5. The Lost Art of Passwords: What We Lost When Hackers Conquered the Internet

This article begins by noting the increase in password hacking, which results in average people needing to create more and more complex passwords. Unfortunately, the more complex and safe the password, the harder it is to remember it, especially since passwords don't tend to form coherent words or logical ideas. Randy Malamud, English professor and writer, as well as author of this piece, thinks that even categorizing passwords as "words" degrades "real" words. He proceeds to explain where passwords came from and how they were used before computers came along. Passwords were anything that would grant access to those who knew them. Back then, passwords served to facilitate access, giving seemingly insignificant words more value. Today, however, users are doomed to memorizing long strings of gibberish, no longer able to use "coherent language [...] to navigate the world around us." This shows that even universal, instantaneous communication has a dark side. The cost of the interconnected nature of "cyber-communication" is forcing users to remember unintelligble "password-ese."

Malamud begins the article with a factual statistic about password theft, giving the article a very credible look right from the get-go. When describing the history of password usage, he uses plenty of examples and definitions, helping keep the reader always on the same page. He also uses humor, as when associating censored cartoon words such as "$#!!&$#&" with the complicated gibberish of passwords. Such instances of humor throughout the article keep it light without downgrading the importance of the subject. He also does a good job of connecting the article, linking the beginning and end points of it well. What Melamud gains in unity, however, he lacks in consistency. The way he presents his arguments makes it difficult to determine whether his main impression is that "today's passwords [shouldn't be called] words" or that "we are doomed to wander haplessly through the babble of '$#!!&$#&' and '1TiC!AsG.'" Also, this mix of theses results in weak transitions at various points in the article. His topic is interesting, but his message is left unclear.

http://www.salon.com/2014/08/09/the_lost_art_of_passwords_what_we_lost_when_hackers_conquered_the_internet/