If you haven’t tried Ubiquity yet then you’re missing out on something quite incredible. The new browser tool, hatched by the boffins at Mozilla, makes using the Web with Firefox an easier and more enjoyable experience. With the extension installed you’ll no longer be a slave to the address bar and instead can simply type commands in a natural way to perform actions or retrieve information. Checkout Elena’s full review of Ubiquity on Softonic to find out exactly how it works.
Essentially, you control the app by hitting Ctrl-Space (or a pre-defined shortcut) and typing a command. Besides the preset commands built into Ubiquity, there are now loads more third-party ones that you can subscribe to. These help you perform a broad range of tasks in an instant, such as inserting a map into an email, searching for torrents, or updating your Twitter feed. Here are some of my favorite Ubiquity commands. Some of these are built-in and others you’ll have to subscribe to (for free) via the link. If you’re hungry for more commands then head for the biggest oracle on the subject, The Herd.
weather – Highlight a town or city and use the weather command to bring up an instant weather reading. Altertatively, just type “weather” followed by the name of the place.
map – Want to send a map in an email to a friend? Do it in an instant by typing ‘map’ into Ubiquity followed by the address to insert a map from Google Maps.
email – When browsing a site just type the command “email to” and enter the person’s name. Ubiquity will automatically create a new message to this person in GMail.
translate – Type “translate” when you’re on a foreign language page and Ubiquity will automatically convert the text into your chosen language.
people search – A truly incredible service where you can find photos, blogs, news stories, documents etc. about anyone, from 123 People Search.
last.fm – Reading about a band or artist on the web? Go to their Last.fm profile and start listening to them simply by highlighting the name and typing “last.fm”.
torrent -This command searches all the big torrent trackers in one hit. Remember though, that downloading copyrighted material isn’t very legal. Actually it isn’t legal at all.
