Anyone who spends anytime on the web or around computers will inevitably have to make and remember passwords. I worked as a contractor to the Corp of Engineers for a while and found my password remembering skills quickly put to the test; we had lots of password with very strict acceptable password rules. In response, I developed a wonderful password method that has worked well for quite some time. People will see passwords I devise and gawk, but they’re actually easily remembered.

What Makes A Password Secure

In order to devise secure passwords, it helps to know what makes passwords secure. A secure password needs to be at least 8 characters long. (Many experts now say 10 to 12 characters.) It also needs to contain a variety of characters: upper and lower-case letters, numbers and special characters. And finally (the sticking point for most,) it shouldn’t contain more than two instances in a row of the same type of characters. (I.e. no more than two letters or numbers in a row.)

If you follow those rules, you will end up with a very confusing, hard to remember jumble of characters like Mp45Pw$%. It’s also hard to break, but to be honest, any password is breakable. It just takes time. So, theoretically, you should change your password every 3-6 months. (The amount of time it would take someone to brute force through your password; the longer the password, the longer you can wait before changing it.)

Note: I don’t worry about changing my passwords that often … Let’s face it, no one’s going to take 6 months to break into my running log at mapmyrun.com.

How to Make and Remember Your Password

For the purpose of this demonstration, I’ll use the seemingly random example I mentioned above: Mp45Pw$%. While that may look impossible to devise or remember, it only took me a few seconds.

First, I divide my 8 character password into 4 two digit chucks. I use the same basic password for all applications while changing just one of these two digit chunks.

First Password Chunk: The Seed

In the above password example, my first chunk is Mp. I always use an uppercase, lowercase first chunk. It’s something personal that I can remember. In this case, I used the phrase “My password” to come up with Mp.

Second Chunk: Numbers

The second chunk needs to be a different type of character. I switch to numbers and try to choose two numbers that are positioned next to each other on the keyboard. In this case, 45.

Third Chunk: The Key

This is the chunk that I change each time to make it application specific. In this case, I want to remember “password” and use the letters Pw. I try to use letters derived from the specific application. For instance, if I were making a password for my website (nicholasroussos.com,) I might use Nr or maybe I just think of it as “My website” and use Mw. Remember, for most applications, this will be the only part that changes … and thus the only part you have to remember.

Fourth Chunk: Special Characters

Finally, we need to throw in some special characters. I use the same method as I use for numbers. I take two special characters that sit next to each other on the keyboard. In fact, in this example, they are the same keys as the numbers I used (just hold shift.)

Added Security

Sometimes, you might want an additional layer of security. In those cases, I recommend these alternatives:

• Change the order above. For your secret diary, instead of the normal Mp45Sd$%, you might want to use Sd45Mp$%.
• Change up the numbers and/or special characters. Using the same secret diary example, you might want to try Mp23Sd@#.
• Change your first “seed” chunk to a super secret seed. Say for instance Ss45Sd$%.
• Add another chunk like Mp45Sd$%23.

Most of the time, you will only have to remember the two letters of the third chunk. It really is that easy. In fact, I’d wager that after reading this article, you’ll be able to remember Mp45Pw$% tomorrow morning, the week after that, and the week after that. (Just remember My password Mp, 45, Password Pw, 45 with shift $%)

Have fun devising and remembering passwords.

Apparently, Microsoft’s favorites are my favorites too; or at least they would like for them to be. They put all of their “favorites” into an annoying little folder in the Internet Explorer Favorites list called “Links”. If you try to delete this folder, it is recreated everytime you open Internet Explorer. Fortunately, there is a workaround.

Do not attempt this unless you feel comfortable editing the registry. You could really “put a Swiss Cake Roll in your disk drive” if you do it wrong.

1. You need to open your registry editor. In Windows XP click Start > Run. Type regedit in the space and hit enter.

2. You need to drill down to the following registry key: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Toolbar. Once you click on the Toolbar folder, you will see registry entries on the right hand side of the screen.

3. Right click on the one named LinksFolderName. Select Modify
In the Value Data field, delete the info and click ok.

4. Open Internet Explorer and manually delete the Links folder from Favorites Menu. Exit the registry and reboot.

I’m a big fan of Notepad. I think it’s one of the best apps on Windows. I use it just about everyday to edit code, reformat text, and to well…..take notes.

If you ever need to add a time stamp to your work, just simply press F5. The date and time will be inserted at the top of the page. Thats it, no worries.

Ever forgotten your password? I’m sure you have; I used to be guilty of it too. In today’s world you probably have at least 5-6 places that require you log on with a username and password.

Often times people do not realize how much flexibility they have in creating a password. Most people usually stick to dictionary words or names. This practice is very insecure. There are several programs out there that can crack these within seconds.

The first step in creating and remembering a password is to create a strong password. The most secure passwords are between 8 and 14 characters. These passwords should contain uppercase and lowercase letters, numerals, and even symbols. An example of a secure password is: J5!if#8D. Now I know that this looks impossible to remember, and actually it is. There are two tricks you can use to create a password like this and actually remember it.

1. Make you password have a certain cadence. Do you remember how we all learned to spell “Mississippi” in school. We remmeber it because the letters flow to a rythm. “Mi-ssi-ssi-ppi”. You can create a password using this principle. Ex: ttpTTP123. Now say this in your head “ttp-TTP-123″. Or try this: xpKT134me “xp-KT-13-4me” These are much easier to remember beacause of thier cadence.

2. If you are still having trouble with you can use a phrase instead of just one word. If you are using Windows XP your password can be up to 127 characters long. Obviously you dont want a password this long but it allows you to crete a phrase: “2eggs+2bacon=1breakfast”. To us this looks like a silly saying, but it is actaully a very secure password.

Do yourself a favor and take responsibility with your passwords. Espcially those that float around on the Internet. You will thank yourself later.

Update: Megan left a helpful comment on creating a custom CSV that works even better than my approach.

My mother made the big switch today. She left AOL and jumped onto DSL. As I was setting up her connection, she asked me to move her address book from her AOL account to her new Gmail email address. It turns out, there’s no way to do it, well, until I made a way.

The Gmail Help page says:

AOL doesn’t have the functionality to export your address book, so you’ll have to create a custom CSV file if you use this service.

That’s no help, what about just exporting the AOL address book period. Well, I found some iffy solutions that require downloading a 3rd party software, but that seemed too difficult. So, I came up with an easier method.

1. In AOL, make a new Group that contains all the emails you want to export.
2. Send an email to that group; Carbon Copy (CC) your new Gmail address. I included a quick blurb that the email address would be changing, etc.
3. Leave AOL, and open up Gmail. You should see the email you just sent in your inbox.
4. Reply All on that email. I mentioned something like, “Hi, just wanted to send you all another email from my new account.”
5. You’re done. Gmail automatically puts everyone who you email in your contacts. You just emailed everyone on your list.

Now, this method is only going to get the emails out. I’m not sure if AOL stores phone numbers, etc. My mother’s account also didn’t get the names associated with the emails. This may have been how she had set it up.

Have you ever wondered what that little orange button in the bottom right hand corner of Firefox is? If you have ever been to a website that offers a RSS syndication feed then you have probably seen it.

If you click on this box, it will allow you to add a Live Bookmark to your Bookmarks list. All you have to do is click on the icon and select the feed you want (if they offer multiple feeds). A Firefox window will popup asking you where you want to place the feed. Just selct a place in your Bookmarks list.

This Bookmark will be updated with the latest information coming from the website. It’s a quick way to get the most recent information without having to browse back to the website.

Here’s a cool trick that might save you some time if you manually type URLs. While your cursor is in the address bar, type the name of the website you want to vist. For Example just type: virtualhigh5. Now, hold Control and hit Enter. This command will wrap the http://www. and the .com around the entry. This works in IE and Firefox.

These two shortcuts work in Firefox only: Hit Shift-Enter to add .net instead, and hit Shift-Ctrl-Enter to add .org.

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