With the transition to IPv6 gone are friendly IP addresses like 23.75.345.200 to be replaced by 128 bit monstrosities like 2001:db8:85a3:8d3:1319:8a2e:370:7348. Equally WiFi networks are protected using 256 bit keys that are long and tedious to remember and type.
Here's a slightly tongue-in-cheek proposal to make all these addresses pronounceable by mapping each 8 bit byte to a short English word drawn from a known vocabulary. My vocabulary starts with one of the letters drawn from b d f g h k l m n p r followed by a single vowel a e i o u followed by a single letter from d g m p t. The yields more than enough words. The full list is as follows:
Then the long IPv6 address above becomes dem bag:bip nog:kep lip:bep nig:bot dad:kip dug:bap him:hod fum. Equally, a long WPA2 pre-shared key becomes a pronounceable list of words that are relatively easy to send to someone and type in.
Of course, it's backwards compatible with IPv4: there's no place like kam.bad.bad.bag or I can the Causata web site on gop.gop.kat.fum and my local network's netmask is red.red.red.bad.
Similarly, an MD5 can be written as something like pap nom bet mot kot nep rag dap lid hat red lup nup det nap nep.
I wonder how much less error prone this would be than a long string of hexadecimal digits. Using a carefully selected set of known English three letter words (with no homophones) would likely be best.
PS Others have pointed me to the PGP word list and RFC2289.
PPS Another proposal
Here's a slightly tongue-in-cheek proposal to make all these addresses pronounceable by mapping each 8 bit byte to a short English word drawn from a known vocabulary. My vocabulary starts with one of the letters drawn from b d f g h k l m n p r followed by a single vowel a e i o u followed by a single letter from d g m p t. The yields more than enough words. The full list is as follows:
bad 0 bag 1 bam 2 bap 3 bat 4 bed 5 beg 6 bem 7 bep 8 bet 9 bid a big b bim c bip d bit e bod f bog 10 bom 11 bop 12 bot 13 bud 14 bug 15 bum 16 bup 17 but 18 dad 19 dag 1a dam 1b dap 1c dat 1d ded 1e deg 1f dem 20 dep 21 det 22 did 23 dig 24 dim 25 dip 26 dit 27 dod 28 dog 29 dom 2a dop 2b dot 2c dud 2d dug 2e dum 2f dup 30 dut 31 fad 32 fag 33 fam 34 fap 35 fat 36 fed 37 feg 38 fem 39 fep 3a fet 3b fid 3c fig 3d fim 3e fip 3f fit 40 fod 41 fog 42 fom 43 fop 44 fot 45 fud 46 fug 47 fum 48 fup 49 fut 4a gad 4b gag 4c gam 4d gap 4e gat 4f ged 50 geg 51 gem 52 gep 53 get 54 gid 55 gig 56 gim 57 gip 58 git 59 god 5a gog 5b gom 5c gop 5d got 5e gud 5f gug 60 gum 61 gup 62 gut 63 had 64 hag 65 ham 66 hap 67 hat 68 hed 69 heg 6a hem 6b hep 6c het 6d hid 6e hig 6f him 70 hip 71 hit 72 hod 73 hog 74 hom 75 hop 76 hot 77 hud 78 hug 79 hum 7a hup 7b hut 7c kad 7d kag 7e kam 7f kap 80 kat 81 ked 82 keg 83 kem 84 kep 85 ket 86 kid 87 kig 88 kim 89 kip 8a kit 8b kod 8c kog 8d kom 8e kop 8f kot 90 kud 91 kug 92 kum 93 kup 94 kut 95 lad 96 lag 97 lam 98 lap 99 lat 9a led 9b leg 9c lem 9d lep 9e let 9f lid a0 lig a1 lim a2 lip a3 lit a4 lod a5 log a6 lom a7 lop a8 lot a9 lud aa lug ab lum ac lup ad lut ae mad af mag b0 mam b1 map b2 mat b3 med b4 meg b5 mem b6 mep b7 met b8 mid b9 mig ba mim bb mip bc mit bd mod be mog bf mom c0 mop c1 mot c2 mud c3 mug c4 mum c5 mup c6 mut c7 nad c8 nag c9 nam ca nap cb nat cc ned cd neg ce nem cf nep d0 net d1 nid d2 nig d3 nim d4 nip d5 nit d6 nod d7 nog d8 nom d9 nop da not db nud dc nug dd num de nup df nut e0 pad e1 pag e2 pam e3 pap e4 pat e5 ped e6 peg e7 pem e8 pep e9 pet ea pid eb pig ec pim ed pip ee pit ef pod f0 pog f1 pom f2 pop f3 pot f4 pud f5 pug f6 pum f7 pup f8 put f9 rad fa rag fb ram fc rap fd rat fe red ffAn alternative alphabet might be drawn up by using actual English words that have only three letters. There are likely enough genuine three letter words that 256 interesting ones could be found.
Then the long IPv6 address above becomes dem bag:bip nog:kep lip:bep nig:bot dad:kip dug:bap him:hod fum. Equally, a long WPA2 pre-shared key becomes a pronounceable list of words that are relatively easy to send to someone and type in.
Of course, it's backwards compatible with IPv4: there's no place like kam.bad.bad.bag or I can the Causata web site on gop.gop.kat.fum and my local network's netmask is red.red.red.bad.
Similarly, an MD5 can be written as something like pap nom bet mot kot nep rag dap lid hat red lup nup det nap nep.
I wonder how much less error prone this would be than a long string of hexadecimal digits. Using a carefully selected set of known English three letter words (with no homophones) would likely be best.
PS Others have pointed me to the PGP word list and RFC2289.
PPS Another proposal
Comments
I though that should at least be mentioned.
Sounds like something Ella Fitzgerald would sing at a jazz club...
"My IP is lip bep-"
"Sorry was that lip or lit?"
"LIP, as in 'read my LIPS'"
However, 2001:0db8:85a3:08d3:1319:8a2e:0370:7348 actually becomes dem bag:bip met:kep lip:bep nig:bot dad:kip dug:bap him:hod fum, not dem bag:bip nog:kep lip:bep nig:bot dad:kip dug:bap him:hod fum. You've transposed nig (d3) with met (b3).
You might want to have a look at my project on GitHub: https://github.com/JosephSalisbury/PronounceableIPv6
Cheers.
Except, my words are pronounceable and memorable. Have a look :)
I've also made a program which, given an inputted IPv6 address can help you generate the optimum phrase.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PGP_word_list