Most people don’t walk around with their credit card taped to their shirt like a “Hello, my name is” sticker. So, why do so many people seem to wear their passwords for the public to see?

The majority of security measures require the password owner to be responsible and intelligent. A password is only as secure as it’s owner. We’re all familiar with the security measure that requires you to change your password every set number of days while also restricting you to new passwords only. Many owners will see this and their password complexity will regress because of it; effectively eliminating the reason for this measure. Instead of probing their brains for a logical course of ever-changing strong passwords, many will choose a password like “amy1″. Once they’re forced to recreate their password, all they could come up with is “amy12″.

This basically voids the reasoning behind changing your password. The strongest passwords are random; utilizing upper and lowercase characters, special characters, and numbers. Strong passwords can contain a word, but they’ll be stronger if they do not. Passwords also should be long. So, how could you create a ever-changing secure password using the criteria above?

Many have turned to substituting alphabetical characters for special characters or numbers. This is known as “leet speak”, or “1337 speak”. If you’ll notice from “1337″, the one (1) is replacing an L, the three’s (3) are a backwards E and the seven (7) is basically a T. There is no definitive way of accomplishing “leet speak”, so any combination of special characters and numbers to recreate traditional characters is open.

I personally would go one step farther in creating unique memorable passwords that have the ability to change. Like many people, I have trouble remembering a persons name. To commit a persons name to memory, quite often, I need to look deeper than just a name. I seek out and apply a memorable reference to the name. Recently I met a couple named Joe and Sharon. Before our introduction, I said their names like the old movie Tarzan: “Me Tarzan, You Jane”, or “Me Joe, You Sharon”. This has allowed me to remember their names, as I often think of Tarzan before arriving at their residence now. This same thought process could be applied directly to passwords. If I needed to make an infinite amount of passwords for something related to these two people, I could use anything from the movies or books of Tarzan. Each new password could contain any vague reference that I will remember because of it’s relation to Tarzan.

This is all well and good, however, all of the password security in the world cannot physically shut a persons mouth. The biggest culprit in password theft, or cracking, comes from a person being verbally cavalier with their passwords. When in meetings with clients, or out with friends, people will often just yell it out so they aren’t bothered with typing. If you need to give out your password to anyone for a short amount of time, do not give them your current password. If you have the ability to change your password freely, change it temporarily to a shared password. Once the third party has finished using this password, quickly change it back to your secret secured password.

Can’t thing of a good secure password? Are you still having trouble remembering your passwords? Do you have too many to remember? There is help out there. Many free, online and offline, applications are available to help you stay safe:

Good Password: Good Password is a great site for generating strong passwords. By default, the “Random Password” generator is already setup to use upper/lowercase letters and numbers at 12 characters long. You can add special characters with one click of the “(.?:;!,)” checkbox.

Note: “Leet Speak” has been around for quite a while. Without going into too much detail, this password generator will take what you have written in the field and convert it to the same word. There is no definitive way to accomplish this, so other translators may be different. (e.g. Password = p4$$w0rd)

RoboForm2Go: There are quite a few products out there that will help solve the location dilemma. RoboForm2Go has a free version to get you started. It provides plug and play support, ties into popular browsers, gives you options to encrypt your passwords, and even saves non-form passwords such as Unix terminal passwords.

http://blog.wired.com/gadgets/2009/03/inamo-restauran.html

A year or so ago when Microsoft revealed their Surface hardware and software, I mentioned to Trey our IT director how cool it would be to develop something like this for a restaurant, and now someone is doing it! I suppose this will be the norm in 5 to 10 years when the price of that hardware comes down, provided it has an easy API. There are so many more things you could do with it too.

Such exciting technology.

I had a lot of time to think during the convention, comparing and contrasting us from other developers. It wasn’t until I took my car into Jiffy Lube this weekend that I put it all together.

You see, like Jiffy Lube, we provide a service. You bring your car to them, they dissect and analyze the cars performance, problem areas, etc, and discuss the solutions with you. They complete all of this in under a half hour. You can take your beater, BMW, or tricycle. They are qualified to service any vehicle. In a way, its not that different from developing websites.

When a client comes in the door, they have an idea. Whether its big or small, its an idea. We’re here to help that idea become a reality, to provide a value added service for you. Of which, we employ many of our programming toolsets and human talent in order to execute the idea to its fullest extent. It doesn’t matter what idea you bring to us, we’re going to pursue every possibility in building a solid, stable working relationship with the client so that both parties get what they want and more importantly, have fun while doing it. Everyone working in unison, a well oiled machine, just like a Jiffy Lube team.

When this baby hits 88 miles per hour, you’re going to see some serious shit.

Small town, small company. Big talent, big ideas. You don’t have to be some fifty plus sized company in a NYC loft to be big time.

If you think small, you’ll be small.

Folks know value when they see it too, which is why they come to us. There are a lot of patchwork web companies around the world. What is a patchwork web company? Well, in simplest terms, a patchwork web company is one that slaps together images and premade code for a cheaper price just to complete a contract. This leaves the customer unsatisfied long term, and their website is a house of cards waiting to implode. For example, most people are content getting by by selling someone a WordPress site with a design template for $2000 or less. Short term, it pays the bills for the shop, and feels good for the client to pay so little. But as time moves on, they will see they got what they paid for. Locked into the framework unable to scale or adapt new ideas, unreliable hosting uptime, and no true ‘ownership’ of their website.

If you can’t change aspects of the site, then you don’t really own it!

In these terms, it always reminds me of my favorite Tom Green skit, Undercutters Pizza.

There’s always someone out there somewhere, ambulance chasing, bidding low to win your favor and screwing you in the end.

That’s heavy, Doc.

Right. So what does it all mean? Caveat emptor, you get what you pay for. We may be a little bit higher than other companies, but we’re going to stand behind you and your site because that’s what you deserve. Inclind has a vested interest in your future, not hitting the road once you’ve paid us. Your future is our future. It’s a symbiotic relationship.

We’re poised for big things this year. You’re welcome to join us.

Hit it, Marty.

This is where I heard a statement that kind of jarred me.

“Oh I know, I make MySpace layouts….” – it brought my brain to a halt.

It wasn’t anything personal with her, but it was the realization I had that there are likely 1000s of young people just like her also doing the same. Some people are even making a career / making money off making MySpace layouts.

So why is this harmful to impressionable minds?

For starters, MySpace was never designed with the intent that a user would be able to toss the site theme in favor of something of their own design. To make one, you basically have to unlearn everything you knew about HTML and CSS in regards to site layouts or themes. For those who haven’t done anything with websites before, learning all the ins and outs of how to get a myspace layout to work are filling their heads with useless crap. Other social networking sites such as Virb are designed to allow the user to apply their own stylings in a non-insane way. I was actually quite impressed with Virb because it also allows you to disable all custom layouts at your discretion- something MySpace can’t do.

My best advice to her was to ditch MySpace layouts all together, and purchase a cheap web hosting account with WordPress. She would then at least have full access to change anything in the site layout while learning invaluable knowledge and design at the same time. That’s how I got started 12 years ago on Geocities (remember them?).

Could you imagine if there were sites that let you code your own add-ons, and it required you writing some screwed up PHP or Coldfusion that wasn’t accepted anywhere else in the world? How about a home builder who didn’t follow industry standards when building your home?

Can you believe some colleges still teach web design using tables and code generating software? Crazy isn’t it? It was like that when I was there and from what I’ve heard, not much has changed.

The thought of people having to do absurd CSS and table structuring just to make the myspace layout look a certain way just disturbs me. We have standards for a reason, and one of those reasons is to not repeat the sordid browser wars of the 90s which is where a lot of that mess stems from.

So for all you folks out there looking to get into web design, young or old, if you’re going to do something do it right. Refer to the giants: Zeldman, Meyer, Snook, Cederholm, etc… strive for greatness.

So why Gmail? For starters, its really simple to import existing contacts into your system from your other accounts. Gmail also supports POP3 and IMAP- for free. This means that you can use any email client like Mozilla Thunderbird (also free) from any desktop and connect to your email. Last time I checked, Hotmail and Yahoo! both charged an annual fee to do this which is ridiculous. It isolates customers who don’t want to be tied to a web interface all the time. My storage cap at that time was like 250 MB, a ridiculously small amount. So it was no contest to switch to Gmail, who offer 6 GB to 8 GB per account, almost enough to last a lifetime (I have 7000 email conversations in my inbox).

Included with Gmail is Google Docs, Google’s online alternative to Microsoft Office. It is a lightweight application for basic word processing or spreadsheet creation. You can also share access with other Gmail clients (coworkers, friends, employees) by putting in their email address into the access list. They can then access the files and make revisions without ever having to connect to a server or downloading / uploading files, its all done from the web interface. And if that isn’t enough, Google Talk is embedded into the mailbox sections loaded with your contact list. If they also use Gmail, you can IM directly through Gmail instantly through the power of AJAX.

For those that are tech savvy like me and own an iPhone or iPod Touch, Gmail is supported fully either through Safari or the device’s Mail application- which to me is even more addictive than the Blackberry (Crackberry).

All of these reasons alone are enough to cut ties with other email services and sign up with Google. If that wasn’t enough, check out this article detailing 10 Reasons To Switch To Gmail.

Thankfully, there is a solution. The good folks at Ten One Design came up with a stylus unique for the iPhone / iPod Touch glass surface- a felt tipped stylus. Not only can this be used to make you a more efficient typer, but it can double as a drawing tool as well for drawing or sketching applications. Games that require sliding (such as Tetris, or Aurora Feint) can be better fit with the stylus as well, saving the screen from oil and smudges from dirty fingers.

http://www.tenonedesign.com/stylus.php

For those who don’t know, the iPhone and iPod Touch are identical (the iPod has no phone capability, obviously). As long as iPhone is on AT&T, I’ll never have one. I don’t think I would want my phone and iPod as one anyway for various reasons, but I digress.

The AppStore boasts a few hundred applications with more on the way. Apple is encouraging developers around the world to develop for the iPhone, and even make a little money too (some apps are free, others cost anywhere from 1.99 to 99.99).  The SDK has been available for some time now, and there are tons of unique apps on AppStore. Ironically, its the free ones that seem to be the best (the paid ones are poorly to mediocrely scored). Users weigh in on AppStore apps with reviews, for usability, performance, purpose, stability. It’s like a condensed version of an Amazon product page.

I browse the AppStore daily for new apps or updates. My only complaint with it so far, if not the only one, is that there isn’t a section to see ‘New’ apps.  I can’t tell if these are mixed in with the listings, but they are not easy to spot unless you have a pretty good memory. Perhaps a future update will make this easier to view.

I am an avid music lover, so I was quite thrilled to find the following apps on AppStore. Incidentally, they are what I consider the best current apps on AppStore so far, basically because they saved me from having to invest in Sirius or XM Radio (I have a huge disdain for FM radio- its disgusting crap that never changes because the industry is so messed up, but thats a whole other topic). Now with these I have immensely supplemented my playlist of ~3000 mp3s with free streaming music:

1. AOL Radio – Besides AOL Instant Messenger, this has to be hands down the best thing AOL has ever put out, period. With tons of stations at your fingertips, there is always something brand new just a tap away. So long as you have a data connection, you have music, and its all totally free. On top of that, you can mark favorites, or tap to purchase the track from an online store, and see a list of recently listened to songs for purchasing. This alone is worth the investment for an iPod Touch / iPhone. But wait, theres more.
2. Last.fm – Last.fm was another internet service that I was a heavy user of. It works based on delivering songs to you from picking genres you like. The userbase tags songs and artists so the results that stream to you are fine tuned. I used this a lot last year to discover new music and now its on the iPod Touch / iPhone too. It also keeps complete logs of what you’ve listened to on your account page. Can’t get any better than that.
3. Pandora – I remember when Pandora was an technical demo of sorts back in my first year of college (2000). I was quite impressed at the level of accuracy and the algorithm behind Pandora that makes it such a great / unique service. It’s very simple: Pandora lets you input your favorite bands, and based on what you put in, it creates playlists for you of music it believes you will enjoy. There are so many factors and ways it indexes music its insane- and for me, it’s rarely off the mark. Over 400 different musical attributes (see List of Music Genome Project attributes) are considered when selecting the next song. These 400 attributes are combined into larger groups called focus traits. There are 2,000 focus traits. Examples of these are rhythm syncopation, key tonality, vocal harmonies and displayed instrumental proficiency. It’s almost like Pandora can read your mind.
4. Tuner – Tuner is very similar to AOL Radio, but with full listings of Internet radio stations, or ShoutCast radio stations. These are indie stations created by users and their own playlists. There is just so much music here its insane. Comedy and talk as well. I heard this app was pulled from AppStore though, but I cannot confirm.
5. WeatherBug – Normally I wouldn’t dare ever suggest to anyone to put WeatherBug on their computer, due to its bugginess and spyware/adware it throws on your PC. But for a portable device like the iPod Touch / iPhone, it’s indispensable. If only the device’s Weather program was more robust I wouldn’t need this. But when you live at the beach, this is a must have- especially for the Google Map Weather Radar mashup.

This is just the start for what AppStore will have. It will only get better as time goes on. The top 5 apps above are free, with the exception of Tuner ($5.99).

The games are great too. One game, Super Monkey Ball (first released as a GameCube title, unbelievable) uses the accelerometers to guide the ball through the mazes. Just a glimpse of what is possible with the future of handhelds in general. It’s been said that the iPod Touch alone is as powerful as the Sega Dreamcast, a console from 2000/2001 which saw its demise when the Playstation 2 was released. That is pretty damn powerful, as most fans (including me) still have/use the Dreamcast from time to time. Mine is loaded with 800 classic Nintendo games. Child of the 80′s.

Get one of these. You’ll be glad you did.

One of my favorite things to do is guess someones password. Why? Because I can usually guess it. After analyzing someones intelligence and technical prowess, you can gauge how difficult their password probably is. Pete likes to throw random accounts at me and I’ll guess the password for fun. Usually get it on the third or fourth try. Ask Kevin Howett, I could regularly guess his AIM/MSN Zone passwords quite regularly back in the day.

Here’s the scary part. Most users in the real world day to day business use passwords that are far too weak to even have any use. You would be surprised how many people use ‘password’ or ‘name123′ or just ‘name’ as a password. Tons. Or their birthdate, car, dogs name, or sports team name. This won’t protect you against anything, and choosing a password you can remember does not give you the benefits of a password at all. By just being a regular word like ‘toyota’ or ‘bill123′ any skilled cracker/hacker is going to get into your account no sweat.

Why? Well, they will tell you that choosing a password is hard. I don’t disagree with them. Having to think of something no one else is expected to discover is hard. There are services that can assist you with this.

A good password is one no one can guess, and one that would hinder even the best hacker or brute force app out there. That is why I am recommending to you to use Good Password. It will assist you in generating a password randomly or from a phrase of your liking.

While these may be hard for you to remember, don’t be discouraged. This is for your (and the company you work for) protection. I would suggest, if you must, to write them down and keep it in your wallet, or a place no one but you has access to.

Every business requires teamwork. It doesn’t matter what field you are in. Music, medical, law, military, web development, even marriage. Nothing is successful without the mutual backing of each other toward the end goal. Support comes from respect, not the requirement thereof based on a job title. Command it, don’t demand it. It starts with you!

There are 4 major factors of an individual that calculates how successful teamwork will be:

1. Respect
2. Personality
3. Commitment
4. Communication

When 1 person has these qualities, and you match them with others who do as well, you get solid team chemistry, team dynamics. This creates success.

It’s not about having a group and saying, ‘get this done’. You can’t force people to work together just because you say they have to. Remember when you were assigned group projects in school or college? Didn’t always go so well did it? You’d have a couple people not pulling their weight, another who let someone else do all the work just to pass.

It’s also not about assembling experts and throwing money at them to solve a problem.

Without chemistry and team dynamics, it just won’t work. What you’ll have on your hands is a revolving door environment, people coming in, quickly going out. New hires, quick fires, low morale.

Team dynamics is a team that can play off of each others strengths in order to support each others areas of weakness. What you have then is a tight unit where the rate of failure drops to nearly zero. Look at Google. Everyone there isn’t the best in everything, most of them are good programmers with very creative personalities and commitment to what they do. Even when Google started, Larry Page and Sergey Brin had such a solid foundation that their college project evolved into taking over the world. But Google is good, so thats okay! What I mean here is, think of all the designers who try to program, and all the programmers who try to design. On their own, they usually do great at one, poor at the other. But put them together and focus on each others strong areas (programming and design) and the end product is infinitely greater than what it was before. Each persons weakness is the others strength, together they form a successful unit. Team dynamics are a force multiplier!

Earlier I mentioned that it doesn’t matter what field you are in, that teamwork encompasses any area. So lets draw a parallel with another industry, music.

Off the top of your head, can you think of any bands that have been around a while? Lets see:

• Rolling Stones
• Rush
• Metallica
• AC/DC
• Red Hot Chili Peppers
• The Smashing Pumpkins
• Guns ‘n Roses
• Pearl Jam
• Megadeth

These are some of my favorite bands who have accumulated massive success for the last 20 years, some even more than that. But there are two on the list that don’t have something in common with the rest.

While all bands have had at least 1 lineup change, only two have a revolving door type environment. Guns ‘n Roses and Megadeth have changed their lineups at least every 2 to 3 years since they started. In particular, Axl Rose and Dave Mustaine (both frontmen) keep a stranglehold on everything from writing, playing, mixing, and deciding pay percentages. They don’t really care for the input of the others, and in their mind, they are the star of the show.

So, what happened?

Both Axl and Dave did not respect their bandmates nor attempt to communicate with them on major issues or pending work. The result ended up being band members coming and going. Their poor, controlling, megalomaniacal attitudes brought dreams and careers to an end. Everyone knows that when Slash and Izzy Stradlin quit Guns ‘n Roses, the band was effectively dead. Why? The chemistry had dissolved, you didn’t have passionate, creative people working together anymore, you just had a bunch of guys playing instruments. That just doesn’t work. Sure, you can still see them in concert today, but the only original member is Axl, and its basically just a name and a memory. Same with Megadeth. The chemistry is gone. Imagine how many more albums they could have done if they each possessed the 4 qualities I mentioned at the start of this article!

It’s the same way with web development. You can put anyone on the keyboard and write code, put anyone in front of Photoshop, anyone can give orders. But its just not the same as having a strong team who has a desire to work together.

This is why Inclind is successful at any undertaking and every client is happy with us, why we’re the best web development company in Delaware, and one of the best in the region. We’ve accomplished everything we put our minds to, or asked to do, big projects to small projects to personal things like helping each other outside the office or just hanging out. We aren’t just a face and a title, we’re human beings here to help you and help each other. We don’t just take your money and run, we make it worth your while. Your satisfaction and success is shared by us.

Let us help you »

www.kevinquillen.com

I am waiting on a few more books to come in. I now have roughly 3 on order every 2 weeks. I should be getting in ‘No Country for Old Men’, and ‘Slash’ this week.