So there were mixed reviews on my post last week outlining how to install and use the Deskbar Applet + Beagle on your Ubuntu system. I have continued to use it without a noticed increase in CPU usage but apparently others have. I guess we’ll just have to see how things develop in future releases.
In any event, the one thing that I found really lacking from the Deskbar Applet was integration with Google Search. I did some searching, found instructions here, and wanted to pass them on to you. To add Google integration with the Deskbar Applet simply use the instructions below (two steps):
The first thing you need is a Google API key. For those of you that already have one, simply move to the next step. For the rest of you I suggest trying one of these links to register for a Google API key. (note: it appears Google is suggesting use of the new AJAX API. I do not know if this will work for these instructions.)
After you’ve earned yourself an API key you’ll need to enter it into a new file. Try to paste the new key using the step below:
gedit ~/.gnome2/deskbar-applet/Google.key
After you’ve entered your key you have one more step. Use the next command to download the GoogleSearch.wsdl file, which is the last needed piece of this puzzle.
cd ~/.gnome2/deskbar-applet ; wget http://api.google.com/GoogleSearch.wsdl
At this point you may need to remove and re-add your Deskbar Applet (I did before the Google Search would appear) and you should have real-time Google Search function right on your Gnome desktop! I’m loving it! If you missed the previous post on adding Beagle and the Deskbar Applet you can refer back to it at: Searching your world with Beagle!
I believe that google search was just removed from the latest gnome development release of deskbar due to google no longer offering this API.
I can’t get it to work. Some other in the original had similar problems, due to the lack of offering of the API.
The new AJAX api key doesn’t seem to work. Too bad 🙁
I had the same experience as you. Beagle didn’t seem to slow me down at all. Even right after I installed it on my laptop (and when it would be searching my hard drive, I didn’t see any big memory or cup usage.