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.

Free 2012 Calendars With Visual Puns and Easter Eggs From Azalea Software, Inc.

Come to azalea.com/calendar and get your 2012 calendars. This is the 10th year (who's counting?) we've done calendars and this year doesn't have a theme like years past. All Jerry wanted to do was have fun.

So, in honor of 2012 being a leap year this year's calendars have visual puns, not-so-hidden clues, and multiple mixed messages waiting for you to discover.

Don't take my word for it. There are press releases (so it's gotta be true): press release #1   press release #2

Where Did That Amazing Thrift Dress Come From? Scan It & Find Out!

Zachary Sniderman at mashable.com reports on the Oxfam Curiosity Shop, a temporary shop within a London department store that benefitted Oxfam's charity efforts.



Find the perfect swanky item of clothing, scan the QR on the tag, and view a video of the celebrity donor's personal story about when and where they wore it. While the Curiosity Shop closed in April, hopefully we'll see more collaborations of cool clothes, cool technology, and an excellent cause.

QR Codes and Tattoos: Have I Died & Gone to Heaven?

A tattooed Frenchie named Marco got a marketing QR code inked on his chest. The QR is encoded with a URL, where an animated version of the tattoo sings.




HOW AWESOME IS THAT? I'm planning my next tattoo as we speak.

UPC Art : Form or Function?

An interesting piece in the Wall Street Journal has some really nice examples of gussied-up UPC barcodes. Which is more important- for a barcode to look pretty, or for it to function as it should, scanning accurately time after time? Clearly, done correctly, it can do both.

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!

QRdvark In the News

QRdvark, super-coolest free generator of perfect QR codes* and the awesomest QR-reading Android app in the universe** get an appreciative shoutout from Curtis Finch at Inc. Magazine this month.


QRs are finally hitting our shores, folks. QRdvark makes it easy to get your business into the palm of your customers' hands. Literally! If you've never heard of QR or think that apps belong on menus, grab your teenaged neighbor and ask them to bring you up to speed.



*this is 100% true. Also, the makers of QRdvark are very good-looking.

**scientifically proven in 1881 by Lloyd T. Rickenstacks, Certified QR-ologist and Town Barber/Veterinarian.

Free 2011 Calendar Download

SEATTLE-Once again, Azalea Software has release a series of four free calendars. The 2011 calendars are in PDF format and feature photographs with food visual puns. These free calendars can be downloaded from Azalea Software's website [ http://www.azalea.com/calendarhttp://www.azalea.com/calendar/ ] and printed on any inkjet or laser printer.

For almost 10 years, Azalea Software's founder and owner, Jerry Whiting, has designed calendars from family, friends, and business partners. All except the first year's have featured Whiting's photography. Every year's calendar has a distinct theme. Past calendars have highlighted graffiti, neon, orchids, and humorous signs.

"I've tried to quit making calendars a couple of times and my Mother and her friends insist otherwise. I'm not about to piss of my Mom and her friends." says Whiting. "Last year we stopped printing physical calendars due to rising costs. Instead we gave the calendars away online. Not only did we save money, we were able to share them with countless people around the world. The response was overwhelming!"

The 2011 calendars are one page, feature all the major holidays as well as the Azalea staff's birthdays, and offer humorous images throughout the year.

The calendars' names hint at their punchlines: key lime pi, nuts & bolts, diversity fish, and hot duck.

Download one or download them all. Link to them on your Facebook page. Give them away to strangers. Make your own if you think ours stink.

Azalea Software [Seattle WA], founded in 1992, sells barcode fonts and barcode software. They maintain The Barcode FAQ and have been known to mouth off in their blog, BarcodeNerds.blogspot.com

Lasers, Waffles and QR Codes

These are a few of my favorite things.

New York superdorks NYC Resistor organized an edible QR code competition and waffle batter got the laser treatment. Other foodstuffs included crackers, Chiclets and jello.

Amazing video here.

story via

Business FINALLY Discovering the Beauty of QR

Art galleries in Augusta, Georgia get into the QR act with window decals.

Italian cheeses- always delicious, and now smart phone-traceable!

Wine snobbery goes to a whole 'nother level with QRs on labels.


Seattle's Herbfarm restaurant QRs their menus.

Middle Tennessee Medical Center's new print ad is QR-tastic.

A New Jersey sign maker brilliantly hops on the QR wagon.

Beckley, West Virginia tourism gets a QR boost.

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

Excel Spreadsheets & Barcodes

There's a way to put barcodes in Excel spreadsheets. Use Azalea's fonts and free Excel spreadsheets with macros.

Japanese Town Utilizes 2D Barcodes in Worst Way Ever

Sad, awful fourth-sign-of-the-apocalyse dating simulation game LovePlus+ and the resort town of Atami, Japan have joined forces to create the ne plus ultra creeptastic "romantic holiday" for terrible male humans.

2D barcodes are scattered at locations throughout the town where the men can have CGI-type pictures taken with their "virtual girlfriend".

At a dozen romantic locations in and around the town are three-dimensional barcodes which can be read by an iPhone. The barcode allows the love-struck visitors to have a computer generated photograph taken with their beloved through augmented reality technology. In the hotel, some beds have barcodes, so that photographing it reveals the virtual girlfriend lying there seductively.

The end is nigh, friends.

Print UPC & ISBN-13 Barcodes in Excel Spreadsheets (video)

A short video about printing UPC & ISBN-13 barcodes in your Excel spreadsheets using UPCTools. Use our free sample spreadsheets with macros that convert your data into a scannable UPC or ISBN-13 barcode.

www.azalea.com/UPC/Excel/

Creating Code 128 Barcodes in Excel Video

A short video about printing Code 128 barcodes in your Excel spreadsheets using C128Tools. Use our free sample spreadsheets with macros that convert your data into a scannable Code 128 barcode.



www.azalea.com/Code-128/Excel/

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

App That Combats Texting While Driving

We all know how dangerous it is, and we all know someone who does it (occasionally that someone is us). Texting while you drive leaves you twenty-three times more likely to be involved in an accident. TWENTY-THREE TIMES.

Seattle developer Erik Wood has introduced OTTER (One Touch Text Response), a brilliant little phone app that offers auto-reply, car mode, and parental password controls. May it save a life. Or ten.

MSR Water Filter Field Cleaning

QR Codes On Tombstones

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