Lifehacker reader Tom D writes in with this sensible suggestion:

I use a passcode lock on my iPhone, which means if it's stolen or lost the person who finds it probably won't be able to make use of it. Obviously this is good, however it means apps like private-i and other "I'm lost, here are my details" apps won't work either. Also anyone who finds it can't get into your address book to call "me" or "home" or "mum" or whoever to report it. So I used a label maker and printed out "REWARD IF FOUND ", trimmed it down and stuck it to the back of my iPhone (or any other valuable gadget). Not terribly aesthetically pleasing, but at least if the phone is stolen or lost, the person finding it has instant access to the owner's info and hopefully the offer of a reward is enough to get their good nature to kick in and make an attempt to return it.

As an obsessed label maker user, I'm surprised this didn't occur to me before. Got any other neat hacks for dealing with the inevitable moment when your phone gets lost? Share them in the comments. Thanks, Tom D!

Colour-coded labels, a Gmail feature long available to users of our own Better Gmail and other Greasemonkey extensions, has been officially implemented and should be rolling out to users as of this morning. Coloured labels do more than look pretty, of course—a well-arranged variety enables your eye to jump quickly to important emails and know when certain types of messages are becoming clutter. The web interface has also been updated with "x" buttons available to quickly remove labels from individual messages. Finally, the Official Gmail Blog notes that the development team is working to add "folder-y-ish functionality." Time will tell how labels, folders and filters will mesh together.