Well, it is that time of year again and how quickly it has come around !!
  As I get older the years seem to whiz round so quickly , which is slightly worrying ,  At this time of year as Christmas approaches together with a new year I get to think about what the year has brought me , lessons learnt and aspirations for the coming year. Also, its a time to think of those who aren't with us anymore, sadly their time on this planet having ended and leaving us with memories to treasure,   Sadly our memories of those times do fade with the passage of time . We are left with highlights and key moments of our interactions with loved ones and friends . Of course we hang onto those memories in our hearts and minds. If we are lucky we also have treasured photographs or clips of video and timelines on social media to dip into from time to time.  The digital world is wonderful of course and we take for granted this  amazing asset where somewhere, in hyperspace those files and clips remain, whether in the cloud or on a physical drive in our homes, on computers and such.  But, there lies a problem. The security of those files is somewhat delicate and subject to loss.  Hard drives will fail at some point. We don't always back up the backups as we should do to provide some form of redundancy .  This happened to me recently with the failure of a 4GB hard drive.  Thankfully key images and work had been uploaded to a server and remain available to download.. But many images were lost . That server is not guaranteed to be around for infinity . The provider could at some point close down its service due to many reasons . Companies do fail also and this is an issue of concern. The shoe box in the attic is and was a great way of keeping physical pictures to pass on to out families and loved ones.  However this practice is decreasing with modern living and methods of storage changing rapidly.  My point is then that that physical print on the wall or on a desk is so important and will continue to be so. Prints will   last for many years if looked after and displayed correctly.  You have heard people talk of what they would grab before leaving a burning home.  More often than not, this would be their pictures of loved ones and important events in their lives. Those that keep the memory alive in their minds and hearts. Without which the clarity of that memory would be less vivid and stable.   So, my message is this.  Do have those important pictures made into physical prints that will ensure a better degree of certainty to last alongside  your recollections.   There are many online services that will provide prints or photo books at reasonable prices with  a fast turnaround. Having pictures this way also look better and don't need an expensive piece of kit to access them, with the precarious nature of a digital file.. Just 1's and zeros, which can disappear from existence at any point .  So again to one and all, my best wishes at this time of year with many happy returns .  !