QRs For the Socially Inept

Shy customers at Harry's Bar in Singapore have a new way to stalk strike up a convo with someone they have their eye on: QR code tags hung on beer bottles, of course!

Buy the target object of your affection a bottle of brew, hang your customized QR tag over the neck of the bottle and send it their way. Bing bang boom, you're headed to the nearest hotel together. It's SCIENCE.











via mashable.com

Barcodes and Beer, Hurray!

Tim Nudd at AdFreak has a great piece about Guinness beer's latest QR code shenanigans: a QR that only appears when your glass is full of the brewed brown goodness.

Fiendishly clever!

Microsoft Finally Willing to Admit the Existence of QR Codes

More than that, actually. While the proprietary Microsoft Tag will continue to exist, our favorite Redmond behemoth has walked back their belief that the closed-system, not-free, Microsoft-created, MS-server-reliant should by rights will rule the 2D world.


Because 2012 Windows phones include NFC capability, their MS Tag now includes support for (free, open-source, non-proprietary) QR codes and the sweet future-tech du jour of NFC (near field communication).


From the horse's mouth.

Experts Agree: Don't Be Dumb About QR Codes

Mashable's got an urgent warning for scanners of QR codes- that code is infected! With a VIRUS!

And Kaspersky Lab would like you to know about the malicious malware being distributed via QRs.

My two cents: QRs themselves cannot be "infected"- they're a static pattern of black on white which contains a URL, plain text, a phonebook contact or other data expressed in letters, numbers and punctuation.

However, if you allow your phone to follow a link within a QR code, it can take you to a site on the internet where nasty viruses, malware, adware, bugs, bots, trojans or worms may lurk, ready to creep onto your phone and ruin your day. So be smart about it! Pay attention to the source of the QR. Don't visit questionable links. Don't approve weird downloads to your phone. Have fun out there.

The Gray Lady Hips to QR Codes

You're the Boss, the small business tips column in the New York Times online today has a fun read about Ayara, a Thai restaurant in LA incorporating QRs into their menu.

And they remembered to optimize their QR landing pages for mobile phones- hurray!

Nintendo's Japanese 3DS Will Include QR Codes

Mii Studio characters can be converted into a QR code that users can print or post on a website to share their Mii's. Friends then scan the QR with their 3DS camera to retrieve the Mii.



via IGN
image via Duck Fluff

Online Retailer Gets QR Codes Really Right

Fashion retailer Bluefly and Bravo have teamed up to create a commercial QR experience that's both useful and savvy.



45-second commercials running on the cable network feature QR codes along the bottom of the screen that when scanned with a cellphone bring up online extras, full-length video and special Bluefly discounts.



This is how QR should be done!

via the New York Times

Hurricane Exhibit Utilizes QR Codes

The Louisiana State Museum's new exhibit Living With Hurricanes: Katrina and Beyond incorporates QR barcodes to link visitors to in-depth information via their smartphones.

Audrey, Betsy, Camille, Rita, KATRINA - names that evoke memories of fear, loss, destruction. Unheeded warnings that Louisiana is washing away. A city under water. The desperation of people on rooftops unable to escape rapidly rising flood waters. Ordinary heroes. Failed levees. Failed leadership. A city struggling to survive. The kindness of strangers. Resilience. Recovery. Hope.

These are the stories of Living with Hurricanes: Katrina and Beyond, a 6,700 square-foot interactive multimedia exhibition scheduled to open on the ground floor of the Presbytere in the fall of 2010. Living with Hurricanes will be the world's definitive hurricane exhibition. Combining authentic contemporary accounts, historical contexts, immersive environments, and in-depth scientific exploration, Living with Hurricanes will enable visitors to understand Katrina's impact on Louisiana, the Gulf Coast, and the nation.

via National Geographic Blog

QR Codes On Tombstones

It takes some real creativity to surprise us with a new use for QR but this is simply brilliant.

QR Code Protects the Eyes of Innocents

Calvin Klein Jeans has found an ingenious way to deliver sexxay™ video in the very public square, without offending anyone's sensibilities.



(Right then and there, I mean. The video encoded in the QR is of negative artistic value and makes me barfy, feminism-wise, but what advertising doesn't do that?)

Microsoft Really Really Really Wants You to Use Their Tags. Really.

And they're partnering up all over the place to help you do just that.

What you really need is a (proprietary Microsoft) tag that's reliant on (proprietary Microsoft) servers to deliver you content (that's been logged by Microsoft but they probably most likely won't use for anything like intrusive marketing right because why?). And hey, pretty colors!

Never mind QR codes- you know, the free open-source barcode that's already in global use. Who needs open source? Piffle.

QRdvark 1.0 now available in Android Market

Download and install QRdvark from the Android Market.

QRdvark is a free QR scanning app. It scans QR symbols and reacts appropriately. QRdvark recognizes all common QR formats including URLs, contacts, SMS, email, and location, as well as standard barcode formats and GS1 identification keys.

"See it. Scan it. See what happens."

QR Barcode From Your Android Phone

Visitors Can Now Use QR Barcodes to Navigate Port Townsend, Washington

"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."

2D Barcodes & High Fashion

One of these days someone is going to bring barcodes to the masses. Today's NY Times has a piece about QR codes on custom scarfes.

Kaywa, the company involved, is in Europe. Phone capabilities are as much a function of the wireless carrier as the physical phone itself. That means yanks have to wait til the Japanese & Europeans figure it all out.

Finally, a reason for cell phones & barcodes

The Voice of the Street from Leif on Vimeo.

Lauren sent me news of this cool street art project that involve cell phones & barcodes. QR codes linked to voicemail tying artist to viewer. It's from The Voice of the Street. Check it out!!!