funeral

Japanese turning to robotic crypts, virtual grave visits

Japan is a crowded, cramped country dominated by mountains. There isn't much space for its 127 million living people -- or the dead.

Though the government is pulling out all the stops to battle deflationary prices, land remains very expensive. That goes for cemeteries too. Even though the vast majority of deceased are cremated and buried in urns, plots in Tokyo can still cost a small fortune.

At the same time, visiting the grave sites of loved ones remains an important tradition. Some Japanese have turned to multistory buildings for cheaper final resting places. These high-rise graveyards in urban centers house the ashes of the dead, and often feature memorial cubbyholes where relatives can offer prayers. … Read more

The 404 1,157: Where we live in a van down by the river (podcast)

Leaked from today's 404 episode:

- Anthropologist says Apple is definitely a religion.

- Google brings Street View to the Grand Canyon.

- Apple now owns the trademark to The Beatles' Apple Corps Logo.

- What I learned while live-tweeting a friend's funeral.

Video voice mail: Mossimo has a positive update on a previous video voice mail.… Read more

Steve Jobs funeral will reportedly be held today

The private funeral for Apple co-founder Steve Jobs is taking place today, The Wall Street Journal reports.

The iconic Apple co-founder died on Wednesday at the age of 56.

An Apple representative told the news outlet that no public memorial is planned for Jobs. In announcing the news to employees on Wednesday, Apple Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook said the company would be holding a "celebration" of Jobs' life for the company's employees, allowing them and the public to send in thoughts, memories, and condolences.

Questions around the timing for such a funeral service arose earlier today … Read more

Church leader tweets picket of Jobs' funeral--via iPhone

Sadness seems like an all-encompassing emotion.

Yet today some might learn that it is possible for another emotion to creep in and steal some of sadness's power without even trying too hard. Disgust, for example.

I am grateful (at least in one sense) to the Washington Post for crawling past my teeth and informing me that the Westboro Baptist Church is organizing a picket of Steve Jobs' funeral.

You might be familiar with this church. It is the same Kansas-based band of intellectuals which protests at the funerals of American soldiers. Because, well, the Church is privileged with the … Read more

Requiem for a Clunker: The Funeral

Dearly beloved and friends, today we lay to rest a possibly usable and/or drivable motor vehicle that has been judged a "clunker" by the government-sponsored CARS program and by its previous owner. This undesirable automobile has been sentenced to death via lethal injection that has disabled many a clunker's engine under the recently- imposed CARS legislation (see my blog from yesterday for more on that). Now that this damned vehicle lives no more, its carcass will be crushed and piled up in a junkyard by the undertaker operating the forklift of death.

Buzz Out Loud 854: Death to the Moon

We thought about calling this podcast graves in space, or delicious Yak, or Jason makes the earth move. But soup_n_salad in the chat room nailed it. A new company wants to send 5,000 capsules full of cremated remains to the moon for burial. Natali and Jason think this is littering, essentially. I think they gotta go somewhere and the Moon has space. We also talk about the new Asus phone, Flash on Windows mobile, and more. Listen now: Download today's podcast EPISODE 854

Obama can’t use his BlackBerry http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/16/us/politics/16blackberry.html… Read more

Put the fun in funeral

Who says you can't take your toys with you? With Creative Coffins, you can choose to be buried in a coffin using a stock design--including flags, nature scenes, and sports--or you can customize one to fit your personality.

According to Creative Coffins' Web site, you can use any design you like, but some company names and logos are subject to copyright and can be used only with permission (I guess you can't escape copyright issues even in death).

According to the U.K. company, each cartonboard coffin weighs less than 22 pounds and is made from at least … Read more

The 404 144: Where we just got Rickrolled, f'real

It's not easy doing a show after a trench-coated troubadour walks in wearing a pair of sunglasses, and starts to sing "Never Gonna Give You Up" by Rick Astley. A singing telegram... That's right, folks, we got a live Rickroll! Wow, it's pretty hard to follow that up with an equally funny and disturbing show, but we try our hardest, 'cause hey! It's Friday. On today's episode, we exonerate Andy Dick for his underage groping, analyze some strange statistics, and Jeff tells us about his favorite thing to do on a sunny Saturday … Read more

Lost loved ones remembered online

G. Scott Mindrum considers himself lucky. He says that rarely do CEOs have the opportunity to interact with their products in a highly personal and emotional way.

On May 12, 2007, Mindrum's father, Gordon Mindrum, died at the age of 87. The younger Mindrum knew exactly what to do to memorialize his father, a World War II veteran and a doctor that specialized in treating addiction.

He posted to the Web a photo slide show that illustrated his Dad's life story.

The younger Mindrum is founder and CEO of Making Everlasting Memories a company trying to leverage the … Read more