ubiquity:
command the web
with language
mitcho
Michael Erlewine
@ BarCamp Tokyo 2009

goal:
how?

goal:
accomplish more
on the web
how?

goal:
accomplish more
on the web
how?
connect the web
with language

[demo time!]

Lots of open API’s on the web...
...but how do you harness them?

CC-BY-SA: flickr.com/photos/daveduarte/2678853923/

*JavaScript

verbs*
*JavaScript

ubiquity 0.1

ubiquity 0.1
English

Afrikaans Esperanto Gaeilge
Shqip suomi ਪ\"ਜਾਬੀ
Italiano
‫ﻋﺮﺑﻲ‬ Français română
Euskara Frysk Русский
Беларуская Galego српски
বাংলা (ভারত) ქართული Kurdî සිංහල
català-valencià Deutsch Latviešu slovenčina
( ) Ελληνικά lietuvių kalba slovensko
ગ\"જરાતી Македонски Español (Argentina)
( ) Монгол Español (de España)
‫עברית‬ Norsk bokmål
Čeština Svenska
!ह#दी (भारत) Norsk nynorsk
Dansk ไทย
Nederlands Magyar polski Türkçe
English (British) íslenska Português (do Brasil) Українська
English (US) Bahasa Indonesia Português (Europeu)

Afrikaans Esperanto Gaeilge
Shqip suomi ਪ\"ਜਾਬੀ
Italiano
‫ﻋﺮﺑﻲ‬ Français română
Euskara Frysk Русский
Беларуская Galego српски
বাংলা (ভারত) ქართული Kurdî සිංහල
català-valencià Deutsch Latviešu slovenčina
( ) Ελληνικά lietuvių kalba slovensko
ગ\"જરાતી Македонски Español (Argentina)
( ) Монгол Español (de España)
‫עברית‬ Norsk bokmål
Čeština Svenska
!ह#दी (भारत) Norsk nynorsk
Dansk ไทย
Nederlands Magyar polski Türkçe
English (British) íslenska Português (do Brasil) Українська
English (US) Bahasa Indonesia Português (Europeu)

Localizing ubiquity
• “natural syntax”
• “If the interface’s syntax is too restrictive or,
worse, conflicts with a user’s natural
intuitions about their natural language, it
immediately fails to be ‘natural,’ no matter
how similar the keywords or grammar is.”
• mitcho.com/blog/projects/how-natural-
should-a-natural-interface-be/

Localizing ubiquity
• Writing a parser is hard
• Principles and Parameters approach
• a universal parser + individual language
settings

parser* * JavaScript

parser* * JavaScript

parser* * JavaScript

parser* * JavaScript
N N V

parser* * JavaScript
N N V
goal object

parser* * JavaScript
N N V
goal object
V ( goal, object )

Localizing ubiquity
[demo time!]

ubiquity 0.2
with Parser 2

ubiquity 0.2
with Parser 2
Català Português
Dansk Svenska
English
Français
< your language here >

Get involved!
ubiquity.mozilla.com
wiki.mozilla.org/Labs/Ubiquity
wiki.mozilla.org/Labs/Ubiquity/i18n
CC-BY-NC-SA: flickr.com/photos/
gsimmonsonca/3285952133/

Thank you!
mitcho
Michael Erlewine
by-nc-sa
mitcho.com
@mitchoyoshitaka