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Comment by apazzolini | Hacker News Reader

If you're using OS X, try using Spotlight or Alfred directly (Keypirinha[0] is a reasonable Windows alternative) - just type in `1 + 2` and you get the answer without launching a special app. There are plugins for conversions as well.

[0]. https://keypirinha.com/

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Windows also has Powertoys Run https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/powertoys/run

There are of course a bunch of third party apps and I've used many of them across multiple OS.

Spotlight correctly interprets numerical expressions, but it also treats them as search queries for the entire filesystem, resulting in an expensive retrieval process after every keystroke. It's the most convenient, so I use it anyways, but the end result is that cpu starts to overheat for a query as simple as 1 + 2.

Think Alfred may be more efficient here, since I've never noticed that issue at all.

Using Alfred (with powerpack) is like having gills while living underwater. It's hard to get the scuba divers of the world to switch since they are so invested in their myriad gear and it's so difficult to convey the value prop when you haven't experienced it.

I turn everything except calculator (and settings menu) off, so this problem goes away.

I never really want to use spotlight to browse to some random directory or file on my filesystem, for me it's strictly for calculator and opening the Bluetooth settings...

I keep hearing about Alfred, and frankly I don't know why but I'm missing the reasons why so many people rave about it. I've tried it only once, a while ago, and perhaps I wasn't in the right mood to appreciate it.

Does anyone here uses it, and can ELI5 to me why Alfred is so good?

My personal highlights from using it:

- you can control your whole machine with it, so I don't have to use mouse anymore for - sleep/shut down/volume/

- extra indexing for folders/documents/images

- web search in different sites (gmail/wiki/amazon,....)

- clipboard history

- snippets (ascii art for luls ¯\_(ツ)_/¯, but most importantly I use this for script snippets I need to use in some UIs/ when I'm remote in some vim session in some server

- workflow - MS ToDo implementation, quick little things like switch off wifi, set dns to 1.1.1.1/unset, ...

- least but not last, never had a problem with db update beeing stuck on indexing and taking 150% CPU like with spotlight

Interesting. Thanks for sharing it. You just re-ignited my desire to try it out again :)

Mainly the fact it's extensible. If you have something you do commonly do you can set up a shortcut for it. I use it a lot at work for quickly jumping to specific pages of internal websites, or converting hex codes to decimal. It also replaces spotlight.

Some examples that you can just install without writing your own: https://www.alfredapp.com/workflows/

I love Alfred, also for this reason.

These days, DuckDuckGo is my go to calculator. I can type math and conversions and get the answer. And if I don’t, I do the !wa bang and let Wolfram Alpha handle it.

Note well that in the default config, it transmits everything you type into this box across the network to Apple, keystroke by keystroke.

I wish you could paste from history when doing math with alfred (where the pasting is also fro alfred). That's my only complaint with alfred's calculation capabilities.

I always use spotlight this way (it's almost the only way I use spotlight), but it unfortunately covers up a ton of the screen while you use it.

Chrome will do math in the URL bar.

Only if your default search engine is Google and with autocomplete turned on I think.

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