15 Magical Commands for the Chrome Browser

Google has released the Chrome browser. I downloaded, installed, and tested it as soon as possible, but uninstalled it 15 minutes later. I simply cannot tolerate a browser that doesn't support extensions. Firefox has too many extensions that I am unwilling to give up under any circumstances. Among them is one we've mentioned before — it’s a YubNub command-line tool. Just last week, Mozilla Labs released another similar console extension, and now I can hardly live without this extension: Ubiquity.

Once you install this extension, you can open the console window with the shortcut Ctrl+Space (Translator's note: This shortcut conflicts with Chinese input methods; you can modify it after installation. Mine is Alt+J). Ubiquity's interface is embedded in the browser as a semi-transparent window, and it really looks great. When you search for information using Ubiquity, you can still see the original webpage, giving you the feeling of searching within the webpage itself. As long as it's allowed, the search results will be directly displayed in the console, not in a newly opened window. Although some functions currently display suboptimal results in the console and require opening a new page to view the full results, they will surely improve in the future.

### Experience the Magic of Ubiquity with 15 Commands

Ubiquity can handle commands in natural language form (Translator's note: Of course, this refers to English), so theoretically, you can enter commands intuitively without having to learn complicated syntax. But like other computer-implemented natural languages, the actual results may vary.

Many commands can be simplified into just a few letters while remaining unique. For example, "m" stands for searching on MSN, and you can use "ma" to directly invoke the map command. However, to avoid various changes, such as the definition of new commands, I prefer to use full commands to avoid abbreviations that may be further simplified in the future.

1. **"Map"**. This is the first command you need to know about Ubiquity. It allows you to quickly find a map and embed it in an email. Even if this was the only command available, it would already be worth trying out. No matter how much content you write in GMail or other web-based email systems, all you need to do is highlight the content you want to search for, press the shortcut key to bring up the window, and then type "map." The map of your search result will appear. Click on a map, press the spacebar, pan or zoom in to precisely locate your target, and click the insert link below. Wow, did you see that? A map appeared in your email, not just a link. I've been looking forward to Google Maps adding this feature for years.

2. **"Email"**. With this command, you can send the entire page, part of it, or a single message via Gmail to a friend. Like other commands, you need to call up the console with the shortcut key. If you want to send the current page's link to John, just type "Email to John." You can replace "John" with any friend's name from your Gmail contacts list, then press Enter. Ubiquity can even recognize surnames, so typing "Email to Fred" works just as well.

If you want to send a snippet of the webpage to Fred, highlight the text, bring up the console, and type "Email this to Fred." Ubiquity will send the selected content to Fred. If you want to send Fred a message, such as "Thanks for sending that file!", just type "Email Thanks for sending that file! to Fred." Unfortunately, this operation opens Gmail in a new window to compose a new email, but fortunately, in the newly opened page, we only need to click Send.

3. **"Google"**. This command is obviously included, with the abbreviation "g," allowing you to search for any selected content using Google. Just like searching on the Google website, you can also use various advanced search options, such as "chrome -google." You can type anything in the console, and as long as it isn't an Ubiquity command, it will default to a Google search. For example, typing "getting a passport to spain" will search for that phrase on Google. If you select a word or sentence, all you need to do is enter the console and type "g," and Google will display the search results.

4. **"Wiki"**. Similar to the Google command, this searches Wikipedia for the words or sentences you select. You can also manually specify what you want to search, such as "w antonio gaudi."

5. **"Add"**. This is a shorthand for the "add-to-calendar" command, which adds selected content to Google Calendar, or you can enter it directly without selecting anything. Unlike Gmail, the addition happens in the background, confirmed by a pop-up window. To reiterate, Ubiquity can interact using natural language, so phrases like "Dinner with Melanie Thursday at 7pm" can be recognized.

6. **"Check"**. Adding a specified date after "Check" displays your schedule for that day in Google Calendar. Simply typing "Check" shows today's schedule.

7. **"Weather"**. Typing the command "we" followed by the city name or postal code displays the weather forecast for that area inline, including temperature, air quality, wind direction, and humidity. I use this command combined with the Email command or twit command to remind my friends who don't enjoy California's perfect climate to pay attention to the weather.

8. **"Twit"**. Just like TweetDeck, a full-featured Twitter client that I love, I also enjoy operating Twitter through Ubiquity because it's incredibly simple. All you need to do is input a command like "twit [content] to [someone]," and you can even send a selected piece of content via twit directly to a friend. However, at this moment, neither method allows me to send or receive Twits. (Translator's note: Perhaps there's an issue with the server right now, haha.)