How to Make Passwords and Encrypt the Written List.

I wrote this about two years ago to help people make realistic passwords. The best part was while writing it I realized I encrypted the list in a manner only the maker would know.... on to the show

Pa$$w0rdz

Passwords should easy to remember. Now I'm not saying 123456 is ok, but "G4ftyEF345fs@24%F@" is just ridiculous. So if we have to have a password, let us try and make it fun and easy.

Password requirements will be different at every web page. Let's use Apple as an example of what you have to have for your password. "Your password must be at least eight characters including a number, an uppercase letter, and a lowercase letter. You cannot use spaces, the same character three times in a row, your Apple ID, or a password you've used in the last year."

WOW, I just wanted to make a password, I wasn't expecting them to want a DNA sample. Well don't worry, we can make this easy by making a theme.

So let us pick a theme and make a password the D.o.D. would be proud of. Our dogs name is Inara and she would be proud to be our password for todays overview. 'Inara' will be my base that I can prefix and suffix till the day retina scans become required. 'Inara' is only five characters so we will need to add something to tie it to Apple. 'InaraApple' satisfies everything but the number so let us add the month she came into our life 'Inara12Apple'. Now we have a twelve characters upper and lower case, numeric password. The variations could be '12InaraApple', 'iNaraaPple12', 'applEinarA12', but the icing on the cake would be to add a symbol or two. ' 'Inara@12(Apple)'

Here is a simple outline to help define the parts.

1. The base : Inara

2. The place: Apple

3. The numbers: 12

4. The symbols: @ , ( )

Once you have the theme, then it makes it easy to keep track of your passwords. Here how I write my password list.

Instead of writing 'Apple', I write place. So using this theme I can write my password like:

place Base number symbol -- so this is safe to write down on paper and no one will ever guess your password.

Enjoy, be safe, and bring a Nerd