Santa brought me SNARF...

Vacation’s over. You’ve had a grand time: intriguing locales, fun events, delicious food, memorable moments. You’re relaxed, your batteries recharged. Life is good.

You get home and fire up your laptop to see how things have been going at work while you were gone. That’s when you’re accosted by grim reality: hundreds upon hundreds of e-mails, each demanding your attention, your action, your time. How can you even begin to sort through this informational assault? Panic and dread set in. Vacation’s really over.

Unless you have SNARF, that is.

SNARF, the Social Network and Relationship Finder, developed by Microsoft Research and available for download, is designed to help computer users cope with precisely such scenarios. SNARF, a complement to e-mail programs such as Outlook, filters and sorts e-mail based on the type of message and the user’s history with an e-mail correspondent. The result: a collection of alternative views of your e-mail that can help you make sense of the deluge.

Read: Too Many E-Mails? SNARF Them Up!