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The Cockney Rebel

macrumors 68030
Original poster
Nov 16, 2018
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Sorry to hear of your issues. I’ve been served a few ads for London General Assembly (if I recall the name correctly) coding classes over the past few years but never got around to signing up. I took Spanish classes one time, ended up being Mondays at 6pm...I think I made it to about 2 classes. They were right by my office in central London at the time. I just never left the office in time. Put me off signing up for any other classes after work!

This password app sounds neat. I’ve always been a bit paranoid about these password apps, but I guess this is one of the more secure options! I just try to keep my passwords in my head.

Hah.

I think we may be related ;-)
Thanks for that.

I’ll Google them.

:)
 

The Cockney Rebel

macrumors 68030
Original poster
Nov 16, 2018
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When I get my M1 next year, I will use it for the typical tasks: internet, Pages, Numbers, video etc. I would also like to start learning some code so I can build my own app.
When are you planning on getting it, buddy?

And what model will you be going for?
 

TrueBlou

macrumors 601
Sep 16, 2014
4,531
3,619
Scotland
Sorry to hear of your issues. I’ve been served a few ads for London General Assembly (if I recall the name correctly) coding classes over the past few years but never got around to signing up. I took Spanish classes one time, ended up being Mondays at 6pm...I think I made it to about 2 classes. They were right by my office in central London at the time. I just never left the office in time. Put me off signing up for any other classes after work!

This password app sounds neat. I’ve always been a bit paranoid about these password apps, but I guess this is one of the more secure options! I just try to keep my passwords in my head.

Hah.

I think we may be related ;-)

I had to give up on the notion of keeping them all in my head, I used to use variations on a dozen or so passwords I remember, but these days I’ve just got too many websites, services, shops and so on. If I want the best security across so many hundreds, they need to be unique.
 

The Cockney Rebel

macrumors 68030
Original poster
Nov 16, 2018
2,823
3,426
I had to give up on the notion of keeping them all in my head, I used to use variations on a dozen or so passwords I remember, but these days I’ve just got too many websites, services, shops and so on. If I want the best security across so many hundreds, they need to be unique.
I tend to use a variation of a certain password, for everything.

I use numbers and letters, as well as special characters, so they're pretty secure.
 

David Hassholehoff

macrumors regular
Jul 26, 2020
122
90
The beach
Main use, besides the occasional game and photo/video:
  • Firefox (with Tridactyl, otherwise I would use Safari)
  • iTerm2
    • tmux
      • fish
      • nvim
      • ssh
  • IntelliJ IDEA
  • PyCharm
  • Xcode
I don't need extreme power, but my newest computer is my MBP from 2014, so a new mini to replace my desktop from 2012 will be sweet.
 
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Quackington

macrumors 6502a
Aug 12, 2010
546
314
England, UK
I had to give up on the notion of keeping them all in my head, I used to use variations on a dozen or so passwords I remember, but these days I’ve just got too many websites, services, shops and so on. If I want the best security across so many hundreds, they need to be unique.
The issue I face regularly is having reset my password often, because I’ve forgotten it, mainly for sites I don’t visit too often. It’s a pain, but I feel a bit more secure than using a password manager.
 

TrueBlou

macrumors 601
Sep 16, 2014
4,531
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Scotland
I tend to use a variation of a certain password, for everything.

I use numbers and letters, as well as special characters, so they're pretty secure.

Yeah, I use a mix of everything where it’s supported. But when I started looking into just how many of the websites and services I use have had data breaches - y’know, the don’t worry, it’s perfectly fine, but quick change all of your passwords type. It just got ridiculous.

So I decided then that I’d start using unique ones for everything, just for peace of mind. It’s just taken me until now to finally get around to finishing my password/auth app I started an embarrassingly long time ago - well, there was always something better to do :D
 

The Cockney Rebel

macrumors 68030
Original poster
Nov 16, 2018
2,823
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The issue I face regularly is having reset my password often, because I’ve forgotten it, mainly for sites I don’t visit too often. It’s a pain, but I feel a bit more secure than using a password manager.
I've never used a password manager, but I'm guessing that you only have to crack one password (the password manager's password) and you have access to all of the user's passwords??
 

The Cockney Rebel

macrumors 68030
Original poster
Nov 16, 2018
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Yeah, I use a mix of everything where it’s supported. But when I started looking into just how many of the websites and services I use have had data breaches - y’know, the don’t worry, it’s perfectly fine, but quick change all of your passwords type. It just got ridiculous.

So I decided then that I’d start using unique ones for everything, just for peace of mind. It’s just taken me until now to finally get around to finishing my password/auth app I started an embarrassingly long time ago - well, there was always something better to do :D
I know what you mean about having to continually reset passwords!

Google is the worst, I'd say.
 

TrueBlou

macrumors 601
Sep 16, 2014
4,531
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Scotland
The issue I face regularly is having reset my password often, because I’ve forgotten it, mainly for sites I don’t visit too often. It’s a pain, but I feel a bit more secure than using a password manager.

Yup, that was my issue, I know it’s probably stupid to some people, but I’ve always thought, if the sites and services I use can be hacked, what’s to stop someone from doing it to *insert name of password service*.

Paranoid? Probably, but I know I just don’t trust anyone with that kind of information, in the same way I trust myself. I know that the way I’ve implemented mine would make it about as difficult as it can be for anyone to gain access to anything usable, while still offering me the convenience of iOS/macOS syncing. Because it’s layer upon layer of encryption.

I have no real reason to doubt any of the other password managers don’t do the same kind of thing - I just know with absolute certainty that I have. So that’ll do for me :D
 

TrueBlou

macrumors 601
Sep 16, 2014
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I've never used a password manager, but I'm guessing that you only have to crack one password (the password manager's password) and you have access to all of the user's passwords??

Yup, pretty much, unless you’re a paranoid weirdo who doesn’t trust having just a single password to unlock all of that sensitive information. Not that I know anyone like that of course, ahem :D
 
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Captain Trips

macrumors 68000
Jun 13, 2020
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It’s just taken me until now to finally get around to finishing my password/auth app I started an embarrassingly long time ago - well, there was always something better to do :D

Yeah, creating something you want (scratching an itch) is a good way to go about it. I am getting into Xcode and Swift, and probably the first app I will creat once I get through learning the basics is a weather app.

And yes, there are a lot of weather apps, but I want to create something that I want. And it will require a good variety of things - user interface, save user settings, call the National Weather Service APIs / services to get weather data, and probably other things.

Finally, getting the time to do it is definitely the hard part. You are right, there is always something more important and / or more distracting. :D
 
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Captain Trips

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I have no real reason to doubt any of the other password managers don’t do the same kind of thing - I just know with absolute certainty that I have. So that’ll do for me :D

And if other people can benefit from your app (if you put in the App Store), then all the better, but at a minimum you have an app that you trust and that meets your needs - which is what ultimately matters.
 

TrueBlou

macrumors 601
Sep 16, 2014
4,531
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Yeah, creating something you want (scratching an itch) is a good way to go about it. I am getting into Xcode and Swift, and probably the first app I will creat once I get through learning the basics is a weather app.

And yes, there are a lot of weather apps, but I want to create something that I want. And it will require a good variety of things - user interface, save user settings, call the National Weather Service APIs / services to get weather data, and probably other things.

Finally, getting the time to do it is definitely the hard part. You are right, there is always something more important and / or more distracting. :D

Ah, the good old days. I remember my first app, it was a simple game where you had to dodge objects dropping down the screen. When I look back at it a decade or so later, it was embarrassingly pathetic. But I was so proud of it at the time because it represented my completion of starting to learn to code - still learning, always will be :D

And if other people can benefit from your app (if you put in the App Store), then all the better, but at a minimum you have an app that you trust and that meets your needs - which is what ultimately matters.

It’ll never see the light of day on the AppStore, certainly not in its current state. I employ practices which simply are not allowed to exist on the AppStore, in order to increase the security of the app. Which is fine for my use, but it wouldn’t swing with Apple.

It would ultimately be fairly trivial to bring it into line, then I’d have to make it look a lot better than it does - basic, but practical and functional is all I go for when I make an app for my own use. No-one would ever buy it from a quick look at some screenshots :D
 

Captain Trips

macrumors 68000
Jun 13, 2020
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Ah, the good old days. I remember my first app, it was a simple game where you had to dodge objects dropping down the screen. When I look back at it a decade or so later, it was embarrassingly pathetic. But I was so proud of it at the time because it represented my completion of starting to learn to code - still learning, always will be :D


It’ll never see the light of day on the AppStore, certainly not in its current state. I employ practices which simply are not allowed to exist on the AppStore, in order to increase the security of the app. Which is fine for my use, but it wouldn’t swing with Apple.

It would ultimately be fairly trivial to bring it into line, then I’d have to make it look a lot better than it does - basic, but practical and functional is all I go for when I make an app for my own use. No-one would ever buy it from a quick look at some screenshots :D

Yeah, I have been in IT since 1989, so I have coded before (although I am currently in a Business Analyst role and want to get back into coding). But none of my past experience was with Apple platforms. And it is a learning experience even if you already have programming experience - I believe it was you in this conversation that called that out, and I agree (there are a lot of differences between Swift and the other programming languages I have used).

But I will get there, and then if I like what I see for Xcode / Swift then I will pursue a job as an Apple platform developer.

And given that some job postings (for both Android and iOS positions) have one or more applications in the platform's App Store as a requirement, I figure it will be worth it for me to spend the money ($100 USD last I checked) to do that. Plus it will spur me on to do more & learn more, which will help me when if and when I decide to pursue a career developing Apple platform applications. :)
 

TrueBlou

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Sep 16, 2014
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Yeah, I have been in IT since 1989, so I have coded before (although I am currently in a Business Analyst role and want to get back into coding). But none of my past experience was with Apple platforms. And it is a learning experience even if you already have programming experience - I believe it was you in this conversation that called that out, and I agree (there are a lot of differences between Swift and the other programming languages I have used).

But I will get there, and then if I like what I see for Xcode / Swift then I will pursue a job as an Apple platform developer.

And given that some job postings (for both Android and iOS positions) have one or more applications in the platform's App Store as a requirement, I figure it will be worth it for me to spend the money ($100 USD last I checked) to do that. Plus it will spur me on to do more & learn more, which will help me when if and when I decide to pursue a career developing Apple platform applications. :)


Don't forget though that it's still perfectly viable to make any app in Xcode with Objective-C and mix in some good old C, which is a lot closer to what most of us probably learned back in the day :D
 

Captain Trips

macrumors 68000
Jun 13, 2020
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Don't forget though that it's still perfectly viable to make any app in Xcode with Objective-C and mix in some good old C, which is a lot closer to what most of us probably learned back in the day :D

Absolutely, and a good point. For now I want to concentrate on Swift since that is the new/current thing in Xcode.

My experience with C / C++ is limited to some C programs I did for a graduate level robotics course (fun course, but it was only an elective, my degree was a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering) around 1986-87.

More recently I have done Java, and I definitely see similarities between Swift and Java. It is just the differences that I need to adjust to, and that will come with time and more use an my part of Xcode & Swift.
 
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m1maverick

macrumors 65816
Nov 22, 2020
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Nothing in particular. I bought it as I like new technology despite the fact that from a user perspective it's no different than my Intel Macs. The M1 Mini was just too good a price to pass up.
 
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TrueBlou

macrumors 601
Sep 16, 2014
4,531
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Absolutely, and a good point. For now I want to concentrate on Swift since that is the new/current thing in Xcode.

My experience with C / C++ is limited to some C programs I did for a graduate level robotics course (fun course, but it was only an elective, my degree was a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering) around 1986-87.

More recently I have done Java, and I definitely see similarities between Swift and Java. It is just the differences that I need to adjust to, and that will come with time and more use an my part of Xcode & Swift.

Absolutely, there’s definitely structural similarities between Java and Swift and I definitely recommend Swift over ObjC, it’s actually so much nicer to work with.

As you say, it all comes in time, the more your read, but especially write, the more the pieces all fall into place.

Best of luck with your progress.
 

Quackington

macrumors 6502a
Aug 12, 2010
546
314
England, UK
I've never used a password manager, but I'm guessing that you only have to crack one password (the password manager's password) and you have access to all of the user's passwords??
This is exactly why I don’t want to use a password manager: the one password to unlock them all... /Bilbo
Yup, that was my issue, I know it’s probably stupid to some people, but I’ve always thought, if the sites and services I use can be hacked, what’s to stop someone from doing it to *insert name of password service*.

Paranoid? Probably, but I know I just don’t trust anyone with that kind of information, in the same way I trust myself. I know that the way I’ve implemented mine would make it about as difficult as it can be for anyone to gain access to anything usable, while still offering me the convenience of iOS/macOS syncing. Because it’s layer upon layer of encryption.

I have no real reason to doubt any of the other password managers don’t do the same kind of thing - I just know with absolute certainty that I have. So that’ll do for me :D
Call it paranoia or call it something else, I definitely have this tendency when it comes to things like this. I guess I’m just more concerned about certain sites (eg email, banking etc.) compared to a login for an online flower delivery service when I probably use once a year.
 
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The Cockney Rebel

macrumors 68030
Original poster
Nov 16, 2018
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Ok ... so I think I've made a bit of a breakthrough, regarding learning to code!

I've tried studying books: Didn't sink in.

I've tried YouTube: Couldn't get it.

I've tried Udemy: Never worked out.

But then, on one YouTube video, it mentioned Coding Bootcapms. I Googled them, and had a look at a couple, which didn't seem too good. Then I tried Codecademy: Loved it! The knowledge was actually sinking into my brick of a brain, finally!

Everyone has their own way of learning, and I think I may have just found mine.

:)
 
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