Ever wondered what happens to your email accounts and social networking accounts when you die???

Have you ever wondered what happens to your email accounts and social networking accounts such as Facebook and MySpace when you die? Who gets access to your accounts, can people get even get access to your account and your stored personal information?

Almost every website will have a different policy for dead account holders, so I will discuss what popular websites such as Gmail, Hotmail and Yahoo email accounts, MySpace and Facebook social networking websites do in the event of a death of one of their users.

Gmail

If you have a Gmail account and you pass away, your next of kin will be allowed to access your emails. The account will stay open forever, but as the next of kin, you are able to request it to be deleted. To get access to the email account, you will need to supply the following information by fax or mail to Google to be granted account access of the deceased user account.

• Your full name (next of kin), your contact information and a verifiable email address
• The Gmail email address of the deceased person
• An email containing the full headers of an email message that the deceased person has emailed you with the entire contents of the email
• Proof of death
• Documentation to prove that you are the lawfully allowed to access their email (if the deceased is over 18). If deceased person is under 18 of age, you must provide a birth certificate

After you’ve compiled the information, Google will verify it and grant you access to the user account.

More information about accessing a deceased person’s mail can be found in Google’s Support Page.

So if you have private information that you don’t want people to look at when you are dead, don’t use Gmail (use Yahoo instead).

If you are trying to access a deceased person’s email account, you may first want to try to reset the user’s password.

Hotmail

If Hotmail accounts are left inactive for a period of time, the email account along with all the information will be eventually deleted (within the year) and therefore, you will not be able to access it. If you die, your next of kin will be granted access to your account provided they supply supporting documents such as a death certificate (similar to what Google needs). Hotmail will not reset the password for the deceased person, but you have to fax or mail information to gain access to the account such as:

• Your email address
• Your shipping address (as they send you a package in the mail
• Documents to state your are the benefactor or you have power of attorney
• Your photocopied driver’s license
• A photocopy of the death certificate
• Information about the account holder such as first and last name, date of birth, city, state, zip, approximate date of the account creation and the approximate date of last sign in.

If you require more information, you can get it at Windows Live Help.

Yahoo

Yahoo has a much stricter policy over who can get access to your account. And that is no one. If you want to ensure no one has access to your emails when you die, you would want to choose Yahoo. Yahoo will not grant permission to anyone to access a deceased user’s account. The only permission Yahoo grants is for the account to be deleted. Therefore, Yahoo does not allow anyone to access your emails. The only way someone can do this is if they reset your account password.

Facebook

Facebook will not grant anyone access to a deceased user account, but if the user of the account is deceased, their page will be turned into a memorial page once reqested. By filling out the form to turn an deceased users page into a memorial page, Facebook will remove sensitive information on the account like status updates and will only allow current friends to access the page. Family members will then be allowed to customise the page of the deceased user.

MySpace

MySpace deceased user policy is a bit vague, but they state that if you are the next of kin, they will not grant you access to edit, or delete any of the content or settings on the account yourself, but you can request it to be removed if you deem appropriate. You can simply email accountcare@support.myspace.com and attach appropriate documentation such as a death certificate. However, if you have access to their email account, MySpace recommends that you reset the user password.

In the end…

If you die, your accounts will most likely stay active unless the site automatically deletes the account due to inactivity, or your family has requested the account to be closed. Most sites allow access to your personal data by your next of kin, but to gain this right, they will need to mail proof to the website. Even though you may have died, if you use one password for all these sites, your family members might be able to use that password, or even guess your secret question. But then again, when you die, would you even care what people find in your email inbox or social networking sites?

If you are trying to access a deceased person’s email, try resetting their email, look to see if they have stored the password in a file, or see if they have written it down on paper.

Have you ever gone through something like this? What did you do to secure the deceased user account? Your experience could help easy the transition for others. Share them in the comments at the Heartgraphs Blog.

Cheers,

Sree…

 

 
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Do you stay late in office......????

An Interesting love story though long.  

Read and enjoy…

 

CheersJ

Sree….

Hi Parul,

I see you every night sitting in the office till very late. Don’t you have friends? Don’t you feel like talking to your roommate?
You should not sit very late in the office. this is a genuine advice from me.

Thanks,
Rahul Mehra  


After reading the mail, Parul was very angry on the sender. She simply deleted the mail and said to herself “who is he to give me any advice?”. She again got back to her work.

After that night, every night Rahul would keep sending her mails and Parul would simply delete them without even reading the content of the mail. But one fine night the subject line attracted her and she had to open the mail. The subject line of the mail was “Hi Gorgeous”


Hi Gorgeous,

Yes today you are looking very gorgeous in this red saree. I know you don’t read my mails as you don’t like the advices I give you.
So today I wont give you any advice, I will just say that I am love with you. You know you are very beautiful and if you take care of yourself many men will fall in love with you.

I am sure someday you will also fall in love with me. And then we will go out for a date.

Oh before I end the mail I must tell you that the best thing about is that smile. Or is it those intense which needs some sleep at the moment.

Take care dear.

Love you.

Rahul Mehra.  


After reading the mail she was shocked. A person she had never met, never seen, never spoke to was saying that he was in love with her. She started thinking was this always in his mind. How did he get her id? Where had he seen her? Many questions like this came in her mind. Finally she thought of giving a warning and replied to his mail.


Hi Rahul,

I don’t want to spoil your career but if you don’t stop sending me mails I will raise an ASHI against you.

Thanks and Regards,
Parul Jain  


After this mail, the mails from Rahul stopped coming in Parul’s inbox. She thought that finally Rahul has got scared and wont be mailing her again. After several nights, Parul was resting on her chair and her eyes closed. When she opened her eyes she saw Rahul’s mail in her mailbox.


Hi Gorgeous,

With your closed eyes you were dreaming about me, right? Oh sorry for not sending any mails in the last few days.
I was a little busy. I am sure you would have missed me a lot.

One more thing before I forget I want to say that I am not scared of ASHI. An ASHI cant be a reason to stop loving you.

Love you.

Rahul Mehra  


Parul was twisting her hair and putting them behind her ears. At that moment itself another mail came from Rahul,


Now stop playing with your hair and leave the office. it is very late.

Love.

Rahul Mehra  



Parul was shocked as to how did this person know what she was doing on her desk. She got up to check whether anyone was there in her floor but could find only empty cubicles. She thought maybe he made a wild guess and decided to leave the office. before leaving she saw another mail from Rahul.


Hi Parul,

Searching for me??? You have started falling in love with me. J

Love you.

Rahul Mehra  


Parul was shocked and scared to hell. She simply switched off her machine and ran outside the office. in the next few days she would not open any mails sent by Rahul. One night a mail with subject line “Don’t be scared of me” came to her mailbox. First she thought to ignore the mail then she thought lets see what has Rahul written this time.


Hi Parul,

Don’t be scared of me. I can say that you are scared of me because of the way you ran out from the office the last time you read my mail.

I know few minutes back you had gone to have coffee. You are thinking how I know this because I can feel you around me.

Only once you also start feeling me you will know that I am near to you. Very near. Just sitting next to you.

I will wait for the night when you start having the same feelings for me.

Will always love you.

Rahul Mehra  


Now Parul started thinking was Rahul really in love with her? What he was saying was it true? But how could he know so much about her? How could he say what she was doing and what not? Parul thought lets give a try and see whether Rahul is always in love with her or not. From that night she also started replying to his mail.


Hi Parul,

Do you feel bad if I call you gorgeous?

Love you.

Rahul Mehra  


Parul’s reply:


Yes Rahul. I don’t like this word.

You can address me as Parul, isn’t it short and simple. and I love my name a lot.

Thanks and Regards,
Parul Jain  


Rahul’s reply:


Point noted Parul. But when I am happy, excited I would call you with some special name at that time.

Tomorrow you have your certification so all the best for that.

Love you.

Rahul Mehra  


Parul was again shocked as to how does he know about her certification. She had never told him. She replied


Rahul,

Who is the person who is giving you details about me? I had not told you about my certification how do you know it?

Thanks and regards,
Parul Jain


Rahul replied back to her


I know it because I in front of you. Cant you see me? Cant you feel me close to you?

I also know that after 3 days you have your appraisal. Now this you have not told anyone. Just your PM knows about it.

Do you think your PM will give me all these details?

Love you.

Rahul Mehra


Parul not sure of the answer. She knew her PM would not have told Rahul all this but how did Rahul know so much about her was a mystery for her. Finally she thought she will talk to her PM, Rohan.

Next day, she went to her PM’s desk. “Hi Rohan. I wanted to ask you something”.

Rohan:- “Sure Parul. Are having any issues?”

Parul:- “No. actually I wanted to know about a person named Rahul Mehra.”

Rohan was shocked on hearing that name. PM:- “How did you come across this name. has anyone told you about him?”

Parul:- “No one has said anything to me about him. Few days back he started sending me e-mails. First I ignored but then he would give such details which I did just few minutes back. He even knows my appraisal date.”

Rohan:- “Are you sure you got mails from Rahul Mehra only?”

Parul:- “Yes very much. But why do you looked shock?”

Rohan:- “Because Rahul Mehra died 2 years back. He use to sit at the same place where you are sitting. How can a dead person send mails to you.”

Parul was shocked. She didn’t know how to react to this.

Rohan:- “If you don’t believe me then you can try finding his name in the telephone directory. Maybe someone told you about him and because of work stress you started imagining that he is sending you mails.”

Parul:- “I am not imagining anything. He has really send me a mail. I can show you in my mailbox.”

Rohan:- “Okay Parul I believe you but still I think you should take a break and go home.”

Parul was still in shock with the news she got from Rohan. She just did a search on telephone directory for a name with Rahul Mehra and page returned no records. She again checked the mail id and employee number details. She did a search many times that day by putting various combinations but the search page displayed the same message “No matches found for the given search criteria”. She could not believe that someone could hack the system and send mails to her from an non-existing id. She attached the mails sent by Rahul and sent it to Rohan as a proof that she was not dreaming.

On seeing the attached mails even Rohan was in shock. He came to Parul’s desk. Rohan:- “I think by mistake his id has not been deleted and someone who knows about it is playing with it.”

Parul:- “But I checked the details on telephone directory there are no records available for this id.”

Rohan:- “Talk to the CCD people and see what they have to say.”

She called up the CCD people. They took control over her system and looked at the mail sent by Rahul Mehra. The mail was sent from the from the same computer which Parul was using. The time stamp at which the mails were sent Parul had logged in. Also there was no evidence that a remote desktop connection was made or mail was sent through web mail. Even the CCD people were clueless as to how a mail has been sent from a non-existing id and from Parul’s system itself. There were no viruses or torjans or any other kind of threats on Parul’s system. Her anti-virus was upto date. The whole day was gone in finding a loophole as to how did Parul get such a mail in her mailbox. Parul was tierd from the day’s happening and so she decided to leave early from the office that day.

The next day when Parul came back, she saw a mail from Rahul Mehra. She didn’t know whether she should delete that mail or read that mail. She was scared to open the mail. Somehow she gained some courage and opened the mail. The context of the mail was:-



Hi Parul,

Good to see that you left the office early tonight. I know Rohan told you about my death.

I was also a workaholic like you. I would sit late in the office, even when no one was around me.
I just being at office. I had no friends, no social life. Even on weekends I would use to come to office.

I missed all the fun in my life. Even my death happened at office while I was working.
My dead body was found by the house keeping guy and the security guard at the reception.

I took a lot of work stress which my conscious mind could not bear that day. I ignored all the health problems I was having.
And finally on that night (20. 10. 07, 11:24 PM) all these reasons became responsible for my death.

Now you know why I am not scared of ASHI.
But yes if I was alive then also I wont be scared of ASHI because I have really fallen in love with you but we cant be together until your death.
Now the choice is yours whether you will kill yourself on your own or whether I need to do the honors.

Waiting for your death. Love you always.

Rahul Mehra  


Some love stories have ghost in it…

-- A Well-Wisher :)+++  

 
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Now you can search using images now rather than words....!!!

Google – Similar Images…!!!

Way back in April, Google re-launched Google Labs, the place where the company tests its new and experimental features. When it re-launched, it added a very interesting experimental feature to Google Image Search: Similar Images.  Google Similar Images is an experimental service from Google Labs that lets you find images that are similar with an image you select.  "Similar Images allows you to search for images using pictures rather than words. Click the Similar images link under an image to find other images that look like it."

A recap if you don’t remember similar images: it utilizes image recognition technology to help filter search results. If you find an action shot of soccer/football star David Beckham and want to find more like it, for example, you can use Similar Images to filter your results and find similar images.

The feature has been in Google Labs for over half a year, but that’s no longer the case. Google has announced that Similar Images has now become a standard feature of Google Image search.

It was only a matter of time until Similar Images made its debut in Google Search. It’s a very useful and surprisingly accurate feature that really helps you filter images. We can expect to see a lot of users utilizing this feature very soon.

The interface doesn't perform real-time image analysis, so you can't upload images. Instead, Google lets you search the web for images, choose one of the results and click on "Similar images". The results are surprisingly good and this is probably the most impressive feature ever released by Google Image Search.

 

Try this out when you are free: http://similar-images.googlelabs.com/

 

 

CheersJ

Sree…

 

 

 
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Google launches Swirl for easy image search

Google launches Swirl for easy image search

Wednesday,18 November 2009, 01:18 hrs

 

San Francisco: Google has launched a new tool called 'Swirl', which will help users to find images in an easier way. The tool automatically groups similar images into categories presented on results pages. "What Image Swirl does is - it automatically organizes image search results into groups and sub-groups. It's not just the face, the color, the visual features of the images; we look inside the image and ask how they relate to each other on a pixel level," said Aparna Chennapragada, Google Product Manager, to AFP.

 

Image Swirl expands on technologies developed for similar images and Picasa Face Recognition to discern how images should be grouped together and build hierarchies out of these groups. Each thumbnail on the initial results page represents an algorithmically-determined representative group of images with similar appearance and meaning. These aren't just the most relevant images - they are the most relevant groups of images.

Image Swirl currently works for more than 200,000 queries and we plan to include more queries in the future. Available queries will auto-complete as you start to type in the search box, similar to Google Suggest.

"As humans, we can easily tell which images should be grouped together by looking at them. The real question is can we train computer algorithms to identify common features in images and then categorize them. It's not perfect. We may have mistakes, but we hope to improve this system as we move forward," said Google Software Engineer Yushi Jing, who has been working on Image Swirl's underlying technology.

People can dabble with Image Swirl at Google Labs, and feedback will be used to improve the tool with the ultimate objective being to one day incorporate it in the California Internet giant's public search engine. "We are committed to how we look at and understand visual information and organize it for our users," said Chennapragada. "This is the holy grail of computer vision."

Google launched image search in 2001 and later added a 'similar images' feature to hone-in picture hunts.

 

Try it out today: http://image-swirl.googlelabs.com

 

 

 

Thanks

Sree….

 

 
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What killed an young athlete.....!!!

Dear all,

 

Read through this article for sure if you are interested in ur health and the well being of your family.

 

Thanks,

Sree…

 

FYAttention.....

What killed Ranjan Das and Lessons for Corporate India
 
A month ago, many of us heard about the sad demise of Ranjan Das from Bandra, Mumbai. Ranjan, just 42 years of age, was the CEO of SAP-Indian Subcontinent, the youngest CEO of an MNC in India. He was very active in sports, was a fitness freak and a marathon runner. It was common to see him run on Bandra's Carter Road. Just after Diwali, on 21st Oct, he returned home from his gym after a workout, collapsed with a massive heart attack and died. He is survived by his wife and two very young kids.
                                                       
It was certainly a wake-up call for corporate India. However, it was even more disastrous for runners amongst us. Since Ranjan was an avid marathoner (in Feb 09, he ran Chennai Marathon at the same time some of us were running Pondicherry Marathon 180 km away), the question came as to why an exceptionally active, athletic person succumb to heart attack at 42 years of age.
 
Was it the stress?
A couple of you called me asking about the reasons. While Ranjan had mentioned that he faced a lot of stress, that is a common element in most of our lives. We used to think that by being fit, one can conquer the bad effects of stress. So I doubted if the cause was stress.
 
The Real Reason
However, everyone missed out a small line in the reports that Ranjan used to make do with 4-5 hours of sleep. This is an earlier interview of Ranjan on NDTV in the program 'Boss' Day Out':
http://connect.in.com/ranjan-das/play-video-boss-day-out-ranjan-das-of-sap-india-229111-807ecfcf1ad966036c289b3ba6c376f2530d7484.html
Here he himself admits that he would love to get more sleep (and that he was not proud of his ability to manage without sleep, contrary to what others extolled).
 
The Evidence
Last week, I was working with a well-known cardiologist on the subject of ‘Heart Disease caused by Lack of Sleep’. While I cannot share the video nor the slides because of confidentiality reasons, I have distilled the key points below in the hope it will save some of our lives.
 
Some Excerpts:
 
·        Short sleep duration (<5 or 5-6 hours) increased risk for high BP by 350% to 500% compared to those who slept longer than 6 hours per night. Paper published in 2009.
As you know, high BP kills.
 
·        Young people (25-49 years of age) are twice as likely to get high BP if they sleep less. Paper published in 2006.
 
·        Individuals who slept less than 5 hours a night had a 3-fold increased risk of heart attacks. Paper published in 1999.
 
·        Complete and partial lack of sleep increased the blood concentrations of High sensitivity C-Reactive Protein (hs-cRP), the strongest predictor of heart attacks. Even after getting adequate sleep later, the levels stayed high!!
 
·        Just one night of sleep loss increases very toxic substances in body such as Interleukin-6 (IL-6), Tumour Necrosis Factor-Alpha (TNF-alpha) and C-reactive protein (cRP). They increase risks of many medical conditions, including cancer, arthritis and heart disease. Paper published in 2004.
 
·        Sleeping for <=5 hours per night leads to 39% increase in heart disease. Sleeping for <=6 hours per night leads to 18% increase in heart disease. Paper published in 2006.
 
Ideal Sleep
For lack of space, I cannot explain here the ideal sleep architecture. But in brief, sleep is composed of two stages: REM (Rapid Eye Movement) and non-REM. The former helps in mental consolidation while the latter helps in physical repair and rebuilding. During the night, you alternate between REM and non-REM stages 4-5 times.
 
The earlier part of sleep is mostly non-REM. During that period, your pituitary gland releases growth hormones that repair your body. The latter part of sleep is more and more REM type.
 
For you to be mentally alert during the day, the latter part of sleep is more important. No wonder when you wake up with an alarm clock after 5-6 hours of sleep, you are mentally irritable throughout the day (lack of REM sleep). And if you have slept for less than 5 hours, your body is in a complete physical mess (lack of non-REM sleep), you are tired throughout the day, moving like a zombie and your immunity is way down (I’ve been there, done that L)
 
Finally, as long-distance runners, you need an hour of extra sleep to repair the running related damage.
 
If you want to know if you are getting adequate sleep, take Epworth Sleepiness Test below.
 
 

Interpretation: Score of 0-9 is considered normal while 10 and above abnormal. Many a times, I have clocked 21 out the maximum possible 24, the only saving grace being the last situation, since I don’t like to drive (maybe, I should ask my driver to answer that lineJ)

In conclusion:
Barring stress control, Ranjan Das did everything right: eating proper food, exercising (marathoning!), maintaining proper weight. But he missed getting proper and adequate sleep, minimum 7 hours. In my opinion, that killed him.

If you are not getting enough sleep (7 hours), you are playing with fire, even if you have low stress.
I always took pride in my ability to work 50 hours at a stretch whenever the situation warranted. But I was so spooked after seeing the scientific evidence last week that since Saturday night, I ensure I do not even set the alarm clock under 7 hours. Now, that is a nice excuse to get some more sleep. J
 
Unfortunately, Ranjan Das is not alone when it comes to missing sleep. Many of us are doing exactly the same, perhaps out of ignorance. Please forward this mail to as many of your colleagues as possible, especially those who might be short-changing their sleep. If we can save even one young life because of this email, I would be the happiest person on earth.

 
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Shhhhhhhhhhhhhh..!!! They are sleeping...:):)

Shhhhhhhhhhhhhh..!!! They are sleeping...:):)

  

  

 
 
  

 

  

  

  

 
’
 

 

Needless to say this is the mail I have watched the max no of times so far….:)

 

Cheers J

Sreenath

 
This e-mail is intended for the use of the addressee(s) only and may contain privileged, confidential, or proprietary information that is exempt from disclosure under law.  If you have received this message in error, please inform us promptly by reply e-mail, then delete the e-mail and destroy any printed copy.   Thank you.