Beginnings with Rust

I started learning Rust last month during some unusual Covid-19-and-trapped-indoors-due-to-wildfire-smoke free time, and I've had fun with it. For some cross-platform hobby projects of mine I’ve done some experimentation with self-contained app bundles using Java, and after some struggles I still haven't got it to work nicely. I haven't specifically looked at app bundling with Rust yet, but given that it compiles to a native binary it should be easier to get MacOS apps and Linux appimages working. I’d heard and read a lot about Rust's reputation, so it was an easy choice for a new language to play with.

Paper Password Splitting

What will happen to your password-protected accounts upon your death? Will people you trust be able to access them? Do you feel unsafe writing your passwords down?

This is probably a somewhat uncomfortable topic, but one that deserves some attention. It turns out that we can solve this problem by "splitting" passwords on paper. This article will show you how to do it. No fancy software is needed, the instructions are simple enough to be included in your will, and it doesn't cost anything.

Diceware Passphrases

Diceware passphrases are super secure passwords you can create yourself with just dice, a pen, and paper.

"Passphrases" are used just like "passwords." They consist of everyday words, with spaces between — making them easy to remember and easy to type. And most importantly, by rolling dice to select the words, Diceware passphrases are secure and created without any bias. In other words, they're almost certainly more secure than any password you come up with on your own.

Vanguard Adjusted Asset Mix Bookmarklet

Vanguard's "Asset mix" screen is useful, but often I'd like to see what my asset allocation looks like when cash is ignored. To do this I could use a calculator and punch in a few values displayed on that screen, but there's a way to compute this adjusted asset allocation with a single click of the mouse: a bookmarklet.

How to Store 2nd-Factor TOTP QR Codes

A time-based one-time password (TOTP) is a login option provided by many of today's websites and services that can greatly increase the security of your accounts. However, if you don't properly store the secret associated with a TOTP token, you may one day find yourself unable to access the TOTP codes, or worse, your account may not be as secure as you think it is.

This article demonstrates a method for safely storing and restoring TOTP tokens.