Interesting Widgets......

[pyros soul]

I just got a black MacBook, and i found the dashboard app. to be very interesting. Has anyone found some interesting widgets?

[MacWiggy]

http://www.apple.com/downloads/dashboar ... idget.html

This is a running estimate of how much money has been spent on the Iraq war, so far it's been pretty accurate. It seems to rise at about the same speed that the president's approval rating declines.

[Jeff]

That sounds really depressing. I try to avoid politics and international disasters.

I use the Dashboard for weather and stickies. I've tried a lot of other widgets, but I never keep them for more than two days.

[Renegade_Turner]

What is a widget?

[Nayr]

This is a running estimate of how much money has been spent on the Iraq war, so far it's been pretty accurate. It seems to rise at about the same speed that the president's approval rating declines.

this might be the best thing you've ever said

not that I don't LOVE my BRILLIANT president...

that's disgusting how hight that number is...

[rudel_ic]

What is a widget?

Small programs that do simple tasks, like a sticky-note-app. You'll be able to check those out once you've pirated Windows Vista. Widgets are a new feature.
I assumed you're a Windows user because you didn't know widgets. They come from the Mac world.

[Jeff]

They come from the Mac world

Well, Apple actually blatantly stole Dashboard from Konfabulator, which is also available for Windows (now called Yahoo! Widget Engine.) If you want Dashboard, just install Yahoo! Widget Engine.

[lpod100]

no it isn't. here is a little piece of info that I got from this page:

The idea, repeated ad nauseam in the initial reaction to Dashboard, is that Apple should have done the “right thing”, where “right thing” means “bought the rights to Konfabulator instead of implementing Dashboard on their own”.

But this implies that Dashboard is an under-the-hood equivalent to Konfabulator. They both use JavaScript, right?

Think again. Dashboard, from a how-it-works perspective, is very much different than Konfabulator.

Konfabulator contains its own self-contained JavaScript runtime engine, based on SpiderMonkey, the open source JavaScript engine from the Mozilla Project. Konfabulator UI layouts are specified in a custom XML format. I.e.:

Konfabulator = (Custom XML format) + (Custom JavaScript engine)

Dashboard, on the other hand, is based on WebCore, the underlying open source layout and scripting engine behind Safari. Dashboard gadgets are indeed scripted using JavaScript, the same language used by Konfabulator, but Dashboard uses the JavaScript engine that’s built into the system. And for UI layout, Dashboard gadgets are specified using HTML and CSS — using the same rendering engine as Safari.

[Jeff]

That does not make any sense. You're telling me that because Dashboard widgets use slightly different technology under the hood than Konfabulator (XHTML + Javascript instead of XML + Javascript) you are going to say that Konfabulator and Dashboard are totally different?

I don't care how a Dashboard widget or Konfabulator widget is put together under the hood. The fact remains that to the end user, Dashboard and Konfabulator are exactly the same and Apple obviously was "inspired" by Konfabulator.

According to you, Vista didn't steal anything from OS X, because under the hood, it's all different.

[lpod100]

no, I'm saying that Apple didn't just implement Konfabulator without Yahoo!'s permission, they made it completely from scratch and did a hell of a lot better.

Dashboard is highly optimized, meaning the widgets themselves use very little memory. Konfabulator widgets sometimes used more processor power than full blown applications.


So, Apple didn't "blatantly steal" Konfabulator. They took the idea, thats for sure. BUT, If you read the whole article I posted, you would know that Konfabulator could be considered a rip-off of "desk accessories" from the original 1984 Macintosh computer.


Vista stole incredible amounts of ideas from OS X, which in itself is rather pitiful, but they didn't just port the apps into Windows compatible programs.

[David]

I don't think anyone thinks that Dashboard is literally Konfabulator plugged into the OS.

[Renegade_Turner]

What is a widget?

Small programs that do simple tasks, like a sticky-note-app. You'll be able to check those out once you've pirated Windows Vista. Widgets are a new feature.

Cheap shot. Yes, I am a Windows user, but I'm not going to get Vista. Don't really give a shit.

[Jeff]

Dude, you have been hoisted so far off the Earth by Steve Jobs' tractor beam that it's not even worth discussing. That said:

no, I'm saying that Apple didn't just implement Konfabulator without Yahoo!'s permission, they made it completely from scratch and did a hell of a lot better.

I don't think you really understand how programming works. Obviously Apple didn't break into the Konfabulator developer's home and steal his hard drive. Of course I'm talking about the idea!

Dashboard is highly optimized, meaning the widgets themselves use very little memory. Konfabulator widgets sometimes used more processor power than full blown applications.

Dashboard is not "highly optimized" or "a hell of a lot better" than Konfabulator. It uses webkit to parse mini-webpages (a widget) created by a third party almost exactly like Konfabulator does. In fact, I would not be surprised if Konfabulator uses webkit to parse the javascript as well. The amount of CPU a widget uses depends totally on the third party, not the underlying implementation.

So, Apple didn't "blatantly steal" Konfabulator. They took the idea, thats for sure. BUT, If you read the whole article I posted, you would know that Konfabulator could be considered a rip-off of "desk accessories" from the original 1984 Macintosh computer.

You believe that the Konfabulator developers ripped off desk accessories? That is absurd. Tell me where the button to make the screen dark and jump into "desk accessory world" is. A desk accessory is just a small application - nothing like Dasboard. Seriously, these are desk accessories: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:DA_Mac_1.png

Vista stole incredible amounts of ideas from OS X, which in itself is rather pitiful, but they didn't just port the apps into Windows compatible programs.

Apple stole a lot of ideas from Microsoft and small developers. That's how the world works.

[lpod100]

you are right. I don't know anything about programming. I have never used Konfabulator. I defend Macintosh with everything I've got, even though I don't really have anything to defend with. I am an ass for all of which I have said, and only hope that you can forgive my incompetence.

[Renegade_Turner]

That post has undertones. I don't like it.