Passwords do deny access

If you think that a password is something Gandalf or forty thieves speak to the face of a stone wall in an effort to open up secret doors to mysterious caverns, you are having serious reality issues.
If you think that a password is a series of letters/numbers which when typed into the password space on an internet site will result in the immediate opening of websites for your use and entertainment, you are probably full-on schizophrenic. To your credit, if you are thinking in those terms, you may be allowed to use your name and “geek” in the same paragraph, but being geeky has nothing to do with it.
Typing any combination of letters/numbers invariably returns the same message, “the password you entered is incorrect,” followed by the line (in happy blue type), “forget your password?” You will also be reminded that your password is case sensitive which means that you will have to be in tight control of your caps lock key.
“Who me? Of course I didn't forget my password.” A second more carefully typed entry will return the same message 99 percent of the time. Occasionally, if you hold your mouth right, the Entry Nazi will let you in.
A third try works about half the time. If by the third try you are still on the outside, you may have to concede that you did forget your password. To remedy that situation, you probably begin to sift through all of your password possibilities.
Entering passwords in not only a test of your memory, but your persistence also. “Let's see, for internet shopping sites, I always use the name and age of my third grandchild. Or wait, was it my shoe size, or my hat size? Was that backward or forward? I'll try my hat size, 7-&-3-4.”
“No, I didn't think so. Okay I'll look it up.”
At this point you consult your cryptic sticky note collection which is inconveniently stuck to the bottom of your keyboard. Unfortunately the note you need is a little too cryptic or msising. The rest are the kind of notes that any kindergartner could use to rob your bank account and buy you a couple of high-tech Lego sets. Under your keyboard will be the second place he will look for your passwords, too.
If you are trying to get innto one of those high profile, high-security websites, like a bank site, by guessing the password, you are going to be in trouble. Three strikes and you are out on those sites. You will be getting a phone call to warn you that someone is trying to hack into your bank account. You will be feeling incredibly silly when you have to admit that it was only you.
If you think that using your own passwords is tricky, just wait until someone e-mails you a locked text file, which feat he will be able to accomplish without any real intent on his part. Try figuring out someone else's passwords. Maybe it's the name of his dog.
“S-P-O-T. T-R-E-Y. Okay, I'll call him.” Joe, this file is locked. What's the password?”
“What password? You need a password? How come you need a password? Try S-P-O-T.”
How do I know all this? I listen a lot. And I forget my passwords a lot. And no, they are not stuck to the bottom of my keyboard. They are stuck in the first place my grandkids would look.
One thing is in our favor though. Most people are too busy trying to remember their own passwords to want to work on ours.