For some time now, I've encouraged people to consider abandoning the byzantine folder structure that most of us used to employ to "organize" our email. In fact, this kind of functional simplicity is something I've started to think of as a pillar of Inbox Zero.

In addition to helping explode the myth that most email messages have any life once their actions have been liberated, it's a healthy habit to actively remove any unnecessary systematic fiddling that doesn't handsomely pay back the effort that habitually goes into it.

And, as ever: yes, some of you -- because of the incredibly unique nature of your work in an office -- will need to have 500 taxonomic mailboxes, a monthly archives by project, a person-by-person collection going back to 1983, and a multiply-copied CC'd team archives, coded by color and identified with helpful icons you found on Gopher in 1992. Sure, why not. If that's working for you, by all means, keep fiddling and filing.

But, if you're ready to admit you might be turning a crank that's potentially not hooked-up to anything, here's my four favorite ways to leverage the intelligence of Mail.app for drop-dead simple archiving.

• PingMe - What *Should* You Be Doing? - "Not a good time? Pings are interactive! Just reply to the message to reschedule for a later date or time." [via: digg/kevinrose]
• [Quicksilver going Open Source?] - A1c0r said: "Future core development - whatever form it takes - will take place largely in open source." Now there's an intriguing development.
• Random iPhone User Tips - O'Reilly Mac DevCenter Blog - Great tips and picks -- love the business card idea.
• In the Loop - The OmniDorken and I spoke at Apple yesterday, and I was as happy as a little girl. Ken used the occasion to announce that Ethan has officially joined the OG team and will be moving Team Schoonover across the pond. Yays, all around!
• First Encounter with an OLPC XO / A 12-Year-Old’s Review - Joey gets his adult-sized hands on a "One Laptop Per Child" machine.
• iPhone Wallpapers - Chris Glass has made some lovely photos to use for iPhone wallpaper. Man's got a great eye.
• xkcd ["The Internet has always had loud dumb people..."] - "WHY NOT TELL LOUIS ARMSTRONG TO HIS FACE"

Pardon a meta post, but I wanted to offer an apology for the paucity of new feature-length posts here recently, as well as to provide some context for where that time's been going. A little "behind the scenes" insight, if you're curious.

Here's one of my favorite life-hacky tips from Peter Walsh (guy from Clean Sweep, author of It's All Too Much, and inspiration for my recent War on Clutter).

After you've done a major purge of your closet, remove all the remaining clothes that live on hangers, and put them back in backwards, such that the open end of each hanger now faces you. Got it?

Then, mark your calendar for six months (or whatever) from today, and go back to your business as usual. Except that after every time you wear a shirt or a jacket or a skirt or what have you, when you replace the item, make sure the hanger faces the opposite/usual way (with the opening in the back).

When your n months have passed, and your calendar reminds you that it's time, open your closet and remove every piece of clothing on a backward hanger; the chances are good you can give it away without the slightest pain, because you just clearly demonstrated that you don't wear it.

Here's why I love this.

MacBreak Weekly 52: Ten Cents A Dance

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Hosts: Leo Laporte, Merlin Mann, Scott Bourne, Andy Ihnatko, and Alex Lindsay

We take a look at Apple's new iMacs, and iLife and iWork 08...

Here's a direct MP3 download of MBW 52.

Of course, when I chose iCal as my anti-pick, I said it with love. Much love.