Online death is common. A monster kills you during a game, you stop updating your Facebook page… But what if you die in real life? How will your internet friends know you have logged out of the world altogether?

– Those who spend ages playing games such as World of Warcraft or contributing to an internet community worry about this. One man from Ohio gave his son a USB key with details of all those he had to notify in the event of his death, including online groups.

– Websites have sprung up providing a similar service. One site, www.deathswitch.com, will automatically send e-mails to all your contacts if you don’t check in during a specified period.

– If that sounds macabre, there’s www.slightlymorbid.com. This also sends e-mails when a member dies, but only when a trusted friend uses a password to start the process. Either way, it’s nice to know all your contacts will be informed should you shut down permanently.