Tretakoff Musings
Monday, April 07, 2008
Dark Side Of The Sun
Not sure if Yahoo is reflecting on their dark mood after Microsoft's ratcheting of the takeover bid, but my Yahoo Widget Engine weather widget apparently is either forcecasting a black hole, an eclipse, or the end of the universe today. Or it just forgot it's daytime. :-)
No worries; the sun IS still shining here. YWE obvious is trying out the new "mood ring" function.
Not sure if Yahoo is reflecting on their dark mood after Microsoft's ratcheting of the takeover bid, but my Yahoo Widget Engine weather widget apparently is either forcecasting a black hole, an eclipse, or the end of the universe today. Or it just forgot it's daytime. :-)No worries; the sun IS still shining here. YWE obvious is trying out the new "mood ring" function.
Saturday, July 14, 2007
What's so great about Facebook?
At some of my co-workers urgings, I recently added Facebook to my litany of online networking tools; you can check out my page, if you are so inclined. I gotta say...what's the big deal? It's like a (slightly) more grown up version of MySpace, but lacking in many of the amazingly powerful tools of LinkedIn or Plaxo; with those tools, you get the business, as well as very slick automatically linking and updating tools, without the "oh, look at me" factors. In essence, what a business pro needs.
And yet, the news is going crazy with stories of how they will (or have) surpassed MySpace as the premier online destination, and more. Remember, Rupert Murdoch's $400 Million purchase of MySpace was considered unreal at the time, yet Facebook is already rumored to be in the $750 million range, and considering going IPO. Hell, they say they'll make $100 million this year.
For such a juggernaut, I can't help but wonder why the site is so ungainly. For instance, instead of having to post "my notes" (their version of blogging), why can I not just easily publish my RSS feed of this blog on that page, like I can in LinkedIn or Yahoo 360? Maybe a filtered Loyalty Dogs RSS feed? We live in the Web 2.0 age, and we are still forced to use these antique networks that think all are islands unto themselves? And what about the "photos?" Any reason my Flickr feed can't show up there, like it does in Plaxo? Look, maybe all of those things and more are possible, but I'm a dedicated Widget guy, and I can't find a single way to easily do this; with the other services I've mentioned here, I can do all of that in seconds.
So, I ask again: why is Facebook a (potentially) $1 billion company, when they don't even have the best horse in the race? Someone? Anyone?
At some of my co-workers urgings, I recently added Facebook to my litany of online networking tools; you can check out my page, if you are so inclined. I gotta say...what's the big deal? It's like a (slightly) more grown up version of MySpace, but lacking in many of the amazingly powerful tools of LinkedIn or Plaxo; with those tools, you get the business, as well as very slick automatically linking and updating tools, without the "oh, look at me" factors. In essence, what a business pro needs.And yet, the news is going crazy with stories of how they will (or have) surpassed MySpace as the premier online destination, and more. Remember, Rupert Murdoch's $400 Million purchase of MySpace was considered unreal at the time, yet Facebook is already rumored to be in the $750 million range, and considering going IPO. Hell, they say they'll make $100 million this year.
For such a juggernaut, I can't help but wonder why the site is so ungainly. For instance, instead of having to post "my notes" (their version of blogging), why can I not just easily publish my RSS feed of this blog on that page, like I can in LinkedIn or Yahoo 360? Maybe a filtered Loyalty Dogs RSS feed? We live in the Web 2.0 age, and we are still forced to use these antique networks that think all are islands unto themselves? And what about the "photos?" Any reason my Flickr feed can't show up there, like it does in Plaxo? Look, maybe all of those things and more are possible, but I'm a dedicated Widget guy, and I can't find a single way to easily do this; with the other services I've mentioned here, I can do all of that in seconds.
So, I ask again: why is Facebook a (potentially) $1 billion company, when they don't even have the best horse in the race? Someone? Anyone?
Sunday, July 01, 2007
Could I be happier? Trillian gets Widgets!
Well, installation of Trillian Astra was a breeze. So far, nice skins (and you can change them without restarting!), great layout view, and smooth operation. But...wait...what's that I see, buried in my Astra profile? I can add...widgets? I have died and gone to Trillian heaven. They are elegant, very nice to look at, and useful as all hell! Weather is sweet, the Flickr widget is so cool (compared to the Yahoo Widget Engine one, which I expected FAR more from), and the Twitter one makes following tweets easy!I'm looking for the RSS feed one to come out NOW...then we're talking!
Well, installation of Trillian Astra was a breeze. So far, nice skins (and you can change them without restarting!), great layout view, and smooth operation. But...wait...what's that I see, buried in my Astra profile? I can add...widgets? I have died and gone to Trillian heaven. They are elegant, very nice to look at, and useful as all hell! Weather is sweet, the Flickr widget is so cool (compared to the Yahoo Widget Engine one, which I expected FAR more from), and the Twitter one makes following tweets easy!I'm looking for the RSS feed one to come out NOW...then we're talking!
Saturday, June 30, 2007
iPhone: first impressions
In case you had not heard, the folks who camped out for days to get their hands on the new iPhone sort of wasted their time: unlike the Nintendo Wii, Apple was prepared for the demand. So much so, that today, I wandered over to the Apple store, where I was easily able to get my hands on an actual iPhone to play with (along with dozens of other people).
The good:
OK, enough gushing. Let's talk about the bad.
There's far more, but check out this accurate rant from another user:
1. Bluetooth is ONLY good for connecting a headset. That's it.
2. There is no file browser on the device at all. Data must be organized (if at all) in the appropriate application.
3. The camera is a simple application that has ONE button: the shutter. Pictures come out okay on the device, but nothing too fancy on a monitor, especially if it was an attempt at a macro shot.
4. SIM card is damn near impossible to open, if at all. I didn't look into it extensively.
5. Web browser is slow, even over WLAN. Even the simple OneList web app that was created takes around 20 seconds to load over WLAN. You can not highlight, cut, copy, or paste and text from a website, and you can not save any images you find from a website either. The only nice thing about it is the tabbed browsing, which crashed on me when I went to Engadget and YouTube on two tabs. This is the only application that allows you to use the keyboard in landscape mode.
6. The keyboard sucks. It gets slightly better after the iPhone "learns" you, as the employees said, but even then, it's not a device you can use with one hand comfortably, much less without looking.
7. You can only send one picture at a time in an email.
8. No custom ringtones (yet, as we were being told) and the alert tones can not be changed whatsoever.
9. The default ringtones are incredibly lame.
10. The only form of customization outside of a lame default ringtone is the wallpaper, which you'll only see when you need to unlock the device or when you get a phone call.
11. "Picture pinching" or using two fingers to zoom on any content is certainly fun to play with, but not practical whatsoever. This operation depends solely on using the device with two hands.
12. No document editor or native viewer. You can not store documents on the device to be viewed, they can only be viewed as attachments when they're sent to your in an email.
13. Visual voicemail is laggy and reacts about the same way as pushing the fast forward and rewind buttons on traditional voicemail systems. The only advantage is for those that get that many voicemail messages a day that they need to sort them according to priority.
14. NO games. None.
15. No voice dialing.
16. No speed dialing (which can be made up by the "quick list", but getting to that quick list isn't as fast as holding a single key on a real keypad).
17. No video (capture).
18. No MMS.
19. It's still <4GB for $500 and <8GB for $600
20. It only takes around 2 hours to explore every menu without any options for expandability except to scrounge around for new web apps that will load slowly and nowhere near as smoothly as the native apps.
The Apple Store I was at sold out of the 8GB versions by 2pm again, but the 4GBs were still available. And they said they expected more in tomorrow. So, I don't expect this to be a rarity. What I think I'll be doing is waiting to see what happens with three things: addressing the email/keyboard issues; looking at expansion to 3rd party apps and widgets; and definitely finding out how the synchronization with Outlook goes, as that's my life right now.
Still, definitely a game-changer, and a whole new class of device, but right now, the price keeps me away for the tradeoffs I mentioned. As the late-30's mother next to me breathed, nearly orgasmically, "I so need this," I would suggest you try for yourself, and make your own conclusions.
In case you had not heard, the folks who camped out for days to get their hands on the new iPhone sort of wasted their time: unlike the Nintendo Wii, Apple was prepared for the demand. So much so, that today, I wandered over to the Apple store, where I was easily able to get my hands on an actual iPhone to play with (along with dozens of other people).The good:
- This thing is the ultimate of small and large. The body is incredibly slim and the size is extremely small, smaller than my Treo, or even my old Palm TX. The screen is startlingly large, especially for movies. There is no obvious bezel, so this baby is all screen.
- The UI is amazing. The perfect Apple UI, it's sexy, responsive, and unbelievably cool. Transitions, scrolling, fonts: this device just screams craftsmanship.
- The phone is extremely great. Call quality is excellent, UI is superb, and address book integration is stunning. And that's not even mentioning the elegant touch of blanking the screen when you hold it to your face while calling.
- The screen cannot be believed. Bright, vibrant, and everything practically pops. with no reflections. Images are perfect, movies and Cover Flow ache to be savored.
- Just incredible UI touches. The dropping of the pins on Google Maps, the speed sensitive flicking of your finger in Cover Flow, the intuitive interface. Magnificent.
- LOVE the widgets. Yahoo Weather is unbelievably sexy, though strangely you can't reorder the cities you are looking at, just delete or add. Stocks was very cool. And Google Maps was delicious. Even Notes were DAMN cool, with a miniature yellow legal pad and sketch like font.
OK, enough gushing. Let's talk about the bad.- The keyboard is as bad as the Newton's handwriting recognition was when it first hit. Yes, the iPhone tries to automatically correct your typing issues, and does an OK job, but this is clearly a device that can only be typed on with a single finger; two thumbs are out. The sensitivity of the keyboard is wonky, and it only takes advantage of the optional horizontal orientation when in web browsing mode; what a mistake. I can see Doonesbury cartoons making fun of this anytime now.
- Web browsing is slow, even on WiFi. This surprised me, as we're talking about Safari on a closed OS X environment. Why so slow? There are no other apps to slow it down? In contrast, the YouTube app was extremely slick and responsive. I was pleasantly surprised to see NetVibes load smoothly with no issues, but signing in was a strange experience on navigation controls that were hidden under translucent menus.
- Email was a pain. Sure, reading was actually cool and sexy (especially loved the inline photos, etc.), but writing only was good if you were replying or emailign someone in your address book. Typing the address in the To field was an exercise in frustration (see the keyboard issues).
- Orientation changing sometimes worked. Worked great in iPod mode for music, but video stayed stubbornly widescreen. Not that I'm complaining, but still... And the orientation change only works for some apps, not all.
- What the heck is up with Bluetooth? Bad enough they shipped a multimedia device without Bluetooth 2.0 (2.0 lets you stream audio to headphones wirelessly), but there seemed to be no obvious way to set the iPhone's Bluetooth name. Normally, not a huge problem, but in an ever increasing Bluetooth world, you better know what you are pairing with!
There's far more, but check out this accurate rant from another user:
1. Bluetooth is ONLY good for connecting a headset. That's it.
2. There is no file browser on the device at all. Data must be organized (if at all) in the appropriate application.
3. The camera is a simple application that has ONE button: the shutter. Pictures come out okay on the device, but nothing too fancy on a monitor, especially if it was an attempt at a macro shot.
4. SIM card is damn near impossible to open, if at all. I didn't look into it extensively.
5. Web browser is slow, even over WLAN. Even the simple OneList web app that was created takes around 20 seconds to load over WLAN. You can not highlight, cut, copy, or paste and text from a website, and you can not save any images you find from a website either. The only nice thing about it is the tabbed browsing, which crashed on me when I went to Engadget and YouTube on two tabs. This is the only application that allows you to use the keyboard in landscape mode.
6. The keyboard sucks. It gets slightly better after the iPhone "learns" you, as the employees said, but even then, it's not a device you can use with one hand comfortably, much less without looking.
7. You can only send one picture at a time in an email.
8. No custom ringtones (yet, as we were being told) and the alert tones can not be changed whatsoever.
9. The default ringtones are incredibly lame.
10. The only form of customization outside of a lame default ringtone is the wallpaper, which you'll only see when you need to unlock the device or when you get a phone call.
11. "Picture pinching" or using two fingers to zoom on any content is certainly fun to play with, but not practical whatsoever. This operation depends solely on using the device with two hands.
12. No document editor or native viewer. You can not store documents on the device to be viewed, they can only be viewed as attachments when they're sent to your in an email.
13. Visual voicemail is laggy and reacts about the same way as pushing the fast forward and rewind buttons on traditional voicemail systems. The only advantage is for those that get that many voicemail messages a day that they need to sort them according to priority.
14. NO games. None.
15. No voice dialing.
16. No speed dialing (which can be made up by the "quick list", but getting to that quick list isn't as fast as holding a single key on a real keypad).
17. No video (capture).
18. No MMS.
19. It's still <4GB for $500 and <8GB for $600
20. It only takes around 2 hours to explore every menu without any options for expandability except to scrounge around for new web apps that will load slowly and nowhere near as smoothly as the native apps.
The Apple Store I was at sold out of the 8GB versions by 2pm again, but the 4GBs were still available. And they said they expected more in tomorrow. So, I don't expect this to be a rarity. What I think I'll be doing is waiting to see what happens with three things: addressing the email/keyboard issues; looking at expansion to 3rd party apps and widgets; and definitely finding out how the synchronization with Outlook goes, as that's my life right now.
Still, definitely a game-changer, and a whole new class of device, but right now, the price keeps me away for the tradeoffs I mentioned. As the late-30's mother next to me breathed, nearly orgasmically, "I so need this," I would suggest you try for yourself, and make your own conclusions.
Labels: Apple, cell phones, Google Maps, iPhone, Palm, widgets, youtube
Sunday, June 24, 2007
Chumby: Almost Here
A year ago, Widgets and the Real World were announced to finally be married: Chumby was coming to the market. A perfect device, Chumby was billed as the ultimate bedside companion/office clock, with built in WiFi, "squeeze sensors," and, most importantly, complete support for almost all the widgets you could imagine. Picture a device that sits by your bed, and downloads your favorite RSS feeds, wakes you up with any song form your music library, shows you the weather, and more. The Web was abuzz with excitement.
A year later, and we are still Chumbyless. But help is on the way! TechCrunch reports that Chumby is due out in just a couple of months, and will sell for $180. While I'm thrilled to see Chumby coming to market (probably about the time the next round of iPhone shipments will finally arrive, that $180 price point is pretty hard to take for what is essentially an uberclock. I was hoping for the magical $99 price point, but alas, I am out of luck.
If you're still jonesing for Chumby, here's what you get for those 9 Jacksons:
Features: 3.5" LCD color touchscreen • two external USB 2.0 full-speed ports • 350 MHz ARM controller • 64 MB SDRAM • 64 MB NAND flash ROM • stereo 2W speakers • headphone output • squeeze sensor • accelerometer (motion sensor) • wi-fi connectivity • integrated microphone
Ok, Chumby...bring it to market, then let's see what happens.
A year ago, Widgets and the Real World were announced to finally be married: Chumby was coming to the market. A perfect device, Chumby was billed as the ultimate bedside companion/office clock, with built in WiFi, "squeeze sensors," and, most importantly, complete support for almost all the widgets you could imagine. Picture a device that sits by your bed, and downloads your favorite RSS feeds, wakes you up with any song form your music library, shows you the weather, and more. The Web was abuzz with excitement. A year later, and we are still Chumbyless. But help is on the way! TechCrunch reports that Chumby is due out in just a couple of months, and will sell for $180. While I'm thrilled to see Chumby coming to market (probably about the time the next round of iPhone shipments will finally arrive, that $180 price point is pretty hard to take for what is essentially an uberclock. I was hoping for the magical $99 price point, but alas, I am out of luck.
If you're still jonesing for Chumby, here's what you get for those 9 Jacksons:
Features: 3.5" LCD color touchscreen • two external USB 2.0 full-speed ports • 350 MHz ARM controller • 64 MB SDRAM • 64 MB NAND flash ROM • stereo 2W speakers • headphone output • squeeze sensor • accelerometer (motion sensor) • wi-fi connectivity • integrated microphone
Ok, Chumby...bring it to market, then let's see what happens.
Saturday, March 24, 2007
March Musings
Just a random post to share, of some great tidbits.
- I always like to use this blog to share the new and cool online applications I find. Well, today I've found a blog that does nothing but this: I bring you MakeUseOf, a directory/blog of some of the coolest sites on the web for free things to make your life interesting. Although the visual style is closer to a wiki than a blog, it definitely offers a great, constantly updating collection of some of the more interesting sites that provide useful services to the consumer. Think Original Signal without the (ahem) noise.
- Yahoo has released version 4 of Yahoo Widget Engine, promising less memory hogging, and new mini-docking, to allow your widgets to be displayed in an intuitive collection, for neatness. It also introduces a drag and drop upload widget for Flickr, as well as support for just about all old widgets. Seems like a worthy download, and is definitely sucking less of my precious resources.
- Speaking of Flickr, they migrated everyone to a required Yahoo account this month. I have no objections to this, but the tool they have to merge an existing Yahoo account with your Flickr account definitely needs work: it kept getting confused. C'mon, guys...QA this stuff if you are going to require it's use.
- Looking for some new ringtones or audio clips? Check out Entertonement for a HUGE collection of freebies. Best of all, they have search and browse, and some really cool ones, such as the ticking clock for 24, or various TOS Star Trek clips. Movies, music, TV, commercials, sports, video games...they have them all.
- Need a logo, or a great stylized text image? Check out the venerable CoolText for the ability to create like a pro, for free.
- Yes, the Jawbone arrived, and is as good as advertised. Controls are a bit cryptic, but it completely eliminates background noise to the people you call. Got a convertible, or like to drive with the windows open? This is your headset. Style is ultra cool, noise reduction is simply the best, volume is just OK. Bonus: charger is USB based, so you can always get a charge from your laptop: no need to lug that AC adaptor around on your trips.
More as I think to write...
- I always like to use this blog to share the new and cool online applications I find. Well, today I've found a blog that does nothing but this: I bring you MakeUseOf, a directory/blog of some of the coolest sites on the web for free things to make your life interesting. Although the visual style is closer to a wiki than a blog, it definitely offers a great, constantly updating collection of some of the more interesting sites that provide useful services to the consumer. Think Original Signal without the (ahem) noise.- Yahoo has released version 4 of Yahoo Widget Engine, promising less memory hogging, and new mini-docking, to allow your widgets to be displayed in an intuitive collection, for neatness. It also introduces a drag and drop upload widget for Flickr, as well as support for just about all old widgets. Seems like a worthy download, and is definitely sucking less of my precious resources.- Speaking of Flickr, they migrated everyone to a required Yahoo account this month. I have no objections to this, but the tool they have to merge an existing Yahoo account with your Flickr account definitely needs work: it kept getting confused. C'mon, guys...QA this stuff if you are going to require it's use.
- Looking for some new ringtones or audio clips? Check out Entertonement for a HUGE collection of freebies. Best of all, they have search and browse, and some really cool ones, such as the ticking clock for 24, or various TOS Star Trek clips. Movies, music, TV, commercials, sports, video games...they have them all.- Need a logo, or a great stylized text image? Check out the venerable CoolText for the ability to create like a pro, for free.
- Yes, the Jawbone arrived, and is as good as advertised. Controls are a bit cryptic, but it completely eliminates background noise to the people you call. Got a convertible, or like to drive with the windows open? This is your headset. Style is ultra cool, noise reduction is simply the best, volume is just OK. Bonus: charger is USB based, so you can always get a charge from your laptop: no need to lug that AC adaptor around on your trips.
More as I think to write...
Labels: blogs, cell phones, commercials, free, fun, gadgets, Software, Star Trek, TV, Video Games, Web 2.0, widgets, Yahoo
Friday, March 09, 2007
Google Desktop 3.0: Ready Yet?
I'm a big fan of the Goog: fast, powerful, and accessible applications, all at the right price (FREE). When Google Desktop hit the scene, I was delighted: email search, and replace that crappy Microsoft search with a real power tool, PLUS Gadgets (widgets)? call me crazy, I thought we had a winner.
Unfortunately, version 1 was VERY resource intensive, and slowed my computer to a crawl. Version 2 took the Gadgets up a notch, but the search was still too limiting: it could only search up to 100K emails (I have easily over 1 million), and had a few security risks. Now version 3 has hit the street, and it adds a whole lotta eye candy. Now, the ubiquitous Sidebar samples your desktop picture, and blends the Gadgets to match. It adds a dramatic touch with gradients and light text on dark backgrounds to the News and RSS modules. The Weather is very cool; the Notepad is cute. And, of course, it uses all of the Gadgets out there.
So what's the verdict? Well, the self learning news and RSS modules were always my favorite, and the stylization that comes with Version 3 makes it truly cool. The Sidebar is definitely now ready for prime time. I'm still hoping they expand the number of emails to index, but I'll survive. In short, I think we finally have a winner.
I'm a big fan of the Goog: fast, powerful, and accessible applications, all at the right price (FREE). When Google Desktop hit the scene, I was delighted: email search, and replace that crappy Microsoft search with a real power tool, PLUS Gadgets (widgets)? call me crazy, I thought we had a winner.Unfortunately, version 1 was VERY resource intensive, and slowed my computer to a crawl. Version 2 took the Gadgets up a notch, but the search was still too limiting: it could only search up to 100K emails (I have easily over 1 million), and had a few security risks. Now version 3 has hit the street, and it adds a whole lotta eye candy. Now, the ubiquitous Sidebar samples your desktop picture, and blends the Gadgets to match. It adds a dramatic touch with gradients and light text on dark backgrounds to the News and RSS modules. The Weather is very cool; the Notepad is cute. And, of course, it uses all of the Gadgets out there.
So what's the verdict? Well, the self learning news and RSS modules were always my favorite, and the stylization that comes with Version 3 makes it truly cool. The Sidebar is definitely now ready for prime time. I'm still hoping they expand the number of emails to index, but I'll survive. In short, I think we finally have a winner.
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Ah, the Satisfaction of Recognition
Always nice to occasionally remember the biggest charm of the Web is to encounter people with like philosophies that you might not have ever encountered. Case in point, I blogged about Brass Goggles in the past, a British blog devoted to all things steampunk (think Jules Verne). I've enjoyed reading it, and dropped the blogger a line to let them know about a steampunk Yahoo Widget, Steam Gage.
Imagine my joy to see that the wonderful blogger added a whole entry on my submission, and thanked "Mr. Tretakoff" for the information! My thanks to Brass Goggles for immortalizing me as such. I am honored.
Always nice to occasionally remember the biggest charm of the Web is to encounter people with like philosophies that you might not have ever encountered. Case in point, I blogged about Brass Goggles in the past, a British blog devoted to all things steampunk (think Jules Verne). I've enjoyed reading it, and dropped the blogger a line to let them know about a steampunk Yahoo Widget, Steam Gage.Imagine my joy to see that the wonderful blogger added a whole entry on my submission, and thanked "Mr. Tretakoff" for the information! My thanks to Brass Goggles for immortalizing me as such. I am honored.
Thursday, February 22, 2007
What Yahoo Widgets were meant to be
On my PC's, I am a big fan of Yahoo Widget Engine; heck, at home I have an entire 2nd monitor devoted to 'em. Unless you want to get OS specific (Mac OSX Dashboard or Vista Sidebar), there are really only two Widget choices to use: Yahoo Widget Engine or Google Desktop Gadgets. Soon, I'll do a head to head review, and give you my feedback. I'll let you know I run both at home. :-)
Check out this amazingly cool YWE widget, Neon Gauges :: System Info. It's every gauge you ever wanted, with slick neon reflection graphics, and smooth animation. Best of all, it's multiple widgets in one. Want to monitor the hard drive? Right click, and add it. Your battery? Right click.
Best YWE Widget I have seen in a while, and adds energy, style, and functionality to any desktop.
Check out this amazingly cool YWE widget, Neon Gauges :: System Info. It's every gauge you ever wanted, with slick neon reflection graphics, and smooth animation. Best of all, it's multiple widgets in one. Want to monitor the hard drive? Right click, and add it. Your battery? Right click. Best YWE Widget I have seen in a while, and adds energy, style, and functionality to any desktop.
Labels: widgets
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
Outlook as your desktop
Another from the long line of "why the hell didn't this get thought of before?" Outlook is still the most used Calendar/Email/Contacts program (at least, until Gmail/Google Calendar gets sync down pat). However, it suffers from single window problems: you can look at your email, but you can't see your schedule without clicking into Calendar. And, if your Outlook is as bloated as mine, this can be a 5 second delay between click to display.
No more. Enter Outlook on the Desktop. As Download Squad describes it, "It allows you to pick any one of the main Outlook views (Inbox, Calendar, Tasks, etc), and display it directly on your desktop." If you use multiple monitors, like I do, you can always see your schedule open without diverting from your email.
Years ago, Berkeley Systems (venerable makers of the legendary After Dark screensaver) made a PIM program that did a similar thing: it turned your desktop into your calendar. Way before its time, it didn't make it, but not a day goes by that I don't pine for it (it was Mac only, and WAY long ago...so long, I forget the name! Expresso, and it's Star Trek brother, StarDate). Sure you can get similar functionality with Yahoo Widgets or Google Gadgets (probably Vista, too), but I find the Yahoo Widget to be extremely memory intensive, and the Google Gadget is part of Google Desktop: a massive memory hog for my office laptop. This clean, elegant and simple solution does just what I wanted.
Another from the long line of "why the hell didn't this get thought of before?" Outlook is still the most used Calendar/Email/Contacts program (at least, until Gmail/Google Calendar gets sync down pat). However, it suffers from single window problems: you can look at your email, but you can't see your schedule without clicking into Calendar. And, if your Outlook is as bloated as mine, this can be a 5 second delay between click to display.No more. Enter Outlook on the Desktop. As Download Squad describes it, "It allows you to pick any one of the main Outlook views (Inbox, Calendar, Tasks, etc), and display it directly on your desktop." If you use multiple monitors, like I do, you can always see your schedule open without diverting from your email.
Years ago, Berkeley Systems (venerable makers of the legendary After Dark screensaver) made a PIM program that did a similar thing: it turned your desktop into your calendar. Way before its time, it didn't make it, but not a day goes by that I don't pine for it (it was Mac only, and WAY long ago...
Sunday, February 18, 2007
Blidgets!
The content for the right side of my blog is provided, mostly, by Widgetbox. It's easy: you pick widgets you want to feature on your blog, configure them, and voila: they appear. Heck, I've even created widgets: that IM one (plugoo) came from my hacking their Javascript. Needless to say, I like the flexibility and variety of Widgetbox, and I have been very happy to see them grow.
Now, they've gone one step further: Blidgets. Essentially, you can take any blog and make it a widget. Then, you can put that widget on your blog: decide if you want headlines, articles, colors: you name it. For instance, I created Blidgets for Pete's Treough Blog, Lani's Fog Blog, and, of course, The Sports Guy. See them all on the right?
Best of all, YOU can have them, too. Anyone can. Sign up for a Widgetbox account, and subscribe away. Already have one, and want to feature Tretakoff Musings? Got you covered:
The content for the right side of my blog is provided, mostly, by Widgetbox. It's easy: you pick widgets you want to feature on your blog, configure them, and voila: they appear. Heck, I've even created widgets: that IM one (plugoo) came from my hacking their Javascript. Needless to say, I like the flexibility and variety of Widgetbox, and I have been very happy to see them grow.Now, they've gone one step further: Blidgets. Essentially, you can take any blog and make it a widget. Then, you can put that widget on your blog: decide if you want headlines, articles, colors: you name it. For instance, I created Blidgets for Pete's Treough Blog, Lani's Fog Blog, and, of course, The Sports Guy. See them all on the right?
Best of all, YOU can have them, too. Anyone can. Sign up for a Widgetbox account, and subscribe away. Already have one, and want to feature Tretakoff Musings? Got you covered:
Sunday, January 28, 2007
Digital Data, Analog Style
I've always been much more satisfied with analog displays than digital. They are somehow more alive, more vibrant than the cold displays of numbers on most LCDs or LEDs; give me a Nixie Tube any time over any of those. Certainly, my wishlist has always held a valued spot for the Ambient Office Dashboard, with it's delightfully analog gauges and punch card programmability, but it's a mere pretender to the throne when compared with The Device.
The Device (it's full name is The Device Patented Process Indicator) is all I have ever imagined for a desktop widget of the first order. With 2 analog dials, a glowing beaker of liquid, and a bezeled red light, you can use the software to decide what 4 things you want to watch on each. Stock prices? Temperatures? Blog page loads? take your pick and take in all the information at a glance, in magnificent style.
Courtesy of a link from Brass Goggles, The Device is almost on sale. As soon as it is, count on me as a very happy early analog adopter.
I've always been much more satisfied with analog displays than digital. They are somehow more alive, more vibrant than the cold displays of numbers on most LCDs or LEDs; give me a Nixie Tube any time over any of those. Certainly, my wishlist has always held a valued spot for the Ambient Office Dashboard, with it's delightfully analog gauges and punch card programmability, but it's a mere pretender to the throne when compared with The Device.The Device (it's full name is The Device Patented Process Indicator) is all I have ever imagined for a desktop widget of the first order. With 2 analog dials, a glowing beaker of liquid, and a bezeled red light, you can use the software to decide what 4 things you want to watch on each. Stock prices? Temperatures? Blog page loads? take your pick and take in all the information at a glance, in magnificent style.
Courtesy of a link from Brass Goggles, The Device is almost on sale. As soon as it is, count on me as a very happy early analog adopter.
Friday, December 08, 2006
New Widgetbox Widgets
Check out two new WidgetBox widgets I've added in the right column. Man, these things keep coming and get cooler and cooler.
WidgetBox makes these things easy. Now, if they'd only integrate all the Google Gadgets, we'd be all set.
The Internet Address Book Pidy. Simple: consolidate all your social networking and sharing URLs into a single "badge." Clever.- The Google Maps Widget. Paired with a text Widget for a caption, allows me to display a map of where I'm traveling to this week. With how much I've been traveling, always fun to show.
WidgetBox makes these things easy. Now, if they'd only integrate all the Google Gadgets, we'd be all set.
Labels: Google Maps, travel, widgets
