5 ms·

When I think about my master password while typing it, I sometimes get it wrong. When I don't think about it, it's always right. Judging from the bibliography

by apienx 4y ago

When I think about my master password while typing it, I sometimes get it wrong. When I don't think about it, it's always right. Judging from the bibliography of the wiki page, there doesn't seem to be much (recent) research into the effect. I'd love to know more about the nature of these (automatic) neural "highways" and why conscious thought can't reliably interact with them the way it can with the regular pathways.

Damogran6 4y ago
A long time ago, I had a server in a datacenter, that I couldn't log into remotely...I had to be standing in front of the KVM to type the password correctly. Geolocational muscle memory.
- runlevel1 4y ago
  That sounds like "context-dependent memory": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Context-dependent_memory https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Context-dependent_memory
- devoutsalsa 4y ago
  I used to use a password that had a number, and then SHIFT+number to get the special character on the number’s keyboard key. When I’d use a virtual keyboard that didn’t map the key to that special character, I couldn’t remember the password until I looked up a picture of a keyboard with a US layout.
  - deleted 4y ago
    [deleted]
- nightfly 4y ago
  I've had a password on an SSH key I used like every day for years until it was entirely in muscle memory. Then one day I just... stopped being able to type it, couldn't remember anything about it all
- t-3 4y ago
  Different keyboards do this to me. I get off-by-ones really often when the spacing or layout is just subtly off from what I've been using.
kiernanmcgowan 4y ago
What throws me is using a different keyboard and a password sounding different. I’m sure I’ve typed it in correctly, by my other senses are firing that something is amiss.
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
someweirdperson 4y ago
I've got a context-dependent skill. I can type on two different keyboard layouts. If it is one of my computers my brain switches to a different mode than when it some other computer. It fails when when some other computer uses my layout. I don't know my password at all. I remember it in terms of finger movements.
somedude895 4y ago
Yeah I can't actually remember my Ebanking contract number, which I use to login. It's only when I'm looking at the desktop version of the login page that I can retrieve it from memory.
mormegil 4y ago
There is this piece of hacker lore, where a person discovered that he could not log in into a machine when standing. As soon as he sat, the login worked. After checking whether he is not standing on the keyboard cable etc., he discovered that the keyboard had two keycaps swapped. When he was standing, he needed to look at the keyboard and wrote the password incorrectly. When sitting, the muscle memory was working, ignoring the wrong keycaps.

by apienx 4y ago

Damogran6 4y ago

A long time ago, I had a server in a datacenter, that I couldn't log into remotely...I had to be standing in front of the KVM to type the password correctly. Geolocational muscle memory.

runlevel1 4y ago
That sounds like "context-dependent memory": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Context-dependent_memory https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Context-dependent_memory
devoutsalsa 4y ago
I used to use a password that had a number, and then SHIFT+number to get the special character on the number’s keyboard key. When I’d use a virtual keyboard that didn’t map the key to that special character, I couldn’t remember the password until I looked up a picture of a keyboard with a US layout.
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
nightfly 4y ago
I've had a password on an SSH key I used like every day for years until it was entirely in muscle memory. Then one day I just... stopped being able to type it, couldn't remember anything about it all
t-3 4y ago
Different keyboards do this to me. I get off-by-ones really often when the spacing or layout is just subtly off from what I've been using.

kiernanmcgowan 4y ago

What throws me is using a different keyboard and a password sounding different. I’m sure I’ve typed it in correctly, by my other senses are firing that something is amiss.

deleted 4y ago

[deleted]

someweirdperson 4y ago

I've got a context-dependent skill. I can type on two different keyboard layouts. If it is one of my computers my brain switches to a different mode than when it some other computer. It fails when when some other computer uses my layout. I don't know my password at all. I remember it in terms of finger movements.

somedude895 4y ago

Yeah I can't actually remember my Ebanking contract number, which I use to login. It's only when I'm looking at the desktop version of the login page that I can retrieve it from memory.

mormegil 4y ago

There is this piece of hacker lore, where a person discovered that he could not log in into a machine when standing. As soon as he sat, the login worked. After checking whether he is not standing on the keyboard cable etc., he discovered that the keyboard had two keycaps swapped. When he was standing, he needed to look at the keyboard and wrote the password incorrectly. When sitting, the muscle memory was working, ignoring the wrong keycaps.