Recently I've been really busy testing out some new functionality were adding to our campus instant messaging solution, Microsoft Office Communicator. With that, I wanted to consolodate my instant messaging accounts into a single application where I can communicate using all of them. If you use a product like Pidgen or Adium for your instant messaging client, you might like WebMessenger for the iPhone.

To use this FREE iPhone application, download it from the iPhone app store and then create a free account on the WebMessenger site (http://www.webmessenger.com/). It is also possibile to create a new account on WebMessenger when you first run the application on your phone.

WebMessenger has a useful feature in that it keeps your instant messenger status active for a specified period of time after you close the application (such as the case when you recieve a phone call). You may set your status to timeout after 0, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, or 30 minutes after closing the application. Messages that are sent to you during this time period are queued up and delivered the moment you start WebMessenger and log back in.

A feature UNT folks will find useful is that with WebMessenger, you may login to your Live@Edu hosted chat. If you have a student or alumni account, you will select the MSN account type and use your username@my.unt.edu address and password to login.

There will be more to come on the topic of instant messaging features coming to UNT, but I have found WebMessenger to be very useful in my testing. 

That's my pick.

Send comments to
jason.gutierrez@unt.edu

Salute!
Jason

When you purchase and Apple computer on campus, it is recommended that the purchaser also buy the parts only AppleCare that is part of the UNT Apple service. UNT's micro-maintenance division is an Authorized Apple repair center, so when a computer is purchased it is only necessary to warranty the parts, not the labor.

This being said, if you have AppleCare (and this goes for anyone who has AppleCare), you might be eligible to download a copy of TechTool Deluxe. To find out if you are eligible, go online to:

https://support.apple.com/techtooldeluxe/main?id=dl

Enter your Apple serial number to see if you are eligible. Instructions for obtaining your serial number are on the Apple page.

You may also find your serial number by going to the Apple icon, selecting About this Mac, and then clicking "More Info..."

 In the window that appears (System Profiler), under the hardware menu, you will see your serial number listed in the content page. Copy and paste this into Apple's verification to to access the download.

What is TechTool Deluxe?

(from Apple's Website) 

TechTool Deluxe from Micromat is a powerful diagnostic utility that allows you to test your computer's critical system components, such as the processor, RAM (random-access memory), VRAM (video random-access memory), the hard disk, and more. TechTool Deluxe can also repair your computer's disk structure and rebuild its directories as necessary.

This download is a 1.25GB DVD image. 

Cheers!

Jason 

I reccomend that no one apply the 2.2.1 update to their iPhone. There have been various problems, but most of all iTunes (8.0.2) crashes when trying to sync. Read this article for more informationL http://www.macnn.com/articles/09/01/30/iphone.firmware.problems/

I'll post again soon when there is a resolution.

** UPDATE **1/31/09

Still no resolution, but it appears that the problem is related to Apple's DRM. If you deauthorize your iPhone and sync it, the problem goes away. The new problem is that the sync now removes ALL your DRM files, which includes all applications, music, podcasts, etc.

I'm working on getting this escalated with Apple. More to come.

** UPDATE ** 2/1/09

If you want to follow the discussion thread online, got to http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=8915965#8915965

The problem appears to be narrowing down to these items: post firmware update 2.2.1, iLife Digital Media Update 2.0, and DRM (digital rights management) content from iTunes. When all three of these things are on your machine (may also be true for Windows users), and you sync new content from iTunes, you will start to see the problem. 

I will update this post as soon as I can talk to Apple on the next business day.

** UPDATE ** 2/2/09

In order to get a functioning iTunes/iPhone sync, I had to deauthorize and reauthorize my machine. Though I had tested this out several times this weekend, every time I reauthorized my computer iTunes would crash. Never-the-less, at the behest of Apple support, this afternoon I reauthorized my computer and tried again.

1) Deauthorize computer in iTunes- Store>Deauthorize

2) Connect phone to computer, then uncheck the selection to sync applications. This will remove the applications from your phone.

3) Sync iPhone. You will be prompted to reauthorize your computer - do so.

4) After the iPhone syncs, and you are reauthorized, resync your applications. In my case I resync'd them one at a time to see if there were any "bad" apps. I didn't have any, though it's good to be safe.

As it stands, my phone is syncing again normally with 2.2.1 updater. I still have no official word from Apple on why this worked today, when it hadn't worked all weekend.

For now, I'll downgrade my risk assessment to proceed with caution.

Jason

Previously on this site I wrote a tutorial on how to connect your iPhone to your laptop and share the laptops internet connection (http://messaging.unt.edu/node/410).

Here is an article straight from the Apple support site on how to connect your Bluetooth ready phone (any phone I believe, not just the iPhone) to your Mac. It requires that you have at least Mac OS X version 10.2.1 or later.

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2451

Happy New Year!

Jason

A few people have commented on not being able to search for addresses in Entourage. Further investigation shows that the configuration of Entourage is usually what is the problem.

I have a post on this site (http://messaging.unt.edu/node/313) where I briefly explain a basic configuration of Entourage. Entourage access the address book by using an LDAP search, rather than downloading the OAB (Outlook Address Book) as done in Outlook 2007.

The key to setting up the address book search is to configure the ADVANCED tab as outlined in the above article. To recap, those settings are:

Advanced Tab

• LDAP Server: GABUNTDC01.unt.ad.unt.edu
• Search Base: DC=unt,DC=ad,DC=unt,DC=edu

You should see the figure to the right in your Entourage address book list upon successful completion.

There is another tool that I use to search the address book and that is OWA GAL Search. This is a stand alone utility that will conduct a search of the GAL, a.k.a. the global address list. You will find this utility at http://www.xutils.com/owagalsearch/.

 This tool will allow you to conduct a search without the Entourage client running. It also allows you to add people from the search results to your address book, or to initiate a mail message (launching Entourage in the process if it isn't running).

I hope you find this information useful. 

Jason Gutierrez

Iphone 2.2 out and 10.6 coming soon.

Today (11-21-08) Apple released the new iPhone 2.2 update. The update is mostly fixes to current functionality, with a few additions like street view for Google Maps, the ability to turn on/off auto correcting, and fewer dropped calls. 

For more information: http://www.apple.com/iphone/softwareupdate/

Also around the corner, Apple will be releasing OS 10.6!! Snow Leopard. I'll have more information later.

Jason 

A while ago I posted this entry (http://messaging.unt.edu/node/410) on leeching off your laptops internet connection for you iPhone. 

There is one little side effect that I just found out. When you turn on internet sharing (in the System Preferences), you ability to conduct a screen share or A/V chat using iChat fails. 

The simple fix, disable internet sharing.

Jason 

Yesterday (October 14th 2008), microsoft released their latest updater for Office 2008 for the Macintosh. As of this writing, the Office updater wasn't recognizing it (more specifically, my updater wasn't recognizing it) so I downloaded it directly from their site .

to run the automatic updater manually, launch any one of the Office 2008 applications, and from the HELP menu, select "Check for updates." In the window that follows you can perform the automatic or manual update check. If the updater doesn't recognize that there is an update, go directly to the Microsoft site at http://www.microsoft.com/mac/downloads.mspx to obtain the update.

I've been running it with no problems, though if you encouter an issue contact your support area or the UNT helpdesk and we can report it to Microsoft.

For more information regarding this specific release, consult this Microsoft KB article http://support.microsoft.com/kb/958267

Thank you

Jason Gutierrez

http://support.apple.com/kb/TS2377

Yesterday Apple posted this KB article stating that there are issues with the NVIDIA GeForce 8600 GT graphics processor in the MacBook Pro line of computers. This would be on laptops manufactured between May2007 and September 2008, newer MacBook Pro models. Good news is though that Apple has extended the standard 1 year warranty on the video processors for another year.

If you have purchased the parts only AppleCare with your MacBook Pro, then you would be covered for three years under that plan.

I have this video processor, bummer :-(

Jason Gutierrez

I'm always interested in what topics you might be interested in, and if you find this blog useful. I've heard from a few people, but I would be thrilled if everyone would send me a note.

Email your note to Jason.gutierrez@unt.edu

Thank you,

Jason