Productopia | Editors Notes

Love it or hate it, if you're a Facebook user, the new past-sharing visual Timeline (which replaces your profile page) is in your future. Timeline's bringing big-mouthed friends to the party, too, in the form of "Open Graph" apps. These apps can automatically post your non-Facebook online activities onto your Facebook Wall, so if you listen to a song on Spotify or read a Washington Post article after installing their respective apps, your Facebook friends are notified of all the specific, juicy details. That's bad news for closet Britney Spears fans! The good news: most of the sharing options that privacy-minded Facebookers are concerned about can be disabled -- and we have the details how.

If you've noticed an uptick of spam in your junk mail folder lately, you're not alone. Scammers go into overtime around the holidays and into tax season, aiming to trick you into forking over personal information. These email sneak-attacks are called "phishing" and it's nothing new. What is new this year is that a lot of the bogus emails look like they're coming from banks, software companies and tax-preparation firms, hoping to trigger your click by making you think you won't get your tax refund or that there's been an error on your tax return. Here's how not to get suckered.

Even with the pleasantly warm weather this week in New York City (thanks global warming), it's hard not to long for a little green right about now. With my notoriously black thumb, I typically shy away from growing houseplants and instead anxiously await the sprouting of my neighbors spring bulbs. Not this year. Intrigued by Home Depot's money back guarantee on plants--yep, they'll take them back and refund your money if your plants die--I recently tried my hand at indoor gardening. Walk into your local Home Depot or garden center and you'll be overwhelmed with plant choices. I certainly was, so I reached out to Marc Hachadourian, Manager of the Nolan Glass Houses at the New York Botanical Garden, for some advice.

Over the years, the Super Bowl has grown from just being a game for all the marbles at the end of the NFL season to a near-universal day of celebration and parties that even non-fans can enjoy. Sure there's the spectacle of the game itself, but watching all of those "can you top this" commercials has grown into its own national pastime. And nothing can beat the camaraderie of gathering a big group of friends for a big day of food and fun while you watch the goings-on on a big-screen TV ... assuming you own one. That's why, other than Black Friday, the run up to Super Bowl Sunday is the most popular time for shoppers to finally pull the trigger on a new TV. But is it really the best time to do so?