abspath? Plugin Failuer & RSS failure

PROBLEM 1 – PLUGIN FAILURE
So when I download Buddypress and reupload it in wp-content/plugins, it gets uploaded but when i go to wp-admin and try to find the uploaded plugin to add it, its not showing.

Then I use the wordpress page and try installing it from within the page as a zip file, and then I get this message – Unable to create directory /home/mysite/www/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2011/02. Is its parent directory writable by the server?

So I dont know why this is happening as I am a complete newbie.

PROBLEM 2 – DASHBOARD – RSS FAILURE
Here is what I see when I access my dashboard.
Under WordPress Blog | Under Other WordPress News | Under Incoming Links
RSS Error: WP HTTP Error: couldn’t connect to host

So do these problems have to do with leaving the ABSPATH just the way it was in the install files , that is?
/** Absolute path to the WordPress directory. */
if ( !defined(‘ABSPATH’) )
define(‘ABSPATH’, dirname(__FILE__) . ‘/’);

/** Sets up WordPress vars and included files. */
require_once(ABSPATH . ‘wp-settings.php’);

OR is it to do with Proxy Host settings being left the way they were?
define(‘WP_PROXY_HOST’, ‘proxy.example.com’);
define(‘WP_PROXY_PORT’, ‘8080’);

I dunno the problem, but i sure want to rectify and get moving with installing buddy press and making sure everything is clockwork orange with my wordpress installation.

Please Help!? :-)Please
Anand Gurnani