Stamp Column Archives

Glassine Surfer June 2004

Still, jumping through all these hoops for a strong password is a necessity, otherwise you risk losing what you're trying to protect. I had never experienced an attack on my password before last month when apparently a hacker's chatroom used one of my online mailboxes to test out some password cracking software.

They used sledgehammer approach that didn't work, but because of their repeated failed logins Yahoo! froze my account. Well, better that than to lose it outright to some fella 14 time zones away.

Since then, I've redone my passwords. I use UPPERS and lowers, numbers, and all those things like { ; " !. I have a hard time remembering them, but I rest easier.

Now, of course, once you've worked up a handful of unintelligible passwords that you can't possibly remember off the top of your head, you have to keep them handy and secure. I would imagine your home PC environment is as safe as your house, but what if someone stole your computer? Would they just have to open a Word file to access everything you own?

There are two choices. Write it on paper and keep it stashed away from your PC, or use a password program. The only drawback to the paper version is speed, so unless you have a compelling reason just jot down your passwords on an unassuming slip of paper and keep it in its designated place. Just don't title it "Important Passwords."

Machin collectors may have it all over us. They could simply stick a few dupes on a page, look at their QEII's and use rattle of some Deegam catalog code for a password. No one could crack that.

Dancing Bologna

One of my daily reads is a webmaster bulletin board website and one of the recent questions was what were some of the elements of bad design. Well, it were as though a dam was opened judging from the flood of posts.

Here's a partial list of some of the most egregious sins of the past: hit counters; under construction road signs; photos of the site owner's wife, children, friends, dog, cat; "Best Viewed With..." text; "Top 5% of the Web!"; cheap midi music; anything that flashes or moves; animated email icons; "Netscape Now" buttons; spinning globes; Frontpage 98 templates; nested tables; whole websites on one single html page, where you have to scroll and scroll and then scroll some more; popups; pop unders; and the hidden online-support email address.

If you want more check out Dancing Bologna, a cute term to denote design in which everything is in motion, though it's not to be confused with the Hampster Dance, which did prove more people preferred hamsters to bologna.

Dancing bologna
http://www.dancentury.com/text/webbologna.html

The Maltese Dog
http://www.maltesedog.com

The world population is over six billion. There are 293 million people in the USA, and more are on the way. If just a half of one percent collected stamps, imagine how much fun we'd have.

Population Clocks
http://www.census.gov/main/www/popclock.html

While you're there, check out the rest of the US census site. The data collections are amazing, the facts astounding, and the numbers astronomical.

Glassine Surfer

The Glassine Surfer archive is online along with other stories, help, and links to stamp collecting sites. We also host the Sociable Stamp Society chats online on Sunday evenings at eight o’clock eastern. Just click on “chat.”

When e-mailing me for the first time, please put "GS" in the subject line along with your topic. I bulk filter my incoming mail for spam because I have to and don't want to mistakenly delete your message.

The Glassine Surfer
http://www.glassinesurfer.com

Thanks for reading the “Glassine Surfer” and support your local club. See you online.