A friend of mine died (young -- early 30s) this year. For a while, until his computers were taken care of, he was still "online" through various IM services, which was creepy.
A certain IRC network has also, apparently, made an exception to its policy on expiring registered nicks -- nine months later, his is still registered and protected. Which is a nice gesture.
It reminded me of this Dinosaur Comic http://www.qwantz.com/index.php?comic=1490
Which cheered me up. Perhaps you're not really gone if you find a way to convince people that you are still alive?
A certain IRC network has also, apparently, made an exception to its policy on expiring registered nicks -- nine months later, his is still registered and protected. Which is a nice gesture.