Letter mail is OCRed to facilitate automated sorting. That orange barcode on the back of your mail links to the database record of the mailpiece destination. It's how the postal system sorts all that mail so quickly, with so few people. I've long suspected that the data got used in other ways, but it's primary purpose is to move the mail.

Nope. "Daemon" was copyright 2009. Which you should have checked before posting.

Murder via internet (and a lot more), committed by someone who is dead. "Daemon" by Daniel Suarez. Interesting read. There is also a sequel, "Freedom".

Actually the Edison bulbs are used in brooders to provide warmth (as well as light) for newly hatched chicks. There are usually unforeseen uses for items then they were designed for. I still miss the pumice that used to be in Comet cleanser. Worked well to clean PC boards before applying resist to etch circuit boards.

A modification to the law that such 'heat bulbs' cannot emit light would probably be the next step to prevent wasted energy (i.e. people still using them for lighting).