1337 – A Geek’s Language
23. Oct, 2008 
16 Comments
I was talking with a buddy of mine the other day about passwords and Leet (1337). He didn’t know what I was talking about and it inspired me to write a post giving the basics.
Leet (1337) is an alphabet of ASCII characters used by ‘elite’ internet users. Purposes for using Leet can vary, but I find it particularly useful for creating passwords. Here’s an example:
Leet sentence: 1337 |$ \/3|2′/ |_|$3|o5|_|1 |o50|2 [|2347||\|9 |o4$$\/\/0|2|)$
Plain English: Leet is very useful for creating passwords
Basically, Leet is just another way to write words using numbers and symbols. I know, incredibly geeky, but it can be a lot of fun! There are several different ways to write Leet, so you kind of have to settle on a standard format for your own use, or you may find yourself using 20 different versions of “M“. For a complete chart, click here.
Like I said, Leet can be used for just about anything, but I like to create passwords using Leet. Reason for doing so, is simply more security. Symbols and characters add a whole new level of security to passwords. It’s not for everyone, but I find 1337 intriguing.
Have you heard of 1337? Do you use it for anything?
David, good post. I actually just heard of leet for the first time a couple weeks ago. It is very handy for passwords, I agree. I have enjoyed using it for other things too. For example my co worker and I use leet to send messages to each other at work. Since we are not allowed to have e-mail, we have stashed a text file on our server and from there we add to it and use it as a form of ghetto email. The best part is that even if somebody were to find it, they would just assume that it was junk since they couldn’t not read it!
@ Eric – That is awesome! Very clever, you make me proud. Keep up the good work. :)
Hi David – It’s been awhile since I visited. I’ve never heard of Leet or 1337, but it’s very fascinating. I can see how it would be useful for passwords. Thanks for sharing. :)
Hi Barbara – thanks for stopping by!
Hi David,
You understand Geek lingo? Wow! I only got as far as 1337 and
other words like “PWNED” and stuff when I was addicted to
Warcraft for a while :D
Geek language can most definitely be used for passwords!
Asher
Hi Asher – I wouldn’t consider myself a fluent Geek lingo expert…but I enjoy practicing 1337 and other bits and pieces of Geek speak every now and then. :)
I’ve used L33t for years and tend to employ some mix of it, slang, and japanese-style emoticons in my passwords. Good stuff. Easy to remember and harder to crack.
@ The Dane – I’d be curious to see an example of this ‘mix’ you talk of. Care to give us a sneak peak? :)
Well, obviously, I’m not going to give away any real examples but let’s say you wanted an easy pass to remember for your site here. You might try doing something like David Lano Oh No.
D4^!dL4n0no3$O_o
Broken down, that’s David (D4^!d) Lano (L4n0) Noes (no3$) and a troubled/wonky face (O_o).
You’ve got a 16-character, alphanumeric there with four upperline Shift-characters. A strong password that’s easy to remember. And only a pain to type until your hand memory commits it. My current main password choice is about as long and complex and I can type it without thinking.
But yeah, I wouldn’t use that pass for your site now. Sorry. You can put it on your merchandise though ^_^
@The Dane – Thanks for doing a bit of show and tell. I like it! :)
I have a few 20-25 character 1337 passwords that I’ve hand-memorized; thankfully, otherwise that would be ruthless for logging in. :/
Re: The Dane – that’s an awesome incorporation of l337 and emoticons into a password. I never considered using emoticons!
Re: Post – Google has a nifty little “hidden” language option for 1337 in the search options. I don’t have the link onhand at the moment, but it can be pretty trippy to look at your search results if you change your language to l337!
@Saourealis – Wow, really! I’d be interested in seeing that link…if you can find it. :)
@Saourealis – 600673.com ?
BTW, 1337 may be more useful for text input. The side effect: No more hunt-and-peck. See Oizea Type for example.
Oizea:
Wow, I’d never seen it on a site link! That’s what the variation I saw looked like though, but I was under the impression that you actually selected it in a language selection thing, rather than visiting a different site. Thanks for the link, I couldn’t find that anywhere!
Hi david lano… l33t is great for passwords …. just got into l33t a few weeks ago but I was just wondering, is there a basic type of grammer for it? Or can u just add random symbols?
@Jessica – There’s a link in the post pointing to a chart. The chart contains all of the common symbols…but yes. I would consider 1337 to be one of those things where you can most definitely make up your own version – it’s probably better that way! :)