Thanks for pointing this out. In Snow Leopard, Apple changed the way dates are handled; they now have to be entered in the same format as set in your System Preferences. I updated the format examples at the top with ones that work both on older versions of OS X and on the default System Preferences settings. I didn't change the Countdown program, so you don't have to re-download it.

GTalk posts your status message in the other person's chat window every time it is changed, whether manually or by a script. Unfortunately, this cannot be altered from your end. I generally change my status to a non-script status message when I actually begin a GTalk conversation with someone.

It should be under Edit-->Insert Script. Is this the menu you are referring to?

Adium refreshes away message scripts every 20-30 seconds, so it will hopefully never be off by more than half a minute.