Archive for May, 2010
May 31st, 2010
Tired of having to take the "long way" when it comes to finding the images you want to see via a Google search result? View Google Images Full is a simple Greasemonkey userscript that will help. When you click a picture inside of the Google image results, it opens up the image alone, and in its full resolution.
This helps to do away with the extra long way approach of having to click, "See Full Size Image" when doing Google image searching.
The best part about this userscript is the fact that you can still access the old link too. Click on the image in a search result to be taken to the image, or click on the link titled, "Original Link" to be taken to the normal Google image search result.
You can pick up this userscript for Greasemonkey over at Userscripts.org.
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© Mitch Keeler 2010 | Check out my personal blog and my hosting podcast too!
May 29th, 2010
The release candidate build of Firefox 3.6.4 is now available for download and public testing. This version fixes issues found in the previous beta of Firefox 3.6.4. If no issues are found during testing this build will be officially released as Firefox 3.6.4 final in the coming weeks.
Users who have already downloaded or opted in to previous betas should receive the latest beta as an automatic update. If you did not download the previous beta and would like to help us test this release, please download the latest Firefox 3.6.4 beta from mozilla.com.
For general information about Firefox 3.6.4 and the uninterrupted browsing feature, please see the previous beta announcement.
May 28th, 2010
We’re happy to announce the release of Jetpack SDK 0.4, the fourth in our regular series of releases of the SDK we’re developing to make it easy to build Firefox add-ons.
This version includes four additional “high-level” APIs that support simple and powerful add-on development:
- Page Worker – The page-worker API makes it possible for add-ons to create a permanent, invisible frame in order to load and access web pages.
- Widget – The widget API provides a visually consistent way for add-ons to show themselves in the browser and interact with users.
- Simple Storage – The simple-storage API gives add-ons the ability to easily, privately, and persistently store data across application restarts.
- Private Browsing – The private-browsing API exposes Firefox’s private browsing feature, so add-ons can detect the status of private browsing and be notified when users start or stop browsing privately.
In addition to the new high-level APIs, this version also features two major architectural improvements:
- Restartless Add-ons – Add-on bundles created by the SDK can be installed into nightly testing builds of the next version of Firefox without requiring users to restart the application.
- Unforgeable ID – Each add-on bundle created by the SDK is given a cryptographic identifier that specifies its origin in an unforgeable manner, so Firefox can verify that an update to an add-on is provided by the same source as provided its original version.
Stay tuned to this blog for posts describing some sample extensions that developers have created with these new features. And keep an eye out for additional high-level APIs and architectural enhancements that make Firefox add-on development even easier in future releases!
Get Started
- Browse the documentation.
- Download the SDK as a tarball or ZIP archive.
- Read the release notes.
- For more information about Jetpack and the SDK, check out the FAQ and the blog post introducing the SDK.
Participate
- Discuss, debate, and get help in the discussion forum.
- Chat via IRC in #jetpack on irc.mozilla.org.
- Submit a bug report.
- Grab the source code and fix a bug or add a feature.
- Myk, on behalf of Team Jetpack
May 28th, 2010
Vitorio Miliano, a professional UX designer, hosts a series of free and open UX design practice workshops in his hometown Houston, Texas. The workshops aim to bring UX-interested students and professionals together and have them work on a particular problem — in the process exchanging ideas, collaborating on concepts and making new contacts with like-minded people.
A little while ago, Vitorio used the Mozilla Labs Home Tab Design Challenge as a starting point for one of his workshops. Not only did the group of attendees develop a series of really interesting concepts in the short time span of only 2.5 hours but Vitorio also did an excellent job writing up the process, organizational notes as well as key findings of this session.
If you find yourself in Austin, TX make sure to join one of Vitorio’s workshops. And if you’re interested in running your own UX workshops – check out Vitorio’s blog post which has a lot of details and takeaways on how to organize your own meetups. If you decide to setup and run a meetup around something Mozilla-related, shoot us an email, we’re happy to post details on our blog.
May 28th, 2010
Please note: the Thunderbird 3.1 Release Candidate is a public preview release intended for developer testing and community feedback. It includes several new features as well as improvements to performance, memory, password handling, and the upgrade process. We recommend that you read the release notes and known issues before installing this release candidate.
The Thunderbird 3.1 Release Candidate is now available for download. This milestone is focused on providing a preview of the functionality provided by the new features and changes that will be included in Thunderbird 3.1.
New features in Thunderbird 3.1 that require feedback include:
- New Quick Filter toolbar
- New Migration Assistant
- Saved Files Manager
- Several fixes to improve upgrading from Thunderbird 2
- Several design improvements and corrections to the interface
- Stability, memory, and password handling improvements
Testers can download Thunderbird 3.1 Release Candidate builds for Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux in 44 different languages. Developers should also read the Thunderbird 3.1 for Developers article on the Mozilla Developer Center.
Note: Please do not link directly to the download site. Instead we strongly encourage you to link to this Thunderbird 3.1 Release Candidate milestone announcement so that everyone will know what this milestone is, what they should expect, and who should be downloading to participate in testing at this stage of development.
May 27th, 2010
Don’t think that Firefox wallpaper can be cool? I dare you to find Opera, Internet Explorer or even Google Chrome wallpaper that can beat these great desktop decorations. I’ve decided to start putting together a list of my favorite Firefox wallpapers that I have seen, so you too can decorate your desktop in Mozilla flavored goodness.
Check out these great Firefox inspired wallpapers:
Thanks to wallbase.net for helping me find all these great Firefox wallpapers to share with you all too. Which is your favorite? Do you know of one that I missed? Make sure you leave your suggestions or picks in the comments
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© Mitch Keeler 2010 | Check out my personal blog and my hosting podcast too!
May 27th, 2010
We have been working on an application for the iPhone based on the Firefox Sync (formerly Weave Sync) technology. The app is called Firefox Home, and it gives iPhone users instant access to their Firefox browsing history, bookmarks and the set of tabs from their most recent browser session. What’s more, it provides Firefox “Awesome Bar” capability that enables people to get to their favorite web sites with minimal typing.
Firefox Home provides an amazing “get up and go” experience. It’s encrypted end-to-end. It’s your home on the Web, wherever you are. And, of course, it’s free.
Firefox Home for iPhone is part of a broader Mozilla effort to provide a more personal Web experience with more user control. For devices or platforms where we’re unable to provide the “full” Firefox browser (either technically or due to policy), we aim to provide users with “on the go” instant access to their personal Firefox history, bookmarks and open tabs on their iPhones, giving them another reason to keep loving Firefox on their desktops.
Why is this useful?
- Left work in a hurry? You can pick up where you left off with access to the list of tabs you just had open on your desktop.
- Need those directions to that restaurant you were just reading about on your desktop? The confirmation code for your flight? Just start typing in the Awesome Bar and those pages will be right at your fingertips.
- Does it drive you crazy to have to enter the full URL on your iPhone that you’ve visited several times from your desktop? You won’t need to anymore with this app.
Check out a preliminary, non-branded sneak peek of Firefox Home in action.
There will be more to come as we polish this off and submit it to the App Store.
If you want more information, or want to help out, the project information is here: https://wiki.mozilla.org/Mobile/firefoxhome
Stay connected with what we’re up to:
- Get our mobile newsletter!
- Join us on Facebook
- Follow us on Twitter
May 27th, 2010
This week, Microsoft published an open source (Apache 2) SDK to read PST files. From what I heard, it works with Unicode PST files as generated by Outlook 2003 or later.
It’s a healthy move on Microsoft’s part, as it releases their users from feeling like their data is locked in to their relationship with Outlook. I hope the code is easy to use, etc.
I’d naturally be very interested to hear of anyone experimenting with using this code in an add-on to make the process of importing all one’s data from Outlook into Thunderbird. If you know of such an effort, let me know!
May 26th, 2010
I just can’t make myself make the traditional baby-themed quilts. This one is on its way to Germany, though the baby in question is 5 months old now!
For those interested in process:most of this started out as white silk which I painted with acrylic paints, with the exception of a few of the rays which are commercial prints.
May 25th, 2010
We are all looking for ways to get more done in the browser visually, and at times I would like to look at two tabs at the same time. Looking for a way to tile my tabs, I found a great add-on that does the job really well. The Tile Tabs add-on for Firefox does exactly what you think it would – it tiles your tabs in the browser.
Now, dividing up your tabs within 24 new frames and trying to check them all out would be a ‘bit crazy. However, I could see this add-on being helpful with viewing two or three pages at once.
Here is a little more about the add-on from the developers:
Tile Tabs allows an unlimited number of tabs to be tiled within the Firefox tabbed browser content area. The Firefox tabbed browser paradigm is fully maintained. The tiled layout is achieved by presentational changes rather than functional changes. All features (menu commands, url bar, search bar, tabs buttons) continue to operate as normal.
Excited about dividing up your Firefox browser? You can pick up the Tile Tabs add-on for Firefox on the Firefox Add-ons web site.
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© Mitch Keeler 2010 | Check out my personal blog and my hosting podcast too!