diff --git a/Sources/Plasma/CoreLib/plString.cpp b/Sources/Plasma/CoreLib/plString.cpp
index a8da244e..7ca66336 100644
--- a/Sources/Plasma/CoreLib/plString.cpp
+++ b/Sources/Plasma/CoreLib/plString.cpp
@@ -644,6 +644,36 @@ plString plString::Substr(int start, size_t size) const
     return str;
 }
 
+plString plString::ToUpper() const
+{
+    // TODO:  Unicode-aware case conversion
+    size_t size = GetSize();
+    char *dupe = new char[size + 1];
+    const char *self = c_str();
+    for (size_t i = 0; i < size; ++i)
+        dupe[i] = toupper(self[i]);
+
+    // Don't re-check UTF-8 on this
+    plString str;
+    str.fUtf8Buffer = plStringBuffer<char>::Steal(dupe, size);
+    return str;
+}
+
+plString plString::ToLower() const
+{
+    // TODO:  Unicode-aware case conversion
+    size_t size = GetSize();
+    char *dupe = new char[size + 1];
+    const char *self = c_str();
+    for (size_t i = 0; i < size; ++i)
+        dupe[i] = tolower(self[i]);
+
+    // Don't re-check UTF-8 on this
+    plString str;
+    str.fUtf8Buffer = plStringBuffer<char>::Steal(dupe, size);
+    return str;
+}
+
 plString &plString::operator+=(const plString &str)
 {
     size_t catsize = GetSize() + str.GetSize();
@@ -669,9 +699,8 @@ plString operator+(const plString &left, const plString &right)
     return str;
 }
 
-plStringStream &plStringStream::operator<<(const char *text)
+plStringStream &plStringStream::append(const char *data, size_t length)
 {
-    size_t length = strlen(text);
     if (fLength + length > fBufSize) {
         char *bigger = new char[fBufSize * 2];
         memcpy(bigger, fBuffer, fBufSize);
@@ -679,11 +708,17 @@ plStringStream &plStringStream::operator<<(const char *text)
         fBuffer = bigger;
         fBufSize *= 2;
     }
-    memcpy(fBuffer + fLength, text, length);
+    memcpy(fBuffer + fLength, data, length);
     fLength += length;
     return *this;
 }
 
+plStringStream &plStringStream::operator<<(const char *text)
+{
+    size_t length = strlen(text);
+    return append(text, length);
+}
+
 plStringStream &plStringStream::operator<<(int num)
 {
     char buffer[12];
@@ -697,9 +732,3 @@ plStringStream &plStringStream::operator<<(unsigned int num)
     snprintf(buffer, 12, "%u", num);
     return operator<<(buffer);
 }
-
-plStringStream &plStringStream::operator<<(char ch)
-{
-    char buffer[2] = { ch, 0 };
-    return operator<<(buffer);
-}
diff --git a/Sources/Plasma/CoreLib/plString.h b/Sources/Plasma/CoreLib/plString.h
index 48f272c3..c8a46774 100644
--- a/Sources/Plasma/CoreLib/plString.h
+++ b/Sources/Plasma/CoreLib/plString.h
@@ -260,6 +260,11 @@ public:
     plString Left(size_t size) const { return Substr(0, size); }
     plString Right(size_t size) const { return Substr(GetSize() - size, size); }
 
+    // NOTE:  Does ::Compare(blah, kCaseInsensitive) make more sense?  If
+    //        so, use that instead -- it's faster and more efficient!
+    plString ToUpper() const;
+    plString ToLower() const;
+
 public:
     struct less : public std::binary_function<plString, plString, bool>
     {
@@ -403,14 +408,16 @@ public:
     }
     ~plStringStream() { delete [] fBuffer; }
 
+    plStringStream &append(const char *data, size_t length);
+
     plStringStream &operator<<(const char *text);
     plStringStream &operator<<(int num);
     plStringStream &operator<<(unsigned int num);
-    plStringStream &operator<<(char ch);
+    plStringStream &operator<<(char ch) { return append(&ch, 1); }
 
     plStringStream &operator<<(const plString &text)
     {
-        return operator<<(text.s_str());
+        return append(text.s_str(), text.GetSize());
     }
 
     size_t GetLength() const { return fLength; }
diff --git a/Sources/Plasma/NucleusLib/pnEncryption/plChallengeHash.cpp b/Sources/Plasma/NucleusLib/pnEncryption/plChallengeHash.cpp
index 67128439..4c88fd4c 100644
--- a/Sources/Plasma/NucleusLib/pnEncryption/plChallengeHash.cpp
+++ b/Sources/Plasma/NucleusLib/pnEncryption/plChallengeHash.cpp
@@ -93,14 +93,11 @@ void CryptCreateRandomSeed(size_t length, uint8_t* data)
 
 void CryptHashPassword(const plString& username, const plString& password, ShaDigest dest)
 {
-    /* This should be unnecessary once plString has ToLower() */
-    wchar_t* w_name = (wchar_t*)_TEMP_CONVERT_TO_WCHAR_T(username);
-    StrLower(w_name);
-
-    plString buf = password;
-    buf += _TEMP_CONVERT_FROM_WCHAR_T(w_name);
-
-    plSHAChecksum sum(buf.GetSize() * sizeof(wchar_t), (uint8_t*)_TEMP_CONVERT_TO_WCHAR_T(buf));
+    plStringStream buf;
+    buf << password.Left(password.GetSize() - 1) << '\0';
+    buf << username.ToLower().Left(username.GetSize() - 1) << '\0';
+    plStringBuffer<uint16_t> result = buf.GetString().ToUtf16();
+    plSHAChecksum sum(result.GetSize() * sizeof(uint16_t), (uint8_t*)result.GetData());
 
     memcpy(dest, sum.GetValue(), sizeof(ShaDigest));
 }