You might have seen this cartoon here before, but it’s worth repeating, as it’s that time of month.

In some cases, passwords need to longer than the 12 digit codes needed to arm a nuclear weapon.

I’m not the first to notice this. Jesper M. Johansson wrote about in-actionable security advice in an Microsoft Technet magazine article series called Passwords and Credit Cards.

So how do people remember passwords?

1. Write them down and stick them under a keyboard (aka Koolpin$Gorge*)
2. Store them in a password spreadsheet/document?
3. Use a password manager?

It’s option 3 for me.  I use the LastPass password manager. But here are some others to consider:

* a server, for a sensitive organisation, had the server password stored under the server keyboard.
Koolpin Gorge was where the server guy took his last annual leave.

edited 21 September: let’s make it 8 password managers, thanks for the comments folks.
edited 12 October: added Passgen tool description and link.
edited 27 May: added Password Minder.
edited 31st October: added Microsoft Credential Manager & Sticky Password

Windows 7 uses your BIOS version to determine what hardware drivers should be downloaded to your PC.

So updating my BIOS is one of the first things I do before I install a new operating system.

We recently had a 2 day break at Tarra Valley, and stayed at the Best Friend Holiday Retreat.  It was magic.

Here are some of the things Nikki, Robyn and I liked about it:

1. It was fantastic to be able to take our dog, Nikki, with us on holidays for the first time.
2. The six off-leash areas were not just flat paddocks, so Nikki was able to get exercise running up and down slopes.
   
   There was even a selection of dog toys at the entrance of each of the off-leash areas.
3. A place so quiet that you can hear the bird life though-out the whole day. It was an experience to wake up to bird calls, not having heard them for over 20 years. Nikki was puzzled by the sounds, because she’s a city dog.
   (more…)

This is big news, particularly if you’ve ever tried to convert an OST file to a PST file.

… In order to facilitate interoperability and enable customers and vendors to access the data in .pst files on a variety of platforms, we will be releasing documentation for the .pst file format.  This will allow developers to read, create, and interoperate with the data in .pst files in server and client scenarios using the programming language and platform of their choice.  The technical documentation will detail how the data is stored, along with guidance for accessing that data from other software applications.  It also will highlight the structure of the .pst file, provide details like how to navigate the folder hierarchy, and explain how to access the individual data objects and properties….
- Paul Lorimer, Group Manager, Microsoft Office Interoperability

I was watching someone install Windows XP on a system with SATA drives the other day.

The PC would power up, look briefly at the CD/DVD drive, and then carry onto the hard disk.

The problem was that the SATA option in the BIOS, was set to AHCI.  To boot from a CD/DVD, you need to be in IDE Emulation mode.

Once the setting was changed to IDE emulation, Windows XP installed just fine.

Post install, you can set the BIOS SATA mode back to IDE.

Update:
Ed Bott, of Windows 7 Inside Out fame, amongst other things, was kind enough to call past.
Ed doesn’t see the issue I have.  After some Googling, I do believe it’s a Gigabyte motherboard/CD Bootloader issue.  Heck, I can duplicate the issue with Linux (Ubuntu 9.04), so I know it’s not just Windows.
Computers, you’ve got to love ‘em!.

In Victoria, an injury in the workplace does include

“health” includes psychological health
Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004, section 5 Definitions.

I never knew that until recently.

Once worked as a bank teller; with all the security aids to keep the unwashed customers from assaulting and robbing me.  Security adis such as counter barriers and pop-up security screens.

Now imagine if your boss said,

“We want to foster an open relationship with our client base, so we’re going to remove all those security aids.”

Well it happenned in Victoria not so long ago.  And yes, it’s being appealed under the Occupational Health and Safety Act.

I wasn’t entirely surprised to learn that some academic has learnt that people who make a mistake, learn their subject better.

No surprise there.

There are occupations where most of the training involves knowing what to do when things go wrong.  Be it train driving, flying an aircraft, or working as an IT shift supervisor.  Or as I like to put it:

Any monkey can sail through calm waters.  It takes take and experience for when things go wrong.

I’m surprised it took research for an academic to realise this.  I’m off to see if the folks at Ig Nobel have heard.

Gardening Australia: Geranium

If you like this, you might like some of the other Motorcycling posts.