Show off your iGoogle? Is it intense? Do you use it?

[Danoz]

I am admittedly pretty obsessive about my iGoogle, and I check it about as often as I do Facebook (seeing as how my Facebook is actually ON my iGoogle). I've got a task list, countdown, links for work and personal stuff, weather, local events, calendar, natgeo daily photography, wikipedia, gmail, moon phases, sticky notes, and a beautiful forest theme that I sometimes change out for space pictures. I even get TrekToday news on this damn thing.

Anybody else have a crazy "iGooge" hub? (P.S. -- screenshot was taken on my secondary "rotated" screen that I have at 1920x1200 at the moment w/ a vertical layout. Perfect for igoogle/word etc.)

I admit it. I'm plugged into the google mothership.

 

[scottydog]

^Very cool. I don't know anything about iGoogle. What are the advantages of using it? What do you gain from it?

 

[Danoz]

^Very cool. I don't know anything about iGoogle. What are the advantages of using it? What do you gain from it?

Something about having all of my links, tasks, favorite feeds, calendar, weather, mail, facebook and other stuff all cleanly laid out in the same location fits very well with my working style. I even keep my daily finances on here. So whether I'm at work or at home I have use for it.

Probably the greatest thing about iGoogle is all of that information follows you everywhere and it's totally personalized. It's about searching for gadgets that fit your needs (like the task list, link boxes etc.)

When people talk about the cryptic nomenclature "Web 3.0" (which is mostly ridiculous) I really think they really talking about an internet where everything you need comes right to you, instead of the other way around. iGoogle, for me, is probably the most useful utility Google has (with the search engine right at the top!).

 

[Mr. B]

The topic at hand requires an obnoxiously sized post.

 

[Miss Chicken]

I started a thread on this topic a few weeks ago. I was surprised to find out that not many people were using iGoogle.

I love iGoogle and I have been using it for at least two years.

I am using a Chihuly Glass theme at the moment.

This is the photo I posted in the previous thread which only shows the top portion of my iGoogle. My iGoogle has changed only slightly since then.

 

[Gary Mitchell]

I don't use it. If I want to know the time or date, I hover over the clock at the bottom of my desktop. If I want to see news I have the link in my bookmarks or I look at Yahoo news when I check my email. If I want to see weather, I crane my neck to the right and look out the window. One of my tabs is always open to TrekBBS or other sites that I find interesting on a day to day basis. I have no use for Facebook or Myspace.
I guess that I don't need anything like iGoogle.

 

[scottydog]

I use Twitter. Could I send and receive tweets from my iGoogle page? Regarding Facebook: Do you get your friends' status updates automatically in iGoogle?

 

[Danoz]

I use Twitter. Could I send and receive tweets from my iGoogle page? Regarding Facebook: Do you get your friends' status updates automatically in iGoogle?

There is a widget will full Twitter integration (like posting, viewing etc.)

 

[kes7]

I've been using it as my home page since it was brand new. Maybe three years now? Not sure when it came out, but it's a basic part of my life at this point. It's got my e-mail, chat, weather forecast, social networking, blog subscriptions, news tailored to my interests ... all in one convenient place. I currently use an LCARS theme called System47 to match the rest of my computer (wallpaper, screensaver).

I sort of assumed everyone used it. I'd say the biggest downside is that if I run a search from my iGoogle page, I'd guess it would be tied back to my account. I suppose I could bypass that by making sure I'm on the normal Google site before running a search, but since I'm not searching anything too disturbing, I usually don't bother. Actually, most of my searching is done from my Firefox toolbar, anyway, not iGoogle. Not sure what the privacy situation is with that.

(Really, Google already knows everything about me, anyway. Resistance, after all, is futile. )

 

[Spot's Meow]

I've been using it as my homepage for a couple of years now. I have a nice list of bookmarks, some weather info, an NPR news thing, my Gmail, a Wikipedia search box, a notepad where I keep track of my TV shows for the week, and some other things I can't remember at the moment. I'm not going to bother doing a screen cap since I'm on my netbook and all you would get is the top bar of the page and the weather. I am using the "Shade, Summer" theme right now, which is a dark night sky with some pretty grass.

 

[Geckothan]

I've been using it as my home page since it was brand new. Maybe three years now? Not sure when it came out, but it's a basic part of my life at this point. It's got my e-mail, chat, weather forecast, social networking, blog subscriptions, news tailored to my interests ... all in one convenient place. I currently use an LCARS theme called System47 to match the rest of my computer (wallpaper, screensaver).

I sort of assumed everyone used it. I'd say the biggest downside is that if I run a search from my iGoogle page, I'd guess it would be tied back to my account. I suppose I could bypass that by making sure I'm on the normal Google site before running a search, but since I'm not searching anything too disturbing, I usually don't bother. Actually, most of my searching is done from my Firefox toolbar, anyway, not iGoogle. Not sure what the privacy situation is with that.

(Really, Google already knows everything about me, anyway. Resistance, after all, is futile. )

Searching from Firefox toolbar won't stop Google associating those searches with your account if you're logged into it, the search results page will check for the login cookies. The only way to stop Google tracking your searches is to log off your Google account, get a new IP (reboot your router) and block Google Analytics.

Anyway, I don't use iGoogle. I toyed with it for a while and thought it was a bit gimmicky. I don't need Facespace Twitterbook updates, the weather and TODO lists on my search page. I can check the former manually, I have this thing called a SHORT TERM MEMORY for the latter, and if I want to see what the weather is like, I can look out the window.

 

[Mr. B]

Anyway, I don't use iGoogle. I toyed with it for a while and thought it was a bit gimmicky. I don't need Facespace Twitterbook updates, the weather and TODO lists on my search page.

There are a lot of stupid bells and whistles, but it's a decent RSS implementation. It's cool to be able to see dozens of headlines from dozens of websites on one web page.

 

[PlainSimpleJoel]

I used it for a few month, but prefer the standard google page. Have my own page setup as my homepage, with my favourite links. Much easier. Need to add some other pages to that also.

 

[O'Dib]

I use it, but not for a lot. Weather in 3 cities, time in 2 time zones, and a google translate widget.

 

[RoJoHen]

I started a thread on this topic a few weeks ago. I was surprised to find out that not many people were using iGoogle.

I hadn't even heard of it until you started your thread. I still don't use it, nor do I know anybody in real life that does.

This is the only place I've ever even heard it mentioned.

 

[Miss Chicken]

I never heard about it from anyone. I just noticed the iGoogle link on the regular Google page and clicked on it one day to see what iGoogle actually was.

 

[RoJoHen]

I never ever go to the main Google page, so maybe that's why.

 

[TheBrew]

Been using it for 2.5 years, been my homepage for a while. Don't have nearly as many widgets as you do, I should work on that.

 

[muldwych who]

Share a pc at home with wife and daughter so think ill leave it out, could use my work pc but most sites will be blocked on it :-(