This is my crazy password creation scheme. Using this method you will be able to create ridiculously strong passwords like Wh++2b$3,+@m@c3 yet still be able to remember the password after only a few tries. As far as I know, this scheme is not vulnerable weaknesses in other password schemes. Read on to find out more.

I've been stumbling onto blogs that provide "tips" for installing a WiFi network. Unfortunately several of these sites suggest disabling SSID broadcast, enabling MAC address filtering and other terrible suggestions as security tips. This is utter nonsense so I'm going to show you whyNOT doing this is a better decision.

Take this analogy. Everyone knows banks have cash. If I take down the "Bank" sign in front of the bank it doesn't make the bank any more secure because bank robbers still know it's a bank. Removing the sign only makes it harder for customers to find. This is just like hiding your SSID. It decreases usability for legit users but has no impact on bad guys.

Lets use the bank again but this time the bank has a guard who will only allow entry to people wearing a simple sticker with a valid account number. A robber could watch any customer enter, copy their account number and walk right in. On the other hand, if you forgot your account number you'd have to refer to your statements to look it up. This guard is about as ineffective as MAC address filtering.

One of my coworkers today mentioned that some Japanese are less than pleased with their iPhones. Besides the typical complaints, battery life, software lockdown, etc. he also mentioned a few complaints that were specific to the Japanese market. Some of the items below have been standard on most/all phones in Japan for years so some customers may have just assumed these would be included on arguably the most kakoii phone available.

Check out the list below the break.

Here's a little trick that I haven't seen on any of the tons of redundant of Firefox 3 tips blogs.
Simply drag images from a page to a local directory to save. How easy is that!

This will even work on sites that try to prevent users from stealing content through JavaScript.

First of all, if you're not browsing the web with third party cookies disabled please stop reading and disable third party cookies for your own protection. Third party cookies (TPC for the remainder of this blog) are generally a bad thing. Don't believe me, listen to Security Now!

Unfortunately, you may have noticed that some of your extensions broke after disabling TPC. There are a number of extensions (add-ons) which require TPC but it's always safer to whitelist trusted sites than to try to blacklist all the bad ones. Here are some extensions which require TPC exceptions and the domain required for the exception. You should try to whitelist the most specific level domain (subdomain) where possible.

As if Japan weren't already a geek heaven, many apartments in Japan (mansions as they're called here) are equipped with fiber to the home FTTH broadband.

I've seen my downloads occasionally hit burst speeds of up to 20 Megabytes per second using DTA.  I took a few screenshots today as I was downloading Ubuntu but was only able to get up to 16.53MB/s.

Gmail is the best email solution in my opinion but there have been a few reported cases of lost emails so it's always a good idea to keep an offline backup. There are a number of ways to do this and even a few freeware and commercial applications made specifically for backing up Gmail but I prefer a more standard solution and free is always a good thing.

Building a home firewall router is a right of passage for any geek. We all start out with a retail device from one of the major vendors like Linksys or Netgear but soon outgrow the limited capabilities.

For many geeks the next level is flashing their router with a custom firmware such as the popular DD-WRT. This unlocks the full potential of the router's hardware but still don't offer the features and flexibility of an enterprise class firewall.

Japan's attempt to disguise their whaling industry as "research" may be working for them as a legal loophole but they're not trying very hard to hide the fact that they're eating the "research" waste.

Here's a sign I saw outside a restaurant in Shinjuku (Kabukicho).  Bears an unusual resemblance to the beef cuts diagram doesn't it?
Click the picture to zoom.

This is the first entry to my "My 2¢ (two cents)" series, an open discussion of topics from the web and podcasts.

Security Now! Episode 134

For those who are not familiar with Security Now!, I highly recommend it.  It's a great podcast and I have certainly learned a thing or two but it's not without it's flaws, some of which go uncorrected.  This is one of those uncorrected yet important flaws that I've mentioned to Steve using his feedback form but sadly got no mention on the air...