Last week, my laptop died a sudden, spectacular death by drowning as a full cup of coffee poured into its keyboard. It emitted a pop sound, and the screen and all power shut off.

What would be your reaction? Mine was to immediately unplug the power cord and remove the battery. Then I took it over to the sink and poured out the coffee. Remembering tales of people flushing keyboards with water, I ran some fresh water over the keys and then set to work. I removed the keyboard, the palm rest, a few of the inner cards, and let it sit without power for several hours. Apparently not long enough.

Why use a strong password

In the online world, security plays a role in all online activities. Passwords are the most commonly used method to limit access to specific people. In last month's newsletter, we discussed assessing the relative value of systems protected by passwords, and grouping passwords across locations with similar trustworthiness.

In a nutshell, don't bother creating and remembering strong passwords for low value systems, and certainly don't use the same passwords for low value systems that you use in high value systems.