I've been thinking about passwords. In particular, how can I help eleven year-olds to choose secure passwords that they won't have forgotten a week later?
Thanks to a suggestion from Mr Jones, I was tempted to go for the xkcd approach:
...but I think may be too abstract for younger children.
Mr McSwan suggested Dinopass. Child friendly and "good enough" security for now... as long as I remember to revisit password security every year as they get older and discuss how they can make them even better.
Do you have a fun password utility/site you can recommend?
I think it's time for xkcd to feature properly. Here are some of my favourite tech-related xkcd comics. (Note, click the comic to go to the xkcd site and see the comic full size. Also, once on the xkcd site, leave the mouse on the graphic and enjoy the description that appears after a short pause!)
This comic may only make sense if you understand that there are 10 types of people: those who understand binary and those who don't.
I was thinking again this week about ICT verses Computing Science? I wonder where it would be placed on the "purity" continuum?
I would guess somewhere between Physics and Maths... but no doubt many other scientists would slap me for even suggesting this.
And finally, something I have printed out and laminated:
I am knd of surprised that I haven't featured xkcd here before as it is one of my favourite comic strips. It has a strong tech/nerd bias but it also deals with romance, relationships and some frankly odd hobbies.
And talking of odd hobbies, what about this:
Brilliant idea and typical of the sideways look at the world taken by the comic.
Now, when I see a comic that I like, I might bookmark it, or send a link to friends, but the followers of xkcd went that extra mile. They brought the comic to life as can be seen on the Chesscoaster page. I especially like the picture about a third of the way down the page where are playing Jenga!
Have you ever recreated a picture or a comic? Remember to share it here if you have.
I first noticed Alan Moore in the 1980s when he was writing for 2000AD. I remember enjoying Skizz but it was D. R and Quinch that really hooked me in. (Brief aside: I looked up Alan Moore on Wikipedia to make the above hyperlink and discovered that he did comic strips in the Sounds under the name of Curt Vile which I read and enjoyed in the 1970s. It seems I was a fan of Moore even before I knew I was.) I became even more impressed with his work as I read Warrior magazine where he wrote The Bojeffries Saga (a hugely funny and, in my opinion, underrated series), Marvelman (later re-titled Miracleman thanks to a bunch of numpty lawyers from Marvel comics) and V for Vendetta.
What has prompted this trip down comic memory lane is the immanent release of a new film based on his Watchmen story. It has to be said, Moore's work has been badly treated by Hollywood in the past (Exhibit A - The League of extrodinary Gentlemen - brilliant gaphic novel, extraordinarily poor film) but I've heard some positive noises about the Watchmen movie. (Although I've also heard they've changed the ending which is a bit worrying.)
So where's the "fun" in this belated Fun on Friday? (A snigger on Saturday?) It comes from the pre-publicity for the film which I found to be fun. The first I encountered was this YouTube clip:
I like this because there is no direct link to the film - instead it, and associated material, places you in the world of the Watchmen and leaves you to explore from there. They have also created a Flickr account, a New Frontiersman website and a New Frontiersman Twitter account. Of course, they have the usual official movie website too but I thought the presence on social networking sites was fun. What do you think? Interesting use of the read/write web or cynical marketing tat?
Either way, enter the world of the Watchmen and have fun this Friday... er Saturday.
I hope to post the First Fun on Friday of the New Year later today (but then, I've been intending to write a blog post all week...). However, just a quick update on a previous Fun on Friday where I talked about comicbrush.
I just noticed today that comicbrush has added many more free art packs including cartoon people, clothes, animals and dinosaurs... and free Christmas themed art packs but I'm either a bit late or very, very early in finding these.
Another new feature is the comment facility in the Gallery section so you can start to interact with fellow comicbrush users. Next on my wish list would be a favourite option so you can bookmark comics you like and some sort of add friends facility to support communities. And while I'm on community building, the option to create groups (like Flickr's groups) would be jolly useful.
Essentially it's a site that lets you create your own comics - three/four panel comic strips or full comic book pages - and share them online. Here's one I created earlier:
I know there are other comic creation tools out there, for example Comic Life for desktops and ToonDoo, Gnomz or the Doctor Who Comic Maker for online comic creation) but Comicbrush looks interesting for a couple of reasons. For a start, there's the range of different comic styles you can create and the facility to import your own background pictures. What I find most interesting though is the link with 2000AD. Apparently the people behind Comicbrush own 2000AD so there is some art work from Judge Dredd available and some Rogue Trooper stuff too. A Dave Gibbons font set is also available for use on the website.
The site is in beta testing at the moment and there are a few rough edges. Hopefully it will be developed further before being officially launched. For example, I would hope to see more artwork available before too long. Also, currently it lacks any read/write web goodness. There is a half-hearted share option but no real way to embed your creations in other pages (for example a blog). It also lacks any YouTube style comment/favourite options, so there is no sense of a Comicbrush community working and sharing together.
However, it looks good, it is (relatively) easy to use... and it is fun on a Friday. Go... create a comic and then leave a comment here to share your creation!
Disclaimer bit!
Opinions expressed in this blog are not necessarily those of my employer. The use of any copyright terms or material is not a challenge to the ownership of those materials.
Fun on Saturday. Sorry - late again.
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