Bank Indonesia Likely Buys Total $100 Mln To Slow Slide Vs Rupiah

Bank Indonesia likely bought around $100 million in total Friday to slow the greenback's slide against the rupiah, three dealers said.

They suspected that Bank Indonesia was in the market via state banks, buying the dollar between IDR8,870 and IDR8,850 as it fell to lows not seen since June 2007.

“I suspected that Bank Indonesia bought the dollar only to smoothen its slide, not to support it at certain level as it needs a stronger local currency to curb imported inflation,“ one of the dealers said.

Bank Indonesia indicated earlier this month that it would allow the rupiah to appreciate to help curb price increases as inflation has been stubbornly hovering above its year-end inflation target of between 4% and 6%. In January, the consumer price index rose 7.02% from a year earlier.

The central bank seldom comments on particular interventions in the currency market, but it has mentioned in the past that it would intervene to reduce volatility.

The dollar was traded at IDR8,850 at 0435 GMT, down from IDR8,880 late Thursday.

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he number of cool things you can do with your Mac will probably surprise you. For example, did you know you can use it to catch a burglar, take over somebody else's Mac or even save the world? Yes, it's all true!

Here we'll show you some of the cool tips and tricks the MacFormat team have picked up over the years, using Macs day in and day out. Of course, seasoned pros will know most of these tricks, but we expect there could still be a few in there that will surprise even the most gnarly old Mac expert.

So, let's start our little tour with a look at how to turn your Mac into a home-security camera.

1. Catch a burglar

See that camera leering at you from your Mac? Well it's got more uses than just making FaceTime calls or taking amusing pictures. It can keep a watch over your house while you're out.

Using an app such as EvoCam ($30), you can use the camera as part of your home security system. Another option is SecuritySpy (from £30).

Then there are apps such as iAlertU (free), or Lockdown (free) that sound an alarm and take a picture if someone meddles with your Mac, so they'll be put off and you'll know who it is.

It's a great way of protecting your kit if you're somewhere public and you've had to leave your Mac alone for a moment (of course, you'll have locked it down with a Kensington lock too, won't you?).

2. Create stopmotion classics

Sure, if you wanted to create a stop-motion movie, you could buy software such as iStopMotion, but in fact you don't have to spend a penny.

Set up your stills camera on a tripod pointing at your scene, take a picture, move your characters, take another, repeat.

If you want to take a time-lapse film, connect your camera over USB, open Image Capture (in Applications), choose File > Take Picture. Tell it how frequently you want a shot taken.

Once you have your image sequence, launch QuickTime Player 7 choose File > Open Image Sequence, choose a frame rate and click OK.

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Apple Mail tips and tricks to help you work smarter

Tutorial: Master smart mailboxes, email rules and viewing options

Make Apple Mail toolbar work better for you by choosing from this huge array of buttons

Life without email is now hard to imagine. Luckily, your Mac comes with a great little program to send and receive emails and there's a lot of power lurking behind its friendly interface.

We're going to help you unleash some of this, to help you work better, faster and smarter with your daily email, leaving you with a few extra minutes to concentrate on other tasks.

Firstly, let's tailor the toolbar to your needs. Right-click it and you'll see an option to Customize Toolbar. This drops down a window with all the buttons you can add – there are plenty to choose from. Simply drag and drop the ones you need to build your perfect toolbar. If you decide you'd rather have the original one back, drag the set at the bottom onto the toolbar to restore it.

You can also decide if you'd like the buttons to appear as icons, text, or both. You'll be amazed at how much time you can save by having your frequently used commands close to hand.

If you've got several email accounts, you can add each one by going to Preferences > Accounts and clicking the + button. With a lot of accounts, you won't even need to type in server details, because Mail will work them out for you.

Most people end their emails with some sort of signature, which is a useful way to have your contact details, website address and more in one place. Signatures are account-specific, which is great if you've got both your personal and work addresses set up – you don't need to remind your family of the fact you're the managing director when you send them your holiday photos!

In Preferences, click Signatures, select the account you want to create the signature for, and click the + button. Give it a memorable name, and enter the details you want in the text frame. You can even use an image.

Then tick the Place signature above quoted text box, so that it doesn't get lost below any emails you reply to. Add as many signatures as you like. Use the Choose Signature: dropdown to pick which is the default, or to have a random one chosen each time. When you next compose an email from this account, your signature will appear, or use the Signature menu to pick another.

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