When it comes to password security, a password should contain letters (mixed case), numbers, special characters, and be as long as possible. Also it should be different for each website. Of course this is extremely hard for your average human to do, enter KeePass Password Safe. KeePass not only creates strong passwords, but it keeps track of them for you in an encrypted database using Advanced Encryption Standard (AES, Rijndael) and the Twofish algorithms. It will even enter your user name and passwords into a website with the shortcut key of CTRL+ALT+A. It knows which website by matching the titlebar with the entry title.

It works on more than just websites and has limited macro code that can be written to get around those (attempted) “Two Factor” logins. It gets confused since some websites use the same generic names in their titlebars (eg “Sign In”). With Firefox, You can overcome this limitation with the “Customize Titlebar” plugin and the “Auto-Type-Window” functionality of KeePass.

Best of all, there is a portable version for when you are on the go. Thought it is only the 1.x version (2.x version requires .NET which breaks portability), it works extremely well. However using an untrusted computer should still be avoided when possible since your information could be captured.

References:
KeePass Password Safe
KeePass Password Safe Portable

Customize Titlebar

When attempting to set up a wireless network, there are few things to keep in mind. This is a high level overview of the different parts of a wireless network. Trying to cover all the details about how to set up the network for each router would take more than this post. Instead I will cover the network details and security considerations, and more importantly how wireless is not entirely secure. This does not cover all the different networking considerations in detail, but is more aimed as a starting point for learning about wireless networking.

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With phishing attacks becoming more prevalent these days it is important always be alert and pay attention to where you are entering your online information. If you are not familiar with phishing, it is when someone attempts to get sensitive information (eg personal, financial) by masquerading as a trusted entity such as a bank website or an email from your ISP.

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Windows have several shortcuts that you can use to save time. So the next time you are typing away on the keyboard, use these shortcuts instead of reaching for the mouse. If you like using the mouse, there are some shortcuts to expand the usefulness of the mouse. Learning these shortcuts can make you more productive and more efficient. Most applications (and OSes) have their own specific shortcuts, but this only covers shortcuts native to the Windows OS.

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If you are running windows and you need assistance, but your geek is far away; you can use Windows Remote Assistance to allow your geek to connect directly to your computer to diagnose and resolve your issues.

Remote assistance uses Terminal Services technology, allowing a helper to assist you via a remote Terminal Services session. The request is encrypted in a public key and sent using XML. You can use Remote Assistance via Windows Messenger, via saving a file, and via email.

I run Pidgin and not Windows Messenger so I can use the
Since I run Pidgn and not Windows Messenger, so I can not use this option. Also since the people I am helping do not use Outlook or other Microsoft email clients, I have not see the email option used. This leaves the file option which I will cover here. See the References for the other options.

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