I've taken to carrying a piece of non-fiction about with me. I could tell you its title, but then I'd have to kill you.
Basically, I have so many passwords (which my bank, employer, or jutta would advise me not to write down) that I simply can't store them in my head reliably anymore.
I'm fine with the accounts I use every day, but those infrequently used passwords trip me up everytime. These days, a password update seems to be demanded on a bi-monthly basis (please don't get any ideas, jutta) and I am rarely allowed to repeat any of my last 28 passwords.
So, my book. I've found a book with several chapters, which I've married to my various accounts.
If I need a new password for my online bank account, I'd check chapter 9 and find the first word that I haven't yet used as a password. My halfbakery passwords would be taken sequentially (ignoring the most common words like "the" and "and) from say chapter 3.
It's incredibly simple to remember how far I've got through the chapter, and my password becomes obvious to me without you ever having to write it down.
It means I can keep all of my passwords right next to me at my desk without any fear of people working out what they are.-- Fishrat, Feb 19 2004 Is there any fear that you might not be able to work out what they are?-- k_sra, Feb 19 2004 People might also tend to keep their distance for fear of being subjected to recruiting pitches - fewer distractions would make this an opportunity for increased productivity on your part.-- normzone, Feb 19 2004 It seems like halfbakers are extremely poor at remembering passwords. I'd just like to point out that it's not that difficult. How many different passwords do you need? Do you ever use the same password twice?
Oh how about one password for everything? Password: Bible.-- yabba do yabba dabba, Feb 19 2004 Um, It is another (two) things to leave around as clues. It does add another layer to the decoding (Put *2* books there - that'll fox them!. I will rest easy when I have an Enigma machine on my desk to encode every password. Oh! Hang On!-- gnomethang, Feb 19 2004 The only problem is that real words (like the ones found in pieces of non-fiction) are considered very weak passwords. As a matter of fact, many systems won't allow a real word password.
Also, if I am understanding this correctly, since there is no correlation between passwords, if you were halfway through the chapter and needed to retrieve an infrequently used password, you might have to try many, many different words.-- doshin, Feb 19 2004 What if I have to return my Bible to the library?-- k_sra, Feb 19 2004 [doshin] - then how about a composite word built from the first letter in each word of the next sentence in the book? You can make this as complex as you want as long as you always apply the same rule (i.e. first letter from first word, second letter from second word, or whatever). The book is just a source of random (but stable) letters.
By the way, + Fish. Another good one.-- lostdog, Feb 19 2004 "Hey Johnnie, after you left work yesterday, I borrowed your book on late trancendentals. You know--that one that's out of print? Anyway, I tried to bring it on the plane with me, and, well, it was confiscated 'cause it had really sharp corners. Sorry."-- yabba do yabba dabba, Feb 19 2004 How about the first letter of each successive line on a given page? (or the last, or diagonal, etc...)-- Freefall, Feb 19 2004 genius, exit, leviathan, numbers...I can't spell half those words...-- po, Feb 19 2004 um....you just did.-- yabba do yabba dabba, Feb 19 2004 which half? I'll bet it's exit and numbers, right? b.t.w Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers ...-- reap, Feb 19 2004 //I can't spell half those words//
That's still a better score than what I got on my high school English Literature exam.-- Detly, Feb 19 2004 A loss dart too.
You're rather screwed if you lose your book, ichthyrodentus.-- waugsqueke, Feb 19 2004 //What if I have to return my Bible to the library?// [k_sra], you're a cheapskate!
[yabba] I have about 12 different accounts which need passwords. None of them will allow me to keep the same password for more than two months (except my b/2 password) and none of them will allow a new password to be the same as any of the previous 28. That means I need to remember 72 random, disconnected words over the period of one year. Which I find taxing.
[norm] Repent before it's too late!
[po] How did you guess my first three passwords like that? You should put a quid on the lottery this weekend.-- Fishrat, Feb 20 2004 Deuterium, Joshing, Judgemental, Roof...I used to know them by heart.-- po, Feb 20 2004 //Deuterium// It was geranium, but you were close. I was using Charlie Dimmock's "Bog Standard Garden" vol. 2-- Fishrat, Feb 20 2004 He called me a cheapskate!-- k_sra, Feb 20 2004 I can misspell Kyrgizstani every time; and sometimes not even deliberately. My current (not so secure)password is a diminuitive variant of my goddaughters Christian name in Dutch. I'm gonna have to change it because even that is known by a few people.-- gnomethang, Feb 20 2004 It turns out [Worldgineer]'s password was just "halfbakery". Sucker.-- Worldgineer, Feb 20 2004 I can see a problem if one selects one of those "once I opened it, I couldn't put it down" type books.-- siriusness, Feb 20 2004 "why is he always carrying that old copy of Archie and Jughead, anyway?"
"i know, and he screeches if you touch it."
on the whole, i can't find any flaws in it except that you could lose the book. but if it was a readily available book and your system does not rely on making marks in the book, you could always buy another copy, and you'd be safe.
i keep all mine written down in a file on my computer, which is password protected. but i don't work with nuclear secrets either. i just go to serializer.net.-- changokun, Feb 20 2004 //i keep all mine written down in a file on my computer// possibly a mistake for a couple of reasons.-- po, Feb 21 2004 If you changed it to the book of Mormon, you could always use 'and it came to pass.' It occurs 1381 times.-- RayfordSteele, Feb 21 2004 random, halfbakery