Your Digital Legacy

Every day, several times a day, you electronically email or text someone, update your Facebook status, Tweet, take a picture on your phone or record a moment from your life which you want to save and remember.

 

Just as the internet opened up a whole new world of information sharing in a way no one could have ever foreseen, these electronic tools such as iPhones, computers and other gadgets strive to further break down the walls of communication and help us share everything in a way that wasn't possible even five years ago.

 

But with these communication opportunities comes a responsibility to filter what you put out there and take care that this information doesn't land in the wrong hands and used improperly.  In other words, whatever it is that you said and did, are you sure that it will only be received by the person you sent it to?  And no one else?  What happens to all this electronic stuff after we are gone?

I was thinking about these questions because the husband of a friend of mine died suddenly just about a year ago and his widow is still processing on many levels what happened.  She recently was going through his home office and found his laptop.  Her husband was a writer and she was curious to read what was stored in the his computer.

Did she know the passwords to his computer?  No, she didn't.  Could she take it to a computer store and get them to unlock it?  Yes, she could.  But did she really want to go through his computer files and emails now that he died?  She knew that whatever it is that she would find on his computer, he wasn't here to explain it's meaning or intent to her.

To me, this is the proverbial Pandora's box.

The whole idea of a digital legacy is becoming a very common issue and it's something people need to figure out.

Companies have been started to help people open and transfer a loved one's data.  A number of books have been published addressing these personal and legal issues.  What will happen to all of your computer transactions should something happen to you?  Does anyone know your computer passwords?  Do you even want anyone to know your computer passwords?  How do you feel about all this?

In the case of my friend, she did decide to take her husband's Mac to an Apple store and there is a process that you go through in terms of showing proof about the situation.  Eventually, Apple did unlock her husband's computer.

So far, she hasn't opened anything up and looked or read anything.  She says that she keeps the laptop opened up on the table next to her home computer so that when she is working on her computer she feels he is right there with her.

If you want to read more about the various issues surrounding a digital legacy, this link will take you to an excellent USA Today story:

http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/technology/story/2012-05-07/digital-mourning/55268806/1

 

Electronic Meltdown

Yesterday was a day from electronic hell.  Every time I turned around some piece of equipment in the office needed attention.

Don't you just hate it when computers, cell phones, blackberries and xerox machines misbehave? 

I don't consider myself a tekkie kind of person at all.  I don't feel any desire to stand in line when I know Apple is going to be selling a new iPhone or a new iPad.  I am open to learning new things about electronic devices but I'm not very happy about it.  I'm of the mind that if it's working and it's doing everything that you want why does it have to change?

It just doesn't make sense to me how a computer can be working fine -- receiving and sending emails, printing out documents and all the other things that computers do -- and then the next day you walk in, log on and your toolbars are missing.  I usually know how to figure some of this out myself but not always.

My computer wasn't monopolizing all of the mischief.  The charger to the Blackberry wouldn't work so I went to Radio Shack to see if they had another one.  Thank goodness Radio Shack had them in stock but I also need a converter so I could charge a cellphone we sometimes use overseas.  Of course, Radio Shack was out of those and wouldn't get them in again for weeks.  Try CVS, the Radio Shack guy said.  So I did.  Wouldn't you know it?  CVS had the converters and they only cost $3.99.  Yeah!!!!

I'm the kind of person who turns something off because I think it needs to "rest."  I don't think that's such a crazy idea.  When I've been using the xerox machine and copying reams of documents, I can feel the machine starting to warm up.  Don't you think it's the machine's way of telling me it needs to take a break?  I do and I talk to the xerox machine as in, "Please don't jam.  This is a really important job!"

It's the little things in life that can make you happy.  I like to think that my computer and cell phone and I are all part of the same team, working together to get things done, not falling apart and needing attention.  So listen up all you electronics -- behave yourselves and do what you are supposed to do.  PLEASE?????!!!!!!

Steve Jobs

I didn't always initially understand the impact of the products Steve Jobs enthusiastically developed for his cutting edge company, Apple, but what I admired about Steve Jobs was his tenacity.

He just never quit. 

He never quit battling cancer and he kept on inventing new teckky products that always showed us how far ahead of everyone he was.  I can't exercise without my Ipod and I know lots of people who can't live without their Macs!  The way his mind worked was fascinating.  Talk about using your life to do it's best and never wasting your talents!

Steve Jobs you showed us how to forge ahead.  May you rest in peace.  You certainly outdid yourself in life!

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/10/05/ap/tech/main20116461.shtml