Dashboard Widgets for Mac OS X Tiger

Just as a car's dashboard serves as its control center, Mac OS X Tiger's dashboard puts you in charge of the info you access from your computer and across the Web. Accessible via a click of a button, Dashboard is home to cool, new JavaScript-based mini apps called Widgets, which can grab info from the Web and provide instant access to frequently used apps. While Tiger comes with a bunch of Widgets, one of the coolest things about them is that you can create and customize your own-and you don't need to be programmers to do so! In this task-based guide, a JavaScript master shows you how to start creating all kinds of Dashboard Widgets-from calculators to stock tickers, contact lists, and more. After providing a quick intro to HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, author Dori Smith shows you how to create your first Widget (a calculator); make that Widget work across the Net (turning it into an international money converter); add QuickTime, Flash, and Java to Widgets; debug Widgets; and more.