[X4U] Recent Mac Java update kills the one Java applet I use knowingly; HELP?????

[Jim Robertson]

I'm a nephrologist (kidney doc). I do remote SSL access to the Kaiser Health
Plan's "Health Connect" electronic medical record from my dialysis treatment
center (which is not a Kaiser facility and therefore not on their intranet),
to order meds, retrieve lab information, etc., for our patients who are
Kaiser Health Plan members.

On February 15, Apple released a Java update. Since I installed it on my
MacBook Pro, if I try to log on to Health Connect, I'm able to use my
SecureID token to log on to Kaiser's Citrix server, but once the applet
begins loading a brief burst of Java errors appear, to wit:

java.net.SocketException: Socket is not connected
    at java.net.Socket.getInputStream(Socket.java:764)
    at com.neoteris.NeoterisSocket.getInputStream(Unknown Source)
    at com.citrix.client.module.td.tcp.TCPTransportDriver.u(Unknown Source)
    at com.citrix.client.module.td.TransportDriver.run(Unknown Source)
    at java.lang.Thread.run(Thread.java:613)

I called the Kaiser National Help Desk. The support staff told me "yeah, the
Macs are having problems since Apple updated their Java client; one doc was
able to get a "patch" from Apple to take him back to an earlier version of
the Mac operating system so the new Java client would work."

I responded that I thought it FAR more likely that this "patch" was probably
some tool that reverted Java to the previous version, since it didn't break
because of an OS update but because of a Java update, but I haven't the
foggiest idea how to contact someone at Apple that might be able to help me,
and Kaiser National Help Desk clearly think they've met their obligation;
i.e., it's Apple's fault, and if you'd only use a REAL business computer
you'd be just fine (meaning a Windows box, of course, and I must admit that
when I log on from Boot Camp/Win XP the whole thing is MUCH snappier than it
ever was from the Mac OS with Apple's old Java).

Can anyone steer me in the direction of some real help from Apple? I don't
have Applecare on any of my many Macs, so I think any telephone support
would not be free, and unless I manage to get to the right person I doubt
any "help" I get would actually be at all helpful. I've checked the Support
knowledgebase at Apple's website. It seems the latest Java update (released
2/15/07) primarily addressed the change in daylight savings time, but the
description says there were other fixes as well. Nothing is offered about
removing the update.

Any suggestions would be VERY welcome.

Jim Robertson
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