Gadgets and Widgets

Gadgets and Widgets are small applications that can be pasted on individual Web pages or computer desktops. Both Google and Yahoo require you to download their applications. Other widgets can be accessed Web browsers. Widgets provide users with an inexpensive way to add content to blogs, Websites, and your desktop.

Dashboard Widgets for Mac

Stop by the widget warehouse for thousands of cool Mac widgets from WRadio to 3D games.

Google Gadgets

Choose from thousands of desktop applications that are fun and interactive. The Google Desktop SDK has everything you need to write Google Gadgets and to integrate desktop searching into your applications.

Widgetbox

Visit Widgetbox to find hundreds of widgets already created and ready to go.Many allow you to customize the color and resize the widget to fit on your page. In addition, you can make your own widgets with their online tool.

Yahoo Widgets

Download thousands of desktop widgets to keep you up to date from the weather forecast to sports scores. Find games, calendars, and all sorts of tools. Yahoo also provides software for building and converting widgets.

Zoomify Express

Zoomify Express is a slick tool for Webmasters who want to magnify content. It is ideal for enhancing primary sources such as maps, documents, and photographs. Download the free software for Mac or Windows. Then drag and drop an image onto the Zoomify Converter. Change a few links in the template and upload the files. Your site visitors will be able to zoom and pan the image.

Plugins

In order to view some of the content on the Web, you must download additional software to work in tandem with your browser. These programs are called plug-ins. They allow you to view, listen, and interact with the content.

Adobe Acrobat Reader

Read portable Document Files (PDF).

Flash

Adobe Flash is one of the leading clients for Internet content and applications across the broadest range of platforms.

Java

Java is a programming language that allows developers to create interactive objects. Java allows you to play online games, chat with people around the world, calculate your mortgage interest, and view images in 3D, just to name a few.

QuickTime

View streaming videoclips in the browser.

QuickTime Virtual Reality allows the viewer to rotate a picture from different angles, zoom in and out. Some QTVR movies are 180 or 360 panoramic views.

RealPlayer

RealPlayer provides the user with the ability to hear and see audio and video steaming over the Internet in real time.

Shockwave

Interactive multimedia modules are created with Shockwave. It is like having a CD-ROM on the Web.