Applications and Widgets are yet another step toward total democratization of the web. These often independent programs allow anyone the opportunity to manipulate the functionality of a device or digital service to your whimsy. For example, as opposed to cell phones five years ago which required that you endure the mundane pre-loaded software, now there's a huge wiki-style community that will take ownership in Apple's software, whether the company chooses to embrace it or not... 

Within the young Twitter universe, applications abound; the above app was developed by the Twitter team to allow users to share "tweets" on any blog, website or social network by simply cutting and pasting pre-made script to a webpage. What you are looking at is a Flash-based application that pulls and publishes tweets from this author on a real time basis; brilliant part is that no upkeep is required.

One of the cooler applications recently launched is one created by Slash 7 for SxSW - the official spring break for geeks everywhere. Known as the Zeitgeist, PepsiCo ponied up to sponsor one hell of a cool application that brings to life chatter about the conference, live interviews via BlogTalkRadio and dispatches from employees via the SxSW blog in a fun interactive digital aesthetic.

Twitter apps don't have to be so grand however, check out the latest installation on my computer, Ada. This tidy little app allows you to easily monitor and post Twitter updates from the convenience of your desktop. Yay for avoiding three extra mouse clicks to post a tweet - damn we are getting lazy.