Comments

SpaceLifeForm • September 18, 2020 4:41 PM

@ Eric Eisenhart

“Get Smart” is one answer.

“Near 10” is another answer.

Can not address the other questions.

Farewell and adieu to you... • September 18, 2020 4:59 PM

Hmm,

I don’t know what the laws are like where most people are but,

“What is your ex-wife’s newest lastname?”

Would be considered a celebration, not Nihilistic in a number of places.

Because that would mean she had got married again which under archaic laws she’s someone elses legal responsibility now. So,

1, No more alimony check,

And in some places,

2, No more child support,

3, The required selling out from under the new “happy couple” of the old matrimonial home…

But at the very least you will know you are not the only one without “the sense God gave a goose” and in all probability she was better looking back when you made that mistake so your excuse is slightly better.

But joking aside, the sad truth is the only people that win in divorces are those shark lawyers.

So the way to stop them taking a bite out of either of the now nolonger happy couple is don’t get in their clutches…

And the best way to do that as it’s been said on this blog,

“The prelude to divorce is marriage, if you don’t get married you can’t get divorced”

Also remember pre-nups may not be valid if you move or a legislator inks a new law…

moz • September 19, 2020 4:28 AM

More like “questions for starting to build my blackmail library”.
Beyond

What is the name of your least favorite child?

you should add

on what date did your last marital affair start

and

what is the name of your mistress/toyboy’s pet

I think questions that ask for structured data like dates can be really effective at forcing people to give real answers rather than the answers like “pISwTRUm4dgYKIn6P10” I normally end up giving.

Singular Nodals • September 19, 2020 8:40 AM

McSweeny’s is generally the shiny brittle over-processed pseudo-intellectualism that is a symptom of decadence, but, as a wise woman said, you can find good things in a garbage pail, viz.

“What sports team do you fetishize to avoid meaningful discussion with others?”

which captures neatly the excessive privatization and subjectivization that is a major blight destroying society really since Descartes.

We’re doomed.

MikeA • September 19, 2020 1:14 PM

@farewell etc:

if you don’t get married you can’t get divorced

While technically true, this misses a lot of what makes divorce painful. Breaking up a long-term relationship, even one without the State certification, is often painful. Loss of money is not the only factor in such a life change.

(Yes, from experience. There are a lot of ways to lose money, so fixating on one may blind you to those other losses)

Nuk • September 21, 2020 6:36 AM

moz wrote:

I think questions that ask for structured data like dates can be
really effective at forcing people to give real answers rather
than the answers like “pISwTRUm4dgYKIn6P10” I normally end up giving.

Hey just now understood, thats actually the shasum of the actual answer. So the AuthProvider doesn’t get the actual answer (your potentially sensitive data).

If you use that method though, make sure, you remember the algorithm (especially the salt), and exact charset used 😉

Miguel Farah • September 21, 2020 8:28 AM

@moz “I think questions that ask for structured data like dates can be really effective at forcing people to give real answers rather than the answers like “pISwTRUm4dgYKIn6P10” I normally end up giving.”

You’d be surprised at the amount of times my answered date “10-10-1582” has been accepted as valid… on sites in&for my country, where the 1752 excuse is definitely not valid.

EvilKiru • September 22, 2020 1:12 PM

I never answer security questions “accurately”. Instead, I use random junk answers that I store, along with question each answer goes with, in my password safe (which has multiple backups).

moz • September 25, 2020 3:13 AM

@Clive – hadn’t thought of it that way – definitely worth comparing the answers they give you with the answers they give the security system. Interesting to try to work out which one is the truth.

It’s like those surveys where security researchers “prove” that people will hand out their passwords for Chocolate. How can you be sure before you test the password?

@Nuk, afraid it’s nothing quite so subtle – more like EvilKiru’s answer.

Clive Robinson • September 25, 2020 6:17 PM

@ moz,

hadn’t thought of it that way

Hey I aim to both educate and amuse you might be surprised at just how many little puns and snarks I’ve slipped by the boss (or maybe they make him smile as well, though I did manage to shock the moderator once 0:)

If I can slip an idea into peoples thought zone along with a smile “mission accomplished”.

Whilst life does not have to be musical hamsters and tap dancing penquins, it does need something different from time. Thus I used to do a good break-dancing Klingon from time to time, and trust me when I say it got people thinking, as did my ability to kick a pile of coins off of the top of a door without touching the door and whilst keeping the other foot flat on the floor you’ld be surprised at just how many people are daft enough to bet it’s not possible 😉

With regards,

It’s like those surveys where security researchers “prove” that people will hand out their passwords for Chocolate. How can you be sure before you test the password?

Sometimes such experiments arr not what they appear… This was outlined in a scene of the film of Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy written by Douglas Adams who allways hadva sense of the absurd with a twist, theres a lovely couple of lines.

Slartybartfast : The best laid plans of mice.

Arthur : You mean the best laid plans of mice and men

Slartybartfast : Hardly

Arthur : We are talking about small white fury creatures with a cheese fixation.

Slartybartfast : I know not of this cheese you speak of but they are projections into our plain of hyper intelligent pan dimensional beings.

Arthur : I think I know where you might have misunderstood, we used to run tests on mice.

Slartybartfast : Er no, that might have been what they wanted you to think, but realy they were testing you. You were just parts of their computer program.

Leave a comment

Login

Allowed HTML <a href="URL"> • <em> <cite> <i> • <strong> <b> • <sub> <sup> • <ul> <ol> <li> • <blockquote> <pre> Markdown Extra syntax via https://michelf.ca/projects/php-markdown/extra/

Sidebar photo of Bruce Schneier by Joe MacInnis.