envelopes

Among the announcements when Apple released iOS 5, a couple of downloadable apps became available at the iTunes App Store. One of them, Cards, lets you create fold-in-the-middle greeting cards on your iPhone, then Apple sends them on real paper via snail mail. While other services have done this in the past, Apple's method is very intuitive with several designs to choose from, and the cost is about what it would be to go buy a greeting card in a store.

Immediately upon launch, you're given an intuitive interface for selecting the exterior of your card. Across the … Read more

Ever since Steve Jobs pulled out a MacBook Air from a manila envelope at a Macworld keynote address in 2008, a few accessory makers have been inspired to design leather manila envelope cases for the Air. Well, we noticed that a company called Maclove has gone a step further and designed a whole line of "Messager" leather manila cases for Mac products.

We had a little trouble finding Messager cases for sale online, but the iPad version appears to cost about $50 (shipping not included). If this style suits your fancy, Amazon does have a number of manila-style … Read more

CommonCents from EnDevelopment is a personal financial tool based on the tried-and-true envelope budget system, which traditionally involves putting money for expenses aside in paper envelopes so that you're forced to live on whatever is left over. Such cash-oriented budgets enforce old-school financial discipline, but they have limitations, especially when it comes to record-keeping. CommonCents improves the envelope method with a comprehensive suite of tools for managing everything from cash and credit cards to banking, loans, and mortgages, not to mention complete transaction histories and real-time account and envelope balances.

CommonCents' main interface, My Vault, features a main display … Read more

Address Book is a convenient program for managing the account's central contacts database, that also provides the ability to quickly print envelopes, labels, and lists from the contact information. While limited and relatively hidden, these options and various customizations for them are available in Address Book.… Read more

I honestly can't remember the last time I sent something using conventional mail, but it may have been more than three years ago. I hate licking stamps and envelopes and risking a paper cut in one of the worst places I can imagine. But after spotting these Mmmvelope bacon-flavored envelopes from "bacontrepreneurs" J&D's, I might start looking for reasons to send random stuff out. And for as little as three packs of 25 for $14.99, I can send a lot.

The No. 10 envelopes themselves are regular paper but the glue has a … Read more

Even the most wired among us still need to send "snail mail," and a good addressing program can help. Home Plan Software's Easy Mail fits the bill. It won't actually write your letters for you, but it will handle virtually all of your paper correspondence tasks, including composing, printing, and addressing. Professional-looking labels, letters, and envelopes of all sizes are a breeze to print. It will even fax documents and import address book information.

Easy Mail's 30-day trial version is fully functional; registering removes the nag screen. At a mere 1.26MB, it downloads and … Read more

Label Designer Plus Deluxe provides users with a fantastic tool for making mailing labels that can be professional, personalized, or both. With simple tools and a surprising amount of freedom, users can enjoy labels that make a statement.

This program is simple enough for users of all skill levels to quickly utilize. Its production wizard walks people through every step of the process and makes all the individual touches seem natural, thanks to great instruction. Users will likely not need the Help file to operate this program. To begin, select the type of label to print from a comprehensive list. … Read more

With suitable tragi-comedy nuance, Netflix announced this week that it made more money in the 2nd quarter (yes, profit went up 4%) and that it was closing Red Envelope, its film financing and acquisition company.

It so happened that over the last couple of weeks, I happened to have three Red Envelope movies fly from my Netflix queue, via a deeply philosophical USPS mailman, to my door.

Did Netflix really have to take this depressing decision? All these three movies were surprisingly good.

I have no recollection whether the Netflix's insidious secret service, with the deviously credible Stan Lanning … Read more

Thank goodness some people finally came to their senses. The "AirMail" manila sleeve for the MacBook Air was cute when it came out, but please--it's actually sold out?

The "Air Manila" from Civilian Lab is a much more sophisticated version, dressing up the envelope concept with hand-stitched leather, Tech Digest says, as well as a padded interior and air vents. That should help keep it from getting mixed in with interoffice mail, which is important because the anorexic laptop is accident-prone enough as it is.