A Sad But True Topic; Letting The Online Community Know Of Your Death - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

JamesG · 03-15-2009, 01:58 AM

Deaths of gamers leave their online lives in limbo (AP)
Posted on Sat Mar 14, 2009 1:39PM EDT

NEW YORK - When Jerald Spangenberg collapsed and died in the middle of a quest in an online game, his daughter embarked on a quest of her own: to let her father's gaming friends know that he hadn't just decided to desert them.

It wasn't easy, because she didn't have her father's "World of Warcraft" password and the game's publisher couldn't help her. Eventually, Melissa Allen Spangenberg reached her father's friends by asking around online for the "guild" he belonged to.

One of them, Chuck Pagoria in Morgantown, Ky., heard about Spangenberg's death three weeks later. Pagoria had put his absence down to an argument among the gamers that night.

"I figured he probably just needed some time to cool off," Pagoria said. "I was kind of extremely shocked and blown away when I heard the reason that he hadn't been back. Nobody had any way of finding this out."

With online social networks becoming ever more important in our lives, they're also becoming an important element in our deaths. Spangenberg, who died suddenly from an abdominal aneurysm at 57, was unprepared, but others are leaving detailed instructions. There's even a tiny industry that has sprung up to help people wrap up their online contacts after their deaths.

When Robert Bryant's father died last year, he left his son a little black USB flash drive in a drawer in his home office in Lawton, Okla. It was underneath a cup his son had once given him for his birthday. The drive contained a list of contacts for his son to notify, including the administrator of an online group he had been in.

"It was kind of creepy because I was telling all these people that my dad was dead," Bryant said. "It did help me out quite a bit, though, because it allowed me to clear up a lot of that stuff and I had time to help my mom with whatever she needed."

David Eagleman, a neuroscientist at the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, has had plenty of time to think about the issue.

"I work in the world's largest medical center, and what you see here every day is people showing up in ambulances who didn't expect that just five minutes earlier," he said. "If you suddenly die or go into a coma, there can be a lot of things that are only in your head in terms of where things are stored, where your passwords are."

He set up a site called Deathswitch, where people can set up e-mails that will be sent out automatically if they don't check in at intervals they specify, like once a week. For $20 per year, members can create up to 30 e-mails with attachments like video files.

It's not really a profit-making venture, and Eagleman isn't sure about how many members it has — "probably close to a thousand." Nor does he know what's in the e-mails that have been created. Until they're sent out, they're encrypted so that only their creators can read them.

If Deathswitch sounds morbid, there's an alternative site: Slightly Morbid. It also sends e-mail when a member dies, but doesn't rely on them logging in periodically while they're alive. Instead, members have to give trusted friends or family the information needed to log in to the site and start the notification process if something should happen.

The site was created by Mike and Pamela Potter in Colorado Springs, Colo. They also run a business that makes software for online games. Pamela said they realized the need for a service like this when one of their online friends, who had volunteered a lot of time helping their customers on a Web message board, suddenly disappeared.

He wasn't dead: Three months later, he came back from his summer vacation, which he'd spent without Internet access. By then, the Potters had already had Slightlymorbid.com up and running for two weeks.

A third site with a similar concept plans to launch in April. Legacy Locker will charge $30 per year. It will require a copy of a death certificate before releasing information.

Peter Vogel, in Tampa, Fla., was never able to reach all of his stepson Nathan's online friends after the boy died last year at age 13 during an epileptic seizure.

A few years earlier, someone had hacked into one of the boy's accounts, so Vogel, a computer administrator, taught Nathan to choose passwords that couldn't be easily guessed. He also taught the boy not to write passwords down, so Nathan left no trail to follow.

Vogel himself has a trusted friend who knows all his important login information. As he points out, having access to a person's e-mail account is the most important thing, because many Web site passwords can be retrieved through e-mail.

Vogel joked that he hoped the only reason his friend would be called on to use his access within "the next hundred years or so" would be if Vogel forgets his own passwords.

But, he said, "as Nathan has proven, anything can happen any time, even if you're only 13."

http://tech.yahoo.com/news/ap/200903...c_death_online

ekkostar · 03-15-2009, 08:00 AM

If I died suddenly I doubt my mother could figure out my laptop password let alone figure out where I go online and who to mail about my death. I have way too many bookmarks to various forums in Firefox.

She also doesn't know about my vicarious double life on a certain image board's TV board where I'm semi infamous/popular.

Waterston_Fan · 03-15-2009, 10:50 AM

Yeah.. My mom wouldn't go online and post that I am gone.

She isn't into computers anyway and I don't think she would like the idea of telling people I died.

browneyes106 · 03-15-2009, 10:53 AM

I do have a list of my passwords hidden away but if something happened I doubt my parents would get online to nofity people about me.

Penny Lane · 03-15-2009, 11:59 AM

I am a member of Gameboomers.com. I have gone to the message board numerous times to get help with computer games. Well, one of the moderators who was such a huge help to us passed away suddenly. Her husband posted and told us.

Waterston_Fan · 03-15-2009, 12:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Penny Lane

I am a member of Gameboomers.com. I have gone to the message board numerous times to get help with computer games. Well, one of the moderators who was such a huge help to us passed away suddenly. Her husband posted and told us.

Wow... I'm sorry that happened.

At least the wife was willing to let you guys know.

Penny Lane · 03-15-2009, 12:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Waterston_Fan

Wow... I'm sorry that happened.

At least the wife was willing to let you guys know.

Actually it was the wife who died. Her husband let us know

Hollow · 03-15-2009, 02:58 PM

i knew someone on another message board who died a few years ago. her family took over her website and left a notice on it about her death. i wasn't all that close to her, but she brought a lot of fun into that board during the six months i'd been there and i was very shocked. i spent some time crying.

i figure if i died, people on this site would find out by checking my myspace and finding RIP comments from people who know me in person, in which case it would be fine to ask them for details so long as this site isn't mentioned. i wouldn't want worlds to collide, even if i'm not here to see it.

Waterston_Fan · 03-15-2009, 04:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Penny Lane

Actually it was the wife who died. Her husband let us know

I think I may have misread your post...

Sorry..

browneyes106 · 03-15-2009, 04:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by safety pin

i knew someone on another message board who died a few years ago. her family took over her website and left a notice on it about her death. i wasn't all that close to her, but she brought a lot of fun into that board during the six months i'd been there and i was very shocked. i spent some time crying.

i figure if i died, people on this site would find out by checking my myspace and finding RIP comments from people who know me in person, in which case it would be fine to ask them for details so long as this site isn't mentioned. i wouldn't want worlds to collide, even if i'm not here to see it.

Good point maybe a good way to sort of keep in contact with people from boards and forums is maybe give links to myspaces and facebook profiles.

Janice · 03-15-2009, 06:38 PM

My husband knows if I die, to contact TJ and Brian. I told him to tell to tell a select few of the details of my death, about eight people. I haven't experienced an online death; yet I imagine over time, with the law of averages, it's bound to happen. The thought of anything happening to anyone in our SO community, makes me very sad. Many of us are heading towards a decade of fun and friendship here. We've all been through a lot, and have a shared history. I've watched a lot of the members mature from teens to young adults. A loss to this community would be devastating.

Brad Russ · 03-15-2009, 06:51 PM

I once gave my mom my password to S.O. just incase anything were ever to happen to me God forbid. I probably have to give it again since that was years ago, and she's probably forgotten. I also need to give her some phone numbers, because there's some specific people that I'd like her to contact first. Just wouldn't want any of my dearest friends finding out about my death online, but rather in person.

TripperFan · 03-15-2009, 06:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Janice

My husband knows if I die, to contact TJ and Brian. I told him to tell to tell a select few of the details of my death, about eight people. I haven't experienced an online death; yet I imagine over time, with the law of averages, it's bound to happen. The thought of anything happening to anyone in our SO community, makes me very sad. Many of us are heading towards a decade of fun and friendship here. We've all been through a lot, and have a shared history. I've watched a lot of the members mature from teens to young adults. A loss to this community would be devastating.

I'd better be on that short list sweety (although let's hope this doesn't happen for another 40 years or so also!)

Unfortunately, no one would know what happened to me. My ex knows I'm a member on this site and my best friends are here, and could easily figure out my password (besides, I rarely signout - only when I get booted off because of server issues). He would never think of coming here though to notify you guys. Hell, I'd be lucky if he or my brother knew themselves within a week.

DAMN - when I write that I realize what my life has come down to.

03-15-2009, 01:58 AM	#1
JamesG Freakshow Moderator Forum Icon Join Date: Feb 01, 2008 Location: Brooklyn, NY Posts: 57,117	A Sad But True Topic; Letting The Online Community Know Of Your Death Deaths of gamers leave their online lives in limbo (AP) Posted on Sat Mar 14, 2009 1:39PM EDT NEW YORK - When Jerald Spangenberg collapsed and died in the middle of a quest in an online game, his daughter embarked on a quest of her own: to let her father's gaming friends know that he hadn't just decided to desert them. It wasn't easy, because she didn't have her father's "World of Warcraft" password and the game's publisher couldn't help her. Eventually, Melissa Allen Spangenberg reached her father's friends by asking around online for the "guild" he belonged to. One of them, Chuck Pagoria in Morgantown, Ky., heard about Spangenberg's death three weeks later. Pagoria had put his absence down to an argument among the gamers that night. "I figured he probably just needed some time to cool off," Pagoria said. "I was kind of extremely shocked and blown away when I heard the reason that he hadn't been back. Nobody had any way of finding this out." With online social networks becoming ever more important in our lives, they're also becoming an important element in our deaths. Spangenberg, who died suddenly from an abdominal aneurysm at 57, was unprepared, but others are leaving detailed instructions. There's even a tiny industry that has sprung up to help people wrap up their online contacts after their deaths. When Robert Bryant's father died last year, he left his son a little black USB flash drive in a drawer in his home office in Lawton, Okla. It was underneath a cup his son had once given him for his birthday. The drive contained a list of contacts for his son to notify, including the administrator of an online group he had been in. "It was kind of creepy because I was telling all these people that my dad was dead," Bryant said. "It did help me out quite a bit, though, because it allowed me to clear up a lot of that stuff and I had time to help my mom with whatever she needed." David Eagleman, a neuroscientist at the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, has had plenty of time to think about the issue. "I work in the world's largest medical center, and what you see here every day is people showing up in ambulances who didn't expect that just five minutes earlier," he said. "If you suddenly die or go into a coma, there can be a lot of things that are only in your head in terms of where things are stored, where your passwords are." He set up a site called Deathswitch, where people can set up e-mails that will be sent out automatically if they don't check in at intervals they specify, like once a week. For $20 per year, members can create up to 30 e-mails with attachments like video files. It's not really a profit-making venture, and Eagleman isn't sure about how many members it has — "probably close to a thousand." Nor does he know what's in the e-mails that have been created. Until they're sent out, they're encrypted so that only their creators can read them. If Deathswitch sounds morbid, there's an alternative site: Slightly Morbid. It also sends e-mail when a member dies, but doesn't rely on them logging in periodically while they're alive. Instead, members have to give trusted friends or family the information needed to log in to the site and start the notification process if something should happen. The site was created by Mike and Pamela Potter in Colorado Springs, Colo. They also run a business that makes software for online games. Pamela said they realized the need for a service like this when one of their online friends, who had volunteered a lot of time helping their customers on a Web message board, suddenly disappeared. He wasn't dead: Three months later, he came back from his summer vacation, which he'd spent without Internet access. By then, the Potters had already had Slightlymorbid.com up and running for two weeks. A third site with a similar concept plans to launch in April. Legacy Locker will charge $30 per year. It will require a copy of a death certificate before releasing information. Peter Vogel, in Tampa, Fla., was never able to reach all of his stepson Nathan's online friends after the boy died last year at age 13 during an epileptic seizure. A few years earlier, someone had hacked into one of the boy's accounts, so Vogel, a computer administrator, taught Nathan to choose passwords that couldn't be easily guessed. He also taught the boy not to write passwords down, so Nathan left no trail to follow. Vogel himself has a trusted friend who knows all his important login information. As he points out, having access to a person's e-mail account is the most important thing, because many Web site passwords can be retrieved through e-mail. Vogel joked that he hoped the only reason his friend would be called on to use his access within "the next hundred years or so" would be if Vogel forgets his own passwords. But, he said, "as Nathan has proven, anything can happen any time, even if you're only 13." http://tech.yahoo.com/news/ap/200903...c_death_online

03-15-2009, 08:00 AM	#2
ekkostar Coffee, Tea & Larroquette! Senior Member Join Date: Apr 16, 2005 Posts: 1,077	If I died suddenly I doubt my mother could figure out my laptop password let alone figure out where I go online and who to mail about my death. I have way too many bookmarks to various forums in Firefox. She also doesn't know about my vicarious double life on a certain image board's TV board where I'm semi infamous/popular.
	__________________ "All my sitcoms had an audience, with four or five cameras, so working this way has always been appealing to me." - John Larroquette A living legend, five Emmys and a Tony award! Your favorites could never...

03-15-2009, 11:59 AM	#5
Penny Lane Butter Pie Forum Icon Join Date: Jul 03, 2001 Location: Beneath the blue suburban skies Posts: 51,172	I am a member of Gameboomers.com. I have gone to the message board numerous times to get help with computer games. Well, one of the moderators who was such a huge help to us passed away suddenly. Her husband posted and told us.
	__________________ Vulgarity is no substitute for wit- Lady Violet Crawley

03-15-2009, 06:51 PM	#12
Brad Russ Member Forum Fanatic Join Date: Feb 17, 2002 Location: Portland, Oregon Posts: 10,085	I once gave my mom my password to S.O. just incase anything were ever to happen to me God forbid. I probably have to give it again since that was years ago, and she's probably forgotten. I also need to give her some phone numbers, because there's some specific people that I'd like her to contact first. Just wouldn't want any of my dearest friends finding out about my death online, but rather in person.
	__________________ St. John 15:13 - Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." Currently my favorite song.

03-15-2009, 10:50 AM	#3
Waterston_Fan Eternal Member Eternal Member Forum 3000 Club Member Join Date: Dec 26, 2005 Location: Southern California Posts: 3,195	Yeah.. My mom wouldn't go online and post that I am gone. She isn't into computers anyway and I don't think she would like the idea of telling people I died.

03-15-2009, 10:53 AM	#4
browneyes106 Member Forum Veteran Join Date: Apr 01, 2008 Posts: 6,097	I do have a list of my passwords hidden away but if something happened I doubt my parents would get online to nofity people about me.

03-15-2009, 02:58 PM	#8
Hollow Member Forum Superstar Join Date: Dec 16, 2001 Posts: 30,406	i knew someone on another message board who died a few years ago. her family took over her website and left a notice on it about her death. i wasn't all that close to her, but she brought a lot of fun into that board during the six months i'd been there and i was very shocked. i spent some time crying. i figure if i died, people on this site would find out by checking my myspace and finding RIP comments from people who know me in person, in which case it would be fine to ask them for details so long as this site isn't mentioned. i wouldn't want worlds to collide, even if i'm not here to see it.

03-15-2009, 06:38 PM	#11
Janice Retired Admin - Hollywood Swingin' Forum Legend Join Date: Aug 03, 2001 Location: Beantown Posts: 36,388	My husband knows if I die, to contact TJ and Brian. I told him to tell to tell a select few of the details of my death, about eight people. I haven't experienced an online death; yet I imagine over time, with the law of averages, it's bound to happen. The thought of anything happening to anyone in our SO community, makes me very sad. Many of us are heading towards a decade of fun and friendship here. We've all been through a lot, and have a shared history. I've watched a lot of the members mature from teens to young adults. A loss to this community would be devastating.