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There's even some of the original documentation around for parts of it (though not expressly for unclaimed mail) from 98 / 99.

a-guide-to-printing-the-4state-barcode-v31-mar2012.pdf - although the document is dated 2012 - that's just the most recent revision - the original dates back to the June 1998 (as listed on Page 2).

This 1999 document australia-post-addressing-standards-1999.pdf references "Specification Number 203-4-State Barcodes" - which likely would also contains the same information.

There's even some of the original documentation around for parts of it (though not expressly for unclaimed mail) from 98 / 99.

a-guide-to-printing-the-4state-barcode-v31-mar2012.pdf - although the document is dated 2012 - that's just the most recent revision - the original dates back to the June 1998 (as listed on Page 2).

This 1999 document australia-post-addressing-standards-1999.pdf references "Specification Number 203-4-State Barcodes" - which likely would also contains the same information.

Given the description, it sounds like they're ripe for some additional regulation.

While I don't disagree, it should be noted that one of the reasons companies don't ship internationally is to preserve their local distribution models. From Australia it's often impossible to buy certain big brands (IIRC, things like North Face) from places like Amazon - they have local distribution locked down so they can control the price points globally (Moosejaw have a list of some of these brands.

As a result, reshippers became quite popular in Australia. So much so, that our national postal service actually created a dedicated reshipping agency called ShopMate!

Parcel Lockers as implemented by Australia Post seem like a more practical option. They're sort of like post office boxes but your parcel is placed in any one of the lockers and you're sent a one-time PIN number to unlock the particular locker your parcel is in.

Ha ha ha, nice. Somebody actually bothers to impersonate me at the time when my 'karma' is not too shitty to leave normal comments under my account name?

Too funny.

By the way, you idiot, this website IS a government operation, it is owned by the Australian Post Office.

Interesting that Australia Post has seen both revenues and profit increase in recent years then. Traffic to their stores has steadily declined as has traditional 'letter' based post - obviously less people send letters, but also less people get bills by mail etc also.

However parcel delivery has skyrocketed due to online shopping and they've used this to continue to build growth. There are other options they're running also (digital mailbox where they'll scan stuff that arrives for you, 24 hour access secure mail collection system) but prices overall don't seem too bad to me & the service levels are not horrendous either.

What is it that makes America so different?

E-mail will replace regular mail. It's been a slow process, but the Post Office (in the US and Britain; I can't speak for other countries) is starting to cut back; The majority of what is being sent out are physical goods and junk mail (advertising). Many people here have switched to online bill pay, and most banks offer automatic payment if the company (rarely) doesn't do bill to credit card.

I can say Australia Post is becoming more of a courier company than postal service. They are now pushing an "Digital mail box" service to "Receive - Your own digital mailbox to securely receive important mail. Pay - Easy payment of your bills. Store - Private and secure storage for your important documents"

I don't think anyone has told them this is called email/electronic banking and has been around for years!

Perhaps they could talk to Australia Post about how they achieved a profit in these challenging times.

Like this?

https://telegram.auspost.com.au/home.do

I don't know if your country has anything similar, but I can see how there is probably a market for it, even if it's a small market.

...and that is why I never disclose the location of my password safe to anyone.

Australia Post has a service named KeyPost where they act as the RA (Registration Authority) and provide authenticity information to CA's. I'd trust certificates issued through this scheme a whole lot more than by a friend of a friend of someone I'll never meet. Why not outsource the RA work to Australia Post? The Australian Government program that supports this is Gatekeeper.

It's important to know that DPIDs are not meant to be used for consumer-to-consumer mail, ie there is no need for you to remember your 8 digit code when writing a letter to your grandma. Instead, the target are business-to-consumer or business-to-business mailing and only where the number of envelopes per mailing are large, say over 300. DPIDs are printed as barcodes (not alphanumerics) which are much easier for the sorting machines to scan. All mailing houses and many organisations in the country have invested in the necessary AMAS infrastructure.

Australia Post grants discounts for the use of DPID barcodes on such B2B/B2C mail which constitutes, IIRC, the bulk of all snailmail delivered these days. I can't remember the exact figures but think it's something like 2/3 of all snailmail these days is business originated.

There are also benefits to the business using the PAF - eg it's easier to affiliate customers with correct addresses.

The universal postal code proposed in the article could have a similarly restricted, but none-the-less useful, application.

I think I might be able to fit a few more computers in to my bedroom. Bring 'em on I say!

Hmmmmmmmn, I'm going to take a punt & presume you're from Central Europe.

According to the Australian Postal Service's site a 20kg parcel to zone 5 is going to cost minimum $AUD116 - I imagine they can buy a few months of storage for that.

Thanks for the offer tho'

It's more like a barcode scanner.

I don't expect a barcode scanner to function correctly with anything that's not a barcode.
I don't expect it to be able to read Postal Barcodes
But it damn well better not blow up in my hands when I try.

It is reasonable for these drives to reject non standard CDs, but the machine should not be permanently damaged by them.

Aside: It's still not 100% certain that the Mac is in fact damaged by these CDs. It seems that it may simply require the technician to intervene to remove the CD from the drive. Which is still bad design. But better than actual damage.

EMS an international courier will insure up to $5000 for international shipping, and they're reasonably quick with delivery within a window of 2-5 business days. The courier charges are slightly hefty, but well worth the excellent condition that your order arrives in. I've ordered several delicate electronics from Hong Kong and got them in perfect shape. I suggest you check it out.

IMHO, government agencies should provide this information for no more than the cost of making it available (in this case virtually nothing).