On Wed, 23 Feb 2005, Ian G wrote:
> Ka-Ping Yee wrote:
> >2.  Currently, typing in password fields shows a bunch of stars to
> >    give the impression that what you type is secret.  Well, if we
> >    are really serious about the necessity of SSL for keeping passwords
> >    secret, then why should we give that impression when there's no
> >    encryption?  Suppose that, if there's no SSL, password fields
> >    *don't* blank out the text with stars -- they just behave like
> >    normal visible text fields.  That would be instant, unmistakable
> >    feedback, and i think it would be a pretty intuitive way to show
> >    that the password isn't being kept secret.
[...]
> But, turning off the stars is a non-starter, one would
> have to convince all the people who code and use
> these things of where they came from, and who's
> got the time to do that?

Sorry, could you elaborate a bit?  I couldn't quite figure out what you
meant by that last paragraph.  We'd have to convince *whom* of where
*what* came from?

(Yes, i know it would look weird.  It would make me go "what?"
But that would be the point.  If a transient message also appeared
to say "The password you enter here will be visible to the public",
that would help me realize that it wasn't a browser bug.)


-- ?!ng
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