Get A Free iPod Touch When You Buy A New Mac For School

Planning on buying a new Macintosh computer? If you are buying a new MacBook, MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, or iMac, then you may be eligible to get a FREE iPod Touch with your purchase.

Canadian buyers go here: Back to School, Buy a Mac, get free iPod touch

United States buyers go here: Back to School, Buy a Mac, get free iPod touch

Nearly Half Of The World Lives Off Of Less Than $2.50 A Day

That is absolutely ridiculous, I have no idea how I would survive off of that. Groceries alone cost more than $100.00 per week.

We can all help though, and in time we can help people suffering from poverty by playing a simple game.

A game you say?

Yes, a game... A word game in fact.

Go to www.freerice.com to play the word game. Every time you get a word right you are donating 10 grains of rice to help people suffering.

Files On Your Flash Drive or Computer Too Valuable?

Well look no further. You can now encrypt your flash drive or a specific location on your computer for free with this free software for Mac and PC.

You can download the software for Mac or PC here for free:

http://www.truecrypt.org/downloads

Let's say you were working in a medical facility where the clients information was extremely important. If the clients information got out to others then it would put you and your business in jeopardy. TrueCrypt solves this issue easily. It basically creates a password protected drive that has to be mounted through TrueCrypt. You then add files to and from the drive just like a regular mounted drive. To encrypt a certain space on your hard drive simply follow the steps below.

1. Open up the TrueCrypt program. You should now see this screen if you have a Mac, but the PC version essentially the exact same.

2. Now click create volume and make sure 'Create an encrypted file container is checked'. This screen should now show.

3. Click next.

4. Make sure 'Standard TrueCrypt volume' is checked. Click next.

5. Now choose where to 'save' this volume. For tutorial purposes I just chose to save the volume to my desktop. I named the volume 'Sample Test Volume'.

6. Click next.

7. Choose the 'AES' encryption algorithm and the 'RIPEMD-160' hash algorithm.

8. Click next.

9. Now choose how big you want your volume to be. It can be as large as however much space is available on your main disk.

10. Now enter the password you would like for the volume you are about to create.

11. Choose the filesystem you would like to use. FAT works for both Mac and PC and Mac OS Extended evidently only works for Mac.

12. Click Format.

13. Now you have created the volume.

Encrypt an Entire Flash Drive

1. Instead of checking off 'Create an encrypted file container', you need to check off 'Create a volume within a partition/drive'.

2. Everything is the exact same as creating an encrypted file container, but instead of creating and saving a file you are now going to choose your device (USB flash drive etc...). In doing this you will have to enter an administrator password before you can select the device. In my case I know my flash drive is approximately 955 MB, so I am going to choose that drive...

3. Continue the same as before, choosing the same algorithms.

4. Enter your password.

5. Choose either the 'FAT' or 'Mac OS Extended' file system depending on your needs.

6. Click 'Format'.

7. You have now encrypted a flash drive.

Mounting the Volume

1. Simply open up the program and go to 'Select File...' or 'Select Device...'. Browse for the volume you created or the device you encrypted. The file is located wherever you saved it and the drive is located in the exact same spot, comparing to where you clicked it before.

2. Now click 'Mount'.

3. Enter the password you created for the volume.

4. Now go to 'Finder' and it is a regular mounted drive only accessible by a password.

5. Click 'Dismount' to unmount the drive.

I hope this has been a great deal of help to those who have files that need encryption.

Free Web Authoring Program for Mac and PC?

Hello,

Have you wanted to start building websites, but just could not bite the bullet and get Dreamweaver?

Well here is the suitable alternative; It is called Kompozer and it is an open source application. You have the ability to edit your websites in GUI (graphical user interface), or you can actually write the HTML code, just like in Adobe's Dreamweaver. Do not get me wrong though, Kompozer does not offer everything Dreamweaver has. Kompozer is just if you want to start getting involved in website design and if you want to build a simple, but effective website.

http://kompozer.net/download.php

Some Of My Photographs

Hello,

Here are some of my favorite shots I have taken over a couple of years.

Let me know what you think.

Early 2008 MacBook Pro and MacBook Air Owners Want 4 Finger Gestures?

Hello,

If you've wanted for finger gestures on an early 2008 MacBook Pro or MacBook Air, then you have come to the right place.

The tutorial is here:

http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=617645

If you're not a member at MacRumors then you can just sign up for an account, or I will send the kext file to you if you provide your email.

A GPS Navigation System

Why would you want one of those?

It's simple: to get you where you need to go faster.
There are different kinds of GPS systems that are available. The one's you put in your car when you need to get to a specific address. And there are also one's available where you enter specific coordinates (these are used mainly for geocaching).

This brings me to the next point.

What is geocaching?

Geocaching is simply hunting for something hidden utilizing a GPS navigation system... For example, someone hides something at specific coordinates such as: N 40° 47.994 W 073° 57.624. The coordinates, specifically geographic coordinates, tell the GPS where the cache is located using the location's longitude and latitude. Once you find the cache you put something in it (let's say a cheap ring from a dollar store), and then you take something out of the cache. You then put the cache exactly where you got it from. You can learn all about geocaching and where to find caches in your area at: http://www.geocaching.com/.

Now, the next type of GPS navigating device are of course the ones you use in your car. These are extremely helpful in aiding one getting to a specific address.

I recommend the Garmin and TomTom GPS navigating devices for your car.

The Entry Level DSLR

Hello,

Today we are going to be talking about which entry level DSLR is right for me.

Firstly, you need to consider where and when you will be using this camera. Is it for my friends soccer team, or is it for indoor family photos?

There are many entry level DSLR's including:

-Sony A200

-Olympus E410

-Nikon D40

-Canon 400D

-Sony A300

-Nikon D70

The previously mentioned cameras are just a few available on the market today. I personally use the Sony A200, but everyone has a personal choice on which brand they use. One reason why I would recommend the Sony A200 or A300 for the matter is because of the in body camera stabilization. This essentially means that with every lens you shoot with, you can either decide to use the stabilization or not. You are not confined to simply using lenses that have stabilization. Nikon and Canon do not have the in body stabilization, which to me, is a downfall. All of the entry level DSLR's produce close to the same quality images especially when shooting at low ISO's. The camera's performance at high ISO's differ slightly, however to the normal viewer, there is nothing distinguishable.

Another thing about the Sony Alpha series is that they are compatible with the previous Minolta Autofocus lenses. Some of these lenses are real gems, and to get these lenses new it would cost a fortune. Two lenses that I have are the beercan lens (70-210, f4) and the 50 mm f1.7. These two lenses are excellent in quality and can be found fairly cheap when compared to new lenses.

I recommend the Sony Alpha series if you are in the market for a new DSLR.