Mailboxes, etc.

Microsoft has landed an interesting partnership in which 25,000 post offices in Japan will be used to distribute a free CD-ROM of Windows XP Service Pack 2.

What might the CD's explanatory flier say? "Warning: Your PC software is so insecure and prone to intrusion that the government of Japan has joined with Microsoft to encourage you to install this update. Now." How reassuring. Maybe the post offices could just sell some less hacker-prone computers--with the Mac or Linux operating system--alongside stamps.

This novel pairing got me thinking of other missed opportunities. I wonder if Firestone and Ford considered setting up tire replacement centers at U.S. post offices when "="" rel="noopener nofollow" class="c-regularLink" target="_blank">tires were exploding and Explorers were flipping over in the 1990s? Or perhaps Postal Service joints could be used for parents to drop off candy bags holding an Osama bin Laden figure between the Twin Towers. Another toy packed in candy showed a jet airplane flying between the towers; both had a product number of 9011.

So far, these haven't appeared on eBay, but give it time.