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Show HN: If you lose your memory, how to regain access to your computer?

eljojo.github.io

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Re: Show HN: If you lose your memory, how to regain access to your computer?

#231

Post by m-p-3 »

Brajeshwar wrote: post #141
cyode wrote: post #140

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This comment right? https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41220059 (Funny how I can remember this comment from many months ago after never implementing the bowls, but I currently can’t remember where my car keys are. Should have implemented the bowls…)

Oh God, Yes. Now, in my favorited posts and comments. For keys, there is only one place: the Keyholder wall-mounted near the main door, while still visible from the main Hall. Not easy to pick and go by “guests” without being seen by someone, but easy for residents to just walk out with one. I got the exact same ones from Amazon and wall-mounted them in all the homes where I serve as Printer-Repair Guy. 10+ years, I…

For electronic keyfobs you may want to put them in some sort of "faraday cage" if you leave them near the entrance, it's one of the way car theft happens on some models by relaying or duplicating the fob proximity signal so that they can get in.

Re: Show HN: If you lose your memory, how to regain access to your computer?

#232

Post by sureglymop »

ddtaylor wrote: post #214
lucb1e wrote: post #182

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ah, yes okay that sounds precisely like my situation as well. Not so much the backup codes not working as Google's auth gatekeeper being moody, the last thing you want from a login system

I understand how it plays out, but these are backup codes that I put into a backup strategy for serious life events and both times I needed them they failed to accomplish what they are for =( Had I followed Googles own advice and relied entirely on these codes (which I thought I was doing) I would still be locked out of all those accounts, purchase history, Google Play Developer, etc.

In general, instead of saving these codes you want to save the HOTP seed in order to set up 2fa again. I don't even bother with recovery codes.

Re: Show HN: If you lose your memory, how to regain access to your computer?

#234

Post by kfn »

repiret wrote: post #44
bitexploder wrote: post #7

Low tech: I put my secret manager password in a physical journal that is locked in a fire proof, water proof vault and hidden somewhere only my partner and myself know where it is. I use a password manager. Everything else goes in the password manager.

This is what I do too, but be warned about “fire proof” - a fire that results in the total loss of your house will create enough heat for enough time that fireproof gun safes and smaller fireproof lockboxes will be destroyed, or even if not, their contents will get hot enough to combust anyway. A bank safe deposit box offers a different security profile that’s probably more robust against fire because banks burn less…

Well just hope your house doesn't burn down and you lose all your memories at the same time.

Re: Show HN: If you lose your memory, how to regain access to your computer?

#235

Post by eljojo »

cyphar wrote: post #226
eljojo wrote: post #193

Earlier quoted context omitted.

hey, this is a great idea! I'll link into your app from my readme. I really like that the PDF contains the entire dataset, not just the keys. I see lots of little details around organizing the PDFs, like document hashes, etc, very nice job! Since you wrote it in Rust, I'd suggest compiling it to wasm and releasing a browser-based version

> Since you wrote it in Rust, I'd suggest compiling it to wasm and releasing a browser-based version That was my eventual plan for having a single GUI for everything, the only problem is that there isn't a really obvious way to support scanning a PDF you upload -- basically you need a pure-Rust PDF renderer and there isn't one up to the task as far as I could tell. On mobile you could scan each QR code separately (th…

use the webcam, you put the QR in front of the webcam, there has to be a library for this

Re: Show HN: If you lose your memory, how to regain access to your computer?

#236

Post by eljojo »

seb1204 wrote: post #59
eljojo wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

that's so scary though! what if someone has access to it? or it gets lost when you need it?

I think this is when you need to evaluate your thread scenario. A) self-made crypto accessible through web or browser that any cracker can find through www and use machine clusters to run on or AI to work on etc. B) physical home invasion that are interested in one of your A4 papers with some random words that have only meaning to you and few trustees.

i didn't roll this crypto, using hashicorp and age

Re: Show HN: If you lose your memory, how to regain access to your computer?

#237

Post by kube-system »

kortex wrote: post #221
kube-system wrote: post #211

If you are preparing for accidents where memory loss might be an issue you might also want to consider that you could quickly be in a situation where: * you forget that you have a clever password scheme * you forget that you have data to decrypt * your mental capacities are deteriorated enough that someone else takes over decisions making for you. This person may not know you or your data protection scheme. * you are…

That's why you have a public-ish recovery guide for all the other steps.

Just because something is on a blog or a github page doesn't mean that they are discoverable to everyone who might need to know, e.g. a conservator. You're better off physically putting it with obvious locations for your financial documents, like in your home with your tax returns or valuables.

Re: Show HN: If you lose your memory, how to regain access to your computer?

#239

Post by bombashell »

I like this because it treats memory loss as a realistic threat model instead of an edge case. Most security setups assume the user stays cognitively stable forever which is a pretty wild assumption if you think about it… This feels more like desgining for humans over decades instead of just for today’s convenience.

Re: Show HN: If you lose your memory, how to regain access to your computer?

#240

Post by cyphar »

eljojo wrote: post #235
cyphar wrote: post #226

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Since you wrote it in Rust, I'd suggest compiling it to wasm and releasing a browser-based version That was my eventual plan for having a single GUI for everything, the only problem is that there isn't a really obvious way to support scanning a PDF you upload -- basically you need a pure-Rust PDF renderer and there isn't one up to the task as far as I could tell. On mobile you could scan each QR code separately (th…

use the webcam, you put the QR in front of the webcam, there has to be a library for this

Actually, after my comment I took another look and it turns out that only a few months ago someone released a pure-Rust PDF renderer called hayro[1] that seems to fit exactly what I need, so I will work on finishing this bit of paperback as soon as I have some spare time. Pure image scanning (with a webcam, phone camera, or uploading a photo) will also work since QR code scanning libraries like rqrr support scanning all QR codes in an image.

[1]: https://docs.rs/hayro/latest/hayro/

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