Dashboard

I ran across a little app that's out in beta. It's called Amnesty Widget Browser and it creates a pull-down on the menu bar. The supported widgets can be individually placed on the desktop much like they are under Konfabulator. Right now not all of the existing Dashboard widgets are supported. The product is from Mesa Dynamics at mesadynamics.com.

I am not a power-user and so I don't know if the app presents any difficulties, but someone who knows could take a look and comment.

I would like to have the option to have some of my widgets be always up like Konfabulator. One of my favorite Konfabulator widgets is a picture frame that cycles thru a folder. I have it set to my iPhoto folder, and have it pushed to the desktop. It's nice to have my family and friends there in the corner while I work in my little hell here. Also, as previously commented, real-time stock quotes and weather are nice. If I unplug my network connection before I pull up the dashboard, I won't take the latest info with me. Amnesty seeks to correct that, but I would prefer a solution from Apple built into dashboard (one less app running) and since Amnesty is in beta it is still somewhat clumsy (sorry Amnesty guys, but it has crashed a few times on my system). They also don't mention a price for the final release, and I really don't see myself paying for it as I really only want it for a rotating picture frame (which I haven't found a widget for yet, may have to write it myself one day if there is a free solution to always on dashboard widgets). Here is a plug for their site: http://www.mesadynamics.com/amnesty.htm

I agree 99% of the time, but there are one or two I'd like to keep on the desktop (but not always on top, so the F12 trick won't cut it for me) - such as the wickity widget. I have a fickle memory, but the time I f9 whatever I wanted to jot is gone.

I'd much prefer that it was a little more robust in its per-widget handling. =) Not a complaint, I still love it and use a fair few widgets already. But there are times when I'd like to override my own general preferences....

I agree, who wants all the desktop clutter?

However, one of Dashboard's greatest strength is also a fatal flaw (depending on how you use it). My understanding is that when Dashboard is not visible, all the widgets "go to sleep" therefore not sucking up CPU cycles. This is all fine if you activate Dashboard to lookup something in the Dictionary or use the Calculator. But what abou the cool Weather and Stock Ticker widgets? Under the current model, when I activate Dashboard I need to wait for those widgets to "wake-up" then grab the latest info off the internet (the delay could be several seconds). So much for the hit F12, glance at the AAPL stock price, hit F12, and be back to work in 1.5 seconds idea...