That’s the quick and dirty answer to the question posted in the headline. According to a recent Associated Press article, the Postmaster General is set to ask Congress for permission to eliminate Saturday mail deliveries as part of a new round of cost-cutting measures. Current projections show a cumulative loss of $238 billion over the next ten years, with a loss of $7 billion in the next year alone.

The number of pieces of mail handled by the US postal system fell from 213 billion in 2006 to 177 billion in 2009. By the year 2020, that number is expected to shrink to 150 billion. The decrease is attributed to the rise of email and electronic bill pay methods.

Should the plan to cease Saturday deliveries be approved by congress, post office branches would remain open, at least for the short term. If the Postmaster General get his way, the new changes would take effect next year.

Personally, I won’t be too sad to see Saturday mail delivery go. I’m one of the many Americans who handles my bills completely electronically, and most of the items I have delivered to my house come via FedEx or UPS. Do we really need credit card applications and pleas for charitable donations physically sent to our houses six times a week? Don’t most of us already get enough of that same crap via email? Cutting postal service will not only save taxpayer money, it will also save on carbon emissions as postal trucks and vehicles will be on the road and in the air one less day per week.

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The breakdown is as follows – around 41% of those internet connected televisions were IETVs, or internet enabled TV’s. 20.3% were  connected via video game  console (like the XBOX 360 or PS3), 13.2% via internet connected Blu-ray players, and 12.3% via digital boxes or their PCs.

For those not in the know, internet enabled TV’s connect to your home internet setup via wireless or a hard line ethernet connection. The study showed that these internet enabled TV’s had seen the largest spike in sales, up a whopping 14.2% from the previous month.

Given this trend, iSuppli predicts that sales of IETVs will climb to 87.6 million units worldwide by 2013, up from 2009’s 14.7 million.

Source & Photo Source: InformationWeek

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What are, “Three things that are nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize?”

That’s right – the Italian version of Wired Magazine announced that they have successfully submitted “The Internet” as a nominee for the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize. They cited the Internet as a proponent of “dialogue, debate and consensus through communication.”

Just in case it wins, I’d like the following to stand as the acceptance speech for The Internet:

“My Fellow Earthicans*,

Thank you so much for giving me this award, which much like the Emergency Medical Hologram**, I cannot touch or feel. I’d like to thank pornography, for making me possible. I’d also like to thank that Numa Numa guy, the Chocolate Rain guy, that Leave Britney Alone kid and other real people with real feelings who have sacrificed their dignity for my success. Truly, the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.***

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got much much more pornography to distribute. Oh, and I guess…freedom good?”

Source: AP

*Futurama reference

**Voyager reference, but only the early seasons

***Star Trek II Reference

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