These days it’s not only people hacking into your accounts that we need to think about — just think of how easily computers can do the job. Now think of all the things you do online every day. Between your work and personal life — you are probably online constantly. Online banking, social media, and shopping sites all require secure logins and passwords. It’s not safe to use the same password for each site — if that password is compromised your world can quickly crash down around you. Yet the only secure password is probably one you’ll never, ever be able to remember — much less remember several for all of your accounts. And no, please don’t write them down on multiple sticky-notes — that isn’t safe either.

The best way to deal with the password dilemma is to download a password manager. Chica Password Manager does all the heavy lifting for you — the password generator automatically creates long and strong, hard-to-crack passwords. No more sitting around trying to think of something to use beside your cat’s name. Not only that — it stores all your logins, passwords and personal information in a secure, encrypted database. All you need to remember is one Master Password. Your password-protected sites are remembered and you’ll be automatically logged in. Easy-peasy on your part — yet your passwords and personal information are fully safe, secure and protected.

Download a free 30 day trial of Chica Password Manager and check out the nifty features for yourself. I’m pretty sure this holiday still warrants going out for drinks after work though.

You guessed it – there’s an app to find your Girl Scout Cookie connection! The Official Girl Scouts of the USA Cookie Finder (sounds impressive, doesn’t it?) It uses GPS to show you cookie sales going on near you, so you can easily track down a Scout to purchase cookies from. You can sort findings by date, radius, or view them on a map – deciding how far you’re willing to travel for those cookies.

You can’t feel too guilty in indulging: this only happens once a year. Buying Girl Scout Cookies also supports Girl Scouts – “To Help Girls Do Great Things”.  How else are you going to get your fix for Thin Mints…Tagalongs…Samoas? Think of this app as GPS for cookies. And of course, it’s social too – you can share you cookie location findings with others by e-mail,  posting to Facebook or Tweeting.

The app also has all sorts of information about sales around the country, start and end dates of local cookie seasons, and other nifty stuff – like voting for your favorite variety. But let’s face it: just tell us where the cookies are!

Official Girl Scouts of the USA Cookie Finder Application – Free for iPhone, iTouch, and IPad.

It’s not that surprising to me that couples do this despite the obvious risks. Many couples are trying to prove they have nothing to hide from the other person. A recent Pew Internet study reported that 30 percent – nearly one-third of teenagers have shared an online password with a friend, a girlfriend, or boyfriend. The study concluded that “while some passwords may be guarded by some youth, password sharing among peers can be a sign of trust and intimacy”.

My friend isn’t a teenager, but he was in love and didn’t see anything wrong with sharing that Facebook login. No one ever thinks they are going to break up, get divorced, or meet someone new, but it happens. If a jilted person has your email, online banking or Facebook passwords,  they can do major damage too daunting to even think about.

It’s important to keep your passwords private. It’s also up to us to explain to our children the importance of this, as well as the possible repercussions if they don’t. Let your children see you taking responsible steps to protect your own identity. Download a password manager like Chica Password Manager to keep all your logins, passwords and personal information encrypted and safe, and encourage your child to do the same when they get their own Facebook and other accounts. It’s important for them to learn from the start that they, and they alone, are responsible for safeguarding their personal information.

Have you ever shared your password?

Emma is a new way to make online dealings a little more comfortable for both parties involved. It’s like a friendly Craigslist – it’s a social marketplace where you can trade, swap, buy – find a carpool or rideshare, a new roommate, you name it. Even find a date! You access it with your Facebook account, so each party can feel they know a little more about whom they are dealing with. Facebook access also allows you to share your listings with others who may be interested in them.

The bidding process is easy. There are two parties involved – the listing owner who creates what is to be bid on – and the bidder. Listing owners start by choosing a specific category for their item/service, enter all the details, and then wait for potential bidders to find them. The bidders go through the listings and if something catches their eye, they can click on it. The listing owner will then be able to view the bidder’s profile, and send their own profile back. Listing owner can easily accept or decline bids — making the whole online market experience faster. It’s also more organized — you can click on the top to see all of your own listings, bids you’ve made and more.

Go to www.emma.com to learn even more about Emma, or download the free iPhone app.

Would you try Emma?

ChicaLogic is looking for female bloggers to review our newest software, Chica Password Manager, the password manager and form filler designed by women, for women. We would love to have you review our software and host a giveaway to your readers. Each blogger who completes a review receives:

• Posting of your review on ChicaLogic.com, and a link to your website to learn more
• $50 payment for review and hosting giveaway (paid via PayPal)
• Complimentary Product Key for yourself, and a total of (3) Product Keys to give away on your site, valued at $29.95 each
• Posting of your review (teaser statement) on ChicaLogic’s customer review page, Facebook, and Twitter

In exchange we ask that our guest bloggers/reviewers complete the following:

• Provide a minimum 100 word review of Chica Password Manager. Content should include links to ChicaLogic.com
• Post the review on your blog site, Facebook, and Twitter
• Host a giveaway for three FREE Product Keys of Chica Password Manager for a minimum of (30) days on blog site

Please let Angela Mullen angela@chicalogic.com know if you are interested, and you will be contacted and given additional details ASAP!

Ultrabooks are slim, lightweight laptops – but they are loaded with powerful hardware. Think MacBook Air – but Ultrabooks are PC’s. It’s like a hybrid, combining the best features of a tablet and a laptop – lightweight and portable like a tablet with data processing capability similar to a laptop.

Ultrabooks all have thin cases, Core i5 processors, solid-state drives, regular keyboards and single-button touchpads. Prices are mainly in the $1,000 range, which puts them higher than many people want to spend on PC’s. But if they pack the punch they are promising, that could quickly change.  Claudine Mangano of Intel stated that more than 75 ultrabook models are expected to be manufactured and shipped this year. Companies working with Intel on these ultrabook models include Samsung, Hewlett-Packart (HP), Dell, and Lenovo. Here’s a quick low-down on what the buzz was all about at CES – the ultrabooks that stood out the most.

Samsung Series 9. One of the higher end and thinnest models, the Samsung Series 9 is one of the most expensive too, starting at $1399. Made of aluminum, it also has a bright, impressive 13 inch display, and comes with more premium specs that the others.

HP Envy 14 Spectre. Also higher end, and a bit thicker than the Samsung because it’s made with Gorilla Glass. The glass also makes it a huge fingerprint magnet.

Dell XPS 13. Dell’s model is at the lower end of the market – starting at $999, but it’s still lightweight and thin like the higher-end models. It also has the 13 inch display, but not with as high of a resolution as the others.

Lenova Yoga. This one is not available until most likely Fall, but it’s definitely one of the most interesting models. In addition to the usual ultrabook features, the Yoga can bend into different positions (hence it’s name). You can fold it over into a tablet, and even “tent” it for viewing. It will run the touch-friendly Windows 8 platform.

What do you think of the new ultrabooks?

Two new hacking attempts are on the Facebook horizon. The most important thing to realize is many scams look completely legitimate, so you always need to be aware of existing scams and as always — be careful what you click on. Here’s what to look out for now:

Remove Timeline from Your Facebook Profile Scam. Timeline is something that is being slowly rolled out throughout Facebook, and will become permanent. Some of us are not that thrilled with the new layout, which gives hackers a great “in” to use to take our dissatisfaction into an opportunity to spread malware. That being said, if you are sent a link that promises to delete your timeline for you and return you to the old style profile, don’t click on it. It will attempt to get you to click on files, watch YouTube videos or install plug-ins, claiming the removal of Timeline in 24 hours – giving your computer a bunch of malware if you click.

Change the Color of Your Profile. This is the newest Facebook scam, and seems innocent enough – why not change your profile to a fun new color, like pink? It comes to you as an invitation to click on — and of course — share with all your friends. But if you click on these links you help spread the scam around.

Did you accidentally click on one of these links? Take immediate steps for damage control. Download the free version of ChicaPC-Shield and run a quick scan to see if your computer has been infected. ChicaPC-Shield will find and destroy any malware it finds.

Did you fall prey do these or any other Facebook scams?

Plus, if you sign up for our affiliate program this week you will be entered to win a Kindle Fire, and other great prizes. Earn one extra entry (required entry of signing up for the affiliate program) into the contest by tweeting out the phrase “I just signed up for @ChicaLogic’s affiliate program to earn 100% commission and maybe WIN! #100commission”.

Good luck!

So what are QR codes? QR stands for “Quick Response”. They are square black codes that put a lot of information into a teeny, tiny space – maybe for a coupon, or to advertise a new product. To access that information, you need to download a barcode reader to your smartphone. When you start the app, it also starts your camera. Snap the code and you are taken to a link where you can access all that information, and even share it with others through email or text. Quick, easy, and fun to use, and they are gaining popularity.

Of course, it didn’t take hackers much time to catch on to QR codes either…and more and more, we’re hearing about codes being tampered with and leading consumers to false sites…where all sorts of malware yuckies can exist.

This doesn’t have to spoil all the fun of QR codes however. Here are few tips to keep in mind before you click on that code:

Be aware. Just as you are careful with your computer – be careful with your smartphone as well. Just realizing the potential danger can help you be more alert and prone to see odd, tampered with links. Keep up with technology news to make sure you have the latest information on potential threats to your computer and smartphone.

Review before you click. If you are about to click on a movie poster QR code and the code looks tampered with – don’t click. Make sure your barcode reader shows you the link it is about to take you to, so you can decide if it looks suspect. As always – when in doubt, the best advice is to not click on something.

Want to learn more about QR codes? Read How to Use QR Codes.

Do you click on QR codes? Are you concerned about malware?

That’s why January is when people put it all back in place. Schedules start to come back together, and you recommit yourself to your ultimate goals. It’s also the start of a brand new year, and that makes people want to start fresh and new with their lives. My sister always hates going to the gym the first week of January, because it’s usually packed!

As technology starts creeping into every aspect of our lives, there are several ways you can get your life organized utilizing that wonderful technology. The key to any good organizational system is synchronization across all the devices you own.

Task lists – There are several different options when it comes to digital task lists. No matter what you choose, it’s a good idea to make sure it’s cross platform compatible. What this means is that I should be able to access my task list no matter what device I’m using. If I have an iPad, an Android based phone and a Windows PC, I should be able to see and check off items in my to do list in all locations. My favorite solution is www.toodledo.com. There are apps that will sync with Toodledo across all platforms, and it has all of the features I want for task management. A much more simplified task management system is Google Tasks. You don’t get the benefit of recurring tasks, but it’s fully integrated with Gmail, which some people really like.

Calendar – If you need to keep track of more than one person’s schedule (such as you and your partner), then you not only need to be able to synchronize among devices, you need to synchronize with the other people in your life. Google Calendars are hands down the best solutions for this. If you and your partner have Google Accounts, you can share your calendar with them and they can share with you. When I access the calendar either from my phone, tablet, or computer I can add an appointment to my husband’s calendar and have it show up on his phone right away. I can also see when he adds things to his calendar from any location, so I don’t double book us and end up hosting a lunch during his doctor appointment!

Shopping - Do you get to the grocery store, only to find you’ve left your well thought out list at home on the kitchen counter? Keeping your shopping list on your phone is a brilliant way to always have your shopping list with you, especially when it’s a last minute decision to stop by the grocery store.  It’s also much easier to generate your shopping list by picking from past lists or scanning a barcode from an item that you just ate the last cookie from. While you are out, the folks at home can add to your list so you know exactly what you need to get. Sometimes it’s a little harder to find one that can go across platforms and sync with other phones and online. GroceryIQ and Grocery Gadget are excellent cross platform solutions.

Memos/Notes – Taking notes is something everyone has to do at some point. During a class, meeting, ideas that pop into your mind, things for you to look up later, everywhere you go you’ll have to keep track of something. My favorite note taking app is Evernote. It works EVERYWHERE, you have a device, I’m sure there’s an Evernote app for it. You can clip items from websites and easily store it to your database. The database is searchable and you can organize your notes incredibly easily.

Using these tools for the coming year will definitely put you on the right track to being a more organized you. Plus, it’s so much easier to accomplish everything you need with some great tech tools on your side!