Have you ever considered what it would be like to live forever? According to scientist Ray Kurzweil, you may get that chance. He believes that in 20 years, immortality is a realistic possibility, thanks to breakthroughs in nanotechnology.

In the meantime, however, it’s likely that your body will expire before you get that chance. But even though your body may be silenced, your presence won’t be gone. I’m not talking about philosophical implications of life and death – I’m talking about your social media profiles. And the government is more concerned about them than you probably are!

USA.Gov is Uncle Sam’s “official web portal” to provide “trusted, timely, valuable government information and services when and where you want them.” Last week, they alerted Americans to the fact that a social media will should be part of everyone’s estate planning package. It’s an interesting point – what does happen to all those photos and penny-for-your-thoughts missives that you’ve spent years creating on Facebook and Twitter? You may no longer have access to them when you enter the pearly gates but, if nothing is done about them, these pearls of posts will live forever.

The government advisory suggests that, much like a traditional will, you appoint a trusted friend or family member as your online executor. Then, once the Grim Reaper has terminated you, that person will be in charge of terminating your accounts. In order to accomplish this, you’ll need to take the following steps:

1. Create a document that lists all your user names and passwords

2. Provide directions as to how you’d like things handled

3. Make provisions for your social media executor to receive a copy of your death certificate

Some sites already have provisions for your account after your demise (whether timely or untimely). Facebook and Twitter will allow a friend or relative to remove your account if they have your death certificate. But Google doesn’t always allow access to a deceased person’s account. It’s important to check each site you belong to before you make your online will, so your language will be in accordance with their policies.

Another choice for you is to use an online service like Legacy Locker or Entrustet to handle it for you – for a fee, of course.

I don’t think I can wait for Kurzweil’s predictions to come true. And it’s likely that I’ll be quickly forgotten after I take my last breath. By not creating a social media will, however, I can guarantee that I will achieve immortality … if not in body, well, at least online.

Barbara Eisner Bayer has been writing about personal finance for the past 17 years. She was a columnist at the Motley Fool and Mortgageloan.com, and has written about financial matters for The National Association of Realtors, Morgan Stanley, Merrill Lynch, Schwab, and Prudential, to name a few. She has also been the Managing Editor at a variety of financial websites, and has worked with financial planners and estate planning attorneys to develop books and newsletters. When she doesn’t have her nose sticking into the financial news, she’s a professional singer and a passionate, but amateur, tennis player.  She hopes that all her financial endeavors will one day earn her the ability to realize her true aspiration – tennis bum!

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The Supreme Court’s strip search decision is yet another of its chipping away at our individual liberties -- when was that conservative? .

With assists from Charlie Munger and Bridgewater’s Ray Dalio, Morgan Housel of The Motley Fool explains why the Fed’s future unwinding is inevitable, and why they need to walk on a high wire without falling to get it right. .

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The foremost historian of post-World War II American markets and portfolio manager John Hussman explains the overwhelming odds in favor of a large drop within months.

Minyanville’s Leo Isaak repeats many of the familiar arguments against a natural gas turnaround—but is fresh in his recommendations for stock trades to take advantage. Read here.

Economist John Maynard Keynes said -- and CGI paraphrases -- that the market may remain irrational longer than you can remain solvent. Man, oh, man -- or dude, oh, dude, or bro, oh…whatever -- that’s natural gas. The explosion -- not literally, thankfully -- of so-called unconventional shale gas exploration and production in multiplying plays (see chart below), was first thought to benefit all these companies no one had heard of. Now, however, it has produced such a supply overwhelming demand that, at this moment, the spot price is circa $2.50/mmbtu, closing in on the $2 average for years when it was government regulated.

In fact, with the rest of the world’s major players paying high prices for shale gas acreage, U.S. producers, in some cases, are real estate companies rather than gas producers. Kinda.

Rational people say that the principles of Economics 101 have not been repealed and, eventually, price signaling will lead some to stop producing at a loss -- those, that is, who can switch from more expensive fuels to the cheaper natural gas. Then, pricing can come back to rationality, and both affordability for the consumer and profitability for the producer will occur. What about the hedges at higher prices -- hedges that keep some companies from death and destruction? They are rolling off. But then, they have been.

All of this could take a very long time.

CGI won’t solve this issue today, no doubt. Rather, from time to time, given that we are both capricious and busy, we’ll note the progress of indicators here and there. Experts already know this stuff. But most of you -- and us -- need someone to distill it for us. We will attempt not to distill moonshine.

Shale gas, shale gas, everywhere

First, the problem. Shale gas, shale gas, everywhere, courtesy of the Energy Information Administration:

Whole lotta shale gas shakin' goin' on.

Prices plummet chart

Is today’s dip below $3/mmbtu simply both shale gas oversupply and recession-reduced demand, bound to return to balance, or is this something longer term -- what we, in investing land, call secular?

We don’t know. The natural gas drilling rig count is substantially down year over year, according to BakerHughes, but it’s not clear where the remaining rigs are going. Could it be to cheap natural gas? Or more lucrative wet gas -- still plenty of natural gas, but also gas with liquids such as propane? That would keep supply too high for better pricing.

Price hikes could come from exporting natural gas as liquefied natural gas to countries that pay $11/mmbtu (this won’t happen for at least several years); growing the number of compressed natural gas-fuelled vehicles (see city buses, Utah, and T. Boone Pickens); or conversion of coal or oil-fired plants to natural gas. (We have absolutely no idea how substitution works here economically, but we do know that, sooner or later, hedges roll off and prices actually work and companies invest in stuff that is cheaper).

But when? And can the low-cost producers, the Contango Oil & Gas (NYSE: MCF) and Ultra Petroleum (NYSE: UPL) and others of our nation, survive?

More capriciously, but soon.