1.2. Using the Clock gadget
Anyone who likes wall clocks or dislikes the bland
system clock will like the Clock gadget. This gadget displays an
analog clock with hour and minute hands by default (see Figure 3). Moving the mouse pointer
over the clock and clicking shows the digital time with hour, minutes,
and seconds.
The Clock gadget is one of several gadgets that have
configurable properties:
You can change the clock face to any one of the eight
standard clock faces.
The clock time zone you use can be different from that used
by the computer clock.
The clock can have a name, which is useful if you add more
than one instance of the Clock gadget (which is handy if you want
to see the time in multiple time zones simultaneously).
The clock can have a second hand, though its movement can be
rather distracting.
To change the time zone or modify other options, right-click the
Clock gadget and then select Options. You can then use the dialog box
shown in Figure 2-18 to set the
clock options.
1.3. Using the CPU Meter gadget
Having problems with a slow or unresponsive computer, or
like being able to see what’s going on with your computer? If so, you
might want to start using the CPU Meter gadget. This gadget displays
the current percentage utilization of the computer’s CPU and memory as
a series of gauges (see Figure 4). The large gauge shows
the CPU utilization; the small gauge shows the RAM utilization.
Similar to a tachometer in a car, the CPU and RAM gauges show
high utilization in yellow and red. The gauges are handy if you are
experiencing performance problems and are wondering what is happening
with your computer.
Generally, if either gauge peaks into yellow or red usage, the
computer may become sluggish and slow to respond because of the high
utilization of its resources. If both gauges peak into yellow or red
usage, or either gauge is at 98 percent utilization or higher, your
computer may become extremely sluggish or unresponsive to your requests.
1.4. Using the Weather gadget
Anyone stuck in a cubicle without a window or wanting to
know about the weather in some far-off place will like the Weather
gadget. This gadget provides an overview of the weather at a
particular location courtesy of the weather provider configured for
your computer. The default weather provider is MSN. Using this gadget,
you can tell at a glance whether it is sunny, cloudy, snowing, or
raining (see Figure 5). You can
also see the outside temperature.
You can work with the gadget in several ways. You can set the
location for which you want to view the weather, which is great if you
are currently in Ohio but your heart and mind are in Colorado, where
you’re heading for vacation. You can also specify whether to display
the temperature in degrees Fahrenheit or degrees Celsius.
To change the location of your weather reports or the way
temperature is displayed, right-click the Weather gadget and then
select Options. You can then use the dialog box shown in Figure 5 to set the weather
options.
