3 ms·

I wonder if any of the 9 characters are checksum (the example math indicates none is), or if the validation scan allows a search without one of the characters e

I wonder if any of the 9 characters are checksum (the example math indicates none is), or if the validation scan allows a search without one of the characters e.g AB1?3XYZ in case of sloppy writing. If not, then the system relies on people being able to write 9 consecutive legible characters. With postal codes and addresses it’s less fragile because the context helps disambiguate (a last name helps a postman tell if a street address has a 7 or 1)

dark-star 2y ago
Since there is already a framework for returning letters with invalid/unreadable/damaged addresses, I'd guess the overhead of returning wrongly-written postzegelcodes is negligible.
molf 2y ago
In the case of sloppy writing, the letter will be ejected from the sorting machine and reviewed by a human (same process as for illegible addresses). If a human cannot find a match then the sender will receive a request to pay for the missing postage (presuming the code is invalid). If the sender is unknown the recipient will receive a payment request (which can be appealed). Speaking from experience you would normally want the letter to arrive at its destination so I take care to write the code very clearly. I imagine this is true for most people.
- kr2 2y ago
  You massively underestimate the care or thought some Americans give to anything including legibly writing an address; very cool look into how USPS handles that situation (link free to read without subscription) https://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/04/us/where-mail-with-illegible-addresses-goes-to-be-read.html?unlocked_article_code=1.3k0.zQJF.lNDbrD5oJbJR&smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare&sgrp=c-cb https://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/04/us/where-mail-with-illegi...
  - hprotagonist 2y ago
    “where MNIST comes from”
  - Caligatio 2y ago
    And like almost all things that are interesting, here's a Ton Scott video about the same topic: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XxCha4Kez9c https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XxCha4Kez9c
aaron695 2y ago
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dark-star 2y ago

Since there is already a framework for returning letters with invalid/unreadable/damaged addresses, I'd guess the overhead of returning wrongly-written postzegelcodes is negligible.

molf 2y ago

In the case of sloppy writing, the letter will be ejected from the sorting machine and reviewed by a human (same process as for illegible addresses). If a human cannot find a match then the sender will receive a request to pay for the missing postage (presuming the code is invalid). If the sender is unknown the recipient will receive a payment request (which can be appealed). Speaking from experience you would normally want the letter to arrive at its destination so I take care to write the code very clearly. I imagine this is true for most people.

kr2 2y ago
You massively underestimate the care or thought some Americans give to anything including legibly writing an address; very cool look into how USPS handles that situation (link free to read without subscription) https://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/04/us/where-mail-with-illegible-addresses-goes-to-be-read.html?unlocked_article_code=1.3k0.zQJF.lNDbrD5oJbJR&smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare&sgrp=c-cb https://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/04/us/where-mail-with-illegi...
- hprotagonist 2y ago
  “where MNIST comes from”
- Caligatio 2y ago
  And like almost all things that are interesting, here's a Ton Scott video about the same topic: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XxCha4Kez9c https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XxCha4Kez9c

aaron695 2y ago

[dead]