Remembering Passwords
The following is a guide to developing a password schema so you won't forget which one you used for what site. Once you are used to it, you will be able to remember most of your passwords, no matter how long ago you set it.
For sites that allow us to set passwords (or change them) Create a password 'word'. This word should be at least 5 letters long, and should not exceed 10 letters (some sites require a password of certain lengths). Don't use your name, or anything that a person could 'guess' about you, use a word that is easy to remember. For this guide I will use a 'word', dantu.
What's this? One password for everything? Not exactly. You use the base 'word' and then add on a number.
For example:
If a site is a website add the number 1You can use any set of numbers, 3-4-5, 6-7-8. All you have to remember is what you use for each.
If it is for an email account, add the number 2
If it is for a newsgroup, add the number 3
For example: On a website my password, using my example, becomes dantu1 Or if I am opening a new email account, it becomes dantu2, and so on. You can also prefix the number as in 7dantu, 8dantu, 9dantu or even put the number within the word as in dan4tu, dan5tu, dan6tu
What you end up with is a basic password 'word' and a number scheme that differentiates between what the password is for. There is enough variation with this to foul everyone but the most persistent password cracker. The schema also allows you to extend it for such things as forums (web based news) or mailing list controls, if you want to differentiate between them as well.
Using this schema, even if a person 'happens' to figure out your web site password they won't be able to automatically access your email. You end up with a 6 to 11 character password combination. If a site requires a longer password (some have a minimum of 7) then you can pad the number portion with a 0 (zero) to suit, as in dantu01, dantu02 and so on.
For those passwords that you are issued by a site (with no option to change it):
Create a folder in message center. called Gkeep or Keep. and store the actual message you get assigning you the password there.
Another idea is to store the password in the bookmark for the site. Bookmarks-->Edit Bookmarks highlight the site the password is for, Edit-->Get Info enter the password in the Description area.
