What the @!#%*$ is a widget??

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Luke
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Post by Luke »

AKA Panama Jack wrote:http://widgets.opera.com/
:lol: LOL Look at the people in the picture on that page... what the hell? They are completely unrelated... one gay christian guy (tell me that guy isn't gay)... one wanna-be neo-matrix loser... and the other seemingly normal female that looks like a chic I used to go to school with... wtf?
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Christopher
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Post by Christopher »

The Ninja Space Goat wrote:and the other seemingly normal female that looks like a chic I used to go to school with... wtf?
Wouldn't that be "the hippy chick I used to go to school with..." :)

Those Opera thingies seem like plugins or applets ... but maybe a widget can be just about anything they want.
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RobertGonzalez
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Post by RobertGonzalez »

arborint wrote:Wouldn't that be "the hippy chick I used to go to school with..." :)
No, it would be the 'girl I used to date in school --> viewtopic.php?p=328670#328670
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volka
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Post by volka »

arborint wrote:
jayshields wrote:Well, I always thought a widget was one of those little apps that mac users have on their desktops.
I think those are Applets ...
http://developer.apple.com/macosx/dashboard.html wrote:Tiger introduces a new feature called Dashboard, which provides a new and unique class of mini-applications called Widgets.
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Christopher
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Post by Christopher »

volka wrote:
http://developer.apple.com/macosx/dashboard.html wrote:Tiger introduces a new feature called Dashboard, which provides a new and unique class of mini-applications called Widgets.
You have to love it when the marketing types get involved mini-applications == Applets but lets call them called Widgets.

I would like to introduce a new and unique class of small dogs called cats.
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AKA Panama Jack
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Post by AKA Panama Jack »

As I said before it's going to be a W3C specification.

http://www.w3.org/TR/widgets/
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Maugrim_The_Reaper
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Post by Maugrim_The_Reaper »

Just because the WC3 is formalising a standard for Widgets, doesn't mean they have a monopoly on the name. A widget in my view is a very broad term. Applets can indeed be widgets - why not? Flash widgets? Javascript widgets? Little knobbly HTML extracts - widgets?

Like it or not, Widgets is a common use term - most folk when they see Applets *will* immediately have the sort of understanding the word Widget gets across most effectively. Maybe we should be more specific about the context.
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Post by freefall »

I'll put money on widgets being the same as portlets or anything that they want to label.

"it's a search"
"Dammit Jim thats a widget"
"oh yes, its a search widget"

which is almost exactly the same as....a portlet.
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Mordred
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Post by Mordred »

"Applet" is de-facto trademark for java in-browser applications, maybe that's why people try to find a replacement term.

In my lib/framework I call my standalone interface objects "widgets" - I think a "control" is a "widget", but a "widget" can be built of several "controls", and of course you can build widgets out of other widgets.

control < widget < application
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Chris Corbyn
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Post by Chris Corbyn »

arborint wrote:
jayshields wrote:Well, I always thought a widget was one of those little apps that mac users have on their desktops.
I think those are Applets ...
Nope, they are called "widgets" when they are part of the dashboard :)

EDIT | I completely missed the second page of this thread :oops:
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jayshields
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Post by jayshields »

volka wrote:
arborint wrote:
jayshields wrote:Well, I always thought a widget was one of those little apps that mac users have on their desktops.
I think those are Applets ...
http://developer.apple.com/macosx/dashboard.html wrote:Tiger introduces a new feature called Dashboard, which provides a new and unique class of mini-applications called Widgets.
So I'm not as stupid as I thought. I was going to mention the dashboard instead of desktop but I didn't know if I got that terminology from somewhere else.
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Jenk
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Post by Jenk »

I've always defined widgets/applets as an 'application' with a single purpose.. Applications do multiple things.. meh.

Like the widgets you (used to?) get in the bottom of John Smith's beer cans.. single purpose (to generate bubbles upon opening the can) and it was actually called a widget.
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Christopher
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Post by Christopher »

Jenk wrote:I've always defined widgets/applets as an 'application' with a single purpose.. Applications do multiple things.. meh.
I acknowledge how these terms are used. I think my point is that "widget" can mean a control (either simple or complex) or a mini-application, but "applet" can only mean mini-application. Widget is a fuzzier term that means thing or unit. It's like the words "thing-a-ma-bob" and "doo-dad" and "doo-hickey" but dressed in a business suit. I get the sense that widgets are more control-like, while applets are more application-like. But then in the case of Apple, the name given to users would be chosen by marketing types -- not technical types -- so all logic goes out the window.
Jenk wrote:Like the widgets you (used to?) get in the bottom of John Smith's beer cans.. single purpose (to generate bubbles upon opening the can) and it was actually called a widget.
A round of beer is just what this thread needs ... ;)
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RobertGonzalez
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Post by RobertGonzalez »

Websters Dictionary, when asked what a widget is, wrote:an unnamed article considered for purposes of hypothetical example
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Maugrim_The_Reaper
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Post by Maugrim_The_Reaper »

Chambers English Dictionary
widget noun 1 a device attached to the bottom of cans of draught beer so that when it is poured it has a proper head and resembles a glass of beer as poured from a tap in a pub. 2 a gadget; any small manufactured item or component.
ETYMOLOGY: 1920s: perhaps an alteration of gadget.
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