Cool Tools....NOT programming related
Joined: 04-Aug-2004
Joined: 08-Apr-2004
Joined: 14-Sep-2004
MattWoberts wrote:
alexdresko wrote:
On topic: What's the best alternative to SharpReader. I REFUSE to run SharpReader any more because I'm convinced it brings my computer to its bees knees. I miss my feeds, but I haven't had time to look at anything else out there.
Hmmm, I use sharpreader and I dont have a problem. Its using 40 Meg at the moment and hardly any CPU usage, so I don't get these issues!!!
Sharpreader is currently eating up 83megs on my laptopp!!!! 
Joined: 18-Aug-2003
I don't get these widgets... I mean... do they add any value? All I can see are widgets who tell me the weather (I look outside), tell me the memory left/harddiskspace left (why would I want to know) and other things which look great but add no real value 
Or am I lacking a gadget/widget gene?
Joined: 18-Aug-2003
Otis wrote:
I don't get these widgets... I mean... do they add any value? All I can see are widgets who tell me the weather (I look outside), tell me the memory left/harddiskspace left (why would I want to know) and other things which look great but add no real value
You're right that the vast majority of widgets do not add value, but are simply eye candy.
Big trend coming here, though. As screens get bigger, and people get more screens, there's a tendency to not go 'get' data, but have it always visible, always presented, visible at a glance. Evidence of this is Microsoft's plan to put more visual interfaces on the outside of notebooks via OLED that indicate incoming mail, etc., even when the laptop is closed or off.
The most significant evidence is Yahoo's continued purchases of anything with an API. Recently they picked up Flickr, and some other companies that escape me right now. Yahoo's trend lately seems to be snapping up companies that offer personal data storage, to offer that data via REST, and now to provide that personal data in cute widgets.
Yahoo began the first day offering Flickr photos via KonFab, as well as email through their system via KonFab. I expect everything that Yahoo offers will appear in a widget very soon, including calendaring, groups, match.com stuff, as well as auction results and monitoring. A quick tour through Yahoo's many offerings gives many ideas for widgets.
True value? Hard to say. Perceived value? Pretty high.
Interesting to note here, by the way, that Microsoft has said that Indigo will now support the REST protocol (a WebService challenger, signifigantly more lightweight.) I don't think this is an accident; I think that published APIs on the internet are starting to come into their own, and will become more so when the eye candy of Vista comes into view.
I can't think of a killer app for the combination of REST APIs and KonFab widgets, but then, perhaps that's why I'm not a billionaire... It is easy to think of a million little 'cute' things for 'always visible' data windows (widgets) backed by APIs, and perhaps it's the aggregation of these many small things that's the correct killer business model. Go Yahoo!
swallace wrote:
Otis wrote:
I don't get these widgets... I mean... do they add any value? All I can see are widgets who tell me the weather (I look outside), tell me the memory left/harddiskspace left (why would I want to know) and other things which look great but add no real value
You're right that the vast majority of widgets do not add value, but are simply eye candy.
Big trend coming here, though. As screens get bigger, and people get more screens, there's a tendency to not go 'get' data, but have it always visible, always presented, visible at a glance. Evidence of this is Microsoft's plan to put more visual interfaces on the outside of notebooks via OLED that indicate incoming mail, etc., even when the laptop is closed or off.
That means the machine isn't really off, or am I missing something magical? (Harry P., what did you do this time!)
I have a feelling this trend won't be there. MS already tossed the sidebar, which was clearly designed to be home for widgets, and rightfully so (IMHO). I think the reason why this trend won't succeed is that it loads more and more information onto the user of the computer. The user can watch a lot of stuff at once in real time and can keep him/herself busy for hours just doing that. Though if you also have to do some work, it can get stressful. We already see that happening with IM + Email and blogreaders, which overload computer users with info and attention leechers.
So IMHO a trend invented by the powers behind the trend-consuming goodie sellers/providers.
The most significant evidence is Yahoo's continued purchases of anything with an API. Recently they picked up Flickr, and some other companies that escape me right now. Yahoo's trend lately seems to be snapping up companies that offer personal data storage, to offer that data via REST, and now to provide that personal data in cute widgets.
Yahoo began the first day offering Flickr photos via KonFab, as well as email through their system via KonFab. I expect everything that Yahoo offers will appear in a widget very soon, including calendaring, groups, match.com stuff, as well as auction results and monitoring. A quick tour through Yahoo's many offerings gives many ideas for widgets.
True value? Hard to say. Perceived value? Pretty high.
Is that really a value? 
I'm not sure. The reason Yahoo is doing all this is to be sure they offer functionality and features if the trend takes off, like Google does too. Though will it take off? I have my doubts. At first it might be that it will, though it IMHO will soon cause a counter-trend for a cleaner desktop where you actually get things done.
Interesting to note here, by the way, that Microsoft has said that Indigo will now support the REST protocol (a WebService challenger, signifigantly more lightweight.) I don't think this is an accident; I think that published APIs on the internet are starting to come into their own, and will become more so when the eye candy of Vista comes into view.
I can't think of a killer app for the combination of REST APIs and KonFab widgets, but then, perhaps that's why I'm not a billionaire... It is easy to think of a million little 'cute' things for 'always visible' data windows (widgets) backed by APIs, and perhaps it's the aggregation of these many small things that's the correct killer business model. Go Yahoo!
Though how are they going to make money? Offering things for free doesn't make you any money, it only makes your debts bigger. If it's a long-term strategy, just 'to be there in 2010', I can understand, but what will be the next big thing on the internet is hard to say, though I don't think it will be a truckload of information providing thingies on the desktop (but I could be wrong of course ).
Joined: 18-Aug-2003
... will soon cause a counter-trend for a cleaner desktop where you actually get things done.
There's the big money!
Just like there's anti-virus and anti-spyware, perhaps there's a future market in anti-widget software. I think you just minted a billion dollars there!
I agree, I personally don't see a great deal of value, but then I'm not at all an average user and I don't apply what I like to what the market will do. People like cool and flashy things, and these are that.
Good point about Microsoft removing Sidebar, but I think that was a technical and time-to-market thing, not something that people didn't want. I still think it will appear, but was delayed in the same way WinFS was delayed. Good idea that widgets should be dockable into and out of a sidebar.
My understanding of the external laptop widgets is that Microsoft is working on a low-power code execution state where the laptop is 'off-but-executing,' meaning it can get email, store it, and report it to a low power output, without truely being 'on'. shrugs Who knows how it works, and I'm certain it's years away. It was demo'd at some conference they held discussiong future laptop features about a year ago. Effectively the external OLED viewer is a widget device, and that likely means that anyone can write to it to report an important event, like an auction end or whatever.
As for Yahoo, they're sitting on a ton of data, both client and end-user. They're looking for any outlet they can to connect users to data, and I suspect they are anxious to move beyond the traditional browser. They're fronting everything with an API, and that tells me they want to connect to phones, widgets, mind melds, etc., with just a touch of advertising thrown in.
Suddenly this reminds me of the push model. Widgets allow the data providor (in this instance Yahoo) to push data to the user rather than waiting for the user to come visit their site with a browser. Pointcast redux? Maybe.
Don't discount the real monetary value of those simple text ads at the side of the page, Google made $900 million last year on them, and I made a touch of money myself in the same way. The more people visit, for whatever reason and through whatever device, then the higher your click count will be, based on your percentage click-through-rate. I'd rather have a CTR of one percent and a million visitors than a CTR of four percent and a thousand visitors. In fact I've thought of trying to connect developerfood.com's data into a vs.net plug-in (and probably will for vs.net 2005). I've got good searchable data, and I want people find it. Bring on those visitors!
Joined: 08-Jun-2004
This might sound crazy, but I'm building a computer right now for which its sole purpose will be to wake my sleepy ass up in the morning. Konfabulator sounds like a great addition to this project as I want to be able to see the weather, traffic, news, etc first thing when I wake up. It's mostly an informational vehicle.
The computer is a weak (but quiet) machine that uses a 15" LCD that I got for free for fixing someone else's computer (great payment!). I can control the alarm, time, snooze, and volume by my ATI remote control. I can also stream TV from my All-In-Wonder 9600 located in my office. The alarm itself slowly brings up the audio volume and and screen brightness (black to white) sos I don't have a heart attack when 6:30am rolls around. If I hit the snooze, it uses text to speach to tell me what time it is every 15 minutes in case I can't seem to open my eyes!
How's that for cool software? I'm thinking about adding one of these (http://www.xkeys.com/xkeys/xkstick.php?PHPSESSID=e28f4417757987713fa031c11d1f6b3f) under the monitor to control most functions if the remote can't be found. That way the keyboard and everything can be tucked away nicely.
Of course, I'm just painting picture here at this point, but I'll bet none of you have an alarm clock that does all of that!
More cool alarm clock ideas:
- http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/2269144.stm (Seems doable)
- http://www.anything3d.com/3DWebDesign/DevicesGroup/GizmoPresentation/ (I could probably do the same with an X10 motion detector)
- http://www.halfbakery.com/idea/Smart_20alarm_20clock (I ain't that smart)
Hopefully I'm not too far off topic here. I just thought it was a cool idea.
You've got waaaaaaaaaaaayyyy too much time on your hands! (no pun intended )
Joined: 26-Oct-2003
Thought I'd jump in with my $.02.
Otis wrote:
swallace wrote:
Otis wrote:
I don't get these widgets... I mean... do they add any value? All I can see are widgets who tell me the weather (I look outside), tell me the memory left/harddiskspace left (why would I want to know) and other things which look great but add no real value
You're right that the vast majority of widgets do not add value, but are simply eye candy.
Big trend coming here, though. As screens get bigger, and people get more screens, there's a tendency to not go 'get' data, but have it always visible, always presented, visible at a glance. Evidence of this is Microsoft's plan to put more visual interfaces on the outside of notebooks via OLED that indicate incoming mail, etc., even when the laptop is closed or off.
That means the machine isn't really off, or am I missing something magical?
I have a feelling this trend won't be there. MS already tossed the sidebar, which was clearly designed to be home for widgets, and rightfully so (IMHO). I think the reason why this trend won't succeed is that it loads more and more information onto the user of the computer. The user can watch a lot of stuff at once in real time and can keep him/herself busy for hours just doing that. Though if you also have to do some work, it can get stressful. We already see that happening with IM + Email and blogreaders, which overload computer users with info and attention leechers.
So IMHO a trend invented by the powers behind the trend-consuming goodie sellers/providers.
I thnk this is about the obviously increasing need to present and connect the humans with information juxtaposed against Microsoft's need to sell copies of Windows. "Developers, developers, developers, developers", right? Well, these developers are so important because that's who sells the platform, to wit, Windows. It's Microsoft's core strategy to continue driving customers toward Windows, the platform.
So, putting an external display on an always-on machine (never mind no one in their right mind is going to fish their laptop out just to look at a lousy screen that tells them they've got new mail) is another way of driving you towards their platform. I agree with Frans; it won't be successful. It won't drive customers away either, and it certainly sounds cool, but ultimately it's not useful and it represents a lot of wasted resources that could've gone towards something much more helpful.
The most significant evidence is Yahoo's continued purchases of anything with an API. Recently they picked up Flickr, and some other companies that escape me right now. Yahoo's trend lately seems to be snapping up companies that offer personal data storage, to offer that data via REST, and now to provide that personal data in cute widgets.
Yahoo began the first day offering Flickr photos via KonFab, as well as email through their system via KonFab. I expect everything that Yahoo offers will appear in a widget very soon, including calendaring, groups, match.com stuff, as well as auction results and monitoring. A quick tour through Yahoo's many offerings gives many ideas for widgets.
True value? Hard to say. Perceived value? Pretty high.
Is that really a value?
Personally, I think a revolution needs to happen in interface design. But the key point of distinction here is that a revolution needs to happen for home users, where productivity is not the crucial concern. I think "widgets" are a great step in the right direction, even if ultimately they are a novelty. With all of the power of the desktop and its multimedia capabilities, it's about time some aesthetic is brought to those for whom it's beneficial. While aesthetics != usability, it's a step in the right direction; at least we're thinking about what the user might want to see, and how he might want to "handle" or use things.
Grey buttons suck. They don't have any inherent communicative value to the user, and the user can't divine necessarily what it does without completely understanding the context of that little button. If we're going to be stuck with a purely visual (as in, non-tactile or kinesthetic) interface as we are right now, then let's make it pretty and as visually "tactile" as possible and at the very least put pictures on the elements that give some hint as to what they do.
User shouldn't have to "learn" how to use a computer. It should be self-intuitive. User interface design has a loooong way to go.
Interesting to note here, by the way, that Microsoft has said that Indigo will now support the REST protocol (a WebService challenger, signifigantly more lightweight.) I don't think this is an accident; I think that published APIs on the internet are starting to come into their own, and will become more so when the eye candy of Vista comes into view.
I can't think of a killer app for the combination of REST APIs and KonFab widgets, but then, perhaps that's why I'm not a billionaire... It is easy to think of a million little 'cute' things for 'always visible' data windows (widgets) backed by APIs, and perhaps it's the aggregation of these many small things that's the correct killer business model. Go Yahoo!
Though how are they going to make money? Offering things for free doesn't make you any money, it only makes your debts bigger. If it's a long-term strategy, just 'to be there in 2010', I can understand, but what will be the next big thing on the internet is hard to say, though I don't think it will be a truckload of information providing thingies on the desktop (but I could be wrong of course
Jeff...
swallace wrote:
... will soon cause a counter-trend for a cleaner desktop where you actually get things done.
There's the big money!
Just like there's anti-virus and anti-spyware, perhaps there's a future market in anti-widget software. I think you just minted a billion dollars there!
haha
I agree, I personally don't see a great deal of value, but then I'm not at all an average user and I don't apply what I like to what the market will do. People like cool and flashy things, and these are that.
Yes, that appears to be the case. When I look at the screenshots of Windows Vista (I'll never get used to that I'm afraid), it's all shiny graphical goo, with features I really wonder who will ever use that, but of course, it's not only for developers, but also for mom and pop and their digital camera
My understanding of the external laptop widgets is that Microsoft is working on a low-power code execution state where the laptop is 'off-but-executing,' meaning it can get email, store it, and report it to a low power output, without truely being 'on'. shrugs Who knows how it works, and I'm certain it's years away. It was demo'd at some conference they held discussiong future laptop features about a year ago. Effectively the external OLED viewer is a widget device, and that likely means that anyone can write to it to report an important event, like an auction end or whatever.
Ok, as long as they don't do what they always do: create a few 'pre-defined' options and that's it. Like the 'RSS' misery in longhorn's kernel. It's a protocol for data! what's it doing in the kernel / CORE of the OS? All you need to do is ship a dll which can handle rss and that's it. Like there are a gazillion other protocols.
As for Yahoo, they're sitting on a ton of data, both client and end-user. They're looking for any outlet they can to connect users to data, and I suspect they are anxious to move beyond the traditional browser. They're fronting everything with an API, and that tells me they want to connect to phones, widgets, mind melds, etc., with just a touch of advertising thrown in.
Suddenly this reminds me of the push model. Widgets allow the data providor (in this instance Yahoo) to push data to the user rather than waiting for the user to come visit their site with a browser. Pointcast redux? Maybe.
Don't discount the real monetary value of those simple text ads at the side of the page, Google made $900 million last year on them, and I made a touch of money myself in the same way. The more people visit, for whatever reason and through whatever device, then the higher your click count will be, based on your percentage click-through-rate. I'd rather have a CTR of one percent and a million visitors than a CTR of four percent and a thousand visitors. In fact I've thought of trying to connect developerfood.com's data into a vs.net plug-in (and probably will for vs.net 2005). I've got good searchable data, and I want people find it. Bring on those visitors!
Good points
Oh and Alex: you are THE geek, man haha amazing stuff