|
What Happens When You Die?
Death makes no conquest of this conqueror,Inspired by Ryan Boddy's article in the Baltimore City Paper, Ghosts in the Machines, David Weinberger's article, Redefining Friendship and Alex Reid's response, I am inspired to ask "what happens when you die?" I am specifically referring to the question of what happens to your online self after death. There is a whole generation of people now who live just as much online as offline - shopping, banking, communicating, business networking, meeting friends, discussing shared interests, blogging, etc. So many of us have multiple, detailed profiles on many websites. Whether you call it online identity, online identities, online presence or simply online connections, what will happen to it all and what do you want to happen to it all when you die - especially if your death is sudden and unexpected??? I got to experience this for myself on a much smaller scale when moving from NY to Israel. I have never moved before and so this was the first time I had to log into dozens of sites to change my phone numbers, address and general profile information. The process was very, very annoying indeed! I can't imagine what would happen if I died and someone (who?!) had to do the same on my behalf. And, of course, they wouldn't just be changing a phone number. Death, the most dreaded of all evils, is therefore of no concern to us; for while we exist death is not present, and when death is present we no longer exist.An attempt at comprehensively listing all the things my friends and family would have to take care of before my "online soul" could rest in peace: -Email every person and every distribution list in my Outlook Contacts database -Write a final post to this blog -Edit my Friendster profile and post a message to my bulletin board on the site -Edit my Orkut profile (site offline as of this writing so I can't link to my profile) -Edit my Ryze profile -Edit my Blogger.com profile -Edit my Atrafdating.co.il profile -Post a message to the Improv Resource Center message board -Send an email to the Trapeze School Yahoo group -Send an email to the Robotski private email list (my former improv group) -Send an email to the Tachlis email list -Send an email to the TAANGLO Yahoo group -Close my photo-blogging account -Post a notice on GAZM.org -Take over the billing for hosting GAZM.org on Nexpoint -Transfer management of my reseller hosting accounts on Verio and Rapidsite.net (so the dozen sites I host for friends, and this blog, won't go offline) -Access, close down, or otherwise maintain my various email accounts at Yahoo Mail, Hotmail, Gmail, 012.net.il, Y3K.com, GAZM.org and JacobShwirtz.com -Close down my Amazon.com Wish List -For a reasonable period of time log-in to my MSN, AOL, Yahoo and ICQ instant message accounts and IM my buddies as they come online with the news -There must be 20 other things I'm forgetting about! Two issues with the above are: 1 - no one would be physically able to do the majority of the above because no one knows any of my passwords and no one can get any of my passwords! 2 - no one on the receiving end of the above will believe anything! The issue of hoaxes is central to the question of what happens, or can happen, to your online self when you die. Would sites believe my parents were really my parents? Would companies believe my friends aren't just playing a trick? The general feeling of not wanting to accept reality makes it even harder for someone to really believe. Imagine for yourself if you came to my blog one day and read: hi everyone, i'm not sure how to really use this thing but i am jacob's mom and i'm realy sorry to tell you all that jacob traggically died in a freak buffalo wing eating accident in israel last week. i would have posted earlier but we were dealing with taking care of his real affairs, no offense to all you online people, and anyway had to wait until the 7 days of mourning were over before using a computer agan. this is not a hoax, please beleive me and pray that jacob is happy wherever he is, tanks.Not very convincing, huh? What do we do? What's the answer? Some people couldn't care less - when you're dead you're dead and that's it. Loose ends be damned! Online friendships be damned! I, on the other hand, am both a closure freak (everything must be tied up nicely to my satisfaction) and genuinely care about all the online friendships I've made, the communities I've participated in, the connections established, etc. - if I didn't care I wouldn't have done any of it in the first place! I don't have answers, just a lot of problems: -Many sites don't provide a way for users to delete their accounts. Deleting usually requires intense effort to find a solid contact number/email in the Privacy Policy or Terms of Use of sites in order to get in touch with "someone" and have them take care of it. -Password-protected sites, of any kind, just operate according to YOU, the single person. There are no "benefactor" fields in forms we fill out to join communities, or any other site! -Most sites don't have "death clauses" in their Terms of Service so there is no way for a family member to do anything on your behalf. -I'm not satisfied with the offerings of any company trying to solve this problem - at least not yet. These include DiedOnline.com and Mylastemail.com. -Young people don't have wills so there is no communication to friends and family as far as what to do with their various online identities and participations upon death. Any young person who even considers writing a will is immediately castigated as being too concerned with gloom and death. I highly recommend Ryan Boddy's article, Ghosts in the Machines, which covers this topic very well, including legal issues and some interesting case studies. There are some positive things worth mentioning. If I were to die suddenly I'd like the following to be done as part of my legacy: -Backup the entire contents of my hard drive (with special attention to my thousands of digital photos, years of blog entries and years of Outlook email and calendar archives) -Save the backup for posterity and periodically port them to newer data storage technologies so they will always be readable -Create an online exhibit of all my digital photos, including a commenting feature, and allow anyone to use any image for any purpose without any copyright limitations -Assemble a book based on my favorite blog entries and approach friends and family members with contacts in the publishing industry -If the book is accepted for publication, request that Rob Frankel and David Weinberger write the preface Now I am off to brush up on my knowledge of Jewish views and customs concerning death. First, here is an inspirational quote as a thanks for reading such a long entry: Death cancels everything but truth; and strips a man of everything but genius and virtue. It is a sort of natural canonization. It makes the meanest of us sacred—it installs the poet in his immortality, and lifts him to the skies. Death is the greatest assayer of the sterling ore of talent. At his touch the drossy particles fall off, the irritable, the personal, the gross, and mingle with the dust—the finer and more ethereal part mounts with winged spirit to watch over our latest memory, and protect our bones from insult. We consign the least worthy qualities to oblivion, and cherish the nobler and imperishable nature with double pride and fondness. |
home | about | pics email | xml 
movie writings Pi Brazil Marathon Man A Clockwork Orange Vanilla Sky Minority Report Men in Black II Andromeda Strain Dr. Strangelove Platoon Time Code On the Waterfront Day of the Jackal Farenheit 451 American Graffiti Comedian Deterrence The China Syndrome Three Days o.t. Condor Late Great Planet Earth A.t. President's Men, 2 Black and White Catch 22 Star Trek: Nemesis Adaptation Gangs of New York Y Tu Mama Matrix Reloaded Bruce Almighty Kill Bill 2 Eternal Sunshine War of the Worlds Mission: Impossible III blogsploitation jewish encyclopedia online dictionary israeli bloggers view from here punks of zion joho the blog urban kvetch rambo's blog hanan cohen the ginrod jewlicious nun bet |
archives 01/06/2002 - 01/13/2002 01/13/2002 - 01/20/2002 01/20/2002 - 01/27/2002 01/27/2002 - 02/03/2002 02/03/2002 - 02/10/2002 02/10/2002 - 02/17/2002 02/17/2002 - 02/24/2002 02/24/2002 - 03/03/2002 03/03/2002 - 03/10/2002 03/10/2002 - 03/17/2002 03/17/2002 - 03/24/2002 03/24/2002 - 03/31/2002 03/31/2002 - 04/07/2002 04/07/2002 - 04/14/2002 04/14/2002 - 04/21/2002 04/21/2002 - 04/28/2002 04/28/2002 - 05/05/2002 05/05/2002 - 05/12/2002 05/19/2002 - 05/26/2002 05/26/2002 - 06/02/2002 06/02/2002 - 06/09/2002 06/09/2002 - 06/16/2002 06/16/2002 - 06/23/2002 06/23/2002 - 06/30/2002 06/30/2002 - 07/07/2002 07/07/2002 - 07/14/2002 07/14/2002 - 07/21/2002 07/21/2002 - 07/28/2002 07/28/2002 - 08/04/2002 08/04/2002 - 08/11/2002 08/11/2002 - 08/18/2002 08/18/2002 - 08/25/2002 08/25/2002 - 09/01/2002 09/01/2002 - 09/08/2002 09/08/2002 - 09/15/2002 09/15/2002 - 09/22/2002 09/22/2002 - 09/29/2002 09/29/2002 - 10/06/2002 10/06/2002 - 10/13/2002 10/13/2002 - 10/20/2002 10/20/2002 - 10/27/2002 10/27/2002 - 11/03/2002 11/03/2002 - 11/10/2002 11/10/2002 - 11/17/2002 11/17/2002 - 11/24/2002 11/24/2002 - 12/01/2002 12/01/2002 - 12/08/2002 12/08/2002 - 12/15/2002 12/15/2002 - 12/22/2002 12/22/2002 - 12/29/2002 12/29/2002 - 01/05/2003 01/12/2003 - 01/19/2003 01/19/2003 - 01/26/2003 01/26/2003 - 02/02/2003 02/02/2003 - 02/09/2003 04/06/2003 - 04/13/2003 04/13/2003 - 04/20/2003 04/20/2003 - 04/27/2003 06/01/2003 - 06/08/2003 06/15/2003 - 06/22/2003 06/22/2003 - 06/29/2003 11/23/2003 - 11/30/2003 12/21/2003 - 12/28/2003 12/28/2003 - 01/04/2004 01/04/2004 - 01/11/2004 01/18/2004 - 01/25/2004 01/25/2004 - 02/01/2004 02/22/2004 - 02/29/2004 03/07/2004 - 03/14/2004 04/11/2004 - 04/18/2004 04/18/2004 - 04/25/2004 04/25/2004 - 05/02/2004 05/02/2004 - 05/09/2004 05/23/2004 - 05/30/2004 05/30/2004 - 06/06/2004 06/06/2004 - 06/13/2004 06/13/2004 - 06/20/2004 06/20/2004 - 06/27/2004 06/27/2004 - 07/04/2004 07/04/2004 - 07/11/2004 07/11/2004 - 07/18/2004 07/18/2004 - 07/25/2004 07/25/2004 - 08/01/2004 08/01/2004 - 08/08/2004 08/08/2004 - 08/15/2004 08/15/2004 - 08/22/2004 08/22/2004 - 08/29/2004 08/29/2004 - 09/05/2004 09/05/2004 - 09/12/2004 09/19/2004 - 09/26/2004 09/26/2004 - 10/03/2004 10/10/2004 - 10/17/2004 10/17/2004 - 10/24/2004 10/24/2004 - 10/31/2004 10/31/2004 - 11/07/2004 11/07/2004 - 11/14/2004 11/14/2004 - 11/21/2004 11/21/2004 - 11/28/2004 11/28/2004 - 12/05/2004 12/12/2004 - 12/19/2004 12/19/2004 - 12/26/2004 12/26/2004 - 01/02/2005 01/02/2005 - 01/09/2005 03/06/2005 - 03/13/2005 05/01/2005 - 05/08/2005 05/08/2005 - 05/15/2005 06/12/2005 - 06/19/2005 06/19/2005 - 06/26/2005 06/26/2005 - 07/03/2005 07/03/2005 - 07/10/2005 07/10/2005 - 07/17/2005 07/17/2005 - 07/24/2005 07/24/2005 - 07/31/2005 07/31/2005 - 08/07/2005 08/07/2005 - 08/14/2005 08/14/2005 - 08/21/2005 08/21/2005 - 08/28/2005 08/28/2005 - 09/04/2005 09/11/2005 - 09/18/2005 09/18/2005 - 09/25/2005 09/25/2005 - 10/02/2005 10/02/2005 - 10/09/2005 10/09/2005 - 10/16/2005 10/23/2005 - 10/30/2005 11/06/2005 - 11/13/2005 12/04/2005 - 12/11/2005 12/18/2005 - 12/25/2005 12/25/2005 - 01/01/2006 01/08/2006 - 01/15/2006 01/15/2006 - 01/22/2006 01/22/2006 - 01/29/2006 01/29/2006 - 02/05/2006 02/05/2006 - 02/12/2006 02/12/2006 - 02/19/2006 02/19/2006 - 02/26/2006 02/26/2006 - 03/05/2006 03/05/2006 - 03/12/2006 03/12/2006 - 03/19/2006 03/19/2006 - 03/26/2006 03/26/2006 - 04/02/2006 04/02/2006 - 04/09/2006 04/23/2006 - 04/30/2006 04/30/2006 - 05/07/2006 05/07/2006 - 05/14/2006 05/14/2006 - 05/21/2006 05/21/2006 - 05/28/2006 06/04/2006 - 06/11/2006 06/11/2006 - 06/18/2006 06/18/2006 - 06/25/2006 06/25/2006 - 07/02/2006 07/16/2006 - 07/23/2006 07/23/2006 - 07/30/2006 08/06/2006 - 08/13/2006 08/13/2006 - 08/20/2006 08/27/2006 - 09/03/2006 09/03/2006 - 09/10/2006 09/24/2006 - 10/01/2006 10/01/2006 - 10/08/2006 10/08/2006 - 10/15/2006 10/15/2006 - 10/22/2006 10/22/2006 - 10/29/2006 11/05/2006 - 11/12/2006 11/12/2006 - 11/19/2006 11/19/2006 - 11/26/2006 11/26/2006 - 12/03/2006 12/03/2006 - 12/10/2006 12/10/2006 - 12/17/2006 12/17/2006 - 12/24/2006 12/24/2006 - 12/31/2006 12/31/2006 - 01/07/2007 01/14/2007 - 01/21/2007 01/21/2007 - 01/28/2007 01/28/2007 - 02/04/2007 02/04/2007 - 02/11/2007 02/11/2007 - 02/18/2007 02/18/2007 - 02/25/2007 02/25/2007 - 03/04/2007 03/04/2007 - 03/11/2007 |
