[Zikes]

There's a short story of a woman who was a bit of a luddite, but late in life her children and grandchildren convinced her to adopt "upgrades" here and there, until she became almost entirely virtual. She retained much of her humanity, but was able to be in many places at once, "inhabiting" purpose-built bodies, and building up a certain reputation and popularity. Eventually humanity's probes make contact with aliens, and she's chosen to be humanity's ambassador.

I wish I could recall the name of that story, but it always painted a pleasant picture of immortality to me. Hopefully someone here recognizes it and can share it with us.

[moyix]

I believe that's "The Gentle Seduction", by Marc Stiegler: http://www.skyhunter.com/marcs/GentleSeduction.html

[Zikes]

That's the one! Thank you, I'll be sure to bookmark it this time.

[iwwr]

If you liked that one, you may also enjoy 'Accelerando' by Charlie Stross.

It's available for free at Stross' blog: http://www.antipope.org/charlie/blog-static/fiction/accelera...