DID YOU HEAR -- GCN

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DID YOU HEAR

Aug 17, 2001

The hoax that wouldn't die. Off and on for years, the Internet has floated a rumor that the so-called Federal Bill 602P will impose a 5 cent alternative postage surcharge, collected by Internet service providers, for every e-mail sent. That's fiction, but the Postal Service's revenue loss to e-mail is fact. The General Accounting Office predicts the postal deficit, small or nonexistent until last year, will rise to $2.5 billion next year. Visit www.urbanlegends.com/ulz/xemailtax.html for hoax lore. Meanwhile, who knew that postal inspectors had pasted 22 felons' ugly mugs onto most-wanted posters? That's a dozen more than even the FBI has. Visit www.usps.gov/postalinspectors/wantmenu.htm. USPS will pay up to $100,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of anyone who goes postal against a postal employee.

Failed Business Integration. That's what FBI stands for, according to international media relations company Lewis PR of Newton, Mass. After such a tough-love pitch, we sorta doubt the FBI will buy the e-government message of Lewis' client, Metastorm Inc. of Severna Park, Md.

Got cab fare? Space tourist Dennis Tito paid Rosaviakosmos, the Russian space agency, $20 million earlier this year for a flying tour of the International Space Station. Reuters' Moscow news service reported this month that Russia is working on a Soyuz taxi craft that will carry two more big spenders to the same destination.

Rules to live by, courtesy of a GCN reader: 1. Never drink and drive. 2. Always obey Catwoman. 3. If you ever need help, yell for Superman. Or you could try us instead, at buzz@postnewsweektech.com.

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