1. Make sure your passwords are strong and unique.
  2. Use a different password for each account on your computer and phone.
  3. Use a secure password manager like LastPass or KeePassX to store all of your passwords.
  4. Don’t share your passwords with anyone else, especially if they can access them without your knowledge.
  5. Be sure to regularly check your computer and phone for new attacks and update your security software if necessary.

Once a week we dip into the tips box and share some of the gems we find there. This week we’re looking at how to easily generate secure passwords with a personal algorithm, upgrade the font rendering in Windows, and manage your Android volume more effectively.

Generate Secure Passwords with a Personal Algorithm

Pat writes in with the following tip on generating secure but easy to remember passwords by using a personal algorithm:

A solid tip with an acronym to go with it? A win all around. Thanks for writing in Pat! Your method is a great and secure middle ground between using a handful of identical passwords and going full bore and having LastPass or KeePass generate totally random strings for every site.

First, I have a standard password that I have used since the beginning of time and for this example we will say it is my first name and my street address combined. My first name is Pat and my street address is 3245. Putting these together, I get pat3245 for my base password. Now when I go to a site that requires a password I combine my “BASE” password with something from that site. Lets say I do a password for https://www.howtogeek.com. I combine my base password with the three letters from the URL of the site, in this case “how to geek” becomes “htg” and I add this to my base for the new password. Now taking the htg and combining it with my base gives me htgpat3245.

But I can also move things around for several different variations on this as the following will show. I can put the htg from “how to geek” in the middle of my base password to form pathtg3245 or put it at the end of my base password to form pat3216htg. Doing this allows me to have a password for each site that is different. If I go to www.discovercard.com, I can use dc (discovercard) plus my base (pat3245) and form the password dcpat3245 or patdc3245 or pat3245dc. You can devise your own scheme and I do have my own scheme that I cannot divulge but you get the idea.

I have been using this method for ages and it has never failed me. I have a different password for all my credit cards and banking. Now if someone should get into my discover card and try to use that same password for my banking, they would quickly be disappointed. While my exact method isn’t as simple as this, most people can use this as a model and add their own twist to it. I call this method the “PATS” method which stands for Passwords Are That Simple.”

Install an Alternative Windows Font Renderer

Cláudio writes in with the following tip:

Thanks for the tip off Cláudio! We’d wondered what had become of the gdi++ project; it’s good to see somebody has taken over the design and continued Dr. Watson’s work.

For readers who are unsure of whether or not they want to mess around with gdipp; check out the screenshot above. Essentially gdipp replaces the default font rendering engine in Windows and renders fonts in a similar fashion to those found in OS X and many Linux distributions. When using gdipp you should notice the fonts appears smoother, stronger, and better rendered than they did under the default Windows renderer (in the above screenshot the top row shows Windows ClearType and the bottom row shows gdipp). You can read more here.

AudioMananger Micro Manages Your Android Audio

Tony writes in with the following tip for managing your Android audio:

Frankly we can’t believe it wasn’t the first app we downloaded either. After your tip off we took it for a spin and loved it. If you’re looking for an easy way to create profiles it’s a tough app to beat. Thanks Tony!