DPChallenge: A Digital Photography Contest You are not logged in. (log in or register) 
 

DPChallenge Forums >> General Discussion >> Who's Going to Clean Up Your Mess?
Pages:  
Showing posts 1 - 11 of 11, (reverse)
AuthorThread
 11/09/2010 06:56:02 AM · #1
Dying is a given, and it is hardly ever pleasant. Some people get a heads up to "get their affairs in order" while others don't. Time was, one would pass and their family would post notice of the arrangements, the word would get around to the community, a gathering would take place to commemorate the event and the individual, and the family would be left to deal with the aftermath. The Internet has given us quite a bit more aftermath.

The reality of "community" goes much, much further than the people you encounter at work, at the market, in your neighborhood, at your church. When you pass, who's going to let your "communities" know? Who's going to tie off all those accounts you've opened up? Who's going to clean up your online mess?

For any of the creative types who have posted images, writings, and other artistic productions, this is even more of a concern. If you think thievery is bad among the living, imagine what it will be like for the dead. We can barely protect our intellectual property as is. Before the Internet, all the family had to do was to keep someone from breaking into the studio, garage, or warehouse. They could physically protect the premises with locks, bolts, and guns. Not today. With nothing more than quickly created username-password combinations, we have put our stuff in little bins all over the place, largely unprotected and hardly ever documented.

Think about it: if today you were hit by a bus or decided to get in the middle of a robbery going bad or met some other tragic demise without having had the opportunity to get your affairs in order, who's going to clean up your mess?

[Note: nothing personal going on here other than a good friend's mother finally losing a battle; just got me to thinking...]
 11/09/2010 07:13:06 AM · #2
My opinion is that there should be no mess. Simple.
 11/09/2010 07:35:07 AM · #3
are we talking about shovel buddies?
 11/09/2010 01:17:04 PM · #4
Oh, Skip. As usual, you make sense.

Yeah, I'll leave a mess, but only a little one.

Every legal possibility has been taken care of and The Neptune Society has my 'pre-planned' money.
Somebody's going to have to distribute and otherwise get rid of a ton (maybe three) of books. And there will certainly be something I forgot. but good friends will be in charge, and they have good sense. They will handle it.

And, boy, does it feel good.

I recommend it.
 11/09/2010 01:35:55 PM · #5
My plan is to leave as big a mess as possible, and be a pain in the ass long after my death.

I need to start working on a super virus which will be unleashed upon my death as well.

Then I'm going to be cremated and have my ashes sprinkled on Skip's carpets. He'll be vacuuming me up for years.

;-)

ETA... on second thought, I'll have my body stuffed. Then I can lay around on Skip's couch for eternity. Ha, this makes me think of "Uncle Frank", so dubbed by my daughter. He's our Halloween dummy that sits out on a chair. He's been making the rounds ever since Halloween. He even showed up in the passenger seat of my car at the train station as a surprise for me when I got back from work. That's what I get for leaving a second set of car keys at home. :-D

Message edited by author 2010-11-09 13:56:44.
 11/09/2010 01:40:14 PM · #6
My electronic mess will never be cleaned up. It'll just be there waiting for the world to end in the Ninja Zombie Robot Apocalypse.
11/09/2010 01:49:11 PM · #7
I am never going to die. I decided that yesterday.

But if I do I am leaving the mess for the kids as payback for never cleaning their rooms!
 11/09/2010 01:50:36 PM · #8
Whoa! Skip wrote:

"If you think thievery is bad among the living, imagine what it will be like for the dead."

It's nice to have something to think about during the day.
 11/09/2010 01:59:43 PM · #9
Okay, Skip raises a good point, so not joking now. Everything is set up in Trusts for the kids. Wills and stuff are done. I don't have many material things for them to throw out or keep. Everything I buy, I tend to buy big so that it lasts and can be either sold or kept.

Mind, you, they are all ready fighting over who gets the MGB. =\
 11/09/2010 03:15:31 PM · #10
Originally posted by JulietNN:
...fighting over who gets the MGB. =\

You can put my stuffed body in it.
 11/09/2010 04:11:45 PM · #11
Hit google but there are a couple of services out there that act like dead-man handles..... They don't hear from you they send emails/messages/docs to certain people... Might be worth a look as more and more is online. I know facebook just added some stuff to allow next of kin to access the acct in some limited way (would need some knowledge from the next of kin obviously). Not sure if I would go that far... but think of the impact of they miss one day and notify all their users contacts :-)

Me... I have a dirty great doc that is PRINTED (google that... I'll wait... It's under dead trees and history... on a side note... they used to do that to photos as well :-) )... which is in my brothers & parents safe (and my safety deposit bag for my wife).

The title of which is "If I wake up and find myself dead". It has all sorts of financial type stuff.... like locations of wills, acct#, institutions & contacts & login details e.t.c. as well as a big table of ID/passwords for all the social media type stuff with a short summary of what to do (you know ignore... post something to said I woke up dead or delete the acct). Up to whoever is using the doc but gives them an idea of what I would want.... They are free to do whatever obviously since they are not dead :-)

Edit: I should have added since IMO it's actually MORE important... A living will with a durable POA and some instructions if I wake up instead on machines that go "bing" instead of just dead.... obviously my wife knows (the rule is turn the things off unless it's fun... remember that star wars video game where the kid is wearing a mask with the heavy breathing thing going on... then they cut to the old lady with the ox mask and the kid hands it back).

Message edited by author 2010-11-09 16:15:45.
Pages:  
Current Server Time: 08/22/2025 05:02:07 PM

Please log in or register to post to the forums.


Home - Challenges - Community - League - Photos - Cameras - Lenses - Learn - Help - Terms of Use - Privacy - Top ^
DPChallenge, and website content and design, Copyright © 2001-2025 Challenging Technologies, LLC.
All digital photo copyrights belong to the photographers and may not be used without permission.
Current Server Time: 08/22/2025 05:02:07 PM EDT.