How can I change my password?

There are two ways to do this. The first, less-preferable way is to contact one of the YIP admins by telephone and ask them to do it - (514) 845-3936 or (416) 504-0001.

The second, more preferable way is to install an ssh program. Once it's installed, connect to yip.org using it. After the initial connection message (the MOTD, Message Of The Day) and the random quote (fortune), you should have a prompt that looks like this:

> 

At that prompt, type the word "passwd" without the quotes so it looks like this:

> passwd

Press enter. You should then be asked for your current password. Type it in and press enter - note that you won't be able to see what you're typing. Then type in your new password (I'll stop telling you to press enter). It should then ask you to type it in again; do so. Here's what it should look like when you do it:

> passwd
Changing local password for yourusername.
Old password:
New password:
Retype new password:
passwd: updating the database...
passwd: done
> 

That's it! At this point you can either run more commands or log out. To log out, you can type "exit", "logout", or press ctrl-d.

How do I go about choosing a good password?

First of all: Don't use the same password in multiple places. If someone finds out your password in one place, they'll know it in all places - and if they gained your password by looking at network traffic, they will also know where else they can use that password.

Some other good advice for passwords:

• Don't use words that you can find in a dictionary.
• Your password must be at least 6 characters in length. Making it even longer is preferable.
• Include punctuation, capitalized letters, spaces, and non-alphabet characters in your password, such as [];@#^(%!1234 and more.
• Don't use things that can be guessed at if they know you, like your postal code, phone number, or birthday.
• Don't write your password down. If you must write it down, don't write your username or yip.org beside it, and don't write it on a Post-it note stuck to your monitor.

How the hell am I supposed to remember the password if I follow the above guidelines, you bastards?

I would suggest taking some words you're unlikely to forget. Change some of the characters in it to numbers, and add punctuation and other characters to it. Here's an example:

Stinky cheese is what you think of every time you think of yip.org. So:

Stinky Cheese
5tinky Che3se
5t!nky,Che3$e
)5t!nky,Che3$e[wh00-ee!

The last two are passwords we would consider to be reasonably secure and not too hard to remember. Note! Do not use the above example as your actual password, even if you do think of stinky cheese whenever yip.org comes to mind.

What do I do if I've forgotten my password?

Contact us by telephone. Please don't forget your password.