A good way to do passwords

A good friend recently had a scam scare, so needed to change her passwords. It can be a mammoth task.

The big question:  Is there an easy way to have different passwords for everything, yet at the same time still be able to remember them all?

The answer is, YES!

Here's the way it works:

1 - take a word that you will easily remember, for instance = 'coconuts'

2  - then do a standard number substitution for some of the letters (o=0, s=5) turning coconuts into,  c0c0nut5.  
[Other good general number substitutions are: i=1 and e=3 b=6]

3 -  now add a symbol to either end - $c0c0nut5$

So far so good, but that would still be the same password for everything, but here comes the clever bit.

Include the first 2 or the first 3, letters relevant to the website you are logging in to.

For Instance - Amazon.
The password is now...
(1st two letters) $c0c0nut5am$ or
(1st three letters) $c0c0nut5ama$ 
(or use the last 2 letters) $c0c0nut5on$. 

You could even go for the whole word:
 $c0c0nut5amazon$
Or even reverse the website name:
 $c0c0nut5nozama$. 

Of course, depending how your brain works this might be a step too far!

You can also add a special year. $c0c0nut5am1987$

In the same way, if it was Twitter, the password would be,
$c0c0nut5tw$, or
$c0c0nut5twi$ , or
$c0c0nut5er$ or
$c0c0nut5twitter$
etc, etc.

Imagine doing it for a phrase.  For instance  'I love ice cream', would be,
I=1
love=l0v3
ice=1c3
cream=cr3am,
which becomes (for Amazon) $1l0v31c3cr3amam$

Get the idea? Hope that helps.

PS - did you know that one of the most common words people use for a password is, 'password'.  PLEASE DON’T!

Over 50 Is Not Over The Hill!

Do you fancy some extreme knitting, or a leisurely cruise without any loud music, or fancy being patronised by Valerie Singleton teaching you how to use a computer by speaking v-e-r-y s-l-o-w-l-y so you'll u-n-d-e-r-s-t-a-n-d.

No? Well then, why is it that so many organisations, both commercial and non-commercial, treat over 50s as though they are not fit for the 21st century, and need to be patronised by those who are severely misinformed about their target demographic.

So let's put the story straight. Are you sitting comfortably? Then I'll begin?

Over 50s do not suddenly turn into BOFs (Boring Old Farts) when they blow out the candles on their 50th cake. If it appears that way, there's every chance that they were BOFs when they blew out 30 candles.

Over 50s enjoy rock music, making it and listening to it and going to concerts.

Over 50s are tuned in to modern technology; they have mobile phones, use SatNav, can text, own computers, can google, can surf the web, own MP3 players, know YouTube isn't toothpaste, socialise on FaceBook and MySpace, use digital cameras.

Over 50s do not want to ramble gentle along leafy lanes hoping for a warm sandwich and weak cup of tea at some point, but own motorbikes and know how to ride them.

Over 50s don't look forward to a fortnight at sea on a floating hotel, where the most exciting prospect is dropping your Bingo card, but like to go surfing instead.

Have you got the message?

So stop thinking of over 50s as some semi-decrepit, near senile, cranky, rusty and crusty group who enjoy being patronised by idiots. Stop doing that and you may start getting their attention.