My Password is ...

Well I'm not going to tell you. However, for some, you may as well just tell a potential hacker/nosy person what your password is. When choosing a password to protect your data and transactions you will want to make it complex but memorable. No sense creating a complex password then writing it on a sticky attached to your monitor.
How then to choose and create a safe password that is memorable?

Let us start with what not to do.

Do not:

• Use Dictionary Words
• Date of Birth, social security or any biographic data
• Names of your pet, family, etc.
• Continuous numbers and/or letters (e.g abc123)

Do:

• Use numbers and symbols
• Make it at least 8 characters long
• Use a cipher (explained below)

A cipher is a method of writing using either substitution or transposition. Below are a few examples.
Take a phrase(or quotation) you like, e.g "The rain in Spain falls on the plain." Your password would use the first letter of every word and become trisfotp. Using a different phrase; "Barkeep, give me one for the road!" Here your password becomes b,gm14tr! Now you have two examples of creating a memorable and complex password.
Once you've chosen a password, you can check it here(http://www.microsoft.com/protect/yourself/password/checker.mspx).
Keep in mind that your password is only one layer of good security for your computer system and having a strong password will not stop a determined hacker with enough time and resources. A strong password does, however, make your system less of a target.