like the "disney trip countdown" when I'm planning a trip to the 'mouse house'

http://widget.radp.org/

November 22 2006 at 3:38 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Guillermo

* Calendar
* Unit converter
* Junior Mints for a couple of my sites (those can be very refreshing!)
* Package Tracker and/or Delivery Status (depending if I need to track USPS shipments)

November 22 2006 at 12:32 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Stiv

I'm a huge fan of Conference Call OMNI

http://www.daylateanddollarshort.com/sw.php?conferencecallomni

which is the best widget I've found for tracking my favorite American pro/college football and British soccer teams' schedules and scores. It also tracks pro/college baseball and basketball teams, hockey, and autoracing. It's very cleverly designed and has a wonderfully small footprint when it's minimized.

November 22 2006 at 12:18 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Brad

Don't forget the Dating Widget! It shows you photos of people on your desktop based on your dating interests. If someone pops up that seems interesting, you click on him or her to see their full profile.

November 22 2006 at 11:15 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
kontorhotel

Again, thanks a million,.. i have now downloaded 5 new widgets.. wonderful.... thanks... do i need an accunt fo r the backpack widget ??

November 22 2006 at 11:10 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Victor Agreda, Jr.

I'm aware Flock *can* search Google. It just isn't the default. Please remember, most people use default settings. I use Flock every day. Along with Camino, Safari, and Firefox. You can add-in search tools to Firefox as well, but you have to install them, and most folks won't. Most people use the default-- which is why they continue to click on the big blue E for browsing (on PC's, obviously).

iStat nano has a button to check for updates, but no way to disable auto-checking. I consider this nagging, and completely interrupts my usage of the widget when I have to click it just to use it. Nagging about security updates is one thing, but minor point-point releases is just lame IMO.

November 22 2006 at 8:58 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Graham

I believe you can turn off the iStat update nag by going to it's preferences and telling it to never check for updates - can't remember the exact wording as I am at work and on a Windows machine :-( .

November 22 2006 at 8:49 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
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