*RANT* When people register things online, it doesn't ask for the password to your email!

[TheFriendlyAnarchist]

GAH! This is one of those things that reeeaaallly make me twitch over here. When people always think "Oh, don't register for that, I don't want to give it my email password!", I die a little inside.

It doesn't want the password for your email address(although, if you are strange enough to give it to them, I wouldn't be surprised if some of them did try it to see if it worked)!

It just needs an email address and a SEPARATE password so that it has enough information to create an account and for you to log in. So please, do the right thing.

Email Address:
Email Password:

Let me sign you up for spam }(

[Omphaloskepsis]

1. No shit.. I thought this was common knowledge.

Maybe I have super nerd powers.

[Kutjara]

2. It still amazes me that people do that.

Over the years, I've run many courses on computer and network security, and that is one of the most frequent questions I get asked. Each time, I have to do a little mental count to 10 before I give them a very calm and helpful answer (after all, these cretins pay my fees).

Companies spend large amounts of money on security hardware and software in the vain hope that some of it will make their data secure, yet the best way to get someone's username and password is still to ask them. During one session, I spent about forty minutes going through password security, ensuring that people knew that no reputable person or company would ask for their password over the phone or by email, so they must never give it out. They must also never give passwords to colleagues, because that made it impossible to maintain an audit of computer use (one of the client's legal compliance requirements). I went on and on about how there was never ever a single occasion when an employee would be required to give anyone their password. At the end, I turned to a random person in the front row and asked, "what's your Windows password." He told me immediately.

No court in the land would have convicted me...

[jobycom]

3. I just hate registering for anything.

Especially just to view a site or read an article. I usually just leave when I get a registration screen.

Although I can understand it for sites that have reader involvement, like DU, or that has a lot of polls, like IMDB, for instance. But sites that just want me to register to view contents... well, the Internet is a big place, and the site down the road doesn't require it.