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May 5, 2007

A Command Line for Searching Google

If you use a lot of command line tools and you'd like one for searching Google, this site could be an option. You won't get an application that runs in the command line, but a search box that follows you wherever you go and lets you enter arguments that specify the type of search and the query. For example, to find images of cute cats, you'll need to type:

/images cute cats

or

/img cute cats

The "command line" at the bottom of the page is barely noticeable and saves you one click and one page load, assuming you search from your browser's search box and you don't have Google Image Search as an option.

10 comments:

  1. Have you really tried "/img/cute cats"?

    Google returns "Did you mean: /image cute cats"

    and it's not what you get for an image search of 'cute cats'

    hmmmmm.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Um.... I fail to see how this is new at all. In the Opera browser, to perform that search, I click the address bar, type "i query" and I've got an Google image search. I can customize that for not just Google, but any search field on the entire internet. Furtheremore, there's keyboard shortcuts for those who want to avoid using the mouse. Just hit F2 or F8 and then enter what type of query your query, hit enter, and you're there.

    This application is just for people who want to feel nerdy when browsing.

    ReplyDelete
  3. A command-line web! Finally, a usable internet!

    (Joking... a little)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Another geeky thing for people who want to feel nerd when browsing, as has been said.

    Don't see any kind of usage with this tool, seriously.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I agree with anonymous - this isn't new at all.

    In fact, if you have Firefox (or any other browser really), you can just use YubNub - you can submit commands or use what I assume are hundreds of commands already written.

    In Firefox, I have it in my search box, so I just need to Ctrl+E or Ctrl+K and type in what I want ("g", "wp" and "h2g2" being my most-used commands).

    ReplyDelete
  6. I've been doing that in mirc for a while.

    ReplyDelete
  7. just like opera, firefox has this built in, sort of. The "quick search" functionality is kind of hidden, but even with a fresh install of fx if you go the the location bar (ctrl+l), type "google query" you'll google search for query. And you can add a quick search for pretty much any search field on the internet by right clicking it and selecting "add a keyword for this search". Keyword searches can be modified from their entry in the bookmarks menu, and their shortcut is simpler than the gcl's ("ctrl+l" instead of "alt+shift+c").

    I think this would have been more useful, or at least less obtrusive if they had released it as a bunch of bookmarks like lifehacker did.

    Also if, you know, that firefox functionality wasn't completely invisible. I feel like probably the developers of the gcl didn't even know that firefox already does that.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Though the command line really makes one feel like a geek, and there is some sense to not having to click through pages and wait for the pages to load, I think it's really a hassle to use the command line, unless you're very familiar with, or memorize the commands. I mean, what are the hyperlinks and icons there for, anyway?

    By the way, there is a portal that makes searching through unprotected directories easier. If you're like me: allergic to the command line, you can go to http://www.googletutor.com/2007/04/30/g2p-looking-for-others-files-the-dummy-way/ to learn more about it. :D

    ReplyDelete
  9. Well if you - like me - would search a couple (say 30 000 ) terms to search on the web and filter the results with your own text editing software (say written in awk) your best choice to use a command line tool which sends the search terms to google, and stores the results in a file system or database.

    ReplyDelete

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