Musings » Helpful Hints

How to choose a Strong Password

cckid — Mon, 29 Nov 2010 20:45:52 +0000

Chances are, your passwords are not very good. Chances are even greater that you use one password over and over again, with minor variations. Did you know that a good hacker could probably figure out your password in just a matter of minutes and then gain access to: your bank account, your credit card, your stock trading website, your email, twitter, facebook…

A strong password is defined by the webopedia as:

(strâng pas´wërd) (n.) A password that is difficult to detect by both humans and computer programs, effectively protecting data from unauthorized access. A strong password consists of at least six characters (and the more characters, the stronger the password) that are a combination of letters, numbers and symbols (@, #, $, %, etc.) if allowed. Passwords are typically case-sensitive, so a strong password contains letters in both uppercase and lowercase. Strong passwords also do not contain words that can be found in a dictionary or parts of the user’s own name.

Recently, I’ve started making a good effort to create strong passwords. I’ll be the first to admit that strong passwords are a pain in the neck. They’re long and you have to remember them! However, I’ve found a good scheme that works for me and I think will work for you too.

This is what I do. I take a song that I like and won’t forget, find a section of the lyrics, and take the first letter of each word to make up my strong password. So, here’s an example password that could be used: Hbda,Hbd2u! This password is complex because it is long, uses special characters (the ! and the ,) and has a mix of upper and lower case letters. And it looks hard, doesn’t it? But it’s really not! It’s just the end of the song “Happy Birthday”. How simple is that? “Happy birthday dear anyone, Happy birthday to you!” Piece of cake, right?

Now, think of a song or two and start making your passwords strong!

Big Ten Tuition Cost Comparison

cckid — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 01:27:22 +0000

Since I work at a Big Ten university, I was curious and wanted to know how much each university charged for a year of schooling.

The results are in the graph below and represent published figures from each university’s website. Please note that these numbers only represent what they call “Tuition and Fees” and don’t include any room and board, meal plans, book, or anything else. The sources I used to come up with this graph are listed below as well.

While most of the universities did publish their tuition cost, Northwestern University stood out in that their price was not transparent. I did a rough estimate for only their tuition for 3 quarters and did not include any other fees, so this number is on the very low end of their spectrum.

Also, note that not all universities had posted their tuition for 2010-2011 yet, so some of them still have the 2009-2010 cost. The tuition year is show in ()’s.

The most expensive university in the Big Ten is Northwestern University which costs roughly $35,000 for 1 year of education plus all kinds of fees for residents and non-residents alike.

The least expensive university in the Big Ten is Iowa, which costs roughly $7,000 for residents.

The least expensive university in the Big Ten for out-of-town students is Minnesota which costs a little under $22,000 per year.

The sources I used for these figures:

http://admissions.illinois.edu/cost/tuition_freshman.html
http://www.indiana.edu/~iuadmit/cost/tuition.shtml
http://www.uiowa.edu/facts/tuition/index.htm
http://www.finaid.umich.edu/Financial_Aid_Basics/cost.asp
http://admissions.msu.edu/finances/tuition.asp
http://www.irr.umn.edu/tuition/
http://www.northwestern.edu/sfs/tuition/undergrad_tuition.html
http://undergrad.osu.edu/costs.html
http://www.psu.edu/studentaid/costs/est_costs.shtml?reload
http://www.purdue.edu/futureboilermaker/costs/tuitionfees.html
http://www.admissions.wisc.edu/costs.php

How to Clean Aluminum Water Bottles

cckid — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 18:34:02 +0000

For the last few months, I have been using an aluminum water bottle at work. This thing is great because it keeps me hydrated at work and is fairly hygienic.
These last few days though, I’ve noticed the development of some bumpy residue that is sticking to the sides and bottom of my aluminum bottle. I’ve found out that this is just normal oxidation from the bottle’s contact with air and water.
Regardless, it’s still unsettling to see this kind of growth in my bottle so in an effort to rid my aluminum bottle of these oxidation bumps, this is what I do:
1) Once every 2 or 3 days, I put some (maybe 1/4 full) warm, soapy water in the bottle and shake it up (after capping it, of course) really well. This helps clean the bottle and slow down the oxidation process.
2) With stubborn oxidation bumps, I use aluminum bottle tablets and a special aluminum brush to help clean the aluminum bottles. It’s important not to use any kind of abrasive brush on these bottles because it could damage their inside coating and I, for one, would not like to drink aluminum bits that were loosed due to this. You can get the brush and tablets for around $15 on Amazon.
3) Another thing I do on occasion is to use some baking soda and distilled white wine vinegar on the aluminum bottles. Cap it up, shake it up, and check your progress. Step 2 works the best, but this will work in a pinch to help reduce the oxidation.

Cleaning your aluminum water bottle is easy. The key to keeping them clean is regular washing with warm soapy water and the use of tablets and the brush once in a while.