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Firefox 3.2 Plans Include Natural Language, Themes
Shrike82 writes "Mozilla have described plans for the next version of their popular web browser, Firefox. Mozilla's "Ubiquity project" is set to become a standard feature, allowing "users to type natural language phrases into the browser to perform certain tasks, such as typing 'map 10 Downing Street' to instantly see a Google map of that address, or 'share-on-delicious' to bookmark the site you're currently visiting on the social news site."
Also of interest is so-called "lightweight theming" allowing users to customise the browsers design more easily. The launch date is still somewhat unclear, and Mozilla are apparently unsure if version 3.2 will be released at all, apparently considering going straight to Firefox 4."
save users a heap of bandwidth and build the entire Internet into the browser. Mozilla: the only browser that doesn't need a 'net connection! It'd have around the same amount of bloat.
Another Firefox Version, and more bloat is added to this "clean and lean" version of the Mozilla browser...
Meanwhile, I see each version of Internet Explorer really better than the other.
Ubuntu is an African word meaning 'I can't configure Debian'
Sounds... shit.
Come on, Firefox was meant to be a lightweight extensible browser. I don't want more features. If they want to ship these features, they should be making extensions.
circumnavigate California
They want to make Ask Jeeves all over again in the url bar?
Don't search keywords do this better, and in a more controlled way? I set up a google maps search keyword of "map", then I know what happens when I type "map address". Similarly with other keyword constructs. Keywords let me build on the browser's functionality in predictable ways. Ask Jeeves? Remains to be seen.
(Although I am given to understand it is the FBI's premiere tool to search for terrorists.)
Use the Firehose to mod down Second Life stories!
That's your example of natural language? Map as a transitive verb and a fairly specific reference? How about: "show me where the prime minister's house is on a map"?
use natural language
comment story positive
example show
search +5 funny
Sounds like an interesting extension that I would not want. It appears that the Mozilla foundation has too much money and is making-up crazy features to keep people employed. Give the money to another project that needs it.
This kind of NPL thing is something a web server should do, not a browser.
Didn't she make films with John Holmes?
Why, without your clothes, you're naked, Miss Dudley!
Where is the best place to follow the general develop plans of Firefox these days? I used to check the mozilla.org frontpage about once a week and frequent updates were posted there frequently up until Firefox 2. These days the mozilla.org frontpage updates are rather infrequent and are announcements rather than development news. I can't even find a current roadmap anymore. I've found several ancient roadmaps but not the current one. I just feels to me that Firefox has gotten more "behind the scenes" than it was in the early days.
Not to belittle this development, but the majority of web users get confused about old and simple features such as bookmarking.
Isn't introducing this sophisticated interface a bit too much? It's great if you're used to bash or similar stuff, but unless this thing really works with natural language (it doesn't) then it's just a glorified command prompt.
on releasing a version that WORKS before we think of the version after. A novel idea. Mozilla's been promising to fix a bunch of bugs in 3.1 that 3.0 broke which worked just fine in 2. I might believe them after they release a final version of 3.1 if it works as promised. Otherwise, I've lost all respect for the quality FireFox usually delivered (with the exception of the damn memory issues).
Honestly, I'm just waiting for Google Chrome on Linux at this point.
Will it finally include rotated/sideways text for column headers? Even IE had this feature for ages.
ctrl+l -> 'stop being slow'
You can already do that with keywords. I have keywords set up as follows:
- g -- searches google for
- gi -- google image searches for
- w -- alias for en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
- map -- searches google maps for
- y -- searches youtube for
There are more, but I'll spare you at this point. These addons + vimperator == happy boy.
I still find myself hammering gg when I'm at other people's houses wondering why firefox isn't going to the top of the page, though.
I posted my question but it somehow completely disappeared from the thread. Where is the present Firefox roadmap? I can literally find dozens of roadmaps ranging from old to ancient but cannot find the current one. The Mozilla people really need to cleanup mozilla.org and consolidate all this wiki stuff into one streamlined site.
Needles to say, natural language is tough to be handled by software.
I wonder how well it will deal with innuendo. Torn between puritan society and practical usage, what will prevail?
Or, will I get travel directions or will I be forwarded to a pr0n site to suit my state of excitement?
I hadn't the slightest objection to his spending his time planning massacres for the bourgeoisie... (P.G. Wodehouse)
In Soviet Russia, themes include *you*!
Oh, wait. Themes, not memes. My bad.
Paleotechnologist and connoisseur of pretty shiny things.
Why does everyone insist on including features that depend on web sites that may, or may not, be available in the future? Ok, if you somehow are able to code these things yourself (I fail to see the value in the natural language thing), but to hard code it to specific URLs to apps that can change at the whim of their creators? DUMB.
If technology continues to progress at current exponential rates, eventually we will get to the point where most queries for factual information which doesn't change rapidly, like maps, routing, language and jargon definitions, encyclopedia articles, etc., will be able to be answered by a stored information cache which will be small compared to the technological capabilities which will then be current.
Barring industries which would be threatened managing to somehow block progress in this direction via legislation.
Firefox 3.1 Beta 2 is the fastest browser yet - that is what makes it so annoying when Mozilla team just discontinues or changes some feature in the name of...
https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=456405 ... usability?
Or the fact that Firefox would rather open Nautilus than opening something *I* want -or- just showing me the information of where a file was downloaded.
Any why?
https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=431521
Because Firefox is minimalistic, it would rather open Nautilus.
Nobody - NOBODY - uses Firefox for minimalism anymore. Even Opera is more minimalistic is than Firefox.
And IE7 is pile of crap how exactly? The reason it is so hated has got nothing to do with its usability, but with the fact that has shitty support for standards and that it is tied with the OS.
I bought into FF because its extendability allowed the features I wanted, not the features the developers THINK I want.
Make these official 'features' available as addons. If you want to bundle the 'feature' addons with the default releases that's fine. Just offer a stripped version for the rest of us.
Enough with the super-uber-awesome search crap. Give me an MSI (that I don't have to build myself), give me a way to push settings via group policy, and most of all give me a browser that I can centrally manage even half as easily as I can manage IE. Oh, and lemme just give some space here:
^ That's where you run-off-to-google-up-some-snark-for-my-reply folks can put your links to tools like FirefoxADM that haven't been touched in almost four years, or to frontmotion and their "give us a 150 bucks and we'll roll your MSI for you" service. Take this example; I want to change the homepage on 50 PC's, each with two or three different users. In IE it's a one-line group policy change. Firefox? roll up your sleves, you'll be there a while. Maybe push out a new prefs.js file into each user's profile. Maybe roll up a CCK custom XPI. Or just roll your own MSI and have it re-install the entire damned browser.
Until Chrome, Firefox, and Opera get over circle-jerking themselves about getting IE's sloppy seconds market share, there's not even enough motion to say that there's a even a "browser war" going on. I really hoped that Mozilla would take a decent swing at the enterprise market. Instead they're doing 110mph down the netscape road towards a bloated browser. Meanwhile, Chrome and Opera aren't doing much more than pulling on to the on-ramp of the same road, and touting how you'll go do the same path, only in style!
There are some people that if they don't know, you can't tell 'em.
If I type "map where is Chuck Norris?" is it able to find?
-- Simon said: Die!
Once Google chrome has adblock (I don't want to use the DNS based solution) and adds ability to password protect my passwords I will likely switch.
Chrome is just soooo much faster than Firefox. I don't know why as Chrome's Javascript engine isn't any significant difference in speed from Firefox 3.1b2
1) It's slow
2) Ugly GUI
3) Standards support LOL
But seriously, I hate IE because of the first 2 reasons. It's so fucking slow. It's not very responsive even on a pentium core duo. Sure it's castrated but it should be fast enough for any browser. Unfortunately, IE8 has not improved #1 and #2.
Aside from standards support, IE6>>>>>>>>IE7.
As I sit here with a nix version of firefox that crashes pretty frequently and freezes when there is plenty of cpu time and memory available I can't help but wonder WTF DON'T THEY DON'T STOP WITH THE FEATURES BULLSHIT AND MAKE THIS DAMN THING RUN MORE RELIABLY. Sincerly, Someone who wants a reliable browser
I think the invisible hand of the market has its middle finger extended
--A wise old fart named SC0RN
they should add some way to handle flash plugin settings under Linux. E.g. some way to turn off flash audio.
...and turn this "feature" into an extension, so we who will _never_ need it, won't feel the bloat.
They should remove the DRM and other add-ons Microsoft injected into Firefox that can't be removed.
Nuff said
Goofy, Geeky Gifts and More!
If you RTFA, you'll find out that Ubiquity is really just a fancy word for "client-side scripting." The "natural language-like interface" nonsense is really about how you invoke a script and enter the arguments. Someone has been parroting too many marketing buzzwords; by that logic Bash is a "natural language like" interface too.
[Sir Garlon] is the marvellest knight that is now living, for he destroyeth many good knights, for he goeth invisible.
Sounds like a solution that's looking for a problem.
In any event it would seem that web/server side handling of this would be a better option unless they're looking at tying it into some sort of integrated voice control/recognition systems or other non-keyboard interface.
Still even in the above there are other more robust and existing solutions for such situations, covering more than a single app.
i.e. seems like a waste of time and $$$...
Maybe if this is successful NLP will start to mean more to people than a way to pick up members of the opposite-sex.
"going straight to Firefox 4" Wow, THAT is a feature ! But I don't think it's enough, 4 is quite low. What I'm waiting for is Firefox 2009 !
I'm still sore about this especially given that the port has already been done in collaborative development by Nokia and Mozilla. Or have I missed something?
I'm still hoping for natural language syntax highlighting. Reading would be much easer and faster, especially for people being blessed with dyslexia.
Meh, I'd rather keep Firefox lightweight and just use keywords.
When I type "map 10 Downing St" it already goes to a google map. Same with "fromhome 10 Downing St", it will give me directions from my house.
Natural language could work, but I'd rather have other, more search-focused companies do all the natural-speech algorithms, then just use Firefox as a sort-of-API via Keywords.
I don't get it with Firefox. They have (had) the goal of producing a lean and fast browser with additional functionality being provided by plugins which I think they have pretty much achieved. Personally, I think they have left out a whole host of features (such as ad blocking and quick dial for example) which should be in the core but I'll let them off because they are easy enough to add in. But including this sort of browser bling in the core is just nuts.
It's the age old problem though - you have to be seen to be doing something even if what you have is really good already. I'd actually rather they put their efforts into working harder with other browser manufacturers to make sure that pages rendered the same on every platform. While none of the alternative browsers on their own is much competition to IE if there was essentially zero cost in moving from one alternative to another there is real competition.
I used to have a better sig but it broke.
Natural language? Natural for who?
Will we have to have versions for the West Coast, East Coast, down South...Ebonics?
I can see it now "Yo Yo Yo...show me the mother fuckin' U.I. site...Word!"
No, not Word. OpenOffice.org Writer. Microsoft has trademarked the word 'Word'.
Besides, Word doesn't work on all supported platforms, so it would be considered discrimination against AAVE speakers running Linux. Or BSD.
Ignore this signature. By order.
Do not freeze!
Gimme some porn
250-page PDF? NOOOOOOO!
It's time that the Firefox CPU-hogging bug is fixed. (357 bugs!) The bug was less of a problem until version 3.0.4, but versions 3.0.5 and 3.0.6 are much worse.
If you can't visit Bugzilla from Slashdot, put this URL into another tab: https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/buglist.cgi?quicksearch=CPU
It's also worth mentioning the 357 CPU-hogging bugs as an example of working on things that don't matter.
If you can't visit Bugzilla from Slashdot, put this URL into another tab: https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/buglist.cgi?quicksearch=CPU
Natural language? Natural for who?
Will we have to have versions for the West Coast, East Coast, down South...Ebonics?
Wait, wasn't there some kind of rumour that a number of people worldwide didn't actually speak English ?
What's the status of that real language thingy in German, French, Italian, Croatian, Hindi... How does it work with characters from the depth of Unicode ?
May contain traces of nut.
Made from the freshest electrons.
Hell, the number of people speaking English in the US is decreasing too these days.
Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........
I wonder how accurate the interpretation of natural language will be. Humans often get the actual message wrong can computers do better? I think not.
One of the problems with natural language is that it is often ambiguous. Natural languages, as spoken, were actually developed mostly by the peons not the rulers. The rulers would have liked a very precise language for their dealings with their underlings. The peons want their replies to be as vague as possible to avoid losing their head when they fail to meet the rulers specifications. For diplomatic relations, rulers too want as much vagueness as possible. Vagueness and ambiguity are thus built into natural language.
Typing 'map 10 Downing Street' of Firefox 3.0.5, leads you to the site http://www.aboutbritain.com/maps/10downingstreet-map.asp with a google map of the area.
"such as typing 'map 10 Downing Street' to instantly see a Google map of that address"
Why is this new?
I've been doing this for years. In Firefox. Try it yourself.
* Make a bookmark to this URL: 'http://maps.google.com/maps?q=%s'
* Click the 'More' button
* Add a keyword of 'map'
* Type 'map 10 Downing Street' in the address bar.
* Shout for joy at your upgrade to Firefox 4 months ahead of schedule.
I've been using Ubiquity for some time now, and its not really all that stable, or fast, or great. In fact, the mapping features seem to have gotten worse from when I started using it. Either it won't find the proper location, won't show the map, or will just sit there going "What, you lookin' at me?" I could definitely see including something that isn't really even stable into something that is mostly stable would be a bad move on Mozilla's part.
The 64-bit version is really bad at simple rendering. Anyway the Linux version is. I keep Opera on my desktop for exactly this reason. When the Firefox render is illegible I use Opera, then go back because overall I prefer Firefox. It might be nice to sort this little problem out before adding more features.
This is a similar feature that IE 8 has (test drove Windows 7)...
I forget what it's called but you set up agents for different tasks (maps, dictionary, weather) and the agent will service your requests - not sure how these are input. It's also flexible- You can use Google Maps OR Windows Maps OR another for mapping, etc.
It sounds similar, at least... someone who has used the IE8 feature extensively could say more.
Correction, should be:
It's also worth mentioning the 357 CPU-hogging bugs as an example of avoiding working on things that matter.
https://wiki.mozilla.org/Roadmap_Scratchpad
That's the current roadmap. I went to mozilla.org, clicked "Developers" and then clicked "Roadmap" in the left-hand navigation bar. How long did you spend looking? I didn't think it was that hidden.
While I can certainly see the usefulness of people using this with voice commands, I'm not sure this is a generally usable feature. Hopefully the distros keep the extension as a separate download.
Does anyone remember Lotus HAL? They tried to do the exact same thing for spreadsheets. And while it had quite a bit of novelty (probably even useful given the insane menu tree of Lotus), I'm not sure it really did all that well. And many others have tried NLP (natural language processing) controlled apps in the 80's. But they were always more confusing to use than the (now) standard menu layouts.
Having said that, I recently was playing with a Mac, and I really like their approach. They have a little "find" sort of entry field that will just highlight or point you to the right help entries with whatever you type. Personally, I think that would be a better way to incorporate NLP.
Yes, I understood that all this is possible now (although I was thinking of open-licensed mapping info and I don't think we've gotten there yet). But it's not considered commonplace, at least with respect to Wikipedia snapshots. And don't forget it would just be a snapshot, those of us who use the edit histories to try to check dubious parts of articles would be out of luck.
We'll have to wait a bit before everyone takes it for granted that they mirror Wikipedia.
> Really, the Internet is just needed for updates, interaction with other humans
> (or at least their avatars/slashdot personalities), shopping, and porn.
I agree with all of that, except that (1) you forgot "access to current media content" and (2) it might be possible that most users wouldn't need a constant influx of new porn, they'd have enough in their static cache.
You're in a big, dark world of information.
...
> look around
Left of you are a bunch of search engines driving by, on the right, social networking sites are trying to get your attention.
Right in front of you, a lot of news is waiting to be read. Behind you, worms and trojans are slowly creeping up on you.
> go north
Some ads jump in front of you, blocking your way. Do you want to read them, or fight them?
Opera already has this feature.
For a google search you can type g and whatever you want to search for. You can add as many search engines and keywords you want.
So long as the site accepts data from a HTTP GET or a HTTP POST request, then you can add a shortcut for it.
I just wish they'd concentrate on making browsers secure (not constant new features) and making them fast even on old machines.
Hell, thats why I started using the predesessor to Firefox (Firebird?) from version 0.70 because its memory useage was nothing.
Seriously? MORE features? I'd rather just have security and a DECENT memory defragmentation utility to stop its constant waste of memory.
Enhance 224 to 176. Enhance, stop. Move in, stop. Pull out, track right, stop. Center in, pull back. Stop. Track 45 right. Stop. Center and stop. Enhance 34 to 36. Pan right and pull back. Stop. Enhance 34 to 46. Pull back. Wait a minute, go right, stop. Enhance 57 to 19. Track 45 left. Stop. Enhance 15 to 23. Give me a hard copy right there.
Isn't Firefox open-source? Tell 'em to put down their sauerkraut and croissants and contribute code for their language.
Random Thoughts From A Diseased Mind (Not For Dummies)