Thom's memory leak

I've been changing a lot of my passwords lately so that none are alike. In fact they're so ridiculously random and lengthy that I wouldn't stand a chance remembering them. I've a means of obtaining these passwords though in a method known to me using encryption which requires 2 very different types of key, so remembering them isn't necessary. However, after going around trying to change my passwords, I've noticed that many places impose restrictions upon how long a password may be, and what characters you're allowed to use. For example, with PayPal, they absolutely require you to have at least 8 characters, but for some reason, it must not be any more than 20 characters. Why limit it at 20? Surely they hash the password anyway?... don't they? eBay have an identical restriction. And then came my bank (a Dutch bank which shall remain nameless). They also said that it must be at least 8 characters, but no more than 12. It must also contain at least o...

Look what arrived today (apologies for the poor quality pictures you're about to see). Yes, something wrapped in a coffee burlap bag. Which contains a rectangular hexahedron wrapped in rice paper sealed with stickers. It's a book! A quality-looking hardback book emblazoned with a shiny faceless figure donning a cape and glasses, and there's a strip of bright orange extending from the spine of the book. There's also a 4GB SDHC memory card stuck to the front. As you can see it's the special edition of With a Little Help by Cory Doctorow. This book is number 76 of 250. Let's have a look inside... We appear to have a letter addressed to "Bear" from Melissa Frain from Tor (no, not the Tor project, Tor the sci-fi folk). Bear? Anyway, it's a request for the review of a manuscript. And at the back we have... A sketch of what appears to be either a woman with a birthday cake stuck to her head, or a fairytale princess or some such variety of character...