24 May 2004
Password Memorability and Securability

Password selection has been a particular interest of mine for years: it never ceases to amaze me how many folks choose the names of children/pets/moms as their password, despite those being the most easily surmised by an attacker.

This fascinating little study debunks some of the "folk beliefs" about password selection, and confirms others. A good read, indeed.

Who would have thought that that something new could be said about how best to select passwords? Ross Andreson of Cambridge University and some of his colleages have performed new empirical studies and found some pretty non-intuitive results.

(link) [Slashdot]

00:00 /Technology | 0 comments | permanent link

The Great American Stupid-Out

Chadd Wheat has declared today to be the The Great American Stupid-Out -

In the tradition of the Great American Smoke Out and other public-driven voluntary bans, I'm starting a grass-roots effort to have a new one started. May 24, 2004, will be “The Great American Stupid-Out”

I think this is a Great Idea - and have diligently tried to participate.

To participate, all you have to do is voluntarily do nothing stupid on May 24. Depending on your habits and environment, this may require a little sacrifice, but the resulting banishment of all things stupid for twenty-four hours will make America a smarter, saner place to work and live.

There are many interesting ideas for implementing this new celebration in Chadd's proposal. But alas! I failed in banishing stupidity for even one day when I managed to drive a small piece of chicken wire under my thumbnail this morning, and failed further this afternoon when I left the cell phone at home on a drive to town. Stupid, stupid, stupid!!!

00:00 /Humor | 0 comments | permanent link

Age Discrimination, Indian-Style

Yet another bit of nonsense from companies moving operations overseas - I guess that we "older workers" aren't very relevent anymore, even while we're making up an increasing percentage of the US workforce. Or perhaps it's precisely because of that, and because we are unwilling to work like dogs for peanuts.

In April, IBM CEO Samuel Palmisano told investors Big Blue hopes to dodge an estimated $6 billion in liability stemming from a judge's ruling that IBM violated U.S. federal age discrimination laws. In May, IBM closes on its $150-$200MM purchase of Indian outsourcer Daksh, whose age requirements for job applicants make Logan's Run seem progressive. On its Opportunities page, Daksh states that Customer Care Specialists should be between 21-25 years of age and Team Leaders should be no older than 27. Early Daksh investors included Citigroup and we-don't-need-no-stinking-unions Amazon.

(link) [Slashdot]

00:00 /Politics | 0 comments | permanent link