More on aggregators and extending the concept further into the desktop, Ziv writes about aggregation as a tool for the exterprise. This is starting to cross over into the digital dashboard buzzword area, but I'm thinking that what we're all converging on will be the real deal.
I had to giggle though, because the Sideshow project from Microsoft Research looks like my OS X dock on steroids. Even down to the vertical arrangement, mail indicator, weather reports, IM buddy display (no faces, though), and a few other information readouts. Of course, my dock doesn't have the neato pop-out in-context mini-browser windows that connect to the icons, but that could be a keen OS X project. Have to think about that.