Wednesday Widgets: Wikipedia

Do you Wiki? Wikipedia has got to be one of the most popular spots on the Internet these days. It has been called the most complete encyclopedia and the free encyclopedia. In case you are unfamiliar with Wikipedia, it is completely user directed. That is, all of the content is created and edited by people like you. Because Wikipedia is so dynamic (it changes by the minute), it can be flexible enough to incorporate the latest information, from news to slang terminology. You can look up practically any word or subject that you can think of. Wikipedia can be especially … Continue reading

Wednesday Widgets: Radar in Motion

Summer can also mean thunderstorm season, when the heat and humidity come together in just the right way. It seems like we have been having quite our share of severe thunderstorms in the last few weeks, here in Pennsylvania. I have been finding myself watching the weather carefully because of this. We have to plan our summer family activities around the weather, and be prepared at home in case we lose power (and therefore water, too). There have been a number of weather-related widgets coming out, but I like Radar in motion. Rather than just giving me a forecast, as … Continue reading

Wednesday Widgets: Answers

Want to know all about DNA? Or how about why we have daylight savings time? You can get the answers to these questions and more using the Answers Widget. I don’t know how it is in your household, but it seems that my kids always seem to have a million questions for me as soon as I sit down at the computer. They know that I use it “to look up stuff,” so I guess they figure they will give me something to do. Some of the questions are pretty easy to answer right away, while others need some forethought … Continue reading

Wednesday Widgets: TV Forecast

Spending too much time at the computer and not enough time watching TV? Well this week’s handy little widget can help remedy that problem. There are very few shows that I watch on a regular basis, partly because I don’t want to get so involved in the story lines when I’m not sure if I will be able to catch the next episode that follows the cliffhanger. It used to be that television shows would follow in order, a new episode every week until the hiatus in the summer. Well, that hiatus is still there, but the shows are no … Continue reading

Wednesday Widgets: Banana Warehouse

For today’s Wednesday Widgets, we are going to be a little playful. Game widgets are popping up faster than you can say Suduko. One cute little game is called Banana Warehouse. In this game, you are a forklift driver, and you need to sort crates of bananas into their proper bins. Crates of green bananas go on the left and crates of yellow bananas go on the right. You control your forklift using the arrow keys on the computer. You also have a limited amount of time to do your sorting. The concept is super easy to learn, although the … Continue reading

Wednesday Widgets: The Weather Channel

I remember when the weather channel first hit the television airways. It was a real novelty to watch. Imagine you could find out the weather anytime of day or night. No more flipping through channels as you wait for the end of the news broadcast to find out the local weather only to realize that you just missed it because you got caught up in a rerun of Happy Days. Don’t you hate it when that happens? And now with the Weather Channel Mac Widget, you don’t even have to turn on the television at all. The weather comes straight … Continue reading

Wednesday Widgets: YouTubeMe

One of the most popular Internet phenomena now has its very own widget! My husband is six years older than I am, and he always tells me that I am from that other generation; the one that embraces all of the new socialization culture of the Internet. But the truth be told, although I am aware of of these cool networks, websites and ways of communicating, I’m slow to embrace them fully. Take YouTube,for example. Sure, I’ve seen a couple of videos here and there, but I never really got attached. Well, thanks to the YouTubMe widget, that fact just … Continue reading

Wednesday Widgets: I Love Lamp

Want to bring the era of free love to your desktop? I Love Lamp says it will do just that. In the Widget world, it seems that everyone is out to build a better lava lamp. There are several versions of these things to be had. I Love Lamp is one of the latest releases, or at least in its current version that promises a new icon and some bug fixes. I have to admit that I don’t quite understand the current fascination with lava lamps on the desktop. Sure, they were really cool in college when every dorm floor … Continue reading

YouTube Christmas House Tours

Going on Christmas house tours are lots of fun. Not only can you enjoy beautiful decorations and furnishings, but you can get some ideas for decorating your own home. Just this past weekend, we visited a room that was a early century library, all decorated for Christmas. I loved pretty much every part of it and joked that I was taking my photos so we could reproduce the room at home. Of course, the high ceiling and the friezes might present a bit of a problem, but you get the idea. While visiting homes in person is always nice, it … Continue reading

Computing Review: May 4th to May 11th

Did you get all of your news, reviews tricks & tips? Here they are again in our weekly Computing Blog Review. Saturday, May 5th Cool Text Phrases Do you know some of the most common text messaging shortcuts and phrases? If you are a parent, the answer is probably not. It seems like new phrases are popping up by the sec (second). If you want to text with your kids, or just keep up with them, it is important to know the language. As an added bonus, knowing some of these phrases can help you understand what your child is … Continue reading