Quick, Linux-compatible unit-aware calculator
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by endolith
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Published on 2010-04-26T00:22:46Z
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2010/04/26
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I want to be able to press a keyboard combination, start typing a mathematical expression that includes units and slightly advanced math (not just a four-function calculator), and get a result immediately, in units that I specify, that I can copy and paste.
- Currently I open Firefox and press Ctrl+K, type in the search box, and it usually gives me a result in the drop-down from Google Calculator. It doesn't always, though, so I press "=" at the end, wait for a result, remove the equals, wait for a result, realize it doesn't understand the way I typed a unit, open the result in a new tab, etc. it sucks.
- Wolfram Alpha is smarter, but very much slower, and the output is all images, not text, and I don't have a quick widget for it, if such a thing could even exist.
- GNU units has a ton of units, which is great, and I can define my own units, which is great, but they have to be written in specific, unintuitive ways, it doesn't handle much advanced math, and I'd need to open a terminal, start units, etc. I hate the command line.
I wasted a lot of time trying to make front-ends for units in Deskbar and Launchy, but I'm not a real coder and I don't use either of those anymore.
Any other solutions or enhancements of these?
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