Comment by CatWChainsaw | Hacker News Reader

Comment by CatWChainsaw | Hacker News Reader

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About three weeks ago, I grabbed some samples out of a freezer at -80C without gloves because it was quick. Yes it was stupid! (It's also quite common that someone who needs to "grab one sample real quick" does this.) The fingers on my right hand felt prickly for a couple minutes after that but no harm, it seemed. Well it took a couple weeks but the fingertips on my right hand all started blistering and one finger basically has a second-degree burn. My left hand, which I didn't use on the freezer, seems to be experiencing mirroring blisters, and I have no explanation since I didn't do anything (stupid or otherwise) to burn/blister them. If I were relying on passkeys and I couldn't register multiple keys, like one for each of my ten fingers plus face plus hardware token, I'd be locked out of my passkey-protected accounts for... I mean I honestly don't know how long, my fingerprints could still be healing a month from now.

So between that and the kinks that still need to be worked out regarding exporting and FAANG lock-in, I'll keep using my passwords. And wearing gloves when using -80C freezers.

I don't get the problem, if you can enter your password you can also enter your Windows/macOS/Android/iOS password/PIN to authenticate with your passkeys. Windows Hello will accept a TPM PIN if facial recognition and fingerprint scanners aren't available, for example. Android will unlock the passkey storage just fine if the fingerprint scanner dies by using the PIN instead.

Your fingerprints and your passkeys aren't connected at all. You can choose to only connect them to biometrics if you opt to disable all alternative authentication methods on your computers/phones/etc, but as you explained yourself, that would cause quite a few problems.

basically this https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39706876

I don't see the connection? There are pros and cons to passkeys, and the linked comment has some valid concerns, but you will always be able to use your passkeys without biometrics as long as your phone and computer will unlock without biometrics.

It was the wrong comment, sorry about that.

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40172324

Passkeys != biometric auth

Technically correct yet I would not be surprised if they're still quite widely used. And the second part?

All phones ask for PIN or pattern in addition to face/fingerprint. Use that.

For the average user this is safe enough. (i.e) keep google/apple password safe. Then all is fine.

> exporting and FAANG lock-in

You don't ever have to even sign into FAANG if you can put up with inconvenience.

- Buy a U2F FIDO key like OPEN SOURCE https://solokeys.com/ or Yubikey etc - You can register this key directly at the website or - Use https://bitwarden.com/passwordless-passkeys/ - Every password manager need to implement it obviously

Symmetrical nature is strange -- almost like Raynaud's. But anyways I hadn't realized just how quickly that temperature could damage your skin, that's wild. Hopefully they heal up quickly.

It wasn't the cold air itself so much as the fact that I had to handle metal doors and racks to get to the cardboard boxes holding the sample vials. I didn't touch any one thing for longer than a few seconds but I guess even if you only spend a couple minutes doing that, cumulatively it added up.

Since I'm off microbe duty for the weekend I started to play science with the rest of the fingers on my right hand, comparing what does better healing - antibiotic ointment, petroleum jelly, or "liquid bandage".

Updating/elaborating here before the comment window closes on the off chance that an obscure log on HN helps in the future.

The situation with my fingertips matches most with Pompholyx/dyshidrotic eczema in the sense that the first thing to happen was very tiny pinprick blisters called vesicles appearing on my fingertips before they developed a callus-like texture which has generally given way to skin peeling, in that one case enough to make me think I had a second-degree burn.

I've never had ezcema before, so no wonder I wasn't thinking about it. But that itself is bizarre, because a 30-year streak comes to an end with no conclusive reason. Triggers can include metals (not around any unusual ones AFAIK), allergies or weather (?!?), foods (never a problem before!), stress (okay, great), sweaty palms (biologists wear gloves all the time and it's never been a problem before), potential fungal infections, chemical irritants, and more. And as I said originally, this showed up a couple of weeks after what I thought was the most likely trigger, so it probably isn't actually the trigger.

It can be chronic, or happen once in your life and never again! The symptoms are supposed to fade after "a few weeks", so hopefully 2 down now. Treatments include keeping hands hydrated, stress management, antihistamines, moisturizing creams with dimethicone, calcineurin, or steroids, and even UV light treatment. Hygiene is important for preventing bacterial infection.

Still hoping it clears up soon.

Last update, had an e-visit with a NP who said it sounded like dishydrotic ezcema, hooray guessing skills. Got prescribed a steroid cream which insurance refuses to cover, and a dermatologist appointment next week. I wash my hands, pat them dry, cover them in lotion or petroleum jelly, and cover the fingertips in bandages, and honestly it's just slowly getting worse. Cotton gloves dried my hands out in minutes. US health insurance is BS.

My wife actually developed this in her late twenties (now 39). She hasn't had much luck keeping it from slowly progressing, but it comes and goes in waves. Lotion / steroid helps a little but nobody has a good solution for it, yet. She works w/ her hands and it hasn't limited her, but is frustrating.

I don't have anything helpful really but feel free to reach out (email in bio) if you want me to put you in contact w/ my partner just to have someone to chat with about it. Best of luck in managing it.

silly hot take.

use a third party manager like Strongbox to avoid faang and biometrics if you want.

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