New Years' Resoultion - Stronger Passwords

Since 2012 is the year of malware and cyber-espionage, here's a post from Dennis O'Reilly on How To Master The Art Of Passwords:

Considering the number of times PC users sign into a service or network each day, we may need to remember a half-dozen hard-to-guess passwords, not to mention the various sign-in IDs we use along with the passwords (full name or first initial-last name? Case sensitive? An e-mail address?). Many computer professionals need access to dozens of secure systems, which stretches the limits of anyone's memory.

Your three options are to use a password-management program, to write your passwords down on paper (or record them in an encrypted text file), or to devise a method for memorizing hard-to-guess passphrases. While no single technique is right for everyone, here's why I suggest the memorization approach.

If you've still got some gifts to give, here's a way to give the gift of security – SplashID Key Safe – a flash drive with SplashID software built-in for Macs and PCs.Other alternatives are 1Password and LastPass.