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6 OUR YUCAIPA | MARCH 2016 The Middle of the Road: By Randy Peters, a middle-aged, middle-income, middle-school teacher THE PASSWORD IS IhEDGfwmbodi2 When I was a kid, there were some special words in my life. When in doubt one could always shout "Shazam!" or "Abracadabra!" to get out of a situation or mess. Some words like "Open Sesame!" would bring about excitement and adventure. You knew if you had to utter those magic words, you were finally going to be accepted into the club house or your brother's tent of sheets and blankets draped over and around the dining table. As we got older, we didn't think knowing special passwords would get us into places anymore. Then the Internet showed up. Suddenly we needed passwords and user names to enter websites, files, and accounts to get information about us. I even did some research from various self-named geek websites and found out there are many experts ready to tell us what kind of passwords we should use. 1. Passwords should have a minimum of 12 characters. Did you know that even the categories of Jeopardy rarely list clues that require more than 10-letter answers? If those contestants don't have to know 12-letter words, how am I expected to know them? 2. Your password should contain letters, numbers, and symbols. Really? I can't remember 12 letter words, and now I'm supposed to include numbers and symbols that don't make sense to me. 3. Avoid words that can be found in the dictionary. What other words are there? Well, according to the pocket-protector-as- a-fashion-accessory-crowd, we should be making up words so that others don't recognize them. I usually need a couple of glasses of wine before I make up words. I don't necessarily think I should down a couple of glasses of wine before using a password and transferring funds in my bank account. 4. The experts also say that we shouldn't use obvious substitutions in words to try and confuse potential hackers. For example, changing the letter 'o' to the number '0' is rather obvious. Ooops! I thought that was a clever way to make my passwords more complex without tasking my mental faculties too much. 5. Using simply random letters and symbols might be the best way to come up with a password. In other words, slapping your palms on the keyboard and coming up with "3(dIb230&!kkZ" might be a safe choice, but good luck trying to remember and duplicate it when you need it. 6. To complicate our lives even more, they say to use different passwords for different accounts. That way if someone cracks your FaceBook password, it won't work on your bank, e-mail, or Tinder accounts. Can you imagine having several passwords like the one listed above? I don't think my middle- aged, somewhat arthritic fingers can duplicate that password too often. 7. The final solution makes me proud to be a teacher. All teachers know that the brain is a pattern-seeking device where one remembers better if there is meaning attached to it. The experts say to develop a meaningful sentence or phrase that you will remember such as, "I hope Ellen DeGeneres finally writes me back one day in 2016." Now you take the first letters of each word: IhEDGfwmbodi2. Now I have a password that I can remember. If you have to write down your passwords somewhere to help you remember,the experts suggest you don't label the list "My Passwords." It sounds obvious, but you never know. On a serious side, over the past couple of years, we have had to take care of different e-mail and personal accounts for family members who have passed. If you have someone you trust, you might want to let them know your passwords or where to find them. Some fellow middle-of-the-roaders and I were talking about passwords recently. One friend admitted that she hadn't updated her out-going message on her phone at work for several years because she couldn't remember her password. Another friend said he couldn't remember a password for one of his accounts and called the company. The company said they would give it to him for $100. He closed his account and went elsewhere. One friend said she struggled with remembering passwords until she found a solution that worked for her. She starts every password with "RottenS***PW" and then follows it with a 1, 2, 3, or whatever number is next on her list. I bet she won't forget it. I was thinking of the days when I had to memorize everyone's phone numbers and addresses so I could call them or send them a letter. That seemed easy enough. But now all these passwords, e-mail addresses, user names, and website functions are over-whelming. I blame the obvious radio-active waves that affect my brain when I sit at the computer. It couldn't possibly be the middle-of-the-road syndrome of aging somewhat gracefully, could it? I better go find my list and update all my passwords again. Keep your eyes on the road. 5% Military Discount (former & current members) Ask for the Jarhead! 909-965-8404 Since 1985 Licensed & Insured DON'S TREE SERVICE • Ornamental Beautification of Trees • Preventative Maintenance from Wind Destruction • Correct Pruning, Trimming Skills • Tree Removals, Stump Grinding • Tree Planting/Transplanting

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