cmd+spacebar opens spotlight, which allows me to type and find files. This is very handy. I'm trying to figure out how to alter it (perhaps cmd+shift+spacebar) so that it does a web search.
Web search is an option on any spotlight search but you have to key down to it, which is what I'm trying to avoid.
I'm not savvy with automator, but maybe this would work? thoughts?
*ninja edit: i'm on Lion
Adapting @Lri's excellent answer here a bit leads to an automator application / service that, when triggered, asks for a search query and after confirmation, opens Google's search results page in the default browser.
It's not as pretty as spotlight, but behaves in a similar way. If you select to create a Service in Automator that receives no input in all applications, you can then assign a keyboard shortcut like Cmd-Shift-Space in System Preferences » Keyboard » Keyboard Shortcuts » Services.
It maybe not the answer to a question of how to alter the Spotlight, but you can try Alfred - it's free app and does what you need per default
