Evil Mad Scientist Laboratories’ Great Internet Migratory Box of Electronics Junk is a fascinating project in which a progressive lending library of electronic components becomes an internet meme in physical form halfway between P2P zip-archive sharing and a flea market.
Recipients of the box must:
Take out and add as much electronics junk as you like (but keep it small enough to fit in a USPS flat-rate Priority Mail box).
Write up, photograph, document or otherwise publish in some way online at least one thing you took out (suggested flickr tag: TGIMBOEJ).
There is a little book in the box. Add a checkmark by your name to show that the box has been to you. Also propose a future recipient by adding their name and e-mail address to the book.
Within two weeks pass the box along to one of the people whose name is in the book. Before mailing it to them, send them this list and make sure that they want to participate.
The goal is not necessarily to get anything of value from the box, but instead, to appreciate the box’s journey, and find some way to contribute to the overall story that the box represents.
Mark of the Eagle is a series of webisodes sponsored by the USPS (Yes, you read that correctly; not the brown guys, but the United States Post Office) that emphasize the fact that they deliver…no matter what.
In the first episode, “a letter carrier discovers powerful forces lurking around the cubicles of an ordinary office building, he must find it in himself to overcome these forces and deliver… no matter what”:
There are three more episodes if you like what you see, and if you watch them on MarkOfTheEagle.com, you can even watch them in a widescreen YouTube player that I’ve never seen before, so check it out, and see what the mark is all about.
You handwrite an address on an envelope and attach a stamp to the outside, and a few days later your letter arrives exactly where it’s supposed to be.
So how does the USPS manage to handle 703 million pieces of mail per day?
Good Magazine has put together an impressive graphic representation of a comparison between FedEx, UPS, DHL and the USPS, and the numbers are staggering:
700,000 employees, $73 billion revenue, 37,000 post offices, and 216,000 vehicles, all to deliver you your bills, Netflix, and credit card offers.
Ever wonder what the limits are on the types of things you can get to someone else via the United States Postal Service? Improbable Research decided to find out by conducting some experimental testing and sending a variety of unpackaged items to U.S. destinations, appropriately stamped for weight and size. The results are pretty amazing, and I must say I’m impressed with the USPS.
