Maybe I need to do an If You池e Reading This, I知 Dead post and set it to post at a future date. So long as I知 alive, I can keep delaying its publication. But if I keel over, it will publish. That way, at least you値l know.

You mean something like this?

As discussed, passwords were shared and accounts had been created for me when she became ill. Being prepared is part of the solution.

But I also had to go through her cell phone and contact her friends that I had rarely spoken with. Co-workers, high-school friends, etc. I went through her e-mail contacts and sent them notes about her situation.

I had been posting on her blog when she became to ill to update it, so that part was (relatively) easy.

She was also subscribed to a lot of newsletters that were small (e.g. less than 100 people), and I felt obligated to inform them as to why she was no longer subscribing.

The most frustrating part was the online accounts – payPal, eBay, netBank, etc. They wanted me to mail a copy of the Certificate of Death in order to close the account, even though I knew her password and information. Heck, I didn’t even want to *look* at the CoD, let alone get (more) certified copies and mail them out. Some of the accounts, I just ignored – they will go to the state escheats after a few years. Ironically, just this month, I’ve received letters from some of these companies regarding the interest earned on accounts with a balance of

I used to have only two or three passwords, which she also knew. Some were used for sites and things I didn’t think I needed very much security for, and some used rarely for higher security. She could just try them all for a particular site and get in.

Then I was listening to a security podcast that pointed out if one of the places you use gets your password, they have it to all your sites. But having a bunch of different secure passwords make it hard to remember. This security podcast suggested you develop an algorithm based on the domain and some unchanging, probably numeric, piece of data.

That’s what I do now and I’ve told my wife so she can access stuff if I die. Including my blog.

Bruce Schneier says to write down your passwords and keep it with the other pieces of paper you values a lot, your money.

I don’t have a secret email account for talking to my mistresses nor porn accounts I don’t want her to see, so I can give her everything.