Top iPhone Apps for Parents

Being a parent is a full-time job – times 10. There are never enough hours in the day to do all that you need to do, both for your children and for yourself. You need all the tools at your disposal you can get to help you manage it all and to accomplish even a fraction of what you set out to do.

Your iPhone is a great tool, and you can use it to stay in touch, to keep organized, and to stay on top of your to-do list. With the right apps, you can do much, much more. Here are a few of the top iPhone apps for parents to help you manage it all a little easier:

1.) Baby Connect:

When you have a newborn baby, your days are a blur of feedings, diaper changes, rocking, and crying (often your own). This app can help you to keep track of it all when you can’t even keep track of your own thoughts. You can track feedings, diaper changes, sleeping schedules, medicines, and even the mood of your baby. It will help you to monitor your baby’s progress, to establish schedules, and to diagnose any illnesses that might arise. You can also use the app to share the information with other caregivers. $4.99.

2.) Potty Chart:

Potty training can be a trying time. With this app, you can manage it a little easier. Use it to create a reward system for your toddler to encourage potty usage. You set a number of stars to reach a reward, and then mark off a star each time they use the potty. The app also provides tips on how to manage potty training, gives you ideas for rewards, and offers troubleshooting solutions. $2.99.

3.) Chore Bank:

For older children, you might need a little more than a reward chart to get them motivated to do chores around the house. You can use this app to keep track of who has done what and how much they have earned in allowance as a result. It creates a kind of virtual bank account for your children, and it’s an easy way for you to track who is doing what. $1.99.

4.) Bank of Mom:

Your children are likely to get money from other avenues besides their allowance. For example, they may get money for their birthday or they may have a particularly good run with the Tooth Fairy one year. You can use this app to help them manage their money and to teach them about financial responsibility. You can track expenses, deposits and withdrawals, and even add interest. You can even e-mail them receipts. It’s a great way to start teaching them about how to manage their money wisely. $1.99.

5.) How to Cook Everything:

Even if you have a partner who loves to cook, let’s face it: As a parent, you’re going to spend a lot of time in the kitchen. Instead of stocking your shelves with lots of bulky cookbooks, you can use this app to quickly look up how to cook just about anything. There are 2,000 recipes so you can be sure to find something that even your kids will love each night for dinner. $4.99.

What are some of your favorite apps as a parent? Share your picks in the comments!

Author Bio:

Bridget Sandorford is a freelance blog and culinary writer, where recently she’s been researching on line cooking school. In her spare time, she enjoys biking, painting and working on her first cookbook.

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Review On Bitdefender Internet Security 2013

According to AV-Test in Germany Bitdefender was declared as the Best Antivirus engine in terms of protection, repair and usability. Bitdefender also received "Best Product Of The Year 2013" award and is ranking on the top in Top Ten Reviews in terms of it's Performance, Features & Help and Support. There are to many if we have to talk about it's achievements, So let's get into the review of this World's Best Antivirus "Bitdefender Internet Security 2013".

Features:

Bitdefender Internet Security Offers a variety of security features to protect us from variety of online threats and to safeguard our privacy online. It is empowered with lot of tools for parents to monitor their child's activity online, and allowing you to block Suspicious sites, messages and email that contain flagged words or Phrases. Also You can limit time of internet access for each child. When you search for something on a search engine like Google, Bitdefender gives each url in the search results a security rank based on the no. of votes it receives.

Bitdefender Makes Online banking more secure through it Safepay(Sandboxed Web Browser) feature. This feature prevents any type of keylogger, spyware, etc.. from stealing info. on your bank or other transitions you make online. It is really a must needed tool for safe online transitions.

Bitdefender automatically check for updates periodically to protect you from the new kind of threads emerging day to day. This feature can be disabled if you plan to check it manually. But it is necessary to get the most out of it's Security.

Speed and Performance:

Like other Antivirus programs Bitdefender also slightly appears to slow the system when a scan is in progress, But fortunately it is empowered with some additional features to utilize best time to scan without slowing your system. Bitdefender Internet Security can run full system scan quickly with less utilization of Internal memory. You can even schedule scans. But Don't worry! These scans runs on background without affecting your work in progress and allowing you to do multitask at one time. Usually bitdefender Scans only if your system is idle. The Scan Dispatcher tool will make a scan only if the PC usage falls below a certain level.

Bitdefender's "AutoPilot" which is present at the top right corner of the window can be turned on/off. Autopilot is really a great option if you are busy and don't want to get interrupted in the middle of your work in applying decisions to the actions to be taken against the threats.

Help & Support:

When it comes to Help & Support Bitdefender is 24/7 and ready to help you at any time. You can search for your answers online, ask questions to the professionals, chat with them or even call them. Their Blog has interesting post on Security topics and Emerging Threats.

System Requirements:

If you ask for minimum system requirements. Then here it is,

• Operating system: Microsoft Windows XP SP3 (32 bit) , Vista (SP2), Microsoft Windows 7 (SP1), Microsoft Windows 8
• CPU: 800MHz processor
• Memory (RAM): 1 GB
• Available free hard disk space: 1.8 GB free space (at least 800 MB on the system drive)
• Additional Softwares: .NET Framework 3.5 (automatically installed by Bitdefender if necessary)

Price/Shopping:

Bitdefender is comparatively low when compared to other Antivirus softwares who have less features when compared to Bitdefender.

1PC                         -               $24.97 (1 Year)  $44.98(2 Year)   $64.98(3 Year)

Upto 3PC's             -               $34.97(1 Year)   $54.97(2 Year)   $79.97(3 Year)

Upto 5PC's             -               $54.97(1 Year)   $89.98(2 Year)   $124.97(3 Year)

Upto 10PC's           -               $89.98(1 Year)   $159.97(2 Year) $214.97(3 Year)

You can visit Bitdefender Antivirus to download a trial version/buy this product, or check out other antivirus solutions.

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Secure Password Generator

Password Generator generates the most secure passwords randomly for your personal or anyother use. The password generated are 100% secure one and cannot be easily cracked by anytype of hackers!

Recommended: Do Password Strength Meters Actually Work?

Checkout someother online tools here: Useful Tools

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QR Code Generator

Using Below Tool you can generate QR Codes for your Texts, Email Address, Website/Blog Url, etc...

To make this more funny you can even create codes of secret messages and transfer them to your friends.

How to Read This QR Codes?

There are many Apps available to scan these QR Codes. Here i have some best collections for you.

For Android Devices:

1.) QR Droid.
2.) Barcode Scanner.
3.) RedLaser Barcode & QR Scanner.
4.) Scan.
5.) ScanLife Barcode & QR Reader.

For iPhone:

1.) QR Reader for iPhone.
2.) QR Scanner.
3.) TapReader.
4.) i-nigma 4.
5.) QR App.

For Java Devices:

1.) KAYWA Reader.
2.) i-nigma Reader.
3.) Lynkee Reader.
4.) UpCode.
5.) SnapMaze.

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5 Strategies To Fight Anonymous DDoS Attacks

Img.Credit:chanpipat

There are lots of ways to protect your site against spammers and other folks who generally do not do nice things online. You are not safe online, and you should remember it all the time. However, if you can protect yourself against spammers, often you’re helpless when your site is under DDoS attack. By the way, do not feel guilty for not being able to protect it. Such companies as eBay or the US government sites used to be victims of hackers and they were also helpless for some time, although they had enough money and resources to hire the best engineers to deal with the attacks.

Of course, you have to bear in mind that DDoS attacks can be so big and intense that you will need much resources to stop them. If 200k computers are trying to connect to your site all at once, there is no hardware and software that can handle it. Yet, there are a few little secrets that will help you fight anonymous DDoS attacks.

1.) There are no invulnerable sites:

In fact, if you think that only government sites are hit by Anonymous group, you are mistaken. Sure, they target mostly government sites of countries they don’t like. However, recently sites of New Zealand government were hit. Can you say anything controversial about New Zealand? So, your site might well be a target for such attacks. Be prepared for the worst.

2.) DDoS attacks are better to stop at the initial stages:

As a rule, site owners do not do much at first. They just wait for the site to go down and then start complaining. What you should do is to implement the best practices in the industry to protect your site, network, any additional services, such as DNS. Don’t wait until hackers destroy your site.

3.) Identify the bottleneck of the attack:

There should be a part of your network which is most vulnerable. Hackers use it to assault your site. These weak areas may include a firewall, a server, an Internet pipeline, a security system, a load balancer or a SQL server. Any of these elements of your network can be vulnerable to attacks. So, identification of where the attack comes from will certainly help you ‘stand and fight’. Some experts recommend slowhttptest tool to stop DDoS attacks. You can also configure your server to allow only 1k requests at once.

4.) Monitor your network:

Yes, you have to see what’s happening in your network, especially if your site is a part of a large corporate network. Sometimes, you may just block your network to be access from the Internet and analyze the attack. Sure, this is not the best solution, but this will give you a few extra hours to handle the attack.

5.) Cooperate with your ISP and a hosting company:

Yes, this is the best decision to make. Call your ISP, and make sure they are aware of the problem. Reliable ISPs and hosting providers have enough resources to deal with DDoS attacks, of course, if they are not too big. It is fair to say that if your site has become a target for Anonymous you will have problems.

Author Bio:

Aleksey is an independent consultant in matters of the Internet security and data protection. He personally oversees a dozen of sites for small and mid sized companies, as well as cooperates with such services as http://www.vistnet.com.

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Social Media - Great Way of Communication

Most of the people today with internet access use social media in some form or the other. It changes the way people and organizations communicate or interact with others. But despite of its popularity, most people have a very limited knowledge and understanding of the scope and utility of Social Media in its entirety. A phrase being tossed around a lot today but it can sometimes hard to answer what it is?

Social Media! it is in use today as one great way of communication, where people across the world and from various professions, races, cultures and religions meet. It allows users to share content, information, opinions, insights, experiences, and perspectives or even resources, tool widely use today that foster interaction, discussion and community via the internet.

Social media can take many forms, including images, text, video, and audio. Some include blogs, podcasts, wiki, message boards and blogs. It consists of billions of people’s buzzing minds, relating and connecting to each other by just a simple tap of few keys. Like a waterhole for a thirsty brains that never dries up. While the tools of social media are easy to use, the rules of the road are not necessarily intuitive. It’s a new communications landscape out there, with tremendous opportunity but also a lot to learn, waiting to watched or visit or read or blogged.

There are tons of social media platforms these days and it may hard for some people to catch up with the ever-changing lingo, in many ways is experimental; it’s not however, completely unproven and it actually a waste of money if you don’t know what you’re doing. It’s essential to understand that it is simultaneously a great opportunity.

Social media facilitates open communication and enhance information delivery and discovery. Everyone can find new people, communicate to their loved ones all over the world and meet their friends. It allows people from the different geographical location to share and express their views and meet in a single point, or at the same time promote products globally. Many will experience the broadness of connectedness and knowledge through social media use, technological literacy, opportunity to widen business and can give attract attention to your site, product or services.

Social media has a character of its own; there is nothing that would be taken for granted or be assumed. There is no “one hat fits all” kind of a solution. In fact, there are certain aspects of social media that apply to everyone, but they can at best be termed as guidelines or best practices. Social media are a learning process. Ultimately it all boils down to understanding, gathering relevant information and then analyzing it to tweak your activity, be it online or offline.

Img.Credit: freedigitalphotos

Author Bio:

Derar Barqawi, online marketing specialist at Almond Solutions. I am also an active member on Domadeed.

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Top 5 Investment Apps

Creative Commons image source

Technology is more than a source for investments that have the potential for big payoffs in a short amount of time. Technology is providing us with tools for smarter investing in other areas of finance, allowing virtually anyone to track prominent trends, quickly make trades, and put money to work efficiently on the open market. One of the fastest growing forms of this type of technology is coming in the form of Apps for smart phones and tablets. Because more and more people are making their trades on the go, the following Apps are ideal for investors of all experience levels who do not want to necessarily be tied to a desk.

Motif Investing:

Available in both a desktop format or as an iPhone App, this free software streamlines one's portfolio and is capable of creating over 90 different themes. It handles 30 stocks per portfolio well, encouraging users to funnel their investments into more concentrated areas of the market. Each portfolio comes with a $9.95 charge, and the minimum investment amount is $250. This App is not geared towards the long-term investor, but it is perfectly designed for the day trader or those wishing to begin dabbling in the world of high finance. The acclaim for this App has come from both novice traders and MIT instructors who are experts in the field of finance.

SigFig:

Many investors have no problem establishing a portfolio with which to work. However, once their money is in place, a great deal of traders are unsure of how to optimize them for their personal goals in the market. This App takes the most important data from your portfolio and puts it on a single page that is organized in a dashboard fashion. From there, the program makes recommendations based on the relevant data. SigFig is free and works on all desktop computers, iPhones, and Android devices. The program is much better suited for long-term investors. It is capable of synching with up to 90 different brokerages in order to track 401(ks), general investments, and IRAs.

Personal Capital:

This App finds its strength in the number of tools built in to manage money and maintain investing budgets. It provides a complete listing of all your investments at the touch of a button in addition to summarizing your total investments in a way that puts the numbers in context of the market at large. The management tools have received high marks from the editor of Netbanker.com as well. Although the App and the website are free, users have access to financial advice on a regular basis for a flat fee. This program also allows users to make money transfers using bank accounts and track credit card information in real time.

Bloomberg:

Compatible with desktop computers, iPhones, Android devices, Blackberries, and Windows Phones, this App opens people's eyes to the in and outs of the high-finance world. Each investment comes with reliable and well-researched data that is updated in real time. There are few other Apps that put so much data at the fingertips of investors. The charts that users can access to guide their decisions are interactive and constantly updated. This App will even construct new charts based on the performance of investments in order to better guide the individual investor.

Morning Star:

Geared towards research and the exchange of mutual funds, Morning Star constantly updates users as to the top-performing holdings and exchange funds. This powerful software is capable of handling up to 8,100 mutual funds at any given time, giving users a huge amount of freedom when it comes to diversifying their investments on the open market.

When it comes to money, finances, and investments, it's always good to have information at your fingertips. No matter which app you choose, you'll be confident using modern technology to keep tabs on your investments no matter where you are.

Author Bio:

Financial advisor Frank Starr enjoys sharing money managing tips and investment advice with his readers. Frank also has contributed to educational material featuring online masters in finance programs for others interested in a career in finance.

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