iGoogle

iGoogle is Google's browser desktop. I looked at this when it first came out, and wasn't all that excited about it, but it has grown up a bit since then.

When you first visit iGoogle, it will offer a default set of "gadgets" (Google's term for the various items on your page). You can just go ahead and accept those: it's very easy to adjust your preferences after that. These gadgets do things like showing you news, local weather and so on. They are just an XML wrapper for content or apps; learn more at Google Gadgets API Developer Guide. As fun as that might be to explore later, for now I'm just a consumer - I'm using iGoogle, not writing gadgets. Google does have a simplified Make Your Own Gadget tool also that cans a few simple tasks.

There are plenty of gadgets to choose from. You add new gadgets by clicking on "Add Stuff". Within that page, you can browse and select things that might interest you, or type something into the "Search Homepage Content" box at the top of the screen. For example, I typed "Gas Prices" to get the "Local Gas Prices" gadget I have in the middle of my iGoogle page.

Gadgets like that "Local Gas Prices" need more information from you - in this case, just your zip code, but do be wary of any gadget that asks for personal information or passwords - very few have any reason to, but you always have to be aware that a gadget could ask, and of course you should refuse and not use such a tool. For example, there's an "Adsense Earnings" gadget that wants your login and password - not a great idea to be giving that out! For some gadgets, you can view the source and could see whether it's harmful or simply modify it to meet your own needs, but that's not always an option.

To remove something you don't want, just click on the "X" in its right corner. To drag it to a different position, just click on its title bar and move it where you want it.

You can also add any RSS site. If you look closely at the "Add Stuff" page, you'll see "Add by Url" next to the Search button. It's easy to miss, but if you click it, you can add any RSS feed. For example, to add this site, you'd click "Add by URL" and type "http://feeds.feedburner.com/aplawrence/ZPYH".

Or just click this button:

and choose "Add to Google Home Page".

I don't know how often iGoogle checks for new news, and that's not something you get to adjust in your Preferences, and there's no way to force a refresh, so this isn't a great RSS reader, but it's fine for some things.

Another oddity is that even though I have preferences set to "Open search results in a new browser window", my Mac Firefox doesn't do that - very annoying.

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Why no "Digg this!" etc.?

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