New Cartoosh Widgets

Widgets have been gaining lots of fans in the last couple of years. The small widgets that originate from their ancestors - portlets in the portal about ten years ago have evolved significantly thanks to technology innovations, such as, RSS and Web 2.0.

The widgets have come out their enterprise habitats, sprouted in the consumer-oriented portals like MyYahoo and iGoogle, and now blossomed on many blogs, websites, and social networks. Along that move, the purpose of widgets has shifted from personalization (of, say, your iGoogle home page) to Internet marketing and beyond. Many widgets are used on social networks as an extension of socialization. For example, one may make new friends via a "virtual pet" that lives in a pet widget rather than simply say hello to a total stranger.

Widgets are even spouting a new industry. There are several start-ups riding on the rise of widgets by easing the learning curve in creating widgets, lowering the entrance barrier in distribution of widgets (like market penetration), or providing such intelligence as who's installed your widgets (similar to market analysis).

If you're a blogger or a website owner, take a look at the four new Cartoosh widgets at Cartoosh.com. By embedding these widgets in your blog or website, your readers automatically get up-to-date cartoons without leaving your site.

I'll have more coverage on widgets, since they are important stepping stones in the next phase of my Internet adventure.