AT THIS time of the year, your correspondent crosses the Pacific
to Japan for a month or so. He repeats the trip during the
summer. He considers it crucial in order to keep abreast of all
the ingenious technology which, once debugged by the world's
most acquisitive consumers, will wind up in American and
European shops a year or two later.  Each time he packs his
bags, though, he is embarrassed by having to include a dog-eared
set of notes that really ought to be locked up in a safe. This
is his list of logons and passwords for all the websites he uses
for doing business and staying in touch with the rest of the
world. At the last count, the inch-thick list accumulated over
the past decade or so—your correspondent's sole copy—includes
access details for no fewer than 174 online services and
computer networks.   He admits to flouting the advice of
security experts: his failings include using essentially the
same logon and password for many similar sites, relying on
easily remembered words—and, heaven forbid, w