Hasta La Gadget!

This article was written on April 30, 2010 by CyberNet.

One topic that is always sure to strike up a nerdy conversation is whether you should let your browser store your passwords. There is the obvious security risk of what happens when someone gets remote access to your computer, or even worse physical access. We’ve seen plenty of utilities that are able to quickly extract anything that isn’t protected by a master password, but the bigger issue is that not all browsers (like IE) even support a master password.

So what do you do? One option, albeit not my personal favorite, is to not have the browser store the password at all. As one of our commenters pointed out there is a good compromise in a situation like this, where you can get the convenience without forfeiting the security. The key is having the browser remember only part of the password, and then you typing in the latter half of it manually. Here’s a better breakdown as to how this works:

1. Go to a website that requires you to login.
2. Enter in your username, and then in the password field enter in only part of the characters. For example, only enter 10 out of the 15 characters of your password.
3. Submit the form, and the website should say the login failed (since you didn’t enter in your full password in the previous step). However, you should have still been prompted by the browser to save the password (like in the screenshot above). Go ahead and save it.
4. The next time you have the browser autofill in the username and password all you have to do is type in the remaining 5 characters.

A good way to take advantage of something like this is to make the part the browser remembers extremely hard to guess. You should use letters, numbers, and characters for that portion since it’s only the tailend of the password that you actually have to remember. Here’s an example:

My username: cybernetnews
My full password: 8^leU-4T_cybernet
Have the browser save this part: 8^leU-4T_
All I have to type in at the end is: cybernet

Unfortunately this solution doesn’t actually work in Chrome since it doesn’t prompt you to save a password until it knows it went through successfully, but it does work just fine in Firefox and Internet Explorer. Since Firefox already supports using a master password I’d say this is less important there, but it’s more useful in IE since your passwords are always up for grabs with very little work.

A big thanks to mOrloff for the tip!

Copyright © 2011 CyberNetNews.com

Related Posts:

Google Chrome Master Password Still Non-Existent?ATM Thief Reprograms Money DispenserCyberNotes: How Safe are Passwords in Internet Explorer, Firefox, and Opera?Microsoft Password CheckerCyberNotes: Is Your Password Pathetic? Use SuperGenPass

Samsung apparently decided it’s made Epic 4G owners wait long enough and beat Sprint’s planned OTA release schedule to the punch by a few hours, posting the EB13 build that will update their phones to Froyo on its support website. Click the source link for a .exe to run from a connected PC and upgrade over USB (for rooted and unrooted devices alike, running any earlier software build) or select the Mac link for an update.zip file that can be run directly from the phone’s SD card (stock devices running the most recent DI18 build only.) You’ll be restoring the device to a blank slate with the former so make sure you’ve backed up any important SMS’s beforehand. So far impressions from early upgraders on XDA-Developers suggest a noticeable performance boost, but other forum posts indicate some pesky bugs like Time Without Service battery drain are still hanging around, peep the full release notes after the break.

Continue reading Samsung Epic 4G’s Froyo update now available, no need to wait for OTA

Samsung Epic 4G’s Froyo update now available, no need to wait for OTA originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 21 Feb 2011 22:51:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  Samsung Download Center  | Email this | Comments

Welcome to the future, where scientists can print body parts. No, seriously: researchers at Cornell University have used 3D printing technology to engineer a human ear out of silicone. This should one day soon open the door to the creating functional human body parts using DNA-injected ‘ink.’ The team at the Computational Synthesis Laboratory, led by Hod Lipson, are now testing the printer as a way to crank out synthetic heart valves. Check out the ear being synthesized in the video after the break.

Continue reading Cornell University scientists use 3D printer to engineer human ear made of silicone

Cornell University scientists use 3D printer to engineer human ear made of silicone originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 21 Feb 2011 22:20:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  BBC  | Email this | Comments

So maybe a true-to-life Innerspace is still a few years off, but a professor at the University of Rochester has developed a way to take high-resolution 3D images under the skin’s surface, potentially eliminating the need for biopsies in cancer detection. Professor Jannick Rolland created a prototype that uses a liquid lens, in which a droplet of water replaces the standard glass lens, in conjunction with near-infrared light, to take thousands of pictures at varying depths. Those images are then combined to create clear, 3D renderings of what lies up to one millimeter below your epidermis. The method has already been tested on livings beings, but is likely a long way from making it to your doctor’s office, which means it’s off to the guillotine for that Pangaea-shaped mole you’ve been picking at.

New high-res imaging could make biopsies obsolete, doctors still cutting up in meantime originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 21 Feb 2011 21:20:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink PhysOrg  |  University of Rochester  | Email this | Comments

In a world where the space shuttle program was in its last days… one robot answered the call to serve… persevered… and found that… just maybe… he had the right stuff too. Now… the mission is set… the countdown is on… and the ticket is one-way. Thursday, February, 24th. 2011. Robonaut 2: The Beginning.

[Thanks, Joe B.]

Continue reading Robonaut 2: the trailer

Robonaut 2: the trailer originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 21 Feb 2011 20:15:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments