Passwords and Pasta

Had no picture for you today, had to use Photobooth on my iMac 5 minutes ago

Almost 10 o'clock and I am heading off to bed shortly, to read a while.

What have I got for you today?

Two things:

You know when they advise you to use complicated passwords for your internet accounts, with symbols and numbers mixed in with letters? I've never bothered. I thought "Who could guess what word I'm using?" and besides, if you're not supposed to write it down, and I choose something complicated, I'll never remember.

Well d'uh, this never occurred to me, but according to Norah Young of CBC Radio's show Spark, computer hackers don't guess. They use a computer program that runs through and tries every word in the dictionary until it comes to your password. Ahhhhh!

I never thought of that (and why don't they ever explain the reasoning behind what they tell you to do and not do? you know, so it makes sense. Some of us don't just do what we're told; apparently we're not that smart). Guess who changed her passwords into some fancy-dancy word combinations tonight.

And here's a new (to me) trick for keeping pasta from boiling over the sides of the pot. Thank you very much to Robyn at Dinosaurs Can't Eat Pizza for this:

“Do you know about putting a wooden spoon across the top of the pot to stop the water from boiling over? Someone told me about it (I don’t remember who), and it works like a charm.”

I'm going to try it next time I make spaghetti, which I will when Emil's here next week. He looks longingly around the kitchen, hoping I'll make something for supper, and I say "Got any ideas?" and he always says "Spaghetti or macaroni would be good."

He is staying at Aylesbury House, the group home, this weekend, but coming with me to a house concert at Karen's on Monday evening and then spending the night here, and the next night too because his household is driving to Regina for an overnighter to do some shopping. He didn't want to go. "I've already got my trip to see Neil Young's concert in Saskatoon on the 14th," he said. Definitely his mother's son, that one. You know, conserving his energy.