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re: Looking for a better sensor that I can use on my mailbox....
Posted on 1/7/19 at 12:59 pm to Korkstand
Posted on 1/7/19 at 12:59 pm to Korkstand
quote:
Sometimes the mail truck passes at 4, sometimes it passes at 8.
Sign up for mail alerts at the USPS website and not only will it tell you when your mail is delivered but it will send you scanned images of all of your mail so you know if you have anything important
ETA: it’s called “Informed Delivery”
This post was edited on 1/7/19 at 1:01 pm
Posted on 1/7/19 at 2:07 pm to lsu480
quote:
Sign up for mail alerts at the USPS website and not only will it tell you when your mail is delivered but it will send you scanned images of all of your mail so you know if you have anything important
ETA: it’s called “Informed Delivery”
Nice! I didn't know that was a thing. Thanks.
Posted on 1/7/19 at 11:57 pm to lsu480
quote:Does it rely on the carrier to take some action at every box? If so that is highly unreliable.
it’s called “Informed Delivery”
Also, the point of a lot of sensors is to automate things, or to be smarter about notifications than just popping yet another icon in your top bar. So the USPS sends you a text/email/whatever when you have mail. I'd probably read it as soon as I get it, then promptly forget about it because I'm doing something else. I still have to remember to get the mail later.
With my own sensor, I can automate any process I can think of. Maybe when there's mail in the box it'll put "get the mail" on my evening to-do list. Maybe I have a camera out front that uses computer vision to detect the mail truck, so if it passes my house but there's no mail detected I'll know that I have no mail today (as opposed to maybe I'll get mail later). Maybe my sensor doesn't just have a switch on the door, maybe it can tell mail-in or mail-out so I'll know if someone else grabbed the mail, so my system can take "get the mail" off my to-do list. Maybe I can integrate it with my package tracking/notifying system, and my to-do list will be smarter about it by making me wait until both the mail and my packages have arrived. A basic notification sounds nice, but it's far from the best we can do.
And I know a mailbox sensor sounds like a frivolous or trivial use of technology, but that's because checking the mail is a trivial task. And that's exactly the sort of things we should be automating. I spend 1 minute per day walking to and from the mailbox (5+ hours per year!), and at least once a week it's a pointless trip. A mailbox sensor would save me about an hour of life per year.
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