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What is the real purpose for requiring passwords
in order to participate in a discussion forum
like this? Does keeping track of participants
offer enhanced security for the website? I
don’t see how that is so. Even if someone
were to ‘impersonate’ another participant it
could cause some confusion, perpetuate misinformation, or hurt some feelings, all
of which could be done regardless of what
name you use.
By unnecesarily requiring the use of more &
more passwords, pin numbers etc. in our everyday lives, it really encourages people to do the ‘dumb’ thing and use the same password in multiple places. This thereby jeopardizes security where
it is needed the most!
Perhaps the thing Taunton Press is most interested in, is collecting marketing information without
having to explicitly state what it is doing.
Replies
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What is the real purpose for requiring passwords
in order to participate in a discussion forum
like this? Does keeping track of participants
offer enhanced security for the website? I
don't see how that is so. Even if someone
were to 'impersonate' another participant it
could cause some confusion, perpetuate misinformation, or hurt some feelings, all
of which could be done regardless of what
name you use.
By unnecesarily requiring the use of more &
more passwords, pin numbers etc. in our everyday lives, it really encourages people to do the 'dumb' thing and use the same password in multiple places. This thereby jeopardizes security where
it is needed the most!
Perhaps the thing Taunton Press is most interested in, is collecting marketing information without
having to explicitly state what it is doing.
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Jane,
For myself, I like the idea that it would at least take a bit of effort for someone to "put words in my mouth." The way some of these discussions go, it gets confusing enough without any impersonating.
As for the marketing, I haven't seen any evidence that Taunton is doing any of that. I am still waiting for the day there is a Porter Cable ad at the top of the page.
Rich Beckman
*Fear not Jane Smith as we are all part of one continuum, are we not?Near to the stream,J
*Hey Jack. . . you should take youri mellowover to the i rooferthread. . . LOL
*Roofer thread, roofer thread, roofer thread,....say that ten times!!!!Tongue tied but fingers didn't skip a beat.Nearer to the stream,J
*Got any i pinhole burns on the keys????
*Wait a minute....Where there's smoke, there's....FIRE!!!Quick....Email water!!!!Not near enough to the stream!!!JThe Smokey Mountains....I thought they were moonshine country...hmmmm
*
I asked Sean to nuke the thread because, as Jerry pointed out in the wee hours, it could lead to a larger security breach that I didn't even think of in my haste and hubris. I hope that by the time you read this he has done so.
The basic point was, use jumbles of letters and numbers as passwords, not words or meaningful numbers. Like my well-intentioned post, a bit of oversight can lead to unimagined problems. I guessed a password out of the blue, figured I'd give it a shot, and was quite astonished when it worked. But I shouldn't have gone on to write the post; rather, I should have notified the individual by e-mail and given him time to batten the hatches.
My sincerest regrets if this in any way harms the person whose password i cracked. I'm new to much of this stuff myself, but know enough to think twice before taking a leap.
*Gabe was right, a kindergarten teacher with a big stick would be the best supvervisor, for this room at least. Andrew just had to apologize, and sound really sorry, in front of the whole class.Thats funny.Bet somebody pays for all the pent up anger later.