The problem with Mac widgets is their varying quality.
To help you wade through the thousands of widgets out there, I have picked out a handful of widgets that are useful and really pretty to decorate your dashboard with…

1. TV Show Tracker

Top of the list because it keeps my addiction to HBO in order! I use this to know EXACTLY when the next episode of Hung, Entourage or, even the odd ep of the hills, is coming up. Type in any TV show and it will tell you the last ep that played on TV and when the next episode is up. This is handy for finding out when you need to start downloading the new season of LOST. It also tells you if a series has had its final finale and finished for good. Very useful!

2. Screenshot Plus

Screenshot plus is the ultimate in quickly grabbing an image that is displayed on your screen. Screenshot plus will snap a png/jpg/gif/tiff of any window, website or selection, quickly let you review it and then save it to your desktop. Perfect for grabbing a reference image or still from a flash website, and it is so much quicker and easier then using apple screen-grab.

3. Oxford English Dictionary ~

The perfect quick look up tool. If you find yourself lost in a conversation and lacking linguistic prowess, this can fill you in on the definition of any word in the english language. It’s only one button away and saves you googling the definition of Merkin. It also has a built in Thesaurus and Apple dictionary which will define any Apple-created words.

4. Dashalytics

Anyone who owns a website or blog and gets high on finding out exactly who is visiting their site, where from, what browser their using and anything else about their visit that interests you; needs this widget.
Giving you up-to-the-minute data on everyone who passes through your pearly URL. Of course, A Google account is needed to get the info.

5. Colour Schemer Galleria

Anyone who is partial to design will love this. It is a colour scheme suggestion tool which presents you with inspiration for the pallet for your next design. The widget is a great guide for getting you started and provides you with each colour’s hex value which you can use in photoshop or on the web. It is a clean and crisply designed widget and is a nice addition, even if you don’t need to use it daily.

6. Text Translator

This is a fairly standard tool, found easily on the web thanks to Google. However, having it a single click away at all times is really useful. This will translate almost any language into another. Handy if you want to chat to someone in their own alphabet! – 私は非常に参考になったよ！

7. Minuets

Minutes is a cute countdown timer that has a lot of class at the expense of some features. The timer will count down up to 16 hours, so if your looking for something to measure your long term goals – try Countdown. Minutes will count down and play a sweet tune to let you know your waiting is over. Marginally useful. Quite fun.

8. iStat nano

This widget is good for those trying to take care of their new mac. It will let you know all the tech-y details of how it is performing. How much ram is being used, how many cycles you battery has gone through and how hard the fans inside the computer are working. Giving you in depth info on everything from CPU to network usage, iStat nano is perfect for anyone who wants to get the rough, hard stats.

9. Organizer

Organizer is a slick, quick, streamlined version of ical and notes which is useful for anyone trying to keep to a schedule. This is the best looking of all the widgets out there with almost identical functions. If your trying to manage your time better – grab hold of this and keep an eye on your progress.

And there you have it. A large gathering of ways to use that dashboard button. Plenty to fill up your screen.
There are thousands of widgets out there, it’s just a case of sifting through the gimmicks. If you have found any gems of your own then please, share in a comment.

Personally I think they would get a boost of popularity if their name was changed to something a little easier to say, and a little less geeky. Widget just doesn’t have a nice ring to it…