An alternative would be to supply a distinct name for each octet. Hashes could be displayed and verified something like:

Frog Lizard Snake Tyranosaur Cat Hat Rat Chair Star Moon Sun Earth Lincoln Washington Clinton Kennedy

Ideally, there would be minimal confusion in the set of images/objects/names (to avoid the "is that a Tyranosaur or a Lizard?" type questions.)

Why not create a list of of syllables (256 would work nicely) designed in such a way that when combined together at random, they would always form a pronounceable (but otherwise nonsense) word pair? These words would be guaranteed to be as unique as the fingerprint, fairly easy to remember, and a perfect icebreaker at parties. (Imagine the reaction you would get if you sidled up to someone and tried "SOBgoFALpinHOGmiDOwop PORtudeINfoGLOPsabRIvar" as a pickup line.) The challenge to this approach, of course, is to come up with 256 reasonably distinct syllables. Jonathan Wienke P.S. AOL's send mail software is a wothless piece of ****. P.P.S. These "unsubrscive" pea-brains all need one of those Louis Freeh-style leather belts with their names embossed on the back in BIG letters...