Before You Depart:
Preparing For The Unexpected

Here is a popular post I found on Digg’s Environment section today:
“In a speech this week, New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clarke announced New Zealand’s intention to commit to 90% renewable electricity by 2025. The country already uses 70% renewable electricity, primarily hydro- and geothermal power and will continue to increase its use of renewables over the next 20 years.”
New Zealand is looking like a pretty good place to live!

read more | digg story

There are a lot of stories in the papers these days about people being scammed online. Getting educated and following some simple steps can really help you identify and avoid scams before its too late! Here are some tips from our Security section:

Be wary of fraudulent email.

A fraudulent or spoofed email pretends to be from a site you are a member of in an attempt to get personal information from you. Then they take over your account and can view your information. You should always be careful about who you give your information to.

You have the power to prevent scammers from affecting you.
Spoofed, or “phishing,” emails, and the spoofed websites they direct you to, are deceptive in appearance. However, you will always be able to spot content that reveals they are fake if you know how to look.

Know how to spot a spoofed email.

1. Generic Greetings – Many spoofed emails begin with a general greeting, such as: “Dear YouDeparted Member.” A real email from us will always be addressed to your name.
2. A False sense of urgency – Most spoofed emails try to deceive you with the threat that your account is in jeopardy if you do not update or modify it soon. If you get an email that asks you to renew a subscription or change your information, NEVER click on the link in the e-mail. To make any changes to your account, always login to your account yourself.
3. Fake links – The text in a link may on first glance look valid, but then send you to a spoofed website. Always check where a link goes before you click it. To do this, move your mouse over the link and look at the URL in your browser or email status bar. If you do click a link, make sure that the URL in the address bar of your internet browser is correct before you do anything on that site.

Learn more about how to spot spoofed emails.
Read our guide that lists 10 ways to spot spoofed emails and websites.

We will never ask you the following questions in an email:
Your username, password or secret key
Credit and debit card numbers
Bank account numbers
Driver’s License numbers
Email addresses
Your name

Report spoofed email and websites it to us.
If you get a spoofed email or find a website that pretends to be YouDeparted, forward the entire email or the website address to us at spoofed@youdeparted.com. We take spoofing scams very seriously and will investigate every spoof you report.

More Information.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phishing - A good wikipedia article about spoofed emails and “Phishing” scams

http://www.antiphishing.org/consumer_recs.html - The Anti-Phishing Working Group guide to avoiding scams.

Major online technology journal Ars Technica wrote an article today about the ease of stealing people’s information over WiFi. They write:

“Even though some sites, such as Gmail, offer secure, SSL-based login pages, things aren’t quite so secure post-login. Unlike many bank web sites that offer a secure browsing experience for the entire duration of the session, most sites dump the user right back out into unsecured territory after logging in, thus exposing their personal data to anyone who wants to get at it. The report provides several examples of session data pulled from directly from Facebook, MySpace, Yahoo Mail, and BlogSpot sessions.”

When we developed YouDeparted.com, we designed its security like the bank web sites the article mentions: you login at a SSL-based login page and you stay on SSL-based pages as long as you are logged in, no exceptions. So the article is a good warning for users of services that do not use secure connections, but YouDeparted users need not worry.

Over the last couple days, we have gotten some great coverage!

Check out this article by Anita Creamer in the Sacramento Bee:
http://www.sacbee.com/107/story/289271.html

See this writeup on one of the most popular blogs in the world, TechCrunch: http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/07/26/youdeparted…

As one of the founders of the company, many of you have asked me what I have in my youdeparted account. Since I have several business interests, an active household and many hobbies, I have slowly been adding to my account as something comes up.

1) Instructions for turning the sprinklers and outside hose bibs on and off. This is something I’ve always done and my wife and family probably would not give it a thought. Without instructions on this, nobody would remember and then my family would have burst pipes everywhere.

2) Detailed business instructions. I have written who my suppliers are, what they supply. Who my distributors are. Banking and business Insurance information. Details of my credit card merchant accounts. Telephone and internet service. 940, 941, estimated taxes, etc and all the other forms the IRS needs.

Weekly I think of something new to add to this section as I want my family to have the opportunity to continue running my businesses should something happen to me.

3) Personal information. I have many on-line accounts so all my usernames, passwords and url’s are listed and what they are for. All of the bills I pay on-line and when there due. Property taxes, insurance both home and car. Life Insurance Policies and agent names. Health insurance policies. All my credit card accounts. The number and location of my safety deposit box and what’s in it. Listings of my brothers and sisters with their names and addresses. Anybody I want contacted when I die. IRS information. These people don’t care if you are dead or not if you still owe taxes!

Burial information. Okay, this was a tough one. I never really thought about it until now! Who wants to think of such a thing. But then, better I leave good instructions for my family now. I decided to donate any good organs, my remains to be cremated and scattered at the top of my favorite jogging trail. My wife and I decided to purchase burial plots in Appleton, ME where we can have a marker. Still haven’t decided if I want an open casket and can’t quite picture what I’ll be wearing…but hey, I’ll keep thinking of this one. My wife says I look good in my suit. Jeez!

Wills and Trusts. I uploaded copies of my will and trust. I just scanned them and upload them. I probably won’t upload my insurance documents as copies of these are readily available, but sure hate to lose my trust documents so nice to have a copy now.

Personal Organizer
I’ve also been using the site as a personal organizer for information I usually forgot like my kayak and locker combinations. I keep copies of my passport and drivers license. I have started a home inventory with pictures of all our possessions. I keep thinking of new things I want to put on the site.

Upload or make Entries?
If I already have information written out, say in Word or Excel, I’ll just upload the document with instructions on whats in it. If it is something new, then I’ll just type it out on the site.

As I make new entries, I’ll keep reporting on my progress. I plan to keep everything updated as often as information changes.

We just rolled out a free* “Mini” accounts and 14-day free trials on all premium accounts so now you can try YouDeparted completely risk free. Check out the new accounts here. We also streamlined the sign up process so now you can literally get a YouDeparted account in mere seconds rather than minutes. We hope you like the updates!

Given that we are offering a very unique service, we want to let people take a thorough look first to try it out. With the Mini account, you can store a small number of entries and up to 1MB of space, and specify who will receive your entries if something happens to you. With the premium accounts you can store from 100 to unlimited entries and up to 5GB of pictures, movies, documents, audio, and other files. Our pricing is very competitive with many of the top online storage providers with the added benefit that we are more secure and that your account can be unlocked if something happens to you. With all accounts, you can specify which of your Recipients will receive each piece of information.

Again, we hope the updates come as welcome news, and we always appreciate any feedback or comments!

-The team at YouDeparted.com

*The account is free for 90 days. At any time you can upgrade into our basic account and all your information will be transferred.

Early this morning, a powerful 6.7-magnitude earthquake shook northwestern Japan resulting in at least three deaths and hundreds of injuries. According to an article in the New York Times, the devastating quake destroyed about 300 buildings in the city of Kashiwazaki and “flattened dozens of wooden houses and triggered a fire at a nuclear power plant.” Our hearts go out to everyone in Japan affected by this disaster.

Earthquakes are simply a matter of fact in many parts of the world and especially in densely populated Japan. Here in the western United States we are no strangers to earthquakes either. Take a look at the map above that shows faults and recent earthquakes in California/Nevada. We do have a few faults running around us here on the north shore of Tahoe.

Living in an earthquake prone area means we must accept the reality of the situation and be prepared for chance that one will actually happen. A recent report placed the probability of a major earthquake occurring in the Bay Area in the next 30 years at greater than 62%!

So if you live where the ground may unexpectedly throw your life into turmoil at any time, you most certainly should have your essentials in order and in a safe place.

The story about us in Reuters I mentioned yesterday is starting to be picked up around the world! Thousands of visitors are coming from every corner of the Earth, including listeners of the radio station LAfm in Columbia, readers of MYTECH in Italy, 20minutos in Spain, Reuters in India, iTnews in Australia, and Times Colonist in Canada, just to mention a few!

The desire to protect one’s family is universal, and no matter where our members come from, they undoubtedly want to be sure the people they leave behind will be alright. An unexpected death can shatter a family and leave them struggling to pick up the pieces for years, so we encourage everyone to be prepared, wherever you are.

We created YouDeparted to enable people to prevent the confusion and devastating financial crises families often face when an unexpected event or death occurs. Take some time to really think about what your family will need if something happens to you. Then consider how much easier the transition will be for them if you have created a set of instructions to guide them, and left behind your final wishes and messages of reassurance and advice. Our service is a great place to get everything organized and ready in case the unexpected does happen.

Last week Collin had an interview with Jill Serjeant from Reuters, and we were excited to see YouDeparted featured in their Lifestyle section today!

Here are some excerpts from the article:

• A new Web site www.YouDeparted.com delivers all your last “e-wishes” to family and friends after you pass away, as well as letting them know where to find important documents like passports and insurance policies.

• In the old days, the trusted family lawyer could be relied upon to handle much of the business of dying. But as modern life gets more complex and families split up or move, death needs more organization, said Collin Harris, 51, the Nevada entrepreneur who devised YouDeparted.com.

• “There are 70 million baby boomers in the United States alone. The Web site is a nice organizer for you to put useful information, and when you die it is released to designated family and friends,” said Harris.

• “I got to thinking about all the things I do in my life that my wife wouldn’t even know about — like where to turn off the water outside in the winter. My brother lives in Thailand but has property and storage over here. Who would know all those little details if he suddenly died?”

• The Web site utilizes encryption programs used by the U.S. military to ensure security for what is a personal electronic safe deposit box. After you pass away, designated family members can unlock the account with a secret key to retrieve all the information and messages.

Ruth Bell Graham was born in China, the daughter of missionaries.  She was 17 when she came to the United States to graduate from high school in North Carolina.  She met Billy Graham at Wheaton College, and they were married in 1943.

 Many people do not know that although Ruth was married to one of the most famous Baptist ministers in the world, she herself remained a loyal Presbyterian all her life, even while assisting Billy with the ministry!

 Mr. and Mrs. Graham had five children, all of whom are now actively involved in their father’s ministry.

 Ruth was not only her husband’s right arm in all matters, she was a prolific author in her own right.  She was the author of over a dozen books, as well as hundreds of shorter articles for magazines and newspapers.

 Mrs. Graham had been in poor health since 1995, when she had a bad fall while testing a swing she had built for her grandchildren.

 On June 14, 2007,  Ruth Bell Graham died, at home, with her husband and five children at her bedside.

 The world has lost a beautiful person.

Billy Graham himself was quoted as saying:  “Our days are numbered. One of the primary goals in our lives should be to prepare for our last day. The legacy we leave is not just in our possessions, but in the quality of our lives. What preparations should we be making now?”

We agree.