The list of worst passwords for 2011

These days there are so many sites and accounts you need to log into that it is hard to think of new, unique passwords. So often, when it comes down to creating a new password people either use the same password over and over again or create easy to remember passwords (or both).

According to password management application maker SplashID, some of the most commonly used passwords for 2011 are “password,” “123456,” “12345678,” “qwerty,” “abc123” and “monkey.”

Many of these passwords keep re-appearing in the list of common passwords year after year, signaling that people either can’t be bothered to change their passwords or don’t understand the importance of keeping their online identities safe.

“If you're one of those people who thought it was clever to use "password" as your password, it's time to wisen up and make a change. Switching the "o" to a zero to make it ‘passw0rd’? Not much better,” advised SplashID.

By using simple numerical passwords or short common words as your password, you’re making it easy for computers or cybercriminals to break into your accounts.

"Hackers can easily break into many accounts just by repeatedly trying common passwords,” warned SplashID CEO Morgan Slain. “Even though people are encouraged to select secure, strong passwords, many people continue to choose weak, easy-to-guess ones, placing themselves at risk from fraud and identity theft.”

Slain added, “[w]hat you don't want is a password that is easily guessable. If you have a password that is short or common or a word in the dictionary, it's like leaving your door open for identity thieves.”

Microsoft advises that the keys to creating strong passwords are “length and complexity” on its Safety and Security Center website. Lifehacker suggests using multi-word phrases with spaces -- which are much easier to remember -- to make your passwords more secure (rather than using a more risky six-character-only password).

Want to know how long it would take a desktop computer to crack your password? Test it with http://howsecureismypassword.net/.

SplashID identified the most commonly used passwords list for 2011 by trawling through files “containing millions of stolen passwords” that were posted online by hackers.

The top 25 most commonly used passwords for 2011 according to SplashID:

1.       password

2.      123456

3.      12345678

4.      qwerty

5.       abc123

6.      monkey

7.       1234567

8.      letmein

9.      trustno1

10.   dragon

11.    baseball

12.   111111

13.   iloveyou

14.   master

15.    sunshine

16.   ashley

17.    bailey

18.   passw0rd

19.   shadow

20.  123123

21.   654321

22.  superman

23.  qazwsx

24.  michael

25.   football

Tips for Longer-Lasting Laptop Batteries

Hardware budgets are feeling the pinch of our tepid economy, and many companies are making employees use their laptops longer. If you are starting to tell your folks to keep plugging along with their laptops for four or five years instead of just three, you might be running into an unexpected expense: dead laptop batteries.

Well, to be fair, your laptop's batteries probably aren't completely dead. But since Lithium Ion batteries tend to lose about 20% of their capacity each year, a typical three-year-old laptop might only get about an hour or so on a charge, which might not even get your folks through an entire meeting. Here are four simple tips to forestall the day that you need to replace those batteries:

Keep it cool. Heat is the primary killer of batteries. Tell your employees to be careful not to let their laptops overheat. One common way that happens is packing a running laptop into a backpack or briefcase. If the laptop fails to go to sleep (and let's face it — sleep glitches are common), then the laptop can get crazy hot in an enclosed space. You can almost smell the loss of battery longevity.

Recondition your battery regularly. Most laptop manufacturers (except Apple) don't generally tell you about this, but a simple process known as reconditioning (or occasionally, recalibrating) can breathe new life into your laptop battery and add capacity back. To do that, turn off your screen saver and any other power management tools which put your PC to sleep. Fully charge the laptop, and then let it run all the way down — right until it powers down due to lack of juice. Then charge it back up again and restore your power management stuff. Do this every few months (such as three times a year).

Remove it when you're not using it. When you leave your laptop plugged in at your desk all day every day, the battery never gets a chance to discharge and recharge — which is critical to its long-term health. Thankfully, there's a simple solution: Remove the battery. As long as your laptop is connected to AC power, the battery isn't necessary; it'll run without it. Just remember to pop it back in before you take your laptop on the go.

Start with a super-sized battery. When you purchase your next round of laptops, upgrade to the extended-life battery. Not only will it give you significantly longer runtime to start with great for road warriors and anyone else who works away from the office a lot  but the inevitable loss of battery life will have a less pronounced effect. The added cost of the larger batteries is worth the investment, because they end up lasting significantly longer.

AMD Phenom II X6 1100T Black Edition / Intel Core i7-950

It is hard to believe that AMDs Phenom 2 CPU has been around for two years but in a few weeks' time that will be the case, having launched the range in the early part of 2009. Since then we have seen numerous models released to the market and in more recent times those have included 6-Core variations of the design.

Today AMD are launching the latest version of their X6 CPU in the form of the Phenom 2 X6 1100T Black Edition. This new CPU is the fastest 6-core AMD chip to be released and comes in at a price which is almost identical to Intel's quad core i7-950. For that reason we will be putting the two head to head in order to find out which performs best in a selection of tests from gaming to media playback and encoding.

AMD Phenom 2 X6 1100T Black Edition

There were no real surprises when testing the 1100T Black Edition as it features the same core and components as previous X6 models. This of course means a high quality product which features a proven, stable design. As our results show the 1100T performs well across a range of tests and excels in Cinebench and high definition playback. Overclocking potential was good and those who move to the latest X6 model from older quad core versions will notice benefits from the extra cores and the inclusion of Turbo Core. The only down side to the CPU is its price to performance ratio. This is normally a very strong point for AMD however the particularly aggressive pricing of the i7-950 and performance it delivers means the 1100T could do with being about £20/$30 cheaper to make it a better value purchase.

Intel Core i7-950

As with the AMD cpu which features in this article the i7-950 from Intel worked its way through our tests producing results which were in line with previous models we had tested. It features the same excellent build quality as those previous i7 CPUs and also includes features such as HyperThreading and Turbo Mode which maximize performance when compared to the equivalent AMD CPU.

In the majority of our tests the i7-950 was the faster CPU with gaming and Photoshop use as well as media encoding being particular highlights. Although it doesn't have an unlocked multiplier there was still plenty of overclocking potential in the chip and we were able to run at 4.4GHz without issue. Value is a particularly strong aspect of this product with the CPU currently retailing for a little less than the 1100T in some stores.

Intel core i7 980x / AMD Phenom IIx6

Specifications	Intel Core i7 980X	AMD Phenom II X6          (1100T)
Processor Clocking Frequency	3.3 GHz (3.6 GHz With TurboBoost)	3.3 GHz (3.6 GHz with TurboCore)
Number of Cores	6	6
L3 Cache Size	12 MB	6 MB
L2 Cache Size	6 × 256 KB	6 x 512 KB
CPU Multiplier	25X	16X
Voltage Range	0.8–1.375 V	1.0 - 1.475 V
Maximum Temperature	67.9°C	62°C
Power Output	130 W	125 W
Lithography	32 nm	45 nm
Maximum Memory Bandwidth	25.6 GB/s	21 GB/s

One of the most important comparison parameters is the maximum clocking frequency achieved by them, which determines the speed with which they will process applications. Besides the clocking frequency, you should compare the number of cores made available in the processor, as it decides how many parallel programming threads are processed. More the cores, faster is the processor and better at multitasking. If you are into overclocking of CPUs, the CPU multiplier, maximum operating voltage and maximum operating temperature also matters. Memory bandwidth and L3 cache size also affects the performance speed.

AMD's Six-Core Phenom II X6

A very smart man once told me that absolute performance doesn’t matter, it’s performance at a given price point that makes a product successful. While AMD hasn’t held the absolute performance crown for several years now, that doesn’t mean the company’s products haven’t been successful.

During the days of the original Phenom, AMD started the trend of offering more cores than Intel at a given price point. Intel had the Core 2 Duo, AMD responded with the triple core Phenom X3. As AMD’s products got more competitive, the more-for-less approach didn’t change. Today AMD will sell you three or four cores for the price of two from Intel.

In some situations, this works to AMD’s benefit. The Athlon II X3 and X4 deliver better performance in highly threaded applications than the Intel alternatives. While Intel has better performance per clock, you can’t argue with more cores/threads for applications that can use them.

When Intel announced its first 6-core desktop processor, the Core i7 980X at $999, we knew a cheaper AMD alternative was coming. Today we get that alternative, this is the Phenom II X6 based on AMD’s new Thuban core:

It’s still a 45nm chip but thanks to architecture and process tweaks, the new Phenom II X6 still fits in the same power envelope as last year’s Phenom II X4 processors: 125W.

Update: AMD tells us that it gave us the wrong pricing on the 1090T. The part sells for $295, not $285, in 1000 unit quantities.

CPU Specification Comparison
Processor	Clock Speed	Max Turbo	L2 Cache	L3 Cache	TDP	Price
AMD Phenom II X6 1090T	3.2GHz	3.6GHz	3MB	6MB	125W	$295
AMD Phenom II X6 1055T	2.8GHz	3.3GHz	3MB	6MB	125W	$199
AMD Phenom II X4 965 BE	3.4GHz	N/A	2MB	6MB	125W/140W	$185
AMD Phenom II X4 955 BE	3.2GHz	N/A	2MB	6MB	125W	$165
AMD Phenom II X4 945	3.0GHz	N/A	2MB	6MB	95W	$155
AMD Phenom II X4 925	2.8GHz	N/A	2MB	6MB	95W	$145

You also don’t give up much clock speed. The fastest Phenom II X6 runs at 3.2GHz, just 200MHz shy of the fastest X4.

When Intel added two cores to Nehalem it also increased the L3 cache of the chip by 50%. The Phenom II X6 does no such thing. The 6 cores have to share the same 6MB L3 cache as the quad-core version.

There’s also the issue of memory bandwidth. Intel’s Core i7 980X is paired with a triple channel DDR3 memory controller, more than enough for four cores under normal use and enough for a six core beast. In order to maintain backwards compatibility, the Phenom II X6 is still limited to the same dual channel memory controller as its quad-core predecessor.

CPU Specification Comparison
CPU	Codename	Manufacturing Process	Cores	Transistor Count	Die Size
AMD Phenom II X6 1090T	Thuban	45nm	6	904M	346mm2
AMD Phenom II X4 965	Deneb	45nm	4	758M	258mm2
Intel Core i7 980X	Gulftown	32nm	6	1.17B	240mm2
Intel Core i7 975	Bloomfield	45nm	4	731M	263mm2
Intel Core i7 870	Lynnfield	45nm	4	774M	296mm2
Intel Core i5 670	Clarkdale	32nm	2	384M	81mm2
AMD Phenom II X4 965	Deneb	45nm	4	758M	258mm2

The limitations are nitpicks in the grand scheme of things. While the 980X retails for $999, AMD’s most expensive 6-core processor will only set you back $285 and you can use them in all existing AM2+ and AM3 motherboards with a BIOS update. You're getting nearly 1 billion transistors for $200 - $300. Like I said earlier, it’s not about absolute performance, but performance at a given price point.

AMD 2010 Roadmap
CPU	Clock Speed	Max Turbo (<= 3 cores)	L3 Cache	TDP	Release
AMD Phenom II X6 1090T	3.2GHz	3.6GHz	6MB	125W	Q2
AMD Phenom II X6 1075T	3.0GHz	3.5GHz	6MB	125W	Q3
AMD Phenom II X6 1055T	2.8GHz	3.3GHz	6MB	125W/95W	Q2
AMD Phenom II X6 1035T	2.6GHz	3.1GHz	6MB	95W	Q2
AMD Phenom II X4 960T	3.0GHz	3.4GHz	6MB	95W	Q2

We'll soon see more flavors of the Phenom II X6 as well as a quad-core derivative with 2 of these cores disabled. As a result, motherboard manufacturers are already talking about Phenom II X4 to X6 unlocking tools.

The new Phenom II X6 processors are aimed squarely at Intel’s 45nm Lynnfield CPUs. Both based on a 45nm process, AMD simply offers you more cores for roughly the same price. Instead of a quad-core Core i7 860, AMD will sell you a six-core 1090T. Oh and the T stands for AMD’s Turbo Core technology.