Recently I came across something called as "Widgets". These are really nice little apps which run on your desktop without interfering with your work. Yet you can use these to track your mails, calendar, notes, weather, to-do list and lots more.

Here are some screenshots of widgets from Yahoo..





Google and Yahoo both have their own Widget engines. I personally liked Yahoo's (which was earlier called Konfabulator, now acquired by yahoo) more. Google's widgets are also great but more suitable to use on your Web pages instead of desktops.

These apps need a very little memory, they look slick and are very useful.

We have all heard about software templates? But here I see the concept being used everywhere. Be it the grocery stores or food chains like Mac Donald's, Taco Bells and Pizza Hut's or even the downtown's.

First time I got this feeling was when travelling to Niagara Falls a few months ago. We were travelling by a tour bus and it was a pretty long journey (10 hours). The bus would stop at "Service Areas" quite frequently (An area off the highway having food courts, rest rooms, travel information, gas stations, etc). I couldn't help but notice that all these service areas were exactly the same to look. They all had the same design. After a while one could blindly go in and know where the restrooms were.

How boring and effective at the same time :)

Watching Sachin Bat in the second innings of the first test against england reminds me of the sachin in his hey days. He used to terrorize bowlers all around then. He certainly is not as good now. But the man's cricketing intellect is still at his best. The way he is demoralizing Flintoff and co is fun to watch. I don't think he can pull off a win for India, and he also knows that. But by coming out to bat the way he has, playing cheeky and powerful shots alternatingly, he has kept england guessing. India at this stage need 9 runs per over. The last 2 overs just yeilded 25 runs. Even as I write this, Dhoni has just been dismissed. This probably means end of the fun as Sachin would also take it easy now, but he certainly has made a point here. He is surely coming back to his best. Amen!