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Amazon And 7-Eleven In The US Want People To Pick Up Packages Whenever They Want

9:20AM September 7, 2011 | Adrian Covert

Amazon and 7-Eleven in the US are now teaming up to address the problem of waiting and missing packages in the form of a parcel locker. In fact, it sounds pretty similar to a concept that Australia Post is trialling in Brisbane. More »

News

The Post Office Is Dying Because We Don’t Need It Anymore

11:21PM September 6, 2011 | Casey Chan

The Post Office is going to die, so says the old pony express. They’re strapped for cash, probably defaulting on a $US5.5 billion payment due this month and will shut down entirely this (northern) winter unless Congress stabilises its finances. Sad. But we don’t really need it anymore. More »

News

Does Patent Mean Google Has Shipping Companies By The Balls?

2:18AM August 12, 2011 | Adrian Covert

Patents related to shipping logistics normally aren’t the concern of the public. But when Google receives a patent for electronic shipping notifications, one has to wonder what that means for online merchants, like Amazon, and major shipping companies, like UPS. More »

Geek Out

Get The Thoughtfulness Of Snail Mail With None Of The Effort

10:41AM July 20, 2011 | Kelly Hodgkins

Some folks can’t embrace this digital world. They cling to snail mail and painstakingly write letters that most netizens don’t have the attention span to read, never mind respond. Don’t ignore these dinosaurs, use Snail Mail My Email instead. More »

Geek Out

Who Ships Those 300 Million Holiday Packages, Visualised

2:00PM December 23, 2010 | Brian Barrett

It’s the most wonderful time of the year! Or least, if you’re in the parcel delivery business. But who exactly is doing the brunt of the shipping this holiday season? Here’s how it breaks down. More »

Online

Gmail Import Feature Mysteriously Disappears From Facebook

3:00AM November 22, 2010 | Jack Loftus

Both Facebook and Google are mum on Gmail’s Facebook vanishing act this weekend, but this much is clear: You will not be importing any Gmail friends to Facebook anytime soon. More »

Geek Out

The Man Who Mistook His Amazon Box For A Bomb

1:40PM November 16, 2010 | Brian Barrett

On November 2, a man called his local police department to report a suspicious package on his doorstep. The investigation yielded surprising results! Assuming you don’t know ahead of time that the man in question is a raging fool. More »

Miniature Kinetic Sculptures Are Coolest Snail Mail You Could Send

7:40AM October 15, 2010 | Kyle VanHemert

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Stamps and envelopes and mailboxes – I DON’T DO THAT. But these MechaniCards – a set of five intricate and mesmerising handcrafted mechanical sculptures you can send in the mail – are awesome enough to get me back standing in line for postage. More »

Online

Email Beats Snail Mail 81 To 1, And Most Of It Is Junk

3:40AM September 30, 2010 | Jesus Diaz

14.4 trillion emails vs 177 billion postal letters and packages. That’s the 2009 email vs snail mail score in the United States. A staggering 81 to 1 proportion. The bad: 81 per cent of email is spam vs 47 per cent of snail mail. More »

Geek Out

Imagine The US Postal Service Opened All Your Letters

11:40AM April 3, 2010 | Jesus Diaz

Think about it: US Postal Service employees actually opening and scanning all your letters, and then sending you emails with their content with the option to receive the physical letter if you choose to. Scarily unreal? Not if you’re Finnish. More »