#698 – Stealth

I hate it when a bank assigns me a PIN number for my bank card. I never have a really good way of remembering it apart from writing it on a tiny piece of paper and hiding it in my wallet. It seems like they do this so that I don’t pick something obvious but really it’s much worse.

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53 thoughts on “#698 – Stealth”

  1. Micah says:

    Ninja Biff! AWESOME! You need to make a shirt of that.

  2. Edem says:

    I get that. I use a very simple method to remember the number: instead of remembering the number, I try to learn the “pattern” of it. I mean, the shape of the pressed numbers on the keypad. Like, the pin code for one of my cellphones (3467) looks like:
    o o *
    * o *
    * o o
    Last 4 digits of my phone number looks like:
    o * o
    o * *
    * o o

  3. Joey B says:

    Heh… I used to be paranoid with my PIN number… until I ended up using the same pin number for my ATM, password recoveries, voicemail, etcetera… now I’m not so paranoid (until someone asks me to *change* my PIN… becuase I’ll never remember it).

  4. speearr says:

    Makes me wonder what a Frosted Bra is….
    Frosted Bratwurst?
    Frosted Bracelet?
    Frosted Bran flakes?
    Frosted Brain?

  5. salem says:

    You better also note the phonenumber to lock that card of yours.

  6. DragoonBloodrain says:

    I thought by law, you are allowed to change your pin to whatever you wanted? Then again, all the banks I ever used always let me choose my pin.

  7. JippenFaddoul says:

    Personal Identification Number number?

    Looks like someone forgot to unfold their acronyms. >.>

  8. Speakerblast says:

    What are those hair things sticking out of Biff’s shopping bag?

  9. DracoZereul says:

    @Dragoon – Yeah, you are, just like how most sites let you change your password. And, just like your password, many places will suggest you do it often, like every other month if it’s really important.

    Something I try and do with passwords is use other languages. I pick a word relevant to what the account is for, like maybe choosing sword or shield for an MMO, then I look up all the different ways that word is said/written in different languages.

  10. DracoZereul says:

    @Jippen – about 90% of the people I know call it a pin number. My parents and grandparents never correct themselves when they call it that. Hell, when I first made my bank account, the person helping me called it a pin number, as do every teller in every bank I’ve used since then.

  11. fluffy says:

    I remember my PINs by shape. My dad uses mnemonics based on simple equations. My mom just uses her birthday.

  12. Kurast says:

    The majority of people using things with PIN say PIN number.

    HIV virus.
    ATM machine.
    UPC code.
    Please RSVP.

    We’re redundant peoples.

  13. Heatherface says:

    Do I see spaghetti sticking out of his bag? 😀 😀 😀

  14. Tesseract says:

    I work at a bank and we call it a ‘PIN Number’. ^^;

    I’ve told folks to do the ‘pattern’ thing that Edem mentioned above, but I take it one step further and write FAKE PIN’s on the back of all my cards. A Theif looks at it, plugs it in and the ATM steals the card back for me.

    I’m a fraud prevention Ninja. ^^d

    This will also be very likely to show up in my work cubicle. 😀

  15. dartigen says:

    Backronyms are even funnier than acronyms.

    My PIN used to be the exp requirement for level 70 on WoW minus the zeros (it was easy to remember because that number would mock me for two hours a day) but my bank brought in some policy about not having the same number twice or consecutive numbers in PINs so it got changed. Now I remember it by the years my two favorite albums were released.

  16. i cant believe you drew the bread…

  17. TigerGulp says:

    LOL… I base all my pin numbers are short Spanish words. Don’t know why I started, but it works! 😀

  18. Chris says:

    @Heatherface – yep!

  19. Biff, the PIN ninja. The PINja!

    I want to know where he shops. Looks like a full bag of groceries for $11.73!

  20. the_gail says:

    My first debit card came with a fairly easy to remember pin number. So I’ve just kept using it. Because if I change it now I’ll never remember it.

  21. Colin says:

    I know I’ve seen 11.73 somewhere. Simpsons checkout scene in intro?
    Fry’s pin number?
    Iunno.

  22. Ha, I just got a new card and also resorted to writing down the pin in a “secret” place.

  23. Lorcan says:

    Is that black spaghetti squid ink pasta?

  24. thinkaboutit says:

    haha NINJA BIFF!! i knew Biff was a ninja! I look at a clock whenever i pick out my PIN and whatever it says thats my PIN (ex: the clock says 2:30 so my PIN is then 0230 i figured noboby could guess that one if they ever have the urge to steal my card…)

  25. ZackDark says:

    I realized I can remember numbers of about 8 digits by the movement may hand makes when typing it, so all I do is make an easy to remember movement.
    BTW, THAT is the Biff I was missing 😛

  26. Wizard says:

    speearr- I’m betting it’s the Super Noodle Frosted Bran Flakes we saw earlier in the week.

    Kurast – Yeah, I’ve heard all of those. And it drives me insane, every time I do. Then again, I have enough pet peeves to start a petting zoo.

  27. Tofumage says:

    @speearr: I’m guessing Frosted Bra is the “Super Noodle Frosted Bran” — This explains why Biff chose this location for car shopping — supersales!

  28. Tasha says:

    Heck, while Biff’s at it, skip the pin and ninja the groceries away. No one will know.. Except maybe us. We’ll know. But I’ll never tell them Biff!

  29. Akaroshii says:

    Because nooo one would be notice a man hanging from the ceiling. xD

  30. Reg says:

    YES, I knew Ninja-Biff would make his debut!
    At least Biff’s not stuck in the ceiling for other reasons:
    http://www.thebookofbiff.com/2007/03/30/214-stare/
    http://www.thebookofbiff.com/2009/01/29/688-inversion/

  31. shimblue says:

    I think it’s called RAS Syndrome, which in itself is a victim of Redundant Acronym Syndrome Syndrome.

  32. no name says:

    @ Kurast – What about things that aren’t even abbreviations, just mixing of languages? Like The La Brea Tar Pits (The The Tar Tar Pits). The Sahara Desert (The Desert Desert).

    I like Ninja Biff. Haha.

  33. Wisse says:

    Hide your pin number in a phone number named after a common name none of your friends have, like hank, or bud or something like that. You can enter the pin in the last 4 digits for example. No one will know which number has your pin hidden in it. Good luck!

  34. Xerol says:

    I’m wondering more why the SNFB is $12 a box.

  35. ydwodkcin says:

    spider biff, spider biff, does whatever a spider biff does. can he swing from a web? no he cant he’s a biff. lookout! here comes spider biff!!!!

  36. -2! says:

    Wait… Biff is a Ninja and yet he went to a pirate restaurant…. (http://www.thebookofbiff.com/2009/01/28/687-appetizer/)

    Was he on reconnaissance?

  37. Lucas Chromeck says:

    2!, you need to remember: Biff is everywhere, yet, nowhere…

    @_@

  38. -2! says:

    @ Lucas Chromeck

    I have my own theory of Biff, it stems from the story of my game (which I made before I knew about this site (well the “story” of it, I am still working on the game itself)), which Biff happens to fit into a certain part of it almost perfectly!

  39. Linzleh says:

    Yes, Biff has made himself a home away from home at the grocery… Spare underwear, showering facilities and swapped out the towel for extreme anonymity of ninja. Go Biff. Am wondering if he is floating in the air to punch in his PIN or this store has extremely low ceilings?! Good salad choice though, romaine lettuce?

  40. Speakerblast says:

    Oh, just remembered somehting awesome. My friend has the best password for the school computers. He takes a regular word, and types it in one row up on the keyboard. I was amazed when i learned that.

  41. While I find “PIN number” annoying, I feel just “PIN” could be confusing(pen?), especially when everybody knows it as “PIN number”. THEREFORE, I always call it a “PIN code”.

  42. Deteramot says:

    I call it anything from a PIN to a number thingy which you put into an ATM devicey thing. I’m tired a lot, ok? Also, I’ve completely forgotten the PIN for my Debit card…. This is not a good thing. I usually remember by thinking backwards.

  43. Ell Jay says:

    “Everybody does it” is a piss-poor excuse for doing something wrong. Master your bad habits or your bad habits will master you.

  44. HeWhoIsBob says:

    Biff is a Ninja now? My god, the universe may implode form the awesomeness. I have trouble keeping my PIN a secret, because
    [this number removed by the committee of not being a bloody idiot] is too easy to recognize when you’re typing it.

  45. Tsunoba says:

    Ooh, Pet Peeve there.

    On the other hand, it gives my an opportunity to share this link I found yesterday. Let’s hope the story remains fictional and we don’t all have PINNNs one day.

  46. weerd2nrml says:

    hate it when someone is too close to you when you are typing in your PIN

  47. weerd2nrml says:

    frosted bra.. bran flakes, thats all i can think of

  48. KnucklesZero says:

    You know, I think everywhere lets you do this… and it seems obvious to me… but, couldn’t ya have just changed your PIN Chris?? *shrug* ah well.

  49. Tasha says:

    @weerd2nrml – above that it says “Super Noodl”, so I would bet it means “Super Noodle Frosted Bran”, from the earlier comic in frugal week hehe.

  50. soilent says:

    If you have Trouble remembering your PIN, do it like I do:
    Remember only where your Hand moves and make it an Image.
    The Human Brain can parse an Image thousands of Times better than a Number.
    Until you have that special Sort of Autism where Numbers have a Sound in your Head, but then it’s the Melody anyway.

  51. Radical Edward says:

    Remembering my PIN is easy. Changing it to be secure is hard.

  52. Zach Light says:

    Ninja Biff, the master of eating spagetti in a blink of an eye, and vanishing into a bowl of mashed potatoes….what, I can’t come up with something clever.

  53. YukiSnowflake says:

    HAH…
    For my phone PIN number, I look on my sim card and use the first 4 numbers!
    And then use my phone PIN for everything else, including my Wii Fit Password. (*Not sure WHY I have one of them…*)

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