Even for those of you with "wireless" systems, chances are the back of your computer area is an unholy mess of tangled cords. Just keeping a set of headphones in your pocket, you'll often wind up with a Gordian Knot that would have frustrated the great Macedonian general himself.

How many of you have spent a half-hour or more untangling headphone cords? Ummm...ALL of you...?

So - what's the best solution? There are two approaches: one is to neatly wind the cord around one's finger. The other is just to stuff  'em in your pocket.

A contributor to a British science column tried both of these. His results were counter-intuitive: oddly, stuffing them randomly into your jeans seems to make them less likely to become tangled. This would seem to go against the common wisdom that neatness makes for better organization. The best theory as to why random stuffing works better is because by doing this, one part of the wire is less likely to cross another at an angle and thus pass under it to form a knot.

Other possible strategies: fold the headphones and tie the cord in place using the end of the lead. The danger is that the wire may break. Another might by to simply let the cord hang straight down outside your pant leg, but then there's the danger of stepping on it and tripping - damaging both your headphones and quite possibly, you.

So...anyone else have some experiences with this issue? And, how might you apply it to the dusty, tangled mess under your computer station? Let's hear from you!