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What Will Happen to Your Facebook Account When You Pass Away?

No one wants to die thinking about what is going to happen to their Facebook account, right? Pretty morbid, huh?

 

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Well, that may not be the first thing on our minds, but much like a will, we should be thinking about what should happen to our online accounts when we do pass on. I remember a few years ago when a connection on Facebook had passed and their profile was still going strong. It made me feel sad that there was no way for friends and family members to either delete or memorialize the profile without having access to the account. Facebook must have been listening. The older and bigger Facebook gets, not to mention the rapid increase of baby boomers online, it was only a matter of time before they did it.

Facebook just released guidelines for when you are pushing daisies and makes it easier for your family, business and even Facebook itself from sending notifications for eternity. Unless you are Miss Cleo, I don’t think you will be picking up any urgent updates on the Grammys from beyond the grave.

You can now tell Facebook in advance whether you’d like to have your account memorialized or permanently deleted from Facebook. Here’s how:

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Memorialized Accounts

Memorialized accounts are a place for friends and family to gather and share memories after a person has passed away. Memorialized accounts have the following key features:

  • The word Remembering will be shown next to the person’s name on their profile
  • Depending on the privacy settings of the account, friends can share memories on the memorialized Timeline
  • Content the person shared (ex: photos, posts) stays on Facebook and is visible to the audience it was shared with
  • Memorialized profiles don’t appear in public spaces such as in suggestions for People You May Know, ads or birthday reminders
  • No one can log into a memorialized account
  • Memorialized accounts that don’t have a legacy contact can’t be changed
  • Groups with an admin whose account was memorialized will be able to select new admins
  • Pages with a sole admin whose account was memorialized will be removed from Facebook if we receive a valid request

Deleting Your Account

You can choose to have your account permanently deleted should you pass away. To do this:

  1. From the top right of Facebook, click and select Settings
  2. From the left menu, click Security
  3. Click Legacy Contact
  4. Click have your account permanently deleted and follow the on-screen instructions

For Friends and Family

If you’d like to create an additional place for people on Facebook to share memories of your loved one, we suggest creating a group.

Learn how to request the memorialization of an account or how to request the removal of a deceased person’s account from Facebook.

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Are you going to take advantage of these guidelines and prepare for the inevitable? Deletion or Memorialized?

Let us know below.

Photo credit: Leslie Fishlock

Want 2GB of Permanent Storage Free from Google?

Google_logoSick of the Cyber Caliphate and obnoxious anti-government neo-Nazis hacking your social media accounts like Chipotle and Newsweek experienced recently? Well Google wants to help you, help yourself. And rewarding you for it.

In honor of Safer Internet Day yesterday, Google is offering Google Drive users an additional 2 gigabytes of storage permanently if they perform a 2-minute security check before February 17.

The checkup is easy cheesy peasy, and here is how you do it:

  1. Go here to the test
  2. Follow the five steps to verify your account recovery info,  recent activity and approved devices.
  3. If you followed the steps, you will see three green checkboxes
  4. Google says the additional storage will be granted by Feb. 28

Simple, eh?

Let us know how you made out.

Massive Star Wars Sculpture Created with 3,500 Tons of Snow at Japanese Snow Festival

May the Force be with you. Even in snow.

Darth Vader, Stormtroopers and TIE fighters were the object of amazement at the 66th annual Sapporo Snow Festival that kicked off yesterday.  The Star Wars snow sculpture was created by Japan’s army troopers, or the 11th Brigade of the Ground Self-Defense Forces, using bulldozers, moving over 3,500 tons of snow to create the ginormous, 23 meter wide, 15 meter tall sculpture of StarWarian fantasy. The Sapporo Snow Festival is one of Japan’s largest winter events, attracting more than 2 million visitors a year and displays more than 200 snow and ice sculptures.

FYI: The design was approved by Lucas Film Ltd,…just in time to promote the December launch of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, you think?

Images courtesy of rocketnews24

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Image courtesy of la_negra_les

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Image courtesy of takeoi

Guy Misses View of a Lifetime…Because he was Texting…

Screen Shot 2015-02-04 at 5.05.46 PMYou had one job to do. Enjoy the ocean. You blew it.

Is this what we have become?

This guy totally misses a view of a lifetime because…he was texting. GADS!

Photographer Eric Smith captured this incredible moment on Instagram from a whale-watching excursion in Redondo Beach, California: “A small private sailboat maneuvered really close to the whales, and this guy on it was literally sitting in that position and never moved . . . I thought it sucked that he missed such a wonderful moment happening just two feet in front of him.”

Well, at least Eric Smith got the shot for him.

FacePalm.

 

Amazon WorkMail: It Was Only a Matter of Time

Screen Shot 2015-01-28 at 4.22.43 PMIt was only a matter of time when Amazon was going to launch their own managed email.

And now Amazon Web Services has done just that. Competing against Google, or more specifically Microsoft, they are now offering a free 30 day preview. After that pricing seems to go for $4 a box.

Amazon WorkMail is a secure, managed business email and calendaring service with support for existing desktop and mobile email clients. Amazon WorkMail gives users the ability to seamlessly access their email, contacts, and calendars using Microsoft Outlook, their web browser, or their native iOS and Android email applications. You can integrate Amazon WorkMail with your existing corporate directory and control both the keys that encrypt your data and the location in which your data is stored.

You can get started for free with a 30-day trial of Amazon WorkMail for up to 25 users.

Who is going to get it?

App of the Day: Trunk Club – For The Fashionably Savvy Man

“Real luxury is understanding quality, and having the time to enjoy it.”
– G. Bruce Boyer

There comes a point in every man’s life when he requires some advice towards his wardrobe. Maybe it’s your first professional job. You finally realized that picture you were tagged in last Saturday is the same outfit you were tagged in by your fraternity a few years, or a decade, back. You are trying to attract women into dating you…

Do I have to go to the mall?

app iconMost men would rather live a life of shameful tattered days of youth clothing than go to the mall and spend hours searching, trying on and then standing in line to buy something he hopes is fashion forward and sensible. Trunk Club knows this better than anyone and they have the solution for you!
A fashion forward company focused around men’s shopping, fashion, and convenience.

Trunk Clubs App now makes the process even easier! Create a profile and meet your stylist. Yes you get a real human stylist! She/he will work with you towards finding the perfect style to meet your wardrobe goals. The selected items will be delivered to your preferable location and after trying on and making further assessments, you can return the items you do not wish to add to your wardrobe. You only pay of the items you wish to keep.

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If you don’t have time to browse yourself you can request a “trunk” form your stylist and they will hand select items to be shipped after your initial consultation. Once you receive a few trucks the process becomes even simpler because you start to define your style and receive more items your stylist knows you’ll love! There is no commitment and no member fees!

Save your fanny packs, jerseys, and ugly sweaters for halloween! Impress your colleagues and that vote girl sitting a few cubes down. Whatever your mission Truck Club aims to take you there!

If you have been using Trunk Club we would love to hear your comments below! Questions?

We would love to to find the answers. Reviews make us happy too! A better app? Share the love!

Why I Love Geek Girl; And Why You Should, Too

In all the years of creating events for Geek Girl we always knew we had a lot of fans out there. Little did we know how truly awesome and from how far away they really are.

 

I’ve been meaning to write this post forever. And I am kind of glad I waited until now because today was one of those days that I just could not get out of my own way and could not get focused or even excited about sitting down to work on new, exciting and important Geek Girl updates and changes. Maybe because it’s Monday. Ick. Maybe it’s because I am just ComicCon-ned out from this weekend. Or maybe the abnormal San Diego humidity just wiped me out. Or maybe dreaming of blood-sucking vampire worms crawling inside my face from watching Guillermo del Toro’s The Strain last night made me restless. Thanks Guillermo. Or maybe the fact I cannot find my dark French roast coffee beans and I had no coffee. Whatever the case, I definitely needed a kick in the ass.

Then I saw something that just made me light up and smile. If you can manage to take a few minutes and read this, I guarantee you that it will make you smile as well.

This past March at our Geek Girl Boston South TechCon, I was notified by our staff that a family of 3 were interested in coming to TechCon who were from out of town. At the time, we were so crazy-busy, “out of town” mostly meant they were driving down from New Hampshire or, God forbid, might be coming from Rhode Island where they have to pack their passport, a change of clothes and a picnic to drive more than an hour. I’m originally from Rhode Island so I can say this. Because it’s true. ;-)

If you have ever been to a Geek Girl Tech Conference in the last 6 years since we have been doing them around the country, then you know how fast the day goes by and if you don’t focus or you look down for a minute, you might miss something. I might have missed an incredible opportunity to meet the people who we essentially are creating the events for: women and girls who want to learn more about tech to get ahead in life, find their dream job, start their dream company and become Geek Girls themselves by kicking aside the notion that there are not a lot of women in tech.

This was the first time at a TechCon that I tried to spend as much time as possible on the floor and talk and meet with as many people as possible. It’s always proven difficult being pulled in a million different directions, but with a competent staff and awesome volunteers, it is getting better every year. And I am so glad I learned to stop finding what is going wrong at an event and quickly fix it, but rather take it all in that which is going RIGHT. It’s quite the feeling to see the accomplishments and see how far we have all come in the 7 years. And for that I am forever grateful to the friends, instructors, volunteers, supporters, attendees, fans, evangelists, sponsors, advertisers, and all of you lovely people with Geek Girl stickers on your cars and laptops who have never been able to get to an event yet but who support us from afar.

As I was walking in the expo area, one of my cohorts introduced me to the VendeVen family.

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Our extended Geek Girl family from Louisiana!: Kristen VandeVen, Anna Camille VandeVen, and grandma Brenda Funderburg.

 

Mom, daughter and grandma. All hailing from the great State of Louisiana. Newellton, Louisiana, to be exact. Near West Monroe where maybe a few of you have heard of some bearded guys who put together duck calls.

So there I met the lovely mom, Kristen, who works at Cross Keys Bank in town, and her sweet gem of a daughter, Anna Camille. And grandma, a very young at heart grandma, Brenda Funderburg, who made the trip as well.

They came up to TechCon after finding us online, booking their flights to Boston, getting a rental car to drive to Plymouth, MA. and getting their tickets to TechCon for March 22nd. Mind you, we are not talking about a family raised with a silver spoon. These are your average middle-class, hard-working, salt of the earth people from a small town where community is everything. They believe in education, improving themselves and making things better for their kids. And having that dream job.

All because they believed that learning and educating themselves on technology was not defined by age, distance or not knowing one soul when they arrived. Kristen was determined to learn as much as she can to bring her knowledge back home and use it at the bank and educate others. I had the opportunity to speak to them all that day, that night at the reception, and our team invited them to come join us for an instructor breakfast the next morning. After all, they were family now. Geek Girls united!

Since that time, the family and I have kept in touch by text and email, they are constantly online checking out what we are doing on Social Media and we send gifts back to each other. They are constantly pleading with us to start a Geek Girl group in northeastern Louisiana and do a TechCon because their community needs it, they tell us.

Anna Camille drew me this Geek Girl! I love it!

Anna Camille drew me this Geek Girl! I love it!

 

I never want to let this family go. And I cannot wait to see them again.

Because they brought back to me the reason I started Geek Girl back in 2006. To democratize and make technology accessible to everyone and take the difficulty out of learning and make it fun, from 8-88, women and men, and empower, educate and inspire those who want to come along. THESE were my people. THIS was my mission.

Whenever I get disheartened when a woman who needs help with her computer just gives up and has her kids do it, or calls herself stupid or too old to learn, I used to feel sorry for them and poo-poo them, spending hours convincing them why they need get confident in their abilities and do this themselves. Not any more. We are all about tough love here and if you want to get things down and get ahead, always remember the family from Louisiana who just made the decision to come and did it. That’s confidence. Just get it done. It’s hard work to learn something you don’t know about, especially for women and men passed over by technology. These include our seniors, our immigrants and the underserved and underrepresented areas all over the country where confidence and new computers are lacking.

If you ever think you can’t learn something new, then call me, email me or text me. I will prove you wrong. I know everyone has the ability in themselves to improve, grown confidence, get that dream job, build your dream business and most of all, kick some ass.

If you need help, come to one of our Geek Girl TechCons, or one of our events, workshops, meetups or seminars to learn more. Or Hire a Geek Girl. Our reach is limited at this time but we are growing.

And if you already ARE a Geek Girl, then why don’t you become a part of Geek Girl and help others in your community.

Oh, and just so you know, YES…we are planning on doing a Geek Girl TechCon somewhere in Newellton, Louisiana…some day…..

Little sister Katie sporting her Geek Girl camo at camp!

Little sister Katie sporting her Geek Girl camo at camp!

 

Wait: Let me Toast a Selfie…

And to think you don’t even have to be Jesus to get your own image on your morning toast.

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We bring you: the Selfie Toaster.

REAL toast. With your REAL face toasted on it. Customized with your favorite selfie image by the Vermont Novelty Toaster Corporation. No joke. No Photoshop. No shenanigans. 

And for only $75, you can have one of these babies shipped right to you. It comes in blue, red, yellow, green or powder. They also sell a logo toaster, a note toaster, the Virgin Mary toaster, the Poe toaster, the Peace toaster…and of course…the toaster that got it all started…the Jesus toaster.

But, it’s not a perfect science, as their caveat reads:

We are good but remember fine detail is darn near impossible to achieve with heat and toast. If we squint and can’t see your face we will cancel order and refund your purchase.

I’m buying one right now…

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Is Your Facebook Contest Legal? [Infographic]

Do you run contests on Facebook? Or maybe are interested in creating one? Read this over and make sure you are staying as close to the law as possible because there are repercussions if you deviate.

Remember, you can always ask your fans to like or share your page for access to an entry form, but it cannot be the only means of entry.

It’s unfortunate that there are so many steps to take, but hey, if you follow them, you will be fine and your Facebook contest should go off without a hitch. And always keep in mind; Facebook changes their rules like weather changes in New England. Always. These rules are current as of 7/14/14.

Keep the following in mind:

 

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Infographic courtesy of ShortStack

Giant Dead Parrot Unveiled in London to Promote Last Monty Python Show

No one expects the Spanish Inquisition, never mind a giant dead blue parrot in London.

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Not something you see everyday, but if you were in London recently, you would have seen a 50 foot giant dead parrot being unveiled on London’s South Bank promoting the live broadcast of the final Monty Python Live stage show on July 20th. It’s been revealed that this famous Norwegian Blue dead parrot was created as a homage of sorts because it was the #1 Monty Python sketch voted on by the nation on British Comedy TV Gold channel. It took a team of three sculptors over two months to create the prop.

I personally thought the Spam, Spam, Spam vignette or the Lumberjack Song would be right up there as well, but the dead parrot was classic Python.

If you’ve never seen the sketch, well we just happen to have it here…

 

 

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Pictures courtesy of Taylor Herring via Flickr

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