making Mac iChat video work with an AIM account

After months of frustration, Yahoo technical and I figured out how to video conference using:

• Mac OS X 10.4.10 (Tiger)
• iChat (3.1.8)
• our AOL Instant Messenger (AIM) Account

For reasons we don't understand, the default AIM server setting doesn't work.

the fix that worked for us

1. Open iChat preferences and click on the Accounts tab
   
2. Select your AIM account
3. Click on Server settings
4. Change the default port (5190) to Port: 1080 (at the top - no need for a proxy server)
   
5. Restart iChat

[This also works for .Mac accounts - free or paid. Change the default port from 5060 to 1080.]

Yes, we have Apple's firewall on, and a Netgear router firewall in action.

solution for Photoshop CS3 crash / freeze problem

After I did the last round of software updates to Adobe's Creative Suite 3 Web Premium edition, PhotoShop CS3 Extended cease to act like the PhotoShop program I have used for years. This is on a MacBook 2 GHz Intel Core Due with 2 GB RAM.

symptoms

1. Try to open an image file and PhotoShop crashes
2. Try to save a new file and PhotoShop crashes
   
3. Try to save an image opened in PhotoShop from Bridge and PhotoShop crashes

self help

After verifying the the disk permission did not need to be repaired and that the hard drive itself was fine, I reinstalled (repaired) PhotoShop CS3 and updated it. Same symptoms. And updating produced this error message:
"Updating cannot be applied to a product. Adobe Version Cue Client 3.1 failed to install. Reinstall the product and try again."
Reinstalling PhotoShop AND Version Cue produced the same error message and PhotoShop crashes.

Adobe tech support

• The first call to Adobe's Saturday tech support was useless. I will forgo the details here.
• A search through Adobe's Knowledge base lead to a ten-page 8/10/07 Technote on "Troubleshoot system errors or freezes in Photoshop CS3 on Mac OS." After going through the beginning and some intermediate trouble-shooting steps, I stopped at #17 (Optimize hard disks) after reading Adobe's disclaimer about not supporting third party disk utilities. I haven't found a disk utility beyond Apple's Disk Utility that I trust.... I finished my need-it-tomorrow photo editing and printing using Apple iPhoto '08 and decided to worry about PhotoShop on Monday. (iPhoto's a decent program, especially in a pinch.)
  
• The second call to Adobe's tech support on Monday was also fruitless. I waited for 20 minutes in the "long cue" to talk to Christopher who suggest that there might be a software conflict. He recommended that I try turn on the computer in Safe Boot mode (hold the shift key while turning the computer on) to eliminate software conflicts. And if that didn't work, create a new admin account and try a safe boot again, opening PhotoShop in the new admin account. I asked for a case number to avoid the long wait should I need to call back.

solution

• The third call to Adobe's tech support on Monday was a bit frustrating, but did solve the problem. The frustration: my case number disappeared into the ether, so I had the long wait again, after an Adobe customer service rep verified my Adobe username and PhotoShop registration; he also provided my Adobe Customer Number - a good thing to know when you call Adobe's tech support.
  
• I repeated everything to Joel who solved the problem and patiently answered all of my questions. He recognized this as a Version Cue issue and directed me to:
  Hard Drive > Library > Applications Support > Adobe > Abobe Version Cue CS3 > Client
  and had me move the 3.1.0 directory to my desktop.
• I rebooted out of safe mode (no Internet connection to run an update) and updated the entire suit using Adobe Updater5 in the computer's Utilities folder. (Updater 4 was still there but we ignored it; Joel did not want me to remove it.)
• While all the software was updated yet again, we talked about Version Cue long enough for me to realize that I did not need it. We also talked about plan C... or D? Uninstalling the suite. Using Adobe's powerful clean up script, which sounded a little scary... We discussed the best way to uninstall the software - from the disk, not the uninstall utility, though I'm not sure why.
  
• Thankfully, although there was an ambiguous error message, Version Cue seemed to update successfully.
• Joel mentioned there was a doc on Adobe's site that dealt with this very issue: KB402521. Unfortunately, my "search of Entire Site for KB402521 did not match any documents." So I thought it best to blog this solution so it can be found.
  

PhotoShop seems to work now. I opened, edited, and printed an image successfully. I haven't verified all of the other programs yet, but I'm hopeful that they will work as expected. When I have some time, I plan to uninstall Version Cue.

Water? Apple bluetooth headset washes well

Apple's Bluetooth headset is my first wireless headset. Its compact design makes it barely visible. No flashing lights and ear hook look. I only wear the headset when driving or sitting at my desk and need two hands for my keyboard. When I'm out, I often drop it into a shirt pocket between car rides.

Two days ago I got home, changed, and threw some clothes in the washer–including the shirt I wore during the day. When the wash was almost done, I realized that the headset was still in my shirt pocket, in the washing machine. When the load was done, Apple's little bluetooth headset lay at the bottom of the washing machine, clean as a whistle so to speak.

At first, the headset was unresponsive. I let the headset dry out for a day and a half. Then put it in Apple's Dual Dock charger. My iPhone recognized the headset and charged it up. Works fine. Relief.... Ah, technology.