Heartbleed Bug: How to memorise a new password

Computer users across the globe are being strongly urged to change all their online passwords because of the Heartbleed Bug. Memory expert Tony Buzan gives tips on how to remember new ones, which should be a long jumble of randomly generated letters and numbers.

Changing passwords is something many people avoid at all costs, because they fear they will forget the new password. However, you can make something memorable by simply using the power of association and location. In order to remember a string of online passwords, all you have to do is associate each individual letter and number with a known or fixed item, calling on your imagination throughout. The more you stimulate and use your imagination, the more connections you will be able to make, and the more you will be able to memorise.

When you find that you have to remember a random formation of letters and numbers, devise your own memory image words for each number and letter. Say for example, I need to remember this random mix of numbers and letters: B5g3ars91fPpq1m2bn4d8Vc3. Start with a key image word that starts with the sound of each letter, and make sure the word is easy to imagine and easy to draw. For example, B = Banana. If you can think of several possibilities for a letter, use the one that comes first in the dictionary.

A similar rule is applied to remembering numbers - you devise key memory images for words that rhyme with the sound of the words for the numbers. For example, the key rhyming memory image word that most people use for the number five is "hive" and the images conjured up for it range from one enormous hive, from which emanates a sky-covering swarm of monster bees, to a microscopic hive, with only one tiny bee.

To remember a random string of passwords you need to "translate" each number and letter of the password you have to remember into an image whether it be in a form of a letter or story, devised from a basic code. Use the letters and numbers you have transcribed and make up catchy words and phrases that link you back to both the number and the letter.

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