Happy Holidays, the WidgGeek Way

DURING the holiday season, it's important to remember all the little things that count.

Despite the often harsh critique on widgets this blog has, we're thankful for them. Even though we expect a lot, we're respectful of, and even glad for, their lighter roots.

So in honor of that, here's some of the zaniest, kitchiest, most absurd and fun holiday widgets.

Happy holidays, from WidgetWatch!

1. Leg Lamp: For all the fans of TNT's never-ending loop of the holiday classic.

2. Snow Line: Help Santa collect all the presents so he can distribute them to all the good little boys and girls.

3. Christmas dinner: Collect turkeys and puddings to help prepare a delicious, though certainly not nutritious, holiday feast.

4. Countdown: There are a million of these out there, this is my pick for cheesiest. For your dashboard.

5. Festive Lights: Get your desktop festive. It's not a holiday till your dock sparkles with Christmas spirit.

6. "Waltz of the Flowers" from The Nutcracker. Greet everyone on your blog with the classical Christmas tunes.

7. Christmas music: For all the traditional Christmas tunes. A Google gadget for your iGoogle homepage.

8. Menorah: For our Jewish WidgGeeks. A candle is added each day. (If anyone can find a dreidel widget, I'll be forever grateful...I can't find one anywhere)

9. Kinara: Kwanzaa widget, with a new candle everyday. From Springbox, the same developer as the menorah widget.

10. Dancing Santa: an embedded YouTube video (yep, they're widgets, too!). Too funny, too addicting.



Happy holidays!

You're a Consumer Whore...and How!

JUST in time for the holiday season, here's WidgetWatch's list of widgets that save you a few bucks--and time clipping.

1. salestastic.com coupon widget: New widget that allows you to choose from a list of national chains to find out what their sales are. Works well across different browsers. Annoyingly, however, you can't copy the code OR download the widget to your dashboard, only check it online (and it's one of the ugliest widget's I've seen. Ever.)

2. Couponcabin.com: The original multi-store coupon widget. Customizable and printable, with over 900 stores.

3. MamaGets: This Yahoo! Widgets lets you type in what you're in search of, and this widget gives you a couple comparisons.

I had some trouble with the embedding code for MamaGets and Couponcabin, so use the links to download 'em to your dashboard.

Rock the Vote

IT may have taken a little voter fraud, but I finally have the NBA All Star voting widget.

Apparently, you have to vote to get the code for the widget. I know absolutely nothing about pro basketball (I go to Syracuse, it's all about NCAA!), so ten lucky players just got my vote because their names all started with my favorite letter.

Voting for the NBA All-star team began last Thursday at NBA.com, stadiums, via good ol' snail mail, and, for the first time, via widgets available at NBA.com.

The number of votes cast for the teams increased to over 69 million votes last year, a 17% increase. The 2004 Presidential election saw a 16% increase from 2004 (though the number of votes was nearly double the number of NBA All-star ballots), according to numbers from the FEC.

Come January, it will interesting to see if the widget makes a difference in voting numbers, and even more interesting if the NBA can offer a break-down of the demographics. Perhaps the widget is the new voting booth--perhaps it takes this ultimate convenience (laziness) to get the youth vote out.

Widget as enabler...it's an interesting proposition. Would more people vote for political elections, from president to your town's zoning board, if they could do it through their neighbor's MySpace instead of schlupping over to the polling station?

Even if the numbers went up though, I'd worry they'd be random votes--votes that came in simply because it was easy to vote, without any research or care. But in a one-click world, maybe we just need the simplicity.

Not-for-work Widget of the Day

The Stupid Test 2

You will fail. Your boss will see. Everyone in the office will think you're even more stupid than they already do (because you already have way too many of those widget-gamey things on your computer).

(If you think you can pass, or just have to find out, please, try it here on this blog rather than downloading it).

Meebo Me, Baby

I KNOW ya'll get oh-so fired up over widgets. So fired up that maybe commenting on posts just isn't satisfying or instantaneous enough.

Meebo Me.

Meebo, the Web site that brought together five different instant messengers and enabled us to chat away from anywhere without downloads (unlike other IM combos like Adium), has been expanding it's family to include Meebo accounts, widgets and, starting today, games where users can chat as they play (more on those later). It's become an international hit--just check out the Meebo Map to see where Meebophiles are sending IMs.

The Meebo widget--mine's over to the left on the bottom--allows visitors to chat to a site operator directly from the page. If you type something into the Meebo, I'll get your message on my account instantly.

So if you've got a bone to pick, hit me up, we'll Meebo it out.

Personal addiction

I CAN'T live without the qube.

I've been purposefully trying to avoid just giving shout-outs to whatever widgets I'm grooving on, but I can be silent no longer.

You need this widget.

This is a widget for the ADD generation, the generation of on-the-go, all the time. You can get an overview of everything you need to know to get through the day, and if you happen to have an extra 45 seconds, the qube links you to the provider site.

It's a terrific business proposition, too. Widgetqube makes money of advertisements placed (sort of) innocuously, and the provider sites make money (eventually) because the qube drives their page views.

The presets for news outlets on the qube are pretty solid--you get a good variety of traditional and non-traditional media. But you can add your favorite news outlets, and check them all at once (I have the BBC, the Washington Post, and the Huffington Post on my general news tab). I'm also a fan of the different tabs--health, technology, politics, and the likes. Too often, RSS widgets limit themselves to just the top headlines, or just hard news. While widgets thrive on specificity, there is something to be said of having such a huge variety of topics there. Presumably, the widget serves those just needing a thorough but quick survey of what's going on in the world. Having a variety of topics naturally extends from this idea; these folks need a wide-range update. It's something that broadcast, paper and even news online cannot provide.

This is what a news-based, RSS widget should be. I know there are tons of RSS feed widgets out there, some from a third party, some that feed just from one news provider's Web site. Personally, I prefer mixed feeds in general because you get a diversity of voices. But it is the options, the customization, and the variety of the qube that makes it stand out.

The Dangers of Widget Use

MY dashboard has become a widget orgy. Everywhere you look, there's widgets on top of widgets. Speech bubbles cover up the silly Virtual Pet I downloaded only to make fun of in a previous post, but now find myself addicted to. When Yahoo! Widgets is up, it's even worse.

I might have too many widgets. A few weeks ago, I would have told you that such a thing is impossible, but now I've come to think it is. There's so much clutter, I can't actually use the widgets. The BBC tracker is essentially useless: by the time I find it and start reading, on of the interactive ones beeps or pops up and needs attention, or I get distracted by the fish aquarium.

I'm going to have to start detoxing on the widgets. It's not going to be easy.

This Dashboard is a Facebook-Free Zone

IF spending hours a day on Facebook (or, simply, The Book as my friends have taken to calling it) doesn't fulfill your craving for constant information about your friends, download one of the many Facebook related widgets.

There are a variety out there, ranging from the simple desktop-based search widget (in case you're so focused on friending that hottie from the bar last night you can't take the time to open your browser and navigating to the page) to this one, which updates constantly, letting you know as soon as you have a new message, friend request, etc.

With the unending stream of emails from The Book, the notifications, the pokes and wall post warnings, it absolutely boggles my mind that anyone would possibly feel the need to put this widget in their dashboard.

The Facebook/widget combination moves us deeper and deeper into the era of obsession: we want our information and we want it now. And now. And again now. And probably again in 20 minutes (gotta bring the laptop to class...).

I have to wonder which came first: the obsession and ADD, or the widgets and Web sites that enable us to exercise our inner stalker/procrastinator. I love that widgets can compartmentalize the information we want, pull it from a million sources and reduce it to the nuggets we need to get through the day, but I hate the compulsion they seem to drive. I know if I downloaded this widget, I would never accomplish anything. Ever.

That being said, I think the widgets for Facebook are yet another brilliant development move by Zuckerberg and the developers who use the platform. He's built a business on the fact that college students love to gossip, monitor each others' whereabouts and immortalize our drinking adventures. The widgets are just another part of selling obsession, and the perfect method to do it.

Get WidgetWatch's Blidget

BLIDGET: A widget that links to a blog.

WidgetWatch very happily announces the addition of a blidget to the family. Now you can easily access WidgetWatch from your dashboard. It just makes sense. You can download it here.

Add a blidget to your brand, no hard coding necessary. It couldn't be easier. Major props to Widgetbox for putting the technology in the hands of the everyman, where it belongs.

Exponentially geeky

IF you're reading this, you are probably a geek. Computer geek, perhaps. Mac geek, more specifically. And everyone knows that geekyness is not an isolated quality. If you're geeked out over one subject, you're most likely doing it over other topics.

Me, I've got the geek bad. Widgets (clearly), but chemistry and typography, too. I've downloaded not one, but TWO chemistry widgets, and I won't even embarrass myself by talking about the typography ones.

Widgeting our your dashboard is a private catharsis of your inner, perhaps hidden, nerdiness. You can be as nerdy as you want to be in the privacy of your own dock. The Not-for-Work widgets have demonstrated there's something out there for everyone, and the principle applies to more wholesome/useful/less creepy forms, too.

It's healthy for the psyche to bring out that closeted geek, but it's also a boon to your brain. Sure, typography or Star Wars WidgeGeeks may not be hitting the toughest topics, but the idea is that widgets allow us to learn quickly and in small bites. That's information you might have missed out on because you didn't have time or were embarrassed to investigate your nerdy proclivities. Widgets at their geekiest are widgets at their finest.

So go on, let loose with your nerdy self and download that classical composers widget.

What's in a name?

THIS is a widget
So is this:


This is not a blog about either of these.

When chatting about this blog with friends today, one of them launched into her favorite widget story:

"Remember that time we found the widget in the can of Guinness and thought it was a finger?!" (Yes, I do. The tip widget was the offending one.)

Apparently, not everyone has caught onto the word yet. So, while you, dear reader, certainly knows what I mean when I say "widget," I humbly offer a brief etymology for those less in the know...or more into Guinness than computers.

Widget evolved from its now Google-branded predecessor, gadget, "an often small mechanical or electronic device with a practical use but often thought of as a novelty," according to Miriam Webster.

The OED defines it similarly, but in 2003, caught on and added this: "Computing. A visual symbol on a computer screen; a graphical device in a graphical user interface; the software and data involved when the operations represented by such a device are invoked, esp. regarded as jointly constituting a tool."

(In fairness to our stout fans, the beer-related definition was added that same year).

Tool and novelty: two very different words, both perfectly describing the (computer) widget. As we sit here, the widget is moving further from purely a novelty and more towards a tool, a vehicle. Even when the surface function is fun and light, an additional task is added, as in the case of Joost's Coke Bubbles. What a widget does and IS constantly changes and I wonder if our language should change with it.

The word is too lighthearted to belay the strength of these tiny icons, but their power lies in their simplicity, the sly, subversive and unobtrusive way they slip information and activities into our daily lives.

A widget by any other name would be, well, boring.

New Media, New Advertising

COCA-COLA's European division signed on today as high-quality Web-based TV provider Joost's first widget advertiser. Coke Bubbles will allow Joost users to send IM/e-mail hybrid "bubbles" with comments about the show to their friends.

Widget advertising is hardly new--Google has been testing Gadget ads since the spring--that Coca-Cola signed on with brand-spanking new Joost is definitely worth noting.

Advertising in the WidgetAge will be a new and scary frontier--it's been over a decade and advertisers still haven't mastered the art of the pop-up or banner ad. There are dozens of ways to drive users from a widget to a Web site--videos, RSS feeds, games. The challenge of the Widget ad will be creating user-friendly and interactive content that will get WidgGeeks to post them on their profiles and blogs, to pass them on to their friends, or to add them to their dashboards.

The rise of widget based advertising will be like a return to the days of word-of-mouth advertising--advertising by word-of-mouse, if you will. New media like Joost requires a new type of advertising (though Joost scored major campaigns in more traditional video form even before the software launched). Coke Bubbles isn't really about Coke, it's about a new way of dishing on your favorite show or actor; Coke just happened to brand it. The challenge of advertising in the Widget age will not be branding or marketing your product, it will be doing that on an application that is fun and exciting and relevant to the place you want your Widget hosted.

Not-for-work Widget of the Day

Zodiac Sex Widget
FILE this one under not-for-work and just plain weird. We see the lure of a sex widget, but not so much one that tells your friends "how bad they are in bed" I'm loathe to put this in my dashboard, so it's embedded below...feel free to try it out if you're feeling like a good slap in the face. Clearly, some people have far too much time on their hands. Available on widgipedia (which was originally geared for the MySpace set), this harsh little guy has over 100 downloads-one of the site's more popular (I wonder what that says about WidgGeeks self-esteem).

PolitiWidget

KEEP a running commentary of comments being sent to your favorite (or least favorite) candidate with Jott the Vote.com's widget (see below).

The widget constantly updates with the calls being made and emailed to candidates through Jott, a site that connects campaigns and constituents. Jott makes it all too simple to copy the code for a candidate's widget to your personal Web site.

It's microcosm of the props and problems with campaigning on the web. There is immediate access, a permanent political debate you can constantly keep up with. But, since the jotts are sent with the ease of a quick phone call and the comments never censored, the 'debate' sometimes turns vitriolic and petty (check out a Clinton widget).

I haven't seen any jott widgets out there yet, so I'm curious if the idea is taking off. In theory, they're great, but since you get both the hateful and the helpful comments sent to your politician, I can't see the widgets working on anything other than general election sites and blogs. If they do get out there onto MySpace or other popular blogs and sites, I think they'd be successful baiting the younger set to do a little more research. The more ... passionate...comments on them definitely draw people in and get you reading, and hopefully wanting to actually learn about the issues--exactly the gateway function that makes the widget as effective as the cover of a magazine. But I won't hold my breath.