A word about passwords: lots of people tell you to create screwy-looking passwords with uPPer and LowER case and all kinds of strange symbols in them.

 

It turns out that this is bad advice—it may look difficult to you, but to a program that is trying to figure out your password, a character is just a character. So it is harder for you, but not for the bad guys. It turns out that what is most effective is length.

 

Studies have shown that a long, simple password is much harder to crack than a short "complicated" one. Needless to say, you shouldn't use a name or a single word that would be found in the dictionary, even if it is long.

 

But a short phrase, coupled with a number of some kind, will create a password that is virtually impossible to "crack", yet easy to remember. So if your password is "Icanrememberthispassword12345" or "Ilovestrawberryicecream!!!!!" it will be virtually impossible for the bad guys to figure out.