Virtual Gadgets and Goodies

Writing the column for this month has been an interesting thought process. This month's TechSmart is all about Gadgets and Goodies, so the problem is what exactly is on online gadget? According to Wikipedia, a gadget is a device that has a useful specific practical purpose and function but is often thought of as a novelty, and gadgets are invariably considered to be more unusually or cleverly designed than normal technology at the time of their invention. In short, gadgets are sometimes handy and practical, and sometimes fun but a complete waste of time. So instead of writing about gadgets I've put together an interesting mix of both types of online gadgets. I hope you have fun with them.

• Portableapps
  

  PortableApps has pride of place at the top of this list. Have you ever needed to work on a computer only to find it didn't have the software you needed? This is basically a suite of programs which, instead of installing to your computer's hard disk, you install to a USB flash disk. They support MS Office files, and you can always get the same stuff on any PC.

• Microsoft Gadgets - www.microsoftgadgets.com/

  Microsoft Gadgets are small applications that run on your Vista desktop and are designed to do simple tasks, such as clocks, calendars, news feeds or search tools. They can run on your desktop and on the Windows Sidebar. Many are quite handy.

• Google Desktop Gadgets - desktop.google.com/plugins/

  Google Desktop is desktop search software made by Google that lets you to do text searches of your computer including email, documents, music and photos. A great feature is you can add in Google Gadgets which are similar to Microsoft Gadgets, only with Google Desktop you get a powerful search engine for your own info and it runs on more than Vista.

• Kongregate - www.kongregate.com/

  Kongregate is a treasure trove of online games. These are all small, fun games, playable in a web browser. What makes the site so interesting is that it combines these games with an entire social networking feature. Lots of fun on this site, but beware its a total time sink.

• Twitter - www.twitter.com

  Twitter is a free social networking and "micro" blogging site that allows users to send "updates" (or "tweets") via sms. These are shown on your profile page and delivered to other users who have signed up to receive them. I think this might qualify under practical.

• Netvibes - www.netvibes.com

  Netvibes is an interesting site. It is designed to let you create your own personalised portal, or start page on the Internet. Its very well done using a lot of web 2.0 type features.

• GigaSize - www.gigasize.com

  This is a very practical site. Have you ever needed to share big files with someone? Instead of emailing them you can upload them to GigaSize (up to 600Mb files for free). You then just email the link to people who can download the files.