While writing today’s story about passwords, I kept thinking about the Mr. Hadden’s biology class during my senior year. I’m thinking about the part where we studied parasites - tapeworms and the like.

Mr. Hadden warned us -  just before we got to that chapter - not to get too wrapped up in the symptoms of parasites. “You’re going to convince yourselves that you have one,” he predicted. And he was right. It kept creeping into the back of my mind - maybe I DO have a tapeworm.

It was the same thing with this story. No, I don’t think I have a tapeworm. But I became convinced that my password system is simply awful. Convinced that I’ve only avoided identity theft by sheer luck.

So I spent the past week redoing every critical password I have, making them considerably tougher to crack. I’ve convinced my wife to do the same thing, though I don’t think she’s quite as enthusiastic about it.

Is it necessary? I’m really not sure. But I know it makes me feel a little bit safer.