Password Dos and Don'ts

We all have passwords to deal with these days: pins for our credit cards; password for our email; logins for our work computer. We all have to come up with our own password at some point and then we are faced with the challenge of coming up with something that's both easy to remember, and difficult for a stranger to guess. It sounds daunting, or even impossible, but it isn't. Just keep these things in mind and you shouldn't have any trouble coming up with strong passwords that you can remember.

Memory
Do pick something that's easy to remember.
Don't pick something that's on record. The birthday of anyone in your family, your wedding date, your graduation date are all easy for someone else to find out, and guess.
Do pick something personal. As long as it doesn't fall into the "Don't" category above, something personal will always be easier to remember, and be a good start for a password.
Don't pick something that's so obscure that if you forget your password that even you won't be able to guess it.

Security
Do include a mix of numbers, capitals, and special characters whenever possible.
Don't use the same password for everything. At least, not the *exact* same password...
Do variations of a good password for different uses. An acquaintance of mine suggests adding an abbreviation at the end of a good password of the site that you are logging into. For example: if your password is MonkeyP13, and you are using it on yahoo.com, add yc at the end of the password to make it even stronger, and still as easy to remember as the simpler password.
Don't let your computer remember your passwords for you, and don't put them on a note right next to your computer. While a note is safer than letting your computer store your passwords, you're basically giving anyone with physical access to your computer full access to everything you do online.

Additional Tips:
The longer a password is, the safer it is. If a password gets too long, you will have to me more careful to ensure that you type it in correctly. Don't go overboard if you have trouble typing accurately.
Don't type your password in order. For example, say "Jump 1365" is easy to remember for you. Type Jump, then click somewhere near the beginning or middle(but the same spot every time), and type 1, skip a space, 3, skip... so that you end up with J1u3m6p5 as a password that's easy to remember, but difficult to guess. By using the mouse to click back to the beginning, you add an extra layer of security against malicious tools like keyloggers, which can record exactly what keys you type in the exact order you type them. Most keyloggers require physical access to your computer, so don't be too concerned if you live alone. If you live with a family or roommates, as long as you follow this tip, don't be concerned.