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May 23, 2012 Ex-CIA spy in Iran's Revolutionary Guard: Baghdad talks highlight Western naivete Putin's latest defiance shows Obama's whisper didn't work Tony Pugh: More private colleges offering tuition discounts Lisa Gerstner: 4 Money-Etiquette Questions Answered Mary Beth Franklin: How to Choose the Right Annuity for You Art Markman, Ph.D.: Get smart: How to bulk up your creativity muscles Israeli scientists use skin cells to help repair heart muscle Tina Susman: The wig wasn't enough: Man gets 13 years for posing as his dead mom The Kosher Gourmet by Emma Christensen:A simple way to do fish right May 22, 2012 David S. Cloud and Kathleen Hennessey: Obama changes mind on Pakistan invite to NATO summit --- and then gets dissed by country's president US Senate approves new sanctions against Iran ahead of Baghdad talks Warren Richey: Can US group challenge overseas surveillance act? Supreme Court to decide Supreme Court: Twins can't claim dead dad's benefits Thomas M. Anderson: Walking Away From a Mortgage Environmental Nutrition editors: The lowdown on a low-acid diet Pomegranate juice maker used deceptive ads, FTC judge rules Relatives outraged over spoof on Hamas chief's killing The Kosher Gourmet by Megan Gordon: Enjoy a celebration of the most rich and layered flavors: Black bean, sweet potato and quinoa chili May 21, 2012 Mark Clayton: Cybersecurity: How US utilities passed up chance to protect their networks Howard LaFranchi: NATO summit: Who will foot the bill for long-term Afghanistan security? Chris Farrell : Earn Dividends in Emerging Markets with This WisdomTree ETF James K. Glassman: 5 Stock Picks Among Online Retailers Stephen Whiteside, Ph.D. : Mayo Clinic Medical Edge: Social anxiety disorder --- or just shy? 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Barak will be no contest this time around Steven Goldberg: Blue Chip Stocks On Sale Worldwide Art Pine Slow Productivity Growth a Blessing --- For Now Sue Hubbard, M.D. : The Kid's Doctor: Are Kids Too Wired? Kerri-Ann Jennings, M.S., R.D: Foods that are good for your smile Amy Paturel, M.S., M.P.H.: Eating Well: Foods that are good for your smile The Kosher Gourmet by Betty Rosbottom: Strawberry rhubarb parfaits are elegant yet simple to assemble May 3, 2012 Michael Freund: Who's Afraid of the Messiah? Clifford D. May: The Foggiest War Susan B. Garland: Insurance to Cover Old Old Age Steven Goldberg 6 Reasons to Bet on a Big Bull Market Harvard Health Letters: Treating prostate cancer --- no rush to judgment Larry Gordon: Harvard, MIT partner to offer free online courses Naomi Nix : Man gets free trip to Chicago after postcard sent by mother in 1957 finally reaches him The Kosher Gourmet by Diane Rossen Worthington: Intensely Italian vegetable frittata is a seriously simple standby

Jewish World Review Nov. 27, 2009 / 10 Kislev 5770 USPS' Consumer Computer Problem By Mark Kellner http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | One week ago, on Nov. 16, the United States Postal Service reported a $3.8 billion - with a "b" - dollar loss for the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30, 2009. The quasi-governmental corporation said in a news release it could lose as much as $7.8 billion during the current fiscal year. There are many reasons why this proud, pre-1776 service, founded by Benjamin Franklin, is on the ropes. One small part might be the agency's cavalier attitude towards customers seeking to integrate today's computer technology with USPS services. Since 1991, when the first computer-automated laserjet stamp-printing kiosks were tested at the Merrifield, Virginia, post office, I've followed many iterations of what could be called "digital postage," for want of a better term. Many of the private sector initiatives, such as Stamps.com, have done relatively well in meeting customer needs; bottom-line profits may have been more elusive. To compete, the Postal Service has, among other items, a service called "Click-N-Ship" at its Internet Web site, www.usps.com. Sign up for a free account, have a credit (or debit) card handy, and you can print a Priority Mail or Express Mail label, complete with bar code and postage, speeding you through the mailing process. It could be a great boon for the millions. The hassle came - at least for this reviewer - when trying to do all this with an Apple Macintosh computer and Mac OS X version 10.6. The USPS site says their Web service is geared towards computers running Microsoft Corp.'s Internet Explorer, and does not support Apple's Safari Web browser. Fair enough. But the claim is also made that Mac users could employ Mozilla's Firefox browser. I tried. It didn't work, twice. The flaw, it turns out, is in making sure that Adobe Corp.'s Acrobat Reader is specified as the "default" PDF file reader for such documents created with Click-N-Ship. This involves getting into the "guts" of the Firefox program, working with settings for applications and the like. It's not impossible, but it's not super-friendly to busy consumers. And, apparently, it's not something Windows users have to do. At a time when the USPS is looking to grab every customer it can, and with the holidays at hand, it seems grating that Mac users - who comprise nearly 9 percent of the U.S. computer market in the third quarter of 2009, according to Gartner - are relegated to second-class citizens when it comes to Click-N-Ship. What's more, Mac users could end up paying more: the online shipping discount for Click-N-Ship users isn't available, obviously, at postal counters. If a user can't figure out how to print a label on a Mac, they're stuck. Apparently, Mary Beth Fluto of the USPS feels my pain. She's manager of online programs for the USPS, and said that an overall of www.usps.com, code-name "Project Phoenix" is in the works. Ms. Fluto said it should appear online in the "late spring [or] early summer" of 2010. The Postal Service is redesigning the "most popular" elements of the Web site, Ms. Fluto said, and is re-engineering "the 'print shipping label' application," with a goal to "make it more Mac friendly." While Mac sales are growing, Ms. Fluto said Mac users account for only 5 percent of USPS Web customers. A boon for stamp collectors is also in the works, Ms. Fluto said, with plans to revamp the "shop.usps.com" portion of the USPS Web site to provide "state of the art e-commerce" and "cater a little more to collectors." Though the ranks of American philatelists have probably dwindled from a one-time high of 20 million, stamp collecting remains a popular hobby. I can only hope the USPS burns the midnight oil and summons the spirit of Herodotus, whose dictum about ancient Persia's couriers is paraphrased as "neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds," to complete the task early. Every online shopper - and shipper - deserves equal access at the Post Office. Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in the media and Washington consider "must-reading". Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here. JWR contributor Mark Kellner has reported on technology for industry newspapers and magazines since 1983, and has been the computer columnist for The Washington Times since 1991.Comment by clicking here. Archives © 2009, News World Communications, Inc. Reprinted with permission of The Washington Times. Visit the paper at http://www.washingtontimes.com

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