I never met a keyboard shortcut I didn’t like–spend a little time learning a combination, save a load of time everytime you use it.  Every program has them–many even work from one program to another.  (Everyone knows control-A to select text, control-C to copy and control-V to paste–right?)  It beats going to the Edit menu everytime.)  I’m a fan of programs that help you do more with shortcuts like Quicksilver and replace text you type often, like Textpander but Ubiquity puts dynamic mashups within the reach of mere mortals. Want to to send an email to a friend with a map of where you’re meeting? Just type send this map to Joe, and off it goes from your GMail account. Ubiquity understands plain english and the contexts we work in. Looking at a list of addresses on Craigslist and want to see all of them on a map? Just type, “map this” and Ubiquity generates a map. The project is ambitious–they’re trying to shift the web to be user centric instead of application or service centric–in other words, you tell the machine what you want and it stitches the services–calendar, map, reviews, together. Note, it’s not even a beta–it’s an experiment. One worth participating in. Intrigued? Watch the video–go ahead, install it. And tell me you haven’t been wishing for something like this all along.

Ubiquity for Firefox from Aza Raskin on Vimeo.