Some of you may be interested in a new mnemonic system I have put together specifically for complex passwords. Most existing systems fall down when it comes to symbols or case, and the usual approach is to start with a phrase and then turn it into a password, altering case and swapping numbers and symbols for letters. Generally, human generated complex passwords are a lot more predictable than true “pesudo-random” passwords for reasons I won’t go into here. And most people have trouble with the mental effort in thinking of a phrase in the first place.
So I have started the other way round, and the Hookup System works with any complex password: human or system generated. In fact, the more complex it is the more enjoyably surprising is the ability to remember it.
The system is built on some familiar foundations, with a gender twist. Uppercase letters are represented by male characters, lowercase by female characters, numbers by food items, and symbols by any other thing that can be visually associated. I have a cast of male and female character photos to represent the letters. All the user has to do is think of how each character could be interacting with the next one.
This may give a clue why it is called the Hookup System. Let’s just say, there are many opportunities for vibrant and memorable interaction between people, food and other objects. The end result is a very silly story. Children love it, and it works just as well for older people, even those who thought their memories were completely shot.
I have developed a software wizard to help even untrained users to remember complex passwords really fast. Typically, about 8 characters in under 3 minutes. And it stays there.
Hi Yan, I use male images for uppercase and female images for lowercase. People notice and remember gender unconsiously, so it is an effortless way of remembering case. Also, using male and female characters tends to encourage interesting interactions. Imagine what the Male Astronaut is doing with the female doctor, and then what the female doctor is doing with the female mechanic… You can think of clean interactions, but many people find that mnemonics work best when the visualisations are …er, not clean.
Using the Triune brain model, the more that the reptilian brain is stimulated by food, sex, aggression etc, the more the Limbic brain will produce emotional responses, such as delight or disgust, which make the image more memorable.
Much of the system is built on familiar methods, but the feedback I have received from people who have been doing this longer than I have is that the case distinction is new, and the way I have implemented it certainly makes it possible for untrained people to remember passwords very fast.
The tradeoff is that it is not as extensible as systems such as the Dominic System, which have a bigger training requirement.
But it seems that extensibility is the goal of a mnemonic system. If your system only works for passwords then it leaves a lot to be desired. The average human can remember their password without mnemonics because it’s often very simple and very personal. First, you would need to advocate the creation of more complex passwords, before you simplified the process of remembering those passwords. Who can’t already remember the name of their dog with a 1 on the end of it? After you successfully advocated complex password creation, you would then need to advocate that learning a “one-trick pony”–as you called it–is better than learning a more powerful, more “extensible” system.
All that being said, you are advertising this to mnemonists who have already committed to memory and practice a system such as Dominic’s PA system, so there is zero tradeoff. You can read my post on “Creating Passwords” which uses the PAO system that everyone here is familiar with.
I’m not against the Hookup System, but if it isn’t very extensible it doesn’t resonate well with mnemonists.
I’m also not sure that your use of gender is really unique. For cards, all black cards are males for me and all red cards are females. Added to that, there is no way that gender was unique to me either. And, personally, for me two females hooking up–and honestly, two males hooking up–is more memorable (read bizarre if you like) than the traditional male/female contact.
These are just my opinions on the subject. Take 'em or leave 'em; no sweat off my back.
Josh, I think you underestimate how much trouble many people have with passwords, and how insecure many passwords are, especially if they are repeated across different sites and systems. Generally, the less technical the people, the more they need help, and the less they are comfortable with technical sounding solutions.
But I totally agree with you that the Hookup system is no substitute for people here using tools like PAO. However I thought you might be interested, as some other mnemonists I have spoken to have been.
Thanks for your feedback. Horses for courses, so to speak.