Nerdlets

Use Ubiquity to Read the Bible

It is now even easier to search, read, and even listen to the Bible online.

A much improved upgrade to Ubiquity has been released, making this ground-breaking Firefox plugin prettier, more robust, and exceedingly versatile. More to the point, the ESV command for this plugin has also been updated, and the update allows you to listen to the Bible as you browse. You can watch the video at the end of this post for a full demonstration and how-to instructions.

If you are already familiar with Ubiquity, then download the latest version and install the ESV command. If not, read on for a short introduction.

What is Ubiguity?

Ubiquity is a plugin for the Firefox browser. You can read the full introduction, complete with an excellent video demonstration, here. In a nutshell: it gives your browser a basic understanding of language. You can use Ubiquity to type in simple commands in order to make Firefox do things that it would normally require several clicks and minutes to do.

Check the weather with Ubiquity

Take checking the weather as an example. The old way: (1) open up a new tab, (2) type in the URL of the weather site, (3) type in your zip code, (4) scroll past adds and other useless information. The Ubiquity way: (1) Type in “Weather”, (2) Wait while ubiquity does everything for you (it uses your IP address to automatically determine your location, check the weather site, and output todays weather in the same window).

Ubiquity Commands

Ubiquity includes a number of built in commands, such as “wikipedia” to search the site with that title, “calculate” to crunch numbers, “add-to-calendar” to add an event to your Google calendar, or “twitter” to change your twitter status. You can see all available ubiquity commands by using the command “command-list.”

The true awesomeness of Ubiquity, however, lies in the fact that any web page or service can generate a set of commands that allow you to interact with its services. You can add these commands to Ubiquity by “subscribing” to the page in question. You can find a large list of commands here, but be warned that these should all be considered beta-at-best.

How to Set Up Ubiquity and the ESV Plugin

The good folks in charge of the ESV Bible have provided a ubiquity command that allows readers to search, read, and even listen to the ESV Bible. I have written a small screen cast that shows you how to set this up and also demonstrates some of Ubiquity’s best features.

You will need to go to the following sites in order to set things up.

1. Download the latest version of Ubiquity here.
2. Subscribe to the ESV site here.

Below is a brief screencast demonstrating how to get Ubiquity set up, how to install the ESV plugin, and how to use both to do a number of interesting things while you browse the Internet.

Update:

Don’t miss the official video from ubiquity! It’s truly amazing:

Ubiquity for Firefox from Aza Raskin on Vimeo.

Related posts:

1. Ubiquity Command for the Westminster Bookstore
2. Ubiquity Command for the Westminster Library
3. More Ubiquity Commands
4. Subscribe to ESV Bible Reading Plans
5. Online Reader’s Bible