Stamp Column Archives

The Glassine Surfer Column Archive

This column originally appeared in the American Philatelic Society's monthly magazine, "The American Philatelist." Since then some of the information may be out-of-date depending on how far back you're reading.

March 2001

Remember when we thought you'd be able to find what you wanted on the Web?  Then you were flooded with spam.  Now several very large Web search engines have decided to charge Web sites fees in order to get listed in their search engines.  Some engines are saying this is a way to cut down on spam, though we know better, right?

Good search engines like Google, Fast and Northern Lights, have little spam and no fees, and what we're seeing is a move by some search engines, that are owned by huge parent media companies, to keep their searchers clicking sites and ads owned by the parent.  

This tactic makes sense in the TV and cable business, where CBS will never tell viewers to check out a show on ABC or CNN, but on the 'Net, the tactic appears a bit hypocritical.  Instead of searching the Web, these engines are searching their paying customers.

There's quite a downside for stamp collectors here, too.  Autodealer.com will gladly pay the search engines, but do you think "Al Explains Perforation Varieties" will be able to afford it?  And if not, we'll be back to 1990 when we try to find those obscure stamp sites.

If you don't like this trend, try to keep away from those sites that are only delivering you to their customer's URL.

Pegasus

I've always been a fan of the email program Eudora, and even more so since the advent of those script viruses that gain access to PC operating systems through Microsoft's Outlook.  But I love toys and gadgets and software and love installing and trying out new programs just to see what they'll do.

One program that I've tried out from time to time over the years is the freeware email program Pegasus Mail.  Usually, I installed and played with it for a week and then deleted it to revert to using my Eudora, but the new version of Pegasus Mail is here to stay on my PC.

Pegasus Mail does what you want a email program to do.  It has multiple mailboxes and filters and signatures and all those bells and whistles, but it's also small and fast.

The program looks and feels like a Eudora-Outlook cross, though since it's been around since 1990, it's fair to say that Pegasus has lent as much as it's borrowed from the other two programs.  

Developer David Harris and the Pegasus Mail team hail from New Zealand.  They also produce a free program for mail servers, but in both cases the only income they derive from their efforts is the sale of printed user manuals.

Outlook is free but has occasional security flaws, and Eudora is ad-ware, or you must pay and register for ad-free usage.  Pegasus, on the other hand, measures up very well and most likely you will never need a manual to enjoy this program, though your support is encouraged.

The current version is 3.12c for Windows, 3.50 for MS-DOS, and 2.2.1 for Mac.

Pegasus Mail
http://www.pmail.com/

Canadian Inkjets

Canada Post uses Inkjet cancelling equipment in its system and Michel Gosselin has a Website to explain and show them all.

The usual Inkjet postmark has a machine number, a postal code, date, time and various commemorative or special cancelling symbols.  According to Gosselin, testing started in 1992 and the EKU is 19 November 1993.