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TOP SECRET: Laptop users with the nagging fear that sensitive files on their portables could be stolen and misused can reduce their paranoia level with SwapCrypt. This new $99-list PC Card from SCM Microsystems is an encryption device worthy of James Bond. (From SCM Microsystems, [phone]; requires Type I PC Card slot, Windows 3.1 or higher; $99) The Windows-based utility scrambles files so that only someone with a password and a unique key held in the card's flash memory can read the file. More than a simple password scheme, SwapCrypt uses a one-time algorithm to encrypt the source data into random data. The algorithm is generated from a seed file the user creates, and a unique decoding key is stored on the provided PC Card's flash memory.

NEWS BYTES CD COMICS: Although G.B. Trudeau's Pulitzer Prize-winning ``Doonesbury'' comic strip has been compiled in dozens of paperback volumes, nearly half the material has never been reprinted. Mindscape's Doonesbury Flashbacks: 25 Years of Serious Fun aims to rectify this situation by reproducing the comic's full run through May 1995 - about 8,600 strips in all. And the disc only sells for about $35 - less than the combined price of three volumes of Doonesbury reprints. (Mindscape, of Novato, Calif., can be reached at [phone], fax [phone]; requires 8MB RAM, 10MB hard-drive space, 800x600 256-color SVGA display, SoundBlaster-compatible sound card, Windows 3.x or Windows 95.)

RANDOM ACCESS CYBER GIRLS: Expect the Best From a Girl. Breaking gender stereotypes is the primary goal at this site, developed by the Women's College Coalition and the Ad Council. Parents can turn here for information, advice and resources on helping girls achieve their potential in school and beyond.http://www.academic.org/

THE TAXMAN COMETH: It's a week from the Internal Revenue Service deadline and there's no flat tax in sight. Don't panic: In less time than it takes to count Steve Forbes' millions, the family computer can prepare your taxes. Software retail stores say two tax programs have risen to the top: TurboTax Deluxe/MacinTax from Intuit (Macintosh and PC CD-ROM, $45.95) and Kiplinger TaxCut from Block Financial (Macintosh and PC CD-ROM, about $30). The two packages are set up almost exactly the same. TaxCut and TurboTax are arranged like a filing cabinet; you can move between topics by completing each section or clicking on a folder tab. Both programs have video areas on the left side of the screen. Both have multimedia presentations featuring financial experts. And look at the features. TaxCut has Q&A, where the computer asks easy-to-understand questions about personal information, deductions, business income, property and more. TurboTax has an area called Interview that does the same.