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I’m not sure what to think about security questions. You know, the things they make you answer when you forget your password.

There are some times when I wonder “why not do away with the password?” If answering a couple security questions is good enough to get a new password, then mabe it’s good enough to replace a password.

And some times I get asked a security question I don’t remember setting up, and there are multiple possible answers. In that case, what’s the fallback if I can’t get the answer right?

After seeing a few too many security questions to which I answered (in my head) “How am I supposed to know that?”, I was inspired to come up with a list of bad security questions.

For those developing login sequences, here are questions that will annoy your users:

• Who sat next to you in 3rd grade?
• What was your favorite baby food?
• How old were you when you got your first tooth?
• What country were your great-grandparents born in?
• What was your favorite color in 5th grade?
• How many second cousins do you have?
• How old were you when you lost your first tooth?
• What is your favorite noble metal?
• How long was your bus ride in middle school?

All of those are things which are ambiguous or I don’t know or they don’t have an answer.

Any other examples of bad security questions?

Based on the popularity existence of last year’s article predicting bowl games in haiku form, I present to you this year’s all-haiku bowl game predictions. Still America’s only all-haiku college football bowl game predictions.

These are listed in order of date (earliest first). Some picks are whom I think will win, and some picks are whom I want to win. I’ll leave it to you, the reader, to decide which is which.
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My wife looks forward to Christmas music. I used to try to hold out until after Thanksgiving, but she would turn to that one radio station that switches to all Christmas music the first week of November.

This year, I stopped resisting. But it seems to me that the radio station song selection is awful. If you want to hear the same few songs that aren’t really about Christmas, then go ahead and listen to the radio. Sure, they might have the word “Christmas” in them, but that doesn’t make them Christmas songs.

Anyway, disillusioned with the radio, I turned to our CD collection. Then, unable to find our CD collection, I turned to Amazon. (Amazon’s process for buying music digitally is way better than iTunes’ process, in case you want my opinion on that.)

All that to say this: I got to assess a number of Christmas albums and am giving you my favorites.

Top 3 Albums

• Evie – Come on, Ring Those Bells
  A classic. If you don’t know these songs then I am sorry for your sad childhood.
• Reliant K – Let It Snow, Baby… Let It Reindeer
  I was unfamiliar with this album before this year. But now this is my kids’ favorite album. I burned them a CD that has the slower angsty songs removed.
• Various Artists – Handel’s Young Messiah
  The one from the early 1990s. This is a very good way to be introduced to Handel’s Messiah. I hope you already have this CD, because it is out of print and you can’t buy digital copies of it. Not legally, anyway.

  I realize the whole Messiah composition is more appropriate at Easter time than Christmas, but it is not out of place at Christmas, so we’ll stick with tradition and allow it here.

Honorable Mention

• Mannheim Steamroller – Mannheim Steamroller Christmas
• MercyMe – The Christmas Sessions
• Sixpence None the Richer – The Dawn of Grace

Also, slightly related – if you’re looking for a recording of the Lord’s Prayer, I recommend Susan Boyle‘s version.

I don’t go through a lot of music, so I’m sure I missed or forgot some good ones. Any other recommendations?

Me : No, a bar of milk chocolate does not count as dairy in your dinner.

Delta : Tuna fish, tuna fish, it’s my favorite kind of fish.
pause…
Delta : Tuna fish are kind?

Me : Don’t put cereal between your toes.

Gamma : I was there! I want to go there again. Where is that?
Me : Las Vegas
Gamma : I want to go to Lost Vegas.

Delta : Who left the milk out? Who, who, who whowho!

I don’t know that they’ve ever heard the original song, but somehow they are familiar with Baha Men’s one-hit wonder.

Gamma, to Delta : Call 911 to order pizza!
Delta : Yeah!
Me : No, no, no!

Don’t worry, neither of them had a phone.

Gamma, after falling off the end of a bench : You need to make the bench longer

The funny part was that it was not crowded at all, he was one of two people on a bench that could seat four.

I got this smoked salmon recipe from a guy at work. It has worked well for me.

First, photos from my attempt. Scroll to the end for just the recipe.

You need:
salmon

To make your life easier, choose the center-cut fillets. Do this because they are about the same thickness, so they will all cook for the same time. If you get a standard fish, the sides and end are much thinner than the center. Grilling that piece of fish will cause the thin parts to be overdone or you’ll have to cut the thin pieces separate and take them off earlier than the thicker parts, which is more work for you.

brown sugar, salt, and pepper

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It’s time of year for Christmas carols and such. That much makes sense.

For some unknown reason, it is also the time of year for The Sound of Music. Nothing against the musical itself – I just think it should be independent of any season.

But, since Christmas carols and The Sound of Music share the holiday season, I thought I would combine the two.

First off: a review. What are the notes of the scale, as learned in the musical?

Answer: do re mi fa so la ti do

Next question: what are the notes sung in Deck the Halls?

But that’s not right – la is a single note. This song has la for different notes.

If Fraulein Maria is right, then the song would sound like this:

Or, to keep the sound the same, we could change the words to this:

(I took the liberty of ignoring the actual notes and just started with Fa. In other words, the starting assumption was that the first word Fa in Deck the Halls is the same Fa from Sound of Music.)

It’s awkward to sing at first, but practice a few times and you’ll get it.

Fa So La Fa So Fa Mi Re Mi

Still not as easy as Do Mi Mi, Mi So So

Anyway, try singing the updated lyrics this Christmastime and see what happens.

Happy Thanksgiving.

Pictures compliments of Gamma, via his kindergarten work.