Dale Newfield wrote:
> [...]
> Charlottesville, VA 22901-2708
> |..|.|..|.||.|..||......||..|.||...|||...|..|.||....|.|..|..||
> (No, this barcode is not necessary, but I figured this would be a good
> place to ask: "Has anyone figured out what information is encoded in
> this, or how it is encoded?" :-)

It's your zip code. The Post Office recognizes the zipcode with some sort of
OCR (Optical Character Recognition) then prints a barcode on the envelope
so that simpler machines can sort the mail later in its delivery path.
Sometimes the sender prints the barcodes (if your mail is part of a large
mailing, like junk mail, magazines, tax forms etc.).

This is from the URL http://www.advanstar.com/autoidnews/barcofaq.txt
> POSTNET symbols are different from other symbologies because the
> individual bar height alternates rather than the bar width. Each
> number is represented by a pattern of five bars. A single tall bar is
> used for the start and stop bars.
>
> Each symbol includes a check digit defined as the single digit that
> must be added to the sum of all the digits to make the total the next
> multiple of 10. For example, 98116's check digit is 5 because:
> 9+8+1+1+6=25 and 25 + 5 = 30.
>
> POSTNET can be used for 5-digit, 9-digit ZIP+4, and the new 11-digit
> Delivery Point Barcode. They are often used in conjunction with one
> of the three FIM bars (Facing Identification Marks) which are found
> on the upper right corner of a mail piece like Business Reply Mail.

The encoding is as follows:

||...  ...||  ..|.|  ..||.  .|..|  .|.|.  .||..  |...|  |..|.  |.|..
  0      1      2      3      4      5      6      7      8      9

--
Robert P. Munafo                  UUCP: ...!harvard!spdcc!mrob!cube
CUBE-LOVERS Account              Internet: cube%mrob.uucp@spdcc.com