Captain Moonlight: As easy as 1, 10, 11

PLEASE sit up. Torpor is not an attractive condition. The brain needs exercise as much as the body. Perhaps you should go along to the Student Memory Championships, being held this morning at Simpson's-in-the-Strand. There you will find young people memorising 480-digit binary numbers, 200 concrete nouns, sequences of playing cards, that sort of thing. It is sponsored by Ernst & Young (accountants, naturally). The point of it? Very useful for passing exams, and later, for gambling.

How do you remember a 480-digit binary number? Break it down into groups, and imagine them as musical notes. Then, should you get, for example, FF, make up a visual symbol, like Fred Flintstone. Easy. If it's too late, or if you live too far away, you might like to try it at home with the Captain. Just memorise and repeat this:

110010101010101011110111010111

110001111100011110001111110001

111100000101010101001001011000

110101010101010101011011001101

010101010101010111100011001010

100011001010101010101111110000

110010101010100100110100100010

110001111000001101010101010100

101001001001001001000101010101

010100100101010010101010101010

010101001101010101001000110010

001000100011001010101011111000

101010101010101101010101010101

1010101010101010101001010101011

001001010010100101010010100101

00101001010010101010101010100.

Good luck] - oh yes, and Happy Christmas.