Off-Topic Category

Hacking Firefox extensions to work on beta versions

This is a little off-topic but some people might find it useful. For the past three months or so, I have been using the Firefox 3.5 betas as my main browser. Why? Well, it is considerably faster than the previous version, renders pages more accurately (much less difference between Firefox and Safari now) and has some features I now cannot live without, such as the ability to restore closed windows as well as tabs.

But the trouble with using a bleeding-edge browser is that third-party developers take time to update their extensions to make them compatible. This can be frustrating, as often no code changes are necessary and all that needs to be done is a simple modification of the maximum version string.

There are two things you can do here - switch off compatibility checking or modify the maximum version of the extension.

Switch off compatibility checking

1. In Firefox, type about:config into the address bar.

2. Select "I'll be careful, I promise" if a warning appears.

3. Ctrl-click anywhere and select New > Boolean.

4. Enter extensions.checkCompatibility (note the capital C) as the name.

5. Select false as the value.

I have heard people report problems with this so if you want to specify exactly which extensions you want to make compatible, read on.

If the extension is already installed

1. Make sure Firefox is closed.

2. Navigate to ~/Library/Application Support/Firefox/Profiles.

3. You should see a folder with a gobbledegook name ending in ".default". Open this folder.

4. Delete or rename the file extensions.cache.

5. Open the extensions folder.

6. You will see more gobbledegook folder names. The only way to tell which one is the extension you are looking for is to open each folder one at a time and look at the contents of the folder's install.rdf file in TextEdit. The file's contents include the name of the extension, a description and compatibility information.

7. In the install.rdf file, look for the tag <em:maxVersion> and change the tag value to your current version (at the time of writing this is 3.5b4).

8. Save the file (you may need to change permissions on the file so you can write to it).

9. Launch Firefox and go to Tools > Add-Ons to verify that the extensions are now recognized by Firefox.

If the extension is not already installed

1. The Mozilla add-ons site won't let you download the extension if you have an incompatible version of Firefox. The easiest way to get around this is to fire up Safari, navigate to the add-ons page for the extension in question and download it manually (this works in Safari 4 - I don't have version 3 to test with).

2. Change the file extension of the .xpi file that is downloaded to .zip and unzip it. This will create a new folder on disk with the contents of the archive inside it.

3. Open install.rdf inside the folder and follow steps 7-8 above.

4. Select all files inside the folder, ctrl-click and click Compress X Items. You must compress the files inside the folder - do not compress the folder itself.

5. Rename the Archive.zip file to have an xpi extension.

6. Drag the XPI file into Firefox or go to File > Open File and navigate to it.

7. Firefox will now install it as if it was compatible.

Note - the extensions I modified were compatible with 3.1b3 (the previous version) so it was not much of a jump and I didn't experience any issues. I would not advise major version jumps (e.g. 2.x to 3.x) as this is likely to cause problems.

Posted by Jon Chappell on Saturday May 2 2009 12:20 PM to Off-Topic
0 comments Posted Permalink

Twitter

After years of wondering what the fuss was about, I have finally signed up to Twitter.

What's Twitter? It's basically a mini blog where you post very short messages up to 140 characters. It's great for letting people know what you are doing, asking questions and getting feedback. The beauty of it is the 140 character limit - this ensures posts are quick and to the point. Perfect for the modern age!

It'd be nice to have a little post production community where people can help each other out or just get to know each other. From a business perspective, it's also a great way of getting feedback on our products in order to improve them.

So if you want to follow me on Twitter, my Twitter URL is:
http://twitter.com/digitalreb

Posted by Jon Chappell on Saturday January 31 2009 4:23 AM to DR News, Useful sites, Off-Topic
2 comments Posted Permalink

Merry Christmas from Digital Rebellion

Just wanted to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. Where on earth did 2008 go?

What I like most about Christmas is that, unlike most religious festivals, everyone gets something out of it no matter what they believe in. It's a special time and it's always a shame when it's over.

But 2009 looks like it could be a very good year for the company so I am looking forward with anticipation. I hope 2009 will be a fruitful year for us all.

Posted by Jon Chappell on Wednesday December 24 2008 11:12 AM to DR News, Off-Topic
0 comments Posted Permalink

RIP Paul Newman

We just lost a legend. RIP.



More details: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7639614.stm

Posted by Jon Chappell on Saturday September 27 2008 10:59 AM to Industry, Off-Topic
0 comments Posted Permalink

Max Payne trailer

This movie had better be good.... I actually think Michael Madson looks more like Max Payne but hopefully Wahlberg does a good job.






And for reference, here is the original E3 2001 game trailer (which I think is better):

Posted by Jon Chappell on Friday July 11 2008 12:35 AM to Off-Topic
0 comments Posted Permalink

iPhone App Store now officially online

The 3G iPhone doesn't come out until tomorrow but Apple has activated the App Store and released the 2.0 firmware for the first-generation iPhone. Just download iTunes 7.7 and click the new App Store link in the iTunes Store. There are some very promising ones in there including eBooks, games, chat, calculators, finance managers, and many more.

Now, one thing you may have noticed is a distinct lack of any Digital Rebellion tools in there (or, indeed, any related to filmmaking at all). I'll be honest here - native iPhone application development is not an area I have properly researched yet. I do, however, plan to transition the iPhone-compatible web apps we currently have to fully-fledged iPhone Apps eventually but time is currently not on my side. I hope to have all of them ported within the next two months though, assuming Apple grants the company a license (not all developers have been accepted). Do rest assured, however, that the apps will still be available for the ultra-low price of free and in the meantime, you can access them from your phone (now at 3G speeds) from our resources page.

If anyone finds any great iPhone apps for filmmakers in the store, be sure to post them in the comments.

Posted by Jon Chappell on Thursday July 10 2008 3:55 PM to DR News, Apple, Off-Topic
3 comments Posted Permalink

Perfect Sport wins MyFestival, screens at SIFF

I'm pleased to announce that Perfect Sport has won MyFestival, the online film festival that decides which movie will fill the last available screening slot at the Seattle International Film Festival.

Perfect Sport won the Feature Film category, with the short film Robbie's Withdrawal being screened before it. This takes the movie's total festival wins to two so far, the previous being Best Dramatic Feature at WorldFest.

The screening takes place at the Harvard Exit on Sunday June 15th at 6:30 pm. Tickets are $11 General Admission or $9 for SIFF Supporter. Tickets can be purchased here.

I'd recommend the theatrical screening for the best possible experience but the film is still available for viewing on the MyFestival site until June 15th.

Read the press release here.

Posted by Jon Chappell on Tuesday June 10 2008 3:20 PM to Festivals and Awards, Off-Topic
0 comments Posted Permalink

Last chance to catch Perfect Sport

Only a few days left to catch the award-winning feature Perfect Sport online for free. It is competing in MyFestival, a collaboration with the Seattle International Film Festival (SIFF). 10 features and 10 shorts compete for votes, with the winner in each category going on to screen at SIFF on June 15th. The movie will only be online until June 8th (this Sunday) so time is running out!

Here's what some people had to say so far:

Digg:

Just got done watching the movie on MyFestival- "socially-challenging while delightfully entertaining" sums it all up. Its a movie I won't soon forget.


IMDb:

Building on a very creative script with an unexpected plot and believable, fully human characters, the actors make unusual choices that bring even more life to their roles. Your typical sports movie this ain't. Perfect Sport is also set against a beautiful score. I'd recommend this movie to anyone who wants to see something original and gripping. It's so nice to see a movie where you don't know everything that's going to happen in advance. Loved it! Hope it comes out in wider release soon.


http://myfestival.indieflix.com/FilmDetail.aspx?filmid=12

Definitely not a movie to be missed. Also don't forget to post your thoughts on the movie into the comment box on the MyFestival site as feedback is really helpful for filmmakers.

P.S. I'm going to have limited internet access over the next few days so apologies if I can't answer your emails quickly.

Posted by Jon Chappell on Thursday June 5 2008 2:53 PM to Festivals and Awards, Off-Topic
0 comments Posted Permalink

R.I.P. Sydney Pollack

Didn't expect to read this... Sydney Pollack just died of cancer, aged 73.



Read more...

Posted by Jon Chappell on Monday May 26 2008 10:55 PM to Industry, Off-Topic
0 comments Posted Permalink

Baz Luhrmann offers free filmmaking course on iTunes

Baz Luhrmann (director of Romeo + Juliet, Moulin Rouge and the infamous Chanel commercial with Nicole Kidman) is now offering a free filmmaking course entitled Set to Screen in video podcast form on the iTunes store.

It lasts until October and each podcast features a specific aspect of the filmmaking process (e.g. set design, cinematography, etc) on Baz's new feature film, Australia, starring Hugh Jackman and Nicole Kidman. The first one, On Set Photography, is available now. Peter Jackson did something similar on King Kong which ended up being very successful.

If you're a high school or college student, five of the podcasts come with a challenge at the end. Complete the challenge, post it to the Apple Student Gallery and you could be in for the chance of winning an iPod shuffle, iPod nano, iPod touch, or a MacBook Pro. A trip for two to Australia is also up for grabs, and the top prize in the final challenge is a trip to Australia with a chance to meet Baz and travel with him on the movie's promotional tour. Your project will also be featured on the movie's DVD release.

For those who aren't students, I think the podcasts are still very interesting regardless. I have a lot of respect for Baz and his work so I will be subscribing to this for sure and no doubt hanging on his every word.

[via CamcorderInfo]

Posted by Jon Chappell on Wednesday April 30 2008 1:57 AM to Off-Topic
0 comments Posted Permalink

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