Can Cats Change Passwords?
Some time ago, I started my computer, typed in my password and got the answer: “Wrong password”.
What was that?
I never ever change my password (even though I know I should) and I never enter it wrong.
Anyway, there's always a first time for everything.
So I entered the password again, slowly and carefully, and got the same result.
I actually don't know what happens if you type your password wrong three times, but since three is the magic number, I decided to think hard before trying again.
A good rule in life is that there's no point in doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. If you want the output to change, you usually have to change the input.
Luckily my son was here that weekend. So I said, “"Dani, help me out. I'm fresh out of ideas. I know my password. I wouldn't type it wrong twice. Can you think of another reason why it isn't working?”
And my son looked at me and I was sure he thinks I'm just a bit senile.
“You're sure you know your password?”
“Yep.”
“And you didn't enter it wrong?”
“No. I mean, I told you that a few seconds ago. I know it - I didn't enter it wrong. The capslock isn't on and the numlock isn't either. There has to be another reason."
"Okay, okay, I was just asking."
Then I remembered that the cat had been running over my keyboard lately, as she often does. But I mean, how could a cat change a password while walking across the keyboard? That's very unlikely, isn't it?
Well, actually my son didn't believe that cats can change passwords either.
Finally he said, “Okay, Mum, just give me your password and I'll type it in.”
This almost made me angry because I was sure he couldn't type in a password any better than me.
Anyway, I wrote my password on a piece of paper, just to make sure there was no misunderstanding. And when my son read my password, he smiled, typed it in and suddenly the computer was unlocked.
What had happened?
Well, first my lovely son told me something about his magic fingers, but in the end the solution was more down to earth.
Dani combined the cat story with my password (it contained a “y”) and typed it in as if I had a qwerty keyboard and this worked.
So now I know that cats can't change passwords, but they can (through whatever magic shortcode) change the language of the keyboard.
That was a very funny story. Good job with your writing! Glad you and your son were able to figure it out. I would have never thought that the cat was the culprit.
@Cloudy: I really liked your story! It was fun to read and I'm not sure if I would've figured it out like you son did. 😅
The key combination is simple: "Windows key" + "space".
If you want to know more about changing your computer's keyboard layout, you can read my text: https://journaly.com/post/455
This is a bit creepy: I wondered yesterday if there would be new posts from you any time soon, Cloudy, and now there is one. I find this a very nice, fun and well written little story. Linda: Under Windows 10 (what I unfortunately have to use at work) the key shortcut to switch between your keyboard layouts is "Alt + Shift". But does that work with a locked screen? Cloudy: In case you use a (recent?) Windows version, there seems to be the option to change the keyboard layout directly from the lock screen. See this picture: https://dennisspan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Keyboard-layout-changes-unexpectedly-on-the-Windows-lock-screen-Lock-screen-changed-to-English.jpg. Under macOS, it looks like this https://ibb.co/G3mjZGm (that's what I call a screenshot). Under Linux, it depends on the screen locker you use (but I guess you don't use Linux :D). Oh, and you get a +1 for the image https://d2ieewwzq5w1x7.cloudfront.net/post-image/cd496220-5dcd-4d15-8ffd-ee2d5b5379be-large. Those cats are just amazing. And I'm sure they can change passwords if you provoke them. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5j2LOZH9_oM, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8GxqvnQyaxs)
Cloudy, I really liked the way you told your story, it was fun to read. I'd never have figured out the problem. With cats, life never gets boring.
Btw, wasn't there supposed to be a topic "cats"? Robin announced it on the livestream a few weeks ago. I'll remind him later :D
@Eduard: the first video is heartbreaking, poor kitty 😢
@Caro: Erst wollte ich dieses Video verlinken: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UJDqblFRO7I :D
Wo du immer die ganzen Videos her nimmt, ist mir auch ein Rätsen (jetzt sag nicht: von YouTube) :D
Es gibt übrigens jetzt das Thema "Cat" :)
So nice to "see" you all here and hear you liked the story. @Green_J: Thank you for all the corrections.
@Eduard, @Linda: I have Windows 10 and for me both work: "Alt+Shift" and "WindowsKey+Space", but not on the locked screen. But as I tend to forget key combinations I usually click on the symbol in the taskbar. @Linda: I liked your linked post. Yes, sometimes alt-codes are good to know.
@Caro: Ahhh, a cat-topic! I at once assigned my post to be in "cat" and so created the first cat-post. :))
@Eduard: How did you get the link to the image?
@Cloudy (about the link to the image): Well, I just inspected the picture in my internet browser (Firefox). Alternatively you can simply open the source of the HTML page and search for "post-image". Normally there is a shortcut for that, either Control + U or just open view-source:https://journaly.com/post/13423. There you should see something like <img src="https://d2ieewwzq5w1x7.cloudfront.net/post-image/cd496220-5dcd-4d15-8ffd-ee2d5b5379be-large" alt="Can Cats Change Passwords?" class="jsx-535790202"/>, which contains the image source. That's at least how I linked my post image at the end of the post https://journaly.com/post/11086.
@Caro: Ja, das ist genau richtig. Aus Youtube :D. Ach, wie cool, dass wir eine neue Katzegorie haben! category.
@Cloudy (about the lock-screen): Okay, but in the lock screen you should still be able to click the icon for changing the keyboard layout. Then you select the German keyboard and that's it. Doesn't that work?
@Eduard (Image): ah, okay, found it. @Eduard (lock-screen): I don't think, I have an "icon for changing the keyboard layout". But as I now have a password without "y" and a pin as an alternative, it's not important to be able to select different keyboards on the lock-screen.
My cats now found the a shortcut that rotates the screen 90°. Cool. In the near future, they will probably also write my posts.
@Cloudy: Haha, great. I can't wait to read the stories they have to tell :D
@CocoPop and @Dripdrip, thanks for the corrections!
Anytime))
@CocoPop: Could you be so kind as to take a quick look at line 4 and tell me if "wrong" should be changed to "wrongly"?
I just checked the whole thing again.
Thank's a lot!