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The Dead Mail Department

Started by sbspalding · 10 months ago

Like Edgar Allen Poe, there are some of us who would love to reach the living from the grave. In the days before the “internets”, you wrecked havoc through your Last Will and Testament or by leaving stuff in drawers, hidden and forgotten but sure to scar your loved ones for life when they rummage [...]




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60 comments

  • Porch Lifts

    10 months ago

    I think this is a cool service and something like this has potential for not just reaching loved ones, but also CYA in terms of releasing information in the event that you are murdered or something.

    Of course there are several problems with a dead mans switch service, such as being able to guarantee the integrity of the data and something happening, like a car accident, which prevents you from flipping the 'switch', whereby the information is released even though you are not really dead.
    reply
  • ophelia_chong

    10 months ago

    once obituaries are all online, you can have it pull the switch for you. there can be a way to gather data on who's just kicked the bucket and it will alert the service to send out all your emails etc.

    some people will say, "but what if someone with the same name as me...",
    it won't happen because you would've entered enough data that can be cross referenced with the incoming data to make sure it is "really you who is dead".
    reply
  • Bodybuilding supplements

    8 months ago

    I think it could be a good service too. I'm sure you could get around the problem about worrying of integrity of data.
    reply
  • RPM

    10 months ago

    I love the notion of this. Of course. I might need to work on getting Digged while I still have a pulse. Sheesh. So much work to do.
    reply
  • ophelia_chong

    10 months ago

    dear RPM,

    we could then change your screen name to RIP.

    :O)
    ophelia
    reply
  • Judy C

    10 months ago

    I think you just created the next big thing - brilliant.
    reply
  • ophelia_chong

    10 months ago

    Call me Morticia Chong. I will not only Digg you while you are alive, I will Digg you up after you are dead.

    :O) Morticia Chong aka the "One with the Shovel"
    reply
  • pol

    10 months ago

    it's allready online, RPM you should change to RIB, Rest in Bits.
    source: www.diegle.com
    reply
  • Jo

    10 months ago

    Oh man do I have some emails I'd love to "send later"!!! Although like Porch Lifts said below, I'd have to make sure I'm dead or else I'll be guaranteeing my death!
    reply
  • ophelia_chong

    10 months ago

    "Your breath can melt paint and kill small animals"
    "You wear clothes that not even a teenage girl would consider"
    "I won't need those DVDs that you borrowed anymore"

    and more...
    reply
  • Jo

    10 months ago

    "He was sleeping with his best friend the whole time!"
    "Your wife is a b*tch!"
    "I slept with your best friend, on your birthday"

    Ummm these aren't real or anything...just funny...yeah just funny! *LoL*
    reply
  • ophelia_chong

    10 months ago

    add these:
    "I peed in your pool"

    "Your Thanksgiving turkey was always dry as dust"

    " I never slept with your cousin Bob, but I did with cousin Sue"

    "I am keeping your lawn mower"
    reply
  • gregorylent

    10 months ago

    and, for no extra cost, a special service to send your email password to the friend or relative of your choice. just in case there is something there they should find.

    and for the same no extra cost, we won't do it. your choice.
    reply
  • jbrotherlove

    10 months ago

    Ha! I'm surprised this doesn't already exist, to be honest. Also, I'm thinking we'd each need some sort of email executor to carry out our wishes. You know, with us being dead and all.
    reply
  • ophelia_chong

    10 months ago

    Once you are dead, you really don't know if the emails are going out. So you would have to use a service that will stay around long enough. Or if someone writes an app that automatically sends it out for you.

    Imagine the trail of "you did this..." and the "i always loved you, sorry for not showing it" emails.

    could be interesting.
    reply
  • Andy Clarke

    10 months ago

    We'll have it built for you with the month! :D
    reply
  • ophelia_chong

    10 months ago

    Well, lets get started. And we can add a widget so that you can "Dugg" .
    Don't forget the levels of participation from the cheapest to the most expensive:
    Burnt Offerings to Embalmed Mummy
    reply
  • danhhoang

    10 months ago

    Count me in!

    I love me some zombies.
    reply
  • sbspalding

    10 months ago

    Can we add some Seesmic style video commenting? Nothing says 'I hated you in life' better than a two minute video missive.
    reply
  • ophelia_chong

    10 months ago

    12 seconds will do too. Short and sweet. Trolls will love this because they will be able to leave the "last word"
    reply
  • Derrick

    10 months ago

    I could say something like *dead* which is what I'd say anyway, but given the context, I'll let the pun runneth over. And I don't know if I'm just not that connected, but I had to look up the TED conference. I thought it was that thing that Ted Turner does when he gets all his rich folk up to Wyoming and they chant in their sweat circle. Boy, was I wrong.
    reply
  • sbspalding

    10 months ago

    No, no that is called Turnerpalloza. Same basic idea though :)
    reply
  • ophelia_chong

    10 months ago

    Other pre-fab emails that can be offered:

    "Yes you do look fat in those pants"
    "I faked it"
    "I lied when I said I loved you more than my chihuahua"
    reply
  • Chatmandu

    10 months ago

    I'm loving the idea :)
    reply
  • ophelia_chong

    10 months ago

    Imagine what the French could do with this. Be French for one, and then be obtuse and they would have to send one to each mistress and not mix them up.

    Merci Mon Ami! Ou est le chien? Mon dieu! Le chien est dan le bains. (that's it for my Canadian french)
    reply
  • sbspalding

    10 months ago

    I didn't know the French canadians liked dogs so much Ophelia. I learn
    something new everyday ;)
    reply
  • Jay Cuthrell

    10 months ago

    This idea has legs. One leg is stepping... the other dragged slowly. :)
    reply
  • ophelia_chong

    10 months ago

    And imagine, we could charge the credit cards until they get shut down. I mean who's gonna know?

    It is the age of the Zombie. The Emailing Dead. It is really Spam in a Can.
    okay, i am now grossing myself out.
    reply
  • sbspalding

    10 months ago

    I thought you said you were getting over your zombie fixation? Heh.
    On 8/20/08, Disqus <notifications-
    reply
  • ophelia_chong

    10 months ago

    Not now, since there's money in them thar Zombies! I am digging for bodies not gold.

    What is our greatest fear? The dead. What will cure that fear?
    Certainly not this service...imagine the boon to the psychotherapy business...
    reply
  • Jay Cuthrell

    10 months ago

    The only cure for zombies is shotguns. Lots of shotguns. Or, for those more inclined to stealth, a cricket bat.
    reply
  • ophelia_chong

    10 months ago

    Machete. you can run out of bullets and gas for the chain saw, but a Machete will be your friend for life.
    reply
  • JBO

    10 months ago

    I'm sure someone, somewhere has already thought of it and is doing it but in a strange way I think it could work.

    I remember watching the documentary by Bernard Manning after he died - he knew he was dying and made this clip for his friends and family - quite eery really.
    reply
  • sbspalding

    10 months ago

    As fun as this conversation is, I agree, there is a market here somewhere.
    reply
  • ophelia_chong

    10 months ago

    Hells yeah. (pun intended)

    We have so much to say, and never enough time. What would it be like to actually record a message to a loved one? Would it make us rethink how we treat people?
    reply
  • Tom

    10 months ago

    There are several sites that will hold emails for years and years and years and send them way in the future. I set up a bunch of emails to be sent way in the future. Hopefully I'll live to see them sent, but if not it's kind of nice to think of still having a faint finger in the world.
    reply
  • ophelia_chong

    10 months ago

    A cold dead finger.

    Wouldn't it be nice to get an email from a friend saying" I miss you, have a good life"?

    or from a client "Sorry I forgot to sign the check, oops my bad."
    reply
  • RaePuttPutt

    10 months ago

    Ha! Yeah, I'd be in!
    reply
  • ophelia_chong

    10 months ago

    I bet there would be a few editors you could send emails to.:O)
    reply
  • RaePuttPutt

    10 months ago

    *snort*

    Yup....
    reply
  • Emily Wong

    10 months ago

    Hi Ophelia,

    You crack me up so much—thanks for today's chuckle. I see you've still got The Walking Dead comics on the brain! Mmm... Brains.

    You should really get on these ideas, missy. Designer kitsch dolls, Tom Cruise pull-string toy, and now emails from the dead. Definitely let me know if you start this service. ~____^
    reply
  • ophelia_chong

    10 months ago

    That's what coffee and 6 hours of sleep will do to you. mmmm...brains.

    oh wait i have a craving for sushi now.
    reply
  • Robbie

    10 months ago

    My, what a wicked sense of humor you have. This is all too surreal, but also makes a lot of sense. Excellent!
    reply
  • ophelia_chong

    10 months ago

    How this could make money:

    1. Users can release their "Final Video" to the public to view, as a pre-death apology to the world or statement

    2. Viewers can watch the videos and vote for the best "Final Statement"

    3. Viewers can also reply to the Video comment by adding a video, text or audio.

    4. Users can allow the comments to follow the Final Statement or not.

    5. Users can post Homages to themselves.

    6. Not Dead Yet But Still Want to Clear the Air by Anonymous Users

    7. Pre Selected emails to friends telling them that they aren't Dead Yet, but just in case here is "what i reallly think of you".

    8. Building a Dead Network before you die. You will need friends in Heaven or Hell.
    reply
  • Big Maori

    10 months ago

    did someone say sushi, great idea! Ophelia, I like the posts, fun!
    reply
  • ophelia_chong

    10 months ago

    raw fish meat........must have....on a small little pillow of rice. and a dab of wasabi with soy. okay, i would make the most fussy Zombie ever.
    reply
  • elyse Pastel

    10 months ago

    Great idea. I remember that when my grandfather died he had arranged to send my mother flowers every month for a year. You could send a message every month. If you know the person well you could try to anticipate what they would need to hear. Like, " You're doing great, everything will work out" or " I wouldn't do that if I were you!".
    reply
  • ophelia_chong

    10 months ago

    that's wonderful. it really shows the value of the relationship the way someone expresses it after they pass away.
    reply
  • Lars

    10 months ago

    LOL, that is a great idea! I sincerely think that this idea has a potential! I'm pretty sure that its going to be a hit to people with a good (make that odd) sense of humor... Excellent job!
    reply
  • ophelia_chong

    10 months ago

    thank you lars!
    there are sites out there that have a very serious "memorial" tone to them. This one is more lighthearted. Death is about loss, but it is also about remembering that person, and hopefully you can smile when you do.

    :O)
    reply
  • wilson

    10 months ago

    Oh my, this picture really made me feeling creepy...

    Well, to be honest, no many people are dare to discuss about the "Death" matter, as most of them think that this is not a suitable subject to talking with...

    By the way, I loved the way you're presented your post, Ophelia :)
    reply
  • Joshua Baer

    10 months ago

    This site already exists. www.goodbyemail.com
    reply
  • MaggyYoung

    10 months ago

    Hey Joshua you're right, but what site doesn't already exist, but we don't know about it ? Ophelia, dunno about the next big thing, but if you want to wait around long enough, it could become the next next next next huge thing - when the internet generation becomes seriously old. Then I can see millions of departure emails going off - we're just not ready for it yet.
    reply
  • sbspalding

    10 months ago

    So true, everything exists -- in general it's not about building it first it's about building it best.
    reply
  • Free Links

    10 months ago

    I really like this blog thumbs up
    reply
  • trinlayk

    9 months ago

    Twitter: July 10 2050 4am, Franciso Franco is STILL dead.
    reply
  • Michael

    8 months ago

    Yes this is brilliant thinking
    reply
  • Fashion Shop

    6 months ago

    That is a nice concept. How about writing our own death will online?
    reply
  • FloridaHealthInsurance

    5 months ago

    Nobody's moved down there for weeks

    Peeking in on them from time to time simply won't work - long-term monitoring is usually required, as their movement can be so subtle. Stop-motion cameras work well for this. One of the best techniques is to detect their movement indirectly, by periodically checking the amount of junk food packaging in their trash cans throughout a workday.
    reply
  • NLP DEVON

    3 months ago

    I think the "Jetsons" isn't as close as you think.I would suggest getting a better understanding of something called human behavior and its interaction with technology....
    reply

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