diff --git a/REQUIRE b/REQUIRE
index 2d184bf7..39402c3d 100644
--- a/REQUIRE
+++ b/REQUIRE
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-julia 0.6
+julia 0.6-pre
 
 RecipesBase
 PlotUtils 0.4.1
diff --git a/src/Plots.jl b/src/Plots.jl
index 9b613056..2f9caeca 100644
--- a/src/Plots.jl
+++ b/src/Plots.jl
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-__precompile__(true)
+__precompile__(false)
 
 module Plots
 
@@ -118,6 +118,15 @@ ignoreNaN_extrema(x) = Base.extrema(x)
 
 # ---------------------------------------------------------
 
+# to cater for block matrices, Base.transpose is recursive.
+# This makes it impossible to create row vectors of String and Symbol with the transpose operator.
+# This solves this issue, internally in Plots at least.
+
+Base.transpose(x::Symbol) = x
+Base.transpose(x::String) = x
+
+# ---------------------------------------------------------
+
 import Measures
 import Measures: Length, AbsoluteLength, Measure, BoundingBox, mm, cm, inch, pt, width, height, w, h
 const BBox = Measures.Absolute2DBox
diff --git a/src/examples.jl b/src/examples.jl
index 7025999f..e4c13ca6 100644
--- a/src/examples.jl
+++ b/src/examples.jl
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ PlotExample("Colors",
     [:(begin
         y = rand(100)
         plot(0:10:100,rand(11,4),lab="lines",w=3,palette=:grays,fill=0, α=0.6)
-        scatter!(y, zcolor=abs(y-.5), m=(:heat,0.8,stroke(1,:green)), ms=10*abs(y-0.5)+4, lab="grad")
+        scatter!(y, zcolor=abs.(y-.5), m=(:heat,0.8,stroke(1,:green)), ms=10*abs.(y-0.5)+4, lab="grad")
     end)]
 ),
 
@@ -269,7 +269,7 @@ PlotExample("Polar Plots",
     "",
     [:(begin
         Θ = linspace(0,1.5π,100)
-        r = abs(0.1randn(100)+sin(3Θ))
+        r = abs.(0.1randn(100)+sin.(3Θ))
         plot(Θ, r, proj=:polar, m=2)
     end)]
 ),
diff --git a/src/plot.jl b/src/plot.jl
index 2e8063af..3ab41701 100644
--- a/src/plot.jl
+++ b/src/plot.jl
@@ -60,7 +60,7 @@ function plot(plt1::Plot, plts_tail::Plot...; kw...)
 
     # build our plot vector from the args
     n = length(plts_tail) + 1
-    plts = Array(Plot, n)
+    plts = Array{Plot}(n)
     plts[1] = plt1
     for (i,plt) in enumerate(plts_tail)
         plts[i+1] = plt
diff --git a/src/recipes.jl b/src/recipes.jl
index e8ea3096..a474bd74 100644
--- a/src/recipes.jl
+++ b/src/recipes.jl
@@ -669,7 +669,7 @@ end
     edge_x, edge_y, weights = x, y, z.surf
 
     float_weights = float(weights)
-    if is(float_weights, weights)
+    if float_weights === weights
         float_weights = deepcopy(float_weights)
     end
     for (i, c) in enumerate(float_weights)
diff --git a/src/utils.jl b/src/utils.jl
index 1de784e1..8f51fc4d 100644
--- a/src/utils.jl
+++ b/src/utils.jl
@@ -355,8 +355,8 @@ function convert_to_polar(x, y, r_extrema = calc_r_extrema(x, y))
     x = zeros(n)
     y = zeros(n)
     for i in 1:n
-        x[i] = cycle(r,i) * cos(cycle(phi,i))
-        y[i] = cycle(r,i) * sin(cycle(phi,i))
+        x[i] = cycle(r,i) * cos.(cycle(phi,i))
+        y[i] = cycle(r,i) * sin.(cycle(phi,i))
     end
     x, y
 end