The fear of dying suddenly, without the chance to mend wrongs or say goodbye, has prompted an Australian entrepreneur to start a Web site where people can contact loved ones from beyond the grave.
Peter Ingram, a security systems retailer, watched as within just two weeks of being diagnosed with a brain tumor an aunt lost her ability to speak, write, or even smile.
She was 100 percent conscious and able to understand what was happening around her, but remained silent until her death, taking her secrets, thanks and regrets to the grave.
“I’d known her for 20 years and to me that was devastating,” said Ingram.
Ingram recently launched Australia’s first virtual time-capsule site, FromBeyond2u.com, where the living can leave videos, photographs and documents to be sent out to loved ones after death.
For one dollar a week users can store their “cherished digital memories” and program farewell messages for the time of their death and on fixed dates such as birthdays or anniversaries into the future.
“It’s not a new concept, leaving things, letters for people, videos, messages, but the Internet has changed what we can do with it,” Ingram told AFP. “You can keep in touch today, tomorrow and beyond.”
Subscribers can write their own eulogy and create a multimedia tribute for use at their funeral, and bequeath their photo and video files.
Whilst living, they can use the site as a place to store and share their files with friends and family all over the world. A certificate with an activation code in the event of death is given to every user to be left with their will or next of kin.
Part social-networking hub, part memoir project, FromBeyond2u is one of just a handful of such sites worldwide, and its appeal lies in creating “everlasting love” for generations to come, Ingram says.
It could, of course, have less savoury applications, he said.
“I had a radio station ask me the other day ‘What if people leave nasty messages? Maybe I want to tell my mother-in-law for the next 10 years that I didn’t like her,’” Ingram said.
“I guess she can change her e-mail address if you keep on badgering her with e-mails, but that’s not what it’s about.”
People could also use the future messages service to posthumously speak to a mistress or spill their darkest secrets, knowing they wouldn’t have to deal with the consequences, he added.
“That’s none of my business, you can do whatever you want,” he laughed.
Ingram said he had already accumulated plenty of embarrassing footage of his “angelic” son on the site in preparation for his 21st birthday celebrations.
“This is you chucking a tantrum, this is you when you’re nine years old telling me you’ll always love me, even when you’re a teenager,” he joked.
“Hopefully at his 21st I will have 12 or 13 years of backed-up photos and memories and hopefully I’ll be there. But if I do kick the bucket they’ll all be there for him,” added Ingram.(AFP)
澳洲一位商人擔心突然死亡，沒有機會彌補錯誤或和人道別，因此成立了一個網站，讓人可以和所愛的人保持聯繫，超越死亡的羈絆。
保全系統零售商彼得．英格蘭姆，見到他被診斷出罹患腦瘤的姑姑在短短兩星期內，就失去了說話、寫字，甚至微笑的能力。
她的意識百分之百清醒，也了解身邊發生的事情，但直到去世 ，她都無法表達，只能把秘密、感謝和遺憾都帶進墳墓。
英格蘭姆說：「我認識她二十年了，那對我來說衝擊很大。」
英格蘭姆最近推出了澳洲第一個虛擬時間膠囊網站「FromBeyond2u.com」，讓人們可以在生前存放影片、照片和文件，等到死後再發送給所愛的人。
該網站讓用戶存放他們「珍貴的數位記憶」，還可設定臨終訊息，在生日或紀念日等特定日子寄送給親友，收費每週澳幣一元。
「留下物品、信件、影片或訊息給別人並不是一個新的概念，但網路改變了我們能利用它做的事，」英格蘭姆對法新社表示：「你能夠和他們保持聯繫，無論是今天、明天，或是更遠的未來。」
訂戶可自擬悼詞，製作喪禮上的多媒體悼念影片，並將他們的照片和影片檔遺贈給親友。
他們生前可以利用該網站存放檔案，並將其和全世界各地的親友分享。網站會把死亡啟用密碼證明書寄給用戶列入遺囑，或寄交直系血親。
英格蘭姆說，兼具社交網路中心和回憶錄功能的「FromBeyond2u」是全球少數類似網站之一，該網站主打創造世世代代「永恆的愛」。
他說，這裡當然不會有那麼吸引人的應用程式。
英格蘭姆說：「前幾天有一個廣播電台問我，『如果人們留下無禮的留言怎麼辦？也許未來十年我都想對我岳母說，我根本不喜歡她。』」
「我想如果她一直收到你的騷擾電子郵件，或許可以換個電子信箱，但這並非這個網站創立的原意。」
他補充說，人們也可以利用這個未來信息服務，在死後留言給情婦或洩漏他們最黑暗的秘密，反正他們不用面對後果。
他笑著說：「這我也管不著，你可以做任何你想做的事」
英格蘭姆說，他已在該網站上累積了許多會令他那「天使」般的兒子感到尷尬的影片，準備做為他二十一歲生日的賀禮。
他開玩笑地說：「這是你小時候亂發脾氣抓狂的樣子，這是你九歲時告訴我你會一輩子愛我，就算到了叛逆期也一樣的畫面。」
英格蘭姆還說：「希望他二十一歲時，我已經把這十二三年的照片和回憶整理存檔好，希望我那時候還在。但如果我死亡了，東西也都準備好了。」 （法新社╱翻譯：袁星塵）
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