The ultimate mailbox upgrade

Who knew you could upgrade this mailbox, too?  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ [Cool Tools, by The Intelligence](#) Brought to you by: �€‹ Welcome back! Here in the States, we just finished up with the Thanksgiving holiday (and the annual Black Friday shopping-fest.) Now we head into December. And according to the US Postal Service, the time from Thanksgiving through New Years is peak mail season, with piles of letters, cards, and packages flying into mailboxes across the country. (That's not just a U.S. thing, either: It's going to be peak mail season in Canada, the UK, and more, too.) This week, I want to share something I find very cool and useful — something I've been using for many years. You may have heard of it, but many people haven't — and when I share it with people, they're often shocked that something so useful exists — and that it's free. Unfortunately, this particular service is only available in the U.S. If you're in another country, I know that's not great to read — I was born in Canada, and I remember what it felt like to read about cool services that weren't available in my country. I did a lot of digging in an attempt to find something similar internationally, and I came up empty-handed. I'll always keep my readers outside the U.S. in mind, and I'll be back to covering services with international availability right after this. But there's technically nothing stopping other countries from implementing something this cool themselves. The U.S. Postal Service has done the work here. Canada Post or Royal Mail could offer something like this in the future, too. [Chris Hoffman, Author of Windows Intelligence] Chris Hoffman​ Author of Windows Intelligence --------------------------------------------------------------- A digital upgrade for your physical mailbox Now let's get to the cool tool. I'm talking about [Informed Delivery by USPS](=). ➜ This is a free service provided by the United States Postal Service. Every morning, you'll get an email with scans of the letters you'll be receiving that day. (You'll just see scans of the front of your mail! You'll still have to open them yourself to find out what's inside.) [A USPS Informed Delivery email showing incoming mail.] ​ ⌚ It will take you about 30 seconds to sign up. (However, you will have to wait for the postal service to send you a confirmation code in the physical mail — that's an important security precaution.) After you've signed up, you'll get a daily email with scans of the front of items you'll be receiving in the mail. You'll also see tracking numbers for incoming packages. (Only packages sent via the postal service, of course — not UPS, FedEx, Amazon, or other types of packages.) Or, if you don't want emails, you can sign into the convenient [Informed Delivery website](=) to see your incoming mail there. [The USPS Informed Delivery dashboard website showing mailpieces.] ​ (Of course, you'll normally see who the mail is addressed to! I've just gone ahead and removed my address from the above screenshots.) It's incredibly useful for so many reasons. For example, you can see mail that's on the way and, if anything important is arriving, be sure to grab it immediately. Or, if there's nothing important on a particular day, you won't have to venture out to your mailbox in a blizzard just to check.) USPS is already capturing scans of the front of your incoming mail as it goes through sorting machines, so USPS isn't doing a lot of extra work by offering this service. It's just letting you see the scans the postal system is already capturing. 📌 [USPS Informed Delivery](=) offers daily emails and a web-based dashboard that will work on any device. You can also access it in the USPS Mobile app on your phone. 💰 This service is 100% free. 🕶 USPS is already scanning the front of the letters you receive, so you aren't giving up any extra data to use this service. Now, speaking of useful tools... ​ SPONSORED MESSAGE Take control of your online security 🔒 �€‹ Look, we get it. You’re tech savvy (you are reading this newsletter, after all!) — you already know not to play fast and loose with your digital safety. But we bet you haven’t yet explored all the options to ensure you are protecting your online identity as best you can. How do we know this? Because [ESET](, the platform that has been adding extra security to your PCs and mobile devices ~for years~ already, just came out with three new ESET HOME security plans. Recognizing that your security is a household-level issue, they are giving users the tools they need to manage it all from a single place. Each plan adds extra layers of security, but they all include: 💰 [Safe Banking & Browsing](=) to protect your sensitive data 🔎 [Network Inspector](=), a diagnostic tool that analyzes the security of your router and the devices connected to your network 💻 Enhanced [Browser Privacy & Security](=) features that include a tool that cleans up cookies, your history, and more from your browser That is just the start! The HOME Security Ultimate plan includes the newly introduced Identity Protection tool and VPN, ensuring your safe web surfing wherever you are in the world. ​[➜ Don’t get caught off-guard! Explore ESET’s security plans today.](​ [UPGRADE YOUR DIGITAL SECURITY ➜]( ​ This Week's Cool Tools Quiz How many emails are sent each day — worldwide? Remember: NO CHEATING! Anyone can look up info on the web. Stick with the spirit of the game and test your actual knowledge without searching. It's just for fun, anyway! [100 million]() [350 billion]() [650 billion]() [One trillion]() Answer correctly before next Wednesday and secure your spot on the [Cool Tools Leaderboard](=)! 👉 Last week's question and answer: Which of the following has never been an actual Google-run travel-planning service? Google Go. Google Travel and Google Flights are current web-based services for finding, saving, and organizing travel info. Google Trips was a similar sort of concept that existed in mobile app form from 2016 to 2019. Google Go, in contrast, is a lightweight version of the company’s standard Google app for lower-end Android devices. 🤚 Wait! Before you go: What'd you think of this issue? [Thumbs Up]() [Thumbs Down](=) Hit the thumbs-up or thumbs-down to cast your vote and let us know. ​ Want less email? [Update your reading preferences](=) to opt out of any individual publications or unsubscribe entirely. New here and not yet subscribed? Take two seconds to [sign up for our newsletters](): Cool Tools, Android Intelligence, or Windows Intelligence (or all three!). Hungry for even more? [Learn about becoming an Intelligence Insider,](=) our one-of-a-kind community where you'll have access to power-packed advanced resources, an on-demand help desk, and tons of free apps and services. Independent journalism relies on you. 🤝 [An Intelligence Insider membership](=) allows you to support our work and keep this newsletter sustainable! # #