about:mozilla » Mozilla Labs

Developer Tools and the Open Web

deb — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 17:08:59 +0000

Mozilla Labs recently announced the formation of a new group that will focus on the research and development of developer tools for the Open Web. “We believe that there’s tremendous opportunity for innovation in tools that increase developer productivity, enable compelling user experiences, and promote the use of open standards.” Dion Almaer and Ben Galbraith, co-founders of Ajaxian, the Ajax Experience, and long-time supporters of the Open Web have joined Mozilla in a full-time capacity to lead the new project. For more information, please see the Mozilla Labs blog post.

Ubiquity tutorial: turn bookmarklets into commands

deb — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 16:42:25 +0000

Aza Raskin has put together a short video tutorial on how to turn your Firefox bookmarklets into Ubiquity commands. “Bookmarklets are clickable actions (technically a link containing some Javascript) that can be added to the bookmarks bar of your browser. They’re a good way of getting control of the web back into users’ hands, by allowing them to add whatever new functionality they want to the websites they visit. The main problem with bookmarklets is that they don’t provide a scalable solution for accessing their functionality. You can only have so many buttons on the toolbar before they become unusable.” There’s a new utility function in Ubiquity that makes it trivial to turn any bookmarklet into a Ubiquity command, and Aza’s video tutorial shows you how to do it.

Weave: the story so far

deb — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 15:09:59 +0000

Dan Mills has written an extensive update about the status of the Mozilla Labs “Weave” project, outlining the project’s background, its current state, and setting up some questions about its potential future. “We think Weave still has a long way to go, and the real questions are: What do we need to do to get closer to our vision? What are the main problem areas right now? And, do we need to revisit any old decisions? Now that we’ve been running this experiment for a while, I think we can begin answering those questions.” Dan’s post goes on to discuss some of the major issues facing the project, which he’ll continue to expand upon in an upcoming post. You can read the full text of his current post over on his weblog.

Labs Meetup this Thursday in Mountain View!

deb — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 15:59:05 +0000

Mozilla Labs is holding its monthly meetup this Thursday, Sept 25, at Mozilla HQ in Mountain View (1981 Landings Drive, Bldg K). This month the conversation will focus on the future of the Web — “This month we want to hear from you! What is your big idea for the future of the Web? Do you have thoughts to add to the Concept Series? We are anxious to hear what inspires you!” Everyone is welcome to drop by and participate in the meetup, so if you’re in the Bay Area you should take the time to stop by and join the conversation. If you’re planning to attend, please RSVP in the comments over at the Mozilla Labs Meetup post.

Language-based interfaces

deb — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 16:57:07 +0000

Jonathan DiCarlo has been writing a series of blog posts discussing language-based interfaces — interfaces that allow you type commands in real language and the right stuff happens. “What would the web be like if you could tell it what you want to do as easily as you currently tell it where you want to go?”

Mozilla Labs has started experimenting with linguistic interfaces that are designed to do just that, the first of which is the recently-launched Ubiquity project. Jonathan’s posts are an extensive look into the concepts, questions, and thinking behind the experiments, and he has written three so far: Language-based interfaces: The problem, Language-based interfaces: Where do we stand now?, and Language-based interfaces: Report card for Ubiquity. If you’re at all interested in these approaches and ideas you should read Jonathan’s blog, and then head over to the Ubiquity project to get involved with the growing community working on these experiments.

Introducing Ubiquity

deb — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 14:16:03 +0000

Mozilla Labs introduced the Ubiquity project last week, an “experiment into connecting the Web with language in an attempt to find new user interfaces that could make it possible for everyone to do common Web tasks more quickly and easily.” Alongside the announcement, Labs also released an early experimental prototype to demonstrate some of the concepts of Ubiquity. You can install the prototype, read the tutorial, and learn more about Ubiquity in depth. Further information is available at the Mozilla Labs announcement and Aza Raskin’s weblog.

Monthly Labs Meetup – Thurs, Aug 28 in SF

deb — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 20:41:34 +0000

Rhian Baker writes, “It’s time for another Monthly Meetup. This month’s meetup will be Thursday, August 28th, 6pm at the Twitter office — 539 Bryant St. Suite 402, San Francisco. There will be progress updates on the various active Labs projects as well as plenty of opportunity for discussion and hacking. And, of course, pizza. If you are in the Bay Area, we’d love to see you!” If you’re planning to attend, please take a moment to RSVP by commenting on the Mozilla Labs weblog.

Extend Firefox 3 contest winners

deb — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 16:19:52 +0000

Extend Firefox 3 — the contest in which participants submitted new or updated add-ons for the Firefox 3 web browser — has wrapped up and the winners have now been announced. Many of the contest-winning add-ons are in the early stages of experimental development, but they are all powerful new tools and prototypes that the judges felt were worthy of recognition. For the list of winners and further details about the contest, please see the Mozilla Labs weblog.

Introducing Snowl

deb — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 16:58:49 +0000

Myk Melez recently introduced his new project, “Snowl”, via the Mozilla Labs weblog. “Conversing (a.k.a. messaging) is a common online activity, and a number of desktop and web applications enable it. But with an increasing variety of protocols and providers, it’s getting harder and harder to keep track of all your conversations. Could the web browser help you follow and participate in online discussions? Snow is an experiment to answer that question.” For lots more information about Snowl, including where to get the prototype and how to participate in the discussion, see the Mozilla Labs’ blog post.

Mozilla Labs Concept Series

deb — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 06:04:03 +0000

Mozilla Labs today introduced the extremely exciting new “Concept Series” initiative and issued a call for participation. “We’re calling on industry, higher education and people from around the world to get involved and share their ideas and expertise as we collectively explore and design future directions of the Web. You don’t have to be a software engineer to get involved, and you don’t have to program. Everyone is welcome to participate. We’re particularly interested in engaging with designers who have not typically been involved with open source projects. And we’re biasing towards broad participation, not finished implementations.” Much more information is available over at the Mozilla Labs weblog, including a handful of initial concept videos and links to the discussion forum.