Social Media Last Will and Testament

The Setting: So what happens when an online gamer dies? How will his online gaming buddies know about it? Will they think he just abandoned them? Do we care?

I read an interesting article about family members searching down their dead gamer relative's passwords to online sites and then logging on to contact the gamer's friends to let them know what happened. Some gamers are actually leaving their log in / password details where family members can find them so that if they should die, their family members can log on to the various sites and communicate their demise.

There is a site called Deathswitch where members pay $20 a year and set up to 30 e-mails. If they don't check in at regular intervals, the e-mails are automatically sent to whomever the member specified. Another site called Slightlymorbid, whose byline says "Notify your online friends if something happens to you," is similar to Deathswitch. The difference is that the member does not need to check in at regular times; instead, their family member contacts the company if something happens to the member to start the "notification process." The Legacy Locker site plans to launch in April. It will require a death certificate before releasing any information.

With the popularity of online games and social media, I imagine we'll see more and more companies like these popping up. Click here to view the Death of gamers article.

"I always knew this day would come."

The Setting: Our good friend Bernard Madoff was kind enough to plead guilty to charges that he ran a ponzi scheme, swindling billions from investers. He faces up to 150 years in prison when he's sentenced on June 16.

Some of the investors have lost everything. We can make all the judgments we want to about them putting all their eggs in Bernie's basket, but he truly swindled them. Worse, many of the people he ripped off, were friends of his.

Madoff said in court, "I am ashamed for these criminal acts. I always knew this day would come." Well, you should be. And, yep, the day has come.

Don't worry Bernie. Maybe you'll only get, say, 50 years. You'll only be 120 years old when you get out.

Hmm... I'm sensing a new band name

Topic: Ladies and Gentlemen! Put your hands together! And now, coming to the stage....Shoe-throwing Journalist!

Remember that Iraqi journalist who threw his shoes at then-President George W. Bush during a news conference in Baghdad? When the Secret Service had apparently run out to Starbucks? Well, he was sentenced to three years in prison Thursday by an Iraqi court. Journalist Muntadher Al-Zaidi was seen as a hero by many in Iraq and his sentencing sparked protests in the streets. Oh, and he had 17 lawyers. Seventeen! If you have that many lawyers, shouldn't you win your case? That's another story, I guess.

Anyway, just so you know: the world is safe again.

Are these for real?

The Setting: Those were my first words after reading this ad from Costco.

My friend Terri sent me this link to an ad for electronic cigarettes. e-Cigarettes – are you kidding me?! Perhaps we've taken this whole "e" thing a little too far. So if you smoke these, do you smell like e-smoke, e-Jones for a smoke, and get e-smoking-related illnesses?

But wait, there's more!! Extra battery and charger are included!!

Oh well, I guess smoking these are better for your health than smoking the real thing. But I love that the product recommendations include a tooth whitening system. Do these things actually e-stain your teeth? Kids, smoking is so not cool...

Just to prove I'm not making this up, click to view the NPRO Starter Kit ad.

Do I Want One of these or Not? Hmm...

The Setting: I seem to recall Oprah talking about how wonderful it is. As of this writing, it is sold out on Amazon.com.

Coincidence? Perhaps. But every time Oprah holds something up and says, "Get this," millions of women flock to the store, web site, wherever, to do just that.

What is this amazing thing I'm talking about? Drumroll please... The Kindle, Amazon's wireless reading device. I keep hearing more and more about the Kindle. I was over a friend's house a couple weeks ago and finally saw one up close. She had nothing but good things to say about it.

I don't know... I'm a reader and there's nothing like holding a book, feeling the pages. Books even smell cool. This is some cold, metal electronic device. A $359 electronic device. Of course, you can have the electronic versions of books sent to you wirelessly for only $9.99. You can also download newspapers and blogs, and it includes a great search feature and a built-in dictionary. You can read all about the features of the Kindle plus reviews and discussions on Amazon.com.

According to Amazon's site, they will not ship it to customers outside of the United States. Hmm, maybe I can make a few bucks running the Kindle overseas blackmarket cartel. I'll have to think about it. Buying a Kindle, I mean, not running the cartel.

Who am I kidding? I know it's just a matter of time before I break down and get one. According to Amazon, that time will be 3 to 5 weeks - if I buy it today. If you have a Kindle, or something like it, what do you think about it?

Facebook Turns Five

The Setting: The social networking site Facebook is five years old today.

It was started in 2004 by then 19-year-old Mark Zuckerberg, and now he's a millionaire. Oh wait, I meant billionaire. Although, according to this article, no one's really sure how Facebook is making money, other than through advertising. Really doesn't matter. Dude's rich.

I resisted signing up for the longest time. My impression was that it was something like MySpace, which I thought of as a site for a bunch of 13 year olds and a bunch of pervs pretending to be 13 years old. I thought of Facebook as something for college students, but my brother convinced me to sign up after I looked at his FB page. That was back in August 2008. Since then, I have connected with a bunch of friends, including a couple from high school; I have found (and been found by) old co-workers; and I am FB friends with many current co-workers. I have friends and family all over the place who, I admit, I don't see or talk to on the phone as often as I would like but it is very easy and fast to communicate with them on a regular basis using FB.

Some people use the site for business, although most I know use it to stay connected with friends and family. Some people post their statuses so often, you feel like a fly on the wall of their lives, watching the whole thing unfold. FB works really well for posting photos and creating albums, which is one of the main things people with kids do so their families living elsewhere can see pics of the kiddies. There are countless applications you can add to your page (I like Sudoku), altough many people choose not to add any apps.

Put Away Your Jackets, Hell is Hot Again

The Setting: The Arizona Cardinals vs the Pittsburgh Steelers in Super Bowl 43. Steelers win 27-23.

The Cardinals came out smoking in the first half, but fell apart the beginning of the second half. Then they got it together and everything was looking up. Then the Steelers got a touchdown with something like 30 seconds left. Heavy sigh... Actually, it was a very good game, the kind you want to see for the Super Bowl: the lead goes back and forth, it's suspenseful, and it's not a blowout.

In related news, Bruce Springsteen did a good job in the half-time show. And was it just me or were the Super Bowl commercials not as great as they are usually? I heard some companies decided not to spend as much as usual because of the state of the economy.

Congratulations to the Pittsburgh Steelers. Woot