How to play a sound when an iChat buddy comes online

I was thinking if there is a way iChat could play a sound file of my choice when my sister comes online. I thought it'd require some scripting, so I spent an hour searching for some applescript. But eventually I was able to do this without any scripting at all. This is something built right into iChat!

Here's how:

1. Open iChat and locate your buddy that you want to set a sound for. If your buddy is offline right now, you can locate him/her in the offline group.

2. Right click on their name, and select "Show Info"

3. In the next window that comes up, choose "Alerts" tab.

4. In "Event", choose "When buddy becomes available"

5. Choose a sound

6. Set other options in the same screen to your liking. Make sure the last checkbox "Perform alerts only next time this event occurs" is not checked.

Done!

Has Yahoo made POP access free for all?

I heard one can't use Yahoo's free email with POP clients like Outlook, Thunderbird or Apple Mail without upgrading to their premium service. At least this was the case last year when I tried accessing my Yahoo emails with Apple Mail and it simply refused.

Yesterday I tried it again, and now it works.

I have not purchased any Yahoo Premium Services. This is how my "premium services" look like:

All I did was to enter my Yahoo email ID and password when I opened Apple Mail for the first time, and used the "automatic setup" option. It did everything, no need to type in pop or smtp servers.

At first, I thought some software like yahoopops might be built-into OS X, or I may have installed one inadvertently. So I tried sending a mail, and it worked like a charm!

So now I have Yahoo's premium service for free. Do you?

How to test sound in Skype

One of my friends wanted to test if his microphone is working alright with Skype, but he doesn't have anyone in his contact list as yet. He wanted to know how he can test sound. Here's how:

Simply add a user named echo123 to your address book. Then make a call to this user. This user is actually an automated sound testing service by Skype. When you make a call, a voice will greet you, and you can record your sound after a beep. After 10 seconds, the sound it recorded will play back, so you can make adjustments in your settings accordingly.

Update: Just found out this one while scouring through Skype help pages: If you're having problems with any Skype feature, and you think the "server is down" or the problem is on Skype's side rather than yours, just go to http://heartbeat.skype.com . It'll tell you if all Skype components are working alright on their server side.

How to change iPhoto's default folder location easily

My iPhoto library is getting bigger and bigger, and it is now consuming 20GB of my 60GB Macbook hard drive. Now is a good time to relocate the photos to an external storage location in such a way that iPhoto is still able to recognize them. There are many ways to change iPhoto's default folder location, but this is the easiest:

1. Make a backup of your current iPhoto library (/Users/yourname/Pictures/iPhoto Library/)

2. Delete the original iPhoto Library folder.

3. Launch iPhoto

4. iPhoto will not be able to find it's library, so it'll present with this dialog box:

5. Using the above dialog box, click "Choose Library" and locate your alternate iPhoto Library location.

Now that was easy!

Top 20 Mario facts

Okay, I'm on a break from technology days. So let me post something about another of my long time passions - video games! This post is all about top 20 facts about Mario! Hope you enjoy reading it.

1. How old is Mario?
Answer: 26 years now (First game "Donkey Kong" released in 1981). He was then known as "Jumpman".

2. What is Mario's last name (surname)?
Answer: Mario does not have a last name!

3. Where was Mario created?
Answer: Japan

4. Who created Mario?
Answer: Shigeru Miyamoto

5. Where does Mario live?
Answer: Mushroom Kingdom

6. What is Mario's occupation?
Answer: He's a plumber.

7. What is Mario's nationality?
Answer: He is Italian.

8. Why does Mario wear a cap?
Answer: Because his designer found it difficult to draw hair. So he gave Mario a cap to wear. Smart!

9. What happens when Mario loses his cap?
Answer: He is more vulnerable to damage by enemies. Watch a video of Mario losing his cap.

10. Which weapons does Mario use?
Answer: Mario is so powerful that he doesn't need to use any weapons. However, he sometimes uses a hammer. He also throws fireballs after eating a Fire Flower but that's not considered to be a weapon. Rather it's an "ability".

11. Is Mario fat?
Answer: Yes, of course. He was created to be short, fat but agile and kind.

12. What is Mario's favorite food?
Answer: Mario's most favorite food is pasta. He also likes pizza.

13. Who does Mario rescue?
Answer: Princess Peach

14. What reward does Mario receive after rescuing the princess?
Answer: A kiss.

15. Who is Mario's twin brother?
Answer: Luigi

16. Who is Mario's enemy?
Answer: Bowser

17. Who is Mario's lookalike bad guy?
Answer: "Wario"

18. Does the baby Mario have a mustache?
Answer: Yes, Mario has a mustache ever since he was born!

19. Name the only three human inhabitants of the Mushroom Kingdom
Answer: Mario, Luigi and Princess Peach

20. How many Mario games have been sold so far?
Answer: Mario games are THE bestsellers in the history of video games so far. The Super Mario series alone has sold about 70 million copies!