A single file, sitting in a folder labeled “Old_Stuff_Ignore.” The file was named:
The .rar extension means it’s compressed. It’s an archive. A digital Tupperware container of secrets from a decade ago. The question was: what kind of secrets? I tried the obvious passwords: password , 1234 , my birthday, my dog’s name. Nothing. I tried the cat-walking-on-keyboard theory: asdfghjkl . Denied. ggfhdtyhrtjzedhdsrhsfhtethzdbnj.rar
So, naturally, I became obsessed. I traced the file’s metadata. The creation date was November 17th, 2013. 11:43 PM. I was 22 years old. What was I doing in 2013? Listening to Daft Punk’s Random Access Memories on repeat and drinking terrible energy drinks while pulling all-nighters in my college dorm. A single file, sitting in a folder labeled