Originally posted by: marpibeach
I never quite understood the appeal of gadgets. For instance, I know what the weather is outside. Don't need to look at my computer for that. CPU temperature? How often does one look at that? HD space? I have a pretty good idea of what I have, and don't need a gadget to tell me. Clock? What's wrong with the clock on the lower left-hand corner?
Here's my
Sidebar
From top to bottom:
Logo clock I like having an analog clock, especially one with a UT logo
Calendar I like seeing the date at a glance, I use it quite a bit
WeatherBug I know what the weather is, but I like seeing the wind speed, and I like knowing the exact temperature.
Now Playing- shows the album art for Foobar, and I can easily control the volume with this.
Server Monitor I can see how many people are playing on my UT2k4 clan server
Application launcher Keeps icon clutter off my desktop. I keep my most used apps in the sidebar, and I have my other ones grouped according to function on my desktop. This gives a much cleaner appearance.
Photo display, I like seeing my pictures on the desktop
Cpu and ram meter. It's useful seeing how much the cpu is being used, and to a lesser extent the ram. I can then compare that with the temps from speedfan and get an idea of how the temps go up and down with cpu load.
Network monitor This was my favorite thing from Zonealarm, but this is more useful. I can tell how much traffic is coming and going from my comp. and troubleshoot connection issues by having this displayed.
I have some other gadgets on my desktop and on a second page of the sidebar, but these I consider indispensable.