WidgetWatch
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Widget Watch: Dashalytics
I run a number of personal blogs, and like all bloggers I am obsessed with statistics (who doesn't want to know how unpopular their thoughts about their cats are?). Google Analytics is a great, free service from Google that gathers a number of stats from any website onto which you add Google's magic code.Why am I blathering on about Google Analytics on TUAW? Because Dashalytics is a cool widget that puts your Google Analytics stats right in the Dashboard (to make the obsession even easier). You can even use multiple instances of Dashalytics to multiple websites.Thanks, Mark.
Widget Watch: Get Picture Framer for free
Monkey Business Labs and Photojojo are offering Picture Framer Deluxe, which usually costs $5, for free. Why are they doing this? Free publicity, I imagine.If you are looking for a Dashboard widget that can cycle through your iPhoto library, or your Flickr stream then you can't do better than this deal. This deal is valid until noon tomorrow.
Widget Watch: MultiDash - workspaces for Dashboard
Looks like even Dashboard is getting in on this 'spaces' concept with MultiDash - a workspace manager for your Mac OS X 10.4 widgets. Flipping the widget over allows you to create separate workspaces, and it simply records which widgets are open, complete with a screenshot, when you create the workspace. Flipping the widget back over allows you to click the title bar to chose which workspace you want to see and potentially switch to. Clicking the button on the bottom... well, that's pretty self explanatory.After tinkering around with this widget, I have to say: this is fantastic. Setting aside the debate about widgets and system resources, this is a killer way to manage sets of widgets for different Dashboard uses, rather than compromising with keeping all your widgets open or dealing with the less-than-ideal widget strip in the Dashboard to re-open widgets as you need them.MultiDash is available from JBearTechnologies as donationware, and I highly recommend dropping them at least a buck (pound, etc.) or two for their slick work.
Widget Watch: Leopard server monitor
Steve didn't make any note of Leopard server in his Keynote, which is a little sad. I can imagine all the engineers who work on the server OS waiting, hoping that Steve would note all the cool new features. Sadly, they were out of luck but unlike Steve I will mention one of the new features, namely this cool widget (which is mentioned at the end of this video). That's right you can (well, will be able to) monitor all sorts of neat stuff about your Leopard server right in the Dashboard. You can monitor things like how many people are connected to the iChat server, or the processor usage in the past hour. This gives sysadmins a nice thumbnail view into the health of their servers.Kudos to the Leopard server team!
Widget Watch: Reuters Widget
Attention news junkies: Reuters, that wire service of wire services, has released a free widget for Dashboard. What does it do? It displays up to 10 headlines from your Reuters news channel of choice.Simple, blue, and useful. That's just how I like my widgets.Update: I also like my widgets to work, which this one doesn't. I thought it was just an extension issue, but it looks like the widget itself is a no go. Here's hoping they update it sooner rather than later. But hey, it is free afterall.Update to the update: This widget is for the Yahoo! Widget engine, so that would explain the trouble.
Widget Watch: Telescope, a Basecamp widget
After blogging the Basecamp widget, TUAW reader Mike Jacobsen wrote in to let us know about a Basecamp widget he recently launched for Dashboard, called Telescope. For now, Telescope appears to be more of a monitoring widget than anything, allowing users to: List current projects View last 25 updates (to-dos, milestones, messages, comments, files) Filter update list by project View next milestone for each project Mike also blogged his experience with building the widget in Dashcode, and links other projects that have either produced products, such as Packrat and other Basecamp utilities. He even lists 37Signals APIs and resources in case you're a developer looking to hop on the bandwagon.It's good to see more work being done on utilities that interact with these web services in creative new ways. My personal favorite is still Packrat for Backpack, largely because of its offline and syncing capabilities.
Widget Watch: QuickMail
QuickMail DashMail might not be the prettiest Dashboard widget I've ever seen, but it certainly is one of the most functional: it allows you to send a quick email from Gmail, .Mac, Yahoo, AOL or AIM, and even has the option for entering custom server settings for those who like to blaze their own trail. Simply enter the username and password of your chosen service on the back of the widget and you're off and running. It even remembers previous recipients (sorry, no Address Book integration as of yet) and subject lines; that's what those menu ticks are beside their respective fields.QuickMail DashMail is provided free from Scue Records.[UPDATE: Due to a company already naming an email client 'QuickMail', Scue Records has renamed their widget to DashMail.]
Widget Watch: bpiDash - a second widget for Backpack
Finally, some competition in the Backpack widget department: bpiDash (from the maker of dashLicious) is a Backpack widget that more or less matches the other Backpack widget we've always known about from Chipt. bpiDash, however, has a unique trick up its sleeve: populating a note with text from the clipboard. This ought to make the research and notation process a bit easier, and possibly raise Backpack up one notch on the Scale of Usefulness™ towards the ranks of Yojimbo, SOHO Notes and Journler (if it hasn't already surpassed them on your list, that is).The widget is offered as freeware from the author's site or DashboardWidgets.
Widget Watch: Basecamp
Basecamp is an award-winning, web-based project management service from the much-loved 37Signals, makers of the equally-loved Backpack. Since Backpack has had its own widget for a while now, it seems that Kennedia Consulting felt it was high time Basecamp received the Dashboard treatment as well. The cleverly titled Basecamp Widget offers an interface to the pleasantly simple, yet powerful, Basecamp web service, allowing you to: View Milestones, Todos, Posts and Contacts for your active projects Complete and Uncomplete Milestones Complete and Uncomplete ToDo items The author has also stated that a slew of additional features are planned for the widget, depending on how much interest is expressed from the community (hint hint). So check out the widget, submit some feedback and let the developer know you care.
Widget Watch: iStat Pro 3.0
iStat Pro 3.0 has been released and it is one of the only widgets that I actually find useful. It displays all sorts of information about your Mac at a glance, and in version 3.0 it is even easier to read. 4 new skins and new anti-aliased graphs for cpu and memory really make this widget a cut above the rest.iStat Pro 3.0 is free, but if you enjoy it be sure to get the developer some cash. Good widgets don't grow on trees.Thanks to everyone who sent this in.
Widget Watch: Widget Update
Tired of checking countless blogs and news sites just to find out whether one widget or another has been updated? Widget Update might be just what you need, as it can check up to four widget directories for new versions of all your widgets. Once it runs its check, Widget Update displays a list of the widgets that have new versions available, complete with which version is installed, what the updated version is and a link to one or more directories where you can get it.This thing is pretty handy, especially if you're a widget user like me who has quite a few widgets installed, but not always running. Widget Update is available for free (and yes, it can check for its own updates) from DashboardWidgets.
Widget Watch: Check new releases by artists in your iTunes library with newTunes
Tired of browsing the (often late) New Release emails from the iTMS to find out whether an artist you actually care about has released a new album? Sick of adding an 'Artist Alert' for each of the hundreds of artists cataloged in your vast library? Well pound those keys no more, frustrated iTMS shopper, for the newTunes widget has arrived. This widget tells you when new music you actually care about has been released by watching for new and upcoming work from the artists already in your library.Don't you love it when computers actually do the work for you, instead of creating more work for you to do? newTunes is freeware and can be had from Apple's Dashboard downloads section.
Widget Watch: Earthlink Shopping
One of my favorite things about the web is how it enables anyone, with even the slightest bit of effort, to become an educated consumer. Whenever I make a significant purchase (new camera, phone, etc), my first stops are sites like PriceGrabber, which allow you to search for things using specific criteria such as megapixels for cameras, carrier availability for phones, or speed for computers. This helps me get an idea of what my options are. The added benefit of these sites is the fact that they provide pricing quotes from hundreds of stores around the web, as well as ratings and customer reviews for those stores. While on the topic of smart internet shopping, lets take a peek at the new Earthlink Shopping widget. While it doesn't allow for the refined searching interface that I enjoy so very much, it does make it quick and easy to check prices on things. The widget searches eBay, shopping.com, and amazon.com for your search term, and displays the results in familiar search engine form. Earthlink Shopping also displays store and product ratings when available.
Widget Watch: eBay Watcher 3.0
If your picture is hanging on eBay's 'Favorite Customers of All Time' award wall, this eBay Watcher widget might be just for you. As a powerhouse eBay monitoring tool, this widget has it all: up to three items can be watched at once, audio feedback for price changes and auction ending, Growl notifications, automatic refreshing at user-specified intervals, localized display labels for German, French, Spanish, Traditional Chinese, Simplified Chinese and Italian and even a world clock. Just about the only thing this widget is missing is a kitchen sink, though I'm sure an eBay widget could help you even with that minor setback.One complaint I have about this widget is the explanation as to why you should register it from Hawk Innovations. Discussions about whether one should charge money for a widget aside, check it out: "Our demo version has a 50-50 chance of working. Make sure your widget works 100% of the time by registering now!" Cryptic as that may be, I think it deserves at least a few points for being one of the more... unique demo limitations I've seen.So, a '50-50 chance of working' demo is available, and a license (which includes two machines) will run a mere $5. Hey: nobody said making eBay's 'favorite customers' wall was free.
Widget Watch: CSS Tweak!
CSS Tweak!, as you might imagine, can optimize and clean up your CSS code with the drag and drop of a file. The widget will report how much smaller your file is going to get, and its description states that your new file is "saved in the same location as the original", so I'm pretty sure this means it doesn't overwrite the original, but proceed (and backup!) with caution.CSS Tweak! appears to be free and is available from Andy Peatling at his site, CssDev.
Widget Watch: miniStat2 v1.81 adds Intel Mac temp, more
While I'm still a bigger fan of the iStat pro widget, miniStat2 definitely wins points for compactness, creativity and for quickly incorporating a monitor for Intel Mac temperatures. Other updates include the ability to change the currently monitored network interface right from Network tab of the widget, the storage tab only displaying physical hard drives (as opposed to including .DMG files and the like) as well as a Spanish localization.A demo of miniStat 2 is available from ShockWidgets, and a license will cost $5.
Widget Watch: Kernel Panic
In the great tradition set forth by the BSOD widget, the Kernel Panic widget offers a panic-inducing performance for the rest of us. Just set it up on your friend's, boss' or worst enemy's Mac and watch their hearts skip a beat as they (hopefully) figure out the gag. Its developer, Powermacguy, over at DashboardWidgets is either a pretty clever guy or (soon to be) on a few Mac user's hit lists.The Kernel Panic widget is free and available from DashboardWidgets.
Widget Watch: Type Cast font preview and info
This is one of those widgets that makes me wonder why Apple hasn't already made one. Type Cast is pretty simple and straight-forward: it's a font preview widget from Code Line Communications, makers of Art Director's Toolkit (amongst other things). This widget isn't short on capabilities either; you can navigate font families, styles and sizes with merely your keyboard, and you can even be taken directly to the font file in the Finder.The Type Cast widget is free and available from Code Line Communications here.
Widget Watch: Art Director's Toolkit
Code Line Communicators, developers of Art Director's Toolkit, has developed a handy widget for easy-access to some of the tools and features of their app right within your Dashboard. However, the widget only comes with a copy of Art Director's Toolkit 5; the latest version which I don't believe is bundled with Macs just yet.Either way, this widget definitely pulls its weight, as it can "Search through thousands of color swatches in industry-standard libraries, view characters and keyboard equivalents of fonts, sample colors on-screen, convert fractions/decimals/units of measure, calculate file sizes, and much more."While the widget is listed at Apple's Dashboard download site, the link simply points to the latest version of Art Director's Toolkit.
Widget Watch: TUAW
A widget author known as tuc11 over at DashboardWidgets has produced one of the best, most useful, productive, and important widgets you could ever download: a TUAW news widget! It's pretty simple, and it checks our headlines (I believe) each time you refresh Dashboard. This way, our headlines stay front and center, so you never have to worry about where they went.Good work tuc11, and nice use of both our logo from the site and C. Robin Osborn's logo he created for our video podcasts.
