InsideMicrosoft: How To: Google Desktop Via MSN Deskbar

So, I took an idea from a previous post and constructed a Google Desktop Search shortcut for the MSN Deskbar:

@gds,http://127.0.0.1:4664/search&s=[gdscode]&q=$w

You need to replace [gdscode] with your Google Desktop code. Just open a GDS page and look at the URL; you'll see it and know what I mean. Replace [gdscode] with the code and paste the text in the MSN Deskbar, and hit enter. Now, you can search Google Desktop Search via the Deskbar. Just type "gds search", replacing search with whatever you are searching for. To search GDS for fish, just type "gds fish" and hit enter. Is there a simpler way to use Google Desktop Search? No way. Not even Google's Deskbar is that simple. If you like the MSN Toobar Suite, but still need to use GDS (like I do), this is the way to do it.

UPDATE: This works for any search engine, of course. Steve Makowsky puts out the code for Feedster:

@rss, http://www.feedster.com/search.php?q=$w

You can create any search engine code. Go to your favorite engine and search for anything. In the URL, find the search term, and delete it and everything after it. Copy what's left of the URL to the Deskbar, add "@[shortcut]," to the beginning (comma included, and replacing [shortcut] with whatever shortcut you want), and "$W" to the end. Examples:

Yahoo: @yahoo,http://search.yahoo.com/search?p=$w
Jeeves: @jeeves,http://web.ask.com/web?q=$w
Search InsideGoogle using Google: @insidesearch,http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=site%3Ainsidegoogle.blogspot.com+$w

Once you get used to the shortcut language, it can be like second nature to add shortcuts for every site you like.

UPDATE 2: Steve Makofsky provides a like to Yahoo Maps traffic maps for the MSN Deskbar (which you can read about at InsideGoogle):

@traffic, http://maps.yahoo.com/maps_result?csz=$w&trf=1

UPDATE 3 : DeskbarShortcuts.com has begun the process of creating a database of Deskbar shortcuts. Included in the list is my InsideGoogle search link (for no reason!) and these useful ones:

Slahdot: @slash,http://slashdot.org/search.pl?query=$w
Froogle: @froogle,http://froogle.google.com/froogle?q=$w
Google News: @google-news,http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&ned=us&q=$w
Wikipedia: @wiki,http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/$w
A9: @a9,http://a9.com/$w
MSDN: @msdn,http://search.microsoft.com/search/results.aspx?st=b&na=80&amp;amp;qu=$w&View=msdn

See Google, this is what happens when you provide these things for all users. An API may make the geeks salivate, but Microsoft is doing a much better job reaching out to the masses. Worried yet?

Previous tips:
MSN Toolbar Suite Tips 12/13/2004