Bar Code Nerds

Azalea.com now sports a barcode tattoo photo gallery.

And while both of us are inked, none are of bar codes.

Labels: bar code tattoo, barcode tattoo

Call me paranoid and yes I *do* own a tinfoil hat thankyouverymuch. I've always envisioned some badguy/badgal sitting outside a DC subway stop scanning all the federal ID badges that popped up above ground. CLONE!

Now comes word of this RFID emulator thingie.

Hand me my hat...

Labels: RFID

By using, of course, barcodes. The big G has "..launched a new effort to send window decals to over 100,000 local businesses in the U.S. that have been the most sought out and researched on Google.com and Google Maps".

Locate the 2D barcode decal at a participating store, snap it with your phone's barcode reader, follow the URL link to the web and behold: store hours, user reviews, special offers, whatever the retailer's loaded up on the intertubes for you.

We love this idea (and began implementing it locally a year ago but hey, when Google bites your idea it's a compliment) because our love of cellphone app gadgetry is second only to our love of real world barcode implementation.

Wonder how the folks at Yelp are taking it.

Labels: 2D barcode, barcodes, Google

Azalea Software, Inc. and Peg Ogle Design have just released a series of free 2010 calendars for immediate download from www.azalea.com/calendar

The press release is available from www.azalea.com/news/2010-calendar-press-release.pdf

Labels: 2010 calendar, Azalea Software, Peg Ogle Design

Azalea Software's 2010 calendar can be downloaded from www.azalea.com/calendar/ for free.

Jerry's photos of industrial textures found in Seattle's SoDo neighborhood. You know, metal and stone.

Our holiday gift to you and yours!

Labels: 2010 calendar, Azalea Software calendar, free calendar download, PDF calendar

I've been doing barcode software for almost 21 years now. At no time did I think it was necessary to learn how to read Code 39 barcodes in my head. Never.

Labels: Code 39 barcodes

Seen coming out of the parking lot of the Azalea Software offices here in West Seattle.

Labels: Azalea Software, bar code software

Ariel Schwartz of Inhabitat's got a quick piece up about "annoying" fruit labels and the new process of etching them with low energy lasers.

Not sure I've ever devoted much time to being annoyed by the tiny labels on fruits and veggies, but LASERS. We love lasers.

Labels: lasers, produce

We just uploaded a series of new bar code FAQs: Code 128 FAQ, UPC FAQ, Code 39 FAQ, and Interleaved 2 of 5 FAQ.

Phew!

Labels: Azalea Software, barcode FAQ, Code 128 FAQ, Code 39 FAQ, Interleaved 2 of 5 FAQ, UPC FAQ

Azalea OR 97410
Why we're called "Azalea Software, Inc."

Labels: 97410, Azalea OR, Azalea Software, Heaven on Earth

Make note: Today, Oct 9 2009, Google celebrated barcodes by making a bar code the icon of the day.

Thank you!


- the gang at Azalea Software, Seattle

Labels: barcode, Google icon, Oct 9 2009

FoodScanner is an iPhone app that makes me wish I still had an iPhone.

Oh yeah, that's right. AT&T's reception SUCKS at my house. Happiness is a G1. Yes it is.

But still, the app is cool in that it adds a social, political, & nutritional bent to your shopping.

Labels: barcode, FoodScanner, iPhone

That's right. For those of you who want to roll your own barcode decoding software, here's a project you can sink your teeth into.

Labels: bar code, bar code software, DIY

You don't have to know much about barcodes to appreciate this suggestion. Of course it leaves the poor cashier to scan every shortcut on your dance card until the register beeps. Still, it leaves your wallet thinner. File this one under "ultralight shopping".

Labels: barcode, club card

UPCTools for the Mac is now on sale for only $149, a savings of 25%, now through Aug 10th.

ordering details...

Labels: UPC software, UPCTools

1. Patent an existing technology

2. Shake down existing players for license fees (or, you know, sue the pants off them)

3. Compete directly with your licensees.

Lather. Rinse. Repeat.

Labels: 2D barcode, NeoMedia, patent

AzaleaRSS is both rockin and rollin, and now officially hosted in-house on the most adorable server you've ever seen.







CloudEngine's Pogoplug is a tiny Linux box, smaller than most laptop power supplies. It's made of a power cord, an ethernet jack, a USB port and rainbows.

Behold the Azalea server room:



We've got a whiteboard full of ideas for the next eighteen 'Plugs we buy. Love these little critters!

Labels: AzaleaRSS, Pogoplug

How did I miss this one? It's barcodes! On chickens!

Scientist at the Bioresources Research Centre at University College Dublin have created a way to place 2D DataMatrix barcodes on the beaks, legs and combs of the wee birdies in order to more efficiently track them.

They were careful to use non-alive birds for the testing however, bless their cruelty-free hearts.

“Although these experiments were carried out in the laboratory, real chicken body parts, sourced at poultry processing plants were used. No animals were purposely culled for this research programme as per UCD ethical committee directives.

“In real life situations, ways will have to be found to imprint the barcodes on to live poultry whilst ensuring the safety and wellbeing of the bird.”

Story via The Irish Times

Labels: barcodes and science, birds, Data Matrix barcode

The Times takes an interesting look at the UPC code, grandaddy of all modern barcodes. Thanks again, George Laurer!

Labels: bar code, UPC barcode, UPC barcodes

What can I say...

Labels: Redhook Limited Release, UPC barcode

For a few minutes at least. Gregory Weir's Bars of Black and White is a barcode-based 'escape from a locked room' game that challenges you to scan your way to freedom.

Scritchy-scratchy hand drawn illustrations and figuring out how to kill a big spider make it a whimsical way to waste some time on the company dime. Tell your boss that you're researching auto-ID and real world barcode implementation. That's what I did.

Labels: bar code, barcode game

As part of the relaunch of our humble website, we've added a growing collection of free wallpaper images you can download.

So all of you bored with your current desktop background can grab one of our stone & metal, azalea & rhodi photos. They're great as cell phone wallpaper too.

Set a bookmark because there will be a lot more free photos and artwork to come.

Labels: free cell phone wallpaper, free desktop background, free wallpaper images

At 8:01 am on June 26th, 1974, the very first ever UPC (Universal Product Code) was scanned at Marsh's Supermarket in Troy, Ohio. The item? A 10 pack of Wrigley's Juicy Fruit gum.

Labels: barcode, UPC, UPC barcodes

"PORT TOWNSEND -- Visitors to Port Townsend can now scan the city with more than just the naked eye.

Last week, a handful of barcodes -- which literally can be scanned -- were placed in locations throughout town in what's called the Way Finder Project.

Using a cell phone with Internet access and a camera, you can walk up to a code, scan it and pull up a Web site about the location."

Labels: barcode, cell phone, QR barcode, QR code

It's not called a global supply chain for nothing. Shipping and distribution are assumed to be international these days. All over the map. Worldwide.

To that end we're now whispering about barcodes in Albanian, Arabic, Chinese, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Filipino, Finnish, French, German, Hebrew, Hindi, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Latvian, Lithuanian, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Punjabi, Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Slovak, Slovenian, Spanish, Swedish, Thai, Vietnamese.

Now that's global. And you just know there are barcodes lurking around in there.

Labels: barcodes, global supply chain

We call it The Mother Ship, sometimes The Vending Machine. Venerable she is but neglected too long.

Over the looong weekend Azalea Software's website has been updated. Including new photos of us.

There's more yet-to-come. Much more...

Labels: Azalea Software, azalea.com

Version 1.1 of Azalea's free RSS feed maker, Azalea RSS, is now available.

Azalea RSS is a quick and dirty RSS maker that walks you through creating your own RSS feeds. Based in MS Excel, it's user-friendly and as easy as falling off a log. And falling off a log is SO EASY. Trust me, I fall off logs all the time.

Give it a try, RSS wizards!

Labels: AzaleaRSS, RSS feed

UPDATED 30 Apr 09: Interestingly, this post sat dormant for weeks and just today three new replies came in a flurry. What a coincidence! One talks of how TinyURL infringes on NeoMedia's patent. One is a reply to another commentor. And one, why, one suggests that I have no testicles! At all! Which is true! But rather a mundane fact to point out, and so angrily (also, Jim, water is wet!). And also, things may be "getting legal", yowza! Not sure what that means but it sounds scary, doesn't it? Eek!

Clearly this economy (and swine flu!) is affecting everyone, creepy mouthpieces for random strangers coincidentally interested in NeoMedia's "interests" and barcode bloggers alike.

Like I said, all y'all folks with dogs in this fight: I'd be taking notes and backin 'em up to hard disk if I were you.




ORIGINAL POST:
After protracted review, the US Patent & Trademark Office recently ruled in favor of evil attorney cabal tech company NeoMedia. For years NeoMedia has argued that they own absolutely everything having to do with barcodes + cellphones, and they own all barcodes + looking them up on the intertubes. They also own a patent on you. And your dog. And your mom.

While the Electronic Frontier Foundation valiantly begged to differ, devoting years and miles of effort, funds and reason to disputing this sort of mercenary dipshittery, it's all over now but the crying.

"Overbroad and invalid patents threaten to chill important innovations, especially for startups and other nascent entrepreneurs. It's important that technology in the public domain stays there." EFF Senior Staff Attorney Jason Schultz said in 2007.

The US PTO has changed all that in one fell swoop of patent validation. NeoMedia can now threaten and actively initiate lawsuits against anyone who creates, uses, promotes or dreams up anything having to do with their special corner of the auto-ID universe. Pay the NeoMedia licensing fee/s now, or pay them after a financially crippling lawsuit- it's entirely up to you!

This would be marginally acceptable if NeoMedia had created a unique technology of their own. But they didn't; these patents are based entirely on murky, factually-suspect claims of prior art. They now have a patent on using barcodes that they didn't create (which are based on font and image technology that they didn't create), with camera phones (which they didn't create) that take photos of said barcodes, the phone applications (that they didn't create) which translate those pictures into data (which they didn't create) which can be used to direct the user to a database (that they didn't create, and don't own) on the internet.

This means that if you scan a barcode that has a URL in it with an app on your cellphone, NeoMedia may attempt to squeeze cash from every developer in the chain: the maker of the barcode, the cellphone app developer, the cellphone maker, the cellphone carrier, and the owner of the destination internet database. Also, of course, your mom.

This means you, Google. NeoMedia's sure to go after the big guys first, right? Some dude who's running from blog to blog threatening lawsuits sure thinks so. Wonder if NeoMedia knows he's picking fights with some very big dogs on their behalf? Of course he could be NeoMedia's president and CEO for all we know (either way, I'd be making a hard copy or ten of all such blog and forum comments if I were, say, Scanbuy or ShopSavvy or ZXing..).

Whatever happens, it will certainly be interesting to watch. Pop some corn and pull up a chair.




US patent #6,993,573

US patent#7,383,209

Labels: barcodes, Electronic Frontier Foundation, NeoMedia, patent

Two University of Rhode Island researchers and a company called SIRA Technologies have teamed up to create temperature-sensitive barcode ink.

The fancy "proprietary thermochromic printing ink, printed in a non-scannable color..emerges to a scannable, deep magenta when activated. It is therefore capable of adding a temperature and shelf-life monitor to any other barcode thus preventing the sale of contaminated food and archiving the incident."

In English, this means that your grocer can't try to kill you/make a buck with expired products because the barcodes will change color and become unscannable. Man, barcodes really might save the world.

Labels: bar code, barcodes and science, inventory management, UPC barcode

In a couple of days it'll be Friday the 13th. Not just any Friday the 13th. It's also 1234567890 in UNIX time at 11:31:30pm UTC (11:31:30 here in Seattle). Read all about it on Slashdot (where else).

This should give all the 666 Mark of the Beast nutjobs something else to ponder.

Labels: 1234567890 UNIX time, 666 Mark of the Beast, barcodes, Friday the 13th

An interesting article in Business Daily Africa takes a hard look at how increased business efficiency can lead to a slump in customer service.

"..modern technology came to their rescue by introducing the barcode. Today, every supermarket worth its salt has a scanner system for reading these codes.

In addition, virtually all manufacturers now print the barcodes on products to make it easier for supermarket staff: the bulk packages are now simply unwrapped and the items taken to the shelves directly. This saves a lot of time.

Unfortunately, a new problem has emerged: in the hurry to display products, workers do not take care to ensure that a price tag has been posted on the shelf next to the items.

[]The workload increases as demand for their products rises. Consequently, management begins looking for ways of making work easier for the company. Many times the improvements are made at the expense of customer services."

It's an excellent reminder that progress in business should always be tempered with an eye to that most valuable of creatures, the customer.

Labels: bar code

The Washington Technology Industry Assoc. did a wild map of the Seattle software family tree. I'm proud to say that Azalea Software is in the solar system, proud of our lineage as an Aldus spin-off. The only Aldus spin-off still around 16 yrs later.

The only surviving Baby Paul!

Labels: Aldus Corp., Azalea Software, PageMaker, Seattle software