Microsoft Wants To Give You A Rorschach

Preedit writes "Microsoft has set up a website that uses inkblot images to help users create passwords. The site asks users view a series of inkblots and write down the first and last letters of whatever word they associate with each inkblot. Then they combine the letters to form a password. Microsoft claims it's a way to create passwords that are easy to remember but hard to crack. But a word of warning, the story notes that Microsoft is collecting and storing users' word associations."

Not sure this will help

[Qzukk]

view a series of inkblots and write down the first and last letters of whatever word they associate with each inkblot. Then they combine the letters to form a password.

I got vavavapsva.

More seriously, if they're saving the word associations, doesn't that mean that they have the password you've just generated?

I'm shocked!!!

[b17bmbr]

microsoft is collecting and storing the data. holy crap, batman, what next. the joker has plans to take over gotham city?

P**n

[EmbeddedJanitor]

It all looks like porn to me!

Don't do it...

[daninspokane]

The blots are coded to shut your brain down if you don't have a valid regkey.

Re:Not sure this will help

[skeevy]

vulva vulva vulva penis vulva?

I'm not sure whether I should be afraid of your mind or the site...

random?

[clarkn0va]

Respond with "butterfly" and share your password with half the english-speaking planet.

db

Ballmer's unencrypted file

[Eberlin]

Anyone wanna bet Ballmer's word list looks a bit like this:
chair
developers
chair
banana
ooohshiny
developers!
developers!
developers!

Re:Not sure this will help

[BarryJacobsen]

vulva vulva vulva penis vulva? I'm not sure whether I should be afraid of your mind or the site...

Really? I'm not sure whether I should be afraid of his mind or immediately go to the site...

fubar

[normuser]

I went to the site [inkblotpassword.com] and tryed it. but none of the images look like enything.
I just end up with frfrfr...

No way....

[Bobfrankly1]

Microsoft Wants To Give You A Rorschach

If this is anything like a wet willy, I don't want one, and you can't make me.
*runs away screaming*

Re:Slight problem with this approach

[oahazmatt]

This method will not create passwords that are strong enough.

That's why I use the inkblot test, run it through a script that converts random letter combinations to MD5, convert 25% of that end result to l33t, and then randomly add a non-latin character at two locations within that result. I then write it down on my desk calendar.

All I keep seeing...

[Cytlid]

...is penguins.

Re:Not sure this will help

[Chapter80]

view a series of inkblots and write down the first and last letters of whatever word they associate with each inkblot. Then they combine the letters to form a password.

I got ********.

Mine is h2h2h2h2. [bash.org]

Vanillia? Viagra? Volousia? Pens? Va....oh wait

[StressGuy]

...you really need a girlfriend

Re:Not sure this will help

[Marc Desrochers]

bbbbbbbbbb

That all look like butterflies.

Re:Not sure this will help

[Clandestine_Blaze]

I got vavavapsva.

That's amazing! I've got the same combination on my luggage!

Re:Not sure this will help

[mithras invictus]

Ballmers new password: dsdsdsdsds

I get it

[EmbeddedJanitor]

WIuVIftWGA2p0:"When I use Vista I feel the Windows Genuine Advantage 2 point 0"

You're right I feel better already! Wow everything feels faster! Any more exclamaitions and I'd be using Yahoo!!

Re:Oblig Watchmen

[Lurker2288]

It looks like a pretty butterfly. Or maybe some nice flowers. Or a dog with a cleaved brain, either way.

Re:Not sure this will help

[DeepHurtn!]

A /.er, scared of genitalia...? I guess this proves the saying about people being scared of the unknown!

Obligatory Emo Philips

[LoverOfJoy]

"Emo, what does this inkblot look like to you?"

I said, "Oh, it's kind of embarrassing."

He said, "Emo, everyone sees something, so don't be embarrassed. Tell me what the inkblot looks like to you."

I said, "Well, to me it looks like standard pattern #3 in the Rorschach series to test obsessive compulsiveness." And he gets kind of depressed.

I said, "Okay, it's a butterfly." And he cheers up.

He said, "What does this inkblot look like?"

I said, "It looks like a horrible ugly blob of pure evil that sucks the souls of man into a vortex of sin and degradation."

He said, "No, um, the inkblot's over there. That's a photo of my wife you're looking at."

"Oh," I said, "was I far off?" He said, "No. That's the sad part."

Ob. Schneier

[Anonymous Coward]

"Most people use passwords. Some people use passphrases. Bruce Schneier uses an epic passpoem, detailing the life and works of seven mythical Norse heroes."

Re:Not sure this will help

[Vulva R. Thompson, P]

Feel free to pop in any time you like.

Re:Not sure this will help

[floki]

Greetings from Freud: http://www.pbfcomics.com/?cid=PBF233-Psychoanalyst.jpg [pbfcomics.com]

Re:Not sure this will help

[NoPantsJim]

I'd go immediately, 4 to 1 is the best ratio I've ever seen.

Re:P**n

[flabbergasted]

I usually suggest to people that they come up with a positive self talk phrase, take the first letter of each word, then replace a letter with a number that resembles it.

Something like "I am a happy person who loves their life." turns into "Iaahpwlt1", which is long, contains numbers and letters and no dictionary words whatsoever.

I use mnemonic devices also, but perhaps I should rethink my current "Nobody loves me, I wish I were dead" password. Oh, what's the use. It wouldn't matter anyway.

Re:P**n

[RealGrouchy]

A self-motivational phrase whose initials double as a secure password? That's a great idea!

Here, let me try one:

People Always Say Something's Wrong Or Really Depressing.

Awesome! I'll use it on all my accounts!

- RG>