I've been thinking about Firebird and Thunderbird extensions a fair bit lately. Studying the various extensions that are available, it's clear that nearly all of them have a lot in common. A select few, however, want to dig a little deeper, modifying the application in a more fundamental way.
For this reason, I think a new level of installation needs to be invented, something that isn't as simple as a theme, but that isn't as complex as an arbitrary XPInstall. This mid-level package should be known as an Extension. Those XPIs right now that can't fit into the extension mold should be upgraded in complexity and be called something else. They should not show up in the extensions dialog in Firebird or Thunderbird either, and they will have to manage their own installation and uninstallation.
I am thinking of doing the following to improve extension installation:
(1) Add an installExtension method to the installer that just handles everything for you (it will register your chrome and perform the installation). This should drastically simplify the install.js scripts. This method will also tag your chrome as an extension, thus indicating that it should show up in the extensions dialog. If you don't use this method, then you will not be considered an extension.
(2) Make installation take effect on restart. Right now extensions (depending on how they register chrome) can cause dangerous instability, because they end up in a quasi-installed state at times.
(3) Uninstallation would be supported for extensions as an automatic feature. Your chrome JAR will be deleted and your files will be removed. This means a stricter format for extensions, where you don't install loose directories. You will need to have a JAR inside your XPI for easy removal.
How does this sound? I am hoping 95% of extensions can fit into this mold, and those few that don't can simply remain full-blown XPI alterations and not change a thing (although they will get kicked out of the extensions dialog for doing so).
It was my friend John's birthday a few days ago. Happy Birthday, John! Inspired by John's blog entry on the subject, I went to IMDB and found the list of famous actors and actresses that I share a birthday with.
My birthday is June 28. This is (obviously) also my twin brother's birthday as well. Certain other people share my birthday (you know who you are) along with a love for The Amazing Race.
But on to the famous people! First of all, Alessandro Nivola and I have the exact same birthday. You may remember him from the John Woo film Face/Off in which he played Pollux Troy. Or perhaps you saw him in Mansfield Park. I hope to God you didn't see him in Timecode, but if you did, I share your pain. Finally, he was in Jurassic Park III.
Other June 28 birthdays include John Cusack. I knew there was a reason I liked this guy. Or how about Kathy Bates? She still scares me, ever since Misery (I'm your #1 fan!)
But the real prize, the absolute clencher, is that I share a birthday with Pat Morita. That's right, Mr. Wax On/Wax Off himself. I have never been more proud.
Check out Jon Quixote's review of The Hulk. This is exactly how I felt.
This is not Stan Lee’s Hulk. It’s definitely not Peter David’s Hulk. It’s certainly not the Hulk we see (every ninth issue or so) in the comic books today. It is, almost exclusively, Ang Lee’s Hulk.
And now I’m going to tell you why HULK shows more fidelity to its origins than any other comic book movie we’ve been given.
Other comic book movies, even the good ones, looked at their source, kept the story elements they wanted, and then proceeded to make a movie about that material. Ang Lee looked at the source and then translated its storytelling language into film.
When we saw Spider-Man, Daredevil, Wolverine on that screen, no matter how much of the comic the filmmaker took for his movie, what we got was still traditional movie. In that regard, it was a superficial adaptation. And that’s not a critique. But Ang Lee is able to use comic books to give us a movie unlike any other we’ve ever watched in form and content. UNBREAKABLE was close, but while that movie was also heavily influenced by comic book visuals and layouts, it lacked the energy, the vibe that draws us to the comic book in the first place. But it’s here, in HULK.
The result: If you love comic books The Medium, your love is there on the screen for you. When Ang Lee kicks into comic book mode, the movie surges, crackles with energy, with comic book energy. It’s rock and roll, bright-pink trading card bubble gum, a pinball bouncing your eyes from image to image bang, bang, bang, turn the page. It can take something as simple as a tour of Bruce’s lab and work and inspire awe – the attention to every shot, every camera placement, every transition is stunning. And it’s all in the language of comic book; sometimes, after a half dozen or so transitions, your eyes go wide and you see how they would have been laid out on the page. Sam Raimi and Bryan Singer are gonna watch this movie and go ‘ohh, right,’ and then thump their heads on the wall. Because, in hindsight, it seems so obvious.
I loved the panel effects and transitions in this movie. They were absolutely fantastic. Even the End Credits are stylish and original. This movie was awesome.
Wow, I could not have been more wrong about The Hulk. Not only is it the best movie I've seen so far this year, it is also the best comic book adaptation I have ever seen period. Better than both X-Men films. Better than Spider-Man. Here's hoping it rakes in the cash so we can get a sequel.
Since I don't have anything interesting to say (work is keeping me busy), I thought I'd brag about Firebird a bit. Now if I can just find a free weekend to pound out better extension management.... :)
Joel Spolsky endorses Firebird
DevX praises Firebird
Jon Udell praises Firebird
Make no mistake. By the time we get Firebird to 1.0, it will be the best browser on Windows hands down. :)