Why Diseases Have Always Been Humanity's Shadow Hey there, imagine this: we've sent rockets to other planets, but tiny microbes still keep us on our toes. As the world gets more connected, bugs hitch rides across borders easier than ever, stirring up worries in every corner. Time and again, we've seen how outbreaks can flip economies and politics upside down, pushing us to adapt in tough ways. Think about recent foes like COVID-19, SARS, Ebola, or even the flu strains – getting a grip on their stories is key to shaking off the anxiety they bring. Take something like malaria – it turned sacred journeys into hotbeds for outbreaks, spreading misery far and wide. Then there's cholera, which loves jumping on modern travel networks to claim new territories without a second thought. And don't get me started on bird flu; it's putting the squeeze on those massive farms where animals are packed tight, forcing a rethink on how we raise our food. Way back, our tree-dwelling primate relatives dealt with constant irritations from parasites like fleas and lice. When early humans dropped to the savannas, they battled sleeping sickness amid the endless grasses. Once folks settled into farming life, things like schistosomiasis sapped their strength in those early villages. Trade routes between continents let smallpox sneak in with merchants, quietly setting up shop in untouched lands. The mighty Mongol forces, charging across vast areas, unwittingly carried the plague through Europe and Asia. Colonizers from the West used accidental disease spread, especially smallpox, to tip the scales in their favor during expansions. Fast-forward to the machine age, and all that speedy transport turned our planet into one big stew of potential infections.⛶title: [Book Sharing] Plagues and Peoples - The Impact of Infectious Diseases on Human History
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date: 2022-12-16 00:00:00 UTC
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canonical_url: http://www.evanlin.com/reading-Plagues-and-Peoples/
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[](https://moo.im/a/24ipqZ "Plagues and Peoples")

Plagues and Peoples The Impact of Infectious Diseases on Human History 共 66 人評分 (66 ratings) Author: William H. McNeill Translator: Yang Yuling Publisher: Commonwealth Publishing ⛶
#### Book Purchase Recommendation:

- [Readmoo Online Book Purchase](https://moo.im/a/24ipqZ)

# Preface:

This is the twenty-third book I've finished reading this year. I bought this book along with a book about vaccines, but it's actually a book from 1975. It has compiled a lot of information about the impact of plagues and epidemics on human culture after years of research.

# Content Summary:

Getting Started with Passkeys in the Digital World Hey there, if you've been diving into modern web tech, you might've come across passkeys—they're like the cool new way to ditch those pesky passwords for good. But here's a head-scratcher that pops up a lot: even with all this fancy passwordless magic, why do you still have to set up an account with a username or email, and sometimes even a traditional password, right at the beginning? Let's break it down step by step, like we're chatting over coffee. The Basics of What Passkeys Actually Do Imagine passkeys as your personal digital keychain, powered by tech like WebAuthn standards. They're designed to let you log in using biometrics, like your fingerprint or face scan, or even hardware tokens, without ever typing out a password. The goal? Make things safer and smoother by cutting out weak links like easily guessed passwords. But the setup phase? That's where things get interesting, and it's not as contradictory as it seems. Why the Initial Account and Password Step Isn't Going Away Think about it this way: when you're creating a fresh account on a site or app, the system needs a reliable way to identify you from the get-go. That's where your email or username comes in—it's like your unique address in the online universe. Without it, how would the service know who you are or send you recovery info if something goes wrong? Now, tossing in a password during this creation might feel outdated, but it's often there as a safety net. Not every device supports passkeys yet, and some folks might need a fallback for older browsers or when they're on a shared computer. Identity Verification: Services use your email to confirm you're real and to handle things like two-factor checks. Recovery Options: If you lose access to your passkey device, that initial password can be a lifesaver for getting back in. Backward Compatibility: Not all platforms are fully passkey-ready, so blending old and new methods ensures everyone can join in. How This Plays Out in Real Scenarios Picture signing up for a new banking app. You pick an email, set a temporary password, and then the app prompts you to create a passkey. That first password might stick around for emergencies, but once your passkey is active, you can wave goodbye to typing it in daily. It's all about building a secure foundation before going fully hands-off. For more on the tech behind this, check out the WebAuthn Guide—it's a solid resource for geeking out on the details. And if you're curious about implementing this yourself, here's a quick code snippet to illustrate a basic passkey flow:⛶title: [TIL] Why the Passkeys process still requires an account and password when creating an account?
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date: 2022-12-09 00:00:00 UTC
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canonical_url: http://www.evanlin.com/til-why-passkeys-need-idpw/
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# Background:

I wrote an article about [Passkeys after WWDC](https://www.evanlin.com/til-apple-passkeys/). As a result, I saw an interesting tweet a few days ago, which made me re-examine how familiar I am? What are the differences in the actual Passkeys process (first time and subsequent times)? This article will summarize this part.

# (Updated 2022/12/10) If it's the first time creating an account, how many steps are required? Why?


The tweet I saw before mentioned why [Yubico/java-webauthn-server has nearly 21 steps](https://github.com/Yubico/java-webauthn-server#architecture)? This also made me curious to check the original meaning of the related process:


(Pic from [https://github.com/Yubico/java-webauthn-server#architecture](https://github.com/Yubico/java-webauthn-server#architecture))

According to the diagram of this component, everyone will be very curious. Here, you need to combine it with another diagram to see:


- **Step: 1 ~ 4:**
- When creating an account, because it needs to support older browsing devices (browsers/OS), you still need an account and password here. The entire process is the same as the previous database, but the following process is a bit different.
- If there is a User-Agent that supports Passkeys and doesn't need Backward Compatibility, you actually don't need 1 ~ 4 (but you should have them).
- **Step: 5:**
- This is based on the [PKCE method](https://www.evanlin.com/go-oauth-pkce/) to generate a Challenge, which is a value that has been AES encrypted.
- **Step 6 ~ 9:**
- At this time, you can generate a credential ID (optional) and return it to the client side as the value generated by the client agent.
- User-Agent may pass Challenge + credential command + credential ID
- **Step 9 ~ 18:**
- This is where the Client Agent will be activated to open the Passkeys support login process.
- The encrypted credential is transmitted to the server side through private encryption.
- After decrypting with the Public key that was accessed before, confirm whether it is the same credential ID.
- **Step 18 ~ 21:**
- Registration is completed after Auth is completed.

### Several key points are:

- The related process is definitely more cumbersome than the original ID/PW (may be more selective of devices).
- But after the first registration is completed, if the device allows it, you don't need to enter ID / PW afterwards.
- The demo example also uses Passkeys from the first time, but this often cannot be used universally for older devices.

# Passkeys Login Experience



# Support for related devices


(From: [https://www.passkeys.io/](https://www.passkeys.io/))

Here you can see that the WebAuthn called inside Passkeys is actually related to the App and OS version of the browser. So if you want to fully implement the Passkeys system as soon as possible, it is actually the browser support. If it is natively supported by a system similar to Apple, it can also be implemented in the development of the App as soon as possible.

# Finally


(From: [WWDC22 Session: Meet passkeys](https://developer.apple.com/videos/play/wwdc2022/10092/) )

As in the end of this video, Passkeys is not about saving the entire login process. Instead, it is about enhancing the security and user convenience of the entire login process. In order to achieve the true Password-less realm, it actually requires the cooperation of many industries:

- The server side needs to use WebAythn to write its own login application.
- And keep the versions of the related servers up to date
- Also remind users to use the latest version of the phone (seems simpler).

# Reference

- [Apple Doc: Supporting Passkeys](https://developer.apple.com/documentation/authenticationservices/public-private_key_authentication/supporting_passkeys)
- [WWDC22 Session: Meet passkeys](https://developer.apple.com/videos/play/wwdc2022/10092/)
- [WWDC21 Session: Move beyond passwords](https://developer.apple.com/videos/play/wwdc2021/10106/)
- [FIDO2: Web Authentication (WebAuthn)](https://fidoalliance.org/fido2-2/fido2-web-authentication-webauthn/)
- [Passkeys for web authentication](https://www.hanko.io/blog/passkeys-part-1)
- [What Apple’s WWDC Passkeys Announcement Means for Enterprise IAM](https://blog.hypr.com/what-apples-wwdc-passkeys-announcement-means-for-enterprise-iam)
- [https://github.com/duo-labs/webauthn](https://github.com/duo-labs/webauthn)
- [WebAuthn.io: A demo of the WebAuthn specification](https://webauthn.io/)
- [What is WebAuthn? How to Authenticate Users Without a Password](https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/intro-to-webauthn/)
Looking Ahead: The Evolution of Secure Logins As more devices and browsers catch up, we might see setups that skip passwords entirely, relying solely on passkeys from the jump. But for now, this hybrid approach keeps things practical and secure. It's like training wheels on a bike—you need them at first to build confidence before zooming off freely. Got questions or want to share your experiences with passkeys? Drop a comment below!