MAKE THE PERFECT PLAYLIST


Enter some basic information and iTunes will make the ideal mix for any situation.

1. When adding a new song to your library (or when a tune comes on that you want to tag), right-click on it (on a Mac, it's control-click) and select "Get Info." In the window that pops up, select the "Info" tab.

2. In the Comments field of that window, describe the song (relaxing, workout, upbeat, sad, romantic). Add as many descriptive terms as you'd like-the more, the better. Then click on "OK" to save and close.

3. From the File menu, select "New Smart Playlist."

4. In the box that comes up, choose "Comment Contains" and enter a keyword that describes the types of songs (using the descriptors you've been entering) that you want to hear.

5. Seconds later, your playlist appears. As you add comments to your library, the smart playlist will update itself.

DE-CLUTTER YOUR INBOX

To stay e-sane, follow these tips from Gina Trapani, author of Upgrade Your Life: The Lifehacker Guide to Working Smarter, Faster, Better.

Empty your inbox completely.

Set up three folders: "Archive," "Follow Up," and "Hold."

Put important messages that don't require a response in the first, ones that require quick responses in the second, and ones that require some further action before responding in the third.

Delete the rest.

"Your inbox very clearly demarcates a line between messages you have processed and ones you have not," Trapani says. "Your inbox should contain ones you haven't processed; that's what an inbox is for."

KEEP YOUR LAPTOP COOL

Because laptops sit flat on your desk, they're prone to overheating.

To prevent this, put a Post-it pad (the mini ones work best) under each corner.

This allows air to circulate to cool wires, processors, and whatever else makes it the gossip-blog-surfing godsend it is.

OUTJAM A VIDEO-GAME FREAK

Guitar Hero is simple: Colored bars that correspond to the colored keys on the guitar flow down the TV screen in concert with the song that's playing. When it's time to play a note, you press the correct button and use the center bar to "strum." To smoke anyone, follow these insider tips from the game's designer, Alan Flores.

Press and hold
"Picking up your fingers takes more movement and time, and screws you up," Flores says. As long as you hit the strum bar at the right time, you can get ahead on notes by pressing the colored buttons before they reach the bottom of the screen. If the same note comes up several times in a row, just hold it down and strum in time.

Strum both ways
The strum bar works in both directions, and so should you. A typical rookie mistake is to just strum downward; by going back and forth, you hit the notes much faster. But don't double-strum! "If you miss a note, don't panic and try to make up for it by strumming again," Flores says. "The more you strum and miss, the worse your score gets."

Work the Whammy
When you have to hold a long note, wiggle the guitar's Whammy bar to score extra points.

If all else fails, cheat
Putting the game in Hyperspeed mode gives you more time between notes. To use it, choose "Options" from the main menu and select "Enter Cheat." Use the mnemonic "Oh boy, oh boy" to help you remember the code to go into cheat mode: Orange, Blue, Orange, Yellow, Orange, Blue, Orange, Yellow.

WRITE A MOBILE-FRIENDLY E-MAIL

Dad lives on the crackberry, the boss sports an iPhone, and your trainer is a Treo fan. Here's how to make your big ideas pop on their small screens.

Keep it to 10 sentences, max
An iPhone displays 23 lines of text, and a BlackBerry Pearl shows a mere 14. Unless you're Obama, forgo the fancy flourishes and get to the point.

Don't embed images
Even a 2MB image can take forever. Upload your image to a website like Flickr or ImageShack and send a link instead.

Ditch long URLs
They get mangled in transmission. Instead, cut and paste the long-winded address of your must-see site into a window at moourl.com; the site turns that cumbersome URL into a succinct link.

GET AN IT PERSON TO ACTUALLY HELP YOU

Next time you see them, tell them this super-geeky joke and they'll love you forever:

Q: What did Spock find in the Enterprise's toilet?
A: The captain's log.

CORRAL CABLE CORDS

Problem: A wad of tangled cords
Solution: Old paper-towel tubes. Wrap the cords neatly and slide the tube over them. Write what they're for-printer cable, or whatever-on the tube and lay them neatly in a drawer.