Sunday night we were at a friend’s home for dinner. We were trying to play some music through our hostess’s iPhone to their new wireless BOSE speaker on the patio. No problem I said – what’s your Spotify password?
The blank stare I got in return let me know the “Password Dilemma” had struck again. Then we needed the Apple ID password!
Soooo…it was off to flipping through “the little book”. You know, the one everyone has with every password and every variation of every password, scrawled in some random order.
Then Monday morning I received this, tagged on to the end of an email from one of my web clients.
“Do you use an app or have a handy way to keep track of logins and passwords? I’m growing weary of leafing through the spiral notebook each time I try to get onto one of my ‘less frequently accessed’ sites!”
Short answer – no. I’ve been trying to set up a spreadsheet with all of them on it, but it’s next to impossible to keep up. I have most “remembered” on my browser, but if I am away from my computer – I’m screwed!
Seems it’s time to look for a reasonable, accessible and reliable solution.
I remembered hearing a woman on CBC Radio’s The Sunday Edition, teaching the vintage host, Michael Enright an easy-to-remember system for creating passwords. It’s not guaranteed unbreakable, but it’s FREE and easy – once you get the hang of it.
If you want to give it a try, here’s the link to click.
This was all prompted by Enright’s essay on the frustration of passwords. It’s a fun read (or listen, if you prefer).
One of my other web clients had mentioned to me that her ‘computer nerd” son has got her using “LastPass“. This is one of many software solutions to the perpetual password problem. They have a FREE version as well as a Single ($24 annually) and Family ($48 annually) version. I think we will be giving that a try.
If you primarily use an iPhone, you might want to take a look at this article on The Best iPhone Password Manager
What system (if any) do you use to keep track of your passwords? Let me know what you think of the solutions I’ve posted here. Post a comment below.
