Gadgets, Widgets and Flakes Oh My: We're not in Kansas Anymore Toto

Spent some time further exploring the "personal page portal" sites of Netvibes, PageFlakes and iGoogle over the last few days.  All pretty interesting as far as the current state and evolution of personalized content.  At first the power of customization seems a little bewildering and had me thinking "Can (should) I really do this?"  You mean I don't just click on a site and sit back and have the content spoon fed to me?  I'm not used to this; will it be work?  I might have to express myself by selecting and interacting with content?  What's going on here?!

Chips Off The Same Block

In some ways, the three sites are very much alike, almost identical in their general function and purpose, and even in some of their basic interface elements.  In some ways..

Yet there are also clear differences in each site's style and "presentation attitude" if you will.  Yes, you customize the content on each in a very similar manner picking from hundreds of chunk-line building blocks of web information, RSS feeds, social network providers and all sorts of other personal and public content.  And while each has a different name for these content building blocks -- on iGoogle they are Gadgets, on Netvibes they're Widgets, and on Pageflakes, they're Flakes, the general idea is the same.  The understanding you develop playing around with one easily translates to the others, making learning curve very portable.

Nuts and Bolts

Each site provides the ability to select from at least hundreds if not thousands of gadgets, widgets and flakes respectively.  Once the blocks of selected content are on the page, you can move them around to your liking, change interface appearances, and hide or remove them.  Each site also provides for customization of the overall page appearance in general, allowing you to select colors, themes, adding text, and etc.  You can create what amounts to multiple pages by adding tabs to organize the content.  I particularly a new Weather Channel radar gadget on iGoogle.

You Go Your Way, I'll Go Mine

Though the three sites have much overall functionality in common, they different quite a bit in presentation and attitude.

I Think Can... iGoogle

iGoogle has Google's typical white with blueish lines appearance by default.  The content gadgets appear in generally plain boxes of fixed width on the page.  Each gadget has controls that are common to all to control appearance, share with others or access content specific settings.  The iGoogle "attitude" is one of having easy going fun in my opinion.  It's a light feel.

Good Netvibrations

Netvibes goes in a distinctly different direction as far as appearance, presenting itself in an ultra modern online style.  Colors are rich and slick by default also with squared content boxes.  It has all the same operation features as iGoogle and 'Flakes but with more adult feel.  If it were a radio station I suspect it's genre would be "Alternative".  Netvibes also makes specific mention of its mobile version for small devices which I did try on a Palm.  I did come up in a greatly slimmed down version.

No Flake Is Alike 

PageFlakes also has all the same functionality as the others presented in an up-to-date, inviting and clean package.  If it wasn't a page in a browser, I wouldn't be able to tell it wasn't a normal and very currently presented application on my system, complete with drop shadows and animated barber-pole progress thermometers.  I also explored the pages that are available from other users and content providers that present almost as mini websites known as PageCasts.  Pageflakes was the only one of the three sites where I quickly found and customized a local cable TV schedule display.  (I believe it came on the public page by default!)

If You Build It (Or Not), They Will Come

Each site provides access for anyone (OK, "developers") to build gadgets, widgets and flakes.  The system on iGoogle was pretty easy to start using with plenty of help and direction available along the way.  I even linked in a little content of my own through the API.  But if "rolling your own" isn't for you, as I've mentioned all sites had a multitude of pre-built modular content from which to select and customize your pages including every major online service and content provider.  Of course, being the tech that I am, I linked in a RSS for a favorite Oracle discussion site and ended going astray from my touring while reading the I-never-get-tired-of-it subject of database performance tuning.

But I guess that's the point of these sites, to get you just where you want to go.  All in all another worthwhile recon mission.

OK, so it may be obvious that I'm new to blogging.  But hey at least I'm doing it which is a step up from where I was at: that would be nowhere.  And it may provide an opening to a bit of humor I enjoy using when I can.  That's when someone offers an unsolicited review of an endeavor usually negative in tone or substance.  This particular comeback requires that the person offering the "advice" isn't themselves doing anything with regard to the subject.

Then I can say, "Well let's take a look at what you're doing.  Oh, that's right, you don't have anything".  Well at least I'm trying something totally new for me.  And I'm not only achieving the goal of giving blogging a test drive, I'm doing it in a way which really suits my technical curiosity by setting up and then using and tinkering with the BlogEngine.NET platform.  SSSSweet.

Don't Get Cocky Kid!

Some may remember that line from Star Wars (oh god, a geek mentioning Star Wars, now I'm really stereo-typing myself).  Perhaps there's a reason it popped into my head just now.  Perhaps I should consider that advice.  On the other hand, can being pleased with actual accomplishment really be construed as arrogance?  This is working out well technically and as added bonus I'm learning and finding that I enjoy the medium to boot.

Baby Step Blogging

Since I've always enjoyed the humorous application of lines from movies, another one comes to mind now from "What About Bob?"  That would be baby stepping.  No doubt I've got a lot to learn about about blogging and Web 2.0 in general, but that's why I'm here.  In a short time, I'm realizing that when done with some thought, it's an engaging creative activity.  Previously I vaguely felt it was self-indulgent at best, if I gave it much thought at all.  Next I need to learn how to write shorter posts! 

(and add "blogging" to the spell check dictionary)

(and my personal holy grail of writing: how to not think faster than I type leaving out words along the way)

Well as part of this on-going experiment to explore both technical and creative aspects of blogging, I'm exploring Technorati.

Though I've been working diligently in technology for over 20 years, I have a lot of updating to do as far as my own knowledge of current tech trends in general, Web 2.0 and social networking specifically.  To this end, within just the last few weeks since setting up this blog, I've follow many interesting leads into these current areas of technology and the Internet.

I've pickup a lot of understanding about social bookmarking and even install another open source platform for server-based personal bookmarking (more on that later).  I've explored Netvibes and Pageflakes.  Very interesting.  I've played around with iGoogle and studied their widget system.  And snooping around Technorati.