Widgets/Gadgets

Google Gadgets

1. To my iGoogle home page I added a gadget for timing things.

This turned out to be less than useful. I thought I might use it to keep me from running over on time spent on projects. You have to be on the google homepage to use it.

1. I also added a gadget with a time of day and calendar.

This is a nice to have on my home page since I don't have any walls to hang a calendar on.

1. I also added a gadget to access wikipedia and You Tube.

Having this feature on my homepage is useful though I don't go to those sources often. With this gadget I don't have to type in a URL to go to the sites they are always there on the homepage.

All of these are part of the Google customizable features for creating your own homepage.

Yahoo Widgets

1. Unit Converter by CalcMatic
"Converts familiar measurements into a scale that you know. Be it metric, imperial, SI, or something from ye olde times, this converter probably has it. It converts between different scale.."

This widget is useful for the work I do in design. I need to convert ares into volumes for grading fill calculations. It's also useful to have a converter on the desktop, where it is installed.

2. Universal Converter by Raja Sha
"This one Widget can convert various measurements to any unit for you. "

This converter is even better. It is more intuitive to use. Seems better designed for the user than the converter mentioned above. It's more compact on the desktop. I'll probably keep using this converter and unistall the other.

3. Time Vault by Laurent Cozic
"Time Vault is a free Widget that will help keep track of the time you spend on any given task. Click the play button when you start and click it once you have finished."

This is a handy tool for me to keep track of time spent on projects. I will use this as I am preparing class material for my AutoCAD classes. If I know how long I have to spend on a project then it gives me an idea how long I can expect students to take on the same or similar projects.

4. Kalculator by Daniel Dickison
"A Widget designed to behave very much like standard issue calculators. Includes trig, square root, exponents, logarithm and inverse functions. controllable by mouse and keyboard. Some useful features are init conversions, displays for memory content and repeated operations, hexidecimal display, and a minimized mode that snaps to screen edges.
Click and hold on the number display for unit conversion, copy, hex, and donations."

Like the converter it is really nice to have a calculator waiting at the ready on the desktop. This is compact and easy to use.