iChat just went bye-bye

This entry was published at least two years ago (originally posted on April 3, 2004). Since that time the information may have become outdated or my beliefs may have changed (in general, assume a more open and liberal current viewpoint). A fuller disclaimer is available.

That was more than a little odd. I was just in a conversation with Phil, and wanted to blog some of it. Normally I use iChat in “cute” mode (pictures and bubbles), like so:

iChat's 'cute' mode

When I want to blog a conversation, I’ll switch it to “text” and “show names”, which works much better for a copy-paste into a weblog post:

iChat in text mode

However, for some reason, iChat just went all wierd on me. When I switched it into text and names mode, everything in the chat window went blank. I could see what I was typing in the text input field, and hear when messages came through by the “bloop” sound…but I couldn’t see anything!

iChat goes wonky

Thankfully, closing out the window and starting a new chat session cleared it up, but I was quite amused for a few moments there.

iTunes: “Pink Potassium” by Radioactive Goldfish from the album Rhythm and Rave (1992, 4:46).