The Web is Immortal: You Aren't

I stumbled across a site today called DeathSwitch.com that provides a chilling but intriguing service. Like a "dead man's switch" on a locomotive, which an operator must keep depressed or the train will brake, DeathSwitch provides an e-mail notification service to make sure that you're still alive.

If you don't reply to DeathSwitch's e-mails for a set period of time, DeathSwitch will conclude that you're dead, and respond with e-mails that you have programmed it to send to people you designate. These e-mails might be passwords for your Blog, your GoDaddy.com account login, or for those lucky ones among us, the numbers and passwords to your Swiss bank account.

DeathSwitch charges $19.95 per month for its service, which might seem high if you're in your 20's but seems more reasonable if you're over 50 (as I am). And if you control, say, an AdSense empire, or thousands of parked domains, the fee is probably justified. Having something like this in place may also prevent your Web properties from becoming "ghost sites" after your inevitable demise and ensure that they get a proper burial.