How organized is your Gmail account? Yeah, that’s what I thought. These tips can help.

If you’re like me, your Gmail account probably wasn’t that organized to begin with. Now, with all the new changes and updates you’ve just decided to accept the fact that the very important email message from five years ago is lost forever. Rather than sobbing “you win, Gmail” and accepting defeat, here are some simple steps you can take to quickly and painlessly find anything you need in your Gmail inbox.

Search Gmail with “From:” or “To:”

If you at least know who the email message was to or from, you can enter his or her name after “from:” or “to:” in the Gmail search bar, and it will pull up every message written to or received from that person. Don’t include any spaces after the colon. This method is far more helpful than just searching “Karen Johnson” and bringing up every email that includes the name Karen, from every person named Karen, since you signed up for Gmail.

Use the Hyphen (-) to Eliminate Terms

When searching a person’s name in Gmail, every incidence of contact with that person will be included in the search results. Yes, this means that every Tweet notification or Facebook message that is connected to your email account, will show up. If you want to search your email, but avoid the noise of certain results, add a hyphen next to the word you’d like to eliminate.

For example, when searching for Leonardo DiCaprio, and omitting annoying Twitter notifications, I would search Leonardo DiCaprio –Twitter and I would get zero search results. How odd.

Search Gmail Messages with Attachments

Never again must you slog through 300 emails to find an attachment that you didn’t download and save immediately. Instead, add “has:attachment” to your search to filter all emails that have an attachment. Even better, include “from:(insert name) has:attachment” and the results will only contain emails with attachments from that person. For example:  “from:Karen Johnson has:attachment” (without quotes).

Specify Terms With Parenthesis

Never mind that you can’t remember why you subscribed to the Men In Socks Newsletter – if you want to search all of the Men In Socks emails and want only the newsletters, you can search from:Men In Socks (newsletter OR socks sale) and all messages from Men In Socks with the term “newsletter” or “socks sale” will appear in your search results.

This is especially convenient if you want to unsubscribe from the Men In Socks fan club because you can simply click the “unsubscribe” link, which by law, must be included in the message. Unsubscribing from newsletters you don’t read, sent by stores you don’t shop at, or organizations in which you are no longer interested in or involved, is a huge step in organizing your inbox.

Search Gmail Chat Messages

Besides occasionally wanting to re-read love letters sent via chat, once in a while you may need to locate a link or other important information delivered via Gmail chat. If you need to find something that was included in a chat message, simply search using “is:chat”. Add parenthesis around key words to find specific information.

For Example: from:Robert Downey, Jr. is:chat (marry me)

No results again. Weird.

In the end, hopefully you will be a little closer to winning at Gmail. At the very least, you will be able to find all of those important messages a little quicker – and without spending days scrolling through hundreds of irrelevant emails.

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Image: Wikimedia Commons

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There are countless articles telling women how to turn up the heat in the bedroom, but rarely will you find a resource that gives men the same helpful advice. Sure, men are manly and should know how to make their studly way around the bedroom, but believe it or not, there are some who lack this valuable knowledge. Don’t believe me? Here are five mistakes men make in the bedroom.

1.  Coming to Bed Smelling Like Ass

Or sweat, or feet, or anything else that no one wants to smell. Of all the mistakes men make, this may be the most offensive to the senses. In fact, feel free to take a shower before jumping in between the sheets. We won’t mind. We’ll wait. And, even if sex doesn’t happen, you’ll be able to experience the awesomeness of being all clean and pretty while you sleep. We work, go to the gym, and we hustle just the same as you, but we aren’t trying to transfer all of the residue of the day onto you when we go to bed. Unless you want us to. Maybe.

2.  Wearing “Period” Underwear

Some mistakes men make can be chalked up to ignorance. And then there’s just willful ignorance. Although most men don’t menstruate, many of you do keep the ratty SpongeBob boxers and briefs your now post-college body wore in college. Women call those period panties and we don’t wear them unless we are on our periods. We also don’t dare wear them when we go out on dates if we are expecting anything to happen. We know, beat down underclothes aren’t sexy. This goes for the high water Grinch pajama pants you’ve been wearing for 15 years as well.

3.  Jumping on Us Like A Hyena

Foreplay goes a long way. Unless there’s some kind of legitimate reason you have to jump on us and pin yourselves to our chests like a Purple Heart, this is not the way to broach the subject of sex. We know it’s late and we’re probably tired too. But just as you wouldn’t appreciate us yelling, “can you hurry up – I want to watch Breaking Bad” we don’t want to feel like a pit stop on the way to sleepy time.

4.  Acting Butt-Hurt When We Make a Request

While men love to throw out sexual requests and appreciate women who are open to them, they react a bit differently when we make our own requests. If you can’t handle constructive criticism in the bedroom, then by all means, feel free to keep your own ideas (and hands) to yourself. And then we can both live boringly ever after because no one is comfortable saying anything.

5.  Not Noticing the Fancy $200 Bra

Hey, we took your advice, okay? We wore the fancy bra to bed. What is the point though, if you don’t notice the difference between this one and the nursing bras we’ve been wearing the whole week? We noticed you took a shower and put on clean underwear – the least you could do is acknowledge that we have indeed, been reading those How to Keep Your Man Happy articles and take them seriously.

There you go…please feel free to add these helpful tips about mistakes men make to the pile of articles on the four billion mistakes women make in the bedroom, how to keep your sex life alive, and how to make your man happy. And, by all means – share with the man you love. Because it’s all about balance, you know.

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Image:  Mr. Thomas

The post 5 Mistakes Men Make in the Bedroom (Someone Had To Say It) appeared first on EcoSalon.

Amid all the word games and photo-editing apps, we often forget that mobile technologies can also keep us healthy. Here are five mobile apps designed to keep the female reproductive system happy, all with a simple swipe on the smartphone.

1. Sexual Health Guide

For Android users, the Sexual Health Guide app provides readily accessible information on everything from the latest news to contraception, to male and female reproductive system problems. There is also a sexual health app for your iPhone, but it appears that this one focuses more on sexual problems that may arise in your sex life such as erectile dysfunction, concerns of infertility, and unplanned pregnancies.

2.  Sex Life 100+ Positions

While there are plenty of mobile apps which help you figure out which sexual positions to try, the Sex Life 100+ Positions app is less porny looking than the other apps in its category. This female reproductive system app provides options such as a random feature and a favorites, in case you want to mark something for later. The app does claim to be more contemporary than the other Kamasutra apps and boasts classic AND exciting sexual positions.

3.  My Pill Birth Control Reminder

Pulling out isn’t always an effective form of contraception, but neither is remembering a pill every day. There are tons of apps available to remind you take your birth control pill, but the My Pill Birth Control Reminder allows you to also track your period, set up discreet messages, and schedule yearly check-ups to help maintain a healthy female reproductive system.  This app also supports ring and patch forms of contraception.

4.  The Kegel Kat

Although probably not integral to keeping the female reproductive system healthy, kegels do play a part in keeping our systems happy. The Kegel Kat is actually a fun mobile app that reminds you to do your kegel exercises (because who remembers to do those anyway) and provides three modes: Daily Squeeze, Go Forever, and Dance Dance. You are able to earn points with different activities and can share your results with friends on Twitter. Kind of like Candy Crush, but more useful.

5.  Yoga for Better Sex

Yoga is well known for its sexual, mental, and physical health benefits. The Yoga for Better Sex app provides various yoga exercises, breathing exercises and information necessary in helping you relax and achieve better orgasms.

There are, of course, hundreds of other sex apps which claim to make our sex lives better, but in all reality, mobile apps are most useful in serving as reminders to stop for a second and focus on thoughts and activities designed to keep our female reproductive systems healthy and most of all, happy.

Related on EcoSalon:

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Image: GailJadeHamilton

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Sometimes, FCC rules about nudity just don’t make any sense. Breasts are sometimes okay, and once in a while you may catch someone’s behind. However, it is very rare that you will view a man’s penis on television, and believe it or not, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) isn’t entirely to blame.

The rules of nudity on television are vague, at best. The FCC regulates broadcast television, which is why Janet Jackson’s nipple or Miley Cyrus’s twerking can cause panic – but Justin Timberlake’s nipple (had it been exposed) would have been as uneventful as Robin Thicke’s grinding.

The FCC makes determinations of indecency based on a three part test to determine what is considered “obscene” and “indecent.”

• An average person, applying contemporary community standards, must find that the material, as a whole, appeals to the prurient interest;
• The material must depict or describe, in a patently offensive way, sexual conduct specifically defined by applicable law; and
• The material, taken as a whole, must lack serious literary, artistic, political or scientific value.

According to the FCC, “indecent material” is a little different–it’s“language or material that, in context, depicts or describes, in terms patently offensive as measured by contemporary community standards for the broadcast medium, sexual or excretory organs or activities.” So, basically, indecent material is sort of obscene, but not really.

These definitions are vague enough. But things get more complicated when you realize these rules don’t really apply to cable television, in which breasts and nipples are exposed regularly.

Since the FCC only regulates television signals sent over airwaves, the rules of nudity regarding cable television are basically determined by the network executives. Unsurprisingly, they have very different opinions of what’s appropriate or worthy of being paid for viewers.

There really isn’t anything prohibiting penises from being aired on cable television, except for a) the belief that paying customers don’t want to see penises or b) cable executives are mostly men who don’t want to show penises, or c) we are afraid of nudity only when it comes to penises.

Maybe it’s our fault as viewers for not making ourselves clearer. It isn’t because of the FCC or an overbearing government that penises aren’t on television; it isn’t because of special rules designed to specifically sexualize women.

Basically, where penises and cable television are concerned, until viewers make it clear to executives that male parts are as interesting as female parts, the rules of nudity are unlikely to change any time soon.

Related on EcoSalon:

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Image: Mikul Robins

The post The FCC Rules of Nudity: Why Are Penises Banned From TV? appeared first on EcoSalon.

The release of iOS 7 brought new colors, 3D effects, and enough change to make us think we had a brand new iPhone. While the  iOS 7 time stamps are cool– yes, now you can see time stamps for every text, and many love the compass app that shows you, complete with bubbles, how level a surface is, iTunes Radio is by far the greatest part of the update. 

iTunes Radio is basically a replacement for every other music app you currently have sitting on your phone. It’s also possible that you can now ditch Pandora, Spotify, iHeartRadio, and all of those other streaming music apps you tried out and only used once.  Here are 5 reasons iTunes Radios is the best part of iOS 7.

1.  More ’90s Hits

With iOS 7, iTunes Radio allows you to select from over 25 genres ranging from the “Best Mix of the 70s, 80s, 90s, and Today!” under Adult Contemporary (which also includes 340 other streams) to College/University, Eclectic, Hip Hop, Talk Radio, and 84 streams of ’90s hits. With this new iTunes, there is essentially no reason to use other music providers, especially those that charge fees to stream music.

2.  10 Million More Songs Than Pandora

If you are familiar with other music streaming options, you have likely run into the frustration of finding the perfect channel, only to end up, ten songs later, listening to songs that either don’t fit the category. “Um, so why is Skrillex playing on my Beyonce station?” With iTunes Radio, this is less likely to happen – like ten million times less likely, because while services such as Pandora can spin a million songs, iTunes Radio can spin tens of millions.

3.  Guest DJ Katy Perry

iTunes Radio has also set up various special events and DJs for their Featured Stations with celebrities like Katy Perry, Jared Leto. On Katy Perry’s station for example, you get occasional commentary such as an introduction to her new single, Dark Horse (feat. Juicy J), and TMI about how she and her boyfriend make out to Drake. You can then decide to “Play More Like This” “Never Play This Song” or “Add to iTunes Wish List.” iTunes with iOS 7 has also made it extremely convenient to immediately purchase the songs you are listening to. Perhaps even too convenient.

4.  History of Songs

Okay, so maybe it’s just Apple’s way of getting me to purchase every song that plays on the Lisa Lisa Cult Jam station, but I love that the new iTunes radio records your history, and every song you’ve listened to is available for purchase. This is handy when you’re running like mad on the treadmill and have no clue what the name of that song was that you listened to 20 songs ago.

In the old days, if you missed the name of the song playing on the radio, you were basically SOL unless you could somehow get through to the radio station to ask them. And no one normal did that. To find the list of songs you’ve listened to in iTunes Radio, press the History button next to iTunes Radio. This is also where you will find your Wish List.

5.  Share Stations With Friends

There is currently no way to share specific songs through Facebook or Twitter, but who needs to tweet that they’re listening to “She Don’t Use Jelly,” anyway? However, if you do want to share a specific station, such as ’90s Alternative Radio, you can text, email, tweet, or share the link to the station on Facebook. This is done by selecting the circled “i” at the top of the song screen. This is also where you will find the options to create a station by artist.

You will likely find more reasons to love iTunes Radio once you get in there and start discovering new songs and setting up your Songs to Make Out To stations. While the iOS 7 update was long and scary for some of us who wondered if our iPhone might be stuck forever in update mode, the new iTunes Radio totally made it worth freaking out about. In a good way.

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Photo Credits: mizzicatto and Cmajaski

The post iOS 7 Is Here: 5 Reasons We Love The New iTunes Radio appeared first on EcoSalon.

If it isn’t the security worries, the possibility of the NSA tracking your every move, it’s the Facebook feeds cluttered with lunchtime photos and mommy stories. Eventually, you will consider erasing yourself from the Internet to get away from it all. The good news is, there is help if you do decide to (virtually) disappear.

With Edward Snowden’s recent revelation that the NSA is watching both our phone and web activity, more people than ever are looking for ways to protect their online privacy.

There’s not much you can do about the NSA and your phone (aside from not calling anyone) but there are a couple options for removing yourself from the Internet. You could, of course, just leave and forget about us and all of our cats, but if you want to delete your Internet presence, it will take a little more work.

Justdelete.me is an app that helps you out with this process. It has been described as a “massive list of links” that look like buttons. These links lead to popular web apps and services such as LinkedIn and Twitter, and even Amazon, PayPal, and some sites you’ve probably never heard of. Once you click on the link, you are taken directly to the page of the service that allows you to delete your account. This is a much easier method than having to hunt and find the link on each site yourself.

As surprising as it may sound, some sites just won’t let you delete your accounts, which brings us to the next best thing about Justdelete.me. If a site won’t allow users to delete accounts, it’s noted on JustDelete.me to raise awareness that there are websites that may not ever let you leave, as well as a little public shaming of these virtual captors.

DeleteYourAccount.com lists social media networks and websites along with instructions and links to deleting your profiles. There are even tips for reversing the process if for some reason you decide after deleting that you really don’t want to delete yourself. Wikicancel is similar, and provides guides and instructions for cancelling social media accounts as well as accounts with Sprint, Groupon, and LA Fitness, for example.

You may not be able to delete your entire Internet presence, because as they say, what appears on the Internet stays on the Internet forever, but these apps and guides will assist you in keeping as many details as possible away from the NSA. And, don’t worry. If you change your mind later, you’ll likely find us all still here hugging our cats and taking pictures of sandwiches.

 Related on EcoSalon:

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Women with the bad luck of being involved with men like George Zimmerman should just get a free pass on divorce, and a medal for even trying to make the marriage work.

Regardless of how you feel about George Zimmerman and his interpretation of the Second Amendment, some people are surprised to hear that he’s not husband of the year. Recently, Shellie Zimmerman, George’s wife of seven years, filed for divorce saying he was “selfish” and “verbally abusive.”  As if the recent self-defense/murder controversy weren’t bad enough, he was recently arrested detained for allegedly smashing up an iPad, and threatening both Shellie and her father with a gun.

Since the beginning, before the Trayvon Martin murder, throughout the trial, through death threats from the public, Shellie has lived with with a nervous and possibly crazy George Zimmerman who has probably never been nice to her. All the way to being threatened herself, Shellie Zimmerman stood by her man. Seems adequate, right? Divorce granted. Pin a big, platinum medal on her chest inscribed with “woman of the year” and let her move on without questioning any other reasons for divorce.

And while we’re at it, you know who else should get a free pass-divorce and/or medal? Huma Abedin – wife of Anthony Weiner, perpetual sexter of genitals and just an all around embarrassing husband; the wives of professional athletes who cheat regularly; Tina Turner if she were still married to Ike; Maria Shriver because, well, Arnold;  and anyone who decides to marry Chris Brown; Tiger Woods, Charlie Sheen, and possibly Jude Law.

Not that the women have to divorce men like George Zimmerman, but we would totally understood if they did. In fact, we would probably celebrate because sometimes, it’s just best to take your losses and quit while you’re ahead…or alive. So, instead of questioning them, let’s give the women who stick by bad husbands a free pass divorce, a shiny platinum button, and a seat at the head table of the Good Riddance to Bad Husbands Club. That means you too, Shellie Zimmerman.

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Image: Wikimedia Commons

The post George Zimmerman And 8 Other Men Unworthy Of Marriage appeared first on EcoSalon.

We’ve always been sort of suspicious that DC comics has a dislike for women, but lately, it’s becoming a little more obvious. Here are three signs that DC Comics really doesn’t like us.

1.  The DC Comics Naked Suicide Contest

A recent DC contest  designed to help new talent “break into comics” requests that you enter by submitting an artistic interpretation of the character Harley Quinn engaging in some form of suicidal activity. The script choices include: Harley holding a cellphone tower while being struck by lightning, Harley wearing a raw chicken suit in an alligator pond, Harley sitting inside a whale’s mouth, and naked Harley sitting in a bathtub with toasters, and other electrical appliances dangling over her. “We are watching the moment before the inevitable death…” Maybe this is supposed to be entertaining in a naked suicide funny kind of way?

2. DC Comics Deny Batwoman Love and Happiness

Not too long ago, members of the editorial team left DC Comics because of a no-marriage policy that would not allow Batwoman and her partner, Maggie Sawyer, to be married. While initially perceived as an anti-gay marriage rule, it was later explained by co-publisher Dan DiDio, that the decision is based on the idea that superheroes are not supposed to be happy and that “heroes shouldn’t have happy personal lives.” Not only is this a crappy rule for superheroes, but it kind of doesn’t make sense considering all of the male/female romances that take place in comics, all of the time. And anyway, who said everyone who is married is happy?

3. Oversexualized Female Characters

Not that there are many female comic book heroes that I can name besides, Wonder Woman, Batwoman, and Catwoman (who all may or may not be DC Comics characters) there does seem to be an issue with oversexualizing women in comic books. Besides promoting contests where the woman character kills herself, or denying Batwoman the “happiness of marriage,” all of the female superheroes seem to share the same superpowers – one of which is a ginormous bosom.

I know, they’re basically cartoon characters and are not real. I don’t expect DC Comics to provide life-changing material. However, is it possible that comic book creators are going out of their way to repel women, rather than include?

Image Credit: Jay Malone

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The post 3 Reasons Why DC Comics Isn’t For Girls appeared first on EcoSalon.