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Write a dead man's switch script. You just have to remind it you're not dead once a month for example. However don't do what a colleague of mine did back in th

by batou 11y ago

Write a dead man's switch script. You just have to remind it you're not dead once a month for example. However don't do what a colleague of mine did back in the early 00s. after a motorcycle accident he was in hospital for three weeks. This was back in the days before ubiquitous internet access (horrible times!). His dead mans switch went off after two weeks and caused an email to be sent to his boss to call him a vacuous cunt. Obviously that didn't go down well at all.

paublyrne 11y ago
Better to set it for two months.
- SapphireSun 11y ago
  Why not six or a year? It'll be very hard to screw that up and you can Hari Seldon your friends and relatives.
  - XorNot 11y ago
    Except if you forget when it fires. These sorts of things aren't done because doing them right is actually very very hard.
    - kiiski 11y ago
      It could of course start sending a countdown to your email a month before going off.
  - developer1 11y ago
    You also have to be sure the machine you're hosting this on won't be taken down if you really die and aren't around to manage/pay for it anymore. Server in your closet? The plug will be pulled long before 6 months pass after you're gone. Server in a data center? You can't be paying for that monthly, as chances are your credit card will be cancelled and your machine will be shut down for non-payment before your 6 month deadline. Also, hardware failure makes it a possibility that your server will not survive 6 months uptime anyway. Basically, dead man's switch is not even remotely guaranteed to work.
    - SapphireSun 11y ago
      Just put that server payment in your will and tell your executor to not reveal its existence. Alternatively, pay on an annual basis.
hobarrera 11y ago
> Write a dead man's switch script. You just have to remind it you're not dead once a month for example. I've been meaning to do this for years. Having it trigger when I log onto my desktop/laptop is ideal (with some additional option in case I'm hospitalized, like mobile phone trigger too).

by batou 11y ago

paublyrne 11y ago

Better to set it for two months.

SapphireSun 11y ago
Why not six or a year? It'll be very hard to screw that up and you can Hari Seldon your friends and relatives.
- XorNot 11y ago
  Except if you forget when it fires. These sorts of things aren't done because doing them right is actually very very hard.
  - kiiski 11y ago
    It could of course start sending a countdown to your email a month before going off.
- developer1 11y ago
  You also have to be sure the machine you're hosting this on won't be taken down if you really die and aren't around to manage/pay for it anymore. Server in your closet? The plug will be pulled long before 6 months pass after you're gone. Server in a data center? You can't be paying for that monthly, as chances are your credit card will be cancelled and your machine will be shut down for non-payment before your 6 month deadline. Also, hardware failure makes it a possibility that your server will not survive 6 months uptime anyway. Basically, dead man's switch is not even remotely guaranteed to work.
  - SapphireSun 11y ago
    Just put that server payment in your will and tell your executor to not reveal its existence. Alternatively, pay on an annual basis.

hobarrera 11y ago

> Write a dead man's switch script. You just have to remind it you're not dead once a month for example. I've been meaning to do this for years. Having it trigger when I log onto my desktop/laptop is ideal (with some additional option in case I'm hospitalized, like mobile phone trigger too).