![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Computers and passwords
It was Change-The-Password Day today. This day occurs when QuickTime, our home-grown time-and-attendance software system (used to sign in and out, and put down what account to charge each day's work to) decides that your current password is too old. Of course, none of the various password expiration terms agree, but I find it much simpler (if less secure) to pick one good password and use it everywhere I can.
So today I went through the hassle of picking a new, good password that I can remember. QuickTime always has more quirks about what it will accept than I think--I remembered that it wants a digit early in the password, and upper and lower case characters. But I forgot that the digit must be in positions 2 or 3, and you also must include one special character. But watch out--some special characters that QuickTime accepts are banned other places. And vice versa.
I did find a new password after three tries. (They don't give you all the password criteria at once, of course--it spits out one error message at a time for each unacceptable password.) And now I've changed to the new one on Windows, the Lotus client, the Lotus Internet password, AFS, and Sun servers in Reston, Denver, and Atlanta. I'm pretty sure I've missed something, too--it'll crop up before long. Let's hope I still remember the old password when it does...
So today I went through the hassle of picking a new, good password that I can remember. QuickTime always has more quirks about what it will accept than I think--I remembered that it wants a digit early in the password, and upper and lower case characters. But I forgot that the digit must be in positions 2 or 3, and you also must include one special character. But watch out--some special characters that QuickTime accepts are banned other places. And vice versa.
I did find a new password after three tries. (They don't give you all the password criteria at once, of course--it spits out one error message at a time for each unacceptable password.) And now I've changed to the new one on Windows, the Lotus client, the Lotus Internet password, AFS, and Sun servers in Reston, Denver, and Atlanta. I'm pretty sure I've missed something, too--it'll crop up before long. Let's hope I still remember the old password when it does...