Enter password
**********
Password incorrect. Re-enter password
**********
Still incorrect. Try again.
**********
Now I’m getting suspicious, but give it another shot.
**********
Okay, buddy, you’ve got one more chance.
**********
Close, but no cigar. I’m about to release the hounds.
**********
You forgot your password didn’t you? Click the link to reset your password.
[Check inbox.]
[Refresh inbox.]
[Wait twenty minutes and refresh inbox again.]
[Click link.]
Please type your new password.
**********
Your new password matches your old one. Try again.
This post matches my experience. Nice try.
It seems to be a universal experience, although I tried to lighten it a bit by giving the artificial intelligence a little more personality. Of course even now most artificial intelligences seem to have more personality than the programmers behind them.
This is why I store a list of my passwords right on my laptop. Clever *and* convenient, right? I suppose it’s a step above what my husband does, which is to use the date of our anniversary every single time.
Yes, keeping your passwords right on your laptop is clever and convenient, especially if you lose your laptop. Just yesterday I found a laptop in a meeting room. I was taking it to the lost and found desk when I passed its owner. He explained that he’d left it there because he had a meeting there later in the day.
I pointed out that it would be really easy for someone to walk off with it, and that he was lucky the person who’d done just that was too honest to steal it.
Welcome to my life. Like Margot, I have a file on my laptop called “Passwords”. I’d give it a fancier title, but I’m afraid I’d forget it!
If I may make a suggestion give it a really bizarre name that you’ll never forget. Trust me on this. I’m the guy who has a drawer of his filing cabinet labeled “Duodenum”. I don’t keep anything valuable or improper in there, but I never forget it.
I do, however, have a spreadsheet of passwords. It’s only accessible via password and I live in fear that I’ll forget the password.
Good idea. I’ve labeled my list “ass nodes”— I have no idea why. And now my list is even less secure since I’ve put the name of it here. At least all of my passwords are bizarre, which is why I need a list to remember them. Also, I use Dashlane, which stores all of your passwords, auto-fills them for you, and is protected because you can only get in with a master password. I should probably just print my ass nodes list out and delete the file.
Maybe you should put the password to your spreadsheet in your “Duodenum” file.
Perfect! I’d also add, “You’ve now attempted your password three times and have been locked out of your account for thirty minutes”. That really did happen to me yesterday as I tried to log into our auto loan account. I mean– what’s the worst thing that could happen? Someone gets into my account and makes a payment for me? Sheesh.
Yeah, sometimes things seem designed to prevent people from doing you favors, although if they can get into your auto loan account they might be able to hack bank information or other valuable data. But I wonder why the restrictions on my library account are so tight. The worst that could happen is that someone breaks in and sees what I’ve been reading. If somebody really wants to know that all they have to do is ask me.