What are some guidelines for creating strong passwords?

What will be an ideal response?

Do not use passwords that consist of dictionary words or phonetic words.
Do not use birthdays, family member names, pet names, addresses, or any personal information.
Do not repeat characters (xxx) or use sequences (abc, 123, qwerty).
Do not use short passwords. Although a simple six-character lowercase password has over 308 million combinations, a modern desktop computer can generate 1 million passwords per second. A strong password should be a minimum of 12 characters in length.