If you’re doing an audio chat, do you even need the iChat window open? Well, if you close it, you’ll quit the chat, but if you minimize the chat window to the dock instead (press Command-M), you can continue your chat, even though the window is no longer visible. When it’s time to end your chat, just click on the minimized chat window in the dock.
iChat AV: Fixing Bad Audio Chats:
This is an old trick, but I forgot to include it in the previous edition of the this book...
so... here it is:
If you’re having an audio chat, and the audio becomes garbled or is dropping out a lot, you can have iChat try to improve the connection using this simple trick. Just click the Mute button for just a second, then unmute it by clicking it again. This causes iChat to reassess the connection and that will usually do the trick.
Create a Buddy Icon with Photo Booth:
If you’re using a Mac with a built-in iSight camera, use the built-in iSight camera to take a single snapshot of yourself, a 4-up snapshot (that’s four quick shots in a row), or a movie clip.
1. Open the Applications folder and double click on Photo Booth.
2. Choose the type of snapshot you’d like to take by clicking the appropriate button on the left just below the live video window.
3. Then pose nicely, smile, and click the Camera button.
Photo Booth places thumbnails in the drawer at the bottom of the window.
Ready to set your iChat buddy icon?
1. In the thumbnail drawer at the bottom of the window, select the photo you’d like to use.
2. Click the Buddy Picture icon.
Photo Booth copies the image, quickly opens iChat, and displays the photo in the Buddy Picture window. Use the slider to resize it if you’d like. Click Set, and you’re done.
Add a Buddy to iChat:
An extremely versatile application, iChat lets you participate in simple text chats, audio chats, or video chats with one or a group of people with Internet access and a MobileMe, AIM, Google Talk, or Jabber account. To get started, you first need to set up iChat on your system by clicking the icon for iChat in the Dock and responding to the questions in the dialogs that appear.
To add a buddy to your Buddy List in iChat:
Choose Add Buddy from the Buddies menu (or click the + sign at the bottom of the Buddy List window).
Type the name of your friend’s account name in the Account Name field and select the type of account from the pop-up menu.
Choose the group to which you’d like to add your new buddy, type your buddy’s first and last names in the appropriate fields, and click the Add button.
