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For a pretty long time, iGoogle was my browser’s homepage. Then, there was a long period in which I gave up on iGoogle- it wasn’t nearly as productive as I thought it would be. However, due to the recent discovery of a few gadgets, I decided to give it another shot.
iGoogle’s allure is that it brings everything together into one place. In reality, though, that can just be a huge time-waster. I had Sudoku, crossword puzzles, fun games, YouTube videos, and all sorts of fun things on iGoogle. All it did was make me less productive.
So I went looking for 10 gadgets that would actually make me more productive, more informed, and generally more interesting. I found 11, and here they are:
Wikipedia- Easy access to all the goodness Wikipedia has to offer.
Google Reader- The best iGoogle gadget, in my opinion. It’s full-featured, and offers “Canvas View”, meaning it looks much the same as it would in its own window. All the functions are available, and it’s right there in iGoogle.
Remember the Milk- I’m almost to the point where I can’t use anything that RTM doesn’t interact with. Thankfully, that list is shrinking rapidly.
The Wall Street Journal- Reading news. Nothing special, just great. And offers the full screen “Canvas View.”
NYTimes.com- Similar to above. The Times is my biggest source for news, and is its easiest to access with the new iGoogle gadget.
Friendfeed- This is one of the keys to iGoogle for me. I can update FF, read my friends’ updates, and do all kinds of things right from the iGoogle page.
TVGuide.com- Best spot for TV listings. No more Google searches, or using the terrible TV Guide site.
Flixster Movies- Same as above, but for movies. I’m a bit of a movie buff, and love having access to showtimes, reviews, theaters and trailers all from iGoogle.
Google Finance Portfolios- This would be even more useful if I had more than about $13 invested, but it’s great nonetheless. Customize your portfolio, and see at a glance how your stocks performed, while also seeing how the market’s doing as a whole. Fun to watch, in a time like this. Not funny “ha ha”…
Betwittered- This was the kicker. I hate the Twitter website, but love the application. Using Betwittered, I can do all the Twitter-ish things I love to do, like check my replies, update my status, and direct message my friends, all from iGoogle.
With these 11 gadgets, I can do a huge number of things right from the iGoogle page. Everything from reading news to updating Twitter gets done, all on one page. As someone wanting to do as many things as easily as possible, these 11 gadgets gave iGoogle back its crown as my homepage.
What’s your homepage? Why? Let us know in the comments.
