A generic self-contained self-refreshing knockout.js model for binding to a dashboard widget.

gistfile1.js

var ajaxWidgetModel = function (options) {
    var self = this;

    self.data = ko.observable();
    self.tick = function () {
        $.get(options.url, function (data) {
            self.data(ko.mapping.fromJS(data));
        });
    };

    self.tick();
    setInterval(self.tick, options.interval);
};