Sunday 11 September 2011

QR

qrcode
So hi. Been a few days. How you doin'? Cool. So hey, see the big blob of black and white squares above? Yea don't worry, it's not gonna bite. But here's an idea: Whip out your handphone, go into the camera settings and try to find something that says "QR Code Reader" (or Barcode Reader), then bring your device's camera over the picture and watch the magic happen. Go ahead.

Back? How was it, pretty cool huh? So apparently the thing above is called a QR Code (if you haven't figured that one out yet; stands for Quick Response code) and what it does is it essentially brings you to a web page much like clicking on hyperlinks does if you're clicking around on the Internet. Now some of you may be very familiar with the codes already (especially if you live in Japan, Korea or the UK, according to Wikipedia) but some of you might not have ever seen the things before in your life. Like Flying Spaghetti Monsters.


Well I stand corrected.

But about those QR codes. Neat huh? Here's a site you can go to to make your own. Have fun.

So apparently this kind of linking to sites from the "real" world is called "hardlinking", which is kind of surreal if you think about it. It's basically the same as copying down a URL and entering it in your computer when you get back home but there's just this whole "breaking down borders" kind of feeling that you get when you're not dealing with a string of numbers and letters that end in .com. Right? Feel that? Just snap a picture (and you don't even need to press the shutter button).

I think it's cool. But you know what else? It also looks cool. Not like those ugly barcodes from the supermarket (barcode fetishists would object but hey, whatever floats your boat), QR codes are even specifically designed to work if partially corrupted with intentional errors. I call that bad-ass and you know what? I think these folks do too:
Now this may just be the art major talking, but that kind of technology? Is awesome. Especially if it gets people to my art site.

Oops.

6 comments:

  1. QRcode-reader function is also known as a Bar-code-reader function; in my keitai, that thing shows up. :D

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  2. Hm yea the name is different on some devices. Edited. Thanks!

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  3. This is very intriguing. I've seen the QR codes all over the place but I've never figured out how to scan them with my keitai. Maybe someone in class could show me how to do it.

    I'm guessing that the code in your post takes us to your art website. Tricky move! Looks like you've figured out that these technologies can also be used for marketing and promotion.

    Have you thought about adding a business minor to your art major?

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  4. Actually as long as you have a Japanese handphone with a camera the reader is probably already there. Just look around the carmera modes and you should be able to find it.

    Some of the best things with QR codes is you don't have to actually click the shutter, you don't have to be exact about the placement (correction for perspective etc. is embedded in the code), and it's near-instantaneous once the reader locks on. All of that just really adds to the streamlined feel of scanning the codes.

    And yes, the code does lead to my art website (but the top logo in my sidebar also does the same). Unfortunately though I'm already a double major so I think I'll give business a pass for now. :P

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  5. This "hardliking" is kind of like when Neo got him self in the Matrix without being hooked up! Come on! You know exactly what I'm talking about...the third movie that nobody watched...

    QR ARE cool, Nostalgic of ghost in the shell. Even though I didn't bother to scan it with my phone, I did go to your page and it's some AWESOME art work! :)

    About the flying spaghetti monster, I've visited their site:
    http://www.venganza.org/
    before, but soon stopped as it got childish in a sense.
    However, besides belief oppositions, technology and the internet has definitely served it's purpose in bringing atheism to a wider audience, and we can perceive far more atheists on the web than before. Now for the heated emotional debate on whether that's a good thing or not, I'm not gonna waste yours or my time on. ;)

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  6. True, and thanks for the compliment :P
    Yea...the spaghetti monster...

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