stamps
Latest
UK honors 'Tomb Raider', 'Worms' and other classics with retro postage stamps
The UK's video game legacy is being honored with a new set of commemorative stamps from the Royal Mail. The collection, which will set you back £14.25 (nearly $19), features iconic designs from the likes of Wipeout, Lemmings, Micro Machines, Worms and, of course, Tomb Raider.
USPS solar eclipse stamps use body heat to reveal the moon
The United States Postal Service is no stranger to letting its nerd flag fly with special edition stamps. The latest in its space series is a little different, though. Rather than just showing off celestial bodies or NASA spacecraft, the new stamps are a tribute to the upcoming total solar eclipse that should occur August 21st. Press your finger to the stamp and your body heat will transform its black circle centerpiece into an image of our moon. Once the heat dies down, the stamp image goes back to black. While it's not as elaborate as you might think, this is something that's sure to make philatelics smile.
USPS debuts stamps with New Horizons' view of Pluto
To honor NASA's discoveries, the USPS is debuting new stamps today with images from outer space. The "Views of Our Planets" series will get new images of Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and the iconic "blue marble" view of Earth. Thanks to the New Horizons mission to Pluto, there's a special set of two stamps with a snapshot from July's flyby and the spacecraft itself. The eight new planet stamps are available at post offices and online, but the Pluto stamps will be sold only on the web. If you're looking to add a few to your collection, the entire set is available starting today.
USPS' 2016 stamps celebrate Pluto's exploration
The US Postal Service now has an answer to its 1991 "Not Yet Explored" Pluto stamp, the same one the New Horizons team affixed to their probe before it started its journey to the dwarf planet. These new stamps for 2016 feature an artist render of the history-making spacecraft, as well as the most popular image it took of Pluto. The composite photo, which clearly shows Pluto's heart-shaped region, was captured by the probe's Long Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI) during its closest approach.
US Postal Service plans a Steve Jobs commemorative stamp in 2015
Soon you'll be able to celebrate the life of tech icon Steve Jobs in a new analog way: by sending snail mail. The U.S. Postal Service has approved a commemorative stamp honoring the Apple co-founder to be printed as part of a collectible series next year. Stamp subjects are traditionally kept a secret until just before printing to raise public demand, however, The Washington Post outed a list of upcoming mailbox-honorees Thursday. Other influencers set to be commemorated on your utility bills include Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, "Favorite Desserts," and Barrack Obama (potentially part of an artistic misspelled presidents series?). If you can't handle waiting to see what will show up in your mailbox, hit the source link for three years of salacious details. [Engadget Composite. Image Source: Wikimedia / Matthew Yohe]
Line messaging app doubles size in seven months, has 300 million users
The public's adoration of stickers and kawaii mascots continues unabated. There are now 300 million Line users out there, possibly making it the biggest messaging app you've never used. While it still has a challenge on its hands to claw away users from Western favorites like Whatsapp and Facebook, the conventional wisdom is that messaging is very much big business. Line continues to grow its following in Asia and while Japan forms the base of operations for the app, overseas messaging accounts for roughly 80 percent of its business. We're off to score some new Dragon Quest stickers. Or maybe some Finding Nemo ones. So many 'stamps', so little time.
Skitch 2.5 for Mac and iOS lets you mark up PDFs with notes and stamps
Evernote released a substantial Skitch 2.5 update for both OS X and iOS today, which makes the four-month wait since the last Mac update seem worthwhile. The new features are primarily geared toward adding feedback and notes to PDFs, and Evernote Premium members get two of the best ones: PDF Annotation and Skitch Summary. As the name suggests, the former lets you mark up PDFs with text, arrows, shapes and highlighter tools, while the latter collates all the added notes into a single "summary" so users can get a visual overview of what's changed. %Gallery-186024% Other non-premium updates include a new Stamps tool that'll let you mark a document with symbols to indicate approval, disapproval, a question mark, an exclamation point and (of course) a heart. You can also add notes to those symbols to flesh your opinion out a little more. What about filling out those pesky PDF forms? Skitch is bundling a plain text notation mode just for that, too. Last but not least, there's a handy Tool Tip to guide users through all the new features. Those on the Apple side of things can download the new Skitch straightaway, but as there's no word on when Windows and Android users will get the update, they'll have to content themselves with staring at the screenshots above and below for now.%Gallery-186025%
Sonic the Hedgehog honored with Belgian stamps, Japanese guitar
Sonic the Hedgehog is more than just a blue creature who runs quickly. He's a mascot, a hero, an inspiration to many ... and now, in honor of the 20th anniversary of his first game, he's a guitar. The Japanese branch of guitar company ESP has partnered with Sega to make a limited edition Sonic electric guitar designed to look like Sega musician Jun Senoue's. It features the hedgehog's smirking face on the body, and his shoe on the headstock. It'll be available through the end of the year for ¥136,500 ($1782). After the break, Senoue demonstrates with a little Sonic music. You can find more of his playing at the ESP site. If you're looking for a much, much cheaper collectible, the Belgian Post is launching a series of Sonic stamps on August 29. [Thanks, Jake.]
Swedes to start text message-based postage system, girl with dragon tattoo reportedly pleased
The Swedish Postal Service has announced that it will soon replace traditional postage stamps with a text message-based system. The system will work pretty simply -- customers will send a text message to a particular number, and a special code will be texted back to them which they can then write on the letter. A spokesperson for Posten AB, the Swedish Postal Service, says the system will work for packages weighing up to two kilograms, and that it will be just as secure as traditional postage. That's all well and good, but how will they adorn their letters with famous Swedish crime writers?
Digital TV switch facing hurdle over...postage stamps?
We expected some potential issues concerning the analog TV shutoff next year, but even we (and apparently the Commerce Department) could not have predicted they'd run low on stamps necessary to send out $40 discount coupons for digital television converters. Apparently nearly 60% of the coupons sent out expired before they were actually used -- maybe people are waiting to see which digital converter to buy -- resulting in n unexpected number of new mailings. Funds from the unused coupons goes back to the program and will still be available for more requests, however the budgeted administrative funds to actually mail the things is limited, and may need to be expanded. According to Reuters, the NTIA should have a clearer picture after July 1, but this could cause some issues for those still waiting to request the discount.
Postal Service to Netflix: redesign your mailers or face fees
You know those handy mailers that you've been sending back to Netflix for ages as you eagerly await the next few flicks in your queue? Apparently, those buggers have cost the US Postal Service a staggering $41.9 million in additional labor costs over the past two years due to their "nonmachinable nature," and if things aren't changed, it could cost 'em another $61.5 million over the next couple years. In a letter from the Inspector General's office, Netflix is being, um, asked to rework its mailers or face a $0.17 surcharge per envelope, and if such a fee was tacked on, it would reportedly decrease the outfit's monthly operating income per paying subscriber by a whopping 67-percent. Not surprisingly, it sounds as if Netflix will bite the bullet and redesign the problematic mailer if the USPS is serious about the charges, so feel free to keep an eye out for a design change in the not-too-distant future.[Via TechDirt, image courtesy of ABC]Read - Netflix may see mail surchargeRead - Inspector General's letter [PDF]
The Yakult Swallows have gotta catch 'em all
And by 'em, we mean children. Kids visiting Yakult Swallows baseball games this summer are in for a happy surprise-- or they're going to game specifically for these giveaways. The team is collaborating with the Pokemon Company to give away some stamp cards and stickers.To promote the Dialga vs. Palkia vs. Darkrai movie, elementary school students who go to Swallows games starting on the 14th will receive a stamp card, which gets a new Pokemon-shaped stamp at every game. Depending on how many stamps are received, the kids are awarded one of three sticker sheets of increasing deluxeness.
Thank you Mario! But our postage is in another country!
The Japanese Postal Service released a set of Mario stamps last year in a nice collectible binder. Somehow, NCSX has gotten a small shipment of these stamps, which carry a postage value of 80 yen ($0.66) each. The markup for this set ($105) is pretty severe, but if you are a desperate Mario collector, this is one of the coolest things you could have. They have fewer than 50, and of course we just publicized the item, so go go go buy buy buy.We want the US Postal Service to get in on the act. We're afraid that there's a short moment before opening mail from us that someone might not be able to determine that we're huge nerds.
Have Mario send your mail (via stamps from Japan)
Sure, old Mario has been known to paint, play professional sports, and even do some actual plumbing work on occasion, but he'll soon be able to power your mail through the postal service in the Far East.10-stamp sheets of 80 Yen stamps are now available for pre-order in Japan, where gaming otakus will soon be able to adorn their snail mail with the likes of goombas, magic mushrooms, and mustachioed men. The set will be out next month.Has the government of a country like the US ever done anything this official to honor one of the icons of gaming? Perhaps when we have avid gaming advocates in Congress -- or even, dare we say, in the White House -- things will look a little different with game legislation proposals and the postage of unwanted junk mail.[Via GameBrink]See also: French stamps to feature video game icons (Super) Mario Bros. question mark and POW block speakers
Personalized PhotoStamps for Tiger from Stamps.com
I like being able to print out my own stamps on my computer, mainly because I never remember to buy stamps until two days after I need them, all my bills are late, and the collection agent has started calling*.
