Here is a great trick for deleting e-mails on the iPhone. Instead of tapping on each one at a time, you can place two fingers on the screen and drag down, which highlights one after another, then hit TRASH. You can do the same in Messages, so go ahead and let your fingers do the walking.

Okay, Christmas is coming up, and instead of buying Christmas cards, most people are sending e-mails and messages to their family and friends. Well, I have the best idea ever.

Open up your Music App, choose a Christmas song or one from your favorite album and start playing it. Now open up the Camera icon and make sure it’s on the Photo icon. Tap and hold the white shutter button and drag it to the right. Your iPhone will begin recording a video while your music continues to play in the background.

You can video your Christmas tree and decorations, or get the whole family together and video them. When you’re done, go into the Photo App and choose the new video you just made. Click on the Share icon on the lower left corner (it looks like a box with an arrow pointed up in it) and choose either Messages or E-mail. Fill out the person’s name you want to send it to, and that’s it.

My iPhone has a bunch of contacts, and when I want to make a phone call, I have to scroll down through them. But what if your contact is a photo of the person? Well, it’s easy to make.

Go ahead and open up Contacts on your iPhone, iPad or MacBook Pro. Choose a person. A big grey circle opens up with a letter on it. Choose Edit at the top right, then Add Photo which is under the gray circle. There you can choose many options, like emojis that you can add eyes, hats, long hair, glasses and a beard. If you click on the icon that looks like a double square, it opens up Photos where you can choose any picture. Click on Choose and then Done. Now when you open up contacts, you’ll see that person’s picture.

When you take a picture, it’s usually saved as a JPEG, which shrinks the size of the photo so you can send it over internet. The new Apple format is HEIC, which also compresses the size but displays it a lot better. If you try to send a HEIC photo in an e-mail, it might not be recognized. But you can easily convert it to a JPEG. Just right-click on the Photo, choose Quick Action and then convert image. Choose the JPEG format.

Here is another trick that might be useful. Let’s say you’re looking at cheap ironing boards at the Waikapu General Store and want to send a picture of them to your mother-in-law and add a few arrows and text to the photo. Well, no problem. Just ask Siri: “Hey Siri, take a screen shot.” A small photo of it suddenly appears in the lower corner, but you need to quickly press on it or it will go away. So, go ahead and press on it.

Now you have a full-screen picture of the ironing board. On the top are all kinds of icons, so don’t freak out. Press on the circle with an “A” in it. There you see all kinds of pencils you can choose to draw with, and the red circle will change colors. The plus sign will let you add text.

Go ahead and draw an arrow to the board and add some text like: “Your clothes are always wrinkled.” Send it out… but don’t wait for a nice response.

Send your computer-related questions to MauiMist@aol.com.