Lock Your Data with Disk Images !

Chances are you’ve encountered disk image files (indicated by the extension .dmg) when installing software on your Mac. When you double-click on this type of file, your computer mounts it as though it were a DVD or hard drive. In fact, you can think of mounted disk images as virtual drives.

The Disk Utility program in Mac OS X Leopard allows you to create your own disk images. Used to format, verify, repair, and partition disks and volumes, Disk Utility also lets you make safety copies of important CDs and DVDs, back up your hard drive, or create a virtual copy of a physical CD. (For example, you can make a disk image of the CD that authorizes your favorite computer game, so you don’t have to insert the physical disc each time you play.)

Best of all, you can add password protection to disk images when you create them. Without the correct password it’s nearly impossible to read the contents of an encrypted disk image, so it’s a great way to transfer data securely via email, FTP, flash drive, CD-ROM, or DVD-ROM. This format is especially useful if you need to send sensitive information to a colleague, or travel with files you want to keep confidential.

To create a disk image from a folder on your Mac, first open Disk Utility. (You’ll find it in the Utilities folder inside the Applications folder.) In the File menu, select New, then New Disk Image from Folder (or type Command-shift-N). Navigate to the desired folder, then click Image.

A pop-up menu prompts you to choose a name and save location for your disk image. It also includes two pull-down options: Image Format and Encryption. If you’re going to transfer your disk image (for example, as an email attachment), select Compressed under the Image Format pull-down. If you want to add password protection, select 128-bit or 256-bit AES encryption under the Encryption pull-down. (128-bit encryption is extremely secure; it would probably take a password-guessing computer many lifetimes to crack it. The second option is even more secure, but takes longer to create.)


Click Save, and Disk Utility begins to create the new disk image with the name and preferences you’ve specified. If you chose to add encryption, a password pop-up appears. Enter and verify the password of your choice. (As always, the best passwords are at least eight characters long, mix letters and numbers, and avoid dictionary words.) Disk Utility evaluates the password’s strength and gives you the option of remembering the password in your Mac’s keychain.

Now you can transfer the disk image easily and securely via email or other means. The only way to access the data inside the disk image is by entering the correct password.

Disk Utility can make disk images from folders, but not from individual files. If you want to create a disk image for a single file, just create and name a new folder, place your file inside, and make a new disk image from that folder using the steps above.

Please note: Don’t lose that password! If you do, you’ll probably never be able to open your disk image.

Tip of the Day !

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Really Empty the Trash !

It’s simple to delete unwanted files using Mac OS X Leopard: Just drag the files onto the Trash icon in the Dock (or select them and type Command-Delete), then choose Empty Trash in the Finder menu (or type Command-Shift-Delete). Alternately, you can double-click on the Trash icon to open it, then click on the Empty button.

Emptying the Trash in this manner clears room on your Mac for other files. But the data hasn’t actually been removed from your computer — the space occupied by these files is simply available to be overwritten by new information. Until this happens, it may be possible for someone to use data recovery software to restore your “deleted” files. And if this information is sensitive or confidential, it could potentially end up in the wrong hands.

That’s why Mac OS X Leopard provides another option for deleting data: the Secure Empty Trash command. Meant for those occasions when you want to permanently and immediately delete files, Secure Empty Trash overwrites your data with digital gibberish, ensuring that your deleted data is gone for good. It may take a few moments longer, but it’s a good choice for deleting data you’re sure you don’t need — and don’t want anyone else to see.

To delete your Trash securely, go to the Finder menu and select Secure Empty Trash. A pop-up will ask you to confirm that you want to permanently erase the items in the Trash. Click OK, and these files will be gone forever.

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What to do after install Ubuntu 10.04LTS

1) Update Driver
Does the hardware on your Ubuntu system need proprietary drivers work at peak performance?  Today we take a look how easy version 10.04 makes it to install them.

Ubuntu 10.04 finally automatically recognizes and installs drivers for most hardware today, it even recognized and configured Wi-Fi drivers correctly every time in our tests.  This is in contrast to the past, when it was often difficult to get hardware to work in Linux.  However, most video cards still need proprietary drivers from their manufacturer to get full hardware video acceleration.

Even though Ubuntu doesn’t include any non-open source components, it still makes it easy to install proprietary drivers if you wish.  When you first install and boot into Ubuntu, you may see a popup informing you that “restricted” drivers are available.

You may see a notification asking you if you’d like to install optional drivers from your graphics card manufacturer when you try to enable advanced desktop effects.  Click Enable to directly install the drivers right there.

Or, you can select the tray icon from the first popup, and click Install drivers.

        

Alternately, if the tray icon has disappeared, click System, then Administration, and select Hardware Drivers.

This will open a dialog showing all the proprietary drivers available for your system, which may include drivers for your video card and other hardware depending on your computer.  Select the driver you wish to install, and click Activate.

Enter your password, and then Ubuntu will download and install the driver without any more input.  After installation you may be prompted to reboot your system.

Now, you should be able to take full advantage of your hardware, including fancy desktop effects with hardware acceleration.

If you ever wish to remove these drivers, simply re-open the drivers dialog as above, select the driver, and click Remove.  Once again, a reboot may be required to finish the process.

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How To Install Ubuntu 10.04LTS

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Mati Dalam Keadaan Tidak Pernah Shalat

Tanya:

Apa hukum orang yang mati dalam keadaan tidak pernah melaksanakan shalat (lima waktu) padahal diketahui bahwa kedua orang tua dari si mayit tersebut adalah muslim? Bagaimana muamalah dengan mereka dalam hal memandikan, mengkafani, menyolati, menguburkan, mendoakan dan memohon rahmat padanya?

Jawaban Syaikh 'Abdul 'Aziz bin 'Abdillah bin Baz:

Barangsiapa yang mati dari seorang mukallaf (yang telah dikenai berbagai kewajiban syari’at), lalu ia tidak pernah mengerjakan shalat, maka ia kafir. Ia tidak perlu dimandikan, tidak perlu dishalati, tidak perlu dikuburkan di pekuburan kaum muslimin, dia pun tidak saling mewarisi dengan kerabatnya (hartanya nanti diserahkan kepada baitul maal kaum muslimin), inilah pendapat terkuat dari berbagai pendapat ulama. Nabi shallallahu ‘alaihi wa sallam pernah bersabda,

بَيْنَ الرَّجُلِ وَبَيْنَ الشِّرْكِ وَالْكُفْرِ تَرْكُ الصَّلاَةِ

“Di antara pembatas antara kesyirikan dan kekafiran adalah meninggalkan shalat” (HR. Muslim)

Nabi shallallahu ‘alaihi wa sallam juga bersabda,

الْعَهْدُ الَّذِى بَيْنَنَا وَبَيْنَهُمُ الصَّلاَةُ فَمَنْ تَرَكَهَا فَقَدْ كَفَرَ

“Perjanjian antara kaum muslimin dan mereka (orang kafir) adalah mengenai shalat. Barangsiapa meninggalkan shalat, maka ia kafir.” (HR. Ahmad dan ahlus sunan dengan sanad yang shahih dari hadits Buraidah radhiyallahu ‘anhu)

‘Abdullah bin Syaqiq Al ‘Aqili –seorang tabi’in yang terkemuka-, pernah mengatakan, “Dulu para shahabat Muhammad shallallahu ‘alaihi wa sallam tidaklah pernah menganggap suatu amal yang apabila ditinggalkan menyebabkan kafir kecuali shalat”. Hadits dan atsar yang menjelaskan seperti ini sangatlah banyak sekali.

Penjelasan di atas adalah untuk orang yang meninggalkan shalat karena malas-malasan dan ia tetap tidak mengingkari wajibnya shalat. Sedangkan jika seseorang meninggalkan shalat karena mengingkari wajibnya, maka ia kafir dan murtad (keluar dari Islam) menurut mayoritas ulama.

Kami memohon kepada Allah semoga Allah memperbaiki keadaan kaum muslimin dan ditunjuki pada jalan yang lurus. Sesungguhnya Allah Maha Mendengar dan Mengijabahi do’a.

[Majmu’ Fatawa Ibnu Baz, 10/250]

Baca pembahasan lebih lengkap mengenai hukum meninggalkan shalat di sini.



Muhammad Abduh Tuasikal

Riyadh, KSA, 18 Syawal 1431 H

Artikel www.rumaysho.com

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Terminal Snow Leopard Tips !

There are a huge amount of hidden settings for Mac OS X and its applications that aren't accessible from preferences dialog boxes or the System Preferences. Applications such as Tinkertool and Mac Pilot allow you to access some of these, but the real flexibility is from the Terminal. From here it is possible to edit any preferences file for any application on your Mac.
You'll find the Terminal in the Utilities folder within the Applications folder. 
To carry out any of the following commands you will need to copy/paste or type in the line of text then hit enter.

See You – Folder Previews in Quick Look
Save some precious time by seeing all the content of a folder. Hit the space bar and you can view all the files via a  translucent folder icon.

You need to type the following command:

defaults write com.apple.finder QLEnableXRayFolders 1

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Auto Action – Autoplay Movies in QuickTime X
Apple sometimes messes up and QuickTime is a great example.

If you want to play your movies automatically and surely miss the preferences option then use this command:

defaults write com.apple.QuickTimePlayerX MGPlayMovieOnOpen 1

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Full Screen Action – QuickTime  In Full Screen When Switching Applications
Sometimes you want a sneak peek at all the action and when you do that, QuickTime will automatically exit full screen.

To rectify this, use the following magical words:

defaults write com.apple.QuickTimePlayerX MGFullScreenExitOnAppSwitch 0

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Always Use Protection – Snow Leopard’s Hidden Malware Protection

Bet you didn’t know this one. Apple has quietly incorporated  malware support that detects malicious software and its quite effective too. Read all the details here.



Test Your Text – Enable Text Substitutions

If you want to globally enable text substitutions, use the three commands one after the other:

defaults write -g WebAutomaticTextReplacementEnabled -bool true

defaults write -g WebAutomaticDashSubstitutionEnabled -bool true

defaults write -g WebContinuousSpellCheckingEnabled -bool true



Shortcut To Success – Access iTunes
Access iTunes by just hitting the (F8) “Play” button which is above the 8 and 9 keys.

 

Round It Of – Get Rid of Rounded Corners in QuickTime
If you don’t care for the  rounded corners when playing movies in QuickTime, then don’t fret as you can get rid of them in seconds.

Just type:

defaults write com.apple.QuickTimePlayerX MGCinematicWindowDebugForceNoRoundedCorners 1

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Go To China Town – Draw Chinese Characters On The Trackpad
I can’t speak Mandarin but I just find this a super cool feature.
In Snow Leopard  you can draw the actual characters on your trackpad!



Just Shoot Me- Record Videos Via QuickTime X
You don’t need to invest in some fancy software to shoot yourself as now you can record from your iSight camera.



Stick Them Up – Keyboard  Shortcut For Sticky Notes
Assign a  a keyboard shortcut (System Preferences > Keyboard)  so that you create a  sticky note automatically when you select some text.

Hope you enjoyed this article and more importantly enjoying your Mac with Snow Leopard. Do tell us if you know more tricks or tips and don’t forget to write them in the comments section.

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Mac essentials !

New to the Mac ? 
Then start with this lesson to learn the basics.

If you're brand new to the world of computers and are just starting to get up and running, relax—using a Mac is simple. This lesson introduces you to the basic principles of interacting with your computer's interface, and teaches you how to do basic tasks on your Mac.

Pointing, clicking, and getting around
If you haven't quite got the hang of getting around the Mac desktop and Finder windows, start here; otherwise feel free to skip ahead to "Setting Up Accounts." Let's talk about the basic principles of using your computer.

When you move your mouse or finger on a trackpad, it controls a pointer (also known as a cursor) that moves across your screen. The pointer allows you to select and interact with the various items on your screen, including selecting files, clicking buttons, dragging sliders, and so on. Sometimes the pointer may look like a hand, a crosshair, an I-beam, or some other icon, depending on what you're doing and the application you're using.

For example, if you're using Safari to view this webpage and move the pointer across it, notice that it turns into an I-beam when you move it over text or a text field. When you see this, you can usually interact with the text or field below it. When you move the pointer over a button or link, the pointer turns into a hand, letting you know that you can click on the item. Sometimes when your Mac is hard at work, your pointer may temporarily turn into a colorful spinning disc, which generally indicates that a task is in progress.

Depending on what you're doing and what application you're using,
your pointer (far left) may take on a new appearance

Clicking your mouse button or trackpad button once allows you to select the item that your pointer is on. In other words, if your pointer is on a file's icon, clicking once will select it. If the pointer is on a button or link, clicking once will activate it. If your pointer is on a text field, clicking once highlights the field and allows you to start typing text in it. If you see a blue button in a dialog, such as in a Print or Save dialog, you can press the Return key to select it instead of using your mouse.

If you want to open a file, folder, or application, click your mouse button twice. This is known as double-clicking. In general, you'll need to double-click items if you want to open them from a Finder window or the desktop. The exception to this is opening stuff from the Dock—just click once on an icon in the Dock to open it.

Move your mouse to move the pointer over a file, folder, or application icon
and click once to select it, or double-click to open it.

Working with applications
You don't have to quit an application before opening a new one. In fact, you can open and use several applications at the same time, depending on how much memory you have installed in your computer. For example, when you open Mail, you can have it run in the background (meaning, it's not the current active application) to check email as you work in, say, iPhoto. And while you're editing your pictures, you might also want to open iTunes to listen to some music.

Most applications share common menu commands and keyboard shortcuts, key combinations (such as Command-C) that are pressed together to perform a certain menu command. For example, in any application's File menu, you'll find commands to Open (Command-O) and Save (Command-S) files. Likewise, you'll find Copy (Command-C), Paste (Command-V), and Undo (Command-Z) commands in the Edit menu in most applications. Whenever you use an application, be sure to scope out its preferences from the application menu, choose Preferences) to set it up to your liking.

When you open an application, closing the window doesn't necessarily quit the application, if you see a blue light below the application icon in the Dock, the application is still running. To quit an application, either choose Quit Application Name from the application menu, or press Command-Q.

About user accounts
When you get a brand new Mac, the first thing you do when you start it up for the first time is create a user account. Maybe you did this on your Mac or someone did the deed for you. Regardless, your Mac currently has a user account set up on it. If your Mac only has one user account, that account is an administrator account.

An administrator account allows you to have access to all areas of the computer, install and update software, create and maintain other user accounts, and more. If a Mac-savvy friend set up your computer, he or she may have created a non-administrative account for you. If you set up your computer, you are the administrator. If you're unsure of what type of account you have, do this:

Open Accounts preferences to determine the types of accounts for each user on your computer.

1. From the Apple menu, choose System Preferences to open the window.
2. Click Accounts to display the Accounts preferences.
3. Your account is listed under the My Account header in the left pane.

Below your account name, if you see the word "Admin," you have an administrator account and all the privileges that go with it. If you see the word "Standard" or "Managed," someone else who either shares or set up your computer has administrative access. You will not be able to install software or create user accounts. If you want this power, you will need to convince the person who has administrator access to your computer, but before you do, you might want to read through all the Mac 101 lessons first.

If you have a "standard" account, you have limitless access to all the applications on your Mac, and can configure them for your user account. If you have a "managed" account, the person who has administrative access has put limitations on what you can and can't access. If this is the case, talk with your administrator to find out the scope of your access.

No matter how many accounts your computer has, each user's files, media libraries, preferences, and other information is kept separate from other users, so you don't have to worry about your housemates ransacking your private files—unless they figure out your password.

Changing account passwords
Speaking of passwords, make sure that you use a good one. Don't choose your name (or someone else's), your birthday, a pet's name, or any other easy-to-guess word. Choose something that uses a combination of letters, numbers, and punctuation characters for better security.

Here's how to change your user account password:

If you need help creating a good password, click the key button to open the
Password Assistant window and let your Mac generate password candidates for you.

1. From the Apple menu, choose System Preferences.
2. Click Accounts to display its preferences.
3. Click the Password tab to display its pane, then click Change Password.
4. In the resulting dialog, type your current password in the Old Password field.
5. Type a new, hard-to-guess password in the New Password and Verify fields, then click Change Password.

So what happens when you forget your user account password? You can workaround this issue quite easily. Just insert the Mac OS X Software Install disc that came with your Mac, then restart the computer while holding down the C key to start up from the disc. When the Installer appears, choose Reset Password from the Installer menu, and follow the onscreen instructions to change your password.

For added security, don't have your Mac automatically log you in when you start up your computer; this function is enabled by default. To disable it, click Login Options in Accounts preferences, and deselect the "Automatically log in as..." checkbox. Please note that each time you start up your computer, you'll need to log in with your user account password.



Creating and managing user accounts
If you have administrative access, here's how to create a new user account.

1. In Accounts preferences, if the lock icon in the bottom-left corner is locked, click it and type your administrator password in the resulting dialog to unlock it.
2. Click the plus sign (+) button at the bottom to create a new account.
3. In the resulting dialog, type the person's name in the Name field, type a one-word name in the Short Name field this is the name that gets attached to a user's files—don't use spaces or punctuation marks, and type a password in the Password and Verify fields.
4. Click Create Account or press Return.
5. If you want this person to have administrator access (think hard about this), click the Security tab and select the "Allow user to administer this computer" checkbox.

If you don't make this user an administrator, he or she can access all applications on the computer as a Standard account. If you want to enforce stricter access control, select the user account, select the Enable Parental Controls checkbox and then click the Open Parental Controls button. You've now created a Managed account with various options, such as what applications can open, content filters, mail and chat limitations, logs of sites visited or applications opened and even time limits.

If you have administrative access, you can create user accounts to allow friends and family
to use your computer with parental control.

Many kids would sit at the computer for days if you let them. Fortunately, Leopard makes it easier to set the rules. Just enter bedtime and time limits for using the Mac, specifying different times for weekdays and weekends if you wish. Parents happy, kids happy (relatively).


Storing passwords in Keychain
Getting email, visiting certain websites, accessing servers, and opening password-protected files and applications on your Mac require passwords. But you don't have to keep track of every password you have; instead, keep your passwords in Keychain, a utility that lets you create one or more keychains to store your sensitive passwords.

Your Mac starts you out with a single keychain that gets created when you first log in to your user account. By default, it has the same password as your user account, and automatically unlocks whenever you log in to your account.

When you access a site, application, or other item that asks for your password, a dialog may open after you type it, asking if you want to add the password to your keychain. Click Add to add it. The next time you access that item, Keychain fills in the password for you.

You can also add passwords manually: 

• Open Keychain Access in the Utilities folder inside the Applications folder.
• choose New Password Item from the File menu.
• enter the information and password for the item.

Keychain Access allows you to see all the password items that are currently stored on the selected keychain.

If you ever forget a password that's stored in Keychain, do this:

1. Open Keychain Access.
2. From the list, double-click the item whose password you can't remember.
3. In the resulting window, click the Attributes tab, then select the "Show password" checkbox.
4. In the resulting dialog, type your keychain password. If you're using the default keychain, the password is the same as your user account. Click Allow Once to display your password once, or click Always Allow to always display your password in Keychain.

For added protection, you may want to create another "more personal" keychain that doesn't automatically unlock each time you log in to your user account.

To create a keychain:

1. Open Keychain Access
2. From the File menu, choose New Keychain.
3. In the resulting dialog, type a name for your keychain in the Save As field, choose where you want to store it from the Where pop-up menu, and click Create.
4. In the resulting dialog, type a good password for this keychain in the Password and Verify fields, then click OK. Click the key button if you need help choosing a good password.

Tip: For more information on using Keychain, choose Mac Help from the Help menu and type "keychain" in the Search field.



Working with discs and volumes
Many Apple computers come with an optical drive that allows it to read and play CDs and DVDs. If your Mac has a combo drive, you can burn CDs too. If you have a SuperDrive, you can burn CDs and DVDs. If you have a slot-loading optical drive, just insert a CD or DVD into the slot and your Mac will suck the rest in. If you have a drive that has a door, press the Eject key on your keyboard (the triangle with the line underneath) to open the disc tray, insert your disc, and press the Eject key again to close the tray.

To eject a disc or volume, drag its icon to the Eject icon in the Dock, or click its Eject button in a Finder window.

Your disc will appear on your desktop in icon form. Depending on what type of disc it is (audio CD, picture CD, blank recordable CD, DVD-Video, etc.), your Mac may automatically open an application that can be used with the disc. When you are done with a disc, you can either drag the disc icon to the Trash to eject it or click the Eject icon next to the disc in any Finder window.

These same principles apply to volumes, including external FireWire or USB hard drives, iPods, digital cameras, USB flash drives, and servers on a network. When you connect these types of devices to your Mac or connect to a server from your Mac, an icon for the volume appears on your desktop. When you're done with it, drag the icon to the Trash or eject it in a Finder window.



Update and install software
Your Mac has a built-in feature called Software Update that allows it to automatically check for available updates from Apple daily, weekly, or monthly when your computer is connected to the Internet. It takes into account the software you have installed on your computer, and new updates released by Apple so that it only shows you the relevant updates.

You can also download software from Apple Downloads and install the software yourself. To install software, just double-click the installer file and follow the onscreen instructions. Here's how to have Software Update update software for you.

Software Update can automatically check the Apple website for updates that are relevant to your installed software.

1. From the Apple menu, choose System Preferences, then click Software Update to display its preferences.
2. To enable automatic checking, select the "Check for updates" checkbox, then choose Daily, Weekly, or Monthly from the pop-up menu to set the frequency.
3. To have Software Update automatically download important updates in the background, meaning, it does this while you work on other things on your Mac, select the "Download important updates in the background" checkbox.
4. Click Check Now to have Software Update check for updates. If it finds any, it'll display the available software in the Software Update window.
5. To install the software it finds, select only the items you want by selecting the checkboxes, then click Install Items to download and install all selected items.
6. Next time, Software Update will automatically launch at your set frequency to show you the latest updates.

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