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The Paperless Future - Emma!! The small, family owned company I work for, is trying to go paperless. Not for environmental reasons, just because they don't like paper, and want to move into the age of technology. So, they are pushing hard for us to do every thing digitally and electronically now. Is it me, or is that a bit extreme, considering the mom and pop shops that we deal with, and how many of those customers won't be "digital" or may not even be electronic savy? Somehow, this logic is lost on our new management....which is the younger generation...

U.S. Savings Bonds Go PaperlessJanuary 4, 2012 10:30 PM PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — U.S. savings bonds enclosed in birthday cards have been an American tradition for more than 70 years. But from now on, purchasers will have to be computer savvy. As of January 1, the U.S. Treasury declared that all bonds must be purchased online through the website www.treasurydirect.gov. The buyer can download a “gift certificate” indicating the amount of the bond, and for what occasion.

Social Security Payments to Go Paperless Beginning May 1Published April 22, 2011 | FoxNews.com Social Security checks are going paperless beginning May 1, as the U.S. Treasury Department retires paper checks for electronic payments. The cost-saving measure, which won't be fully implemented until May 2013, is aimed at reducing government expenses by $1 billion over the next decade as millions of baby boomers and others apply for monthly federal benefits. Federal benefits will also be paid electronically to recipients of veterans and disability payments, the Treasury Department announced Friday. Eighteen million baby boomers are expected to go onto the retirement...

Note: The following text is a quote: http://www.defenselink.mil/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=53857 Obama Announces Joint Virtual Lifetime Electronic Record By Donna Miles American Forces Press Service WASHINGTON, April 9, 2009 – President Barack Obama announced plans today to create a joint virtual lifetime electronic record that will improve care and services to transitioning veterans by smoothing the flow of medical records between the Defense and Veterans Affairs departments. The concept, long advocated by officials in both departments, is considered a major step toward improving the delivery of care and services to servicemembers transitioning from military to civilian life. Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates and...

Amazon's Kindle Reader cuts book shipping Book sales in the United States surged during the holiday season, but in a dramatic shift for the shipping world, retailer Amazon.com said this week sales of e-books for the first time surpassed sales of physical books.    Amazon’s peak in e-book sales occurred on Christmas day as gift recipients used their new Kindle reading devices to make purchases from among the 390,000 books available in Amazon’s Kindle Store. The Kindle electronic reader, which allows users to download books and other media from a variety of sources, was “the most gifted item ever in...

THE SOCIAL LIFE OF PAPER by MALCOLM GLADWELL Looking for method in the mess. Issue of 2002-03-25Posted 2002-03-18 On a busy day, a typical air-traffic controller might be in charge of as many as twenty-five airplanes at a time—some ascending, some descending, each at a different altitude and travelling at a different speed. He peers at a large, monochromatic radar console, tracking the movement of tiny tagged blips moving slowly across the screen. He talks to the sector where a plane is headed, and talks to the pilots passing through his sector, and talks to the other controllers about...