This article seems like good knowledge, in-depth analysis, and bad advice. There's no easy solution, but this implementation would be disaster. Gawker and J. Random aren't necessarily the real problems (especially with the options of cascade of passwords, LastPass, KeePass, Password Safe, SuperGenPass, home-made transform using hash algorithm, etc.). Examples of real problems: Using the same password everywhere, passwords that can be reset via email or challenge questions, and sites that don't allow strong passwords. The idea in this article would be a real big problem. 7 ways, just off the top of my head, to pwn someone with this "centralized risk:" http://sophware.posterous.com/even-coding-horror-may-not-have-a-good-answer