Living forever

Science, science fiction, and dreamers continue to explore ways of living longer. I would say that my 97-year-old mother-in-law, who passed this summer, was proof of longevity. Even now she lives on, after a fashion. Today, she was summoned to jury duty. Her bank wants her to download a mobile banking app for the iPhone. She's also gotten a few proxies and ballots in the mail, so she can vote at corporate shareholder meetings.

OK, so it takes some time for computers to catch up with the realities of mortal lives.

Same goes for social networking sites. So far, I know of two deceased colleagues whose profiles continue to appear on LinkedIn. LI addresses the issue in its FAQs, but I feel funny about being the one to erase the last footprints of their digital lives.

Facebook takes another approach, memorializing deceased members by removing certain personal information and leaving the page accessible to confirmed friends through search. I'm not a Facebook member, so I don't know the details of this policy, but it can be anything from troubling to eerie to know that even "until death do us part" doesn't apply here. 

Twitter has yet another approach for its deceased-member policy, which requires an "interested party" to send in bits of information before it takes action.

CNET compares the Twitter and Facebook policies and comes to this appropriate conclusion: "...policies about a user's death can end up being just as important as those you agree to when you first sign up."

Apparently there's an element of social networking to be considered even in death.

Simply amazing, simply Wawa

I first knew Wawa as a convenience store, on par with 7-Eleven, but with a stranger name. It was a quick stopping point for coffee or snacks on my way to somewhere else. Now it has become a destination in its own right. Many businesses, even those beyond the service sector, would do themselves a favor by studying the Wawa model.

Wawa's core purpose is "To Simplify Our Customers' Daily Lives." And that's exactly what it does.

• Need a little caffeine pick-me-up? Wawa has dozens of fresh coffee pots to pour from, so you never have to wait for a fresh brew-- or someone else to pour.
• Concerned about the once-and-trash nature of disposable coffee cups? You can drink "green" with a refillable Wawa coffee mug that fits snugly in the console of your car.
• Lunch? Head to the touchscreens to place your order, and it's ready in minutes. Couldn't be easier.
  

What impresses me more than a specific service is the fact that Wawa gets it. It offers simple services quickly and in a smart way, with an interface -- like a touchscreen or coffee center -- that's easy and even enjoyable to use.

I know I'm not the only Wawa fan. There are 149,099 on Wawa's Facebook page. There's even a Facebook "Addicted to Wawa" group.

No, I don't work for Wawa. I just love being able to satisfy my everyday needs with one quick stop. And the gas prices are hard to beat.