With summer now upon us, and school holidays and Christmas looming ever closer, here's some Australian Dashboard Widgets (require Mac OS X 10.4.x) that I use that might be of interest to you:

Firstly - the weather. I know there's an Apple supplied weather widget in the box, but it can be off the mark. The weather widget I use is Tamar Hamlyn's Weather Australia, which gets its weather information directly from the Bureau of Meteorology, and offers national, state and city forecast options.

Secondly - the beach. Swellwidget offers 22 locations within QLD - TAS - SA - NSW - VIC - WA, current conditions for each location, surf, wind, weather, and a 5-day swell outlook for each location.

Thirdly - the movies. Movies Australia (also by Tamar Hamlyn), let's you know what's on at your local cinemas (movies, session times) today and several days ahead. Simply plug in your postcode and It'll return the cinemas nearest to you. It also links to Yahoo Movie reviews and other data.

Fourthly - TV. The IceTV widget displays a convenient TV guide that includes full program synopsis and episode names for all major regions and channels in Australia. The guide can show up to seven days in advance for IceTV subscribers or one day for free widget users.

Fifthly - your share portfolio. The ASX widget displays Australian stock exchange data. Allows up to unlimited stocks to be added. Graphs the past week,month or years pricing data.

Finally - a countdown widget: Countdown Calendar - simply add the event date and name and it'll count down the days to go! Like until school starts again....!!!

Tags: Dashboard Widgets, Freeware