MetaFilter posts tagged with usps

Neither Snow Nor Rain Nor Heat Nor Gloom of Night--But Maybe Gmail

saulgoodman — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 09:57:51 -0800

You'll have to pry this mailbox from our cold, dead hands. At a time when a disgruntled few are turning up at town hall meetings around the country with assault rifles to defend America from the potential threat of health care reform bringing "socialism" to our doorstep, at least one small town in Maine seems to be saying, "Free markets be damned! We want access to our favorite government service whether it makes economic sense or not."

Make your own joke about irrelevant things lingering on past their prime...

1f2frfbf — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 10:32:23 -0800

The US Postal Service announces a series of Simpsons stamps to be released on May 7. Includes additional marketing, polling, contests and general postal info here.

The Future of Snail Mail

Secret Life of Gravy — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 07:41:41 -0800

Shrinking the United States Postal Service: What happens to Netflix? The second largest employer in the United States, the USPS ran up a $2.8 billion budget deficit last year, even after such cost-cutting moves such as quietly removing foreign mail from registered mail status. The Chairman of the Postal Regulatory Commission believes cutting service to 5 days a week could save $1.9 billion, with Tuesday-- the lightest day-- being the most likely choice. Change is nothing new to the USPS, but up until now it has been a history of expansion: In article one of the US Constitution, congress was given the power "To establish Post Offices and post Roads." 1775. Benjamin Franklin became the first Postmaster General. 1831. The Post Office had more post masters than soldiers. 1863. Delivery expands beyond post office to post office. City dwellers may now receive mail at their homes. 1869. Railway Mail Service is inaugurated and by 1930 mail is carried by more than 10,000 trains. 1896. Rural Free Delivery becomes an official service, uniting the entire country. 1912. Parcel Post is authorized, allowing for delivery of packages of more than 4 pounds. 1971. President Nixon signs the bill making the the Post Office Department into the Postal Service, which among other things removes the Post Master General from the line of Presidential Succession, and turns the USPS into an independent agency like the CIA and NASA.

Direct Postage

divabat — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 02:29:15 -0800

What happens if you post a letter using coins instead of stamps?

Only in Brooklyn.

paulinsanjuan — Wed, 16 May 2007 14:08:14 -0800

No rest stop? Try latex. From consumerist.com, a tale of... what can i say? Just a funny story. With pictures.

Neither snow nor rain nor too-hot sand

occhiblu — Wed, 14 Mar 2007 11:40:16 -0800

Florida's Barefoot Mailmen traveled 68-mile routes between Palm Beach and Miami in the late 1800s. Walking 40 miles (barefoot) and rowing 28 miles over the course of three days each way, these letter carriers brought efficiency to a postal route that previously required that "a letter from Palm Beach to Miami begin its trip at the lighthouse community of Jupiter, 22 miles north, then by an Indian River steamboat to the rail head at Titusville. By train it continued to New York's port and from there by steamer to Havana. From Cuba, a trading schooner took the letter to Miami. It took a voyage of 3,000 miles and a period of six weeks to two months for a letter to arrive in Miami." Ed Hamilton, who disappeared in the course of duty (and whose mysterious death may have been engineered by moving his rowboat out of reach in alligator-infested waters), is honored with a bronze statue in Hillsboro Beach.

I wanna lick John Lennon!

mannythedog — Fri, 26 Jan 2007 11:01:18 -0800

How come we can't get these? On Feb 9th there are two sets of Beatles stamps being released in the UK. Jealous? I am.

Numbers Give Me A Geek Woody

fenriq — Fri, 15 Dec 2006 11:44:51 -0800

US Census Bureau Facts & Figures: Holiday Edition says that more than 20 billion letters, packages and cards will be delivered this holiday season and 12 million packages a day through to Christmas Eve. Also check out the Special Edition for comparison data from 1915, 1967 and 2006, the African-American History Month Facts & Features and more data going back to 2000.

Zoom zoom zoom goes the mail

twsf — Sat, 11 Mar 2006 23:18:56 -0800

So how DO those discs go back and forth? We all love Netflix and LaLa, but doesn't it seem just a little bit amazing that those little silver discs go back and forth quickly and safely? How about a shout out to our friends at the USPS and their nifty machines that make it all happen? Scroll down toward the bottom of the page for a few short movie clips of the machinery in action.

Stamping Out Free Email

digaman — Sat, 04 Feb 2006 11:18:51 -0800

When you really, really want your email to arrive at its destination: now you gotta pay postage. Another brilliant, forward-looking idea for monetizing-the-Internet^TM from the wizards at AOL and Yahoo.

Go Postal

cmicali — Fri, 02 Apr 2004 08:53:03 -0800

Portable Zip Codes "Every year millions of Americans are on the go: People who must relocate for work or other reasons. Those people may have been quite attached to their original homes or an adopted town or city of residence. For them this innovative measure will serve as an umbilical cord to the place they love best."

Where do I lick the barcode?

Irontom — Wed, 13 Aug 2003 10:17:32 -0800

Postal ID Plan A government report urges the U.S. Postal Service to create "smart stamps" to track the identity of people who send mail. [more inside]

Terabytes by mail--Interview with Jim Gray

mooncrow — Fri, 11 Jul 2003 06:41:03 -0800

Interview with Jim Gray, head of Microsoft's Bay Area Research Center. "Clear your schedule, because once you've started reading this interview, you won't be able to put it down until you've finished it. Who would ever, in this time of the greatest interconnectivity in human history, go back to shipping bytes around via snail mail as a preferred means of data transfer? (Really, just what type of throughput does the USPS offer?) Jim Gray would do it, that's who. And we're not just talking about Zip disks, no sir; we're talking about shipping entire hard drives, or even complete computer systems, packed full of disks."

Damn you mail tub theives!!

gwong — Tue, 10 Dec 2002 10:40:22 -0800

So that's why the economy is so bad. The USPS is looking for $65 million dollars worth of white mail postal tubs. If you work in an office or deal with a mailroom, you know exactly what I'm talking about. The penalty for not coughing them up? 3 years imprisonment and a $1000 fine. (I read it on the side of one of the boxes I have by my desk).

betobeto — Tue, 16 Oct 2001 21:57:15 -0800

USPS advice on the Anthrax treat. You've read through the hype. Now read about what you really must know.

mudbug — Fri, 27 Jul 2001 10:33:40 -0800

Staten Island postal people prevent posting of posterior postcards. Um, I mean, they wouldn't allow postcards of guys' butts to be sent. The cards were advertising short films to be shown at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. (NYT. Login: imaguest; password: imaguest)

crunchland — Thu, 17 May 2001 06:55:57 -0800

YES! You can help save the US Postal Service! With the USPS raising rates every month, it seems, and continuing to run with a $2 billion deficit, it's beginning to look like this quasi-public agency is going to lose the battle to those other overnight delivery companies. But since there are some people who can't afford the luxury of email or the high prices of FedEx, there must be something the common man can do to help keep Ben Franklin's baby afloat. There is! via Pigs & Fishes

MarkB — Tue, 03 Apr 2001 11:35:20 -0800

Post Office May End Saturday Delivery... One day I'll be may be able to tell my children, "When I was your age mail was delivered six days a week." My children will respond in awe.

samsara — Fri, 16 Mar 2001 09:36:25 -0800

By testing the limits of what the USPS will actually deliver, scientists at the Annals of Improbable Research (AIR) have answered an age-old question: "How patient is the US Postal Service when it comes to unwrapped packages?" (via Useless Pages)

ooklah — Wed, 10 Jan 2001 08:39:29 -0800

The U.S. Post office is a monopoly! or is it? USPS allows rate hike under protest...
We can't choose another vendor for this service. It is illegal for anyone to deliver to a mailbox other than the USPS. Has there ever been a substantial court case challenging this?
Should it be privatized? Your thoughts?