Widgets are the IN thing. You see them everywhere – web sites, blogs, and social networking sites. But are widgets really important or do they give way to indulgence? I would like to think the former, but the latter is all very real. Here are some things to remember that can help you make the most of your widget experience.
Use widget to offer content.
There are so many widgets out there – which one to choose and use? I think the bottom line is that you should choose widgets that will add to the experience of your visitors. Choose widgets that will enhance their visit and that will give them new information. Eye candy is all very nice to look at but it doesn’t last. Widgets that provide information, however, will keep drawing visitors back to your site.
Choose widgets that are related to your site.
Many widgets offer information, but is the information all related to your main content? While information is always good, you would be better off choosing widgets that link to what your site or blog has to offer. This way, your visitors will truly appreciate your widgets – and not just for their looks!
Avoid widget overload.
Have you ever visited a site which loaded up sooooo slowly? The chances are there are way too many widgets. More than slowing down your site, trying to cram as many widgets as possible also has a cluttering effect on your site. Now who would want a cluttered experience?
Photo courtesy of giladlotan
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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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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Do you like poker? If you are like most people these days, you probably either play poker on a regular basis or you have just recently discovered this exciting card game. Thanks largely to reality TV shows that feature poker tournaments (think World Poker Tour) and the aggressive advertising campaign of online poker rooms, more and more people are finding a new hobby in this age old card game.
These days, it is much easier to find a venue to play a game of poker. If you have a lot of friends who have the same interest, you simply have to get several of them together and you can hold your own poker night at home. Alternatively, you can find card rooms in most cities. For a relatively cheap buy in, you can have a good night’s poker game. More so, you can simply stay at home and play poker online in the countless rooms offering this game. You can choose to play for fun without spending anything or use real money to win big.
Whichever way you like playing poker, you absolutely have to hone your skills in the game. Contrary to popular opinion, poker is not all about luck, but the player’s skill. And here is my gift to you today: a poker widget provided by Full Tilt Poker.
With this widget, you get poker tips delivered right to your desk top. And mind you, they are not simply any other kind of tip – they come from some of the best poker players in the world today.
Are you still one of those who doubt that phones running on the Android operating system are becoming more and more prevalent? If so, I urge you to think again. Practically everyone – except Steve Jobs and his crew, probably – is jumping into the Android bandwagon.
Does the name NTT Communications ring a bell? Well, it’s only one of the largest names in the worldwide telecommunications industry, and yesterday, they announced the launch of a new service soon to be available in Japan: appliko. This site is going to feature apps specifically for Android smartphones and will target women in particular. The project is being carried out together with Index Corporation.
NTT Communications has been expanding its operations aggressively in the past year and has added a lot of services on top of already existing ones: data center services, content delivery, global network services, phone and VOIP, and so on.
With this new online market, Japanese smartphone users will be able to access more Android apps in the near future. NTT Communications and Index Corporation will be developing apps themselves, while at the same encouraging other developers to come with with their own apps. Support will be provided to these developers and competitions will be held to stimulate the development of quality apps.
For now, the site remains closed to the public, but reviews are going to be available – some 2,000 of them – by the end of March 2011. By the next month, the site should be fully up and running, ready for sales.
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.
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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Often, when it comes to freelancing, one of the most difficult parts of the whole ordeal is actually getting up the ladder and establishing a name for yourself. In the beginning, while you’re Mr. Nobody, it can be very difficult to find any jobs at all – never mind well-paying ones – and this is the point where most newbies turn back and walk away.
To avoid this, you need to get into the whole thing well-prepared and know what to expect. With any job that involves freelance flash design, people are going to want to look at your previous work to judge you – so make sure you’ve got something to show them! It doesn’t matter if all you’ve got are small designs you did in your free time that never got anywhere – many of your potential clients would understand you’re just starting out and have no commercial work to show yet; however, do yourself a favor and polish those old designs a bit, clean them up where they need it so that they make the best possible impression. Read the rest of this entry »
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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If there is something most of us have not noticed is that widgets offer a form of branding in a sense. We all view widgets as another mode of channeling and marketing but identifying widgets by finding out where they originate is technically a branding practice if you look at it up and close.
Widgets have their own designs and interface. Technically these are another aspect of widget technology. Looks and how they can be used differ and for each person that will pretty much be important. Updates may be presented in a different manner and depending on how they are configured (if they do allow user interface), widgets can be a great solution to resolve a lot of personal preferences many of us have today.
We have seen Yahoo and some news sites offer widgets that can be placed on your desktops. Some even have website interface. Overall, they cater to exposure as well although the work behind the belief that they were made to make life easier for us. For the analytic people these days, you know that there is something more than just serving and making it easier for the people today. Branching out through widgets is a given and people who use them can help measure how many people today actually use these widgets.
For what it is worth, it is a great brainchild as far as marketing and using technology today. Branding is hard to establish but with widgets these days, a lot of identity is being poured out especially if you talk about the number of people who love to use widgets.
Widgets are the IN thing. You see them everywhere – web sites, blogs, and social networking sites. But are widgets really important or do they give way to indulgence? I would like to think the former, but the latter is all very real. Here are some things to remember that can help you make the most of your widget experience.
