I’m sure I used to be able to add google gadgets from the standard KDE4 “add widgets” tool, but it has now vanished.
This was a really nice feature, now I have to run the google gadget app separately, and the gadgets are not on every desktop.
Is there a way of getting that feature back?
Just install the kdebase4-workspace-google-gadgets package and you’re fine! 
Don’t you actually have to start it from the kicker also
woohoo
Thanks stralex, that did the trick.
Running the google gadget systray thing means that the gadgets are only on one desktop, and they don’t play well when 3d rendering is disabled.
When you run them through plasma they behave just like normal plasma widgets.
caf 4926: No, you can add them directly from the “add widget” thing, and even install them from a local file that you have downloaded. It even says that you can run osx ones, I might have to investigate that further :).