I take a strange bit of pride in something that required little more than a copy and paste job, but thanks to Widgetbox’s App Accelerator, I turned my blog into a bona fide Facebook application. I even have my very own API key.

It’s not a work of beauty, and it’s much easier to read this blog in an RSS reader, via email, on this site, on a personal homepage, or via just about any other way you’d choose. Yet for those who are least remotely curious what goes into the backend of these applications, it’s a fun experience to try – especially for those of us whose only developing experience was in photography class in high school (ahh, the smells of the dark room chemicals come back to me as I write this).

Thanks to Charlie O’Donnell for the link.

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No one can deny that the web is being widgetized. That is particularly true of blogs. Typepad has dozens of them, as does WordPress. I just found a site called Widgetbox that allows you to turn your blog into a widget using an easy 1-2-3 step wizard. The beauty of this idea is that it allows your content to be syndicated on other blogs.

Here’s how one person described Widgetbox’s service…

>Widgetbox creates a web widget marketplace that provides web service widgets for use with blogs, social networks, auctions and web pages. Widgetbox’s mission is to give everyone the power to assemble, share and integrate the best of the web. Widgetbox serves both the producers of widgets, including the largest, online distributors as well as individual developers, and the consumers of widgets.

Widgetbox widgets can even respond to blog posts and website content.

I’m even thinking about creating a page on this blog with nothing but these widgets of my favorite bloggers…the ones noted in my blogroll. A “widgetroll!”

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Citing “a growing trend” on the Internet called “the programmable web,” Widgetbox believes the demand for widgets will increase in the coming years as the looks of blogs and webpages changes, and dynamic content becomes easier to publish and more prevalent.

“Our goal is to become the trusted directory for web widgets,” said Ed Anuff, president and CEO of Widgetbox. “We clearly see the shape the programmable web is taking and are providing a simple but powerful service that makes it easy for anyone to use web widgets. We will continue to add new functionality to Widgetbox, like expanding the widget analytics and e-commerce features.”

The company says providing a widget service such as this one will reach a large market that includes web widget developers, personal publishers like bloggers, website and profile developers, and participants in web auctions.

On the website there are featured widgets ranging from a YouTube widget, to Skype status widgets, to the CuteOverload Cute Tracker.

Widgetbox centers its business model around its Widget Syndication Platform, what the company calls an “under the hood” technology available to widget users. The company uses this platform to enable Live Widgets, widgets that can be reconfigured on the fly without tweaking HTML code; Smart Blogs that are “tag aware” and will “react” to the content of a website – for instance an image widget might display images related to the content of the most recent blog post; and Widget Panels, which has a drag and drop function to install widgets.

The company relates that the close of the beta period, which began in late June, brought with it some enhancements to the original platform, thanks to developer input. The company still appears to be engaged with the developer community and along with the announcement of the official launch, also announced the Widgetbox Certified Developer Program to provide specialized support for developers.

The enhancements that came about through the beta include:

Widget Panels – Drag and drop placement for easy instalationl and management of widgets

Live Preview -Ability to show bloggers exactly what their widget will look like on their website.

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But as Paul Kedrosky notes, “I like the idea of syndicating functionality via widgets, but without being tied directly to either ads or merchant programs it’s not clear to me how you get paid for doing it.”

That’s an interesting point because as I browsed through Widgetbox, a new widget management service currently in private beta, I saw a specific category called Money Makers, which contained widgets that potentially could earn bloggers, MySpacers, and others money.

The Widgetbox strategy is pretty smart. Essentially,they provide both a platform for developers to create widgets and a directory for widget fans to find them. But one of the potential problems with Widgetbox is that many of today’s cooler web services are developing custom widgets as part of their viral marketing strategies. Or in some instances widgets are their entire strategy, as in the case with Favorite Thingz (check out Mashable’s review).

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Ken Yarmosh is a consultant who helps organizations get the most out of their technology investments. He works with technology users and creators across various industries, focusing on technology education and strategy. With over 7 years IT experience, Ken has worked with small businesses, non-profits, federal agencies, and multi-million dollar companies.

His online efforts include acting as the Editor for the Corante Technology Hub and authoring the TECHNOSIGHT blog.