"Total Information Awareness" using Widgets

Sunday, October 29, 2006 by Island Dog | Discussion: Widget talk

Computerworld.com has an interesting story about widgets, and some interesting ways to use widgets to keep track of real-time information.  The article also mentions some interesting ways to use widget engines, including using a spare PC to be a dedicated "widget machine".

"The White House, the Pentagon, the CIA, NASA, network security centers, CNN and other organizations maintain "situation rooms," where teams of specialists monitor information in real time, coming from a variety of sources.

You can create your own, mini-situation room for doing exactly the same thing, thanks to cheap computers, the Internet and the wonderful world of widgets."

Click below to read the entire article.  

Also, does anyone here use a dedicated PC for widgets?  Or maybe tell us how you use widgets to make yourself more productive at home or the office.


20 Reply 17 Referrals
KiloKrash
Reply #1 Sunday, October 29, 2006 2:36 PM
Great Article! I don't have a dedicated PC for my widgets. Only the PC I use daily has all the stuff I need. E-Mail checker, Weather, Calendar, Time Zone, To-Do-Lists when I get really bogged down, system info, and a RSS reader. That's pretty much all I need. You can always add certain widgets for certain needs, but those are what I run on a daily basis. Curious to see if anyone dedicates an entire PC just to Widgets.

ZubaZ
Reply #2 Sunday, October 29, 2006 3:49 PM
I wouldn't mind having a virtual desktop dedicated to widgets. It would have to look better than the ones in that article. I would expect that one of the masters around here go do something worlds better.

It's nice to see DesktopX mentioned in a widget article at all (even if the description was a little off)!

BX
Reply #3 Monday, October 30, 2006 12:02 AM
Nice read once again

Island Dog
Reply #4 Monday, October 30, 2006 9:43 AM
I was hoping someone would post saying they use a dedicated PC to widgets. I can see the advantage, but I have no problems keeping my widgets on my main PC.

Lantec
Reply #5 Monday, October 30, 2006 10:59 AM
I use a dual screen system at work and have most of my active widgets on the secondary. I run an RSS ticker tracking 4 news services, NFL and Florida Gators scoreboard, sports ticker, weather radar, and one that shows outlook tasks and appts. I also keep an RPN calculator (HP 41CV) and Sysmetrix open. The only one that has any major impact on resources is the weather radar and that's only if I animate it. I've found it better to just set it to refresh every 10 minutes.

With the Dual core processor and lots of ram a second machine would be a luxury but not necessary.

ZubaZ
Reply #6 Monday, October 30, 2006 11:36 AM
Dual PC and Multiplicity - Mmm, yummy

Phoon
Reply #7 Monday, October 30, 2006 8:20 PM
This is a nifty idea, now if we could get something useful other than 10,000 weather widgets out of DX...

Chasbo
Reply #8 Tuesday, October 31, 2006 9:03 AM
Most people I know haven't got a clue about all this. My friends don't pay attention to any of this. Most of them who use computers at work won't touch one when they are home. There is a big difference between my work computing and what I do at home. I recently moved and when Comcast came in to get the internet going I had to unload DX3 and Object Dock because the installer was freaked out by them. He didn't understand at all. Didn't think it was Windows XP! Once he saw regular desktop icons and shortcuts he was OK.

seldomseen
Reply #9 Tuesday, October 31, 2006 10:05 AM
freaked out by them


That's one of the main reasons I use them! To freak myself out!

sViz
Reply #10 Tuesday, October 31, 2006 1:29 PM
This is a great article. I like the idea of an information central "situation room" type thing. Dedicating a whole other PC to widgets seems a bit much but I could see reserving a user account for this purpose.

Most people I know haven't got a clue about all this. My friends don't pay attention to any of this


True. It seems like DX is the coolest thing no one's ever heard of.


now if we could get something useful other than 10,000 weather widgets out of DX...


I've noticed that news, weather, time, CPU meters, and internet seem to be the 5 basic food groups for DX. I've tried to think of something REALLY creative but I ended up with a wallpaper changer, a clock, and of recent a web browser. LOL! I guess, usually, it boils down to what you really need personally.

Island Dog
Reply #11 Tuesday, October 31, 2006 8:43 PM
My friends don't pay attention to any of this.
Then tell your friends!

Chasbo
Reply #12 Wednesday, November 1, 2006 10:41 AM
Hey Island Dog - My friends aren't like us. They don't care about skinning their computers. It will be interesting to see how these same people will react to the higher versions of Vista and the gadgets. I'll bet that the people now who show no interest in how their rig is tricked out will act as if this is a new thing and be all excited about it. The reason is that they need to be lead. They are followers and I think most of the people here are more willing to experiment and search out new things.

nightbirdsf
Reply #13 Thursday, November 2, 2006 12:55 AM
I have OD, and I don't use widgets at all. I mainly wanted it for skinning. Currently I'm not even using WB, just a bootskin.

I'm currently using the built-in olive green XP theme, with matching themes for FF and TB. That and some matching Tomb Raider wallpaper, and I'm happy.

Stardock does great work, and I'll be happy to renew my subscription to OD and Wincustomize.com when they come up.

I have a PowerBook at work, and I don't use widgets there, either.

So what are your DX (or OS X Dashboard) success stories?

Brokensquare
Reply #14 Saturday, November 4, 2006 3:29 PM
I run dual monitors, and use my secondary as primarily a widget(and/or DX objects)screen...comes in mighty handy! Always wondered why run a bunch of widgets, only to have them hidden most of the time behind IE or PS or whatever...?

Island Dog
Reply #15 Monday, November 6, 2006 5:03 PM
I guess using a second monitor would be the next best thing asides from using a dedicated PC. I'm hoping to get another monitor soon, so maybe I will try that and see how it works out.

joetheblow
Reply #16 Wednesday, November 8, 2006 11:55 AM
Dual PC and Multiplicity - Mmm, yummy


That is what I wrote when I was writting about this acticle on my website.


This is a nifty idea, now if we could get something useful other than 10,000 weather widgets out of DX...


What's funny is that DX is capible of so much, but at the end of the day, artists are not coders and coders are not artists (for the most part this is true) and this is why you don't have DX widgets, gadgets or themes that use code for animation, access data from a site using well known API's (like Flickr, Google, and some "Web 2.0" sites like Digg, Yahoo Answers, Remember the Milk, YouTube and software like EyeOS, MediaWiki and Wordpress), game widgets, database creation widgets, podcast making widgets, phone call making widgets... I can keep going.

Maybe in the new WinCustomize, there will be a area where people can feel free to team up and the coders can work with the artists. (not sure if it will work though)


I guess one day I'll have a widget computer just for data collection, storage and stuff, then use a widget on my main computer to sort stuff out. I think in the future (maybe ayear or 2) there will be business minded people and companies who will do this, especiallt news rooms and market watchers... but only if they know about it and someone with vision (and business savvy) can introduce it to them and explain how it can be useful.

sViz
Reply #17 Wednesday, November 8, 2006 1:56 PM
Maybe in the new WinCustomize, there will be a area where people can feel free to team up and the coders can work with the artists.


Community projects! Someone posts an idea or a concept, and anyone can join any team, submit artwork, help out with the scripts etc.. Yes, this is a cool idea!

joetheblow
Reply #18 Wednesday, November 8, 2006 6:15 PM
I'm not sure how it would work Citizen sViz, but if it can be done I think a bunch of skinning programs would benifit.

Just read this article over at Tech Crunch:
Fox Interactive Launches Desktop/Website Widget Platform
http://www.techcrunch.com/2006/11/06/fox-interactive-launches-desktopwebsite-widget-platform/

So far, nothing spetaclular, but there is alot of promise. Just look at WidgetBox.com

sViz
Reply #19 Wednesday, November 8, 2006 8:59 PM
That SpringWidgets looks interesting, but I have enough on my plate already trying to learn DXScripting. Call me slow, but I'm still not sure how anyone is able to work with others on one widget through WidgetBox. ?

ZubaZ
Reply #20 Wednesday, November 8, 2006 9:04 PM
Looking at this page: http://www.springwidgets.com/api/ it looks like a flash app wrapped in something.

Interesting, but I'll stick with DX.

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