We buy souvenirs and we value diamonds because they can last a lifetime.

Here are my thoughts on posting our greetings here on Steemit on every special occasion.

Plane
[A plane forms a streak within the 20s exposure time, capturing the stars along with it. 32mm, ISO400]

I lost some pictures on Friendster when I failed to download them before the site went out of business. One of my compositions was on Garageband and I lost my MP3 when they closed down. If you think about it, there's no way to preserve anything permanently - not even online. Hardware storage gets outdated and deteriorates over time. Think about floppy disks. What if you had data you failed to transfer? It's now very difficult to find a floppy drive, let alone recover data buried in dust and mold. I always wanted to automatically sync my files across different backup media and there are now many ways to do that. Here's why I choose to preserve memories on Steemit.

Steemit uses blockchain technology (similar to that used in bitcoin).

What makes a blockchain more secure?

The blockchain is decentralized, meaning closing down a site like Steemit would be a huge challenge. The programming code is open-sourced and can be scrutinized, reused and transformed by just about anybody who can read it. The data is distributed and handled by thousands of computers around the world. On Steemit, after seven days of posting, you can no longer edit or delete your post. This parameter is hard-coded in the software's core and can't be changed easily. Every new block of data is secured and encrypted depending on the content of the previous one. This is how it has got its name: "blockchain". Erasing and manipulating data is virtually impossible, making the system virtually unhackable. The only obvious security holes are in third-party sites handling private keys like exchanges and on the users' end (depending on how they keep their private keys secure).

Earning Steem and being able to keep it in a secure wallet.

Here's a very interesting discussion by Hive account@acidyo about Why Steem offers one of the most secure wallets in Crypto. Steemit actually provides account recovery options on top of the inherent security that comes with blockchain technology. Steem is one of the most secure blockchains on the planet.

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We are searchable on Google!

Most of my posts are easy to find if you key in the exact title or even part of the title. I used incognito windows to make sure the search results are not influenced by previous searches. It's like "starting fresh".

My personal Facebook profile didn't even come up on the first page of the results but when I searched "j-alhomestudio", it even surpassed my facebook page. At least for me, that means there's enough traffic on Steemit to make us "searchable" but not so much to drown our posts with too many similar and more popular ones. This gives us a chance to make our posts "discoverable" and even if you don't send the link to your posts, if your username is unique (as required by the Steemit platform), you can easily be found just by searching for your Steemit username and the word "Steemit".

In this search, I only keyed in my friend's username Hive account@eastmael and his Steemit page came up on top!

My greetings to my loved ones:

Having said that, I would like to express my gratitude for having a close-knit family. Today, April 14th, my wife Jane, celebrates her 12th Sabbath Day Anniversary. It's her Spiritual Birthday, so to speak.

I spent a couple of hours on the rooftop and did this effect with my daughter for the second time. Using my phone's flashlight, I wrote the three letters in the air within 10 seconds at ISO 200, 18mm. The starting point was when the flash fired.

A Memory 'Written in the Stars'

In 2011, my wife and I went to "Lake Villa, a resort in Angono Rizal. We had been planning our wedding and while in the pool, early evening, we talked about having a symbol of our commitment to each other. -Something that can last longer than wedding rings. I said, why not look at the stars and find a pattern? We agreed on the large letter "J" formed by five stars ending at the tail of the "Big Dipper" shown above.

It took long for me to find it again after seven years but I remembered it must have been prominent and visible in the east on early evenings. That's when I remembered part of it belongs to the Big Dipper, a very prominent constellation shown above.

I dedicate this song to my wife, Jane.
My mom and dad will also celebrate their birthdays on April 22nd and 25th respectively. Happy Birthday to you. I love you.

- Greetings from Hive account@nicecooking!