diff --git a/LICENSE b/LICENSE
index 0acc58cb79..4e1dd06320 100755
--- a/LICENSE
+++ b/LICENSE
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 This software is licensed under the Apache 2 license, quoted below.
 
-Copyright 2009 Scalable Solutions AB [http://scalablesolutions.se]
+Copyright 2009-2010 Scalable Solutions AB [http://scalablesolutions.se]
 
 Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License"); you may not
 use this file except in compliance with the License. You may obtain a copy of
diff --git a/akka-core/src/main/scala/actor/Actor.scala b/akka-core/src/main/scala/actor/Actor.scala
index b66131123d..8b4cb81836 100644
--- a/akka-core/src/main/scala/actor/Actor.scala
+++ b/akka-core/src/main/scala/actor/Actor.scala
@@ -73,10 +73,11 @@ object Actor extends Logging {
   val TIMEOUT =            config.getInt("akka.actor.timeout", 5000)
   val SERIALIZE_MESSAGES = config.getBool("akka.actor.serialize-messages", false)
 
-  /** A Receive is the type that defines actor message behavior
-   *  currently modeled as a PartialFunction[Any,Unit]
+  /**
+   * A Receive is a convenience type that defines actor message behavior currently modeled as
+   * a PartialFunction[Any, Unit].
    */
-  type Receive = PartialFunction[Any,Unit]
+  type Receive = PartialFunction[Any, Unit]
 
   private[actor] val actorRefInCreation = new scala.util.DynamicVariable[Option[ActorRef]](None)
 
@@ -89,6 +90,10 @@ object Actor extends Logging {
    *   actor ! message
    *   actor.stop
    * </pre>
+   * You can create and start the actor in one statement like this:
+   * <pre>
+   *   val actor = actorOf[MyActor].start
+   * </pre>
    */
   def actorOf[T <: Actor: Manifest]: ActorRef = new LocalActorRef(manifest[T].erasure.asInstanceOf[Class[_ <: Actor]])
 
@@ -105,6 +110,10 @@ object Actor extends Logging {
    *   actor ! message
    *   actor.stop
    * </pre>
+   * You can create and start the actor in one statement like this:
+   * <pre>
+   *   val actor = actorOf(new MyActor).start
+   * </pre>
    */
   def actorOf(factory: => Actor): ActorRef = new LocalActorRef(() => factory)
 
@@ -239,17 +248,57 @@ object Actor extends Logging {
  *         => SHUT DOWN (when 'exit' is invoked) - can't do anything
  * </pre>
  *
+ * <p/>
+ * The Actor's API is available in the 'self' member variable.
+ * 
+ * <p/>
+ * Here you find functions like:
+ *   - !, !!, !!! and forward
+ *   - link, unlink, startLink, spawnLink etc
+ *   - makeTransactional, makeRemote etc.
+ *   - start, stop
+ *   - etc.
+ *
+ * <p/>
+ * Here you also find fields like
+ *   - dispatcher = ...
+ *   - id = ...
+ *   - lifeCycle = ...
+ *   - faultHandler = ...
+ *   - trapExit = ...
+ *   - etc.
+ *  
+ * <p/>
+ * This means that to use them you have to prefix them with 'self', like this: <tt>self ! Message</tt>
+ *
+ * However, for convenience you can import these functions and fields like below, which will allow you do
+ * drop the 'self' prefix: 
+ * <pre>
+ * class MyActor extends Actor {
+ *   import self._
+ *   id = ...
+ *   dispatcher = ...
+ *   spawnLink[OtherActor]
+ *   ...
+ * }
+ * </pre>
+ * 
+ * <p/>
+ * The Actor trait also has a 'log' member field that can be used for logging within the Actor.
+ *
  * @author <a href="http://jonasboner.com">Jonas Bon&#233;r</a>
  */
 trait Actor extends Logging {
-  //Type alias because traits cannot have companion objects...
+  /**
+   * Type alias because traits cannot have companion objects.
+   */
   type Receive = Actor.Receive
 
-   /** 
+   /* 
     * For internal use only, functions as the implicit sender references when invoking 
-    * one of the message send functions (!, !!, !!! and forward).
+    * one of the message send functions (!, !! and !!!).
     */
-  implicit val optionSelf: Option[ActorRef] = { 
+  implicit val optionSelf: Option[ActorRef] = {
     val ref = Actor.actorRefInCreation.value
     Actor.actorRefInCreation.value = None
     if (ref.isEmpty) throw new ActorInitializationException(
@@ -258,10 +307,15 @@ trait Actor extends Logging {
        "\n\tYou have to use one of the factory methods in the 'Actor' object to create a new actor." + 
        "\n\tEither use:" + 
        "\n\t\t'val actor = Actor.actorOf[MyActor]', or" + 
-       "\n\t\t'val actor = Actor.actorOf(new MyActor(..))'")
+       "\n\t\t'val actor = Actor.actorOf(new MyActor(..))'" + 
+       "\n\t\t'val actor = Actor.actor { case msg => .. } }'")
     else ref
   }
 
+  /*
+   * For internal use only, functions as the implicit sender references when invoking
+   * the forward function.
+   */
   implicit val someSelf: Some[ActorRef] = optionSelf.asInstanceOf[Some[ActorRef]]
 
   /**
@@ -274,13 +328,12 @@ trait Actor extends Logging {
    */
   val self: ActorRef = optionSelf.get
   self.id = getClass.getName
-  import self._
   
   /**
    * User overridable callback/setting.
    * <p/>
    * Partial function implementing the actor logic.
-   * To be implemented by subclassing actor.
+   * To be implemented by concrete actor class.
    * <p/>
    * Example code:
    * <pre>
diff --git a/akka-core/src/main/scala/actor/ActorRef.scala b/akka-core/src/main/scala/actor/ActorRef.scala
index db2d0ed030..5a5f08adc7 100644
--- a/akka-core/src/main/scala/actor/ActorRef.scala
+++ b/akka-core/src/main/scala/actor/ActorRef.scala
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@ import java.util.concurrent.locks.ReentrantLock
 import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicReference
 import java.util.concurrent.ConcurrentHashMap
 import java.util.{Map => JMap}
+import java.lang.reflect.Field
 
 /**
  * The ActorRef object can be used to deserialize ActorRef instances from of its binary representation
@@ -593,7 +594,11 @@ sealed class LocalActorRef private[akka](
 
   @volatile private var isInInitialization = false
   @volatile private var runActorInitialization = false
-  
+
+  // Needed to be able to null out the 'val self: ActorRef' member variables to make the Actor
+  // instance eligeble for garbage collection
+  private val actorSelfFields = findActorSelfField(actor.getClass)
+
   if (runActorInitialization) initializeActorInstance
   
   /**
@@ -720,6 +725,7 @@ sealed class LocalActorRef private[akka](
       remoteAddress.foreach(address => RemoteClient.unregister(
         address.getHostName, address.getPort, uuid))
       RemoteNode.unregister(this)
+      nullOutActorRefReferencesFor(actorInstance.get)
     } else if (isBeingRestarted) throw new ActorKilledException("Actor [" + toString + "] is being restarted.")
   }
 
@@ -1082,6 +1088,7 @@ sealed class LocalActorRef private[akka](
       Actor.log.debug("Restarting linked actors for actor [%s].", id)
       Actor.log.debug("Invoking 'preRestart' for failed actor instance [%s].", id)
       failedActor.preRestart(reason)
+      nullOutActorRefReferencesFor(failedActor)
       val freshActor = newActor
       freshActor.synchronized {
         freshActor.init
@@ -1137,7 +1144,30 @@ sealed class LocalActorRef private[akka](
 
   protected[akka] def linkedActorsAsList: List[ActorRef] = 
     linkedActors.values.toArray.toList.asInstanceOf[List[ActorRef]]
-  
+
+  private def nullOutActorRefReferencesFor(actor: Actor) = {
+    actorSelfFields._1.set(actor, null)
+    actorSelfFields._2.set(actor, null)
+    actorSelfFields._3.set(actor, null)
+  }
+
+  private def findActorSelfField(clazz: Class[_]): Tuple3[Field, Field, Field] = {
+    try {
+      val selfField =       clazz.getDeclaredField("self")
+      val optionSelfField = clazz.getDeclaredField("optionSelf")
+      val someSelfField =   clazz.getDeclaredField("someSelf")
+      selfField.setAccessible(true)
+      optionSelfField.setAccessible(true)
+      someSelfField.setAccessible(true)
+      (selfField, optionSelfField, someSelfField)
+    } catch {
+      case e: NoSuchFieldException =>
+        val parent = clazz.getSuperclass
+        if (parent != null) findActorSelfField(parent)
+        else throw new IllegalStateException(toString + " is not an Actor since it have not mixed in the 'Actor' trait")
+    }
+  }
+
   private def initializeActorInstance = if (!isRunning) {
     dispatcher.register(this)
     dispatcher.start