I get a lot of email in my inbox. Sometimes so much that the new messages can float down past the viewable area of the screen, and once that happens, its very unlikely that I will go back to them. At least, it was, before I created an “unread” Smart Mailbox in Mail.

This Smart Mailbox will only show unread email, and is a life-saver if you have a great deal of email to get through.

All you have to do to create this is go to:

Mailbox>New Smart Mailbox

Click on the drop down box under the “contains text” and select “Message is unread” - you can name the Smart Mailbox whatever you like.

This is a very simple use of the Smart Mailboxes feature - and with a little experimentation you can do some really great things with it.

Many people are having trouble downloading content in iTunes 8. Particularly the new free HD programming in the TV Shows section of the store.

The problem, it seems, is only affecting those that have the “Shopping Cart” feature turned on. If you want to change this to make it possible to download programming all you have to do is go to:

iTunes>Preferences>Store> and select the “Buy and download using 1-Click”

Now, when you go to download content it should begin downloading immediately.

Two settings that many users are missing in iTunes 8 are the ability to disable the Genre column when using the Browser, and the preference to disable teh link to the iTunes Store in your music library.

Luckily, macosxhints has already solved these problems - but it will require you to fire up the Terminal.

To remove the Genre column you need to launch the terminal and enter the following text:

defaults write com.apple.iTunes show-genre-when-browsing -bool FALSE

When you relaunch iTunes the Genre tab will be gone. If you want it back, repeat the process but replace FALSE with TRUE.

If you want to disable those iTunes store links you’ll need to enter the following:

defaults write com.apple.iTunes show-store-arrow-links -bool FALSE

When you relaunch iTunes those links will be gone. Again, if you want them back, repeat the process and replace TRUE with FALSE.

Spore has been released for Windows and Mac, and is one of the biggest video game launches in recent memory for either platform…but especially for Macs. We don’t get a lot of high profile games day and date with their PC or console counterparts, and I’m happy to say that EA has committed to the Mac, and delivered both the PC and Mac versions of the game on one DVD that is available now.

You can read my ongoing review of “Spore” here.

If you’re getting bored or frustrated with the game, or you just like to cheat - we do have a really good “Spore” tip for you today.

In the game, hit Control+Option+C and it will open up a console screen. Once that is open you can use any of the following codes below to perform a variety of cheats in the game:

addDNA - increase your DNA points
AntiAliasGIF - Antialiad GIF captures and set a background color
capturePlanetGIF - captures a spinning GIF of the planet you’re on
clear - clears the debug console
freeCan - toggles free camera mode
freedom - [on | off] enables and disabled editor complexity limits. Creations that break the limits will not be pollinated.
Help - list all help cheats
History - list the last n commands in the command history
Killallhints - remove all hints from the game
Levels - level cheats
moreMoney - increases your money in civilization or space
Movie - movie cheat
Option - lists option or set of options
PauseUIVisible - set or toggles whether the pause frame is drawn
prop - displays or modifies properties
Quit - quit game
refillMotives - Replinishes depleted health and other motives
SetConsequencesTrait - Sets the trait which will determine what super powers are available
settime - Sets the time of day at the avatars position
spaceCreate - unlocks and recharges creation tools while playing in space
styleFilter - Applies a stylized look to Spore. Try -FilmNoir -OilPaint
toggleCaptureUI - toggles UI Image capture
unlockSuperWeapons - Unlock all superweapons for your Civilization type.

Splashup.com is a free Photoshop alternative that may be a perfect solution for those of you that need to edit images for the web, or make quick changes to images. The web-based software does a great job of importing both small and larger files very easily.

In this video we quickly go over the features of the site and how it can work for you. It’s not going to replace Photoshop for those of you working in the print industry, and it certainly has limitations, but it does have a place between a basic Paint program and Photoshop.

If you’re looking to make a bookmark in your Dock that will bring up all of your bookmarks, there is a way to do it with Safari.

First, you may not know it, but you can enter bookmarks:// in the Safari address bar and it will bring up all of your Bookmarks, just as if you pressed the Bookmarks button in the Bookmarks Bar.

If you try to drag this down into your Dock, though, Launches Services doesn’t quite know what to do with it, so it won’t actually launch your Bookmarks.

Here’s how to fix that.

1) Create a new Safari bookmark for the URL bookmarks://
2) Drag it to your Dock
3) Download and install the freeware application MisFox.
4) In this program click on the Protocol Helper tab.
5) Now press the New button.
6) Enter the protocol bookmarks, and for the Helper choose: /Applications/Safari.app

Now the Bookmarks bookmark in your Dock will correctly open your Safari bookmarks page when you open it.

With the release of Apple’s iPhone and iPod Touch, it has become easier than ever to download content directly onto your iPod or iPhone. In fact, it is so easy to download content from the iTunes App Store - and there is so much content to choose from - that you may find yourself only wanting certain applications on your mobile device at at time.

Remember, though, if you delete on your iPhone or iPod Touch that hasn’t been backed up on your Mac or PC and it’s gone…unless you want to pay for it again. (Actually iTunes will remember your purchases so you can download them again at no charge)

but, there is a quick and easy way to transfer your purchased and downloaded applications to iTunes.

1) First you need to connect your iPhone/iPod Touch to your computer.

2) When iTunes launches you need to make sure your computer is authorized for your iPhone/iPod Touch. To do this go to STORE>Authorize computer… and enter your username and password

3) To transfer your applications to iTunes make sure you have selected your device from the Devices tab, then select FILE>”Transfer purchases from [your device]”

Your iPhone/iPod Touch will sync with iTunes and add all of your downloaded applications into the Applications section of your Library.

Here’s a quick tip for you iPhone users out there who would like to take screenshots of what’s happening on your iPhone.

All you have to do is press the iPhone’s Home button and the sleep/wake button at the same time. When you do this you’ll hear the same camera click noise you hear when you take a screenshot on OSX, and the screen will momentarily flash white.

Then you’ll have a screenshot in your Camera Roll which you can email, post to Mobile Me, or even use as a wallpaper.

If you’re a fan of Google’s online Office Suite and you’re a Firefox user you’ve probably already heard of Google Gears. The plugin has been available for Firefox for a while now, and basically what it does is allow you to access certain Google services (like the Reader, and Docs for example) offline. You can even edit your documents offline, and then resync them when you are once again connected to the Internet.

This makes for a very cost effective alternative to MS Word, or even Pages if you’re just looking for a simple word processor.

Thankfully, this has been released for Safari this week. At least, a beta has…there could still be some hiccups with it - but so far, I haven’t had any problems.

You can click here to install Google Gears, then all you have to do is navigate to a Gears equipped page, and you’re ready to go.

via TUAW

There is a pretty big problem with the iPhone 3G’s Passcode security. A new vulnerability has been uncovered which will let anyone have access to most of the features on the iPhone - even if your passcode is in place - including email, SMS, browser, and more.

BUT - luckily, there is a way to fix it - so here’s a tip to keep your iPhone truly safe from prying eyes.

First, if you want to see the vulnerability for yourself, all you have to do is enable your Passcode lock in your Settings, then put your phone to sleep and wake it up.

Your Passcode screen will appear. If you select Emergency Call you will be taken to a keypad. Now, simply double click your Home button, and your Contacts Favorites will pop up. You can then click on the email address of any of your favorites to send them a new message. If you cancel out of that message, you will be taken to the mail inbox, exposing all of your email to whomever has your phone.

You get the idea.

There is a simple way to stop this.

Go to Settings>General>Home Button

Now, set your home button double-click to “Home”. If you set this to iPod your music library will appear when you double-click on the Emergency call screen.

If you select “Home” however, nothing will happen when you double-click, and you will not be able to access email, SMS, contacts, or other important info.

SO - to sum up. If you have Passcode Lock enabled, you need to set your Home button double-click feature to “Home” or your Passcode Lock will be easy to bypass.