Luckily we've started to see more sane advice on passwords come out from reputable organisations which contradicts some of the security cargo cults that you men

Luckily we've started to see more sane advice on passwords come out from reputable organisations which contradicts some of the security cargo cults that you mention. Specifically there's a good doc. from CESG in the UK https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/458857/Password_guidance_-_simplifying_your_approach.pdf https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachm... which has a far more realistic approach to good password security.