When my Mac restarts, it's after one of two events: a power outage (Desktop Macs only) or a software update of some kind, generally an OS or Quicktime update.

But with a relatively slow DSL connection and a pokey 1GHz processor, the first time I launch dashboard, it's a bit sluggish getting all the widgets loaded. So here's my solution: run Dashboard at launch!

"But how, oh guru of esoterica, do you get it to do this," you ask, "For Dashboard doesn't run like typical applications and already runs at login?"

Funny you should ask!

Simply go to System Preferences:Accounts:Login Items. Click the "+" button on the bottom left-of-center, and find Dashboard.app in the resulting dialog. You're all set.

Now, when you go to check the weather before leaving for work, you won't have to wait for your Star Wars Encyclopedia widget and various Care Bear widgets to finish loading first!