The Plaque and the Little Boy

One Sunday morning, the pastor noticed little Alex standing in the foyer of the church staring up at a large plaque. It was covered with names and small American flags mounted on either side of it. The six-year old had been staring at the plaque for some time, so the pastor walked up, stood beside the little boy, and said quietly, 'Good morning Alex.'

'Good morning Pastor,' he replied, still focused on the plaque. 'Pastor, what is this? The pastor said, 'Well son, it's a memorial to all the young men and women who died in the service.' Soberly, they just stood together, staring at the large plaque. Finally, little Alex's voice, barely audible and trembling with fear asked, "Which service, the 8:30 or the 10:45?"

Card Processing

To survive in today’s almost cash-less environment, a business must accept credit and debit cards to compete with those that already do. Whether you are selling items that cost thousands, or simply a few dollars, most people want to pay with their cards, not cash.

To accept credit cards you must have a merchant account, and many provide their services for exceptionally low costs. But there is usually some fine print. Where they get you is in the hidden fees they charge, which sometimes seems never ending.

But there is a place that is different. Follow the link above to read more, and see what FREE services are included with your account. Don’t wait- every minute you delay in getting your account is money you are losing either paying too much, or missing sales you might have otherwise made.

Electronic "Possessions" in Your Will

What will happen to your electronic documentation and possessions after you die? What do we do with those?

Until recently, things were complicated, but basically simple at the same time. There was money or property and it was divided however someone saw fit. But how will this work when you are gone? Some examples-

1) You make money from your blog by selling ad space. Who gets control of your blog? Does whoever get control have to be responsible to update it and carry on? Do you want them keeping the topic if they do?

2) Other services- such as Blog Catalog, Entrecard, MyBlogLog- do you want it announced you are not amongst the living anymore? If not, do you just want the accounts to sit dormant? Or do you want them closed? If you do want it announced, what then?

3) Pictures- especially those uploaded to services such as Flickr or Kodakgallery. Who will you give control of them to? One child, multiple children?

4) Internet accounts- Does one of your children have a sub account on your internet account, such as AOL or ATT? When you pass away do you want one child to keep it going if they want to keep their email address, etc.?

5) Passwords and internet accounts in general- For most married couples, it isn't difficult because they probably know each others passwords, and if not, they at least know the other's email p/w so they could always do a password retrieval. But what about people with no significant other where they really don't have anyone they feel comfortable sharing their password with? I know I wouldn't want to give my daughters my passwords, but if something happened to me (and my wife at the same time), how would they get to all of my information and accounts to download pictures, save files, or notify my online friends and business partners?

It makes me wonder- do companies who provide online services have policies and procedures in place to serve their members once they die? Does AOL have a policy on how a beneficiary can get into a members account? Does Entrecard have a way to "will ECs"? Does Yahoo have a way to split profiles and sub accounts?

Maybe some of this could be handled through court order, such as if I die, my daughters could get the judge to sign an order ordering Blogger to let them have access to the account.

But this is something to think about- if not everything you have online could be gone, including but not limited to pictures, income, and business relationships.

What are your thoughts?