About Gaim, you don't need to disable and re-enable all accounts, you can simply set the status to "Available" (e.g. by right-clicking on the notification area icon) and it'll connect.
-- network-manager should not set offline mode when it manages no device https://launchpad.net/bugs/82335 -- ubuntu-bugs mailing list ubuntu-bugs@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-bugs