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Cliche demands that every romantic couple has its own song. A new proposal from security researchers could see that same song be the couple's password too. It was put forward at the recent HotSec conferenceWe all have too many passwords to remember, and most of them are insecure anyway (confess yours here). Those we rarely use are the most problematic, so two researchers from Carleton University propose we be allowed to choose "digital content such as photos, mp3s, and videos" instead.Your favourite holiday snap, guitar solo, highlighted section of a webpage or Youtube video would serve either as a password, or as the key to retrieving a forgotten one. A piece of software would be able to crunch down the data of whatever that "object" is to a unique complex string that acts as the functional password.You can try it out yourself using their prototype.The benefits, say the researchers, include that you need to remember less, attackers can't use a dictionary of words to try and guess your password, and that it is easier to let someone else know a password without actually communicating it explicitly.Of course, it's not perfect. In fact, it could be less secure than a conventional password if a person chooses something obvious like their Facebook profile picture, as the authors admit.The idea has a lot going for it, though. Selecting a song, picture or video its much more fun, personal and memorable than choosing a typed password. When used for the right, not-too-critical services, I think it could work.If you're not convinced, take a look at some previous suggested alternatives to passwords, like replacing them with strings of faces, feeling for them using a Braille-like device, or using an electronic pet instead.Tom Simonite, online technology editor