Download gcalc here: http://www.codeistry.com/assets/files/gcalc.zip

It’s a little python script that talks to Google, using it’s calculator syntax. You’ll get the same answers if you type the queries into google

To use the script, just download the zip file, extract the file inside and put it somewhere on your path; I’ve started putting these kind of things in ~/bin. I originally found the script here (http://vrai.net/page.php?block=scripts) but it didn’t work too well, so I fixed it up. I’ve tested it on Linux, but it should work anywhere Python is installed.

If you’re using that script on Linux, then chmod +x gcalc it to allow it to be executed. If you’re using Windows, you might have to add ‘.py’ to the end of the filename. Then the syntax is very simple:

gcalc “1 hour 5 minutes in seconds”
1 hour 5 minutes = 3900 seconds

gcalc “100 + 2 * 5″
100 + (2 * 5) = 110

gcalc “41000 yen in british pounds”
41,000 Japanese yen = 277.129372 British pounds

Here are complete instructions on the syntax that Google Calculator supports.

Also, in the screenshot above I’m using Fish, the Friendly Interactive SHell because it does nice syntax highlighting, amongst many other cool things. Fish is here, if you want it.

Have fun!

Update: 2011-04-19: I’ve updated the script to work again, after Google markup changes broke it.