It's all Fairy's fault!!!

[LarsMal]

I'm sorry, DH, that I cannot remember my password for all of the various sites that require them. I was just listening to Fairy, and her advice to change your passwords often. Blame it on her, not my totally fried Mommy brain!!!

And, yes, I realize that I only use a handful of passwords, so I WILL figure it out, it just might take a few tries. It's called patience- you should try using it sometimes! I just always hope I can figure out which one is which before I get locked out for trying too many.

So thanks, Fairy, for toally freaking me out about Internet safety!!!

(Sorry, I just really wanted to use that smiley! This is all in jest, BTW!)

[kep]

Would this be the next smilie in the story?

[ellies mom]

If it makes you feel better I did the same thing several months ago and now I can't remember my Kaiser password to save my life. The hint isn't even helping. "Travels" What the heck does that mean? Now, I have to reset it and that is such a big pain.

[casey0729]

I went to register on the USPS web site the other day and then found out I already had an account. I asked to reset my password and it asked me what my favorite movie was. Apparently, I don't know that either!! I hate changing my passwords but I guess it is a necessary evil.

[Fairy]

It's all part of the service, Ma'am. :-)

[LarsMal]

It's all part of the service, Ma'am. :-)

Well, then, consider your job done! I seriously think of you several times a week as I try to log into one site or another and can't for the life of me remember which password I changed to. It's really pathetic that my brain is such mush, but your important message stuck. I just hope that hackers have as much trouble getting in as I do!

[gatorsmom]

nak- yeah, fairy, i imagine you sitting on my shoulder wagging your finger every time I press the button marked "remember my password".

mission accomplished

[Fairy]

Hee! I'm so glad I made a difference! Ok, here are some tips. Cuz, believe it or not, I bend rules alot. What?! ::: crawls under table :::

* I do use the same PW for certain types of sites that, in my mind, "go together." If there's no financial info going thru the line, the risk is low; if there's no personal information, the risk is lower. Your judgment. I wouldn't use your PW for this site on amazon.com, for instance, but I might use the same one here that I'd use for imdb.com.

* I never ever use the same PW for my different financial sites. So, if you do banking online with Chase, but also with WaMu, use diff PWs. These should be changed "regularly," whatever that means for you. For financial institutions that you go online with regularly -- we're talkin' weekly -- change it every 90 days. If you visit only monthly or so, 2ce a year is prolly fine. This is the one that can get you insane, I admit. Go ahead and write them down somewhere that will help you. Don't say "MaMu PW is --> xxx," but if you write it down without the identifier, who's gonna know?

* Really good PWs can be made easy. A good one has upper, lower, and special character, at least 5 or 7 long. Never ever a word in the dictionary or a date special to you. Try acronyming a phrase. Like A bird in the had is worth 2 in the bush. "Abithiw2inb" Or use episodes of your favorite TV show. If Seinfeld's "The Contest" is your favorite ep, and it's number 85 (making that up), then have you PW be "TheContest85." Or just a phrase. MyFavoriteActorIsBradPitt. Very good PW, even tho it lacks a special character.

* When you change PWs, it's ok to do a derivation of a very good one. So, while "Password 1" is a crappy PW, "ThisIsMyFirstPW1" is a great one, followed three months later with "ThisIsMySecondPW2."

* If you're signing in to a low risk website without alot of personal information attached to it, and you're always doing it from home, then go ahead and click the "save my PW" box. Never ever do it for financial institutions, even from home, but something low risk? Go for it.

Ok, hate me less now?

-- Fairy

[LarsMal]

Ok, hate me less now?

-- Fairy

I would, if I didn't have to go change all of my passwords- AGAIN!- based on all your good tips!