tricky questions in standard forms
I see that the anafazim journal is abandoned, and it saddens me. Perhaps the last entry ("wormholes and haircuts") set a too high standard. Therefore, I will try to lower the standard now, hoping that more entries will follow.
Did you ever notice the tricky questions they ask you in various internet forms when you are required to supply a username and a password (the requirements for passwords are an entirely another story, and not less crazy - "a whole different ball game"), in case you forget your password? You know, your choose a question and supply the right answer, and then each time you forget your password (which is not surprising, since it has to be two hundred characters long, not contain the same character twice, contain both upper and lower case letters, numbers, but not too many, etc.) they ask you this question to verify your identity. Till now I always chose the "your mother's maiden name" question. It is simple and safe (since there is no chance I'll forget the answer). But recently I filled a form where there was no such question! So, I started to scan the list of available questions: "Your mother's middle name" (sorry, she doesn't have one), "Your father's middle name" (ahem ... the same answer), "Your spouse's middle name (come on!), "The name of your first pet" (does a person have to own a pet in order to be granted an entry to this lousy website?), "the name of your elementary school" (in place where I went to elementary school, they only had numbers, and yes, I tried to enter a number, and they didn't accept it), "The place where you first met your spouse". OK, I was saved. Luckily, I am married, so this is the question I could answer. But, wait, shall I write "Harmann library", or just "library", or "Givat Ram", or "university"? (Yes, don't tell me, there are better places for romantic encounters). Worse, should it be "Jerusalem" maybe? Etc. - you know, Israel, Earth, Milky Way Galaxy ... And another possibility - not everyone remembers where he/she met his/her spouse! So, I chose this question, entered an answer, and now I cannot remember it! I'd better remember the 200-characters-no-repetitions-upper-and-lower-case password!
Did you ever notice the tricky questions they ask you in various internet forms when you are required to supply a username and a password (the requirements for passwords are an entirely another story, and not less crazy - "a whole different ball game"), in case you forget your password? You know, your choose a question and supply the right answer, and then each time you forget your password (which is not surprising, since it has to be two hundred characters long, not contain the same character twice, contain both upper and lower case letters, numbers, but not too many, etc.) they ask you this question to verify your identity. Till now I always chose the "your mother's maiden name" question. It is simple and safe (since there is no chance I'll forget the answer). But recently I filled a form where there was no such question! So, I started to scan the list of available questions: "Your mother's middle name" (sorry, she doesn't have one), "Your father's middle name" (ahem ... the same answer), "Your spouse's middle name (come on!), "The name of your first pet" (does a person have to own a pet in order to be granted an entry to this lousy website?), "the name of your elementary school" (in place where I went to elementary school, they only had numbers, and yes, I tried to enter a number, and they didn't accept it), "The place where you first met your spouse". OK, I was saved. Luckily, I am married, so this is the question I could answer. But, wait, shall I write "Harmann library", or just "library", or "Givat Ram", or "university"? (Yes, don't tell me, there are better places for romantic encounters). Worse, should it be "Jerusalem" maybe? Etc. - you know, Israel, Earth, Milky Way Galaxy ... And another possibility - not everyone remembers where he/she met his/her spouse! So, I chose this question, entered an answer, and now I cannot remember it! I'd better remember the 200-characters-no-repetitions-upper-and-lower-case password!