I hate featuring feeds. There are better ways to view your feeds like Google Reader. So needless to say the feeds better be darn interesting to make the cut. Luckily Hack a Day is just that interesting.

Now I know that when you here Hack you think of Computer viruses and whatnot. I can assure you that this couldn’t be farther from the point of Hack a Day. Instead it defines hacks more as things that are “rigged together”. Now I guess I have to define what I mean by “rigged together”. Basically I mean making more use out of things than they would be right out of the box. For example one of the first posts I saw was one on how someone made a portable Nintendo Wii. While I may not necessarily be making a portable Wii myself I still find it interesting that someone had the ingenuity to make it. Another cool article was basically a discussion on whether or not you can make a DTV converter box do anything other than what was intended. While I cannot understand much of what the comments are talking about, I could tell that they were exchanging some interesting ideas.

As I have said before feedburner (which Hack a Day uses) has by far the best design for Google Gadgets. It takes up the minimum amount of space possible. Also at the same time you can read a summary and little details about the post by pressing the expand button next to the link. So why not throw Hack a Day on your iGoogle page and see what hackers are up to.

I personally love to study Artificial Intelligence. I hope to be among the scientists that finally create a true Artificially Intelligent being. Until then I can have fun with what progress we have made. Such is true with Karl the Live Robot.

Karl the Live Robot is truly one of those gadgets that stand out among the rest. Karl is not Intelligent by any means. Instead he simulates a conversation. But he is darn good at it. You may not believe me until you try it, but I swear there is someone on the other end communicating with me. Karl appears as human as me and you. Well, OK, sometimes he does show his hand. For one thing it thinks I am Paco. Also with some long conversations you will notice that Karl occasionally falls back on just rephrasing your statement. Regardless he keeps me company… Which is sad…

As for gadget implementation there are no ads or wasted space. One thing I did notice is that under the settings there is an option for him to remember you and access your friends groups. I believe this may be left over from a possible translation from a facebook version. That is unless there is some sort of Friends Group on iGoogle that I am not yet aware of. If so I apologize Karl.

By the way don’t ask it for a riddle. The riddle he gives is to long to fit in the Gadget box.

I have never played the Gameboy version of Brain Age. However, it is not to hard to deduct what the game consists of. By doing little activities you are able to supposedly increase your intelligence. If you are like me and like the idea of Brain Age, but are not blessed with a Gameboy than Brain Tuner is the next best thing.

It is really a cool concept. Brain Tuner gives you 20 basic math questions. Your job is to solve them as fast as possible. I thought for sure this was going to be easy. I was unpleasantly surprised to find out I am as dumb as a rock. It really becomes just as much a game of coordination as it is basic math. When you look at these equations it seems like the *-+ all start to blend together. Brain Tuner even keeps track of your best score for you. Though be warned that this record may disappear. As with all Google gadgets depending on the way it holds your info this may get deleted after deleting your cookies. However, that’s no big deal. Just get a screenshot when you get a good score. If you are wondering about my world famous gadget implementation critique, there really isn’t any. It takes up a reasonable amount of space and there are no ads.

My record is currently 27 seconds.

Most people don’t know of Google’s amazing dual function as a calculator. When you type in a search in anyone of your favorite Google search boxes you have the ability to type in a formula. This can be your simple add, subtract, multiply, or divide. That however would be under utilizing Google’s awesome power. The all mighty Google search can also handle all your trig, root, and power functions. Also it will convert any units you could like. Of course you could do this all from the google search bar on the top of your iGoogle page. However, this might require you to leave your iGoogle page. So why not use Google’s fine gadget.

The Google Dual-Mode Calculator is exactly what you might need on your iGoogle page. On one tab there is your basic push button calculator. This is fine for all your basic needs. However, I have already reviewed a much prettier calculator that does that. So unless you want to push out some quick calculations, I suggest you switch over to the Google Calculator. It is here that you will find the functions described earlier. My only gripe is that pressing enter on the keyboard does not compute it. Regardless it is a certified Google product so you know it is made to be top quality.

Flash games vary in quality. Sometimes a flash game can get away with being relatively cheaply made if it is fun and creative. The Missile Game is both fun and high quality.

I can’t put my finger on what this game reminds me of, but it definitely feels familiar. The Missile Game basically consists of you guiding a missile through a tunnel with obstacles. I know you’re thinking that you could find a hundred flash games that fit this description. What makes The Missile Game different is that it takes place in first person view. From a programming aspect, I can appreciate how difficult this is to make. But all the extra hard work paid off. The first person view gives you the added thrill of controlling a missile. Also, the control is terrific. I was a little worried when I started because I was afraid that the precision wouldn’t be what I needed it to be. No worries there. The mechanics feel completely natural. If for some reason they don’t, there is an option for adjusting the mouse sensitivity. These settings are not saved though so make sure to readjust it each time you play.

I guess I should address the Google gadget aspect of The Missile Game. The gadget is not overly big or small. There is a good sized Adsense ad on the bottom of the gadget. But overall I think the space allocation is reasonable. I believe this will fit in to anyone’s iGoogle page.

I can’t get past the first level. Can you?

Craigslist is an interesting service. I have found some fairly good deals on Craigslist. However, sometimes I just get entertainment from how much people overvalue their things. Well now I can get all the kicks I want from the Craigslist Monitor 2.0.

As usual I will quote Wikipedia to get everyone caught up:
“Craigslist is a centralized network of online communities, featuring free online classified advertisements – with jobs, internships, housing, personals, erotic services, for sale/barter/wanted, services, community, gigs, résumé, and pets categories – and forums on various topics.”

This Gadget provides a fine way to view all of the functions of Craigslist.com within a gadget. In fact I would almost say that it is better to use the gadget than the website. The reason I say that is because of the tabs. You are allowed three tabs within Craigslist Monitor 2.0. These tabs can be easily customized to feature any search term you desire. This is done in the settings menu. This basically allows me to keep a constant eye on those sections that matter to me.

I do have a few issues that while don’t ruin the gadget, could certainly improve it. For one thing it does take up more vertical space than I want. I believe that as long as there is a scrolling bar I could make due with seeing 4 or 5 lines of text at most, at a time. The other thing is that it is awkward to return back to your last page within your gadget. As far as I could tell there is no back button within the gadget. You can press the back button on your browser to actually go back within the gadget, but that is a far from elegant solution. Regardless Craigslist Monitor 2.0 is the best Craigslist gadget I could find.

This has been one of my biggest missions. I have search low and high for someway to listen to music on my iGoogle page. Well now I found an acceptable gadget in IMEEM Music Player.

I will be honest I had never heard of Imeem. I guess I was one of a small group who hadn’t. For all of you, who like me, haven’t heard of Imeem:

“Imeem is a social media service where users interact with each other by watching, posting, and sharing content of all digital media types, including blogs, photos, audio, and video.” Go Wikipedia!!!

What is key about their service is that they have worked out deals with all the major record labels to offer their content legally. So basically it is the holy grail of free music- Perfect for my iGoogle page.

OK NOW BEFORE YOU SAY ANYTHING I know that the player does not fit inside the gadget. Yes this is a huge issue. You can only change to the next few songs on the list unless you get lucky and it scrolls down. You can just click the fast forward button and go on to the next song though. I still recommend this gadget for one reason- it is the best free music service I could find. The ability to type in any artist you want and get a play list of their songs is invaluable. So I will be dealing with this issue until someone can make it perfect.