Monday, July 2, 2012

Oh, no and I just let it slip away.

I wasn't watching, there was no way of knowing that my brother Jay's website/blog just slipped away. I was so totally bummed about the loss. It has made me stop and think about all this stuff we put out on the web and what happens to it once there is no one to be responsible for it.
When my brother past away I noticed spam started to pile up in his comments and try as I could I had no way to get in and take over in order to stop them.
On my old computer I kept him on the upper bar and checked in on the site off and on.
Then one day I stopped looking.
I think because it was too painful to go there too often.
Then while I was not looking it became a place for ads.
Put in an offer and you can buy it, but all that content gone.

I did go hunt for his original blog and that is still there, but he found that too restricting and had bought space on a .com and was putting all his full articles there. The blog has most of the articles with a click to go read the full article at the .com.
Buggers.....
I did find the blog I had been running for the North Carolina Pottery Center and that has many of the articles he wrote and then allowed me to post there. Good information, well written, well researched and enjoyed by many. I am going to have to go back and find a way to preserve those articles.
I noticed that some of the pictures are now gone from his blog.
Again if you are not looking things go away.

So here is what I have been thinking about.
Do you have a place you keep your important passwords that a love one or a close friend could get hold of them in case you are not able? Is this something that should be in your will or your wishes. Is it important enough to leave access to your words and written thoughts to someone who would care for them?


Strange thoughts I know.
What do you do and how do you store these things?



12 comments:

Julia said...

Hi M~!

I actually print my blog out every year as a published book through blurb.com. It is an easy process that lets you import from your blog and it lets me save what I have written for my son. I don't know if he will ever appreciate it as a record of my thoughts, but I like to think he will...

Linda Starr said...

So sorry about Jay's blog disappearing; I really enjoyed reading it, he did such thorough posts about pottery and other topics. I read about publishing the blog and thought about doing it. I do have a place where my passwords are written down.

Lori Buff said...

You bring up a good point about the passwords and such, I never thought about it but I will now. Thank you.
Jay's words and pictures may be gone but what he gave you and others will nover be lost.

Amy said...

Important thoughts. good, needful ones.

I keep all my passwords on a piece of paper that I know where it is. Helps me remember everything too.

Sounds disappointing. I hope you're not being hard on yourself in this. One of my mantras is when I know different, I do different.

Rosa said...

Hard to lose such things! Have you tried the wayback machine online or looking for a cached version on the net? You might find larger bits and pieces there.

Unknown said...

Meredith,
So sorry to hear your pain about this layer of loss... I agree with Amy to not be hard on yourself. You do bring up an excellent point of passing on our passwords and/or ways of keeping on-line information 'alive'.
(HUG)

GingerGeneral said...

It's not lost!
There's an internet archive called "Wayback Machine". You can see his website as it was at specific points in time:
http://wayback.archive.org/web/*/http://backcountrynotes.com

Michèle Hastings said...

Meredith, you bring up a very good question. I was very fortunate that John was organized. He had a notebook in his desk with all of his passwords for things on the web as well as accounts. It made it much easier for me to deal with many thing after his death. HIs blog and flickr account are still out there and I do look at them from time to time. His website was another story. A friend of his built it and kept it updated for him. A month or so after his death he took the website down. I was really sad and disappointed and I knew that John was current on his hosting payments. At that time I didn't have the energy to ask him about it. I know he was grieving too.
Unfortunately I am not as organized as he was and you have reminded me to do something about this.

I think I am going to check out this way back machine thingy!

cookingwithgas said...

okay- so it is out there now how do i get it and keep it going.
Thanks all good thoughts and suggestions. I have been thinking about this for days.

Laurie said...

You've given me something to think about (again :o). That Wayback Machine sounds wild. I'll have to check it out!

Mr. Young said...

I put all my logins, passwords, and site addressess on a spreadsheet, and have it not only on my online storage, but on a flash drive as well. The hard part is to make sure you update it any time you change your password.

Mr. Young said...

It also helps to put down the emergency questions and answers too - just in case.