Lick using stamps with Stamps.com Dec. 31, 2000   By JIM BROOKS I live in what big-city dwellers would refer to as "the sticks." I love the location, but sometimes you miss some of the big-city services. My local post office is only about a mile from my home, and from about 7 a.m. to 4 p.m., they offer excellent and friendly service. But frequently, when I need stamps, I'm hunched over my desk preparing bills or letters to mail at 1 a.m. The post office has been closed for hours, and stopping to buy stamps in the morning always makes me late for work. I found a solution to my need for late-night postage, and I've been asking myself why this shouldn't revolutionize postage the way e-mail has for business communications. My postage solution came recently in the form of a CD-ROM from Stamps.com. Stamps.com allows home and business PC users to print postage directly from their computer printer. No leased postage meter or fancy hardware required -- nothing more than a computer, a printer and an Internet connection. Frankly, I was skeptical. But after using Stamps.com for some time, I'm a believer. Users must register and set up some form of payment plan. In my case, I elected to have my checking account debited when I purchase postage through Stamps.com. Other options include a variety of credit cards. Once you register and pay for stamps, the next step is to print postage as you need it. In my case, I've been printing directly on my envelopes, which worked well. Stamps.com also offers a wide variety of mailing labels users can print postage on for first class, priority, express and other mailing classes. It even prints postage for post cards. The software handles a variety of standard label sheets. Businesses which have been printing labels may have on hand what they need to print their postage needs. The software allows users to add graphics to the area next to the postage block too. Businesses could create a logo or other message to place here. The program comes with some graphics to customize labels and envelopes right out of the box. If you have a business, there's a scale available that interfaces with your computer and the Stamps.com software to allow you to send parcel post and other classes of mail without a hitch. I occasionally buy items off the eBay auction Web site, and Stamps.com allows me to print postage the instant I know I've won an auction. With no more unposted envelopes floating around my desk, I'm sure my friends on eBay are pleased to get their money in a more timely fashion. The only word of caution I have is this: Stamps.com is still a technology company under pressure to turn a profit. They haven't done so yet, though they've been through a round of staff layoffs (240 workers laid-off in October), and their CEO stepped down in October. However, their other competitor in the online postage field, E-stamp.com, exited the postage business in late November. None of that stopped me from signing up for Stamps.com. If you want to handle your own postage printing chores without leasing equipment, there's no better deal than Stamps.com. UNLIMITED NO MORE. Since the big dot-com correction in the stock market began about March 2000, technology companies have been struggling to find a way to continue operations while they try to reach profitability. As you might expect, the dot-com carnage has been pretty gruesome this year as company after company has been purchased, gutted, liquidated or just plain ceased to exist. Along with the fall of the value of "new" technology companies, the value of advertising on the Internet has dropped significantly as well. For companies who thought most of their revenues would come from online advertising, it's been quite a shock. A year ago, free Internet service providers held fast to the belief they could offer free access and pay for the service with advertising banners that would display on each user's computer desktop. Those revenues have been shrinking dramatically all year, and they now must figure out how to keep subscribers and boost revenues. NetZero, Bluelight.com and Juno still offer free Internet access; most of the once crowded field has withered away. NetZero recently announced it would begin charging users of the free service if they go over 40 hours of use online in a single calendar month. The move is an attempt to cut the service's costs. Only about 12 percent of NetZero customers go over the 40 hours of access in a month, according to a company press release. But that small customer group accounted for more than half of the company's communications costs in the month of November. Users who go beyond the 40 hours of service will pay $9.95 per month for the additional unlimited usage. No fees will be charged until a user goes over 40 hours. The new plan goes into effect this month. Both Bluelight.com and Juno have taken steps to limit excessive usage of their Internet services. Bluelight.com will be limiting free users to 25 hours per month, while Juno is asking its heavier users to pay $9.95 for using their service. ATTACK OF THE ZOMBIES. No, this isn't connected to a new horror flick -- unless your home theater setup includes your PC. Computer security experts are warning that the holiday weekend could see a rise of computers infected by "zombies" that could be remotely activated and wreak havoc online and on business and personal computers. The National Infrastructure Protection Center issued a warning about such an attack based on information from the FBI and other sources. The NIPC earlier issued advisories to network administrators to check their systems for hidden software that would allow an attack similar to the Feb. 2000 distributed denial-of-service attacks that crippled several commercial Web sites. Holiday weekends are considered good times for such attacks because businesses and colleges leave their networks largely unattended. Comments and questions about this column may be sent to jbrooks@myoldkentuckyhome.com, or visit www.myoldkentuckyhome.com on the World Wide Web. | HOME |