The best password ever!
I am sitting at my daughter’s desktop computer troubleshooting a virus issue. I’ve been at it for forty minutes or more, defragging, reconfiguring, updating virus definitions, restoring order. I am almost done.
“Windows can’t update important files while the system is using them,” the screen says.
I imagine a tiny tech guy typing this message. He is sitting at a miniature desk somewhere between the hard drive and the motherboard.
“Save any open files, and the restart the computer,” the computer elf says. I click closed all the open windows and hit the re-start button. , The Windows screen soon re-appears with a flourish of music and a demand for entry credentials.
“What’s your password?” I ask my daughter. She is sitting in the kitchen reading an Archie comic.
“I love you,” she says “with no spaces.”
I smile. The elf will love this. I whisper it into his ear and the screen comes magically to life. iloveyou How many doors – not to mention Windows – those three small words can open. Her desktop is restored. Life can go on.
“Your computer is fixed, my love,” I say. “I think it was actually your password that was the final fix.”
She appears by my side, anxious to get back to her music, her Sims, her Facebook page. She kisses my head.
“Thanks mom,” she says.
“Anytime,” I reply, rising from her chair. She sits down, grabs the mouse and heads for her favourite feed on YouTube. Opens a Word document to work on a poem. Boots up Itunes to synch her music. I watch over her shoulder for a few moments. iloveyou. nospaces.
My gem of a daughter, who knows the trick to a password worth keeping.