Most of the time, when I'm taking time out from work to check email, I'm also checking my Twitter account. With TwitterGadget, I can check both at once, by displaying an auto-refreshing Twitter feed in Gmail or right next to my Gmail gadget on iGoogle. Be warned, though, TwitterGadget is a bit overwhelming if you follow a lot of people. Unless you're a serious Twitter addict, it's probably more annoying than helpful to get bombarded with real-time tweets from your Gmail page. You can also use TwitterGadget as a standalone web app, but there are better ones out there, and removing it from the Google context takes away some of the charm.

Here's how to install TwitterGadget:

First, open Gmail and go to "labs." Enable the gadgets tab by turning on the "Add Any Gadget by URL" lab. Go to your new gadgets tab (it should be in settings, right next to labs), and paste in the URL for TwitterGadget, which is http://www.twittergadget.com/gadget.xml. You should be all set! TwitterGadget can also be installed on an iGoogle homepage via a convenient link on the TwitterGadget website. The refresh duration is customizable, and if you want to use multiple accounts, just install multiple Gadgets (on iGoogle, anyway.)