.Mac Update?

I just randomly checked the mac.com website today and there seems to be some new enhancements. 1GB of storage and the release of Backup 3. But no .Mac exclusive widgets to be found anywhere. Perhaps they’re waiting for a later announcement?

And now this is strange, this Tiger promo page on .Mac Sync mentions exclusive widgets but doesn’t go into specifics. I believe this was there all along, I can find it in a google cache from the 18th.

OK, this is a research-as-you-go type post. Just found a screen shot of a .Mac widget teaser from May of this year. Great.

Well, they clearly haven’t scrapped the widgets altogether so hopefully there’s some more announcements later today.

Now what are the chances the widgets are so damn cool they make you shell out 100 bucks for .Mac? Here’s hoping.

Liberate Your Widgets

The developer mode isn’t just handy for developers. Sometimes you need a widget alongside your regular workflow and not stuck in Dashboard.

The “developer mode” allows you to yank widgets out of Dashboard and have them float on top of your normal desktop (and put them back of course).

I resisted trying this out for a long time thinking that I had no interest in the weather or the clock or whatever floating above my desktop 24/7. But I find the best use is to temporarily pull a widget out, use it then put it back.

Calculator is the widget that makes the trip most often for me. Most of the time I’m working with numbers displayed on my screen. With so many widgets it’s nearly impossible to see whatever list of numbers I may be adding.

To enable devmode you can use the Terminal or a utility. In Terminal type:

Then restart the dock:

There is also a widget that will do this for you.

Once you’ve enabled it, liberating a widget is simple. Just click and drag the widget and while still dragging, hit F12 (or however else you have it set to enable/disable Dashboard) and the widget will come with you. Do the same to put it back, or you can still hold down the option key to close.

If you need to disable dev mode, in the Terminal type:

And restart the dock again. I don’t see any reason why you shouldn’t enable this, it doesn’t change any default behavior, and can be quite handy when the need arises.

How To Get Hooked On Dashboard

You’re saying to yourself, Dashboard is clearly fantastic but I just don’t use it. I want to use it. I want to love it. But I just don’t. Please help.

Well, my theory is that there’s a large segment of Mac users out there that feel this way. To a large extent fixing that problem is what this site is all about.

And actually, this article boils down to one little utility: Dasher by Splasm Software. It’s a free pref pane that automatically triggers Dashboard after a set interval, just like a screen saver.

It’s really great for three reasons. First, I’m often away from my computer but near my computer. Now I can see the weather, know if I have mail and everything else my widgets tell me without going all the way over there and hitting F12, or remembering to leave Dashboard open every time I get up.

Second, every time you come back to your computer, voilà, your widgets are sitting there all up to date. Invoking dashboard, especially the first time in a day, can take a while for everything to update. Why not let that happen while you’re away from the desk?

Last but not least, it’s automatic addiction. You never have to remember to use Dashboard, it remembers for you. After a while you’ll start to rely on it more, it’s that simple.

» Download Dasher