• Re: GWR seat reservations

    From Clank@3:633/10 to All on Saturday, March 07, 2026 16:44:47
    On 07/03/2026 10:29, Sam Wilson wrote:
    Clank <clank75@googlemail.com> wrote:
    On 07/03/2026 00:55, Recliner wrote:
    Charles Ellson <charlesellson@btinternet.com> wrote:
    On Fri, 06 Mar 2026 22:01:46 +0000, Mark Goodge
    <usenet@listmail.good-stuff.co.uk> wrote:

    On Mon, 2 Mar 2026 14:11:59 -0000 (UTC), Tweed <usenet.tweed@gmail.com> >>>>> wrote:

    It has always been possible to reserve seats on the GWR website for almost
    any TOC that offers reservations. You don?t need to hold a ticket to make
    the reservation (though obviously you do to travel). The GWR website has >>>>>> undergone a revamp and it took me ages to find the correct page again. So
    in case this helps others:
    Firstly you need to be signed in via the icon at the top right of
    www.gwr.com (the green circle)
    Then go to

    https://www.gwr.com/myaccount/my-trips

    There you should see a Make A Reservation button

    Well, I have no need to travel in the immediate future, but I thought I'd >>>>> check it out anyway.

    I tried to log in, and it gave me a "Please enter a valid email address" >>>>> error. My assumption was that my account didn't carry over from the old >>>>> version, so I went to register a new account. And got an "email already >>>>> exists" error. So I can't register, and I can't log in.

    The "lost password?" process sometimes gets round that. A couple of
    sites where I have had that were ones which hadn't been used for some
    time and which had introduced 2FA while I was away but no longer put a >>>> setup link on the login page, instead just giving no apparent
    reaction.


    Yes, that usually works.


    When a service provider *forces* the lost password method (like this),
    it's often a sign that they've changed technology provider - and the new
    provider supports a different password-hashing mechanism (since password
    hashes are one-way, it's impossible* to "unhash" the password from one
    provider and then hash it again with the new one.)

    So it is indeed a lost password - it's just that they have lost it, not
    you :-).


    The alternative explanation is they have decided to upgrade the password
    hashes themselves for better security (e.g. they used to use MD5, and
    now they are upgrading to SHA-512.) Again, they can't actually
    'convert' the passwords, though.

    There are better ways of handling this scenario from a UX perspective -
    typically, what you do is record the hash algorithm in the password
    table. When a user with a password hashed in the old way logs in, after
    you've verified it you then take advantage of the fact you have the
    actual password 'in hand', re-hash it with the newer algorithm, and then
    update their record in the database. So over time, as users log in,
    they get seamlessly upgraded to the new algorithm in the background.

    This does take a small amount of effort though, and IT departments and
    systems integrators are lazxy, so "fuck it, just delete them all and
    tell them to reset their passwords" can often win...



    * computationally infeasible to do for a whole database, more accurately

    And there are failure cases where a weaker hash algorithm allows a
    collision - you can?t guarantee that the password you?ve unhashed is
    actually the one the user typed.

    Good point! Not a concern for a hacker cracking password hashes (they
    just need *a* password that maps to the relevant hash, not necessarily
    *the* password) - but a blocker to trying to migrate password databases
    that way!

    --- PyGate Linux v1.5.12
    * Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)
  • From Charles Ellson@3:633/10 to All on Sunday, March 08, 2026 02:53:22
    On Sat, 7 Mar 2026 08:52:47 +0000, Roland Perry <roland@perry.uk>
    wrote:

    In message <chkmqkh9uhh4ilbsnp351ncarhctrfo2nb@4ax.com>, at 22:22:42 on
    Fri, 6 Mar 2026, Charles Ellson <charlesellson@btinternet.com> remarked:
    On Fri, 06 Mar 2026 22:01:46 +0000, Mark Goodge >><usenet@listmail.good-stuff.co.uk> wrote:

    On Mon, 2 Mar 2026 14:11:59 -0000 (UTC), Tweed <usenet.tweed@gmail.com> >>>wrote:

    It has always been possible to reserve seats on the GWR website for almost >>>>any TOC that offers reservations. You don?t need to hold a ticket to make >>>>the reservation (though obviously you do to travel). The GWR website has >>>>undergone a revamp and it took me ages to find the correct page again. So >>>>in case this helps others:
    Firstly you need to be signed in via the icon at the top right of >>>>www.gwr.com (the green circle)
    Then go to

    https://www.gwr.com/myaccount/my-trips

    There you should see a Make A Reservation button

    Well, I have no need to travel in the immediate future, but I thought I'd >>>check it out anyway.

    I tried to log in, and it gave me a "Please enter a valid email address" >>>error. My assumption was that my account didn't carry over from the old >>>version, so I went to register a new account. And got an "email already >>>exists" error. So I can't register, and I can't log in.

    The "lost password?" process sometimes gets round that. A couple of
    sites where I have had that were ones which hadn't been used for some
    time and which had introduced 2FA while I was away but no longer put a >>setup link on the login page, instead just giving no apparent
    reaction.

    I recently bought a handheld gadget from eBay to take credit card
    payments off non-goatherder customers I might meet at car boot sales
    etc.

    Needs to be registered (fair enough) but I've not yet solved the deadly >embrace where it says my password (which works on my laptop) is invalid.
    And when I do password recovery, which as a side effect confirms I am
    using the correct email address, says that the new password doesn't work >either.

    I have had that where they haven't bothered to mention on the "lost
    password" page what has to be in or not in the password and how long
    it has to be.

    --- PyGate Linux v1.5.12
    * Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)
  • From Roland Perry@3:633/10 to All on Sunday, March 08, 2026 06:15:29
    In message <e0ppqklplfebju1cnipgvjde6jf9ehcodi@4ax.com>, at 02:53:22 on
    Sun, 8 Mar 2026, Charles Ellson <charlesellson@btinternet.com> remarked:
    On Sat, 7 Mar 2026 08:52:47 +0000, Roland Perry <roland@perry.uk>
    wrote:

    In message <chkmqkh9uhh4ilbsnp351ncarhctrfo2nb@4ax.com>, at 22:22:42 on >>Fri, 6 Mar 2026, Charles Ellson <charlesellson@btinternet.com> remarked: >>>On Fri, 06 Mar 2026 22:01:46 +0000, Mark Goodge >>><usenet@listmail.good-stuff.co.uk> wrote:

    On Mon, 2 Mar 2026 14:11:59 -0000 (UTC), Tweed <usenet.tweed@gmail.com> >>>>wrote:

    It has always been possible to reserve seats on the GWR website for almost >>>>>any TOC that offers reservations. You don?t need to hold a ticket to make >>>>>the reservation (though obviously you do to travel). The GWR website has >>>>>undergone a revamp and it took me ages to find the correct page again. So >>>>>in case this helps others:
    Firstly you need to be signed in via the icon at the top right of >>>>>www.gwr.com (the green circle)
    Then go to

    https://www.gwr.com/myaccount/my-trips

    There you should see a Make A Reservation button

    Well, I have no need to travel in the immediate future, but I thought I'd >>>>check it out anyway.

    I tried to log in, and it gave me a "Please enter a valid email address" >>>>error. My assumption was that my account didn't carry over from the old >>>>version, so I went to register a new account. And got an "email already >>>>exists" error. So I can't register, and I can't log in.

    The "lost password?" process sometimes gets round that. A couple of
    sites where I have had that were ones which hadn't been used for some >>>time and which had introduced 2FA while I was away but no longer put a >>>setup link on the login page, instead just giving no apparent
    reaction.

    I recently bought a handheld gadget from eBay to take credit card
    payments off non-goatherder customers I might meet at car boot sales
    etc.

    Needs to be registered (fair enough) but I've not yet solved the deadly >>embrace where it says my password (which works on my laptop) is invalid. >>And when I do password recovery, which as a side effect confirms I am
    using the correct email address, says that the new password doesn't work >>either.

    I have had that where they haven't bothered to mention on the "lost
    password" page what has to be in or not in the password and how long
    it has to be.

    Both old and new ones are complex, as auto-suggested by my browser. But sometimes that ends up including a special character which the vendor's
    system bizarrely doesn't accept.

    But you'd expect the "new password" dialogue to reject it, rather than
    accept it and then refuse to recognise it when logging in next time.
    --
    Roland Perry

    --- PyGate Linux v1.5.12
    * Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)