my favorite widgets

So i finally upgraded the old iBook to OS X 10.4. in doing so, i am now able to sample (and comment on) the great widgets that are up on the apple site. before the upgrade i was also dabbling in using Yahoo's widgets, but they were only semi-satisfactory, and you have admit the who "expose" thing rules: finally a reason to click the scroll wheel.

i am going to archive this post in the links nav, and simply add to it as i discover new and exciting widgets.

and so, without further delay, a sampling of the best in dashboard functionality:

go-go redball









this little toy uses some kind of simple collison detection and gravity simulation to create a virtual superball you can throw around your screen with your mouse and relive that childhood feeling of anticpation as you try to predict where the thrown ball will end up. luckily there is no OS X sewer grate.


NoteZar
this item is brilliant and tres useful, and only has a couple small drawbacks. basically, this widget is a multi-page notepad - it takes all the text detritus you would normally keep in Stickies and puts it into one single, indexable widget. big deal, eh. well, this is where the bigness comes in - the text is saved not on your computer, but on the developers website. that means rather than having one set of stickies at home, and another at work, and another on your laptop, you have but one single set, synced automatically when ever you post. there is also an option to share Notezar with your friends, so they can see all your notes.
Neat.
The widget itself is a little ugly - the default display is dull grey with white text and green and purple headlines - i hope the guy doesn't fancy himself too much of a designer. You should be able to choose note and text colors in some sort of preferences. The other visual problem is the clunky clip-art-looking icons. if only he knew some great interface designer...
The biggest drawback to this widget is there is no local version of your notes - say in some sort of cookie or cache. if you are not online you can't see your notes, period. bummer. There are also probably some security issues with keeping sensitive info online - i dont know what sort of protections are set up for that. Also, the responsiveness when you click the icons is a little slow - all in all, minor complaints, but the concept is so great i just want the rest of the widget to live up it.

DashFlix
this is another very simple idea that is useful in a "i am too lazy even to bookmark" way - it displays your currently viewing and "in que" films from your netflix account.
it is one of the few widgets that is "two sided" - the 'front' displays your "viewing" films, and the 'back' lists the next 26 or so films in your que.
nice branded skin, also.