It's one thing to attach cables to your desk for easy access and mild organization, but it's another to make sure they're the right length and stay where they're supposed to go. Cordlets solve both of these problems by providing an easy grip for your cables and a small neck that you can use to wrap them, keeping them as short or as long as you want.

If you're familiar with the many little cable hacks available out there, Cordlets are like a Cable Drop and an Apple Core rolled into one. They serve both purposes admirably and cost about $2.50 each. It's a really great idea, but some online reviews suggest the adhesive that comes with each Cordlet doesn't work very well. If you decide to give this product a try, you might want to have some tougher, stickier stuff on hand as well.

Cordlets ($10 for 4) | Quirky

Bandits are very simple to understand: they're a rubber band with a hook. This may not seem extremely compelling at first glance, but there's actually a lot you can do with them. They can be used to hang a water bottle on your bike, your sunglasses from your car's rearview mirror, tools on a ladder when you need to set them somewhere, and virtually anything you can think of.

Aside from just hanging stuff, as you can see from the above image they're good for simple binding, too. Where a rubber band is difficult to get around large (or at least long) objects, because of the hook the Bandit can do this very easily. One great application is cable management. You could bind all your cables together with a Bandit or two and then hang the cables anywhere using the hooks. This way you can easily keep your cables out of site but also take them down and unbind them very easily if you need to make any additions or alterations to the group. That's the best use in my opinion, but they're pretty versatile so you have a lot of options.

The downside might be the price, but possibly not. You get 10 Bandits for $10. At $1 each, it seems like a lot when compared to rubber bands. On the other hand, they're tough so it's not like they have the shelf life of a rubber band either. You can find them a little cheaper on Amazon through third-party sellers, but hopefully these will end up being reasonably popular and Quirky will eventually cut the price. $10 isn't unreasonable if you put these Bandits to good use, but at, say, $5 a pack they'd be a no-brainer.

Bandits ($10 for 10) | Quirky

I recently jailbroke my iPhone and now that it's done I'm very overwhelmed by Cydia. I've downloaded a couple apps, but I don't understand most of what I'm looking at. The descriptions and explanation in Cydia don't help much, so I'm wondering: can you help me wrap my head all this stuff?

Sincerely,
Jailbroken and Confused

Dear JC,

Don't worry, you're not alone. I still remember the first time I jailbroke a first generation iPhone on iOS 2.0 and confusingly stared at the third-party app installer Cydia for the first time (and of course if you haven't jailbroken yet our guide to doing so is easy to follow). Back then it was a complete mess, and while things have improved over time, it's still confusing to beginners.

To start, you should think of Cydia as an unofficial App Store filled with a ton of apps and features that Apple doesn't allow on an iPhone. Navigating all those features is a bit difficult at first, but thankfully the key to understanding how to use the Cydia store lies in understanding the terminology it uses.

The first and most important step is to understand how the repositories work.

The Basics of Repositories

One of the more confusing parts about Cydia is the repositories (aka Sources). Repositories are essentially different servers that have jailbreak apps located on them. Basically, you can picture a repository as a separate store within Cydia—like an Amazon private seller.

If you look at our list of jailbreak apps you'll notice that we usually include the source where you can find the app we're talking about. For the most part you should be able to get away with the default list of sources, but you may come across a tweak or app that you need to add a new source repository for. To add a new source tap Manage > Sources > Edit > Add and you'll get a URL popup to add a new source. Once you do you can search for the app you're looking for and Cydia will index the new source.

The Difference Between Apps, Tweaks, Widgets, Themes

The other confusing thing about Cydia is that since it houses every type of jailbreak imaginable it's hard to tell the difference between different types of software. For the most part a casual user will run into four main types: apps, tweaks, widgets, and themes. While other minor jailbreak hacks are tucked away in Cydia you likely won't ever need to deal with them. So, let's take a look at the big four.

• Apps: Apps on Cydia will operate the exact same as an app from the iTunes App Store. The only difference is that they're not approved by Apple. This means you'll see apps that do things like network tethering, reskinning of the interface, and provide alternate means to send and receive text messages. For the most part these are self-explanatory and are divided up into categories under the Sections menu much like the App Store.
• Tweaks: Tweaks are a little more confusing. Basically a tweak is a slight enhancement to a pre-existing app usually found in the "Add-On" folders under the Section menu. These tweaks usually don't have an icon on your homescreen. Instead, they're usually configured under the Settings menu on your iPhone. One example of this is Sparrow+. The purpose of the tweak is to enhance the official Sparrow mail app by adding push notifications and changing Sparrow to the default mail client.
• Widgets:Widgets are somewhat new to iOS but after the release of the excellent Dashboard X Cydia is getting flooded with them. Widgets can exist in one of three places: the Notification Center, on the homescreen (with Dashboard X), or on the lock screen. They're essentially shortcut buttons and tools that make information available to you outside an app. You'll usually find these in Cydia in the Add-Ons folders much like the tweaks.
• Themes: If you want to customize your iPhone, themes are how you do it. The two most popular means of doing this are Dreamboard and Winterboard. To use themes you need one of these two apps installed. Themes are found under in the Themes folders on Cydia.

As you're getting used to how the Cydia store works it's usually best to stick with downloads in the above four categories. Most other tools are meant for developers and are best left alone until you know what you're doing.

Deleting and Updating Installed Apps

Now that you're getting the hang of Cydia you're probably downloading a ton of apps and tweaks, right? Chances are you've realized not all of them are what you want, but deleting apps isn't as easy as just holding your finger down on the homescreen (not off the bat anyway).

To delete Cydia apps and tweaks (and anything else) you have to pop back into Cydia. Tap Manage on the bottom bar and then scroll through to find the app you want to delete. Tap Modify and then Remove. If that seems too tedious you can download Cydelete from the BigBoss Repository and delete Cydia-installed apps just like official apps.

Updates in Cydia are handled in a similar way to the App Store. When you open up Cydia you'll see a badge on the Changes menu with any app or tweak updates. Tap the Upgrade button and your apps will update to the newest versions.

Once you play around with Cydia for a while it gets easier to understand. If you keep your repositories with just the default ones you'll typically be safe against any junk or dangerous apps, but always use the same type of caution you would on your computer. More importantly, play around with different tweaks and have a good time with it. If you're not sure of where to start, our picks for the best jailbreak apps for iOS 5 will get you going in the right direction.

Sincerely,
Lifehacker

P.S. Is there anything about the Cydia store that confuses you? Sound off in the comments.

Have a question or suggestion for Ask Lifehacker? Send it to tips+asklh@lifehacker.com.

Title image remixed from discpicture (Shutterstock).

We've shared a ton of ways to manage the cables under your desk, but Instructables user getgreg offers a simple solution that gives you super easy access to your power strip. All you need is a wire basket.

This method isn't all that different from something like the rain gutter solution or IKEA's SIGNUM line, but it has one simple addition: with a large enough wire basket, you can actually fit the plugs in your surge protector through the holes. That way, if you ever need to plug something in or take it out, you don't have to go swimming in a sea of tangled cables—you can just reach up, unplug it, and throw something else inside.

On its own, it doesn't fit a ton of cables, but coupled with something like this binder clip method or a few Cablox cubes, you could probably have a pretty clean system going on under your desk.. Hit the link to see how he put it together.

As many of you mention in the comments, it's probably a better idea to find a plastic basket for this, since a metal one could likely cause shocks as you're pulling out plugs.

How to Mount a Power Strip (and Power Bricks) Under Your Desk | Instructables