Password generation via a free app and built-in OS X tool

Jan 08, '10 07:30:00AM

Contributed by: Alphaman

So many times, we need to create passwords, whether it be for an Internet forum, online banking, email, or any number of other scenarios. If you're like me, it soon becomes tedious to create a strong password, and I've caught myself spacing out while considering the possibilities. OS X's built-in Keychain app has a great little tool to generate passwords, but that only works within Keychain Access, or when creating a new user account (that little key icon next to the password field). That is, until now...

Enter the good folk at CodePoetry.net -- they created a small (free and open source) application, Password Assistant, that will launch the same window that Keychain Access uses to generate passwords.

Just drop the application anywhere you'd like, and when you launch it, you are presented with the options to create a password of varying styles (memorable, letters and numbers, numbers only, random, FIPS-181 compliant, or totally manual), and of varying lengths (from 8 to 31 characters). It then gives you a list of 10 passwords that you can use that fit your requirements.

Now it's easier than ever to say NO! to weak passwords!

[robg adds: If you do a lot of this, you really can't beat 1Password for its ability to create, remember, and use stored passwords. If you don't need that level of automation and integration, though, this little tool is quite useful. (For the coders out there, this page explains how to access the password generation panel in your own apps.)]

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