I want to write about something that i think is absolute genius: Password Maker. I am slowly in the process of changing my passwords to use the kind of passwords that are generated by this code.

It's really very simple. It takes an input string (i use the domain name of the site where i am logging in) and hashes it with a super password. The hash can be MD4, MD5, SHA-1 or a myriad of other complex encryption algorithms that i will never understand! I would guess that all these algorithms are one-way so that nobody could ever find out your super password.

What it means is i actually don't know my passwords for every site! I don't need to! I just go here and generate them each time i need them. It's perfectly safe because it doesn't store anything, but for my own peace of mind i have downloaded a copy for my own, which i have slightly customised.

Obviously i'd rather use OpenID everywhere and do away with passwords altogether, but until that particular Utopia arrives, this is a good way of making unique, un-guessable passwords and not worrying about remembering them.

Anyway, just wanted to share! :) passwordmaker.org