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Your Mac already has a host of security measures to keep your files and folders safe, but what if you want to add an extra layer of security?

With Disk Utility, it is possible to create a secure disk image, protected by 128- or 256-bit encryption. Simply create your disk image and copy your files over and you'll have a secure, portable container that you can sync via iCloud or upload to Dropbox.

Two tips this week...

Siri News on iOS

No need to feel left out if you don't have a HomePod. You can get the news spoken to you from your iOS devices and as long as they support hands-free "Hey Siri" commands.

Hidden Files & Folders in macOS

Display your hidden files and folders with a simple keyboard shortcut. No longer do you need to conjure up some obscure Terminal command to make this happen.

Travelling with your Mac is great - provided that you take proper precautions. There are various considerations you need to be aware of with respect to security, privacy and to minimise the risk of data theft when away from the confines of your home and office.

There are also things to consider when trying to access online services via a slow or unsecured public Wi-Fi access point. What about if the internet connection is great but expensive?

In this episode, we take you through some simple steps to secure your Mac from prying eyes or attack, and take control over which apps and services can use your internet connection. We also show you how you can create both local Time Machine and bootable backups on an encrypted local external drive in case of emergencies. Finally, we cover a simple way to connect with your home or office Mac to retrieve that file you thought you had with you!

Your Apple ID is a crucial part of how you access your devices, apps and all Apple services.

It goes without saying that you really need to look after your Apple ID and make sure that you can regain access in the event of some mishap.

In this week's tip video, we take a look at the website that's designed to help you maintain your Apple ID: appleid.apple.com

This week's tip demonstrates how easy it is to share screens via the standard Messages app in macOS.

If you ever find yourself needing to give remote support to friends, family or colleagues, there's no need to have them install third-party software. Just fire up the Messages app and use the built-in screen sharing mechanism.

Apple Mail rules allow you to create and run complex commands on incoming mail, allowing you to filter, organise or even respond automatically to messages.

In this week's tip, I take a look at some simple Apple Mail rules that demonstrate their potential power. The only downside to setting up rules locally on your Mac is that Mail needs to be running and there is no sync mechanism.

In next week's tip video, I will take a look at running Apple Mail rules on iCloud.com so that they're active 24/7, and also trickle down to your iOS devices.

In Part 2 of our two-part series on macOS Server 5.4, Todd Olthoff takes a look at managing your devices using Profile Manager, the device management tool that is part of Server. As we accumulate Apple devices, it can become challenging to manage each one for the various users, whether in your household or organization.

In this episode we'll talk about some of the things to consider before deploying a device management system. We'll then walk you through the various things that need to be set up in the Server application, so you can take full advantage of the Profile Manager service. This includes enrolling all of your devices and pushing profiles to those, so their various settings can be customized to fit your needs.

Following on from a look at setting up restrictions on iOS in last week's tip video, we turn our attention to the Mac. In a similar fashion, it's possible to setup restrictions on the Mac using Parental Controls inside System Preferences.

Parental Controls allow you to restrict access to apps, web browsing and much more. You can even set time periods as well as time limits of allowed usage.

With macOS High Sierra came updates to the Server app, now called macOS Server and available on the App Store for USD 19.99. We covered Server extensively in the past, but that was back on OS X Mavericks (10.9). We thought it was time for an update.

This version of Server is different from the previous ones in that Apple has chosen to move three server components to High Sierra itself and make them available to all users. For some, those components might have been the reason they wanted Server in the first place, so there is no longer a need for the macOS Server app when running High Sierra. We will cover each of these services in detail and take a look at a new way to access file shares on iOS devices, due to the removal of the iOS File Sharing service and webDAV sharing from macOS Server. To achieve this, we'll set up the VPN service and use Readdle's Documents app for iOS to access those file shares both locally and remotely.

Most people know that the keys to enhanced productivity are the mastery of keyboard shortcuts and a good muscle memory!

But what if your most-used command doesn't have a keyboard shortcut?

Well, the good news is that macOS allows you to add your own keyboard shortcuts, either within a specific application, or for all applications on your Mac.

This tip video walks you through the process of setting up custom keyboard shortcuts.

macOS High Sierra was primarily an under-the-hood upgrade and we covered many of the new features recently in a full ScreenCastsOnline tutorial.

This tip show uncovers some features that didn't make it into that full tutorial.

Siri has been available for the Mac for a while now, but it's not always convenient to talk to your Mac, or have it talk back to you!

Perhaps you're in a coffee shop or a library, or you just don't feel comfortable talking to your Mac.

With macOS High Sierra, it's now possible to type your Siri commands as well as switch off the audio feedback from Siri.

Much more civilised!

If all goes to plan, this episode will be published on the same day as macOS High Sierra is formally released to the public.

macOS High Sierra is Apple's latest operating system release for the Mac. In fairness, it's not high on feature count; instead, Apple have been focusing on improving performance and stability in this release.

There are still some subtle changes in High Sierra, however, and some new features to try out. In this episode we take a look at some of these useful additions and changes brought to macOS.

macOS High Sierra will soon be here - due for release on the 25th September 2017 - and there are a few things you might want to do before you commit to upgrading.

This tip video suggests one or two critical considerations that may save you a ton of trouble.

Use bookmarks in Safari on both macOS & iOS to keep track of all your favourite websites.

In this tip video, we show you how bookmarks are organised and synchronised between all your devices.

We also demonstrate how easy it is to save bookmarks in the location of your choice.

A quick tip video taking a look at how you can access and customise the System Preferences window to remove unused icons and access commonly used ones.

Sometimes you really just want to slap a Post-it sticky note on your desktop. Reminders, to-do lists, notes, keyboard shortcuts - anything you want to be reminded about visually.

Well don't clutter up your monitor with bits of paper, clutter up your Desktop with Sticky Notes!

Stickies is a free app supplied with macOS which can be very useful. Create multi-coloured sticky notes containing formatted text or images, and position them where you want. Arrange them, colour-code them and they'll open in the same position each time you open Stickies.

Need a quick and easy way to edit or annotate images and PDFs?

Both macOS and iOS contain system-wide markup tools that appear in various locations.

In this Tip video, we take a look at annotating your images and PDFs in Preview, Mail and Photos on the Mac.

Spotlight is the underlying indexing technology built into both the macOS and iOS that allows you to quickly find various types of information on your Mac and iOS devices.

In this week's tip video, we take a look at configuring Spotlight on the Mac, as well as looking at some Spotlight party tricks, and cap it off with a look at using natural language to invoke Spotlight searches with Siri.

Apple have rolled out updates to all of its platforms across the board in the past few weeks. In this week's tip video, we focus on Night Shift on the Mac, now available in mac OS Sierra 10.12.4.

Night Shift was originally introduced in iOS and is a screen technology designed to make it easier to work with your Mac during the evening hours. It changes your Mac display to overlay a "Sepia" layer which can assist in making it easier on the eyes.

Night Shift isn't for everyone, but it's worth giving it a try.