Technabob » mail

Snail Mail My Email: Send Email the Old Fashioned Way, or You Could Just Get a Pen and Write a Letter

Range — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 14:53:11 +0000

There have been a few different attempts at sending email via good old snail mail, but this is the first that looks promising to me. Snail Mail My Email sounds like an interesting service, and the big difference from other services is that your email is actually handwritten before being sent off.

I can already see this service being quite useful, especially if some of your family have computer troubles or don’t like using email. They’ll be surprised to get this handwritten note from you.

I can already see many grandmas getting those letters and being quite happy about it. If it could be partially automated, send them an email, and the letter is printed, put in an envelope and posted, that could also be very handy.

The service works off the generosity of volunteers, and the first round of e-mail to snail mail requests have already reached capacity. They plan on accepting more writing volunteers in future, but can still use help to coordinate other groups of volunteers. You can check with them here to see if they still need any more assistance.

Space Invaders Mailbox Delivers First-Class Aliens

Technabob — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 03:46:09 +0000

It’s been a little while since we featured any Space Invaders around here. So here goes nothing… Space… Invaders… Mailbox…

This special delivery comes to us courtesy of Nimcraft. While Nim thinks the mailbox invaders are “un-perfectly painted”, I don’t care. It’s way cooler than any of the mailboxes in my neighborhood.

[via Wonderland]

Computer Mailboxes Receive Snail Mail, Not E-Mail

Lambert Varias — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 11:26:34 +0000

Even though we already have e-mail, I think it will still take some time before we abandon snail mails. In the mean time, why don’t we give our plain old mailboxes a (fake) hardware upgrade? Here are a couple of ideas to get you started. I know we can do a lot better, because these are some ugly-ass prototypes.

This is the appropriately named Computer Mailbox , from Morgan Home Accents:

This 13″ x 12″ x 28″ case is not really the mailbox itself; the metal mailbox is accessible via the door on the monitor screen. Made of “heavy duty pine”, the computer mailbox is has lots of room for printing or sticking stuff on it, so you can put your business logo or your dog’s face or your family crest on it. You can order your very own Computer Mailbox at Morgan Home Accent’s online store for $230 plus shipping. These fake PCs are expensive.

But what of Apple loyalists? They need ugly mailboxes too. I don’t know if anyone’s selling iMailboxes, but someone with initiative and an old G4 case went and made one for herself/himself:

As of now computer mailboxes come form an opposite universe, where Apple-branded ones are infinitely cheaper than other computer mailboxes. Sure, they’re both ugly, but at least the other person didn’t pay for his ugly G4 mailbox.

So get your creative juices flowing and build your own computer mailbox. You never know, maybe you’ll be the next Etsy superstar. If there is such a title.

[via Nerd Approved and Geekologie]

E-Mail Goes Low Tech

Technabob — Sat, 12 Apr 2008 01:46:29 +0000

Working in the online biz, I just can’t seem to get away from e-mail. All day and all night, the messages flow. I get hundreds each and every day (and that’s before the spam). I can only imagine how big that stack of would be if the messages were written on good old paper.

Now you too can put down your laptops, Blackberries and iPhones and go old school with these fun paper e-mail pads. Simply fill in your To:, Date:, Time: and Subject: fields to get your message started. When you’re ready to send it along, simply fold it into a paper airplane and throw it across the office to your intended target. Got lots of recipients? Just fill in the CC: or BCC: fields, then lather, rinse and repeat.

Each pad comes with 50 sheets, and will set you back $3.99 — or about 8 cents per e-mail — such a deal. Available now from ThinkGeek.

Gps Goes Postal: Could Help Solve Usps Delivery Woes

Technabob — Sat, 24 Nov 2007 15:37:55 +0000

This new device was commissioned by the United States Postal Service in order to hunt down some of the inefficiencies in their mail delivery process. Developed by California’s TrackingTheWorld, the gadget is slipped inside of a letter, and tracks the precise journey of an individual piece of mail.

The LetterLogger is small enough to be concealed inside of a standard #10 business envelope, yet contains sophisticated GPS and motion-sensing technology which can record every movement along the letter’s travels. Not only can it record the precise position and timing of each location, but its motion sensors can detect the amount of time when the letter is sitting still, which could help ferret out wasted time during the delivery process.

They should slap one of these directly on every mail carrier too. I wouldn’t be surprised to see some delays at the neighborhood bar, donut shop and strip club.

[via Engadget via NaviGadget]

Mail Delivered by Actual Snails

Technabob — Wed, 11 Oct 2006 23:47:04 +0000

Real Snail Mail is an art and technology project being conducted by the technological artists collective of Boredom Research.

The project has real snails delivering electronic messages via tiny RFID tags attached to their shells. The messages are delivered literally “at a snails pace.” to their destinations. At the Real Snail Mail website you can send your own message to be queued up for snail delivery. It sits in the queue until a snail comes close to an RFID hotspot. The reader checks the snail’s RFID to decide whether or not it already has a message to deliver. If not, the snail is assigned the next message from the queue. All the way at the other end of the snail pond, there’s another RFID hotspot which delivers messages if and when the snails ever get there.

The installation is on display until October 21st in London at Space Studios along with several other RFID art exhibits.

[via wemakemoneynotart]