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Overcome Password Frustrations with “Take Control of Your Passwords”

Do you find juggling Web site usernames and passwords frustrating? I know I do, thanks to having over 300 Web accounts, accumulated over a decade or more. During that time, the recommendations for secure passwords have changed significantly, and both the likelihood of problems and the liability of having accounts compromised have increased radically. It’s maddening, and, honestly, a bit scary, especially after the high-profile hacking of Wired writer Mat Honan last year (“Watch TidBITS Presents “Protecting Your Digital Life”,” 22 August 2012), coupled with password thefts from the likes of Yahoo, Twitter, and Facebook.

Luckily, Joe Kissell is on the case, and his latest ebook, the 88-page “Take Control of Your Passwords,” calmly offers a secure, reliable strategy that you can apply with a minimum of fuss. But rather than write more about it here, we wanted to have some fun, so we commissioned our friends Snaggy and Nitrozac of the Joy of Tech to create a special “Joe of Tech” comic (click it to expand).


Even better (if anything could be better than a Joe of Tech comic!), Joe put together this short intro video — it provides a humorous look at the problems Joe helps you solve in “Take Control of Your Passwords.” Well, unless you’re using a Commodore 64.

Lastly, in a reprise of something we did with the 2003 release of our first title, Joe’s “Take Control of Upgrading to Panther,” if you find this ebook helpful, write to us about your experiences — for example, how you overcame bad password habits or solved a challenging password problem. (If you want to include a photo of yourself, perhaps with a cranky “uncle” you’ve helped out with advice from the book, feel free!) We’ll post the most interesting and creative responses on the Take Control Web site, and once a month (for the first 3 months after publication) Joe will pick his favorite story and send the lucky reader a batch of his famous homemade chocolate chip cookies. Photos and testimonials about the cookies are
also welcome, of course!

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