Don’t Overload Mobile Phones with Widgets

Written by Groucho on January 31, 2011 under Software

The thing with having new mobile gadgets such as the much popular iPhone is that users tend to disregard the number of useful widgets that they need. A lot of this has to do with fascination and before you know it, you are using up your memory card to the max, full of applications which you normally will not give much attention along the way.

Such is similar to how people foresee computers. We allow our fascination to get the better of us. While we know that installing multiple widgets provides us with a wide variety of options, it remains that we have to likewise consider which are useful and which are note. Many will agree that a device or desktop full of widgets is not appealing to the eye. Further, it adds to the load and processes needed for the device to function properly.

Widgets are free to use and download. That is a fact which makes it likely for people to disregard which widgets are indeed useful to them. While many would claim that they need updates and easy access using widgets as a medium, it is also likewise the same that not all of them will be used regularly. In fact, not all people would want junk widgets around. But while they are at it, they forget to uninstall, remove or trash the unused widgets for a more organized look.

Control your fascination and just use the widgets you need. It may cause problems in the end.

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Widgets are Obese

Written by Groucho on December 30, 2010 under News, Software

Widgets

Widgets are supposed to make life easier for the visits you get. However, as a site owner, you may notice that time it takes to load a page. It is a discomfort to which you can really do without but if you think of it, it all comes to a point on whether you have to look out for the welfare of your visitors or for your site as an ideal place to land in.

Much of it is blamed on the codes to make these widgets happen. They are long codes that can really take a lifetime to load if they are not properly made. On the outside, it may seem that the external features are ideal enough to attract readers who may go as far as subscribing to your site. But internally, people could care less of your problem and if the time comes your page would load like in a million years, chances are you would lose these subscribers eventually.

So what is a website owner to do? Does he continue to use widgets or resort to something else? Realistically, there are some people who have done away with widgets. Some have lessened the widgets to be placed. Either way, you must consider the refresh rate of your page and while you want to explain the reason behind it, don’t expect visitors to be understanding.

Widgets are indeed innovations. But as far as improvement is concerned, a lot has to be done to make them suit the websites where they will be placed.

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Gauge your Carbon Footprint with the Tendril Widget

Written by Groucho on December 27, 2010 under Software

Tendril Widget

A lot has been said on watching our carbon footprints these days and one thing that is sure to be of great use is this widget named Tendril. It is available for use in a Mac or your iPhone, absolutely free. So if you are conscious about how much energy you are consuming in your home like appliance energy consumption, this is a good widget that can help you monitor your usage.

But if given the choice, the interface could be improved further if there was a gadget that can easily be attached so that manual monitoring can be avoided. The free software is indeed great for monitoring your carbon footprint and if there should be innovations in the future for it, then that would have to be the various interface options to which energy usage can be made entirely easier.

Tendril is available on your Mac as a widget or on your iPhone. After a simple set up process you start getting reports on your energy usage around your home. This is useful in pinpointing exactly which appliance, computer or other electricity using device is the biggest culprit (or which group of them).

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Watch Your Traffic With D-Link Widget

Written by Groucho on December 20, 2010 under Software, Widgets

If you are like a lot of people I know, you have your own wireless router at home by now. While some people might not think it necessary to have one, once you have tried using your laptop wherever you are in the house, you will definitely be raring to get a wireless router of your own.

There are many wireless routers available in the market but a name stands out – D-Link. If you have any of the D-Link routers which are 802.11 n-capable, then you might want to get the freebie that the company has for you: the Network Monitor v2.0.

This widget works as an information center and delivers the data straight from your router. It works with Yahoo Widgets, Vista Gadgets, and even the Mac Dashboard. Unfortunately, it does not work with Google Desktop. Anyhow, the Network Monitor will tell you what model router you have, the version of that model, what firmware version you are running on, and your router’s up time.

The guys at PC Mag suggest running the widget on your desktop computer which is wired to the router or on a wireless computer. On a desktop wired computer, you will only get data for send and receive on the network and the Internet. You won’t get any info on the data sent and received on the 2.4GHz or 5GHz Wi-Fi connections.

Another note, if you have had your router for a while and you decide to download the widget, you might have to update the firmware of your router.

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Make Life Easier With Sharing Widgets

Written by Groucho on November 30, 2010 under News, Software

Technology has always been known to make life easier and widgets are easily the main solution to most of these things. Sharing files is something that can be done online but thanks to the efforts of Tingz, people can not only rely on using online access but can now use widgets as far as TV and phones as well.

Widgets make it easier to network and connect with friends and associates in real time. Rather than solely rely on using manual means or supposed alternative ways to transfer information and events from one destination to another, these wide array of networks to which Tingz serves is sure to be a welcome state.

Being able to operate in multiple platforms is another added plus. For sure, the Tingz developers have seen this and studied the possibilities. That is one reason why it is a good software to check out today.

Tingz works on Mac OS X, the iPhone, and in Windows Media Center. In each, the interface is basically the same, which Tingz believes is the most useful feature it offers. And what it offers is quite substantial: it lets you find movie listings, watch trailers, pick showtimes, and purchase tickets, acquire recipes, and help find you restaurants in your area.

You can share your “Tingz” with friends that may want to see what sort of recipes you’re looking at or where you’re going for dinner.

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Gaming and Widgets: The Perfect Team

Written by Groucho on November 23, 2010 under Software

Gaming Widgets

Similar to any relationship, complementing one another would be the key ingredients to the success of anything. Now this does not solely limit itself towards people, it happens in the world of business and technology itself.

For a business to flourish, it needs the cooperation of various sections that make it successful. In this case, the gaming world will only be successful with the support of proper channeling to draw in the ones who will be endorsing them. In the case of games brought to the consumer, channeling them through modern widgets is one good way to flourish any online game developed for attention.

To the avid computer geek, widgets can get them updated regularly. Not only does it allow them an easier way to follow the things that are happening today, it has also allowed the hardcore gamers to be a step ahead of the others. This stems from the fact that any addicted gamer would want to find the latest developments as far as new games and strategies on a particular game is concerned. It is leverage for them and widgets are aimed to do just that.

Other than being a tunnel for information and updates, it remains that gamers often want to be advanced. It is not cheating. It is simply showing that you are a hardcore gamer that takes it seriously. While you can always search for the latest using your favorite search engine, widgets can save you all the trouble. That is why both games and widgets complement each other. The former can only succeed with the latter.

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Widgets have a League of their Own

Written by Groucho on November 11, 2010 under Software

As far as creating widgets is concerned, it would be safe to note that most widget creators are likewise vying for the best widget design and purpose in the market today. It is easy to create a widget if you think about it but the presentation part is the tricky one to take note of. These days, if your widget lacks the appeal, chances are it will remain on your site, unused and totally ignored.

Another point to be considered is just like you, millions of website owners have turned to widgets to help them enhance their site. A good alternative to RSS feeds, widgets can add more features and ease for the loyal browser if you think of it. In the end, it is all about identifying the reason as to why people would download your widget and put it to use.

Also, it should be noted that not all people are familiar with widgets. They were hits some years back but for some apparent reason, the popularity of widgets have died down. They are still in use but it may take a lot as far as convincing site visitors on the feasibility of using widgets these days.

Apparently there are things to look forward to if they are to once again get their growing use. There have been new ways to access sites and widgets have no longer become the gateway towards marketing and enhancements. So if you are still among the widget users then you should think fast. Otherwise all your effort may be for naught.

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Enhancing Your Site through Widgets

Written by Groucho on September 30, 2010 under Software

Widget Artist

Creativity paired with imagination, this is what differentiates most sites when it all boils down to the best representation that anyone can think of. Widgets have been designed in various ways through the years, using graphics such as JPEG and GIF images to add spice to their sites. When widgets were introduced into the scene, everyone shifted into making attractive and alluring designs that can help make hosted sites all the more appealing to the people who browse the net everyday.

There are various means of enhancers to which Widgets have been created. They range from news feeds, utilities, cam viewers and so on. Advancements have made the Internet a whole lot ideal for most. Most can be seen as the sites now offer a more interactive manner of interface through such scripts and programming of widgets as a more alluring graphics interface tool. The best way to get people to try out technology is to actually have them interface with it. And this is something that Widgets have given, a new way of enhancing sites and visitor hits over the Internet today.

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How Widgets Cater to Internet User Friendliness

Written by Groucho on September 24, 2010 under Software

Widget Website Enhancers

It has been years since the first outbreak of the Internet has barged into most homes. While the level of users who have advanced and grasped the potential of proper interface with the sites that they have already visited, some still lack the necessary features to make them user-friendly or easier to interact and understand.

Widgets have not only enhanced websites today but also provided the necessary advancements into making websites easier to navigate in. Usually, there would be the hyperlinks or underlined words that would bring people to the other pages of the site but unless a person is well-versed towards such, chances are they would miss the other pages that may contain the information and data that they are really looking for.

Through widgets, browsing through the site and trimming down to specifics the actual word or phrase for the actual item that they are looking for has made it a lot easier. Not too technical and not sophisticated, this is what widgets provide to programmers and users to enhance and make surfing enjoyable to date.

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Quote of the Day, This Day in History and Other Such Widgets

Written by Groucho on August 23, 2010 under Software

quotes

Dr. Mike’s blog widgets are simple and nifty. You just have to check them out!

Quote of the Day Widget
Are you into quotes? You would definitely love this widget. There are so many quotes that you could pull from the Internet. It so happened that this widget got it from The Freedictionary site. You would see the quote of the day, as well as the accompanying image.

This Day in History Widget
Like the Quote of the Day Widget, this is accompanied by an image. If you are a history buff, you could definitely activate this widget.

Dr. Mike has actually made a set of widgets based on the contents of freedictionary.com. The Word of the Day, In the News would also be included in this set of widgets. After all, they have all come from the site. What is great about this set of widgets is that they also work on WordPress MultiUser installs. So if you have WordPress MU installed on your server, you and the other users could use them without much of a hitch. Another good thing about these widgets is that you don’t have to worry about any configurations. You could set the header texts so that you are not stuck with the default ones. When it comes to this day in history, you could be as creative as “Back to the past” or “Backtracks.” For the Quote of the Day widget, you could use “Who said what” as a text for it.

Dr. Mike made use of RSS in the creation of these widgets. Maybe you want to make your own if you don’t quite like the sources he has used for these widgets. It is time to check in to the code and see how things work. Well, if you feel too intimidated, maybe you could ask help from a friend who is into programming.

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