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Features
Jul. 1, 2007
Rosie's Reviews
Online postage, part 2: Stamp your little envelope out.
By Sandra Rosenzweig
Online Postage Pushers II
Do you really want your kid's face canceled?
Last month I discussed Dymo's foray into printing postage. This month?right now, in fact?I'm presenting another option, Stamps.com, which uses your own printer (not a separate label printer as Dymo does) to print out sheets of personalized color stamps?stamps that contain your logo or a photo of your youngest kid up at bat. It's the same but different, as my geography teacher used to say. And, yes, those stamps featuring your kid are fully legal postage. Plus, you can also print out generic (read: ugly) stamps onto Stamps.com's special sheets or directly onto an envelope.
Dymo and Stamps.com work pretty much the same, although, to my mind, the Dymo approach?with its bespoke printer, its rolls of address and stamp labels, and its workaday program design?is the more intuitive technique. From the first set of windows, you know the procedure: 1. Check your postage credit balance. 2. Weigh your package on the Dymo postage scale. (Or, if you don't need to weigh each piece of mail, skip to Step 3.) 3. Click the Postage menu tab, then choose the type of service you want (Priority, First Class, International, that sort of thing). Note that the weight carries over from the scale to the amount of postage. 4. Hit the Print button.
The first screen of Stamps.com's program presents all your options: A button for Print NetStamps, another for Print Letters & Postcards, another for Track Packages, one for Buy Office Supplies (staplers, envelope moistener with adhesive, printer supplies?I wonder if this is just a nice little side business or the old gold mine that supports the other, newer prospects). Click Print NetStamps (the ones on rolls or on Stamps.com's special sheets), and you arrive at a busy page that puts all of your options into drop-down lists and dialog boxes, including the Mailpiece option to print the postage on envelopes, letters, bills (assumes a plasticine clear address envelope window), oversize packages, and thick envelopes. If necessary, click on Character and tell the program that your package is bulgy, or the address aligns with the short side of the envelope, or the large envelope is extremely rigid and won't bend. Also, now's the time to tell the program that you want to send a certified, registered, or insured letter and then fill out the necessary USPS form. Overall, this is a much more powerful program than Dymo's, with lists of choices and occasional complications everywhere. You can track your package or receive an email notice when it has been received. You can import your Microsoft Office Outlook Contacts folders' contents into the program, although I'd rather see mine link to Outlook rather than adding one more stored file to my hard drive. You can keep a record of every item sent, to whom, and when it was received. Complications? How about the requirement that you type in the serial number of the sheet or roll you're using at the moment? And that you have to change the serial number every time you use a new sheet or roll. Either Dymo isn't as security-conscious, or it found a simpler way to protect its postage services.
Stamps.com also offers a service called PhotoStamps, which allows you to create stamps customized with the image of your choice, in the value you specify, from 26-cent postage stamps to $4.60 for priority mail. But there's a catch. The service uses special, 20-stamp sheets that cost $18.99 apiece when you buy them for standard first-class, one-ounce, 41-cent postage. That means you're paying more than 50 cents a stamp for the service alone. Even when you factor in the discount you get from bulk purchases?buying more than ten sheets cuts your cost down to $14.99 per sheet?it's no bargain. Now, if the printing of the Photo NetStamps was the quality of, say, the Sotheby's car auction catalogues, I might be able to swallow $18.99 a sheet. But the quality is about rotogravure level-cheap rotogravure, if there is such a thing. (For comparison, the rolls of blank stamp labels for use on the Dymo LabelWriter Twin Turbo cost about 6 cents per stamp.) The trouble is, I can't resist putting my logo on every piece of mail I send out. So, about once a year, I brave the slapdash-looking interface and send Stamps.com my current logo?last year, I used "I'm lost" in a beautiful Chinese brush style. The year before, I used a photo of my granddaughter riding a horse. You upload your JPEG (.jpg), GIF (.gif), BMP (.bmp), TIFF (.tif), PNG (.png), Macintosh PICT Format (.pct), or Photoshop format (.psd) image to Stamps.com's server, use their Custom Tool, and send your instructions. They print the picture onto their special sheets, which they mail to you in three to five business days.
A Golden Tip in a Review? You Bet
I hope this doesn't upset you, but I'm about to combine a review of a cool Web tool with a tip. It's for your own good, you know.
You can banish IntelliTXT ad links from content on Mozilla's Firefox, and I suggest you do so immediately. Download and install the free Firefox add-ons Adblock Plus (addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/ 1865) and Adblock Filterset.G Updater (https://addons. mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/1136 or, for the techies, adblock.mozdev.org). Just like that, Adblock will start blocking DoubleClick, IntelliTXT, Nielsen NetRatings, and hundreds more sites that come packed inside Adblock Filterset.G (a detailed blacklist of no-gooders whose goal is to link you to some shopping site or gather up all sorts of private data to use for marketing campaigns). And the add-ons are free.
An Unabashed Tip. A Long Unabash...
When Outlook acts funky, the most common gremlin is the size (or rather oversize) of your Outlook file. (On a standalone computer, it's usually Outlook.pst or Personal Folders.pst.) Microsoft tells us that *.pst files should be no bigger than 2GB capacity. (Yes, I've used 3GB *.pst files, but eventually such a big file bursts and spews its contagion everywhere.) So, first find out the size of that file, then turn on your navigation left-hand pane (View menu, then Navigation Pane.) Right-click on the top level of Outlook folders (mine usually says Personal Folders). Scroll down to Properties, then click the Folder Size button and gape at Total size.
If your Outlook *.pst file totals 1.75GB or more, suck it up and make yourself a new Outlook profile. Yes, Outlook uses profiles to store all of your layout-and-view options as well as your data. Your profile and your top-level Outlook folder usually have the same name. Don't waste time copying the current profile, but also don't delete it. Your new profile will, eventually, have all the data you want from your old profile. Takes a bit of fiddling, though. To make a new profile, shut down Outlook, then hit Ctrl-Alt-Delete, and then the Processes tab. Highlight Outlook.exe and click the End Process button. Hit the ESC key to close. This way, you know for sure that Outlook is really closed.
Now, go to Start, Control Panel, Mail (or, possibly, Start, Control Panel, User Accounts, Mail), Show Profiles. Click on the Add button, and give your new profile a name. (I'm partial to Sandra Rosenzweig, myself.) Click OK, and you'll find yourself at the E-mail Accounts wizard. First, create an email account. If you have a few, add just one. You can add the rest anytime you have the energy. Then OK your way out. Now you have a profile, but it's useless. (A little like life, that.) Return to Start, Control Panel, Mail, and highlight your latest profile if there is more than one listed. You're now back in the E-mail Accounts wizard. Select "View or change existing e-mail accounts," then click on the New Outlook Data File button and find your previous *.pst file. Then add it to the profile and set it as the default. Finally, OK your way out of this crush of dialog boxes until you get to the E-mail Accounts dialog box, and in the "Deliver new e-mail to the following location" drop-down menu, select your new *.pst file. Now, if you're really foolhardy, you can return to the Mail Setup dialog box, click on the Data File button, and remove your old profiles. I use the new profile for a few weeks, at least, before I start deleting old *.pst files (www.outlook tips.net/howto/profile.htm).
If that doesn't work, it gets even harder?and a whole lot more hit or miss. Microsoft Office Outlook, like Microsoft Windows itself, has a safe mode so you can find the source of your problems. Sometimes. To use it, go to your Start menu, then choose Run, then type into the space: Outlook.exe/safe. If it boots up nicely, then your problem is probably a corrupted config file or an add-on that has become peckish. If, on the other hand, you have problems fully booting into safe mode, your problem is probably caused by the message store or an Outlook program file. Try Detect and Repair?it might clear everything up. If not, return to Plan A and create a new profile for yourself.
Online Postage Pushers II
Do you really want your kid's face canceled?
Last month I discussed Dymo's foray into printing postage. This month?right now, in fact?I'm presenting another option, Stamps.com, which uses your own printer (not a separate label printer as Dymo does) to print out sheets of personalized color stamps?stamps that contain your logo or a photo of your youngest kid up at bat. It's the same but different, as my geography teacher used to say. And, yes, those stamps featuring your kid are fully legal postage. Plus, you can also print out generic (read: ugly) stamps onto Stamps.com's special sheets or directly onto an envelope.
Dymo and Stamps.com work pretty much the same, although, to my mind, the Dymo approach?with its bespoke printer, its rolls of address and stamp labels, and its workaday program design?is the more intuitive technique. From the first set of windows, you know the procedure: 1. Check your postage credit balance. 2. Weigh your package on the Dymo postage scale. (Or, if you don't need to weigh each piece of mail, skip to Step 3.) 3. Click the Postage menu tab, then choose the type of service you want (Priority, First Class, International, that sort of thing). Note that the weight carries over from the scale to the amount of postage. 4. Hit the Print button.
The first screen of Stamps.com's program presents all your options: A button for Print NetStamps, another for Print Letters & Postcards, another for Track Packages, one for Buy Office Supplies (staplers, envelope moistener with adhesive, printer supplies?I wonder if this is just a nice little side business or the old gold mine that supports the other, newer prospects). Click Print NetStamps (the ones on rolls or on Stamps.com's special sheets), and you arrive at a busy page that puts all of your options into drop-down lists and dialog boxes, including the Mailpiece option to print the postage on envelopes, letters, bills (assumes a plasticine clear address envelope window), oversize packages, and thick envelopes. If necessary, click on Character and tell the program that your package is bulgy, or the address aligns with the short side of the envelope, or the large envelope is extremely rigid and won't bend. Also, now's the time to tell the program that you want to send a certified, registered, or insured letter and then fill out the necessary USPS form. Overall, this is a much more powerful program than Dymo's, with lists of choices and occasional complications everywhere. You can track your package or receive an email notice when it has been received. You can import your Microsoft Office Outlook Contacts folders' contents into the program, although I'd rather see mine link to Outlook rather than adding one more stored file to my hard drive. You can keep a record of every item sent, to whom, and when it was received. Complications? How about the requirement that you type in the serial number of the sheet or roll you're using at the moment? And that you have to change the serial number every time you use a new sheet or roll. Either Dymo isn't as security-conscious, or it found a simpler way to protect its postage services.
Stamps.com also offers a service called PhotoStamps, which allows you to create stamps customized with the image of your choice, in the value you specify, from 26-cent postage stamps to $4.60 for priority mail. But there's a catch. The service uses special, 20-stamp sheets that cost $18.99 apiece when you buy them for standard first-class, one-ounce, 41-cent postage. That means you're paying more than 50 cents a stamp for the service alone. Even when you factor in the discount you get from bulk purchases?buying more than ten sheets cuts your cost down to $14.99 per sheet?it's no bargain. Now, if the printing of the Photo NetStamps was the quality of, say, the Sotheby's car auction catalogues, I might be able to swallow $18.99 a sheet. But the quality is about rotogravure level-cheap rotogravure, if there is such a thing. (For comparison, the rolls of blank stamp labels for use on the Dymo LabelWriter Twin Turbo cost about 6 cents per stamp.) The trouble is, I can't resist putting my logo on every piece of mail I send out. So, about once a year, I brave the slapdash-looking interface and send Stamps.com my current logo?last year, I used "I'm lost" in a beautiful Chinese brush style. The year before, I used a photo of my granddaughter riding a horse. You upload your JPEG (.jpg), GIF (.gif), BMP (.bmp), TIFF (.tif), PNG (.png), Macintosh PICT Format (.pct), or Photoshop format (.psd) image to Stamps.com's server, use their Custom Tool, and send your instructions. They print the picture onto their special sheets, which they mail to you in three to five business days.
A Golden Tip in a Review? You Bet
I hope this doesn't upset you, but I'm about to combine a review of a cool Web tool with a tip. It's for your own good, you know.
You can banish IntelliTXT ad links from content on Mozilla's Firefox, and I suggest you do so immediately. Download and install the free Firefox add-ons Adblock Plus (addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/ 1865) and Adblock Filterset.G Updater (https://addons. mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/1136 or, for the techies, adblock.mozdev.org). Just like that, Adblock will start blocking DoubleClick, IntelliTXT, Nielsen NetRatings, and hundreds more sites that come packed inside Adblock Filterset.G (a detailed blacklist of no-gooders whose goal is to link you to some shopping site or gather up all sorts of private data to use for marketing campaigns). And the add-ons are free.
An Unabashed Tip. A Long Unabash...
When Outlook acts funky, the most common gremlin is the size (or rather oversize) of your Outlook file. (On a standalone computer, it's usually Outlook.pst or Personal Folders.pst.) Microsoft tells us that *.pst files should be no bigger than 2GB capacity. (Yes, I've used 3GB *.pst files, but eventually such a big file bursts and spews its contagion everywhere.) So, first find out the size of that file, then turn on your navigation left-hand pane (View menu, then Navigation Pane.) Right-click on the top level of Outlook folders (mine usually says Personal Folders). Scroll down to Properties, then click the Folder Size button and gape at Total size.
If your Outlook *.pst file totals 1.75GB or more, suck it up and make yourself a new Outlook profile. Yes, Outlook uses profiles to store all of your layout-and-view options as well as your data. Your profile and your top-level Outlook folder usually have the same name. Don't waste time copying the current profile, but also don't delete it. Your new profile will, eventually, have all the data you want from your old profile. Takes a bit of fiddling, though. To make a new profile, shut down Outlook, then hit Ctrl-Alt-Delete, and then the Processes tab. Highlight Outlook.exe and click the End Process button. Hit the ESC key to close. This way, you know for sure that Outlook is really closed.
Now, go to Start, Control Panel, Mail (or, possibly, Start, Control Panel, User Accounts, Mail), Show Profiles. Click on the Add button, and give your new profile a name. (I'm partial to Sandra Rosenzweig, myself.) Click OK, and you'll find yourself at the E-mail Accounts wizard. First, create an email account. If you have a few, add just one. You can add the rest anytime you have the energy. Then OK your way out. Now you have a profile, but it's useless. (A little like life, that.) Return to Start, Control Panel, Mail, and highlight your latest profile if there is more than one listed. You're now back in the E-mail Accounts wizard. Select "View or change existing e-mail accounts," then click on the New Outlook Data File button and find your previous *.pst file. Then add it to the profile and set it as the default. Finally, OK your way out of this crush of dialog boxes until you get to the E-mail Accounts dialog box, and in the "Deliver new e-mail to the following location" drop-down menu, select your new *.pst file. Now, if you're really foolhardy, you can return to the Mail Setup dialog box, click on the Data File button, and remove your old profiles. I use the new profile for a few weeks, at least, before I start deleting old *.pst files (www.outlook tips.net/howto/profile.htm).
If that doesn't work, it gets even harder?and a whole lot more hit or miss. Microsoft Office Outlook, like Microsoft Windows itself, has a safe mode so you can find the source of your problems. Sometimes. To use it, go to your Start menu, then choose Run, then type into the space: Outlook.exe/safe. If it boots up nicely, then your problem is probably a corrupted config file or an add-on that has become peckish. If, on the other hand, you have problems fully booting into safe mode, your problem is probably caused by the message store or an Outlook program file. Try Detect and Repair?it might clear everything up. If not, return to Plan A and create a new profile for yourself.
#334026
Megan Kinneyn
Daily Journal Staff Writer
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