"Welcome. . .You've got death"

Monster.com founder Jeff Taylor launched Eons.com on Monday. This site, much like MySpace for the 50+ aged crowd, comes complete with an online obituary database that sends out alerts when someone you may know dies. The alert system can be set for a particular area of the country, or through pre-defined keywords such as company or school names. Future plans include a do-it-yourself funeral service. Current content includes interactive games to build brain strength, news on entertainment and hobbies for older people, and a personalized longevity calculatoras well as tips for longevity.

It also has a nationwide database of obituaries dating back to the 1930s to which people can add photos, comments and even videos. Taylor sees online obituaries as replacing the traditional death announcements in newspapers. Many people no longer live where they grew up, so the idea of a rich story about someone's life in a local newspaper is often lost. His idea is to fill that particular void,and give the estimated 77 million baby boomers greater input into their own funerals. This prompted Eons.com to look into a service where people could plan for their favorite songs to be played at their funeral and where friends and family can go afterward for food and drink.

Taylor, who is only 45 and quit Monster.com last year, said Eons.com's main focus was not death but celebrating turning the Big 5-0 and living the grandest life possible. The need for Eons.com was apparent as about 44 million of the 86 million Americans aged over 50 are online, but only a few use social networking sites. This is also a wealthy group, controlling about 67 percent of the nation's wealth and with plenty of time ahead. "We now live about 20 years longer than our grandparents," said Taylor. "These are people who want to spend money to save time rather then spend their time trying to save money."