Wednesday, November 10, 2004

Widget Hunting

Just as I did when I first installed Konfabulator on my Mac, I went widget hunting today.  Here are a few of my favorite widgets (I think all of them can be used on Mac or PC, but the links below are for the Windows ZIP files):

  • Mini everything (most of the default widgets are too big for my Tablet PC screen):
    • Mini iTunes Remote -- nice small version of the remote that displays playlist and track information.  For some reason I was having problems with the normal iTunes remote widget that came with the install, but I like this one better anyway.
    • Mini Digital Clock -- nothing wrong with the analog clock that comes in the initial install, but I have one of those (about the same size) on my wrist and this one is smaller; I like the analog for quick glances at the time on my screen.
    • Mini Battery -- does the same thing as the big one, just smaller.
    • Compact AirPort -- smaller, vertically oriented, a little more information about what you are connected to, and some cool animations
  • DHSLevel -- this widget displays the current Homeland Security alert level; I monitor this because of what I do, so it's convenient to have it on my desktop in a compact form.
  • Gmail Check -- does exactly what it advertises: displays the number of messages in your Gmail account; you can even make it only appear when there are messages.
  • Waste Basket -- I downloaded it and can't find it again on the site.  Anyway, I put the widget in the bottom right of my screen and the Recycle Bin in the bottom left; I drag items to delete to the widget and the widget tells me how many items are in the bin and I use the normal recycle bin to retrieve items as necessary.

Remember that you can use the F8 key to bring your widgets to the front of the application you are working on.  Search through the gallery at Konfabulator yourself to find widgets that will help you on a day-to-day basis.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I can't find Waste Basket either. And the old Waste Basket that I had doesn't seem to work anymore.