Windows only: Looking for a way to create a mix of MP3 files to send to your crush but aren't sure what playlist format their media player supports or whether or not they'd know how to unzip a folder of individual tracks? Check out this tip using the Command Prompt interface in Windows:

Only one line of code is needed to join multiple mp3 files:
copy /b *.mp3 c:\new.mp3

The /b modifier is the trick, with the asterisk playing a wildcard to catch all files in a directory. To choose invidividual files, list the filenames separated by the + symbol. Yes, the conjoined files aren't easily separated and the recipient won't be able to skip from track to track. But it's super-fast to do, will play reliably in almost any environment and the listener is forced to think about the emotional arc the music describes—which, after all, is the whole art and science of music mix creation for those of us who remember the 80s. Any readers out there know a similar trick for Macintosh or Linux?