# I know MIT people are pretty smart... **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 12, 2009, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-know-mit-people-are-pretty-smart/485455 "2009-02-12T00:44:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2009, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-know-mit-people-are-pretty-smart/485455/1 "2009-02-12T00:44:02Z")
…but i don’t think that even they can remember 18770-character passwords. [This](http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=KB;en-us;q276304) is an official Microsoft support page: > [@](#): > > If you log on to an MIT realm, press CTRL+ALT+DELETE, click Change Password, type your existing MIT password, and then type a new, simple password that does not pass the dictionary check in Kadmind, you may receive the following error message: > > \*\*Your password must be at least 18770 characters and cannot repeat any of your previous 30689 passwords. Please type a different password. Type a password that meets these requirements in both text boxes. \*\* 🙂 ETA: crap! The title is meant to read “I know MIT people are pretty smart…” Could a passing mod made the change for me, please? ---
**Author:** ![seodoa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4af34b/32.png) [@seodoa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/seodoa)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2009, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-know-mit-people-are-pretty-smart/485455/2 "2009-02-12T00:55:07Z")
And it can’t be the same as any of the past 30689? That’s some pretty arbitrary dedication to security. Would anybody even live long enough to rotate through that many passwords? Do they have to change their password every hour? ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Knig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cdc98d/32.png) [@Typo\_Knig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Knig)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2009, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-know-mit-people-are-pretty-smart/485455/3 "2009-02-12T03:26:57Z")
Great - once DoD security gets wind of this they’ll make it the new password standard. And mandate that passwords can only good for 1/86400 th of a day. :rolleyes: Thanks! 😛 ---
**Author:** ![MEBuckner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mebuckner/32/2896_2.png) [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2009, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-know-mit-people-are-pretty-smart/485455/4 "2009-02-12T03:42:01Z")
Well, you know, you have to have a system. I mean, you can’t just choose an arbitrary string of characters, you have to have something you can actually remember, like Coleridge’s _Rime of the Ancient Mariner_, or Book I of the Iliad–poetry is better than prose because the meter and rhyme scheme make it well-adapted for memorization. ---
**Author:** ![NurseCarmen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5daacb/32.png) [@NurseCarmen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NurseCarmen)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2009, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-know-mit-people-are-pretty-smart/485455/5 "2009-02-12T03:44:25Z")
Microsoft? With a bug? Kerboros, not playing nice? Dear god, the world must be coming to an end! ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2009, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-know-mit-people-are-pretty-smart/485455/6 "2009-02-12T05:11:53Z")
> [@MEBuckner](#): > > Well, you know, you have to have a system. I mean, you can’t just choose an arbitrary string of characters, you have to have something you can actually remember, like Coleridge’s _Rime of the Ancient Mariner_, or Book I of the Iliad–poetry is better than prose because the meter and rhyme scheme make it well-adapted for memorization. Yeah but problem with that is it’s way too easy for a hacker program to guess. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2009, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-know-mit-people-are-pretty-smart/485455/7 "2009-02-12T05:27:02Z")
> [@Rigamarole](#): > > Yeah but problem with that is it’s way too easy for a hacker program to guess. You don’t have to use a poem. Just enable Unicode and use non-English text. I use folk tales translated from Finnish into Esperanto by Tove Jansson. ---
**Author:** ![Rhubarb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/59ef9b/32.png) [@Rhubarb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhubarb)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2009, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-know-mit-people-are-pretty-smart/485455/8 "2009-02-12T05:35:16Z")
> [@Rigamarole](#): > > Yeah but problem with that is it’s way too easy for a hacker program to guess. No one’s ever cracked my [TimeCube](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_Cube)\* password. \*Wiki link. No way am I linking to that maelstrom of inanity. ---
**Author:** ![seodoa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4af34b/32.png) [@seodoa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/seodoa)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2009, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-know-mit-people-are-pretty-smart/485455/9 "2009-02-12T05:56:49Z")
> [@Sunspace](#): > > You don’t have to use a poem. Just enable Unicode and use non-English text. I use folk tales translated from Finnish into Esperanto by Tove Jansson. Or, if the software is not Unicode-compliant, just manually type in the unicode values. u4e8cu3082u3068u306eu6885u306bu9045u901fu3092u611bu3059u304bu306auff1f Sublime _and_ secure. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Plastic\_Ninja](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f07891/32.png) [@Little\_Plastic\_Ninja](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Plastic_Ninja)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2009, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-know-mit-people-are-pretty-smart/485455/10 "2009-02-12T14:56:59Z")
Username: littleplasticninja Password: IhaveoflatebutwhereforeIknownotlostallmymirththisgoodlyframetheearthseemstome-asterilepromontorythismostexcellentcanopytheairlookyouthisbraveoeerhangingfirmament-thismajesticalrooffrettedwithgoldenfirewhyitappearsnootherthingtomethanafouland-pestilentcongregationofvap0rs1 ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2009, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-know-mit-people-are-pretty-smart/485455/11 "2009-02-12T15:20:36Z")
> [@seodoa](#): > > Or, if the software is not Unicode-compliant, just manually type in the unicode values. > > u4e8cu3082u3068u306eu6885u306bu9045u901fu3092u611bu3059u304bu306auff1f > > Sublime _and_ secure. And use the ‘austere’ method of password entry. That’s the one where every backspace and delete and re-typing is counted as an additional character rather than as a change to previous characters.