Kate threatens to beat me up but she lives in New York and I live in San Diego and I won’t give her my address. Ever. Why? Kate actually uses lots of Widgets and can’t wait until OS X Leopard so she can build her own.

I’m an Apple Fan Grrrl so I’ll probably build a Dashboard Widget of my own when Leopard finally strikes, but I won’t enjoy it. Maybe being a mommy makes a woman cynical, but I’m beginning to realize that Apple is the master of eye candy, the wizard of style over substance.

Dashboard Widgets are the perfect example. Take Apple’s Top Widgets from the Dashboard Widget Downloads page. What useful gems of functionality do Mac users have to look forward to? Be sad. Be very sad.

Starry Night Widget
Enter your Zip code, or latitude and longitude and the Widget flips to show you a view of the sky. As if sticking your head outside wouldn’t accomplish the same thing. Big whoop.

View constellations, the ecliptic line, and check the labels for the celestial sights you can’t see from where you live. Starry Night Widget has one thing going for it. It’s free.

Plasma Tube
This is the Motion Light Widget for children of the 60s who remember the original Lava Lamps. Puhleeze. Give it up. Do you know how many Widgets use the old Lava Lamp metaphor?

This one is full of digital plasma, the stuff that’s so hard to control on every Star Trek series. Except this plasma defies the laws of gravity and physics, and, apparently, common sense.

Breaking CBS News Headlines
Coming in at #10 on Apple’s hottest Widgets is one you could actually use, if it were not CBS, easily the most discredited of broadcast news operations in the US. Wait. Is there a Fox News Headline Widget?

The Breaking CBS News Headlines Widget uses RSS and pops up the latest CBS headlines. Those folks at CBS are so clever.

YouTube
As if there are not enough mindless Jackass videos in the world, there’s a YouTube Widget for your Mac.

Please. All you YouTube viewers, get a life. Or, a job. Or, stop using YouTube on the company computers. As suspected by the video weary, YouTube Widget lets you search YouTube and shows you a list of what’s hot and hotless and headlining on the Utoob.

Wikipedia
No thrashing of the world of Widgets would be complete without an attempt at being fair and balanced. Wikipedia is a Dashboard Widget that I actually use.

Yes, I know there’s an Encyclopedia Britannica web site, but using Wikipedia is so much more fun, and the Widget only makes it more so. Who among us does not have need for critical facts? Think of the thrill you get knowing that Wikipedia is edited by everyone in the universe, including morons.

So the information that you retrieve from Wikipedia could be totally wrong. Just like a White House Press Briefing or Fox News Headline Widget (assuming there is one).

Widget trashing is good sport and can occupy that unused space on your Mac’s Dashboard. Apple helps the Eye Candy Cause™ with Top Widgets, Just Added, Top 50, and then every category you can think of except Diaper Changing Tips, or Tips On How To Please A Lonely Husband Even When You’re Unconscious.

Got a Widget you love so much you’re willing to share your knowledge of it in the Talk Back Comments section? None? I thought so. How about joining my free Trash a Widget campaign?

Check out the daily list of our 9 Word mini-Reviews at NoodleMac, and Kate's daily in-depth Mac software reviews at PixoBebo.

Off Topic #72 - Need to save a few dollars on Mac software? Click Here to save almost $10 on the new version of Photoshop Elements, and almost $20 on the new Microsoft Office 2008 for Mac from the Mac360 Store (it’s really Amazon). Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Entourage and more-- barely $50 more than Apple’s iWork ‘08.

Off Topic #23 - Mac OS X Leopard is now at version 10.5.2 which we’re proclaiming the best yet, though we expect version 10.5.3 soon. If you haven’t upgraded yet, don’t forget that Leopard is on sale at the Mac360 Store, and so are the latest Leopard books. If you plan to order Leopard or a Leopard tips book from Amazon, please consider using the Mac360 Store to place your order (it’s really Amazon). Click Here to look at the latest Leopard books.

• Article by Alexis Kayhill • Published on Wednesday, September 26, 2007
• Category: Widget Watch • 10 Reader comment(s) • Email This • Digg This • Shop Now

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Talk Back to Kate, Ron & the Mac360 staff
Mac360 readers talk back. View their comments below or post your own comment to this article. Comments are moderated by the Mac360 staff. Or, post comments in the Mac360 Forums. It's mostly anonymous, there's no obligation, and no cost, so join in-- it's free, fun, low in calories, low in carbs, non-fat, and mildly addictive-- like chocolate and blondes.

Readers Talk Back:

Andrew Purvis says:

The Fidelty stock widget is the best in class.

— Posted on Sun Oct 28 at 2:36 pm by Andrew Purvis

Dah-veed says:

I like the widgets! Some are very useful and fun to have. Mainly they’re free, which is a fair price for them. I don’t have a one that I would actually pay more than $0.99 for.

— Posted on Sun Sep 30 at 9:27 pm by Dah-veed

Jack Jebedee says:

Forget widgets. Try chocolate. Lots and lots of chocolate. Add hugs to taste.

... JJ

— Posted on Thu Sep 27 at 1:39 pm by Jack Jebedee

auramac says:

The only two widgets I currently use are the calendar and weather ones. True, there’s a window in front of me and a calendar on the wall behind me, but I still find these widgets convenient at times. I can’t comment on any others because, frankly, I haven’t explored yet. YouTube I’ve got bookmarked, and I surely hope there’s no Fox News widget- bad enough there’s a network.

— Posted on Thu Sep 27 at 12:41 pm by auramac

Martin says:

Well, how weird is that? I’ve never been a big fan of widgets, never really been able to see much point, yet just last night I found myself loading up my Leopard beta and writing one with Dashcode!!

I think people are going to love it. Not just because of the fact that there’s now a tool to make life easier for writing one, but because of the way that tool does it too. Thumbs up from here.

For what it’s worth, I use calculator, unit converter and sticky note thing rather a lot. And I think when it’s easier for people to write their own then there should be a lot more useful ones out there. Sure, there will be a lot more pointless ones too but never mind :o)

— Posted on Thu Sep 27 at 2:59 am by Martin

Art says:

I’ll throw up a few goodies, just to make Chris happy:

CallWave has 2 that are really useful. Visual VoiceMail (like on the iPhone) and SMS Text Messaging. It’s free, of course. And fast. And convenient. Isn’t that what widgets are all about?

Want more? There’s SpeedStat 2, iStat pro, Word of the Day, Dictionary, Weather, that cool Scrabble dictionary that gives a random 2-letter word every day, and of course, the Stock Ticker.

I never downloaded the lava lamp ones. I went and bought the Real Thing (TM) and put it on my piano. Weird..actually makes me play better…

— Posted on Wed Sep 26 at 10:43 pm by Art

Dana Dilettante says:

You gotta love those widgets that float to the top of the most popular list. If anything, love them for what it is that attracts the masses. Alexis is correct. Most widgets are nothing more than functional eye candy minus a lot of functionality. All of us have favorites, but the rest of no more than try out versions, which, as she suggests, wastes lots of time. Astronomy for the masses in the form of a widget? Who’d a thunk it?

— Posted on Wed Sep 26 at 2:50 pm by Dana Dilettante

Chris' Mom says:

Chris, come home and get your meds. Don’t you recognize tongue-in-cheek when you see it? The lady is pulling on your chain. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, but the flush will do you good.

FWIW, I prefer pointed opinions with reasons to back up a premise, pro or con, and that’s why I visit Mac 360. It’s entertaining, and very useful to see what others think of new Mac software.

Try something with bran inside.

— Posted on Wed Sep 26 at 2:46 pm by Chris' Mom

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