Widget this!

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Using templates

Of course, there are even easier ways to create your own widgets much more quickly. Many sites offer a free online

'Create A Widget' process. While they only give you limited templates for design and usability, they are the easiest way to get started.

If you're using Opera, check out.

http://widgets/opera.com/widgetize/start for more information. Otherwise there are many others sites that create widgets based on URLs you've inputted or RSS feeds:

http://widgets.yahoo.com/widgets/widget-maker - This can be used to make widgets for Yahoo! Widgets. It is comprised of a form-filling interface that helps you create XML scripts for your widget. However, you still need to know a little bit of coding in order to get this done and create the functions yourself, to ensure the widget is fully operational.

http://grazr.com/config.html - This is perhaps the simplest of widget creators, with all the options displayed on one screen. It sources RSS, RDF or Atom format feeds from a URL of your choice and gives you theme, colour and publishing options in real-time - with the widget previewed on the right side of the menu bar.

http://www.widgetbox.com/create/create _widget.jsp - This takes users through a step-by-step process, allowing you to take flash content, a web page, Google Gadgets or more into a widget - while giving you a comprehensive range of appearance choices to make. Novice users can whizz through the process without worrying about details, while more experienced users can takes their time to look over advanced settings. This service is available after registration.

http://www.wyaworks.com - you can even download a widget to help you create more widgets. Check out WyaWidget, available after a free registration from WyaWorks' website. Don't be fooled by the size of the file; this is a powerful tool that can help you create CRM or database systems right on your desktop for easy access.

Fun with widgets

ShootIt: A pointless but fun widget that lets you shoot holes in your PC at the click of a button. A great time-filler in sporadic moments of boredom.

Bouncy ball: This makes a bouncy ball appear on the screen, which can be thrown around with the mouse. You can even customise the ball type, its size and colour, its rotation speed and much more for added fun.

Multicam: This lets you display four or nine webcams from locations around the world. You can choose from a list of cities to display and enlarge each webcam for a closer look.

Puzzle: Drop any picture on your computer into this widget and it scrambles the photo into a jigsaw puzzle with anywhere between eight and 120 pieces. You can rotate, resize and reposition your photo before creating the puzzle and even open a finished preview picture to help you along the way.

Calvin and Hobbes Fetcher: Doing what it says on the tin, this grabs a comic strip from the popular Calvin And Hobbes comic every single day.

8-Ball: Based on the famous Tyco Toy that answers every question you throw at it, all you need to do is ask the yes/no question, double-click on the widget, and it will guess the answer.

Say It!: Compatible with Windows XP, 2000 and Mac OSX, all you do is type in anything you want in the text box and click on ‘Say it!' to hear you computer's voice say what you typed. Pointless, but fun.

Chuck Norris Facts Generator: This displays one random Chuck Norris Fact, out of a large list of hilarities. There are classics such as: "Chuck Norris has two speeds: Walk and Kill" or "Outer Space exists as it is afraid to be on the same planet as Chuck Norris." Genius.

NB: All of the above are available from Yahoo! Widgets.

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