Today a generous relative gave me an envelope containing my Xmas present, asking that I open it in her presence. It turned out to be an Amazon gift card. To authenticate it online, I had to key in a 15-digit alphanumeric authentication code. Not for the first time, I wondered why such codes are so long, leading as they do to a higher chance of incorrect keying-in.

The code consisted of 11 letters and four numbers. This prompted the following calculations:

• Number of possible combinations of 11 letters and four numbers – 36,703,444,869,877,800,000
• World population (WHO estimate) – 8 BILLION
• Number of possibly combinations per human being alive today – about 4.6 BILLION

It’s enough to drive a man mad. OK, it’s a first world problem, but even so…

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